The Participation of Trans Women in Competitive Fencing and Implications on Fairness: A Physiological Perspective Narrative Review

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Debate has surrounded whether the participation of trans women in female sporting categories is fair, specifically the retained male physiological advantage due to increased testosterone compared to cisgender females. Recently, individual sporting organisations have been investigating and assessing policies regarding trans women athlete participation in female categories, resulting in several banning participation. This review aims to discuss the scientific evidence and provide appropriate guidance for the inclusion of trans women in elite competitive female fencing categories. Fencing is an intermittent sport, where competitions can span 1 to 3 days. The lunge is the most common movement used to attack opponents, where a successful hit relies on the speed of the action. Male puberty induced increased circulating testosterone promotes a greater stature, cardiovascular function, muscle mass, and strength compared to cisgender females, culminating in a ~12–40% sport performance advantage. Elite cisgender male fencers perform significantly higher, ~17–30%, jump heights and leg power measures compared to elite cisgender female fencers, resulting in faster lunges. Trans women receiving androgen-suppression therapy for 12 months showed significant reductions in strength, lean body mass, and muscle surface area, but even after 36 months, the measurements of these three indices remained above those for cisgender females. Previous male muscle mass and strength can be retained through continuation of resistance training. The literature reviewed shows that there is a retained physiological advantage for trans women who have undergone male puberty when participating in the elite competitive female fencing category. A proposed solution of an open or third gender category for elite fencing competition promotes fair competition, while allowing trans women to compete in their chosen sport.Peer reviewe

An optimized tuned mass damper/harvester device

Much work has been conducted on vibration absorbers, such as tuned mass dampers (TMD), where significant energy is extracted from a structure. Traditionally, this energy is dissipated through the devices as heat. In this paper, the concept of recovering some of this energy electrically and reuse it for structural control or health monitoring is investigated. The energy-dissipating damper of a TMD is replaced with an electromagnetic device in order to transform mechanical vibration into electrical energy. That gives the possibility of controlled damping force whilst generating useful electrical energy. Both analytical and experimental results from an adaptive and a semi-active tuned mass damper/harvester are presented. The obtained results suggest that sufficient energy might be harvested for the device to tune itself to optimise vibration suppression

Ecophysiological exploration: the microbiota, metabolic rate and behaviour of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Across many taxa, there is wide intra- and interspecific variation in metabolic rate and in the microbial community composition within the gut. In separate studies, both the metabolic rate and the gut microbiota of an organism have been shown to be related to diet, environment and ontogeny or life history, all of which can have repercussions on survival. Nonetheless, few studies have examined a host’s gut microbiota and metabolic rate concurrently. The experiments within this thesis explore whether a relationship exists between the gut microbiota and metabolic rate in juvenile Atlantic salmon. In addition, this thesis examines whether the genetic origin of the fish can account for any variation in the gut microbial community composition, host physiology, or in host behaviour. To the author's knowledge, these experiments are the first to demonstrate a link between the metabolic rate and the gut microbiota in Atlantic salmon. importantly, the use of common garden experiments uncovered that the genetic background of the fish had an impact on both fish physiology and the gut microbiota. Additionally, rearing environment was shown to impact fish behaviour, which could have consequences for fish physiology, metabolic rate and their gut microbiota. These findings not only highlight the need to consider the gut microbiota when studying host physiology, but also has implications for aquaculture, particularly within the context of fish farm escapees

Teachers’ assignments and student work: Opening a window on classroom practice

This report describes 4 years of research by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) on developing indicators of classroom practice that have the potential to be used in large-scale settings and that draw attention to important aspects of standards-based learning and instruction. CRESSTs method was based on the collection of teachers' assignments with student work. The assignments were then rated and results were summarized to create indicators of classroom practice. Results to date indicate an acceptable level of interrater reliability across study years. It likely would be necessary to collect as many as three or four assignments from teacher to obtain a stable estimate of quality. Additionally, this method was reliable when teachers created their own assignments, but not when teachers submitted assignments created by outside sources. The quality of classroom assignments was associated with the quality of observed instruction, as well as the quality of students' written work. Students who were exposed to teachers who created more cognitively challenging assignments and who had cleared grading criteria also made greater gains on the Stanford Test of Achievement, Ninth Edition (Stanford 9). The quality of teachers' assignments submitted at each of the study years, however, tended to be of basic quality only. Teachers' reactions to the data collection and implications for the use of this method in collaborative professional development sessions also are discussed. (Contains 5 figures, 1 table, and 73 references.) (Author/SLD

Understanding the role of Epstein-Barr virus in T- and NK-cell disorders

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with B- and epithelial cell malignancies. It is also associated with lymphoproliferations and malignancies of T- and natural killer (NK) cells. The global impact of these conditions is significant, and although rare, they are aggressive and are often resistant to treatment. Diagnosis is often delayed, and evidence-based treatment strategies are limited due to their rarity. Viral gene expression in extranodal T- and NK-cell lymphoma (ENKTL), chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) and haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is limited. The viral latent membrane proteins LMP1, LMP2A and LMP2B-TR-TR have growth-transforming properties in B- and epithelial cells. Their effects on cellular gene expression in primary NK cells included pathways involved in cell cycle and stress responses. LMP1 and LMP2B-TR expression by ENKTL and CAEBV cell lines is associated with increased survival in the absence of relevant growth factors, but also with increased susceptibility to apoptosis. This cannot be fully explained by variation in the expression of proteins involved in the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Finally, we describe PrimeFlow RNA, a new protocol for identification of the EBV-infected lymphocyte subset. Importantly, this technique means that we can begin to identify druggable targets on the EBV-infected cells directly from patient blood samples

Measuring reading comprehension and mathematics instruction in urban middle schools: A pilot study of the Instructional Quality Assessment (CSE Technical Report 681)

The quality of reading comprehension and mathematics instruction was explored in five urban middle schools using the Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) toolkit (N = 34 teachers). The IQA is comprised of protocols for rating observed instruction and the quality of teachers' assignments with student work. The purpose of this research was to investigate the reliability and potential validity of the ratings of these data sources. Commensurate with other research on the quality of middle schools, our results indicated that the quality of instruction varied a great deal within schools and was of a "basic" quality overall. Results indicated a moderate to high level of reliability. Four assignments with student work yielded a stable estimate of quality in both content areas, and when teachers complied with the requirements of the research as few as two observations yielded a stable estimate of teaching quality in both content areas as well. The quality of teachers' observations and assignments were significantly associated in mathematics, but not in reading comprehension. Because of the small sample size it was not possible to apply multi-level models. The relation between the IQA and student achievement on the SAT-10 was explored using linear regression techniques. Results indicated that after controlling for students' prior achievement, socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity, language, and IEP status, the IQA assignment measure in reading comprehension predicted student achievement on the Total Reading, Reading Comprehension, and Vocabulary subscores of the SAT-10. The observation measure in reading comprehension predicted student outcomes on the Reading Comprehension subscore of the SAT-10 only. In mathematics, the quality of teachers' assignments predicted students' achievement on the Procedures subscore of the SAT-10. The quality of observed instruction in mathematics predicted students' achievement on the Procedures and Total Math subscores. Without accounting for clustering within classrooms and schools as multilevel models do, our linear regression analyses may lead to results that appear stronger than they actually are. Nevertheless our analyses indicate the direction of trend in these relationships and raise important questions regarding which data sources may be best (classroom assignments or observations) for measuring specific aspects of instruction and student outcomes. Additional research with larger samples of teachers is needed to make definitive conclusions about the validity of the IQA ratings and under what conditions one might choose to either observe in classrooms or collect assignments with student work. The following are appended: (1) IQA Rubrics; and (2) High and Low Quality Examples of Observed Lessons and Assignments. (Contains 21 tables and 9 footnotes.

Adhesive F-actin Waves: A Novel Integrin-Mediated Adhesion Complex Coupled to Ventral Actin Polymerization

At the leading lamellipodium of migrating cells, protrusion of an Arp2/3-nucleated actin network is coupled to formation of integrin-based adhesions, suggesting that Arp2/3-mediated actin polymerization and integrin-dependent adhesion may be mechanistically linked. Arp2/3 also mediates actin polymerization in structures distinct from the lamellipodium, in “ventral F-actin waves” that propagate as spots and wavefronts along the ventral plasma membrane. Here we show that integrins engage the extracellular matrix downstream of ventral F-actin waves in several mammalian cell lines as well as in primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. These “adhesive F-actin waves” require a cycle of integrin engagement and disengagement to the extracellular matrix for their formation and propagation, and exhibit morphometry and a hierarchical assembly and disassembly mechanism distinct from other integrin-containing structures. After Arp2/3-mediated actin polymerization, zyxin and VASP are co-recruited to adhesive F-actin waves, followed by paxillin and vinculin, and finally talin and integrin. Adhesive F-actin waves thus represent a previously uncharacterized integrin-based adhesion complex associated with Arp2/3-mediated actin polymerization

The use of dynamic volumetric CT angiography (DV-CTA) for the characterization of endoleaks following fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (f-EVAR)

Accurate endoleak classification is essential following fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair (f-EVAR). Both endoleak type and exact source of endoleak have implications upon the urgency and complexity of future management strategies. Herein we report on a patient with a documented endoleak post-f-EVAR, in which the source of blood flow into the aneurysm sac could not be determined using conventional computed tomographic angiography. Consequently, dynamic volumetric computed tomographic angiography (DV-CTA) was employed, which clearly illustrated the site of origin of the endoleak. DV-CTA enables accurate endoleak characterization following f-EVAR, with excellent conspicuity of the source of blood flow into the aneurysm sac