PREVENTIVE ANKLE TAPING -EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL, NEUROMUSCULAR AND THERMAL EFFECTS BEFORE AND AFTER EXERCISE

INTRODUCTION: . Athletes and coaches in different sport disciplines use preventive adhesive tape or bandages in order to avoid ankle sprains since Paul Beiersdorf has invented tape about 100 years ago. Many authors tried to evaluate the main effects of taping in respect to its mechanical support to the ankle joint and its preventive effect concerning injuries in high risk sports like basketball, football, athletics or gymnastics. Clinical studies have shown that ankle taping reduces the risk of injury although it has been demonstrated that the mechanical support does decrease even after a few minutes of practise. The aim of the study was to investigate the mechanical as well as the neuromuscular influence of different tape materials and techniques before and after exercise. Method: 12 subjects underwent different trials in a randomized order with two materials (B,C) and two taping techniques (D,E) and without tape (A). This sense of exercises were used to stress the ankle: 5 Drop jumps (36 cm Height) 10 minutes running (tread mill) 3 minutes jumping using a special “jump-device” with slope surfaces ( increased inversion/eversion and dorsal/plantar flexion during the landing phase). The course was performed two times. The main test was the simulated ankle inversion injury by using a special tilt device to apply randomized ankle movements (300 inversion + 150 Plantarflexion) while the subject is standing on the tilt platform. Magnitude and velocity of ankle joint motion was recorded from 2axial goniometers (Penny&Giles). EMG activity was measured from the mm. peroneus 1., tibialis a., gastrocnemius and vastus medialis. Skin temperature alterations beneath the adhesive tape were recorded after each exercise by thermocouples with an accuracy of 0.1 K. RESULTS: Amplitude and velocity (relative to value without tape) of simulated inversion injury was initially reduced by all tapes significantly: Inversion angle relativ to the trial without tapeJA): If no tape was used then EMG -activity during simulation was reduced up to 12% after 20 minutes of exercise. If the ankle was taped -the EMG reduction after 20 minutes was at a lower level ( 5%). Skin temperature under the tape increased significantly compared to untaped ankle. DISCUSSION: The preventive effect of adhesive taping is achieved at the intitial exercise phase by the mechanical stabilization properties of the material. In the later exercise phase (when the mechanical support decreases) the risc of injury could be reduced by the proprioceptive effect, which can be concluded by the increased EMG-activities. REFERENCES: Fumich, R. M., et al. The measured effect of taping on combined foot and ankle motion before and after exercise. AMJSM, 9(1981):165-170

Brief report: how adolescents with ASD process social information in complex scenes. Combining evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions

We investigated attention, encoding and processing of social aspects of complex photographic scenes. Twenty-four high-functioning adolescents (aged 11–16) with ASD and 24 typically developing matched control participants viewed and then described a series of scenes, each containing a person. Analyses of eye movements and verbal descriptions provided converging evidence that both groups displayed general interest in the person in each scene but the salience of the person was reduced for the ASD participants. Nevertheless, the verbal descriptions revealed that participants with ASD frequently processed the observed person’s emotion or mental state without prompting. They also often mentioned eye-gaze direction, and there was evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions that gaze was followed accurately. The combination of evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions provides a rich insight into the way stimuli are processed overall. The merits of using these methods within the same paradigm are discussed

Ejaculate Economics: Testing the Effects of Male Sexual History on the Trade-Off between Sperm and Immune Function in Australian Crickets

Trade-offs between investment into male sexual traits and immune function provide the foundation for some of the most prominent models of sexual selection. Post-copulatory sexual selection on the male ejaculate is intense, and therefore trade-offs should occur between investment into the ejaculate and the immune system. Examples of such trade-offs exist, including that between sperm quality and immunity in the Australian cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. Here, we explore the dynamics of this trade-off, examining the effects that increased levels of sexual interaction have on the viability of a male's sperm across time, and the concomitant effects on immune function. Males were assigned to a treatment, whereby they cohabited with females that were sexually immature, sexually mature but incapable of copulation, or sexually mature and capable of copulation. Sperm viability of each male was then assessed at two time points: six and 13 days into the treatment, and immune function at day 13. Sperm viability decreased across the time points, but only for males exposed to treatment classes involving sexually mature females. This decrease was similar in magnitude across both sexually mature classes, indicating that costs to the expression of high sperm viability are incurred largely through levels of pre-copulatory investment. Males exposed to immature females produced sperm of low viability at both time points. Although we confirmed a weak negative association between sperm viability and lytic activity (a measure of immune response to bacterial infection) at day 13, this relationship was not altered across the mating treatment. Our results highlight that sperm viability is a labile trait, costly to produce, and subject to strategic allocation in these crickets

Large Numbers of Matings Give Female Field Crickets a Direct Benefit but not a Genetic Benefit

Female crickets can potentially gain both direct and indirect benefits from mating multiple times with different males. Most studies have only examined the effects of small numbers of matings, although female crickets are capable of mating many times. The goal of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect benefits of mating large numbers of times for female reproductive success. In a previous experiment, female Gryllus vocalis were found to gain diminishing direct benefits from mating large numbers of times. In this study I attempt to determine whether mating large numbers of times yields similar diminishing returns on female indirect benefits. Virgin female Gryllus vocalis crickets were assigned to mate five, ten or 15 times with either the same or different males. Females that mated more times gained direct benefits in terms of laying more eggs and more fertilized eggs. Females that mated with different males rather than mating repeatedly with the same male did not have higher offspring hatching success, a result that is contrary to other published results comparing female reproductive success with repeated versus different partners. These results suggest that females that mate large numbers of times fail to gain additional genetic benefits from doing so

Circadian Consequence of Socio-Sexual Interactions in Fruit Flies Drosophila melanogaster

In fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster, courtship is an elaborate ritual comprising chasing, dancing and singing by males to lure females for mating. Courtship interactions peak in the night and heterosexual couples display enhanced nighttime activity. What we do not know is if such socio-sexual interactions (SSI) leave long-lasting after-effects on circadian clock(s). Here we report the results of our study aimed at examining the after-effects of SSI (as a result of co-habitation of males and females in groups) between males and females on their circadian locomotor activity rhythm. Males undergo reduction in the evening activity peak and lengthening of circadian period, while females show a decrease in overall activity. Such after-effects, at least in males, require functional circadian clocks during SSI as loss-of-function clock mutants and wild type flies interacting under continuous light (LL), do not display them. Interestingly, males with electrically silenced Pigment Dispersing Factor (PDF)-positive ventral lateral (LNv) clock neurons continue to show SSI mediated reduction in evening activity peak, suggesting that the LNv clock neurons are dispensable for SSI mediated after-effects on locomotor activity rhythm. Such after-effects in females may not be clock-dependent because clock manipulated females with prior exposure to males show decrease in overall activity, more or less similar to rhythmic wild type females. The expression of SSI mediated after-effects requires a functional olfactory system in males because males with compromised olfactory ability do not display them. These results suggest that SSI causes male-specific, long-lasting changes in the circadian clocks of Drosophila, which requires the presence of functional clocks and intact olfactory ability in males

Prospective Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Nanosilver T-Shirts

A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed to compare nanosilver T-shirts with conventional T-shirts with and without biocidal treatment. For nanosilver production and textile incorporation, we investigate two processes: flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) and plasma polymerization with silver co-sputtering (PlaSpu). Prospective environmental impacts due to increased nanosilver T-shirt commercialization are estimated with six scenarios. Results show significant differences in environmental burdens between nanoparticle production technologies: The "cradle-to-gate" climate footprint of the production of a nanosilver T-shirt is 2.70 kg of CO2-equiv (FSP) and 7.67-166 kg of CO2-equiv (PlaSpu, varying maturity stages). Production of conventional T-shirts with and without the biocide triclosan has emissions of 2.55 kg of CO2-equiv (contribution from triclosan insignificant). Consumer behavior considerably affects the environmental impacts during the use phase. Lower washing frequencies can compensate for the increased climate footprint of FSP nanosilver T-shirt production. The toxic releases from washing and disposal in the life cycle of T-shirts appear to be of minor relevance. By contrast, the production phase may be rather significant due to toxic silver emissions at the mining site if high silver quantities are require

Phonotactic response of female crickets on the Kramer treadmill: methodology, sensory and behavioural implications

Since population-level variation in female mating preferences can shape intraspecific communication systems within the context of sexual selection it is essential to quantify these preferences and their sources of variation. We calculated individual female response functions for four male calling song traits in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, by performing untethered phonotaxis measurements on a spherical locomotor compensator (Kramer treadmill). Firstly, we quantify the population-level sources of phonotactic variation and correct for factors that adversely affect this measurement. Secondly, we develop methodology for the characterisation of individual female phonotactic response functions suitable for population-level analyses and demonstrate the applicability of our method with respect to recent literature on Orthopteran acoustic communication. Phonotaxis towards a preferred stimulus on different occasions is highly repeatable, with lower repeatabilities away from the most preferred signal traits. For certain male signal traits, female preference and selectivity are highly repeatable. Although phonotactic response magnitude deteriorated with age, preference functions of females remained the same during their lifetimes. Finally, the limitations of measuring phonotaxis using a spherical locomotor compensator are described and discussed with respect to the estimation of the selectivity of female response

Suppression of grasshopper sound production by nitric oxide-releasing neurons of the central complex

The central complex of acridid grasshoppers integrates sensory information pertinent to reproduction-related acoustic communication. Activation of nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP-signaling by injection of NO donors into the central complex of restrained Chorthippus biguttulus females suppresses muscarine-stimulated sound production. In contrast, sound production is released by aminoguanidine (AG)-mediated inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the central body, suggesting a basal release of NO that suppresses singing in this situation. Using anti-citrulline immunocytochemistry to detect recent NO production, subtypes of columnar neurons with somata located in the pars intercerebralis and tangential neurons with somata in the ventro-median protocerebrum were distinctly labeled. Their arborizations in the central body upper division overlap with expression patterns for NOS and with the site of injection where NO donors suppress sound production. Systemic application of AG increases the responsiveness of unrestrained females to male calling songs. Identical treatment with the NOS inhibitor that increased male song-stimulated sound production in females induced a marked reduction of citrulline accumulation in central complex columnar and tangential neurons. We conclude that behavioral situations that are unfavorable for sound production (like being restrained) activate NOS-expressing central body neurons to release NO and elevate the behavioral threshold for sound production in female grasshoppers