EFFECTS OF BASE OF SUPPORT AND VISUAL FEEDBACK ON STANDING BALANCE IN SUBJECTS WITH ANKLE SPRAIN

INTRODUCTION: Ankle sprain is arguably one of the most common injures in sport and can lead to significant impairment characterized by functional instability of the ankle. Base of support and visual feedback are two of the most important factors influencing the standing balance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of base of support and visual feedback on standing balance in subjects with and without ankle sprain

Remotely sensed mid-channel bar dynamics in downstream of the Three Gorges Dam, China

The downstream reach of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) along the Yangtze River (1560 km) hosts numerous mid-channel bars (MCBs). MCBs dynamics are crucial to the river’s hydrological processes and local ecological function. However, a systematic understanding of such dynamics and their linkage to TGD remains largely unknown. Using Landsat-image-extracted MCBs and several spatial-temporal analysis methods, this study presents a comprehensive understanding of MCB dynamics in terms of number, area, and shape, over downstream of TGD during the period 1985−2018. On average, a total of 140 MCBs were detected and grouped into four types representing small ( 2 km2), middle (2 km2 − 7 km2), large (7 km2 − 33 km2) and extra-large size (>33 km2) MCBs, respectively. MCBs number decreased after TGD closure but most of these happened in the lower reach. The area of total MCBs experienced an increasing trend (2.77 km2/yr, p-value 0.01) over the last three decades. The extra-large MCBs gained the largest area increasing rate than the other sizes of MCBs. Small MCBs tended to become relatively round, whereas the others became elongate in shape after TGD operation. Impacts of TGD operation generally diminished in the longitudinal direction from TGD to Hankou and from TGD to Jiujiang for shape and area dynamics, respectively. The quantified longitudinal and temporal dynamics of MCBs across the entire Yangtze River downstream of TGD provides a crucial monitoring basis for continuous investigation of the changing mechanisms affecting the morphology of the Yangtze River system

BIOMECHANICAL EFFECT OF GROUP EXERCISE PROGRAM USING STABILITY BALL ON THE COUNTER MOVEMENT JUMP

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the training effect of three-month group exercise program using stability ball. Ten female subjects were recruited to join this group exercise class for three months. The biomechanical parameters of counter-movement jump were collected before and after class. The average of maximal jumping height and the take-off velocity have significantly increased after three months. The group exercise program accoring American College of Sport Medicine trainig guideline which was designed in this study was helpful to increase the jump height of counter movement jump and to improve the biomechanical parameters of the landing

Discovery of six high-redshift quasars with the Lijiang 2.4m telescope and the Multiple Mirror Telescope

Quasars with redshifts greater than 4 are rare, and can be used to probe the structure and evolution of the early universe. Here we report the discovery of six new quasars with $i$-band magnitudes brighter than 19.5 and redshifts between 2.4 and 4.6 from the YFOSC spectroscopy of the Lijiang 2.4m telescope in February, 2012. These quasars are in the list of $z>3.6$ quasar candidates selected by using our proposed $J-K/i-Y$ criterion and the photometric redshift estimations from the SDSS optical and UKIDSS near-IR photometric data. Nine candidates were observed by YFOSC, and five among six new quasars were identified as $z>3.6$ quasars. One of the other three objects was identified as a star and the other two were unidentified due to the lower signal-to-noise ratio of their spectra. This is the first time that $z>4$ quasars have been discovered using a telescope in China. Thanks to the Chinese Telescope Access Program (TAP), the redshift of 4.6 for one of these quasars was confirmed by the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) Red Channel spectroscopy. The continuum and emission line properties of these six quasars, as well as their central black hole masses and Eddington ratios, were obtained.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, published in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA) as a lette