1,306 research outputs found
Neuromuscular adaptations to different set configurations during a periodized power training block in elite junior Judokas
Although the impacts of traditional sets (TS) versus cluster (CL) sets resistance training have been broadly explored among recreationally trained populations, no studies have previously compared these set configurations among elite Judokas. Twenty-two elite male and female Judokas (age = 17.5 ± 1.2 years) performed identical periodized 4-week hypertrophy and strength blocks (8 weeks in total). Following this, for the final 4-week power training block, the cohort was separated into either TS (n = 11) or CL (n = 11) set structures. CL were prescribed by including 45-second intra-set rest every two repetitions. One-repetition maximum (1RM) and peak barbell velocities of the back squat and bench press, and countermovement (CMJ) jump height were assessed before and following each 4-week mesocycle. Significant strength and power improvements were observed after the 4-week hypertrophy training block (1RM bench press = Δ 3.82 kg, ES [95 % CI] = 1.34 [0.76, 1.93], p \u3c 0.001; 1RM squat = Δ 4.71 kg, ES = 0.52 [0.07, 0.96], p = 0.024; CMJ height = Δ 0.54 cm, ES = 0.62 [0.16, 1.07], p = 0.008) and after the 4-week maximal strength training block (1RM bench press = Δ 1.5 kg, ES = 0.68 [0.21, 1.41], p = 0.004; 1RM squat = Δ 5.47 kg, ES = 0.61 [0.15, 1.06], p = 0.010; CMJ height = Δ 0.45 cm, ES = 0.71 [0.23, 1.17], p = 0.003). However, no time × group differences were observed between the TS and CL groups following the 4-week power training block. Though traditional periodized resistance training improved neuromuscular qualities of elite junior Judokas, no between-group neuromuscular differences using either TS or CL suggests that both methods may be used as part of periodized training programs
Exergaming as a viable therapeutic tool to improve static and dynamic balance among older adults and people with idiopathic Parkinson\u27s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The use of virtual reality games (known as "exergaming") as a neurorehabilitation tool is gaining interest. Therefore, we aim to collate evidence for the effects of exergaming on the balance and postural control of older adults and people with idiopathic Parkinson\u27s disease (IPD). Six electronic databases were searched, from inception to April 2015, to identify relevant studies. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to calculate effect sizes between experimental and control groups. I (2) statistics were used to determine levels of heterogeneity. 325 older adults and 56 people with IPD who were assessed across 11 -studies. The results showed that exergaming improved static balance (SMD 1.069, 95% CI 0.563-1.576), postural control (SMD 0.826, 95% CI 0.481-1.170), and dynamic balance (SMD -0.808, 95% CI -1.192 to -0.424) in healthy older adults. Two IPD studies showed an improvement in static balance (SMD 0.124, 95% CI -0.581 to 0.828) and postural control (SMD 2.576, 95% CI 1.534-3.599). Our findings suggest that exergaming might be an appropriate therapeutic tool for improving balance and postural control in older adults, but more -large-scale trials are needed to determine if the same is true for people with IPD
Computational Methods for Failure Analysis and Life Prediction
This conference publication contains the presentations and discussions from the joint UVA/NASA Workshop on Computational Methods for Failure Analysis and Life Prediction held at NASA Langley Research Center 14-15 Oct. 1992. The presentations focused on damage failure and life predictions of polymer-matrix composite structures. They covered some of the research activities at NASA Langley, NASA Lewis, Southwest Research Institute, industry, and universities. Both airframes and propulsion systems were considered
Spitzer Analysis of HII Region Complexes in the Magellanic Clouds: Determining a Suitable Monochromatic Obscured Star Formation Indicator
HII regions are the birth places of stars, and as such they provide the best
measure of current star formation rates (SFRs) in galaxies. The close proximity
of the Magellanic Clouds allows us to probe the nature of these star forming
regions at small spatial scales. We aim to determine the monochromatic IR band
that most accurately traces the bolometric IR flux (TIR), which can then be
used to estimate an obscured SFR. We present the spatial analysis, via
aperture/annulus photometry, of 16 LMC and 16 SMC HII region complexes using
the Spitzer IRAC and MIPS bands. UV rocket data and SHASSA H-alpha data are
also included. We find that nearly all of the LMC and SMC HII region SEDs peak
around 70um, from ~10 to ~400 pc from the central sources. As a result, the
sizes of HII regions as probed by 70um is approximately equal to the sizes as
probed by TIR (about 70 pc in radius); the radial profile of the 70um flux,
normalized by TIR, is constant at all radii (70um ~ 0.45 TIR); the 1-sigma
standard deviation of the 70um fluxes, normalized by TIR, is a lower fraction
of the mean (0.05 to 0.12 out to ~220 pc) than the normalized 8, 24, and 160um
normalized fluxes (0.12 to 0.52); and these results are invariant between the
LMC and SMC. From these results, we argue that 70um is the most suitable IR
band to use as a monochromatic obscured star formation indicator because it
most accurately reproduces the TIR of HII regions in the LMC and SMC and over
large spatial scales. We also explore the general trends of the 8, 24, 70, and
160um bands in the LMC and SMC HII region SEDs, radial surface brightness
profiles, sizes, and normalized (by TIR) radial flux profiles. We derive an
obscured SFR equation that is modified from the literature to use 70um
luminosity, SFR(Mo/yr) = 9.7(0.7)x10^{-44} L(70)(ergs/s), which is applicable
from 10 to 300 pc distance from the center of an HII region.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables. Will be published in ApJ
Dust Production and Mass Loss in the Galactic Globular Cluster NGC 362
We investigate dust production and stellar mass loss in the Galactic globular
cluster NGC 362. Due to its close proximity to the Small Magellanic Cloud
(SMC), NGC 362 was imaged with the IRAC and MIPS cameras onboard the Spitzer
Space Telescope as part of the Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution
(SAGE-SMC) Spitzer Legacy program. We detect several cluster members near the
tip of the Red Giant Branch that exhibit infrared excesses indicative of
circumstellar dust and find that dust is not present in measurable quantities
in stars below the tip of the Red Giant Branch. We modeled the spectral energy
distribution (SED) of the stars with the strongest IR excess and find a total
cluster dust mass-loss rate of 3.0(+2.0/-1.2) x 10^-9 solar masses per year,
corresponding to a gas mass-loss rate of 8.6(+5.6/-3.4) x 10^-6 solar masses
per year, assuming [Fe/H] = -1.16. This mass loss is in addition to any
dust-less mass loss that is certainly occurring within the cluster. The two
most extreme stars, variables V2 and V16, contribute up to 45% of the total
cluster dust-traced mass loss. The SEDs of the more moderate stars indicate the
presence of silicate dust, as expected for low-mass, low-metallicity stars.
Surprisingly, the SED shapes of the stars with the strongest mass-loss rates
appear to require the presence of amorphous carbon dust, possibly in
combination with silicate dust, despite their oxygen-rich nature. These results
corroborate our previous findings in omega Centauri.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Accepted to Ap
VLT diffraction-limited imaging at 11 and 18 micron of the nearest active galactic nuclei
Mid-infrared imaging at resolutions of 300 mas of the central kpc region of
13 nearby, well-known active galaxies is presented. The bulk of the mid-IR
emission is concentrated on an unresolved central source within a size of less
than 5 to 130 pc, depending on the object distance. Further resolved emission
is detected in 70% of the sample in the form of circumnuclear star-forming
rings or diffuse nuclear extended emission. In the three cases with
circumnuclear star formation, the stellar contribution is at least as important
as that of the AGN. In those with extended nuclear emission -- a third of the
sample -- this emission represents a few per cent of the total measured;
however, this contribution may be underestimated because of the chopped nature
of these observations. This extended emission is generally collimated in a
preferential direction often coinciding with that of the extended ionized gas
or the jet.
In all cases, the nuclear fluxes measured at 11.8 and 18.7 micron represent a
minor contribution of the flux levels measured by large aperture IRAS data at
the nearest energy bands of 12 and 25 micron. This contribution ranges from 30%
to less than 10%. In only three cases do the AGN fluxes agree with IRAS to
within a factor of 2. In the AGNs with strong circumnuclear star formation,
this component can well account for most of the IRAS flux measured in these
objects. But in all other cases, either a low surface brightness component
extending over galactic scales or strong extra-nuclear IR sources -- e.g. HII
regions in spiral arms -- have to be the main source of the IRAS emission. In
either case, the contribution of these components dwarfs that of the AGN at
mid-IR wavelengths.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Does Stellar Feedback Create HI Holes? An HST/VLA Study of Holmberg II
We use deep HST/ACS F555W and F814W photometry of resolved stars in the M81
Group dwarf irregular galaxy Ho II to study the hypothesis that the holes
identified in the neutral ISM (HI) are created by stellar feedback. From the
deep photometry, we construct color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and measure the
star formation histories (SFHs) for stars contained in HI holes from two
independent holes catalogs, as well as select control fields, i.e., similar
sized regions that span a range of HI column densities. Converting the recent
SFHs into stellar feedback energies, we find that enough energy has been
generated to have created all holes. However, the required energy is not always
produced over a time scale that is less than the estimated kinematic age of the
hole. The combination of the CMDs, recent SFHs, and locations of young stars
shows that the stellar populations inside HI holes are not coherent,
single-aged, stellar clusters, as previously suggested, but rather multi-age
populations distributed across each hole. From a comparison of the modeled and
observed integrated magnitudes, and the locations and energetics of stars
inside of HI holes, we propose a potential new model: a viable mechanism for
creating the observed HI holes in Ho II is stellar feedback from multiple
generations of SF spread out over tens or hundreds of Myr, and thus, the
concept of an age for an HI hole is intrinsically ambiguous. We further find
that \halpha and 24 micron emission, tracers of the most recent star formation,
do not correlate well with the positions of the HI holes. However, UV emission,
which traces star formation over roughly the last 100 Myr, shows a much better
correlation with the locations of the HI holes.Comment: Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 28 Pages, 31
Figures, a version of this paper with full resolution figures is available at
http://homepages.spa.umn.edu/~dweisz/ho_ii_weisz.pd
Poverty and mental health: the work of the female sanitary inspectors in Bradford (c. 1901–1912)
This is the final version of the article. Available from Palgrave Macmillan via the DOI in this record.Although there are many excellent studies of the work of pioneer women
public health officers, few accounts dwell on mental health issues or discuss any relationship
that such staff might have understood to exist between poverty and mental health in the early
twentieth century. This is a remarkable omission considering that social and feminist historians
have highlighted the problems created by the way early practitioners sought to
manage poverty and arguably the poor. Drawing on records created by Female Sanitary
Inspectors (FSIs) in Bradford, this study chronicles distressing economic and social conditions
but also reveals encounters between the staff and people experiencing mental health problems
and mental health crises. The ways in which the FSIs chose to both make and deny
links between the abject poverty witnessed in the slum districts and cases of mental disorder
forms an important strand to the analysis that follows. Interestingly, it is the well-being of the
staff that emerges as a persistent and even over-riding concern.This work was generously supported by Wellcome Trust Grant 074999. This was a personal fellowship entitled 'The Medical Officer of Health and the Organisation of Health Visiting as a Comprehensive Community Health Service, 1906-1974'
Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Py-Im Polyamides
Microwave synthesis was utilized to rapidly build Py-Im polyamides in high yields and purity using Boc-protection chemistry on Kaiser oxime resin. A representative polyamide targeting the 5′-WGWWCW-3′ (W = A or T) subset of the consensus Androgen and Glucocorticoid Response Elements was synthesized in 56% yield after 20 linear steps and HPLC purification. It was confirmed by Mosher amide derivatization of the polyamide that a chiral α-amino acid does not racemize after several additional coupling steps
Prevalence and incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome in US working populations: pooled analysis of six prospective studies
OBJECTIVES: Most studies of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) incidence and prevalence among workers have been limited by small sample sizes or restricted to a small subset of jobs. We established a common CTS case definition and then pooled CTS prevalence and incidence data across six prospective studies of musculoskeletal outcomes to measure CTS frequency and allow better studies of etiology. METHODS: Six research groups collected prospective data at >50 workplaces including symptoms characteristic of CTS and electrodiagnostic studies (EDS) of the median and ulnar nerves across the dominant wrist. While study designs and the timing of data collection varied across groups, we were able to create a common CTS case definition incorporating both symptoms and EDS results from data that were collected in all studies. RESULTS: At the time of enrollment, 7.8% of 4321 subjects met our case definition and were considered prevalent cases of CTS. During 8833 person-years of follow-up, an additional 204 subjects met the CTS case definition for an overall incidence rate of 2.3 CTS cases per 100 person-years. CONCLUSIONS: Both prevalent and incident CTS were common in data pooled across multiple studies and sites. The large number of incident cases in this prospective study provides adequate power for future exposure– response analyses to identify work- and non-work-related risk factors for CTS. The prospective nature allows determination of the temporal relations necessary for causal inference
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