Do fencers require a weapon-specific approach to strength and conditioning training?

There are three types of weapon used in Olympic fencing: the foil, épée and sabre. The aim of this study was to determine if fencers exhibited different physical characteristics across weapons. Seventy-nine male (n = 46) and female (n = 33) national standard fencers took part in this study. Fencers from each weapon (male and female), i.e., épée (n = 19 and 10), foil (n = 22 and 14) and sabre (n = 13 and 10) were (mean ± SD) 15.9 ± 0.7 years of age, 178.5 ± 7.9 cm tall, 67.4 ± 12.2 kg in mass and had 6.3 ± 2.3 years fencing experience; all were in regular training (~ 4 times per week). Results revealed that across all performance tests (lower body power, reactive strength index, change of direction speed and repeat lunge ability) there was no significant difference between weapons (p = 3.66). Differences were found however, when comparing genders, with males performing significantly better during the countermovement jump (p = 0.001), reactive strength index (p = 0.002), change of direction speed (p < 0.001) and repeat lunge ability (p < 0.001). The former findings may be due to similarities in bout intensity and time, movement types (lunging and changing direction) and the need to execute competition actions as explosively as possible. Based on the findings of the current study, it could be indicated that épée, foil and sabre fencers do not require a weapon specific approach to strength and conditioning training. Each fencer should target the area they are weakest at, rather than the area that they feel best represents the unique demands of their weapon

The most reactive amide as a transition-state mimic for cis-trans interconversion.

1-Azatricyclo[3.3.1.1(3,7)]decan-2-one (3), the parent compound of a rare class of 90°-twisted amides, has finally been synthesized, using an unprecedented transformation. These compounds are of special interest as transition-state mimics for the enzyme-catalyzed cis-trans rotamer interconversion of amides involved in peptide and protein folding and function. The stabilization of the amide group in its high energy, perpendicular conformation common to both systems is shown for the rigid tricyclic system to depend, as predicted by calculation, on its methyl group substitution pattern, making 3 by some way the most reactive known "amide".Financial assistance from Enamine Ltd. (www.enamine.net) is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank Dr. V. Stepanenko for valuable advice and encouragement which helped to find the nonstandard solutions to the synthetic problems, and Vitaliy Bilenko for drawing our attention to the instructive EI mass spectrum of compound 8.This is the final published version of the article, originally published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015, 137 (2), pp 926–93, DOI: 10.1021/ja511460

Design fictions:a tool for debating societal, legal and ethical aspects of personal and pervasive health systems

The potential benefits offered by health-related technologies are counterpoised by the societal, legal and ethical challenges concomitant with the pervasive monitoring of people necessitated by such technological interventions. Through the ProtoPolicy research project we explored the production and use of design fictions as a tool for debating the societal, legal and ethical dimensions of personal health systems. Two design fictions were co-created and tested in a series of design workshops with community groups based in Lancashire and Cornwall, UK. A thematic analysis of a debate among older people from the Lancaster group on the Smart Object Therapist (SOT) design fiction highlighted societal and ethical issues relevant to personal health system design. We conclude that ethics like ‘usability’ may be usefully based on engagement with directly or indirectly implicated publics and should not be designed into innovation by experts alone

The food choice at work study: effectiveness of complex workplace dietary interventions on dietary behaviours and diet-related disease risk - study protocol for a clustered controlled trial

Background: Dietary behaviour interventions have the potential to reduce diet-related disease. Ample opportunity exists to implement these interventions in the workplace. The overall aim is to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of complex dietary interventions focused on environmental dietary modification alone or in combination with nutrition education in large manufacturing workplace settings. Methods/design: A clustered controlled trial involving four large multinational manufacturing workplaces in Cork will be conducted. The complex intervention design has been developed using the Medical Research Council's framework and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and will be reported using the TREND statement for the transparent reporting of evaluations with non-randomized designs. It will draw on a soft paternalistic 'nudge' theoretical perspective. It will draw on a soft paternalistic "nudge" theoretical perspective. Nutrition education will include three elements: group presentations, individual nutrition consultations and detailed nutrition information. Environmental dietary modification will consist of five elements: (a) restriction of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, (b) increase in fibre, fruit and vegetables, (c) price discounts for whole fresh fruit, (d) strategic positioning of healthier alternatives and (e) portion size control. No intervention will be offered in workplace A (control). Workplace B will receive nutrition education. Workplace C will receive nutrition education and environmental dietary modification. Workplace D will receive environmental dietary modification alone. A total of 448 participants aged 18 to 64 years will be selected randomly. All permanent, full-time employees, purchasing at least one main meal in the workplace daily, will be eligible. Changes in dietary behaviours, nutrition knowledge, health status with measurements obtained at baseline and at intervals of 3 to 4 months, 7 to 9 months and 13 to 16 months will be recorded. A process evaluation and cost-effectiveness economic evaluation will be undertaken. Discussion: A 'Food Choice at Work' toolbox (concise teaching kit to replicate the intervention) will be developed to inform and guide future researchers, workplace stakeholders, policy makers and the food industry. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN35108237

Construction of an adult barnacle (Balanus amphitrite) cDNA library and selection of reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR studies

De Gregoris TB, Borra M, Biffali E, et al. Construction of an adult barnacle (Balanus amphitrite) cDNA library and selection of reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR studies. BMC Molecular Biology. 2009;10(1):62.BACKGROUND: Balanus amphitrite is a barnacle commonly used in biofouling research. Although many aspects of its biology have been elucidated, the lack of genetic information is impeding a molecular understanding of its life cycle. As part of a wider multidisciplinary approach to reveal the biogenic cues influencing barnacle settlement and metamorphosis, we have sequenced and annotated the first cDNA library for B. amphitrite. We also present a systematic validation of potential reference genes for normalization of quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) data obtained from different developmental stages of this animal. RESULTS: We generated a cDNA library containing expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from adult B. amphitrite. A total of 609 unique sequences (comprising 79 assembled clusters and 530 singlets) were derived from 905 reliable unidirectionally sequenced ESTs. Bioinformatics tools such as BLAST, HMMer and InterPro were employed to allow functional annotation of the ESTs. Based on these analyses, we selected 11 genes to study their ability to normalize qRT-PCR data. Total RNA extracted from 7 developmental stages was reverse transcribed and the expression stability of the selected genes was compared using geNorm, BestKeeper and NormFinder. These software programs produced highly comparable results, with the most stable gene being mt-cyb, while tuba, tubb and cp1 were clearly unsuitable for data normalization. CONCLUSION: The collection of B. amphitrite ESTs and their annotation has been made publically available representing an important resource for both basic and applied research on this species. We developed a qRT-PCR assay to determine the most reliable reference genes. Transcripts encoding cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 were expressed most stably, although other genes also performed well and could prove useful to normalize gene expression studies

Evidence for Sub-Chandrasekhar Type Ia Supernovae from Stellar Abundances in Dwarf Galaxies

There is no consensus on the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) despite their importance for cosmology and chemical evolution. We address this question using our previously published catalogs of Mg, Si, Ca, Cr, Fe, Co, and Ni abundances in dwarf galaxy satellites of the Milky Way (MW) to constrain the mass at which the white dwarf (WD) explodes during a typical SN Ia. We fit a simple bi-linear model to the evolution of [X/Fe] with [Fe/H], where X represents each of the elements mentioned above. We use the evolution of [Mg/Fe] coupled with theoretical supernova yields to isolate what fraction of the elements originated in SNe Ia. Then, we infer the [X/Fe] yield of SNe Ia for all of the elements except Mg. We compare these observationally inferred yields to recent theoretical predictions for two classes of Chandrasekhar-mass (M_(Ch)) SN Ia as well as sub-M_(Ch) SNe Ia. Most of the inferred SN Ia yields are consistent with all of the theoretical models, but [Ni/Fe] is consistent only with sub-M_(Ch) models. We conclude that the dominant type of SN Ia in ancient dwarf galaxies is the explosion of a sub-M_(Ch) WD. The MW and dwarf galaxies with extended star formation histories have higher [Ni/Fe] abundances, which could indicate that the dominant class of SN Ia is different for galaxies where star formation lasted for at least several Gyr

Fast Amide Bond Cleavage Assisted by a Secondary Amino and a Carboxyl Group-A Model for yet Unknown Peptidases?

Unconstrained amides that undergo fast hydrolysis under mild conditions are valuable sources of information about how amide bonds may be activated in enzymatic transformations. We report a compound possessing an unconstrained amide bond surrounded by an amino and a carboxyl group, each mounted in close proximity on a bicyclic scaffold. Fast amide hydrolysis of this model compound was found to depend on the presence of both the amino and carboxyl functions, and to involve a proton transfer in the rate-limiting step. Possible mechanisms for the hydrolytic cleavage and their relevance to peptide bond cleavage catalyzed by natural enzymes are discussed. Experimental observations suggest that the most probable mechanisms of the model compound hydrolysis might include a twisted amide intermediate and a rate-determining proton transfer

A normal gem-dimethyl effect in the base-catalyzed cyclization of -( p-nitrophenyl)hydantoic acids: evidence for hindered proton transfer in the permethylated esters †

The cyclization of hydantoic acids 2-UA and 3-UA -kinetics, solvent kinetic isotope effects (SKIE) and buffer catalysis -were studied in an attempt to explain the disappearance of the gem-dimethyl effect (GDME) in the specific base-catalyzed cyclization of hydantoic esters. pH-Rate profiles for both acids (after correction for ionization and for reversibility at high pH) show two regions of unit slope corresponding to different mechanisms. For 2-UA at high pH and 3-UA at lower pH the mechanism is considered to involve rate-determining attack by the ureido anion on the neutral carboxy group, consistent with the observed inverse SKIE. The normal GDME of 15 provides strong evidence that anomalies observed with the esters do indeed result from steric hindrance to proton transfer. The change to rate determining departure of OH Ϫ with 2-UA is caused at low pH by acid catalysis of the reversion of the tetrahedral intermediate (T Ϫ ) to reactants, while with 3-UA at high pH this takes place through T 2Ϫ . The GDME favours attack on the carboxylate anion but makes ring opening more difficult, thus decreasing acid inhibition. The observed β = 0.44 for general base catalysis of the cyclization of 2-UA is consistent with concerted deprotonation and attack of the ureido group. With 3-UA two simultaneous general base-catalyzed reactions take place: slow deprotonation of the ureido group (β = 1.0) and attack of the ureide anion on the carboxy anion aided by the buffer conjugate acid. The estimated GDME is 2800 for the equilibrium between acid anion and hydantoin, ‡ but only 45 and 15 for catalysis by H 3 O ϩ and OH Ϫ , respectively: both reactions are presumed to go through early transition states. A convenient way to accelerate the bioorganic reactions of small molecules is to introduce steric strain into the substrate. In cyclization reactions this is readily done by introducing substituents into the interconnecting chain: the resulting increase in rate defines the gem-dimethyl effect (GDME). 1 However, in a recent study 2,3 of catalytic mechanisms for the ring closure of hydantoic esters, we found no GDME for the base-catalyzed reaction. We concluded that the rate determining step had changed, for the most heavily substituted compounds, from the formation of the tetrahedral intermediate to its breakdown, because of steric hindrance in proton transfer to the leaving ethoxy group. In the tetrahedral intermediate, T Ϫ , the two methyl groups screen one side and the N-aryl substituent the other, while R (ethyl was studied) in its least hindered conformation blocks easy access of a general acid. If this analysis is correct, and the effect depends on steric hindrance in proton † Pseudo-first-order rate constants are available as supplementary data. For direct electronic access see http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/p2/b0/ b002276o ‡ The IUPAC name for hydantoin is imidazolidine-2,4-dione. transfer to the developing ethoxide by its ethyl group, it should be reduced or removed if a smaller group replaces ethyl. We have tested this proposition by studying the cyclization of the hydantoic acids shown in Scheme 1. We find that hydantoic acids 2 and 3 undergo base-catalyzed ring closure more slowly than the esters when the pH is higher than the pK of the COOH group; and that the results confirm our prediction. The hydroxide-catalyzed cyclization of the fully methylated acid 3-UA shows a normal GDME, and the solvent kinetic isotope effects (SKIE) suggest that acids 2-UA and 3-UA are cyclized by the same mechanism. Experimental Materials Inorganic reagents and buffer components were of analytical Scheme

The Pandora multi-algorithm approach to automated pattern recognition of cosmic-ray muon and neutrino events in the MicroBooNE detector.

The development and operation of liquid-argon time-projection chambers for neutrino physics has created a need for new approaches to pattern recognition in order to fully exploit the imaging capabilities offered by this technology. Whereas the human brain can excel at identifying features in the recorded events, it is a significant challenge to develop an automated, algorithmic solution. The Pandora Software Development Kit provides functionality to aid the design and implementation of pattern-recognition algorithms. It promotes the use of a multi-algorithm approach to pattern recognition, in which individual algorithms each address a specific task in a particular topology. Many tens of algorithms then carefully build up a picture of the event and, together, provide a robust automated pattern-recognition solution. This paper describes details of the chain of over one hundred Pandora algorithms and tools used to reconstruct cosmic-ray muon and neutrino events in the MicroBooNE detector. Metrics that assess the current pattern-recognition performance are presented for simulated MicroBooNE events, using a selection of final-state event topologies