Acute Effects of ACL Injury-Prevention Warm-Up and Soccer-Specific Fatigue Protocol on Dynamic Knee Valgus in Youth Male Soccer Players

Childhood anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries—which can pose a major risk to a child’s sporting career—have been on the rise in the last few decades. Dynamic knee valgus (DKV) has been linked to an increased risk of ACL injury. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the acute effects of an ACL injury prevention protocol (ACL-IPP) and a soccer-specific fatigue protocol (SSFP) on DKV in youth male soccer players. The research hypothesis was that DKV would be reduced by the ACL-IPP and increased by the SSFP. Eighteen youth male soccer players were divided according to baseline DKV. Those with moderate or large DKV performed a neuromuscular training protocol based on activation of the abductor and external rotator hip muscles. Those with little or no DKV performed a soccer-specific fatigue protocol. DKV was assessed using the single-leg squat pre- and post-protocols in both legs. The ACL-IPP significantly decreased DKV during single-leg squat (p < 0.01, effect size = 1.39), while the SSFP significantly increased baseline DKV in the dominant leg during single-leg squat (p = 0.012; effect size = 1.74). In conclusion, the ACL-IPP appears to acutely reduce the DKV in youth male soccer players, and the SSFP seems to acutely increase the DKV in those players who showed a light or no DKV in a non-fatigue situation. By using the SSFP, it may be possible to determine which players would benefit from injury prevention programs due to increased DKV during game scenarios, while hip abductor and external rotator neuromuscular training may be beneficial for players who have moderate and severe DKV during single-leg squat under non-fatigued scenarios

Effects of Mobile Phone Use on Driving Performance: An Experimental Study of Workload and Traffic Violations

ABSTRACT: The use of communication technologies, e.g., mobile phones, has increased dramatically in recent years, and their use among drivers has become a great risk to traffic safety. The present study assessed the workload and road ordinary violations, utilizing driving data collected from 39 young participants who underwent a dual-task while driving a simulator, i.e., respond to a call, text on WhatsApp, and check Instagram. Findings confirmed that there are significant differences in the driving performance of young drivers in terms of vehicle control (i.e., lateral distance and hard shoulder line violations) between distracted and non-distracted drivers. Furthermore, the overall workload score of young drivers increases with the use of their mobile phones while driving. The obtained results contribute to a better understanding of the driving performance of distracted young drivers and thus they could be useful for further improvements to traffic safety strategies

Hill-climbing and brute-force attacks on biometric systems: A case study in match-on-card fingerprint verification

Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. M. Martínez-Díaz, J. Fiérrez-Aguilar, F. Alonso-Fernández, J. Ortega-García, J.A. Siguenza, "Hill-Climbing and Brute-Force Attacks on Biometric Systems: A Case Study in Match-on-Card Fingerprint Verification" in Proceedings of 40th Annual IEEE International Carnahan Conferences Security Technology ICCST, Lexington, KY (USA), 2006, 151 - 159In this paper, we study the robustness of state-of-the-art automatic fingerprint verification systems against hill climbing and brute-force attacks. We compare the performance of this type of attacks against two different minutiae-based systems, the NIST Fingerprint Image Software 2 (NFIS2) reference system and a Match-on-Card based system. In order to study their success rate, the attacks are analyzed and modified in each scenario. We focus on the influence of initial conditions in hill-climbing attacks, like the number of minutiae in the synthetically generated templates or the performance of each type of modification in the template. We demonstrate how slight modifications in the hill-climbing algorithm lead to very different success ratesThis work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Defense, BioSecure NoE and the TIC2003-08382-C05-01 project of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technolog

Small farmers' perception of factors influencing regional chemical control of Diaphorina citri

Regional Control Areas (RCAs) have been implemented in Mexico as a strategy to delay the spread of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the causal bacterium of the disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB). The implementation of an effective management of the vector insect, Diaphorina citri in the RCAs requires the knowledge, acceptance and coordinated engagement of small agricultural producers. This research assessed the perception and knowledge of 62 citrus growers regarding the operational, sociocultural and environmental factors influencing chemical control of D. citri in four RCAs within Veracruz State. According to their responses, the following factors have been identified as the operational factors with the highest influence on the effectiveness of insecticides against D. citri within RCAs: the lack of knowledge about the use of surfactants, application speed, poor calibration of sprayers and incorrect water quality. The most significant sociocultural factors are the general unawareness of the pest and the safe and proper application of pesticides. The most relevant environmental factors during application: temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Sociocultural index correlated with the perception of effectiveness. Therefore, it becomes necessary to consider differences among citrus growers in each region and setting out the most appropriatestrategies for vector and disease management. Highlights Some operational practices that citrus growers are not aware of may influence their perception of chemical control. The sociocultural context of growers determines their decision-taking on insecticide applications. During the application of insecticides in regional control areas (RCAs), growers do not take into account weather conditions. The effective management of D. citri requires a coordinated engagement of small growers' in RCAs.Regional Control Areas (RCAs) have been implemented in Mexico as a strategy to delay the spread of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the causal bacterium of the disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB). The implementation of an effective management of the vector insect, Diaphorina citri in the RCAs requires the knowledge, acceptance and coordinated engagement of small agricultural producers. This research assessed the perception and knowledge of 62 citrus growers regarding the operational, sociocultural and environmental factors influencing chemical control of D. citri in four RCAs within Veracruz State. According to their responses, the following factors have been identified as the operational factors with the highest influence on the effectiveness of insecticides against D. citri within RCAs: the lack of knowledge about the use of surfactants, application speed, poor calibration of sprayers and incorrect water quality. The most significant sociocultural factors are the general unawareness of the pest and the safe and proper application of pesticides. The most relevant environmental factors during application: temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Sociocultural index correlated with the perception of effectiveness. Therefore, it becomes necessary to consider differences among citrus growers in each region and setting out the most appropriatestrategies for vector and disease management. Highlights Some operational practices that citrus growers are not aware of may influence their perception of chemical control. The sociocultural context of growers determines their decision-taking on insecticide applications. During the application of insecticides in regional control areas (RCAs), growers do not take into account weather conditions. The effective management of D. citri requires a coordinated engagement of small growers' in RCAs

Looking Towards 2030: Strengthening the Environmental Health in Childhood-Adolescent Cancer Survivor Programs

Childhood and adolescent cancer survivors (CACS) are a high-risk population for non-communicable diseases and secondary carcinogenesis. The Environmental and Community Health Program for Longitudinal Follow-up of CACS in the region of Murcia, Spain, is an ongoing pioneering program that constitutes a model for social innovation. This study aims to present the program tools and protocol as a whole, as well as a profile of the incidence, survival, and spatiotemporal distribution of childhood cancer in the region of Murcia, Spain, using 822 sample cases of cancer diagnosed in children under 15 years of age (1998-2020). While the crude incidence rate across that entire period was 149.6 per 1 million, there was an increase over that time in the incidence. The areas with a higher standardized incidence ratio have shifted from the northwest (1998-2003) to the southeast (2016-2020) region. Overall, the ten-year survival rate for all tumor types was 80.1% over the entire period, increasing the five-year survival rate from 76.1 (1998-2003) to 85.5 (2014-2018). CACS living in areas with very poor outdoor air quality had lower survival rates. Furthermore, integrating environmental health into clinical practice could improve knowledge of the etiology and prognosis, as well as the outcomes of CACS. Finally, monitoring individual carbon footprints and creating healthier lifestyles, alongside healthier environments for CACS, could promote wellbeing, environmental awareness, and empowerment in order to attain Sustainable Development Goals for non-communicable diseases in this population.This research was supported by the Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Project, Spanish Federation of Parents of Children with Cancer (FFIS-CCE-2019-11); Environmental Health Profile for Children Project funded by Sociedad Pediatria Sureste Esp. (FFIS-DF-2022-36); the International Network of Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer (ENSUCHICA) in Europe and Latin America (FFIS EU17-01-01); Fundación Científica de la AECC (MACAPE-2004); Medio Ambiente Cáncer Pediátrica en la Región De Murcia (MACAPEMUR-2009 ~FFIS/EMER09/15); the Mount Sinai International Exchange Program for Minority Students funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (T37 MD001452); and the International Training and Research Program in Environmental and Occupational Health funded by the Fogarty International Center, United States (TW00640). The funders had no role in the completion of the research project, the writing of the manuscript for publication, or the decision to publish the results.S

Exploring Blue Spaces' Effects on Childhood Leukaemia Incidence: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Spain

Background: Blue spaces have been a key part of human evolution, providing resources and helping economies develop. To date, no studies have been carried out to explore how they may be linked to paediatric oncological diseases. Objectives: To explore the possible relationship of residential proximity to natural and urban blue spaces on childhood leukaemia. Methods: A population-based case–control study was conducted in four regions of Spain across the period 2000–2018. A total of 936 incident cases and 5616 controls were included, individually matched by sex, year of birth and place of residence. An exposure proxy with four distances (250 m, 500 m, 750 m, and 1 km) to blue spaces was built using the geographical coordinates of the participants’ home residences. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for blue-space exposure were calculated for overall childhood leukaemia, and the acute lymphoblastic (ALL) and acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML) subtypes, with adjustment for socio-demographic and environmental covariates. Results: A decrease in overall childhood leukaemia and ALL-subtype incidence was found as we came nearer to children’s places of residence, showing, for the study as a whole, a reduced incidence at 250 m (odds ratio (OR) = 0.77; 95%CI = 0.60–0.97), 500 m (OR = 0.78; 95%CI = 0.65–0.93), 750 m (OR = 0.80; 95%CI = 0.69–0.93), and 1000 m (OR = 0.84; 95%CI = 0.72–0.97). AML model results showed an increasing incidence at closest to subjects’ homes (OR at 250m = 1.06; 95%CI=0.63–1.71). Conclusions: Our results suggest a possible association between lower childhood leukaemia incidence and blue-space proximity. This study is a first approach to blue spaces’ possible effects on childhood leukaemia incidence; consequently, it is necessary to continue studying these spaces—while taking into account more individualised data and other possible environmental risk factors.This study was funded by Carlos III Institute of Health, Spain (grant numbers PI19CIII/00025, PI16CIII/00009, EPY-505/19-PFIS), and Spain’s Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria-FIS grant number 12/01416). The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.S

Microscale characterization of surface recombination at the vicinity of laser-processed regions in c-Si solar cells

Laser firing processes have emerged as a technologically feasible approach for the fabrication of local point contacts or local doped regions in advanced high-efficiency crystalline-Si (c-Si) solar cells. In this work, we analyze the local impact induced by the laser pulse on the passivation layers, which are commonly present in advanced c-Si solar cell architectures to reduce surface recombination. We use microphotoluminescence (PL) measurements with a spatial resolution of 7 mu m to evaluate the passivation performance at the surroundings of laser-processed regions (LPRs). In particular, we have studied LPRs performed on SiCx/Al2O3- and Al2O3 passivated c-Si wafers by an infrared (1064 nm) laser. Micro-PL results show that passivation quality of c-Si surface is affected up to about 100 mu m away from the LPR border and that the extension of this damaged zone is correlated with the laser power and to the presence of capping layers. In the final part of the work, the observed decrease in passivation quality is included in an improved 3-D simulation model that gives accurate information about the recombination velocities associated with the studied LPRs.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft