Ground reaction forces, asymmetries and performance of change of direction tasks in youth elite female basketball players

The magnitude and direction of inter-limb asymmetries in a change of direction (COD) have increased interest in scientific research in recent years. This present study aimed to investigate the magnitude of asymmetries in an elite youth female basketball sample (n = 18, age = 17.79 ± 0.67 y) and determine its directionality using force platform technology. Participants performed 70◦ and 180◦ COD tests analyzing the following variables: time, ground contact time (GCT) and ground reaction forces (GRF) along the anterior–posterior, mediolateral, and vertical axes. Inter-limb asymmetries were evident in both COD tests, with substantial differences observed between limbs (p < 0.01). The asymmetry values ranged from 3.02% to 24.31% in COD 180◦ and from 1.99% to 21.70% in COD 70◦, with anterior–posterior GRF consistently exhibiting the highest asymmetry magnitude. Additionally, the directionality exhibited variability between the tests, indicating poor agreement and suggesting the independent directionality of asymmetries across tasks. Moreover, players required more time to complete the COD 180◦, the GCT was noticeably longer for the COD 180◦ than for the COD 70◦, and GRF varied across the axis, suggesting that players adapt uniquely to the specific demands of each task. The utilization of force platforms presents a comprehensive approach to assess asymmetries and COD variables performance variables which are “angle-dependent”, which could have important implications for COD screening and effective training interventions

Online data services at the Belgian Marine Datacentre

Over the past few years, the Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM) has built up a centre of human and technical expertise oriented towards the management and the analysis of marine environmental data. The Belgian Marine Data Centre (BMDC) serves as national repository and processing centre for marine and environmental data and ensures a continuous and scientifically sound data flow between data producers and end-users of marine and environmental data collected in the frame of national and international research and monitoring programmes. The data cover most domains of oceanology as there are: physico-chemical, optical parameters, biodiversity, hydrodynamics, sedimentology, geography and human interest. Most of the datasets relate to the Belgian Continental Shelf, the Scheldt estuary and its surrounding areas.To promote the use of a high variety of data sets, different tools are constantly being developed and are presented on our website (www.mumm.ac.be/datacentre). An interface to the integrated database on the quality of the marine environment was developed. This database mainly contains the results of measurements and observations in situ and laboratory analyses of air, water, sediment and biota samples. Besides an extensive inventory of the database and an advanced request form with several selection criteria, some more straightforward queries and geographical selection tools are being developed for a faster and easier access to a specific dataset. Data can freely be downloaded. Once the data are obtained, a spatial analysis tool is freely and online available for the visualization on an interactive map. A lot of documentation accompanying the data is online available. The strongest feature of this system is the common underlying structure for different kinds and sources of data. This opens the possibility to compare biodiversity data, physico-chemical data, sedimentological data and historical data.Another database at MUMM, the real-time data acquisition system ‘ODAS’ stores the physical and chemical parameters measured onboard of the research vessel RV Belgica since 1984. The along -track data are published online shortly after the end of the measurement campaign together with all other information like the campaign reports, cruise tracks, … This is a valuable source of basic information for the scientists

Online data services at the Belgian Marine Datacentre

Over the past few years, the Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM) has built up a centre of human and technical expertise oriented towards the management and the analysis of marine environmental data. The Belgian Marine Data Centre (BMDC) serves as national repository and processing centre for marine and environmental data and ensures a continuous and scientifically sound data flow between data producers and end-users of marine and environmental data collected in the frame of national and international research and monitoring programmes. The data cover most domains of oceanology as there are: physico-chemical, optical parameters, biodiversity, hydrodynamics, sedimentology, geography and human interest. Most of the datasets relate to the Belgian Continental Shelf, the Scheldt estuary and its surrounding areas.To promote the use of a high variety of data sets, different tools are constantly being developed and are presented on our website (www.mumm.ac.be/datacentre). An interface to the integrated database on the quality of the marine environment was developed. This database mainly contains the results of measurements and observations in situ and laboratory analyses of air, water, sediment and biota samples. Besides an extensive inventory of the database and an advanced request form with several selection criteria, some more straightforward queries and geographical selection tools are being developed for a faster and easier access to a specific dataset. Data can freely be downloaded. Once the data are obtained, a spatial analysis tool is freely and online available for the visualization on an interactive map. A lot of documentation accompanying the data is online available. The strongest feature of this system is the common underlying structure for different kinds and sources of data. This opens the possibility to compare biodiversity data, physico-chemical data, sedimentological data and historical data.Another database at MUMM, the real-time data acquisition system ‘ODAS’ stores the physical and chemical parameters measured onboard of the research vessel RV Belgica since 1984. The along -track data are published online shortly after the end of the measurement campaign together with all other information like the campaign reports, cruise tracks, … This is a valuable source of basic information for the scientists

Revealing species communities in a spatial and temporal overlap

Storing physical and chemical values, optical spectra and sediment granulometry is already a cumbersome task; dealing with biological data even falls into a different category. Biologists tend to focus their attention to species of their interest while other specimens in the same sample are often underestimated. Meanwhile taxonomists are continuously revising the taxonomy resulting in a complete new set of relations between these taxa. Keeping track with both and meanwhile having a dataset up to date seems endless. At the Belgian Marine Data Centre we tried to think outside the box and came up with a solution to content both biologists and data managers. The last thing we aimed at is to create another web index to refer species, therefore we hooked up with the existing web based referencing systems. The need to get data about different food webs in a spatial and temporal overlap is answered by our hierarchical storage of taxa which allows selecting a predator at species level and at the same time selecting different prey species at lower taxonomic levels. As these species, and also the scientists, usually are not confined into ‘latitude longitude squares’ we elaborated the spatial selection tool which defines user specific polygons to base the selection of data upon. We will briefly present the structure of our relational database but specific attention will go out to the taxonomic and spatial parts. Incentives and discomforts to organize the data in this way, and our current web interface, will be demonstrated

Real-life effectiveness of omalizumab in difficult-to-treat versus severe asthma: A national cohort study in Belgium

Background: Guidelines recommend omalizumab in patients with uncontrolled severe allergic asthma. We investigated real-life use of omalizumab, the proportion of patients fulfilling eligibility criteria, its costs and its effectiveness. Method: In a cohort of asthma patients initiating treatment with omalizumab in Belgium between 2010 and 2016, we investigated fulfilment of eligibility criteria (chronic use of high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) plus long-acting β2-agonists (LABAs) and ⩾2 severe asthma exacerbations in previous year), and compared hospitalisations and systemic corticosteroid consumption in the year before and after omalizumab initiation. We computed healthcare costs in the respective time periods and compared the cost per prevented hospitalisation in patients fulfilling eligibility criteria versus those who did not. Results: Between 2010 and 2016, omalizumab treatment was initiated in 2068 patients with asthma; only 24% fulfilled the eligibility criteria, mainly due to nonadherence to high-dose ICSs + LABAs. The proportion of patients hospitalised f

Upper airway dynamics during negative expiratory pressure in apneic and non-apneic awake snorers

BACKGROUND: The ability of negative expiratory pressure (NEP) technique to differentiate between awake snorers with and without obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea (OSAH) was investigated. METHODS: Forty-eight subjects with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and 7 healthy subjects, as non-snorer controls, underwent the NEP application of -5 and -7 cmH(2)O in the seated and supine position during wakefulness, after performing a sleep study. The upper airway collapsibility was assessed by computing the volume exhaled during the first 0.5 sec. (V,NEP(0.5)) and 1 sec. (V,NEP(1)) following the NEP start. RESULTS: Patients with severe (AHI ≥ 30) (n = 19) and mild-to-moderate (AHI <30 and >5) (n = 15) OSAH had lower V,NEP(0.5 )(340 ± 88 ml) as compared to snorers (AHI ≤ 5) (n = 14) (427 ± 101 ml; p < 0.01) and controls (n = 7) (492 ± 69 ml; p < 0.001) in the supine position with NEP -5 cmH(2)O. Less significant differences among the different groups were observed for V,NEP(0.5 )in the seated position with NEP -5 cmH(2)O and in both positions with NEP -7 cmH(2)O (only OSAH patients vs controls, p < 0.001). Similar results were obtained for V,NEP(1 )in either position by using both NEP -5 cmH(2)O and -7 cmH(2)O. In spite of this, a substantial overlapping of V,NEP(0.5 )and V,NEP(1 )between snorers and OSAH patients did not allow to identify a reliable diagnostic cut-off level. An inverse correlation with AHI was found for V,NEP(0.5 )in the supine position with NEP -5 cmH(2)O (r(s )= -0.46, p < 0.05) in severe OSAH patients. CONCLUSION: The awake OSAH patients exhibit values of V,NEP(0.5 )and V,NEP(1 )lesser than those of awake snorers. The NEP technique, however, appears to have a limited usefulness as clinical tool for routine screening of the OSAH patients during wakefulness

Observational study on efficacy of negative expiratory pressure test proposed as screening for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome among commercial interstate bus drivers - protocol study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a respiratory disease characterized by the collapse of the extrathoracic airway and has important social implications related to accidents and cardiovascular risk. The main objective of the present study was to investigate whether the drop in expiratory flow and the volume expired in 0.2 s during the application of negative expiratory pressure (NEP) are associated with the presence and severity of OSA in a population of professional interstate bus drivers who travel medium and long distances.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>An observational, analytic study will be carried out involving adult male subjects of an interstate bus company. Those who agree to participate will undergo a detailed patient history, physical examination involving determination of blood pressure, anthropometric data, circumference measurements (hips, waist and neck), tonsils and Mallampati index. Moreover, specific questionnaires addressing sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness will be administered. Data acquisition will be completely anonymous. Following the medical examination, the participants will perform a spirometry, NEP test and standard overnight polysomnography. The NEP test is performed through the administration of negative pressure at the mouth during expiration. This is a practical test performed while awake and requires little cooperation from the subject. In the absence of expiratory flow limitation, the increase in the pressure gradient between the alveoli and open upper airway caused by NEP results in an increase in expiratory flow.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Despite the abundance of scientific evidence, OSA is still underdiagnosed in the general population. In addition, diagnostic procedures are expensive, and predictive criteria are still unsatisfactory. Because increased upper airway collapsibility is one of the main determinants of OSA, the response to the application of NEP could be a predictor of this disorder. With the enrollment of this study protocol, the expectation is to encounter predictive NEP values for different degrees of OSA in order to contribute toward an early diagnosis of this condition and reduce its impact and complications among commercial interstate bus drivers.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><it>Registro Brasileiro de Ensaios Clinicos </it>(local acronym RBEC) [Internet]: Rio de Janeiro (RJ): <it>Instituto de Informaçao Cientifica e Tecnologica em Saude </it>(Brazil); 2010 - Identifier RBR-7dq5xx. Cross-sectional study on efficacy of negative expiratory pressure test proposed as screening for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome among commercial interstate bus drivers; 2011 May 31 [7 pages]. Available from <url>http://www.ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-7dq5xx/</url>.</p