An Assessment of Ankle Stability in Elite Rugby Union

The aim of the study was to assess dynamic postural stability and the perceived chronic ankle instability (CAI) in a population of elite rugby union players, and to examine the relationship between these two measures. Thirty-three professional rugby players undertook the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) as well as dynamic postural control testing using the Y-balance test (YBT). Significant differences of between-limb performance in the posterolateral direction on the YBT were seen for those athletes reporting perceived CAI in one or both ankles when compared to no perceived CAI (p = 0.00). These findings suggest poorer lateral dynamic postural control at the ankle in those athletes who identify as having CAI. By administering these tools together, the study suggests that we are able to identify athletes who may benefit from targeted intervention programs to address compromised ankle stability and potential CAI progression

Monoamines, Individual Decisons, and Collective-Organization of Pavement Ant Wars

Disertação de mestrado em Relações Internacionais, apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob a orientação de José Manuel Pureza e Reginaldo Mattar Nasser.O conflito Israelense-Palestino é analisado de forma crítica nessa dissertação, com destaque para o contexto político e econômico do processo de paz de Oslo. No plano conceitual, o aspecto crítico é utilizado como uma forma de desconstrução teórica do modelo da paz liberal e do discurso da paz pelo comércio como um meio de resolução do conflito Israelense-Palestino. O objetivo dessa dissertação é, portanto, demonstrar que o processo de paz instaurado pelos Acordos de Oslo de 1993 está associado a um processo de privatização da paz no conflito Israelense-Palestino, e que teve origem nas reformas neoliberais ocorridas em Israel a partir de 1985. Desta forma, destacados empresários israelenses e palestinos passaram a formar um lobby privatista pela paz no conflito Israelense-Palestino. Pretende-se também demonstrar que o processo da paz de Oslo resultou em uma intensificação da dependência econômica palestina em relação a Israel, gerando uma situação de deterioração econômica nos territórios palestinos. Essa agenda negativa gerou uma crescente insatisfação palestina contra a dominação colonialista israelense, o que levou à eclosão da primeira intifada em 1987 e ao surgimento do Hamas em 1988, gerando um processo de fragmentação política nos territórios palestinos entre o partido tradicional Fatah e o grupo de resistência islâmica Hamas. A disputa pela hegemonia na política palestina se deu, entre outros fatores, por conta da má gestão do Fatah no comando da Autoridade Nacional Palestina (ANP), envolvendo casos de corrupção em torno de uma elite política e econômica disposta a reproduzir o neoliberalismo como modelo de desenvolvimento econômico nos territórios palestinos. Desta forma, o Hamas passou a promover um intenso ativismo social perante os palestinos e a resistir de forma violenta à dominação colonialista israelense nos territórios palestinos. Portanto, o processo de paz de Oslo está associado nesta dissertação a um contexto de deterioração econômica e de fragmentação política palestina, e ao processo de privatização da paz no conflito Israelense-Palestino

Higher Education and Reentry: The Gifts They Bring

This study explores the lived experiences of people with criminal justice histories as they attend and contemplate enrolling in college. The report highlights the journeys of these students and considers a number of important questions: What does it take for people with criminal justice histories to successfully transform the trajectory of their lives? What are the obstacles they face? What affirmative steps can we take to make our public and private colleges and universities more welcoming to this growing population of students

The Value of the Keck Observatory to NASA and Its Scientific Community

Over the last 13 years, NASA and its astrophysics and planetary science communities have greatly benefited from access to the Keck Observatory, the world’s largest optical/infrared telescopes. Studies using NASA Keck time have ranged from observations of the closest solar system bodies to discoveries of many of the known extrasolar planets. Observations at Keck have supported spaceflight missions to Mercury and the technology development of the James Webb Space Telescope. Access to Keck for the NASA community is an extremely cost effective method for NASA to meet its strategic goals and we encourage NASA to continue its long-term partnership with the Keck Observatory

The MASSIVE Survey - XII Connecting Stellar Populations of Early-Type Galaxies to Kinematics and Environment

We measure the stellar populations as a function of radius for 90 early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the MASSIVE survey, a volume-limited integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) galaxy survey targeting all northern-sky ETGs with absolute K-band magnitude M_K < -25.3 mag, or stellar mass M* 4x10^11 M_sun, within 108 Mpc. We are able to measure reliable stellar population parameters for individual galaxies out to 10-20 kpc (1-3 R_e) depending on the galaxy. Focusing on ~R_e (~10 kpc), we find significant correlations between the abundance ratios, sigma, and M* at large radius, but we also find that the abundance ratios saturate in the highest-mass bin. We see a strong correlation between the kurtosis of the line of sight velocity distribution (h4) and the stellar population parameters beyond R_e. Galaxies with higher radial anisotropy appear to be older, with metal-poorer stars and enhanced [alpha/Fe]. We suggest that the higher radial anisotropy may derive from more accretion of small satellites. Finally, we see some evidence for correlations between environmental metrics (measured locally and on >5 Mpc scales) and the stellar populations, as expected if satellites are quenched earlier in denser environments.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, Appendix not included here due to size constraints. Posted after responding to referee's comment

Assessing unmodified 70-mer oligonucleotide probe performance on glass-slide microarrays

BACKGROUND: Long oligonucleotide microarrays are potentially more cost- and management-efficient than cDNA microarrays, but there is little information on the relative performance of these two probe types. The feasibility of using unmodified oligonucleotides to accurately measure changes in gene expression is also unclear. RESULTS: Unmodified sense and antisense 70-mer oligonucleotides representing 75 known rat genes and 10 Arabidopsis control genes were synthesized, printed and UV cross-linked onto glass slides. Printed alongside were PCR-amplified cDNA clones corresponding to the same genes, enabling us to compare the two probe types simultaneously. Our study was designed to evaluate the mRNA profiles of heart and brain, along with Arabidopsis cRNA spiked into the labeling reaction at different relative copy number. Hybridization signal intensity did not correlate with probe type but depended on the extent of UV irradiation. To determine the effect of oligonucleotide concentration on hybridization signal, 70-mers were serially diluted. No significant change in gene-expression ratio or loss in hybridization signal was detected, even at the lowest concentration tested (6.25 μm). In many instances, signal intensity actually increased with decreasing concentration. The correlation coefficient between oligonucleotide and cDNA probes for identifying differentially expressed genes was 0.80, with an average coefficient of variation of 13.4%. Approximately 8% of the genes showed discordant results with the two probe types, and in each case the cDNA results were more accurate, as determined by real-time PCR. CONCLUSIONS: Microarrays of UV cross-linked unmodified oligonucleotides provided sensitive and specific measurements for most of the genes studied

Oriented attachment of VNAR proteins, Q2 via site-selective modification, on PLGA–PEG nanoparticles enhances nanoconjugate performance

This work was partially funded through a US-Ireland R&D Partnership grant (STL/5010/14, MRC grant MC_PC_15013). JCFN is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme under Marie-Curie grant agreement 675007. We acknowledge UCL Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility (Dr K. Karu/Dr X. Yang).Peer reviewedPublisher PDFsupplementary_dat

In-hospital versus out-of-hospital presentation of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias predicts survival Results from the AVID registry

AbstractOBJECTIVESThis study describes the outcomes of patients from the Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators (AVID) Study Registry to determine how the location of ventricular arrhythmia presentation influences survival.BACKGROUNDMost studies of cardiac arrest report outcome following out-of-hospital resuscitation. In contrast, there are minimal data on long-term outcome following in-hospital cardiac arrest.METHODSThe AVID Study was a multicenter, randomized comparison of drug and defibrillator strategies to treat life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. A Registry was maintained of all patients with sustained ventricular arrhythmias at each study site. The present study includes patients who had AVID-eligible arrhythmias, both randomized and not randomized. Patients with in-hospital and out-of-hospital presentations are compared. Data on long-term mortality were obtained through the National Death Index.RESULTSThe unadjusted mortality rates at one- and two-year follow-ups were 23% and 31.1% for patients with in-hospital presentations, and 10.5% and 16.8% for those with out-of-hospital presentations (p < 0.001), respectively. The adjusted mortality rates at one- and two-year follow-ups were 14.8% and 20.9% for patients with in-hospital presentations, and 8.4% and 14.1% for those with out-of-hospital presentations (p < 0.001), respectively. The adjusted long-term relative risk for in-hospital versus out-of-hospital presentation was 1.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3–1.9).CONCLUSIONSCompared with patients with out-of-hospital presentations of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias not due to a reversible cause, patients with in-hospital presentations have a worse long-term prognosis. Because location of ventricular arrhythmia presentation is an independent predictor of long-term outcome, it should be considered as an element of risk stratification and when planning clinical trials