Alternative Concussion Balance Testing Between Land & Aquatic Athletes

Sports related concussions have been a global and community health issue, with up to 3.8 million occurring in the U.S each year (Langlois et. al. 2006). Impaired postural control is one of the most common symptoms. Balance assessments have been an integral part of concussion analysis to assess if an athlete can return to play (RTP). Swimmers show significant differences in Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) performance compared to a normal population (Sugiura et. al. 2021). PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine if the SEBT (Plisky et. al. 2009) can assess differences in dynamic balance between land and aquatic athletes as a measure of dynamic postural stability in RTP protocols. We hypothesized that land athletes will outperform aquatic athletes on the SEBT. METHODS: Thirty healthy NCAA DIII athletes (13 male, 17 female athletes) volunteered to participate in accordance with the local IRB. Subject height, mass, and leg length were measured. Participants completed the following warm-up: 10 anterior tibialis raises, 10 squats, and 10 single leg Romanian deadlifts on each leg. After a 3-minute recovery, participants proceeded with 3 trials on each leg of the SEBT. Reach in each direction was normalized by leg length and averaged across trials. Paired t-tests in each direction compared land and aquatic athletes (jamovi v2.2.5). Repeated measures ANOVA compared all directions across both groups for each leg. Significance was set at α = 0.05. RESULTS: Athletes were (Mean±SD) 21±1.25 years old, 1.70±0.10 m tall, mass of 73.48±15.95 kg, and leg length of 0.92±0.06m. Both left (F=47.5, p\u3c.001) and right leg (F=52.1, p\u3c.001) revealed differences in directional leg excursions (Fig. 1 & 2). Left leg anteromedial excursions (Fig. 1) were greater for aquatic (85.92%) versus land athletes (81.39%, t(14) = 2.53, p=0.024). CONCLUSION: The SEBT was able to determine differences in excursion direction and between athlete populations. Land and aquatic athletes performed approximately equal in each direction, except for when aquatic athletes reached further in the anteromedial direction with the left leg. In the future, we plan to recruit a larger group and include center of pressure with the SEBT n analysis to further evaluate dynamic postural control as part of pre- and post-concussion protocol

Are there Balance Differences between Aquatic and Land Athletes?

Proficiency in static and dynamic balance tests is an indicator of both athletic proficiency as well as an indicator of movement deficiencies. Those movement deficiencies could be due to a neurological issue related to mild traumatic brain injury (i.e. concussion). Previous studies have studied single leg static balance using the BESS (Balance error scoring system) which is also used by the NCAA to pre-test for concussions (Riemann, 2012). Aquatic athletes could be at a predisposed disadvantage in NCAA concussion testing because there is a possibility of having differences in balance ability (as compared to land athletes) that may be mistaken as concussion-like symptoms. Examining the difference between aquatic and land athletes\u27 balance could help us find a better alternative for concussion testing aquatic athletes. PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine if land and aquatic athletes have different levels of inherent balance. We hypothesized that aquatic athletes would have worse balance compared to land athletes. METHODS: Thirty healthy NCAA DIII athletes (15 aquatic and 15 land athletes) volunteered in accordance with the California Lutheran University IRB. Subjects performed the BESS test while barefoot. Independent t-tests compared BESS scores for the land and aquatic athlete groups (jamovi v2.2.5). Paired samples t-test determined differences between surfaces (flat vs. foam) across the entire group. Significance for all tests was set at α = 0.05. RESULTS: There was no difference between total BESS scores for aquatic (17.13+5.35) versus land athletes (14.86+4.55, t(28)=1.25, p=.221). We found there was a difference in total BESS score between flat (4.3 +2.83) vs. foam (11.7+3.42, t(28) = 10.76, pCONCLUSIONS:The results of this study showed the BESS test is more difficult on a foam surface compared to a solid surface. The comparison of the BESS scores for land versus aquatic athletes could show differences with a larger subject pool as we saw aquatic athletes generally had higher overall BESS score. We plan to further study the BESS test with a larger sample population of athletes in a wider variety of sports

Synthesis and magnetic properties of cobalt-iron/cobalt-ferrite soft/hard magnetic core/shell nanowires

A straightforward method for the synthesis of CoFe2.7/CoFe2O4 core/shell nanowires is described. The proposed method starts with a conventional pulsed electrodeposition procedure on alumina nanoporous template. The obtained CoFe2.7 nanowires are released from the template and allowed to oxidize at room conditions over several weeks. The effects of partial oxidation on the structural and magnetic properties were studied by x-ray spectrometry, magnetometry, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the final nanowires are composed of 5 nm iron-cobalt alloy nanoparticles. Releasing the nanowires at room conditions promoted surface oxidation of the nanoparticles and created a CoFe2O4 shell spinel-like structure. The shell avoids internal oxidation and promotes the formation of bi-magnetic soft/hard magnetic core/shell nanowires. The magnetic properties of both the initial single-phase CoFe2.7 nanowires and the final core/shell nanowires, reveal that the changes in the properties from the array are due to the oxidation more than effects associated with released processes (disorder and agglomeration).Fil: Londoño Calderon, Cesar Leandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Moscoso Londoño, Oscar. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Muraca, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil. Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials. Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory; BrasilFil: Arzuza, Luis. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Carvalho, Peterson. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Pirota, Kleber Roberto. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Knobel, Marcelo. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Pampillo, Laura Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long"; ArgentinaFil: Martinez Garcia, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Formosa. Facultad de Recursos Naturales; Argentin

The optical emission line spectrum of Mark 110

We analyse in detail the rich emission line spectrum of Mark 110 to determine the physical conditions in the nucleus of this object, a peculiar NLS1 without any detectable Fe II emission associated with the broad line region and with a $\lambda5007/H\beta$ line ratio unusually large for a NLS1. We use 24 spectra obtained with the Marcario Low Resolution Spectrograph attached at the prime focus of the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly telescope at the McDonald observatory. We fitted the spectrum by identifying all the emission lines (about 220) detected in the wavelength range 4200-6900 \AA (at rest). The narrow emission lines are probably produced in a region with a density gradient in the range 10$^{3}-10^{6}$ cm$^{-3}$ with a rather high column density (5$\times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$). In addition to a narrow line system, three major broad line systems with different line velocity and width are required. We confirm the absence of broad Fe II emission lines. We speculate that Mark 110 is in fact a BLS1 with relatively "narrow" broad lines but with a BH mass large enough compared to its luminosity to have a lower than Eddington luminosity.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted by A&

Structure, Atomistic Simulations, and Phase Transition of Stoichiometric Yeelimite

ABSTRACT: Yeelimite, Ca4[Al6O12]SO4, is outstanding as an aluminate sodalite, being the framework of these type of materials flexible and dependent on ion sizes and anion ordering/disordering. On the other hand, yeelimite is also important from an applied perspective as it is the most important phase in calcium sulfoaluminate cements. However, its crystal structure is not well studied. Here, we characterize the room temperature crystal structure of stoichiometric yeelimite through joint Rietveld refinement using neutron and Xray powder diffraction data coupled with chemical soft-constraints. Our structural study shows that yeelimite has a lower symmetry than that of the previously reported tetragonal system, which we establish to likely be the acentric orthorhombic space group Pcc2, with a √2a × √2a × a superstructure based on the cubic sodalite structure. Final unit cell values were a = 13.0356(7) Å, b = 13.0350(7) Å, and c = 9.1677(2) Å. We determine several structures using density functional theory calculations, with the lowest energy structure being Pcc2 in agreement with our experimental result. Yeelimite undergoes a reversible phase transition to a higher-symmetry phase which has been characterized to occur at 470 °C by thermodiffractometry. The higher-symmetry phase is likely cubic or pseudocubic possessing an incommensurate superstructure, as suggested by our theoretical calculations which show a phase transition from an orthorhombic to a tetragonal structure. Our theoretical study also predicts a pressure-induced phase transition to a cubic structure of space group I43m. Finally, we show that our reported crystal structure of yeelimite enables better mineralogical phase analysis of commercial calcium sulfoaluminate cements, as shown by RF values for this phase, 6.9% and 4.8% for the previously published orthorhombic structure and for the one reported in this study, respectively.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional. Andalucía Tech

ELLIPSIS AS A MARKER OF INTERACTION IN SPOKEN DISCOURSE

In this article, we discuss strategies for interaction in spoken discourse, focusing on ellipsis phenomena in English. The data comes from the VOICE corpus of English as a Lingua Franca, and we analyse education data in the form of seminar and workshop discussions, working group meetings, interviews and conversations. The functions ellipsis carries in the data are Intersubjectivity, where participants develop and maintain an understanding in discourse; Continuers, which are examples of back channel support; Correction, both self- and other-initiated; Repetition; and Comments, which are similar to Continuers but do not have a back channel support function. We see that the first of these, Intersubjectivity, is by far the most popular, followed by Repetitions and Comments. These results are explained as consequences of the nature of the texts themselves, as some are discussions of presentations and so can be expected to contain many Repetitions, for example. The speech event is also an important factor, as events with asymmetrical power relations like interviews do not contain so many Continuers. Our clear conclusion is that the use of ellipsis is a strong marker of interaction in spoken discourse

The Earth effects on the supernova neutrino spectra

The Earth effects on the energy spectra of supernova neutrinos are studied. We analyze numerically the time-integrated energy spectra of neutrino in a mantle-core-mantle step function model of the Earth's matter density profile. We consider a realistic frame-work in which there are three active neutrinos whose mass squared differences and mixings are constrained by the present understanding of solar and atmospheric neutrinos. We find that the energy spectra change for some allowed mixing parameters. Especially, the expected number of events at SNO shows characteristic behavior with respect to energy, i.e. a great dip and peak. We show that observations of the Earth effect allow us to identify the solar neutrino solution and to probe the mixing angle $\theta_{2}$.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, corrected versio

On Immunologists and Microbiologists: Ground Zero in the Battle for Interdisciplinary Knowledge

The individual disciplines of microbiology and immunology are exploding with new information necessary for understanding host-pathogen relationships, infectious diseases, cancer, and autoimmunity. Because of overlapping scientific interests, immunologists and microbiologists often share common academic affiliations. The coexistence is uneasy. Significant problems arise because the groups have evolved different intellectual traditions. Pressures are intensified by sporadic changes in perceptions of their relative worth. As the mixing of microbiologists and immunologists can be likened to ground zero in the fight for interdisciplinary knowledge, it is useful, at this time of escalating data acquisition and growing appreciation for multidisciplinary research, to examine their histories, the challenges to amalgamation, and the advantages of their association for the advancement of knowledge and the delivery of protection against disease. The exploration supports a recommitment to integration of the disciplines and a proposal to facilitate this by inclusion of expertise bridging the areas