Lower Extremity Injury and Y-Balance Scores in Division I Women’s Soccer

The Y-Balance Test (YBT) is a functional, portable assessment used to examine stability and mobility in the lower extremities (LE). However descriptive YBT data and how scores may compare across healthy and previously injured women’s soccer players is scarce but in demand. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the difference in YBT scores in female collegiate-level soccer athletes with and without a recent history of LE injury. METHODS: Twenty-two Division I female soccer players completed a YBT during pre-season. All of the subjects were cleared for testing by the head athletic trainer and the team physician and had no current LE injury precluding them from participating. Players were also asked to self-report if they had experienced a lower extremity injury or surgery in the prior twelve months, which divided the sample into two groups – those who did report having a LE injury in the past 12 months (LEI; n = 13, age = 19.9 ± 1.4 y, height = 166.9 ± 6.9 cm) and those who did not (LEI-N; n = 9, age = 19.8 ± 1.7 y, height = 169.2 ± 7.9 cm). Standardized approaches were used for the YBT to obtain scores for all three directions (anterior, posterior medial, posterior lateral) for both legs, along with the measurement of right and left leg length to determine a composite score for both legs. Descriptive statistics were calculated as mean ± standard deviation. RESULTS: The LEI group had a lower YBT composite score compared to the LEI-N group on the left side (86.0 ± 26.6 vs 90.04 ± 9.1 %) and the right side (85.2 ± 26.4 vs 87.2 ± 8.0 %). CONCLUSION: YBT screening during pre-season may help identify ongoing imbalances in soccer players with a prior LE injury, even after they have been cleared to practice or condition by the sports medicine team. However, ongoing research is needed comparing YBT scores prior to the injury to further support the use of the YBT in this manner

Strength and Mobility Measures in Division I Female Volleyball Student Athletes Across Different Positions

Shoulder internal and external rotation and hand grip measures are commonly used to evaluate upper extremity mobility and strength in college athletes. However, positional differences and their impact on these scores are rarely considered, therefore further research is needed in sports such as volleyball where information on these potential trends is lacking. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify possible differences between strength and mobility measures in female volleyball student-athletes whose responsibilities include hitting (predominantly overhead roles) versus those who are primarily passers and diggers (non-overhead roles). METHODS: Thirteen Division I volleyball student-athletes who volunteered to participate in this study were divided into two groups - hitters (H; age = 19.6 ± 1.5 y, height = 180.7 ± 6.7 cm) and passers (P; age = 19.3 ± 1.2 y, height = 172.0 ± 10.0 cm). Players were tested on their shoulder range of motion (ROM) for internal rotation (IR), external rotation (ER), and flexion using a goniometer. Total ROM was identified as a sum of IR and ER. Hand grip strength was measured in the dominant hand using a hand grip dynamometer. All testing was completed by certified healthcare professionals prior to preseason following clearance by the team physician. Descriptive statistics were calculated as mean ± standard deviations. RESULTS: H had higher total ROM than P in both the right arm (158.6 ± 65.8° vs 144.1 ± 65.8°) and left arm (165.0 ± 67.8° vs 155.7 ± 69.7°). H had higher flexion than P in the right, dominant arm (176.9 ± 7.9° vs 171.5 ± 18.7°), but similar flexion in the left, nondominant arm (180.1 ± 5.6° vs 180.7 ± 3.4°). H and P both had higher than average values for shoulder ROM compared to published normative data. Hand grip strength was also higher in H compared to P (31.6 ± 6.2 kg vs 26.1 ± 2.5 kg). CONCLUSIONS: H displayed greater total ROM in both arms, a higher flexion ROM in their dominant arm than P as well as greater strength in their dominant arm. This emphasizes the importance of mobility and strength in their positional demands, and the need for shoulder stability. This information provides strength and conditioning coaches preliminary information on possible foci for training and areas where further research is still needed

The Bristol Method: Green Capital Student Capital - The power of student sustainability engagement

THE BRISTOL METHODThe Bristol Method is a knowledge-transfer programme aimed at helping people in other cities understand and apply the lessons that Bristol has learned in becoming a more sustainable city, not just in 2015 but in the last decade. Each module of the Bristol Method is presented as an easy-to-digest ‘how to’ guide on a particular topic, which use Bristol’s experiences as a case study. The modules contain generic advice and recommendations that each reader can tailor to their own circumstances.This module focusses on the Green Capital: Student Capital project, and explains how the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE) and the University of Bristol – with their respective students’ unions – have been working in partnership with the city and local communities, using Higher Education Funding Council for England Catalyst funding to promote student involvement in Green Capital activities across Greater Bristol.Student Capital created a broad programme of citywide impact during European Green Capital. It delivered a programme of student and staff engagement in enhancing sustainability within the city and has developed student and staff engagement with sustainability action. Through action research approaches it is also providing lessons for how institutions can collaborate across cities and communities to have internal and external impacts for sustainability. This report is for anyone seeking to increase sustainability engagement. In it we tell the story of the Student Capital project, explaining the processes and the outcomes, and suggesting pieces of advice and lessons for what went well, and what could have been done better or differently

Lower Rates of Heart Failure and All-Cause Hospitalizations During Pulmonary Artery Pressure-Guided Therapy for Ambulatory Heart Failure: One-Year Outcomes From the CardioMEMS Post-Approval Study.

BACKGROUND: Ambulatory hemodynamic monitoring with an implantable pulmonary artery (PA) sensor is approved for patients with New York Heart Association Class III heart failure (HF) and a prior HF hospitalization (HFH) within 12 months. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of PA pressure-guided therapy in routine clinical practice with special focus on subgroups defined by sex, race, and ejection fraction. METHODS: This multi-center, prospective, open-label, observational, single-arm trial of 1200 patients across 104 centers within the United States with New York Heart Association class III HF and a prior HFH within 12 months evaluated patients undergoing PA pressure sensor implantation between September 1, 2014, and October 11, 2017. The primary efficacy outcome was the difference between rates of adjudicated HFH 1 year after compared with the 1 year before sensor implantation. Safety end points were freedom from device- or system-related complications at 2 years and freedom from pressure sensor failure at 2 years. RESULTS: Mean age for the population was 69 years, 37.7% were women, 17.2% were non-White, and 46.8% had preserved ejection fraction. During the year after sensor implantation, the mean rate of daily pressure transmission was 76±24% and PA pressures declined significantly. The rate of HFH was significantly lower at 1 year compared with the year before implantation (0.54 versus 1.25 events/patient-years, hazard ratio 0.43 [95% CI, 0.39-0.47], CONCLUSIONS: In routine clinical practice as in clinical trials, PA pressure-guided therapy for HF was associated with lower PA pressures, lower rates of HFH and all-cause hospitalization, and low rates of adverse events across a broad range of patients with symptomatic HF and prior HFH. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02279888

Pedagogical Agents for Fostering Question-Asking Skills in Children

Question asking is an important tool for constructing academic knowledge, and a self-reinforcing driver of curiosity. However, research has found that question asking is infrequent in the classroom and children's questions are often superficial, lacking deep reasoning. In this work, we developed a pedagogical agent that encourages children to ask divergent-thinking questions, a more complex form of questions that is associated with curiosity. We conducted a study with 95 fifth grade students, who interacted with an agent that encourages either convergent-thinking or divergent-thinking questions. Results showed that both interventions increased the number of divergent-thinking questions and the fluency of question asking, while they did not significantly alter children's perception of curiosity despite their high intrinsic motivation scores. In addition, children's curiosity trait has a mediating effect on question asking under the divergent-thinking agent, suggesting that question-asking interventions must be personalized to each student based on their tendency to be curious.Comment: Accepted at CHI 202

Learning retinoscopy: A journey through problem space

Purpose- Retinoscopy is a skill that requires the integration of procedural skill and declarative knowledge. Whilst the actual technique is simple, retinoscopy is a complex skill to acquire and is one that students often find challenging. This study compared the strategies that novices, third-year students and experts use when performing retinoscopy, with the aim of identifying the key stages of learning that may enlighten teaching practice. Method- This study employed a protocol-based approach in which the verbal protocols and cognitive strategies of novices, students and experts were recorded and then subjected to ‘problem space’ analysis. Results- Clear differences existed when the retinoscopy of novices, students and experts was directly compared using a standardised simulated task. Experts were more accurate in performance and used defined strategies to reach the goal. The presence of these strategies significantly predicted the accuracy of the retinoscopy result. Conclusion- This study highlights the importance of meta-cognitive strategies and the need for an adequate theoretical foundation in skill acquisition. The underpinning knowledge provides a pedagogic tool that specifies activities which are beneficial to learning a clinical skill

INTEGRATING REMOTE SENSING, GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR GEOMORPHOLOGICAL MAPPING IN MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTS

As the integrated use of remote sensing (RS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data for landform mapping in mountain environments increases, there is a need to develop standardised research methods to allow comparison between studies. The methodology presented here uses remote sensing, GPS and GIS for mapping landform features in the mountains of North Wales. The methodology addresses several issues concerned with data integration, including the integration of data sets of different spatial resolution [near-metre level GPS accuracy compared to tens of metres with satellite imagery]. The benefits of using each of the technologies for feature detection at differing scales is also discussed. In addition, the added value of integrating information from the different approaches and its validity in appropriately answering geomorphic questions is considered. The preliminary results of applying this approach to glacial landform mapping in Snowdonia, North Wales are described and a comparison made between geomorphological maps created using this approach and those produced by more traditional techniques. In addition, a number of issues are addressed which are pertinent to extending this approach to the identification and mapping of glacial landforms for the purposes of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and the development of a sediment budget in a Mediterranean mountain environment

How common are ALS plateaus and reversals?

Objective: To determine the frequency of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) plateaus and reversals in the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials (PRO-ACT) database. Methods: We analyzed Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS) and ALSFRS–revised (ALSFRS-R) data from PRO-ACT participants. The frequencies of participants experiencing plateaus (periods where scores did not change) were calculated over 6-, 12-, and 18-month epochs. The percentage of participants ever experiencing reversals (periods where scores improved) of different lengths were also calculated and plotted. Results: Over 6 months, 25% of 3,132 participants did not decline. Over 12 months, 16% of 2,105 participants did not decline. Over 18 months, 7% of 1,218 participants did not decline. Small ALS reversals were also common, especially over shorter follow-up intervals; 14% of 1,343 participants had a 180-day interval where their ALSFRS-R slope was greater than zero. Fewer than 1% of participants ever experienced improvements of 4 or more ALSFRS-R points lasting at least 12 months. Conclusion: ALS plateaus and small reversals are common, especially over brief intervals. In light of these data, stable disease, especially for a short period of time, should not be interpreted as an ALS treatment effect. Large sustained ALS reversals, on the other hand, are rare, potentially important, and warrant further study

Capitalism’s Crises

"The contributors to this volume draw on a non-dogmatic Marxist approach to explain the systemic and conjunctural dynamics of crisis inherent in global capitalism. Their analysis asks what is historically specific to capitalism's crises while avoiding catastrophic or defeatist claims. At the same time the volume situates left agency within actual patterns of resistance and class struggle to clarify the potential for transformative change. The cycle of resistance strengthened by the World Socal Forum and transnational activism is now punctuated by the experience of the Arab Spring, the agency of anti-systemic movements, left think tanks, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, labour unions, left parties in Europe such as Syrizia and Podemos and peoples' budgeting in Kerala, India. On the down side, we are witnessing the waning of the Workers Party in Brazil and serious challenges for South Africa's once powerful labour movement and still formative social justice activism. All these developments are assessed in this volume. This is the second volume in the Democratic Marxism series. It elaborates on crucial themes introduced in the first volume, Marxism in the 21st Century: Crisis, Critique and Struggle (edited by Michelle Williams and Vishwas Satgar).