Correlations Between the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), and Injury

Men’s ice hockey is a fast and exciting sport that draws elite athletes into its rink. The demands of the sport place athletes at an exceptionally high risk for musculoskeletal injury if they are not properly conditioned. Determining at risk athletes during pre-season screenings is of particular importance to the medical staff, and any opportunity to provide prophylactic treatment is sought after. The purpose of this study was to investigate a potential correlation between a) total FMS scores and total BESS scores, b) total FMS scores and the incidence of injury, c) total BESS scores and the incidence of injury, d) scores on the rotary stability screen and total BESS scores, and e) scores on the inline-lunge screen and total BESS scores. Data were collected using participants from one selected East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) team. Athletes completed the FMS and the BESS shortly after reporting for training camp and injuries were reported from the head athletic trainer from October through February of the 2014-2015 hockey season. Results indicated that no significant correlations were found between the FMS and the BESS; one screen could not predict scores or ability on the other. Neither the FMS nor the BESS were successful at identifying at risk athletes for potential injury and although the rotary stability and the in-line lunge screen require a great amount of balance and core stability, neither were significantly correlated, or able to predict ability on the BESS

Black and Blue: Exploring Racial Bias and Law Enforcement in the Killings of Unarmed Black Male Civilians

In late 2014, a series of highly publicized police killings of unarmed Black male civilians in the United States prompted large-scale social turmoil. In the current review, we dissect the psychological antecedents of the se killings and explain how the nature of police work may attract officers with distinct characteristics that may make them especially well-primed for negative interactions with Black male civilians. We use media reports to contextualize the precipitating events of the social unrest as we ground our explanations in theory and empirical research from social psychology and industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology. To isolate some of the key mechanisms at play, we disentangle racial bias (e.g., stereotyping processes) from common characteristics of law enforcement agents (e.g., social dominance orientation), while also addressing the interaction between racial bias and policing. By separating the moving parts of the phenomenon, we provide a more fine-grained analysis of the factors that may have contributed to the killings. In doing so, we endeavor to more effectively identify and develop solutions to eradicate excessive use of force during interactions between "Black" (unarmed Black male civilians) and "Blue" (law enforcement)

Animal Farm, Baby Boom and Crackberry Addicts

[Excerpt] In this chapter, we draw from both popular media and research support, along with anecdotal examples drawn from conversations accumulated as part of our own prior studies. Our goal is to present reminders that working hours are a personal life choice, even with external demands, but a choice that is influenced by elements of the individual’s working situation. The implications of a choice for long working hours are shown through use of two past “hard working” icons from popular media, one from the 1940s and one from the 1980s. Discussion continues into current time with an overview highlighting advances in technology that provide expanded work opportunities but, also, exacerbate tendencies toward work addiction

Transitions in coral reef accretion rates linked to intrinsic ecological shifts on turbid-zone nearshore reefs

Nearshore coral communities within turbid settings are typically perceived to have limited reef-building capacity. However, several recent studies have reported reef growth over millennial time scales within such environments and have hypothesized that depth-variable community assemblages may act as equally important controls on reef growth as they do in clear-water settings. Here, we explicitly test this idea using a newly compiled chronostratigraphic record (31 cores, 142 radiometric dates) from seven proximal (but discrete) nearshore coral reefs located along the central Great Barrier Reef (Australia). Uniquely, these reefs span distinct stages of geomorphological maturity, as reflected in their elevations below sea level. Integrated age-depth and ecological data sets indicate that contemporary coral assemblage shifts, associated with changing light availability and wave exposure as reefs shallowed, coincided with transitions in accretion rates at equivalent core depths. Reef initiation followed a regional ∼1 m drop in sea level (1200–800 calibrated yr B.P.) which would have lowered the photic floor and exposed new substrate for coral recruitment by winnowing away fine seafloor sediments. We propose that a two-way feedback mechanism exists where past growth history influences current reef morphology and ecology, ultimately driving future reef accumulation and morphological change. These findings provide the first empirical evidence that nearshore reef growth trajectories are intrinsically driven by changes in coral community structure as reefs move toward sea level, a finding of direct significance for predicting the impacts of extrinsically driven ecological change (e.g., coral-algal phase shifts) on reef growth potential within the wider coastal zone on the Great Barrier Reef

Supporting Innovative Co-operative Development: The Case of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Development System

In recent years, social science research has increasingly acknowledged the role of the social economy in building sustainable communities, and, around the world, co-operatives are recognized as major actors in the social economy. In Canada, the Nova Scotia Cooperative Council has forged several innovations in the past decade resulting in the development of a co-operative development system unparalleled in Anglophone Canada

Supporting Innovative Co-operative Development: The Case of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Development System

Description The research was initiated in order to contribute to one of the central research goals of BALTA – namely, to highlight “the scope and characteristics of social economy innovations that are achieving demonstrable social and economic results in other regions” in order to provide lessons and insights for strengthening the social economy in BC and Alberta. This research was subsequently used to inform further action research on how to strengthen the co-operative development systems in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The NS-CDS case study looks at 6 main areas of the co-operative development system including: 1. Development Finance 2. Human Resource Development 3. Planning, Advocacy and Research 4. Policy and Governance 5. Community Economic Development 6. Accountability and EvaluationThis research paper was presented to the 2007 Canadian Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. It discusses a case study of the recent history of successful innovation and development in the co-operative sector in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been unparalleled in other parts of Anglophone Canada. The case study looks at the Nova Scotia Co-operative Development System from a systems perspective in order to encompass a wide range of interacting processes that are involved in the Nova Scotia experience. The research identifies success factors in the Nova Scotia experience that might be relevant to co-operative development in other regions.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) ; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ; Canadian Centre for Community Renewal (CCCR

The Frequency of Withdrawal from Acute Care Is Impacted by Severe Acute Renal Failure

Introduction: In the general intensive care setting, decisions to withdraw life support when patients deteriorate despite aggressive treatment are estimated to occur in 10% of all patients and in 40% of the patients who die. Acute renal failure (ARF) severe enough to necessitate renal replacement therapy (RRT) is associated with in-hospital mortality approximating 50%. Yet the impact of severe ARF on decisions to withdraw treatment has not been previously described. In chronic renal failure patients, voluntary withdrawal from maintenance dialysis occurs in 10%–20% of patients when increasing complications and poor quality of life ensue, and knowing these data facilitates discussions with patients and families. Having similar data for complicated ARF would facilitate decision making for families and caregivers when these difficult situations arise. Methods: All cases of ARF requiring RRT during 2000–2001 at University of Michigan Hospital (n = 383) were entered prospectively into an outcome study at the time RRT was initiated. Comprehensive data collection included demographic and clinical characteristics, outcome and complications, and severity of illness. Additional information for patients who died included cause of death, life-support withdrawal decisions, and the presence of prior advance directives. Results: Overall mortality in severe ARF (i.e., severe enough to require RRT) was 53%. Lifesupport withdrawal occurred in 72% of deaths (compared to 40%–50% reported among general intensive care cases) and was associated with intensive care stay well beyond 2 weeks. Severity of illness, as indicated by modified APACHE III scores, was higher in patients who died than in survivors, but severity of illness was not higher for withdrawal from treatment than death without withdrawal decisions. Life-support withdrawal was not associated with other demographic or clinical characteristics (hospital service, primary admitting diagnosis, ventilator or pressor dependence, sepsis, or initial type of RRT chosen). Prior advance directives were available in 29% of patients overall, but having advance directives did not predict withdrawal from acute treatment. Death occurred within 2 days of withdrawal in more than 90% of cases, emphasizing the severity of underlying illness. Conclusions: Severe ARF reflects the severity of underlying illness, impacts overall survival, and is associated with more frequent withdrawal from aggressive treatment. High severity of illness and prolonged intensive care without improvement beyond 2 weeks presage decisions to withdraw treatment and signal patients and caregivers that death is imminent and that further aggressive care should be reconsidered or limited.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63219/1/jpm.2004.7.676.pd