SCAT3 changes from baseline and associations with X2 Patch measured head acceleration in amateur Australian football players

Objectives: To investigate changes from baseline on SCAT3 as a result of football game exposure, and association with X2 Patch measured head acceleration events in amateur Australian footballers. Design: Prospective cohort. Methods: Peak linear acceleration (PLA) of the head (>10 g) was measured by wearable head acceleration sensor X2 Biosystems X-Patch in male (n = 34) and female (n = 19) Australian footballers. SCAT3 was administered at baseline (B) and post-game (PG). Results: 1394 head acceleration events (HEA) >10 g were measured. Mean and median HEA PLA were recorded as 15.2 g (SD = 9.2, range = 10.0–115.8) and 12.4 g (IQR = 11.0–15.6) respectively. No significant difference in median HEA PLA (g) was detected across gender (p = 0.55), however, more HEAs were recorded in males (p = 0.03). A greater number (p = 0.004) and severity (p < 0.001) of symptoms were reported PG than at B. No significant association between number of HEA or median PLA, and SCAT3 change scores (p > 0.05 for all), was identified for either gender. Conclusions: Increase in symptom severity post game was not associated with X2 measured HEA. Males sustained more HEA, however HEA PLA magnitude did not differ across gender. Further work on the validation of head acceleration sensors is required and their role in sports concussion research and medical management. © 2017 Sports Medicine Australi

Reproducibility of fluorescent expression from engineered biological constructs in E. coli

We present results of the first large-scale interlaboratory study carried out in synthetic biology, as part of the 2014 and 2015 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competitions. Participants at 88 institutions around the world measured fluorescence from three engineered constitutive constructs in E. coli. Few participants were able to measure absolute fluorescence, so data was analyzed in terms of ratios. Precision was strongly related to fluorescent strength, ranging from 1.54-fold standard deviation for the ratio between strong promoters to 5.75-fold for the ratio between the strongest and weakest promoter, and while host strain did not affect expression ratios, choice of instrument did. This result shows that high quantitative precision and reproducibility of results is possible, while at the same time indicating areas needing improved laboratory practices.Peer reviewe