Paving the path for injury prevention in rugby-7s:A systematic review and meta-analysis

This review and meta-analysis aimed to describe the current rugby-7s injury epidemiological literature by examining injury data from both sexes, all levels of play, and their associated risk factors. Studies published up until March 2024 were included. These studies were retrieved from six databases using search terms related to rugby-7s or sevens, tackle, collision, collision sport, injury, athlete, incidence rate, mechanism, and risk factor. Only peer-reviewed original studies using prospective or retrospective cohort designs with a clearly defined rugby-7s sample were considered. Included studies needed to report one injury outcome variable. Non-English and qualitative studies; reviews, conference papers, and abstracts were excluded. Twenty studies were included. The meta-analysis used the DerSimonian–Laird continuous random-effects method to calculate the pooled estimated means and 95% confidence interval. The estimated mean injury incidence rate for men was 108.5/1000 player-hours (95% CI: 85.9–131.0) and 76.1/1000 player-hours (95% CI: 48.7–103.5) for women. The estimated mean severity for men was 33.9 days (95% CI: 20.7–47.0) and 44.2 days (95% CI: 32.1–56.3) for women. Significantly more match injuries occurred in the second half of matches, were acute, located at the lower limb, diagnosed as joint/ligament, and resulted from being tackled. Fatigue, player fitness, and previous injuries were associated with an increased risk of injury. There were no statistically significant differences between women's and men's injury profiles. However, the inherent cultural and gendered factors which divide the two sports should not be ignored. The findings from this review will help pave the way forward beyond the foundational stages of injury prevention research in rugby-7s.</p

Paving the path for injury prevention in rugby-7s:A systematic review and meta-analysis

This review and meta-analysis aimed to describe the current rugby-7s injury epidemiological literature by examining injury data from both sexes, all levels of play, and their associated risk factors. Studies published up until March 2024 were included. These studies were retrieved from six databases using search terms related to rugby-7s or sevens, tackle, collision, collision sport, injury, athlete, incidence rate, mechanism, and risk factor. Only peer-reviewed original studies using prospective or retrospective cohort designs with a clearly defined rugby-7s sample were considered. Included studies needed to report one injury outcome variable. Non-English and qualitative studies; reviews, conference papers, and abstracts were excluded. Twenty studies were included. The meta-analysis used the DerSimonian–Laird continuous random-effects method to calculate the pooled estimated means and 95% confidence interval. The estimated mean injury incidence rate for men was 108.5/1000 player-hours (95% CI: 85.9–131.0) and 76.1/1000 player-hours (95% CI: 48.7–103.5) for women. The estimated mean severity for men was 33.9 days (95% CI: 20.7–47.0) and 44.2 days (95% CI: 32.1–56.3) for women. Significantly more match injuries occurred in the second half of matches, were acute, located at the lower limb, diagnosed as joint/ligament, and resulted from being tackled. Fatigue, player fitness, and previous injuries were associated with an increased risk of injury. There were no statistically significant differences between women's and men's injury profiles. However, the inherent cultural and gendered factors which divide the two sports should not be ignored. The findings from this review will help pave the way forward beyond the foundational stages of injury prevention research in rugby-7s.</p

‘Tackling’ rugby safety through a collective approach

Commitment to seeking an evidence-informed approachWhen it comes to player welfare, Rugby Union governing bodies have committed to seeking and funding an evidence-informed approach. This involves using research to make informed decisions about policy, laws and injury prevention programmes. Over the last decade, a growing body of research has informed player safety, for example, modifications to scrum laws to reduce catastrophic head and neck injuries.1 However, major gaps remain, including tackle research focusing on the women’s game.2A socioecological perspectiveIt is well understood that player welfare, specifically injury prevention, is a complex issue. To effectively address these complexities and make a long-term impact requires a dynamic socioecological approach.3 ,4 An athlete operates within a socioecological structure (individual, interpersonal, organisational, community) that is influenced by a web of inter-related factors and actors, both of which change over time and/or when a factor/actor is modified (figure 1). Typically, injury prevention research will identify player level factors that influence injury risk (risk factors), and aim to modify these factors through behaviour change interventions. However, the socioecological view emphasises understanding contextual factors influencing implementation of such modifications. For example, if the behaviour intervention is a training programme, how much time is available to implement the training programme? Or, is the training programme appropriate for all sexes

We are commoners – Creative acts of commoning

Exhibiting as part of The Blackwater Polytechnic (Ben Coode-Adams, Sara Impey, Justin Knopp and Simon Emery) with the collaborative work, 'Tree', in the Craftspace national touring exhibition, 'We are Commoners – Creative Acts of Commoning.' The exhibition highlights acts of ‘commoning’ that are shaping the way communities are working together to share and steward commonly owned assets and resources. It also investigates craft as a form of commons through knowledge, materials, practice and heritage. The exhibition invites you to become, or recognise yourself, as a ‘Commoner’. The commons is historically thought of in relation to land and resources that are held for common use. Now it also includes the cultural commons such as open source software and knowledge in the digital world. Increasing privatisation, individualism and the impact of austerity have eroded the commons. Activating the verb ‘to common’ is a way to renew public life. Acts of commoning can be woven into every aspect of life and become a way of living. A life where we can connect to produce shared rituals and resources that we look after together. Getting involved through co-operation, mutual care and exchange can heal and make change in our communities. The ideas for commoning offered in the exhibition are timely as society addresses the impacts of extreme disruption from COVID-19. Commoning can help process trauma and loss to find meaning and aid recovery. Mirroring the commons movement there has been a shift in thinking from, “you’re on your own” to “we’re in this together.” Co-operation through neighbourhood mutual aid groups has resulted in taking care of one another. Acts of commoning can rebalance our ways of imagining, living and working to realise a more collective future. Exhibiting alongside Amy Twigger Holroyd, Deirdre Nelson, Hefin Jones (ODG Assembly), Linda Brothwell, Jacky Oliver, Common Agency Projects (Shane Waltener & Laura Glaser), Lise Bjørne Linnert with Gelawesh Waledkhani, Rachael Colley, Alinah Azadeh, Kate Hodgson, Ele Carpenter, Pinkie Maclure, Alice McLean and Justine Boussard, Claudia Rodriguez, Ana Joaquina Ramirez and Rosina Santana Castellon

A Transcriptome Database for Astrocytes, Neurons, and Oligodendrocytes: A New Resource for Understanding Brain Development and Function

Understanding the cell–cell interactions that control CNS development and function has long been limited by the lack of methods to cleanly separate neural cell types. Here we describe methods for the prospective isolation and purification of astrocytes, neurons, and oligodendrocytes from developing and mature mouse forebrain. We used FACS (fluorescent-activated cell sorting) to isolate astrocytes from transgenic mice that express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of an S100β promoter. Using Affymetrix GeneChip Arrays, we then created a transcriptome database of the expression levels of \u3e20,000 genes by gene profiling these three main CNS neural cell types at various postnatal ages between postnatal day 1 (P1) and P30. This database provides a detailed global characterization and comparison of the genes expressed by acutely isolated astrocytes, neurons, and oligodendrocytes. We found that Aldh1L1 is a highly specific antigenic marker for astrocytes with a substantially broader pattern of astrocyte expression than the traditional astrocyte marker GFAP. Astrocytes were enriched in specific metabolic and lipid synthetic pathways, as well as the draper/Megf10 and Mertk/integrin αvβ5 phagocytic pathways suggesting that astrocytes are professional phagocytes. Our findings call into question the concept of a “glial” cell class as the gene profiles of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes are as dissimilar to each other as they are to neurons. This transcriptome database of acutely isolated purified astrocytes, neurons, and oligodendrocytes provides a resource to the neuroscience community by providing improved cell-type-specific markers and for better understanding of neural development, function, and disease

Coulomb drag between ballistic one-dimensional electron systems

The presence of pronounced electronic correlations in one-dimensional systems strongly enhances Coulomb coupling and is expected to result in distinctive features in the Coulomb drag between them that are absent in the drag between two-dimensional systems. We review recent Fermi and Luttinger liquid theories of Coulomb drag between ballistic one-dimensional electron systems, and give a brief summary of the experimental work reported so far on one-dimensional drag. Both the Fermi liquid (FL) and the Luttinger liquid (LL) theory predict a maximum of the drag resistance R_D when the one-dimensional subbands of the two quantum wires are aligned and the Fermi wave vector k_F is small, and also an exponential decay of R_D with increasing inter-wire separation, both features confirmed by experimental observations. A crucial difference between the two theoretical models emerges in the temperature dependence of the drag effect. Whereas the FL theory predicts a linear temperature dependence, the LL theory promises a rich and varied dependence on temperature depending on the relative magnitudes of the energy and length scales of the systems. At higher temperatures, the drag should show a power-law dependence on temperature, R_D \~ T^x, experimentally confirmed in a narrow temperature range, where x is determined by the Luttinger liquid parameters. The spin degree of freedom plays an important role in the LL theory in predicting the features of the drag effect and is crucial for the interpretation of experimental results.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, to appear in Semiconductor Science and Technolog

Closed-loop acoustic stimulation during sedation with dexmedetomidine (CLASS-D): Protocol for a within-subject, crossover, controlled, interventional trial with healthy volunteers

Introduction: The relative power of slow-delta oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG), termed slow-wave activity (SWA), correlates with level of unconsciousness. Acoustic enhancement of SWA has been reported for sleep states, but it remains unknown if pharmacologically induced SWA can be enhanced using sound. Dexmedetomidine is a sedative whose EEG oscillations resemble those of natural sleep. This pilot study was designed to investigate whether SWA can be enhanced using closed-loop acoustic stimulation during sedation (CLASS) with dexmedetomidine. Methods: Closed-Loop Acoustic Stimulation during Sedation with Dexmedetomidine (CLASS-D) is a within-subject, crossover, controlled, interventional trial with healthy volunteers. Each participant will be sedated with a dexmedetomidine target-controlled infusion (TCI). Participants will undergo three CLASS conditions in a multiple crossover design: in-phase (phase-locked to slow-wave upslopes), anti-phase (phase-locked to slow-wave downslopes) and sham (silence). High-density EEG recordings will assess the effects of CLASS across the scalp. A volitional behavioral task and sequential thermal arousals will assess the anesthetic effects of CLASS. Ambulatory sleep studies will be performed on nights immediately preceding and following the sedation session. EEG effects of CLASS will be assessed using linear mixed-effects models. The impacts of CLASS on behavior and arousal thresholds will be assessed using logistic regression modeling. Parametric modeling will determine differences in sleepiness and measures of sleep homeostasis before and after sedation. Results: The primary outcome of this pilot study is the effect of CLASS on EEG slow waves. Secondary outcomes include the effects of CLASS on the following: performance of a volitional task, arousal thresholds, and subsequent sleep. Discussion: This investigation will elucidate 1) the potential of exogenous sensory stimulation to potentiate SWA during sedation; 2) the physiologic significance of this intervention; and 3) the connection between EEG slow-waves observed during sleep and sedation

Beliefs about the Minds of Others Influence How We Process Sensory Information

Attending where others gaze is one of the most fundamental mechanisms of social cognition. The present study is the first to examine the impact of the attribution of mind to others on gaze-guided attentional orienting and its ERP correlates. Using a paradigm in which attention was guided to a location by the gaze of a centrally presented face, we manipulated participants' beliefs about the gazer: gaze behavior was believed to result either from operations of a mind or from a machine. In Experiment 1, beliefs were manipulated by cue identity (human or robot), while in Experiment 2, cue identity (robot) remained identical across conditions and beliefs were manipulated solely via instruction, which was irrelevant to the task. ERP results and behavior showed that participants' attention was guided by gaze only when gaze was believed to be controlled by a human. Specifically, the P1 was more enhanced for validly, relative to invalidly, cued targets only when participants believed the gaze behavior was the result of a mind, rather than of a machine. This shows that sensory gain control can be influenced by higher-order (task-irrelevant) beliefs about the observed scene. We propose a new interdisciplinary model of social attention, which integrates ideas from cognitive and social neuroscience, as well as philosophy in order to provide a framework for understanding a crucial aspect of how humans' beliefs about the observed scene influence sensory processing

Fire, climate and the origins of agriculture: micro-charcoal records of biomass burning during the Last Glacial Interglacial Transition in Southwest Asia

This study investigates changes in climate, vegetation, wildfire and human activity in Southwest Asia during the transition to Neolithic agriculture between ca. 16 and ca. 9 ka. In order to trace the fire history of this region, we use microscopic charcoal from lake sediment sequences, and present two new records: one from south central Turkey (Akgo¨ l) and the other from the southern Levant (Hula). These are interpreted primarily as the result of regional-scale fire events, with the exception of a single large event ca. 13 ka at Akgo¨ l, which phytolith analysis shows was the result of burning of the local marsh vegetation. Comparison between these and other regional micro-charcoal, stable isotope and pollen records shows that wildfires were least frequent when the climate was cold and dry (glacial, Lateglacial Stadial) and the vegetation dominated by chenopod–Artemisia steppe, and that they became more frequent and/or bigger at times of warmer, wetter but seasonally dry climate (Lateglacial Interstadial, early Holocene). Warmer and wetter climates caused an increase in biomass availability, with woody matter appearing to provide the main fuel source in sites from the Levant, while grass fires predominated in the interior uplands of Anatolia. Southwest Asia’s grasslands reached their greatest extent during the early Holocene, and they were maintained by dry-season burning that helped to delay the spread of woodland by up to 3 ka, at the same time as Neolithic settlement became established across this grass parkland landscape. Although climatic changes appear to have acted as the principal ‘pacemaker’ for fire activity through the last glacial–interglacial climatic transition (LGIT), human actions may have amplified shifts in biomass burning. Fire regimes therefore changed markedly during this time period, and both influenced, and were influenced by, the cultural-economic transition from hunter-foraging to agriculture and village lif