Physiological Demands of Common Occupational Tasks among Australian Police Offcers: A Descriptive Analysis

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological demands placed on Australian police officers carrying out common operational tasks. METHODS: Forty participants (n = 40) from an Australian police force (mean age = 33.58 ± 7.78 years, mean height = 177.70 ± 7.28 cm, mean weight = 85.68 ± 14.52 kg, mean years of service: 6.74 ± 6.29 years) were recruited through preidentified local area commands. Spanning nine police stations from the same Australian state, volunteers wore monitoring devices to collect physiological measures (heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin temperature) throughout the course of four consecutive shifts (two day shifts and two night shifts). Descriptive data were recorded and analyzed by task and changes in physiological measures. RESULTS: Of the 345 duty calls attended by participants, the four most commonly reported tasks were as follows: ‘check bona fides’ (n = 76; 22%), ‘driving urgently’ (n = 45; 13%), ‘attending a domestic incident’ (n = 37; 10%), and ‘attending a concern for welfare’ (n = 30; 8%). Mean percentages of maximum heart rates (%HR(max)) were considered of very light exercise intensity and ranged from 47.11 (± 7.18) to 50.15 (± 9.35) % for checking bona fides through to driving urgently respectively. Fifteen percent of tasks attended had officers exceed 100 %HR(max) (near maximal to maximal exercise intensity). Mean skin temperatures varied little (36.02–36.27°C) between tasks, while mean respiratory rates were lowest when attending a domestic incident and highest when driving urgently (22.56 ± 3.83 and 24.72 ± 6.12 breaths/min, respectively). CONCLUSION: Police officers experienced numerous physiological challenges ranging from an intensity of very light exercise through to near maximal and maximal exercise throughout their working day with occasions where their heart rates exceeded 100 %HR(max). These findings highlight the physiological stress associated with common occupational policing tasks, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular health in police officers and the need for cardiovascular monitoring and conditioning

How close is the nearest node in a wireless network?

The ability of small-cell wireless networks to self-organize is crucial for improving capacity and performance in modern communication networks. This paper considers one of the most basic questions: what is the expected distance to a cell's nearest neighbour in a spatially distributed network? We analyse a model problem in the asymptotic limit of large total received signal and compare the accuracy of different heuristics. We also analytically consider the effects of fading. Our analysis shows that the most naive heuristic systematically underestimates the distance to the nearest node; this is substantially corrected in cases of interest by inclusion of the next-order asymptotic term. We illustrate our theoretical results explicitly or several combinations of signal and path loss parameters and show that our theory is well supported by numerical simulations. </p

The Impact Of External Loads Carried By Police Officers On Vertical Jump Performance

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(6): 1179-1189, 2020. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that external loads have on vertical jump height and peak anaerobic power output (PAPw) of police officers during a vertical jump (VJ) test. Retrospective data of 47 (mean age 38.79 ± 7.97 years) police officers from a US Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) were used for analysis. VJ heights and body mass were used in the Sayers Peak Power Equation to calculate PAPw. Power-to-weight (P:W) ratios were then calculated by dividing PAPw by the officer’s body mass. VJ height significantly (p \u3c .001) decreased with load (unloaded = 49.49 ± 8.46 cm: loaded = 43.62 ± 7.68 cm). A Pearson’s correlation showed a significant (p \u3c .01) low-moderate (r = .387) relationship between absolute load (9.57 ± .94 kg) and change in PAPw, and a significant (p \u3c .01) strong (r = .794) correlation between relative load and changes in P:W. This study supports previous research that suggests that occupational load carriage has a negative impact on VJ performance in police officers and may influence job performance, and that training programs may mitigate these negative effects

Exile Vol. XXXIV No. 2

ARTWORK The Race and the Load by Rhonwen Churchill (cover) Population 6 by Rory Herbster 5 Untitled by Itar 9 Untitled by Itar 17 Untitled by Itar 25 Floating Nude by Shelley Dicerson 27 Valley of Fire, New Mexico by Pam Schilling 33 Untitled by Rhonwen churchill 39 Merely Players by Rhonwen Churchill 43 Newark at Night by Rob Myers 55 Torso II by Shelley Dickerson 57 Untitled by Don Jacobs 61 Serenade by Jenny Smith 65 FICTION Untitled by Lauren Williams 11-15 A Subtle Change in the Flowers by Zach Smith 30-32 Documenting Secrets by Laura Munson 47-52 POETRY Ars Poetica by David Zivan 3 Jesse James In Wax by Itar 4 Catechism by Jennie Dawes 7 Silent State by Cam Martin 8 Red Rock Mound by Itar 16 Almost There by Chris Hanson 19 In Memory by Kent Lambert 20-23 Driving Cross-Country by David Zivan 24 Yoga At Sunrise by Itar 35-36 His Photograph by Debra Benko 37 Appalachian Spring by Jennie Dawes 38 My Proposal by Liza Jones 41 Spheres of Influence by Zach Smith 42 The Eros Motel by Cam Martin 45 A Sacrificial Science by Jen Druley 46 Bird\u27s-Eye View by Itar 53 Driving by David Zivan 54 Mobile Home In The Sky by Itar 59-60 The Cleaving by Amy Judge 63 She Kent Lambert 64 CONTRIBUTOR NOTES 67 Editorial decision is shared equally among the Editorial Board members. - title pag

The impact of Mendelian sleep and circadian genetic variants in a population setting

Rare variants in ten genes have been reported to cause Mendelian sleep conditions characterised by extreme sleep duration or timing. These include familial natural short sleep (ADRB1, DEC2/BHLHE41, GRM1 and NPSR1), advanced sleep phase (PER2, PER3, CRY2, CSNK1D and TIMELESS) and delayed sleep phase (CRY1). The association of variants in these genes with extreme sleep conditions were usually based on clinically ascertained families, and their effects when identified in the population are unknown. We aimed to determine the effects of these variants on sleep traits in large population-based cohorts. We performed genetic association analysis of variants previously reported to be causal for Mendelian sleep and circadian conditions. Analyses were performed using 191,929 individuals with data on sleep and whole-exome or genome-sequence data from 4 population-based studies: UK Biobank, FINRISK, Health-2000-2001, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). We identified sleep disorders from self-report, hospital and primary care data. We estimated sleep duration and timing measures from self-report and accelerometery data. We identified carriers for 10 out of 12 previously reported pathogenic variants for 8 of the 10 genes. They ranged in frequency from 1 individual with the variant in CSNK1D to 1,574 individuals with a reported variant in the PER3 gene in the UK Biobank. No carriers for variants reported in NPSR1 or PER2 were identified. We found no association between variants analyzed and extreme sleep or circadian phenotypes. Using sleep timing as a proxy measure for sleep phase, only PER3 and CRY1 variants demonstrated association with earlier and later sleep timing, respectively; however, the magnitude of effect was smaller than previously reported (sleep midpoint similar to 7 mins earlier and similar to 5 mins later, respectively). We also performed burden tests of protein truncating (PTVs) or rare missense variants for the 10 genes. Only PTVs in PER2 and PER3 were associated with a relevant trait (for example, 64 individuals with a PTV in PER2 had an odds ratio of 4.4 for being "definitely a morning person", P = 4x10(-8); and had a 57-minute earlier midpoint sleep, P = 5x10(-7)). Our results indicate that previously reported variants for Mendelian sleep and circadian conditions are often not highly penetrant when ascertained incidentally from the general population.Peer reviewe

Abstracts from the NIHR INVOLVE Conference 2017

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Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes