Acute injuries in student circus artists with regard to gender specific differences

Purpose: Student circus artists train as both artists and athletes with their bodies holding the key to professional success. The daily training load of student circus artists is often associated with maximum physical and psychological stress with injuries posing a threat to a potential professional career. The purpose of this study is the differentiated analysis and evaluation of work accidents in order to initiate the development of injury preventive programs. Methods: The 17 years of data were obtained from standardized anonymous work accident records of the Berlin State Accident Insurance (UKB) as well as a State Artist Educational School (n = 169, Male: 70; Female: 99) from student artists. Evaluation and descriptive statistics were conducted with Excel 2007 and PASW Statistics 18. Results: The injury risk seems to be relatively low (0.3 injuries/1000h). There are gender specific differences as to the location of injuries. Only 7% of the accidents demand a break of more than 3 days. Injury patterns vary depending on the activity and the employment of props/equipment. 75.2% of work accidents have multifactorial and 24.8% exogenous causes. Conclusions: Because physical fitness is all important in the circus arts there are numerous options for injury prevention programs that should be realized subject to gender-specific differences. Follow-ups on chronic complaints and a more individual approach are indispensable due to the very specific activities in the circus arts

The Credibility Crisis in IS

A credibility crisis continues to plague the Information Systems (IS) discipline. For almost a decade, IS has struggled to obtain and maintain its stature as a highly-respected academic discipline. The recent demise of several IS programs around the world highlights the credibility crisis, as departments have been subsumed into other business disciplines, or worse yet, abandoned entirely. In a recent MIS Quarterly article, Gill and Bhattacherjee (2009) highlight some of the challenges facing IS: low student enrollments, research that is rarely discussed in our classrooms, and research that fails to make an impact in practice. While useful tactics in terms of research (Dennis et al., 2008), student recruitment (Koch and Kayworth, 2009; Looney and Akbulut, 2007), and pedagogy (Firth et al., 2008) have surfaced in the literature, a holistic strategy for addressing the credibility crisis has yet to emerge. This panel brings together a group of IS professors to offer their perspectives on a series of propositions about the Credibility Crisis in the IS Discipline, and engage in an animated debate with each other and the audience on their positions

Addressing the Credibility Crisis in IS

A credibility crisis continues to plague the information systems (IS) discipline. For decades IS has struggled to acquire and maintain its stature as a highly-respected academic discipline. The recent demise of several IS programs around the world highlights the credibility crisis, as departments have been subsumed into other business disciplines, or worse yet, abandoned entirely. In a recent MIS Quarterly article, Gill and Bhattacherjee [2009] highlight some of the challenges facing IS: low student enrollments, research that is rarely discussed in our classrooms, and research that fails to make an impact in practice. While useful tactics in terms of research [Dennis et al., 2006], student recruitment [Koch et al., 2010; Looney and Akbulut, 2007] and pedagogy [Firth et al., 2008] have surfaced, a holistic strategy for addressing the credibility crisis has yet to emerge. This article summarizes a panel discussion at the AMCIS 2010 conference, where a group of distinguished IS professors offered their unique perspectives on the challenges, origins, and solutions related to the current credibility crisis in IS

Psychophysical responses to a speech stressor: Correlation of plasma beta-endorphin levels at rest and after psychological stress with thermally measured pain threshold in patients with coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that psychological stress alters plasma levels of opioid peptides and that these plasma levels are related to pain perception in patients with coronary artery disease. BACKGROUND: Public speaking psychological stress has previously been shown to be associated with silent ischemia. METHODS: After instrumentation and a 30-min rest period, venous blood samples for beta-endorphin were obtained before and immediately after psychological stress in 20 patients with coronary artery disease. Pain threshold was then assessed using a thermal probe technique at baseline and immediately after stress. Patients gave three brief speeches lasting a total of 15 min about real-life hassle situations. RESULTS: Psychological stress significantly increases plasma beta-endorphin levels (4.3 +/- 0.9 pmol/liter [mean +/- SE] at rest to 8.3 +/- 2 pmol/liter after stress, p < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between pain threshold and beta-endorphin levels after stress (r = 0.577, p = 0.008). This significant positive correlation was still present while rest blood pressure and change in blood pressure during stress were controlled for by analysis of covariance techniques. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with coronary artery disease and exercise-induced ischemia, public speaking produces psychological stress manifested by increased cardiovascular reactivity and causes an increase in plasma beta-endorphin levels that is significantly correlated with pain thresholds. These findings may explain the predominance of silent ischemia during psychological stress in patients with coronary artery disease

The Lantern Vol. 10, No. 3, May 1942

• Isn\u27t This Fine Weather? • Girls\u27 Rules Through Twenty Years • Lost: Imagination--Gained: Sanitation • Ursinus During the First World War • Inspirations From a Concert Hall • Brother Jones • The Sea and Cloud and Sky--No More • Literary Prattle • War and Memories • Springhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1027/thumbnail.jp

A right to care: the social foundations of recovery from Covid-19

This report presents key findings from a 6-month ethnographic study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on disadvantaged households and communities across the UK conducted by anthropologists from the London School of Economics, and associates. This research involved in-depth interviews and multiple surveys with people across communities in the UK, with particular focus on a number of case studies of intersecting disadvantage. Crucially, our research has found that Government policy can improve adherence to restrictions and reduce the negative impacts of the pandemic on disadvantaged communities by placing central importance on communities, social networks and households to the economy and social life. This would be the most effective way to increase public trust and adherence to Covid-19 measures, because it would recognise the suffering that communities have experienced and would build policy on the basis of what is most important to people - the thriving of their families and communities

Evaluating alternate models to estimate genetic parameters of calving traits in United Kingdom Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The focus in dairy cattle breeding is gradually shifting from production to functional traits and genetic parameters of calving traits are estimated more frequently. However, across countries, various statistical models are used to estimate these parameters. This study evaluates different models for calving ease and stillbirth in United Kingdom Holstein-Friesian cattle.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from first and later parity records were used. Genetic parameters for calving ease, stillbirth and gestation length were estimated using the restricted maximum likelihood method, considering different models i.e. sire (−maternal grandsire), animal, univariate and bivariate models. Gestation length was fitted as a correlated indicator trait and, for all three traits, genetic correlations between first and later parities were estimated. Potential bias in estimates was avoided by acknowledging a possible environmental direct-maternal covariance. The total heritable variance was estimated for each trait to discuss its theoretical importance and practical value. Prediction error variances and accuracies were calculated to compare the models.</p> <p>Results and discussion</p> <p>On average, direct and maternal heritabilities for calving traits were low, except for direct gestation length. Calving ease in first parity had a significant and negative direct-maternal genetic correlation. Gestation length was maternally correlated to stillbirth in first parity and directly correlated to calving ease in later parities. Multi-trait models had a slightly greater predictive ability than univariate models, especially for the lowly heritable traits. The computation time needed for sire (−maternal grandsire) models was much smaller than for animal models with only small differences in accuracy. The sire (−maternal grandsire) model was robust when additional genetic components were estimated, while the equivalent animal model had difficulties reaching convergence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>For the evaluation of calving traits, multi-trait models show a slight advantage over univariate models. Extended sire models (−maternal grandsire) are more practical and robust than animal models. Estimated genetic parameters for calving traits of UK Holstein cattle are consistent with literature. Calculating an aggregate estimated breeding value including direct and maternal values should encourage breeders to consider both direct and maternal effects in selection decisions.</p

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease.

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes