Training Interventions for Improved Deceleration Ability in Adult Team-Based Field Sports Athletes

Background: Deceleration is a fundamental component of multidirectional speed by which athletes reduce the velocity of their centre of mass to stop or execute changes of direction following acceleration or running at a constant velocity. Enhancing deceleration abilities is crucial for athletes as successfully executing horizontal deceleration has important implications for match outcomes in sports requiring rapid multidirectional movements. However, specific training interventions targeting deceleration are scarce. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effects of training interventions on deceleration performance in adult team-based field and court sports athletes. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted through electronic databases, SPORTdiscus, PubMed, and Web of Science from inception to February 2022, and re-run in May 2023. The search terms were related to different training interventions and kinetic, kinematic, and performance outcomes related to deceleration performance. Studies were included if they consisted of a randomised controlled trial which investigated the effects of training on deceleration-specific outcome measures in adult team-based field and court sports athletes. Risk of bias was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials (RoB2). Post-intervention effect sizes (Hedge’s g) were calculated between the intervention and control groups and a meta-analysis was performed using a random effects model. Results: Twelve studies were included, with 29 deceleration-specific outcomes measured in a total of 381 participants. There was inconsistency in methodological designs, including control group types, length and type of interventions and in reported deceleration-specific outcome measures. Across all observations of deceleration performance measures there was a standardised mean difference of -0.04 (95% CI: -0.50, 0.42), favouring control groups, indicating little effect of training on deceleration performance. For secondary outcomes related to deceleration, for kinetics (SMD = -0.29, 95% CI = -0.83, 0.25, I2 = 55%, p < 0.01), joint kinetics (SMD = -0.20, 95% CI = -1.01, 0.61, I2 = 68%, p < 0.01) and muscle activation (SMD = -0.10, 95% CI = -0.44, 0.24, I2 = 19%, p = 0.28) had greater effects for control groups, whereas joint kinematics (SMD = 0.07, 95% CI = -0.11, 0.24, I2 = 0%, p = 0.77), favoured the intervention groups. Conclusion: For the deceleration-specific outcomes reported in the included studies, training was not likely to produce a performance improvement in participants compared to control groups. However, due to methodological inconsistencies between studies and observed high risk of bias, the results should be interpreted with caution. More rigorous research methods should be included in the future to address areas that may introduce potential biases. Future research should address the differences in the type, timing, frequency, and duration of the implemented training interventions for improving deceleration performance, and in the reported deceleration-specific outcome measures. Registration: This systematic review was registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/cmwbr) (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/CMWBR

The Ursinus Weekly, November 16, 1953

Forum hears Norman Palmer talk on India • Honor system is MSGA topic at open discussion • U.C. group visits UN headquarters • Messiah features well-known soloists • Conditions in modern Austria revealed Monday by Thalburg • No easy answer seen by Chi Alpha Society • Faculty join students in show, Friday • Play polished by intense rehearsal • Music Club members attend harp concert • Dr. J. E. Wagner speaks, receives degree, Tuesday • High schools to tour campus • Doctors to appear at pre-med meeting • Dr. Yost presides at English lit reading • Pep talk on FTA affiliation given to campus members • Editorials: Education; Change in policy needed • Song and slogan spur Chest drive • Y sponsored work week commences November 30 • God and the atom to be coming attraction at vespers • Barbershop quartets present fine program • Beardwood Society plans field trip to exposition • Greek columns • Ursinus - F. & M. rivalry ends after fifty years • Variety of speakers highlight programs of past Founders Days • JVs lose second to strong Temple • Hockeyites down Temple in thrilling victory, 1-0 • Juniata defeats Bears for undefeated season • Cagemen initiate season tomorrow • Belles captain All-College teams • LaSalle defeats soccer team; Settles scores for Ursinus • Zartman, Settles, Dawkins score; Bakermen win, 6-2 • Writer satirizes sports jargonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1483/thumbnail.jp

Representative Contents Design for Shielding Enclosure Qualification from 2 to 20 GHz

The electromagnetic environment inside a shielding enclosure is affected by the absorption characteristics of the contents, which should therefore be represented in shielding measurements and simulations. At frequencies up to a few gigahertz, lossy dielectric materials have previously been used as surrogates for printed circuit boards in enclosure shielding assessment, both experimentally and in simulations. However, no systematic methodology for the design of these surrogates and their calibration against real hardware at high frequencies has been elucidated. In this paper we show how both lossy dielectric material and microstrip transmission line based “representative contents” can be designed and calibrated against real printed circuit boards over the frequency range 2-20 GHz using power balance concepts. The calibration is made by matching the average absorption cross-section of the surrogate to an average value for a class of real contents measured in a reverberation chamber. The surrogates are designed using efficient power balance models for layered media and field-excited microstrip lines and verified using full-wave simulation. The fabricated surrogates are validated by shielding measurements. The methodology presented could form an important part of future standards for enclosure qualification measurements that more accurately represent the internal environment of real equipment

Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors Are Stronger Related to Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Than to Presence of Carotid Plaques in People Living With HIV

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV, who are at higher risk than the general population. We assessed, in a large cohort of people living with HIV, which cardiovascular, HIV-specific, and lipoproteomic markers were associated with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaque presence. We also studied guideline adherence on lipid-lowering medication in individuals with high and very high risk for cardiovascular disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 1814 individuals with a median (interquartile range) age of 53 (44–60) years, we found a carotid plaque in 909 (50.1%) and a median (interquartile range) intima-media thickness of 0.66 (0.57–0.76) mm. Ultrasonography was used for the assessment of cIMT and plaque presence. Univariable and multivariable regression models were used for associations with cIMT and presence of plaques. Age, Black race, body mass index, type 2 diabetes, and smoking (pack years) were all positively associated with higher cIMT. Levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, specifically medium and large high-density lipoprotein subclasses, were negatively associated with higher cIMT. Only age and prior myocardial infarction were positively related to the presence of a carotid plaque. Lipid-lowering treatment was prescribed in one-third of people living with HIV, who are at high and very high risk for cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional cardiovascular risk factors were significantly associated with higher cIMT but not with carotid plaques, except for age. HIV-specific factors were not associated with both ultrasound measurements. Future studies are needed to elucidate which factors contribute to plaque formation. Improvement of guideline adherence on prescription of lipid-lowering treatment in high-and very high-risk patients for cardiovascular disease is recommended.</p

Towards an Intelligent Tutor for Mathematical Proofs

Computer-supported learning is an increasingly important form of study since it allows for independent learning and individualized instruction. In this paper, we discuss a novel approach to developing an intelligent tutoring system for teaching textbook-style mathematical proofs. We characterize the particularities of the domain and discuss common ITS design models. Our approach is motivated by phenomena found in a corpus of tutorial dialogs that were collected in a Wizard-of-Oz experiment. We show how an intelligent tutor for textbook-style mathematical proofs can be built on top of an adapted assertion-level proof assistant by reusing representations and proof search strategies originally developed for automated and interactive theorem proving. The resulting prototype was successfully evaluated on a corpus of tutorial dialogs and yields good results.Comment: In Proceedings THedu'11, arXiv:1202.453

Liver Steatosis is Prevalent in Lean People With HIV and Associated With Exposure to Antiretroviral Treatment - A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Steatotic liver disease is suggested to have a higher prevalence and severity in people with HIV (PHIV), including in those with a normal body mass index (BMI). In this study, we used data from the 2000HIV cohort to (1) assess the prevalence of liver steatosis and fibrosis in lean versus overweight/obese PHIV and (2) assess associations in these subgroups between steatosis and fibrosis with traditional risk factors and HIV-specific characteristics. Methods: The 2000HIV study cohort comprises 1895 virally suppressed PHIV that were included between 2019 and 2021 in 4 HIV treatment centers in the Netherlands. The majority (58.5%) underwent vibration-controlled transient elastography for the assessment of liver steatosis and fibrosis. The prevalence of steatosis (controlled attenuation parameter ≥263 dB/m) and fibrosis (liver stiffness measurement ≥7.0 kPa) was estimated. Multiple factors including HIV characteristics and antiretroviral drugs were tested in a logistic regression model for association with steatosis and fibrosis. Analyses were performed separately for lean (Asian descent: BMI &lt; 23 kg/m2, other descent: BMI &lt; 25 kg/m2) and overweight/obese (other BMI) participants. Results: Of 1050 PHIV including 505 lean and 545 overweight/obese PHIV, liver steatosis was observed in 37.7% of the overall study population, 19.7% of lean, and 54% of overweight/obese PHIV, whereas fibrosis was observed in 9.0% of the overall study population, 5.9% of lean, and 12.0% of overweight/obese PHIV. All associations with fibrosis and most associations with steatosis concerned metabolic factors such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (overall population: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for steatosis: 2.3 [1.21-4.4], P =. 011; aOR for fibrosis: 3.7 [1.82-7.53], P &lt;. 001). Furthermore, in lean PLHIV, liver steatosis was associated with CD4 and CD8 counts at enrollment, dual therapy, and history of treatment with raltegravir (aOR: 3.6 [1.53-8.47], P =. 003), stavudine (aOR: 3.73 [1.69-8.2], P =. 001), and indinavir (aOR: 3.86 [1.59-9.37], P =. 003). These associations were not observed in overweight/obese PHIV. Conclusions: Liver steatosis was highly prevalent, affecting approximately one-fifth of lean PHIV and half of overweight/obese PHIV. Fibrosis was observed in a minority. Both steatosis and fibrosis were associated with traditional metabolic risk factors. In addition, (prior) exposure to specific antiretroviral drugs was associated liver steatosis in lean, but not in overweight/obese PHIV. Implementing increased screening protocols could enhance the identification of steatotic liver disease in lean PHIV.</p

Metagenomes from High-Temperature Chemotrophic Systems Reveal Geochemical Controls on Microbial Community Structure and Function

The Yellowstone caldera contains the most numerous and diverse geothermal systems on Earth, yielding an extensive array of unique high-temperature environments that host a variety of deeply-rooted and understudied Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya. The combination of extreme temperature and chemical conditions encountered in geothermal environments often results in considerably less microbial diversity than other terrestrial habitats and offers a tremendous opportunity for studying the structure and function of indigenous microbial communities and for establishing linkages between putative metabolisms and element cycling. Metagenome sequence (14–15,000 Sanger reads per site) was obtained for five high-temperature (>65°C) chemotrophic microbial communities sampled from geothermal springs (or pools) in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) that exhibit a wide range in geochemistry including pH, dissolved sulfide, dissolved oxygen and ferrous iron. Metagenome data revealed significant differences in the predominant phyla associated with each of these geochemical environments. Novel members of the Sulfolobales are dominant in low pH environments, while other Crenarchaeota including distantly-related Thermoproteales and Desulfurococcales populations dominate in suboxic sulfidic sediments. Several novel archaeal groups are well represented in an acidic (pH 3) Fe-oxyhydroxide mat, where a higher O2 influx is accompanied with an increase in archaeal diversity. The presence or absence of genes and pathways important in S oxidation-reduction, H2-oxidation, and aerobic respiration (terminal oxidation) provide insight regarding the metabolic strategies of indigenous organisms present in geothermal systems. Multiple-pathway and protein-specific functional analysis of metagenome sequence data corroborated results from phylogenetic analyses and clearly demonstrate major differences in metabolic potential across sites. The distribution of functional genes involved in electron transport is consistent with the hypothesis that geochemical parameters (e.g., pH, sulfide, Fe, O2) control microbial community structure and function in YNP geothermal springs

Global media as an early warning tool for food fraud; an assessment of MedISys-FF

Food fraud is a serious problem that may compromise the safety of the food products being sold on the market. Previous studies have shown that food fraud is associated with a large variety of food products and the fraud type may vary from deliberate changing of the food product (i.e. substitution, tampering, dilution etc.) to the manipulation of documents. It is therefore important that all actors within the food supply chain (food producers, authorities), have methodologies and tools available to detect fraudulent products at an early stage so that preventative measures can be taken. Several of such systems exist (i.e. iRASFF, EMA, HorizonScan, AAC-FF, MedISys-FF), but currently only MedISys-FF is publicly online available. In this study, we analyzed food fraud cases collected by MedISys-FF over a 6-year period (2015–2020) and show global trends and developments in food fraud activities. In the period investigated, the system has collected 4375 articles on food fraud incidents from 164 countries in 41 different languages. Fraud with meat and meat products were most frequently reported (27.7%), followed by milk and milk products (10.5%), cereal and bakery products (8.3%), and fish and fish products (7.7%). Most of the fraud was related to expiration date (58.3%) followed by tampering (22.2%) and mislabeling of country of origin (11.4%). Network analysis showed that the focus of the articles was on food products being frauded. The validity of MedISys-FF as an early warning system was demonstrated with COVID- 19. The system has collected articles discussing potential food fraud risks due to the COVID-19 crisis. We therefore conclude that MedISys-FF is a very useful tool to detect early trends in food fraud and may be used by all actors in the food system to ensure safe, healthy, and authentic food