A Late Blancan Local Fauna From Northern Idaho

Mammal specimens from a new Pleistocene-age locality near Priest River, Idaho have been identified from at least nine different taxa including muskrat, beaver, porcupine, deer, horse, pronghorn antelope, canid, lynx and bear. A right mandible containing i1 and m1-m2 is of an Ondatra sp. of muskrat. The m1is significantly shorter, narrower and the L/W ratio smaller than that of extant and extinct O. zebethicus. Yet the m1 length and width are both larger than either O. idahoensis and O. annectens. The beaver is represented by an isolated incisor, two lower molars and one upper molar. All three molars share the S enamel occlusal pattern seen Castor, contrasting with the occlusal pattern of Dipoides. The one external striid and three internal striids on the lower molars that are unequal in length indicate Castor californicus rather than C. canadensis. A p4 and m1 of a species of Erethizon porcupine are significantly larger than the p4 and m1 of either E. bathygnathum or E. dorsatum. The deer specimens include a complete right M2 and a near complete m3. The M2 has four distinct main cusps, a prominent paracone, a paracone rib, a metastyle and a very small entostyle, suggesting that this is a species of Bretzia, albeit smaller than B. pseudalces. A P2, dP3 and dp3 of Plessipus idahoensis is also present. Finally, a m1 of Capromeryx, a buccal half of a right P3 assigned to Lynx sp., the buccal half of a left p3 assigned to Ursus sp. and a right m1 of a non-extant Canis sp. are also present. The Priest River local fauna cannot be older than 2.58 Ma or the beginning of Blancan V (= early Pleistocene) because of FAD for Erethizon from South America at GABI1. The Priest River l. f. cannot be younger than 1.72 Ma (end of Blancan V) as Plesippus has its LAD in Froman Ferry l. f. at the end of Blancan V. Capromeryx tauntonensis was previously restricted to Blancan IV and the Taunton l. f. from central Washington and C. tauntonensis would be a time range extension into the Blancan V NALMA sub-age, which argues against the Priest River l. f. being younger than Blancan V. This is the first mammalian fauna known from northern Idaho as previously known Cenozoic faunas from the Inland Northwest region are the early to late Blancan faunas, from the Glenn’s Ferry Fm. in southwest Idaho, some 570 miles south of the new site and the early to mid- Blancan faunas from the Ringold Fm. in south, central Washington, 225 miles southwest of the new site

Determining jumping performance from a single body-worn accelerometer using machine learning

External peak power in the countermovement jump is frequently used to monitor athlete training. The gold standard method uses force platforms, but they are unsuitable for field-based testing. However, alternatives based on jump flight time or Newtonian methods applied to inertial sensor data have not been sufficiently accurate for athlete monitoring. Instead, we developed a machine learning model based on characteristic features (functional principal components) extracted from a single body-worn accelerometer. Data were collected from 69 male and female athletes at recreational, club or national levels, who performed 696 jumps in total. We considered vertical countermovement jumps (with and without arm swing),sensor anatomical locations, machine learning models and whether to use resultant or triaxial signals. Using a novel surrogate model optimisation procedure, we obtained the lowest errors with a support vector machine when using the resultant signal from a lower back sensor in jumps without arm swing. This model had a peak power RMSE of 2.3 W·kg-1 (5.1% of the mean), estimated using nested cross validation and supported by an independent holdout test (2.0 W·kg-1). This error is lower than in previous studies, although it is not yet sufficiently accurate for a field-based method. Our results demonstrate that functional data representations work well in machine learning by reducing model complexity in applications where signals are aligned in time. Our optimisation procedure also was shown to be robust can be used in wider applications with low-cost, noisy objective functions

Comparison of Multiple Hop Test Kinematics Between Force-Platforms and Video Footage – A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Multiple hop performances have been assessed using force-platforms and motion-capture cameras. However, the accessibility of these technologies might be a hindering factor for many performance coaches. Currently, tablet devices are being used as alternatives to measure jumping and hopping performances. Objective: This study aimed to compare multiple hop kinematics using the Kinovea application with force-platforms, the gold standard. Methods: Using an observational cross-sectional study design, male athletes (n=44; age 20.1 ± 1.4 years) completed triple hops (3-Hop) and quintuple hops (5-Hop) on force-platforms while being filmed using an iPad. Ground contact time, flight time and total time were analysed using Kinovea and compared with the force platform data. Results: Statistical analysis showed a high level of agreement across all variables of interest but significant differences (flight time; -2.14 to -5.96 %, ground contact time; 4.89 to 5.83 %, total time; -0.37 to -0.58%) were observed across all variables of interest. A systematic bias for flight and ground contact times were seen for 3-Hop and 5-Hop. Conclusion: The use of iPad and Kinovea application can be used as a valid alternative to measure multiple hop kinematics when performance coaches do not have access to expensive force-platforms or motion-capture cameras

The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises

The Lancet Countdown is an international collaboration, established to provide an independent, global monitoring system dedicated to tracking the emerging health profile of the changing climate. The 2020 report presents 43 indicators across five sections: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. This report represents the findings and consensus of the 35 leading academic institutions and UN agencies that make up the Lancet Countdown, and draws on the expertise of climate scientists, geographers, and engineers; of energy, food, and transport experts; and of economists, social and political scientists, data scientists, public health professionals, and doctors

Objectively measured light-intensity physical activity is independently associated with 2-H plasma glucose

Objective: We examined the associations of objectively measured sedentary time, light-intensity physical activity, and moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity with fasting and 2-h postchallenge plasma glucose in Australian adults. Research Design and Methods: A total of 67 men and 106 women (mean age &plusmn; SD 53.3 &plusmn; 11.9 years) without diagnosed diabetes were recruited from the 2004&ndash;2005 Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study. Physical activity was measured by Actigraph&nbsp; accelerometers worn during waking hours for 7 consecutive days and summarized as sedentary time (accelerometer counts/min &lt;100; average hours/day), light-intensity (counts/min 100-1951), and moderate- to vigorous-intensity (counts/min &ge;1,952). An oral glucose tolerance test was used to ascertain 2-h plasma glucose and fasting plasma glucose. Results: After adjustment for confounders (including waist circumference), sedentary time was positively associated with 2-h plasma glucose (b = 0.29, 95% CI 0.11&ndash;0.48, P = 0.002); light-intensity activity time (b = &ndash;0.25, &ndash;0.45 to &ndash;0.06, P = 0.012) and moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity time (b = &ndash;1.07, &ndash;1.77 to &ndash;0.37, P = 0.003) were negatively associated. Light-intensity activity remained significantly associated with 2-h plasma glucose following further adjustment for moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity (b = &ndash;0.22, &ndash;0.42 to &ndash;0.03, P = 0.023). Associations of all activity measures with fasting plasma glucose were nonsignificant (P &gt; 0.05). Conclusions: These data provide the first objective evidence that light-intensity physical activity is beneficially associated with blood glucose and that sedentary time is unfavorably associated with blood glucose. These objective data support previous findings from studies using self-report measures, and suggest that substituting light-intensity activity for television viewing or other sedentary time may be a practical and achievable preventive strategy to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.<br /

Exposure of mortars to cyclic chloride ingress and carbonation

The presence of chloride ions is one of the primary factors causing the degradation of reinforced concrete structures. An investigation to monitor ingress of chlorides during a 24-week wetting and drying exposure regime to simulate conditions in which multiple-mode transport mechanisms are active was conducted on a variety of binders. Penetration was evaluated using free and total chloride profiles. Acid extraction of chlorides is quantitatively reliable and practical for assessing penetration. X-ray diffraction was used to determine the presence of bound chlorides and carbonation. The ability of the cement blends to resist chloride penetration was, from best to worst, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, microsilica, pulverised-fuel ash, Portland cement. The effect of carbonation on binding capability was observed and the relative quantity of chlorides also showed a correlation with the amount of chlorides bound in the form of Friedel’s salt

The relationship between bowling intensity and ground reaction force in cricket pace bowlers

This study examined the relationship between perceived bowling intensity, ball release speed and ground reaction force (measured by peak force, impulse and loading rate) in male pace bowlers. Twenty participants each bowled 36 deliveries, split evenly across three perceived intensity zones: low = 70% of maximum perceived bowling effort, medium = 85%, and high = 100%. Peak force and loading rate were significantly different across the three perceived intensity zones in the horizontal and vertical directions (Cohen’s d range = 0.14–0.45, p < 0.01). When ball release speed increased, peak force and loading rate also increased in the horizontal and vertical directions (ηp2 = 0.04–0.18, p < 0.01). Lastly, bowling at submaximal intensities (i.e., low–medium) was associated with larger decreases in peak horizontal force (7.9–12.3% decrease), impulse (15.8–21.4%) and loading rate (7.4–12.7%) compared to decreases in ball release speed (5.4–8.3%). This may have implications for bowling strategies implemented during training and matches, particularly for preserving energy and reducing injury risk