THE PREVALENCE AND CAUSE OF NON-CONTACT INJURY MECHANISMS IN U.S. MEN’S RUGBY-7S

The aim of this study was to prospectively report non-contact injury incidence and causes in U.S. men’s Rugby-7s players (n=446) over 2010-2015, using the Rugby Injury Survey & Evaluation (RISE) methodology. Non-contact injuries (time-loss 25%; medical attention 75%) had higher rates among backs (62%; 28.4/1000ph) than forwards (38%; 23.2/1000ph; RR:1.22; p=0.05). Non-contact injuries resulted in an average of 48.7days (d) absence from sport (classic non-contact 48.1d; other non-contact 77.0d). Acute injuries (85%) were most common during attempts to elude a tackle (31%) and in running/open play (48% overall; from 35% in 2010, 41% in 2011, 52% in 2012, 43% in 2013, 46% in 2014, 70% in 2015). Most non-contact injuries (44%) occurred during the first two tournament matches. These results provide much needed data on Rugby-7s, impacting emerging countries

THE INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF NON-CONTACT INJURIES IN U.S. WOMEN’S RUGBY-7S

The aim of this study was to prospectively determine non-contact injury incidence and mechanisms among U.S. amateur women’s Rugby-7s. Non-contact injuries occurred frequently among the U.S. women population (26.5/1000ph; 29% of all injuries; n=167). The incidence of non-contact injuries occurred at similar rates among backs (58%, 23.9/1000ph, CI:19.1-29.6) and forwards (42%, 19.3/1000ph, CI:14.4-25.3; RR:1.04, p=0.816). Non-contact injuries resulted in 58.4 mean days absence from play. This study demonstrates a greater proportion of match injuries among U.S. amateur women Rugby-7 participants were related to non-contact mechanism when compared to International women participants. Therefore, U.S. women Rugby-7 players would benefit from prevention programs to minimize non-contact injury risks

USA WOMENS RUGBY SEVENS CONTACT INJURY RISK FACTORS

The purpose of the study was to identify the rates and causes of contact injuries in U.S. women’s Rugby-7s tournament players (2010-2015) and present guidelines for injury prevention to reduce the risk of injury in this emerging female contact-sport athlete. Data were captured using the Rugby Injury Survey & Evaluation (RISE) methodology. Contact injuries were frequent over the study period (direct=56%; indirect=38%, unknown=6%). Contact injuries overall were similar among positions (

BIOMECHANICAL CONTACT INJURY INFLUENCES IN USA MENS RUGBY-7S

The aim of this study was to prospectively report injury incidence and contact mechanisms in U.S. men’s under-19 to elite Rugby-7s players (n=852) over 2010-2015, using the Rugby Injury Survey & Evaluation (RISE) methodology. Contact injuries occurred with frequency (Overall, including time-loss and medical attention=55.4/1000ph; time-loss=17.2/1000ph;

ISBS 2018 AUCKLAND CONFERENCE SPRINZ-HPSNZ-AUT MILLENNIUM APPLIED PROGRAMME

An interactive afternoon of sessions delivered by High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) and AUT SPRINZ Biomechanists, Performance Analysts and other biomechanics relevant sport facing practitioners. The 11 sessions are at AUT Millennium (AUTM), which is a satellite site of AUT University and the Auckland training hub for many HPSNZ supported sports such as athletics, sailing, and swimming. These sports and others (cycling, rowing, snow sports etc.) will be represented in the line-up. The applied sessions involve practical demonstrations of aspects of analysis and/or tools used to deliver in the field to directly positively impact athletes performances on the world stage. Following these engaging sessions there will be tasting of New Zealand wine, allowing for further discussion and networking. Sir Graeme Avery will be acknowledged for his contribution to sport science. Mike Stanley is AUT Millennium Chief Executive & NZ Olympic Committee President will explain the partners in the facility. AUT Millennium is a charitable trust established to help New Zealanders live longer and healthier lives, and to enjoy and excel in sport through the provision of world-class facilities, services, research and education. Founded in 2002 as Millennium Institute of Sport and Health (MISH) by Sir Stephen Tindall and Sir Graeme Avery as a premium health and fitness facility for both athletes and the public alike. Partnered with AUT University in 2009, forming AUT Millennium, to expand research and education in the sporting sector. Professor Barry Wilson is an Adjunct Professor with SPRINZ at Auckland University of Technology and will be outlining the research and student opportunities. Martin Dowson is the General Manager Athlete Performance Support at High Performance Sport New Zealand and has overall responsibility for the programme. Simon Briscoe, AUT Millennium Applied Session Coordinator, is the head of the Performance and Technique Analysis discipline within HPSNZ. Simon is coordinating the applied sessions along with technical support from Dr Allan Carman, Research Fellow, AUT SPRINZ. Jodi Cossor and Matt Ingram will provide a demonstration of a multidisciplinary approach driven by biomechanical analysis for Paralympic swimmers. Justin Evans and Sarah-Kate Millar will provide a practical session assessing the athletes rowing stroke to assist the coach on technical changes. This session will demonstrate various rowing traits and how the biomechanist and coach can work together to optimise boat speed. Mike Schofield and Kim Hébert-Losier will provide a session looking at shotput and the evidence based approach to coaching. Dr Craig Harrison and Professor John Cronin will provide examples from the AUTM Athlete Development programme. Kim Simperingham and Jamie Douglas who work with high performance rugby athletes will outline sprinting mechanics in practice. Dr Bruce Hamilton, Fiona Mather, Justin Ralph and Rone Thompson will demonstrate the approach of HPSNZ and Cycling NZ performance health teams in the use of some specific tools for prevention of injury and optimisation of performance. Kelly Sheerin, Denny Wells and Associate Professor Thor Besier will provide examples of using IMU and motion capture methods for running and basketball biomechanics research, education and service. Dr Rodrigo Bini and Associate Professor Andrew Kilding will show how linking of biomechanics and physiology improves injury prevention and performance enhancement. Robert Tang, Andre de Jong and Farhan Tinwala discuss select projects developed by Goldmine, HPSNZ’s in-house engineering team, and how these innovations have enabled unprecedented levels of biomechanics feedback. Cameron Ross and Paul McAlpine demonstrate the technology being used at the Snow Sports NZ training centre in Cadrona to enhance load monitoring of athletes. This application allows greater insight into training performances and biomechanical loads than has been previously possible in the training environment. AUT Millennium tour guides are coordinated by Josh McGeown and include Enora Le Flao, Dustin Oranchuk, Erika Ikeda, Jono Neville, Aaron Uthoff, Andrew Pichardo, Farhan Tinwala, Shelley Diewald, Renata Bastos Gottgtroy, Jessica Yeoman, Casey Watkins, Eric Harbour, Anja Zoellner, Alyssa Joy Spence, Victor Lopez Jr, and Albert Chang

The non-clonality of drug resistance in Beijing-genotype isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the Western Cape of South Africa

Background. The Beijing genotype of M. tuberculosis is a virulent strain that is disseminating worldwide and has a strong association with drug resistance. In the Western Cape of South Africa, epidemiological studies have identified the R220 cluster of the Beijing genotype as a major contributor to a recent outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Although the outbreak is considered to be due to clonal transmission, the relationship among drug resistant isolates has not yet been established. Results. To better understand the evolution of drug resistance among these strains, 14 drug-resistant clinical isolates of the Beijing genotype were sequenced by whole-genome sequencing, including eight from R220 and six from a more ancestral Beijing cluster, R86, for comparison. While each cluster shares a distinct resistance mutation for isoniazid, mapping of other drug-resistance mutations onto a phylogenetic tree constructed from single nucleotide polymorphisms shows that resistance mutations to many drugs have arisen multiple times independently within each cluster of isolates. Thus, drug resistance among these isolates appears to be acquired, not clonally derived. This observation suggests that, although the Beijing genotype as a whole might have selective advantages enabling its rapid dissemination, the XDR isolates are relatively less fit and do not propagate well. Although it has been hypothesized that the increased frequency of drug resistance in some Beijing lineages might be caused by a mutator phenotype, no significant shift in synonymous substitution patterns is observed in the genomes. Conclusion. While MDR-TB is spreading by transmission in the Western Cape, our data suggests that further drug resistance (i.e. XDR-TB) at this stage is acquired.Peer Reviewe

Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus in Iquitos, Peru: Urban Transmission of a Sylvatic Strain

Enzootic strains of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) have been isolated from febrile patients in the Peruvian Amazon Basin at low but consistent levels since the early 1990s. Through a clinic-based febrile surveillance program, we detected an outbreak of VEEV infections in Iquitos, Peru, in the first half of 2006. The majority of these patients resided within urban areas of Iquitos, with no report of recent travel outside the city. To characterize the risk factors for VEEV infection within the city, an antibody prevalence study was carried out in a geographically stratified sample of urban areas of Iquitos. Additionally, entomological surveys were conducted to determine if previously incriminated vectors of enzootic VEEV were present within the city. We found that greater than 23% of Iquitos residents carried neutralizing antibodies against VEEV, with significant associations between increased antibody prevalence and age, occupation, mosquito net use, and overnight travel. Furthermore, potential vector mosquitoes were widely distributed across the city. Our results suggest that while VEEV infection is more common in rural areas, transmission also occurs within urban areas of Iquitos, and that further studies are warranted to identify the precise vectors and reservoirs involved in urban VEEV transmission

Hyperdominance in Amazonian Forest Carbon Cycling

While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few ‘hyperdominant’ species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and producing woody carbon are concentrated in a small number of tree species, whether the most abundant species also dominate carbon cycling, and whether dominant species are characterized by specific functional traits. We find that dominance of forest function is even more concentrated in a few species than is dominance of tree abundance, with only ≈1% of Amazon tree species responsible for 50% of carbon storage and productivity. Although those species that contribute most to biomass and productivity are often abundant, species maximum size is also influential, while the identity and ranking of dominant species varies by function and by region

Expanding the diversity of mycobacteriophages: insights into genome architecture and evolution.

Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All mycobacteriophages characterized to date are dsDNA tailed phages, and have either siphoviral or myoviral morphotypes. However, their genetic diversity is considerable, and although sixty-two genomes have been sequenced and comparatively analyzed, these likely represent only a small portion of the diversity of the mycobacteriophage population at large. Here we report the isolation, sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of 18 new mycobacteriophages isolated from geographically distinct locations within the United States. Although no clear correlation between location and genome type can be discerned, these genomes expand our knowledge of mycobacteriophage diversity and enhance our understanding of the roles of mobile elements in viral evolution. Expansion of the number of mycobacteriophages grouped within Cluster A provides insights into the basis of immune specificity in these temperate phages, and we also describe a novel example of apparent immunity theft. The isolation and genomic analysis of bacteriophages by freshman college students provides an example of an authentic research experience for novice scientists

An upper limit to the photon fraction in cosmic rays above 10^19 eV from the Pierre Auger Observatory

An upper limit of 16% (at 95% c.l.) is derived for the photon fraction in cosmic rays with energies above 10^19 eV, based on observations of the depth of shower maximum performed with the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. This is the first such limit on photons obtained by observing the fluorescence light profile of air showers. This upper limit confirms and improves on previous results from the Haverah Park and AGASA surface arrays. Additional data recorded with the Auger surface detectors for a subset of the event sample, support the conclusion that a photon origin of the observed events is not favoured