THE EFFECT OF PLYOMETRIC TRAININGS MADE WITH MEDICINE BALL ON SOME MOTORIC AND ANTHROPOMETRIC FEATURES OF BASKETBALL PLAYERS

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of plyometric trainings made with medicine ball on some motoric and anthropometric features of basketball players. The research group (n = 24) was formed by 14-15 year old male basketball players licenced in Kocaeli Development Sports Club. The athletes were randomly assigned to the experiment (n = 12) and control (n = 12) groups. For the experimental group, in addition to the annual basketball training programmes, plyometric training was applied with medicine ball for 3 days a week for 8 weeks. The control group followed only annual basketball training programme. The tests used in the pre and post tests to measure the motor features of the basketball players participating in the study are standing long jump test, 30 m sprint test, hand grip test, sit and reach flexibility test and vertical jump tests. Skinfold thicknesses, girths and widths of the subjects were measured for anthropometric features. When the motor and anthropometric features of the experimental group and the control group were compared, no statistically significant difference was found (p> 0,05). There was no significant difference found in motor features as a results of the intra-group analysis of the experimental group (p>0.05). There was a significant difference found in anthropometric characteristics when the intra-group results of the experiment group was analyzed (p <0,05). In conclusion, it is seen that plyometric trainings with medicine ball have no positive effect on motor features in this age group but have positive effect on anthropometric features.  Article visualizations

Chemical composition and inhibitory potentials of key-enzymes linked to neurodegenerative diseases of wild garlic: Allium atrovioleceum Boiss.

332-340Allium atroviolaceum is an edible plant and also known as wild garlic in Turkey, was collected from two different localities namely Kemalpaşa (AA-1) and Tire (AA-2). Phenolic constituents of the different parts of species were determined using LC-ESI-MS/MS, total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) and antioxidant activity of samples were performed by spectrophotometrically. Inhibitory potentials of samples against acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase and tyrosinase were determined by a 96-well microplate reader. 28 compounds were quantified and naringenin (948.7 μg/g extract) as a flavonoid in bulb extracts of AA-2 and gallic acid (835.2 μg/g extract) as a phenolic acid in bulb extracts of AA-1 had the highest values. The flowers of AA-1 (23.72 mg GAE/g extract) had higher levels of TPC and was the most active sample for antioxidant assays. Cholinesterases and tyrosinase inhibitory activities activities were observed in all samples and the most potent was the bulbs (IC50 2.14, 1.98 μg/mL,) of AA-2 and flowers of AA-1 (62.53 μg/mL), respectively. Lastly, the data were investigated by principal component analysis for statistical analysis. Conclusively, this study determines the correlation between phenolic compounds, antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities of A. atroviolaceum as a functional food and contributes to detailed research of species belonging to the genus of Allium

Spatial probabilistic evaluation of offshore/nearshore sea bottom soils based on cone penetration tests

The inherent variability of soil has a crucial role in reliability-based design, especially for offshore foundations where the variability and uncertainty are more critical due to high costs as compared to the onshore counterparts. In this study, spatial probabilistic evaluation of the characteristics of offshore/nearshore sea bottom soils is performed based on data of 65 cone penetration tests (CPTs), reaching to 200-m depths in seabed soils, in up to 64&nbsp;m of water. The types and typical characteristics of sea bottom soils are reported, together with statistical evaluation. A key parameter for random field theory, the spatial correlation length, based on CPT data is obtained for different soil types, using four different autocovariance functions (exponential, squared exponential, cosine exponential and second-order autoregressive). For these purposes, a MATLAB code is developed to take the CPT data, identify individual soil layers, carry out statistical evaluation of the properties of soils and report the vertical spatial correlation length of each layer using four different autocovariance functions. The undrained shear strength of clays in nearshore and offshore soils increases with depth, at rates of 1 to 3&nbsp;kPa/m. Sands nearshore and offshore have similar relative density that is generally less than 50% (i.e. in loose to medium-dense state). The vertical spatial correlation length based on CPT of all soils is in the range of 0.11&nbsp;m to 0.27&nbsp;m, for all four different autocovariance functions, for all CPT cone tip resistances, sleeve friction and friction ratio, and for all shallow- and deep-water soils. The vertical spatial correlation length of nearshore soils is slightly larger than offshore soils. The results add to the scarce data on the spatial correlation length of offshore soils and can be useful for future studies on reliability and risk assessment of nearshore/offshore foundations.</p

Computational Scaling in Inverse Photonic Design Through Factorization Caching

Inverse design coupled with adjoint optimization is a powerful method to design on-chip nanophotonic devices with multi-wavelength and multi-mode optical functionalities. Although only two simulations are required in each iteration of this optimization process, these simulations still make up the vast majority of the necessary computations, and render the design of complex devices with large footprints computationally infeasible. Here, we introduce a multi-faceted factorization caching approach to drastically simplify the underlying computations in finite-difference frequency-domain (FDFD) simulations, and significantly reduce the time required for device optimization. Specifically, we cache the symbolic and numerical factorizations for the solution of the corresponding system of linear equations in discretized FDFD simulations, and re-use them throughout the entire device design process. As proof-of-concept demonstrations of the resulting computational advantage, we present simulation speedups reaching as high as $9.2\times$ in the design of broadband wavelength and mode multiplexers compared to conventional FDFD methods. We also show that factorization caching scales well over a broad range of footprints independent of the device geometry, from as small as $16{\mu m}^2$ to over $7000 {\mu m}^2$. Our results present significant enhancements in the computational efficiency of inverse photonic design, and can greatly accelerate the use of machine-optimized devices in future photonic systems

Robot yardımlı yürüme eğitiminin serebral palside motor performans üzerine etkisi: Pilot çalışma

Purpose: Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) have significantly impaired motor performance. There are various rehabilitationmethods in rehabilitation in CP. Robot Assisted Gait Training (RAGT) is an alternative rehabilitation system in addition to othertherapies. This study aims to investigate effects of RAGT in children with CP.Methods: Seventeen patients with spastic type CP, mean age 12.83±5.41 years, participated in this study. Muscles’ tone wereassessed with “Modified Ashworth Scale”, motor developmental level was analysed by “Gross Motor Function Scale (GMFM)”,motor performance was assessed by “Gross Motor Performance Measure (GMPM)” balance and coordination was assessedwith “Paediatric Balance Scale (PBS)”. GEO robotic systems designed by Reha-Technology was used in treatment for 10 weeks(45 minutes-3 days a week), which was composed of treadmill and stair training.Results: The level of motor development, motor performance and balance has been detected to change positively at the end ofRAGT (p<0.05).Conclusion: Robotic rehabilitation method such as walking, climbing stairs has a positive effect on the motor performance andthe balance parameters in patients with CP. However, there is not a certain protocol in which to define the level and duration ofapplication of RAGT for these patients.Amaç: Serebral palsili (SP) çocukların motor performansları ciddi derecede bozulmuştur. Sp rehabilitasyonunda pek çok rehabilitasyon metodu kullanılmaktadır. Robot yardımlı yürüyüş eğitimi konvansiyonel rehabilitasyonlara ek olarak uygulanan alternatif bir rehabilitasyon sistemidir. Çalışmanın amacı Robot Yardımlı Yürüyüş Eğitiminin (RYYE) SP’li çocuklarda motor performans üzerine etkisini araştırmaktır. Yöntem: Spastik tip tanılı, 12.83±5.41 yıl yaş ortalamasında olan 17 hasta çalışmaya dahil edildi. Kas tonusu “Modifiye Ashworth Skalası” ile, motor gelişim seviyesi “Kaba Motor Fonksiyon Ölçütü” ile değerlendirildi, Motor performansı değerlendirmek için “Kaba Motor Performans Ölçütü”, denge ve koordinasyonu değerlendirmek amacıyla “Pediatrik Denge Skalası” kullanıldı. Düz zeminde yürüme ve merdiven çıkma olarak iki ayrı modda 10 hafta süreyle haftada 3 gün 45 dk olarak tedavi protokolü uygulandı. Eğitimlerde GEO robotik sistemi (Reha-Technology) kullanıldı. Bulgular: RYYE sonunda motor gelişim seviyesi, motor performans ve denge parametrelerinde anlamlı pozitif değişimler görüldü (p<0.05). Sonuç: Yürüme ve merdiven çıkma gibi aktiviteleri içeren robot destekli rehabilitasyonun motor performans ve denge üzerine olumlu etkileri vardır. Bununla birlikte RYYE’nin serebral palside uygulanabilirliği açısından, uygulamanın seviyesi veya durasyonu ile ilgili olarak belirli bir protokol veya görüş birliği bulunmamaktadır