The Impact of Spatial Occlusion Goggles on the Basketball Crossover Dribble

Spatial occlusion involves removing specific sources of visual information such as an object, limb or other information from the visuomotor workspace. In the sports context, limiting an athlete’s visual system to sub-optimal conditions during complex motor skills such as the basketball dribble may be detrimental to performance. However, when normal visual conditions are returned performance may rise above its previous threshold, as athletes then rely less on visual information. In this study, we randomly assigned skilled basketball players into three groups; spatial occlusion (SPO), practice (PRA) and control (CON) and asked participants to execute a basketball crossover dribble task in a motion analysis laboratory. SPO and PRA groups underwent a pre-test, an acquisition phase, a post-test and retention test, while the CON group underwent no acquisition phase. During the acquisition phase, participants in the SPO group wore goggles that occluded vision of the limbs used during the basketball dribble., and the PRA group completed the same acquisition phase without occlusion goggles. Kinematic data during the crossover dribble task revealed a significant SPO group change in the height of the dribble at the third metacarpal (

The impact of a training intervention with spatial occlusion goggles on controlling and passing a football

Introduction: The current study analysed the impact of spatial occlusion training on control and pass accuracy in football. Occlusion was achieved using goggles that removed the sight of the lower limbs and football as it was projected towards the participants. Methods: Fifteen skilled male football players were randomly assigned to one of three groups; Occlusion, Practice and Control. Participants were required to control a projected football, before passing it to one of two designated targets, while concurrently identifying a series of randomly generated numbers. Pass direction was determined by a directional arrow that accompanied each number, which coincided with the football release. The study design consisted of a pre-test, training intervention (400 trials), post-test and 2-day retention test. The performance was evaluated via three variables: outcome error, control error and number call error. Results: The results demonstrated a significant decrease in outcome error (p \u3c 0.05) and number call error (p \u3c 0.05) for the Occlusion group from pre-test to post and retention test. No significant decrease was experienced from post-test to retention test (p\u3e 0.05), demonstrating a learning effect. Conclusion: This suggests that reducing visual information during training may have a positive impact on performance once full visual conditions are restored

The impact of a spatial occlusion training intervention on pass accuracy across a continuum of representative experimental design in football

Introduction: The ability to successfully complete a pass in football can positively impact the result of the game. While previous work has identified the importance of perceptual behaviours before and during passing action, there is a paucity of research analysing the impact of training interventions on pass performance. Methods: A tri-phasic approach was employed to assess the impact of training with spatial occlusion goggles. Each phase was designed to assess participants’ ability to control and pass a football during a representative experimental task. The study design consisted of a pre-test, 2-week training intervention, post-test and 2-week retention test. Results: Significant improvements in response accuracy (ppp Conclusion: Findings suggest that guiding the visual system away from the lower limbs while receiving a football and towards relevant information, the movement of a particular participant, within the environment can improve pass accuracy and speed of pass following a training intervention with occlusion goggles

Early 21st century cyclone climatology: a 3D perspective. Basic characterization

Extratropical cyclones are a relevant feature in the climate at middle and high latitudes. Despite their relevance, most of studies typically focus on cyclones identified at a single atmospheric level and on events close to the surface. This paper provides a new perspective on the Southern Hemisphere cyclone events based on the multilevel cyclone tracking algorithm STACKER. The algorithm, using relative vorticity, detects the raw tracks at single levels and objectively combine them to provide the 3D events and their evolutionary timeline. As result, 3D cyclone climatology, based on ECMWF Reanalysis ERA-I data from 12 pressure levels in the troposphere and lowermost stratosphere is presented. To the best of our knowledge this is the first analysis carried out throughout the troposphere and the lowermost extratropical/subpolar stratosphere in order to give a comprehensive picture of the cyclone events as physical entities throughout their lifetime. Cyclone properties analysed are track densities, translational velocity, vorticity and lifetimes. For the subtropical and extrattropical SH, results support many previous ideas about cyclone characteristics, but new insights are also obtained. A total of 58231 multilevel cyclone events lasting at least 2 days were detected, with vertical structures spanning two or more levels. This means an average of 303 cyclone events of all types per month, between 2001 and 2017, disregarding seasonality. Results shows that the lowermost level of cyclones are most frequently detected at 925 and 700 hPa, Considering that cyclonic systems can be grouped into families, results per month on average, show that shallow systems are the most frequent events with approximately 248 systems detected, followed by 43 intermediates and 11 deep events. Shallow and deep systems have a large percentage of events with genesis at 925 and 700hPa. Density statistics show that shallow events are present at all latitude ranges mostly poleward 30ºS with high and medium intensities, while intermediate ones are mostly restricted to mid-latitudes and deep events are mostly confined to sub-polar and polar latitudes. Cyclones over Antarctica seems to be mostly intermediates and deeps, with longer lifetimes and lower velocities

Imbalance in the response of pre- and post-synaptic components to amyloidopathy

Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-associated synaptic dysfunction drives the progression of pathology from its earliest stages. Aβ species, both soluble and in plaque deposits, have been causally related to the progressive, structural and functional impairments observed in AD. It is, however, still unclear how Aβ plaques develop over time and how they progressively affect local synapse density and turnover. Here we observed, in a mouse model of AD, that Aβ plaques grow faster in the earlier stages of the disease and if their initial area is > 500 µm2; this may be due to deposition occurring in the cloud part of the plaque. In addition, synaptic turnover is higher in the presence of amyloid pathology and this is paralleled by a reduction in pre- but not post-synaptic densities. Plaque proximity does not appear to have an impact on synaptic dynamics. These observations indicate an imbalance in the response of the pre- and post-synaptic terminals and that therapeutics, alongside targeting the underlying pathology, need to address changes in synapse dynamics

Quark masses and mixings in the RS1 model with a condensing 4th generation

We study the hierarchy of quark masses and mixings in a model based on a 5-dimensional spacetime with constant curvature of Randall-Sundrum type with two branes, where the Electroweak Symmetry Breaking is caused dynamically by the condensation of a 4th generation of quarks, due to underlying physics from the 5D bulk and the first KK gluons. We first study the hierarchy of quark masses and mixings that can be obtained from purely adjusting the profile localizations, finding that realistic masses are not reproduced unless non trivial hierarchies of underlying 4-fermion interactions from the bulk are included. Then we study global U(1) symmetries that can be imposed in order to obtain non-symmetric modified Fritzsch-like textures in the mass matrices that reproduce reasonably well quark masses and CKM mixings.Comment: Minor changes. Version accepted for publication in JHE

The GALEX Time Domain Survey. II. Wavelength-Dependent Variability of Active Galactic Nuclei in the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey

We analyze the wavelength-dependent variability of a sample of spectroscopically confirmed active galactic nuclei selected from near-UV (NUV) variable sources in the GALEX Time Domain Survey that have a large amplitude of optical variability (difference-flux S/N > 3) in the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey (PS1 MDS). By matching GALEX and PS1 epochs in five bands (NUV, g_(P1), r_(P1), i_(P1), z_(P1)) in time, and taking their flux difference, we create co-temporal difference-flux spectral energy distributions (ΔƒSEDs) using two chosen epochs for each of the 23 objects in our sample, on timescales of about a year. We confirm the "bluer-when-brighter" trend reported in previous studies, and measure a median spectral index of the ΔƒSEDs of ɑ_⋋ = 2.1 that is consistent with an accretion disk spectrum. We further fit the ΔƒSEDs of each source with a standard accretion disk model in which the accretion rate changes from one epoch to the other. In our sample, 17 out of 23 (~74%) sources are described well by this variable accretion-rate disk model, with a median average characteristic disk temperature T^* of 1.2 x 10^5 K that is consistent with the temperatures expected, given the distribution of accretion rates and black hole masses inferred for the sample. Our analysis also shows that the variable accretion rate model is a better fit to the ΔƒSEDs than a simple power law

Pressure and Volume Limited Ventilation for the Ventilatory Management of Patients with Acute Lung Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are life threatening clinical conditions seen in critically ill patients with diverse underlying illnesses. Lung injury may be perpetuated by ventilation strategies that do not limit lung volumes and airway pressures. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing pressure and volume-limited (PVL) ventilation strategies with more traditional mechanical ventilation in adults with ALI and ARDS.We searched Medline, EMBASE, HEALTHSTAR and CENTRAL, related articles on PubMed™, conference proceedings and bibliographies of identified articles for randomized trials comparing PVL ventilation with traditional approaches to ventilation in critically ill adults with ALI and ARDS. Two reviewers independently selected trials, assessed trial quality, and abstracted data. We identified ten trials (n = 1,749) meeting study inclusion criteria. Tidal volumes achieved in control groups were at the lower end of the traditional range of 10-15 mL/kg. We found a clinically important but borderline statistically significant reduction in hospital mortality with PVL [relative risk (RR) 0.84; 95% CI 0.70, 1.00; p = 0.05]. This reduction in risk was attenuated (RR 0.90; 95% CI 0.74, 1.09, p = 0.27) in a sensitivity analysis which excluded 2 trials that combined PVL with open-lung strategies and stopped early for benefit. We found no effect of PVL on barotrauma; however, use of paralytic agents increased significantly with PVL (RR 1.37; 95% CI, 1.04, 1.82; p = 0.03).This systematic review suggests that PVL strategies for mechanical ventilation in ALI and ARDS reduce mortality and are associated with increased use of paralytic agents