The prevalence of back injuries amongst figure skaters in relation to their functional movement

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe high incidence of back injuries amongst competitive figure skaters is reason for concern. Little is known regarding on or off ice factors contributing to these types of injuries. Insight into the causes is essential for recommending changes to prevent back injuries, to make skaters more productive with their training and improve their skating. The uniqueness of figure skating requires an in-depth look at all aspects of their training in order to understand what might be causing these injuries to occur. The goal of this study was to evaluate members of the Skating Club of Boston (SCOB) training community for the on and off ice training patterns and movements and compare those skaters with repeated injuries to those who are uninjured. In this study, 34 competitive figure skaters were enrolled, and divided into categories of skaters with significant back injury history (BIH) and skaters with no back injury history (NBIH) and stratified by gender. All skaters completed an injury history questionnaire, an off-ice muscle strength and flexibility assessment, an off-ice analysis of a squat movement and an analysis of on-ice jump technique. [TRUNCATED

“Guardians” of Signatures? Future Directions in Pacific History from a Pacific Early Career Academic in Aotearoa

As a Pacific early career academic sitting between history and Pacific studies, I see unresolved tension concerning the lack of prioritisation of Pacific voices in Pacific history. In this article I explore how Pacific voices are included in the writing and teaching of Pacific history to establish that this is a continuing and unresolved issue. To do this, I survey articles in the Journal of Pacific History between 2015 and 2020 to trace the inclusion and prevalence of Pacific voices through authorship and prioritisation of historical evidence, alongside analysis of the teaching of Pacific history in universities in Aotearoa

Diagnostic Strategies for Early Lynch Syndrome Detection: From Molecular Testing to Economic Evaluation

__Abstract__ Lynch syndrome (LS) is an autosomal dominant inherited syndrome that predisposes to multiple malignancies, in particular colorectal cancer (CRC) and endometrial cancer (EC). The lifetime risk of developing CRC for a LS mutation carrier is 25 to 70%, while women with LS carry a lifetime risk to develop EC of 13 to 65%, dependant on family history and the affected MMR gene In addition, LS carriers have an increased risk of up to 15% to develop other malignancies. These in particular include gastric, skin, ovarian and small bowel, as well as urinary tract cancers. LS is caused by germline mutations in the mismatch repair (MMR) genes or deletion of the 3’ region of the TACSTD1 gene. In addition, LS can be caused rarely by germline hypermethylation of the promoter regions of the MLH1 or MSH2 gene. Recognition of LS is of utmost importance in order to provide adequate counseling and targeted surveillance to individuals at risk. Colonoscopic surveillance has been proven to reduce CRC morbidity and mortality by 65-70%.18-20 Furthermore, surveillance for EC by transvaginal ultrasound and tumormarker analysis may enable detection of premalignant lesions or EC at an early stage, however this requires further proof. Alternatively, prophylactic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy are offered to female LS mutation carriers when childbearing is complete. Since molecular and genetic testing is available for the identification of LS, dedicated treatment and surveillance can be offered to LS mutation carriers and their relatives who do carry a mutation. On the other hand, non-carriers can be relieved from the anxiety involved with the syndrome and burdensome surveillance programs

Mycoplasma bovis peritonitis and omental bursitis after C-section in two Belgian Blue cows

C

Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics in Support of Cyber Defense

Cybersecurity analysts rely on vast volumes of security event data to predict, identify, characterize, and deal with security threats. These analysts must understand and make sense of these huge datasets in order to discover patterns which lead to intelligent decision making and advance warnings of possible threats, and this ability requires automation. Big data analytics and artificial intelligence can improve cyber defense. Big data analytics methods are applied to large data sets that contain different data types. The purpose is to detect patterns, correlations, trends, and other useful information. Artificial intelligence provides algorithms that can reason or learn and improve their behavior, and includes semantic technologies. A large number of automated systems are currently based on syntactic rules which are generally not sophisticated enough to deal with the level of complexity in this domain. An overview of artificial intelligence and big data technologies in cyber defense is provided, and important areas for future research are identified and discussed

El viaje desde los cuestionarios Likert a los cuestionarios de elección forzosa: evidencia de la invarianza de los parámetros de los ítems

Multidimensional forced-choice questionnaires are widely regarded in the personnel selection literature for their ability to control response biases. Recently developed IRT models usually rely on the assumption that item parameters remain invariant when they are paired in forced-choice blocks, without giving it much consideration. This study aims to test this assumption empirically on the MUPP-2PL model, comparing the parameter estimates of the forced-choice format to their graded-scale equivalent on a Big Five personality instrument. The assumption was found to hold reasonably well, especially for the discrimination parameters. In the cases in which it was violated, we briefly discuss the likely factors that may lead to non-invariance. We conclude discussing the practical implications of the results and providing a few guidelines for the design of forced-choice questionnaires based on the invariance assumptionLos cuestionarios de elección forzosa multidimensionales son bastante apreciados en la literatura de selección de personal por su capacidad para controlar los sesgos de respuesta. Los modelos de TRI desarrollados recientemente normalmente asumen que los parámetros de los ítems permanecen invariantes cuando se emparejan en bloques de elección forzosa, sin dedicarle mucha atención. Este estudio tiene como objetivo poner a prueba empíricamente este supuesto en el modelo MUPP-2PL, comparando las estimaciones de los parámetros del formato de elección forzosa con su equivalente en escala graduada, en un instrumento de personalidad Big Five. Se encontró que el supuesto se cumplía razonablemente bien, especialmente para los parámetros de discriminación. En los casos en los que no se cumplió se discuten brevemente los posibles factores que pueden dar lugar a no invarianza. Concluimos discutiendo las implicaciones prácticas de los resultados y proponiendo algunas pautas para el diseño de cuestionarios de elección forzosa basados en el supuesto de invarianzaThis research is funded by the Spanish government’s Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, projects PSI 2015-65557-P and PSI 2017-85022-