KINEMATIC COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE COORDINATION PATTERN OF THE BASKETBALL FREE THROW

Coordination patterns are an important part of everyday movement. The pattern of intersegmental movement is specific to each task we perform. Hudson (1986) broke down tasks into two basic categories: simultaneous which is used when accuracy is important to the task, and sequential which is used when velocity is the key to the task. The sequential pattern of movement is best defined by the summation of speed principle put forth by Bunn (1972) when he stated that in activities where the highest speed at the moment of release was necessary, the speed was developed when the movement of each segment started at the moment of greatest velocity of the preceding segment. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative biomechanical analysis of the system of coordination used in the basketball free throw. Four individuals of different abilities ranging from elite (a professional basketball player) to novice (an eleven year old boy with little basketball experience) participated in this study. The subjects were video taped (60 fps) shooting a free throw on a regulation basketball court in the sagittal plane on the right side (all subjects were right handed). Each performance was digitized and analyzed using the PEAK Performance 2-dimensional movement analysis system interfaced with a Panasonic AG-7350 recorder, Sony PVM-1341 monitor, and Zenith 486 microcomputer. The angular velocity of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist of the shooting arm and the hip, knee, and ankle of the same side were examined. It was found that all subjects exhibited simultaneous movement of all three joints of the leg. The elite performer exhibited sequential movement of the segments of the shooting arm where the novice exhibited complete simultaneous movement. From the results of the study, the free throw was defined as an intermediate task requiring both velocity and accuracy. This research may be used as a coaching tool in improving the performance of the free throw for any basketball player by studying the detailed analysis of the pattern of coordination of a professional player then comparing the player to any subject on the continuum outlined in this study

Flow Equations for Non-BPS Extremal Black Holes

We exploit some common features of black hole and domain wall solutions of (super)gravity theories coupled to scalar fields and construct a class of stable extremal black holes that are non-BPS, but still can be described by first-order differential equations. These are driven by a "superpotential'', which replaces the central charge Z in the usual black hole potential. We provide a general procedure for finding this class and deriving the associated "superpotential''. We also identify some other cases which do not belong to this class, but show a similar behaviour.Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages, 2 figures. v2: reference added, JHEP versio

All-optical switching in metamaterial with high structural symmetry

We argue the possibility of realization of a polarization insensitive all-optical switching in a planar metamaterial composed of a 4-fold periodic array of two concentric metal rings placed on a substrate of nonlinear material. It is demonstrated that a switching may be achieved between essentially different values of transmission near the resonant frequency of the high-quality-factor Fano-shape trapped-mode excitation.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Remote identification of sheep with flystrike using behavioural observations

Flystrike is a major problem affecting sheep in Australia. Identification of ‘flystruck’ individuals is crucial for treatment; but requires labour-intensive physical examination. As the industry moves toward more low-input systems; there is a need for remote methods to identify flystruck individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the behaviour of sheep with breech flystrike within a paddock setting. Video footage of sixteen Merino sheep; eight later confirmed with flystrike and eight without; was collected as they moved freely within the paddock with conspecifics. Quantitative behavioural measurements and a qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) were conducted and compared to their breech conditions (i.e., faecal/urine staining; flystrike severity). Both qualitative and quantitative assessments indicated behavioural differences between flystruck and non-flystruck animals. Flystruck sheep had a behavioural profile characterised by restless behaviour; abnormal postures and reduced grazing time (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Furthermore; flystruck sheep were scored to have a more ‘exhausted/irritated’ demeanour using QBA (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The behavioural responses also corresponded to the flystrike severity scores and condition of the breech area. We conclude that remotely assessed behaviour of flystruck sheep diverges markedly from non-flystruck sheep; and thus could be a low-input method for identifying and treating affected animals

Very large dielectric response of thin ferroelectric films with the dead layers

We study the dielectric response of ferroelectric (FE) thin films with "dead" dielectric layer at the interface with electrodes. The domain structure inevitably forms in the FE film in presence of the dead layer. As a result, the effective dielectric constant of the capacitor $\epsilon_{eff}$ increases abruptly when the dead layer is thin and, consequently, the pattern of 180-degree domains becomes "soft". We compare the exact results for this problem with the description in terms of a popular "capacitor" model, which is shown to give qualitatively incorrect results. We relate the present results to fatigue observed in thin ferroelectric films.Comment: 5 pages, REVTeX 3.1 with one eps-figure. A note added that the linear response is not changed by electromechanical effect. To appear in Phys. Rev.

The contribution of qualitative behavioural assessment to appraisal of livestock welfare

Animal welfare is increasingly important for the Australian livestock industries, to maintain social licence to practice as well as ensuring market share overseas. Improvement of animal welfare in the livestock industries requires several important key steps. Paramount among these, objective measures are needed for welfare assessment that will enable comparison and contrast of welfare implications of husbandry procedures or housing options. Such measures need to be versatile (can be applied under a wide range of on- and off-farm situations), relevant (reveal aspects of the animal’s affective or physiological state that is relevant to their welfare), reliable (can be repeated with confidence in the results), relatively economic to apply, and they need to have broad acceptance by all stakeholders. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) is an integrated measure that characterises behaviour as a dynamic, expressive body language. QBA is a versatile tool requiring little specialist equipment suiting application to in situ assessments that enables comparative, hypothesis-driven evaluation of various industry-relevant practices. QBA is being increasingly used as part of animal welfare assessments in Europe, and although most other welfare assessment methods record ‘problems’ (e.g. lameness, injury scores, and so on), QBA can capture positive aspects of animal welfare (e.g. positively engaged with their environment, playfulness). In this viewpoint, we review the outcomes of recent QBA studies and discuss the potential application of QBA, in combination with other methods, as a welfare assessment tool for the Australian livestock industries

Review of livestock welfare indicators relevant for the Australian live export industry

Animal welfare is an important issue for the live export industry (LEI), in terms of economic returns, community attitudes and international socio-political relations. Mortality has traditionally been the main welfare measure recorded within the LEI; however, high mortality incidents are usually acted upon after adverse events occur, reducing the scope for proactive welfare enhancement. We reviewed 71 potential animal welfare measures, identifying those measures that would be appropriate for use throughout the LEI for feeder and slaughter livestock species, and categorised these as animal-, environment- and resource-based. We divided the live export supply chain into three sectors: (1) Australian facilities, (2) vessel and (3) destination country facilities. After reviewing the relevant regulations for each sector of the industry, we identified 38 (sector 1), 35 (sector 2) and 26 (sector 3) measures already being collected under current practice. These could be used to form a ‘welfare information dashboard’: a LEI-specific online interface for collecting data that could contribute towards standardised industry reporting. We identified another 20, 25 and 28 measures that are relevant to each LEI sector (sectors 1, 2, 3, respectively), and that could be developed and integrated into a benchmarking system in the future

Abiotic Cycles Mediate the Strength of Cross-Boundary Consumption Within Coastal Food Webs

Understanding the effect of habitat edges on species interactions (e.g. predation) is critical for determining landscape-scale patterns in productivity and the structuring of communities in an ever-changing environment. Both abiotic cycles and habitat structure can mediate faunal movements across habitat edges and determine predators’ ability to access prey across both space and time. To quantify the effects of cyclical abiotic factors and habitat structure on consumer-resource dynamics across habitat boundaries at the land-sea interface, four complementary studies were conducted. Marsh periwinkles Littoraria irrorata were tethered within salt marshes of varying tidal amplitude, at 3 distances from the marsh edge, and assessed for predation after 24 h. Nekton catch rate was assessed with fyke net sampling as a proxy for predator utilization of the marsh platform. Consumption rates were positively correlated with tidal amplitude and proximity to the seaward marsh edge, and there was also a slight positive relationship between tidal amplitude and nekton access to the marsh. Tidal amplitude was positively correlated with Spartina alterniflora shoot density and negatively correlated with shoot height. Therefore, to separate the effects of habitat structure from tidal forcing, independent manipulations of shoot density and shoot height were conducted. We found that the signal of local habitat structure on consumption rates appears to be secondary to the effects of abiotic cycles on consumption. Disentangling the interactions between abiotic cycles and biotic structure of ecosystems across ecological boundaries is key to understanding both the strengths of species interactions and the mediation of cross-boundary energy flow