The effect of active video gaming on children\u27s physical activity, behavior preferences and body composition

Active video game interventions typically provide children a single game that may become unappealing. A peripheral device (jOG) encourages step-powered gaming on multiple games. This trial evaluated the effect of jOG on children’s objectively measured PA, body fat and self-reported behaviors. 42 of 58 eligible children (8–10 y) randomly assigned to an intervention (jOG) or control (CON) completed the trial. Intervention children received two jOG devices for home use. Analyses of covariance compared the intervention effect at 6 and 12 weeks from baseline. No differences were found between groups for counts per minute (CPM; primary outcome) at 6 and 12 weeks (p &gt; .05). Active video gaming increased (adjusted change 0.95 (95% CI 0.25, 1.65) h·d−1, p&lt;.01) and sedentary video gaming decreased (-0.34 (-1.24, 0.56) h·d−1, p &gt; .05) at 6 weeks relative to CON. No body fat changes were observed between groups. Targeted changes in video game use did not positively affect PA. Larger trials are needed to verify the impact of active video games on children’s PA and health.</jats:p

Shear rate normalization is not essential for removing the dependency of flow-mediated dilation on baseline artery diameter: past research revisited.

A ratio index (FMD%) is used ubiquitously to scale (by simple division) brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (Ddiff) in direct proportion to baseline diameter (Dbase). It is now known that Ddiff is inversely proportional to Dbase rendering FMD% wholly inappropriate. Consequently, FMD% is still substantially dependent on Dbase. Although this problem is grounded in statistics, normalization of FMD% for the change in arterial shear rate (ΔSR) has been proposed to remove this Dbase-dependency. It was hypothesized that, if the flow-mediated response is scaled properly to Dbase in the first place, shear rate normalization would not be needed to remove Dbase-dependency. Dedicated software (Digitizelt) was employed to extract the data from a seminal study on FMD% normalization. The underlying allometric relationship between Dbase and peak diameter (Dpeak) was described. The re-analyses revealed that the absolute change in arterial diameter was strongly inversely proportional to Dbase (r= - 0.7, P &lt; 0.0005). The allometric exponent for the Dbase-Dpeak relationship was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.78-0.86) rather than the value of 1 needed for appropriate use of FMD%. The allometric approach completely eliminated the originally reported dependency on Dbase without any need for ΔSR normalization (r=0.0, P=0.96). The correlation between ΔSR and FMD% reduced from 0.69 to 0.37, when adjusted for Dbase. In conclusion, this new re-analysis of data from an influential study demonstrates that the FMD%-Dbase correlation is caused by the inappropriate size-scaling properties of FMD% itself. Removal of Dbase-dependency via FMD%/ΔSR normalization is not essential at all if allometric scaling is applied to isolate the flow-mediated response in the first place. Consequently, the influence of ΔSR on this properly scaled response can also be isolated and quantified accurately without the confounding influence of Dbase

Peak Oxygen Uptake in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis::A Meta-Analysis

To evaluate the magnitude of the difference in VO2peak between patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and apparently healthy controls, 7 databases (Cochrane, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Knowledge, Embase, Scopus, Medline) were searched for articles published up to March 2018. Search terms included “chronic fatigue syndrom*”AND (“peak” OR “maxim*” OR “max”) AND (“oxygen uptake” OR “oxygen consumption” OR “VO2peak” or “VO2max”. Eligibility criteria were adults&gt;18 y with clinically diagnosed CFS/ME, with VO2peak measured in a maximal test and compared against an apparently healthy control group. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using a modified Systematic Appraisal of Quality for Observational Research critical appraisal framework. A random effects meta-analysis was conducted on 32 cross-sectional studies (effects). Pooled mean VO2peak was 5.2 (95% CI: 3.8–6.6) ml.kg−1min−1 lower in CFS/ME patients vs. healthy controls. Between-study variability (Tau) was 3.4 (1.5–4.5) ml.kg−1min−1 indicating substantial heterogeneity. The 95% prediction interval was −1.9 to 12.2 ml.kg−1min−1. The probability that the effect in a future study would be&gt;the minimum clinically important difference of 1.1 ml.kg−1min−1 (in favour of controls) was 0.88 – likely to be clinically relevant. Synthesis of the available evidence indicates that CFS/ME patients have a substantially reduced VO2peak compared to controls

Paced to perfection: Exploring the potential impact of WaveLight Technology in athletics

Athletics is in the midst of a technological revolution, which has had a major impact on endurance running performance. Since 2016, most men’s and women’s world records, from the 5000 m to the Marathon have been broken, while the all-time list of fastest performances has been recalibrated. While much emphasis has been placed on the introduction of the so-called ‘super-shoe’ technology, other innovations may have contributed to these improvements. For instance, when Eliud Kipchoge completed the marathon in under 2-hours in 2019, his race-kit and the course were carefully designed (i.e., long-straight sections and minimal undulations/ curves), but a lesser appreciated innovation was the pacing device that was used. The use of pacing lights represented a key factor in Kipchoge’s performance, and this approach to pacing was translated to international track athletics during 2020. This translation of technology coincided with world record performances in the Men’s 5000 m and 10000 m, and the Women’s 5000 m

The Allen Telescope Array: The First Widefield, Panchromatic, Snapshot Radio Camera for Radio Astronomy and SETI

The first 42 elements of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA-42) are beginning to deliver data at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California. Scientists and engineers are actively exploiting all of the flexibility designed into this innovative instrument for simultaneously conducting surveys of the astrophysical sky and conducting searches for distant technological civilizations. This paper summarizes the design elements of the ATA, the cost savings made possible by the use of COTS components, and the cost/performance trades that eventually enabled this first snapshot radio camera. The fundamental scientific program of this new telescope is varied and exciting; some of the first astronomical results will be discussed.Comment: Special Issue of Proceedings of the IEEE: "Advances in Radio Telescopes", Baars,J. Thompson,R., D'Addario, L., eds, 2009, in pres

Ethical Standards in Sport and Exercise Science Research: 2020 Update

For publication in the International Journal of Sports Medicine (IJSM), studies must have been conducted in accordance with recognised ethical standards and national/international laws. At the very first stage of paper submission, authors are required to confirm that these standards and laws have been adhered to by reading this editorial. Authors who do not provide any information regarding ethical approval will have their manuscripts rejected before it enters the peer-review process, without any option to resubmit.Research opportunities, methods and the contextual environment are continually evolving. While the four basic principles of biomedical ethics are, arguably, timeless [1], changes to data collection processes as well as research designs and settings bring changes to ethical considerations. In the original 2009 IJSM editorial [2], we described the ethical considerations embedded into national/international laws and provided specific guidance on the ethical issues which commonly arise in Sports Medicine research. In 2011, this information was updated to recognise the ethical principles of other professional associations and treaties when conducting research involving human participants [3]. Additional information was also provided on the use of Laboratory Animals in research, and on the links between sample size and research ethics. In the second update [4], published in 2014, we elaborated on the ethical issues relating to the investigation of doping agents; the use of animals for answering research questions that appear to be solely focussed on the enhancement of athletic performance; and sample size in the context of the burden to individual research participants. In 2016, we updated some of the guidelines to account for the changes made to the Declaration of Helsinki in 2013, covered the use of social media in research, provided guidance on how researchers can feed back their incidental and pertinent findings to research participants, covered some of the issues relating to studies involving children, and outlined the difference between a full and pilot study in terms of desired number of participants [5]. In the last update (2018), we clarified issues surrounding the use of a gatekeeper for accessing personal data on participants, as well as issues surrounding consent and the associated information to participants [6]. We covered other issues including, breaches of confidentiality, use of personal identifiable information, open access data and secondary analysis of data. We also highlighted the important considerations for use of placebos and research involving participant deception.In this, our new update for 2020 onwards, we provide the following revisions and additions; More detail on how to ensure consent/assent is truly informed. More detail on issues in secondary data analysis projects, and in particular research using data already collected from athletes as part of their contractual obligations with club and/or country. More detail on factors to consider when undertaking pre-study risk analysis and in study design. Information on the application of the Principle of Justice [7]; with particular regard to gender imbalance in sampling. Minor text changes to correct typographic errors and to clarify statements carried forward from previous versions. Minor changes to the order and layout to enhance readability and usability and reduce areas of overlap.<br/

Primary Beam and Dish Surface Characterization at the Allen Telescope Array by Radio Holography

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a cm-wave interferometer in California, comprising 42 antenna elements with 6-m diameter dishes. We characterize the antenna optical accuracy using two-antenna interferometry and radio holography. The distortion of each telescope relative to the average is small, with RMS differences of 1 percent of beam peak value. Holography provides images of dish illumination pattern, allowing characterization of as-built mirror surfaces. The ATA dishes can experience mm-scale distortions across -2 meter lengths due to mounting stresses or solar radiation. Experimental RMS errors are 0.7 mm at night and 3 mm under worst case solar illumination. For frequencies 4, 10, and 15 GHz, the nighttime values indicate sensitivity losses of 1, 10 and 20 percent, respectively. The ATA.s exceptional wide-bandwidth permits observations over a continuous range 0.5 to 11.2 GHz, and future retrofits may increase this range to 15 GHz. Beam patterns show a slowly varying focus frequency dependence. We probe the antenna optical gain and beam pattern stability as a function of focus and observation frequency, concluding that ATA can produce high fidelity images over a decade of simultaneous observation frequencies. In the day, the antenna sensitivity and pointing accuracy are affected. We find that at frequencies greater than 5 GHz, daytime observations greater than 5 GHz will suffer some sensitivity loss and it may be necessary to make antenna pointing corrections on a 1 to 2 hourly basis.Comment: 19 pages, 23 figures, 3 tables, Authors indicated by an double dagger ({\ddag}) are affiliated with the SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 95070. Authors indicated by a section break ({\S}) are affiliated with the Hat Creek Radio Observatory and/or the Radio Astronomy Laboratory, both affiliated with the University of California Berkeley, Berkeley C

The Allen Telescope Array Pi GHz Sky Survey I. Survey Description and Static Catalog Results for the Bootes Field

The Pi GHz Sky Survey (PiGSS) is a key project of the Allen Telescope Array. PiGSS is a 3.1 GHz survey of radio continuum emission in the extragalactic sky with an emphasis on synoptic observations that measure the static and time-variable properties of the sky. During the 2.5-year campaign, PiGSS will twice observe ~250,000 radio sources in the 10,000 deg^2 region of the sky with b > 30 deg to an rms sensitivity of ~1 mJy. Additionally, sub-regions of the sky will be observed multiple times to characterize variability on time scales of days to years. We present here observations of a 10 deg^2 region in the Bootes constellation overlapping the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey field. The PiGSS image was constructed from 75 daily observations distributed over a 4-month period and has an rms flux density between 200 and 250 microJy. This represents a deeper image by a factor of 4 to 8 than we will achieve over the entire 10,000 deg^2. We provide flux densities, source sizes, and spectral indices for the 425 sources detected in the image. We identify ~100$ new flat spectrum radio sources; we project that when completed PiGSS will identify 10^4 flat spectrum sources. We identify one source that is a possible transient radio source. This survey provides new limits on faint radio transients and variables with characteristic durations of months.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; revision submitted with extraneous figure remove