Exploring Referee Abuse Through the Lens of the Collegiate Rugby Coach

Referees are a valuable contributor to the legitimacy of a sporting contest. Despite this, abuse in sport has become a growing concern and is regularly noted as an obstacle with which referees must contend. Continued abuses have been associated with referee discontinuation and have been noted as a key factor influencing the recruitment and retention of referees. Sporting organizations, coaches, and players all feel the impact when there is an inadequate supply of referees. Though the continuance of the referee is related to the continuance of the sport itself, little research has focused on the referee.Further, the studies that have considered referee abuse have focused only on the perspective of the referee seemingly ignoring the perceptions of other sporting stakeholders. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of referee abuse through the lens of the collegiate rugby coach. Through a phenomenological research design utilizing semi-structured telephone interviews, the topic of referee abuse in rugby was explored. Purposive sampling allowed for a selection of participants that had adequate knowledge of the phenomenon under investigation. Participants were solicited via USA Rugby utilizing a pre-scripted email provided by the researcher. During the data collection phase, saturation was reached as 15 participants completed two phone interviews. The findings, derived from participant data, identified 12 themes that addressed coach perceptions of referee abuse, the multitude of factors that impact perceptions of abuse, and numerous coach-generated solutions to help curtail the abuse of referees. From these findings, an Ecological Transactional Model of Factors Influencing Referee Abuse is proposed. This model categorizes the factors influencing referee abuse into various ecological levels, beginning with an individual’s personal characteristics (the ontological level) and continuing through their cultural existence (the macrosystem). The model suggests that these factors influence both perceptions of referee abuse and the solutions generated regarding referee abuse. The transactional portion of this model also highlights the interaction between various levels of one’s environment, proposing that the influences of numerous factors may exist at one time and that each of these factors may also influence one another. Future research is required to explore referee abuse in other contexts and to illuminate the perceptions of referee abuse through the lenses of additional sporting stakeholders. Recommendations for such research include the application of this proposed model to other sporting contexts, the consideration of generational differences on abuse perceptions, and a further exploration of cultural differences as related to perceptions of abuse. Violence prevention is currently a primary focus in many realms, including the entertainment industry, higher education, and sport. Studies of this nature help to ensure that referee abuse is included in the ongoing dialogue regarding violence prevention in sport

Gastrointestinal nematode-derived antigens alter colorectal cancer cell proliferation and migration through regulation of cell cycle and epithelial-mesenchymal transition proteins

As the global incidences of colorectal cancer rises, there is a growing importance in understanding the interaction between external factors, such as common infections, on the initiation and progression of this disease. While certain helminth infections have been shown to alter the severity and risk of developing colitis-associated colorectal cancer, whether these parasites can directly affect colorectal cancer progression is unknown. Here, we made use of murine and human colorectal cancer cell lines to demonstrate that exposure to antigens derived from the gastrointestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus significantly reduced colorectal cancer cell proliferation in vitro. Using a range of approaches, we demonstrate that antigen-dependent reductions in cancer cell proliferation and viability are associated with increased expression of the critical cell cycle regulators p53 and p21. Interestingly, H. polygyrus-derived antigens significantly increased murine colorectal cancer cell migration, which was associated with an increased expression of the adherens junction protein β-catenin, whereas the opposite was true for human colorectal cancer cells. Together, these findings demonstrate that antigens derived from a gastrointestinal nematode can significantly alter colorectal cancer cell behavior. Further in-depth analysis may reveal novel candidates for targeting and treating late-stage cancer

The Strength of Community: The Role of Social Support Networks in Sport Officials’ Retention

Previous researchers have indicated that a sense of community and social support are vital to referee retention; however, little is known about the connection between specific characteristics of sports officials’ networks and retention. To better understand the sports officiating shortage, researchers explored the social support networks of 116 referees utilizing egocentric network analysis. The authors suggest that retention of sports officials depends on the interpersonal ties and network structures within which the referees are embedded. Specifically, resulting hierarchical models confirmed that retention relationships among officials are a multilevel phenomenon, and that outside communication and community were vital network characteristics that fostered retention relationships. Network size, tenure, and the officiating level also were significant when considering an official’s network and its impact on retention. Areas for future research and suggestions for referee managers are presented

The Open Source GAITOR Suite for Rodent Gait Analysis

Locomotive changes are often associated with disease or injury, and these changes can be quantified through gait analysis. Gait analysis has been applied to preclinical studies, providing quantitative behavioural assessment with a reasonable clinical analogue. However, available gait analysis technology for small animals is somewhat limited. Furthermore, technological and analytical challenges can limit the effectiveness of preclinical gait analysis. The Gait Analysis Instrumentation and Technology Optimized for Rodents (GAITOR) Suite is designed to increase the accessibility of preclinical gait analysis to researchers, facilitating hardware and software customization for broad applications. Here, the GAITOR Suite’s utility is demonstrated in 4 models: a monoiodoacetate (MIA) injection model of joint pain, a sciatic nerve injury model, an elbow joint contracture model, and a spinal cord injury model. The GAITOR Suite identified unique compensatory gait patterns in each model, demonstrating the software’s utility for detecting gait changes in rodent models of highly disparate injuries and diseases. Robust gait analysis may improve preclinical model selection, disease sequelae assessment, and evaluation of potential therapeutics

Clustering Trajectories for Map Construction

We propose a new approach for constructing the underlying map from trajectory data. Our algorithm is based on the idea that road segments can be identified as stable subtrajectory clusters in the data. For this, we consider how subtrajectory clusters evolve for varying distance values, and choose stable values for these. In doing so we avoid a global proximity parameter. Within trajectory clusters, we choose representatives, which are combined to form the map. We experimentally evaluate our algorithm on vehicle and hiking tracking data. These experiments demonstrate that our approach can naturally separate roads that run close to each other and can deal with outliers in the data, two issues that are notoriously difficult in road network reconstruction

Taenia larvae possess distinct acetylcholinesterase profiles with implications for host cholinergic signalling

Larvae of the cestodes Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps infect the central nervous system of humans. Taenia solium larvae in the brain cause neurocysticercosis, the leading cause of adult-acquired epilepsy worldwide. Relatively little is understood about how cestode-derived products modulate host neural and immune signalling. Acetylcholinesterases, a class of enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, are produced by a host of parasitic worms to aid their survival in the host. Acetylcholine is an important signalling molecule in both the human nervous and immune systems, with powerful modulatory effects on the excitability of cortical networks. Therefore, it is important to establish whether cestode derived acetylcholinesterases may alter host neuronal cholinergic signalling. Here we make use of multiple techniques to profile acetylcholinesterase activity in different extracts of both Taenia crassiceps and Taenia solium larvae. We find that the larvae of both species contain substantial acetylcholinesterase activity. However, acetylcholinesterase activity is lower in Taenia solium as compared to Taenia crassiceps larvae. Further, whilst we observed acetylcholinesterase activity in all fractions of Taenia crassiceps larvae, including on the membrane surface and in the excreted/secreted extracts, we could not identify acetylcholinesterases on the membrane surface or in the excreted/secreted extracts of Taenia solium larvae. Bioinformatic analysis revealed conservation of the functional protein domains in the Taenia solium acetylcholinesterases, when compared to the homologous human sequence. Finally, using whole-cell patch clamp recordings in rat hippocampal brain slice cultures, we demonstrate that Taenia larval derived acetylcholinesterases can break down acetylcholine at a concentration which induces changes in neuronal signalling. Together, these findings highlight the possibility that Taenia larval acetylcholinesterases can interfere with cholinergic signalling in the host, potentially contributing to pathogenesis in neurocysticercosis

Phantasia - the psychological significance of lifelong visual imagery vividness extremes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordVisual imagery typically enables us to see absent items in the mind’s eye. It plays a role in memory, day-dreaming and creativity. Since coining the terms aphantasia and hyperphantasia to describe the absence and abundance of visual imagery, we have been contacted by many thousands of people with extreme imagery abilities. Questionnaire data from 2000 participants with aphantasia and 200 with hyperphantasia indicate that aphantasia is associated with scientific and mathematical occupations, whereas hyperphantasia is associated with ‘creative’ professions. Participants with aphantasia report an elevated rate of difficulty with face recognition and autobiographical memory, whereas participants with hyperphantasia report an elevated rate of synaesthesia. Around half those with aphantasia describe an absence of wakeful imagery in all sense modalities, while a majority dream visually. Aphantasia appears to run within families more often than would be expected by chance. Aphantasia and hyperphantasia appear to be widespread but neglected features of human experience with informative psychological associations.Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC