VALIDITY OF THE POWERLINE BOAT INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEM

The PowerLine Boat Instrumentation System3 is comprised of instrumented oarlocks capable of measuring pin forces in the direction of boat travel and oarlock angles. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the force and angle data from the PowerLine Boat Instrumentation System in a laboratory setting. Data were collected with the sculling oarlocks affixed to a horizontally aligned, stabilised wing rigger. For force analysis, signals were collected at 50 Hz from both the PowerLine system and a 1 kN load cell4 during 10 repetitions at a rate of approximately 30 repetitions per minute. For angular analysis, whilst recording with PowerLine, oarlocks were repositioned for a minimum of two seconds at known angles in a random order using an inclinometer accurate to one tenth of a degree over a range of -80° to +60°, in 20° increments. Linear regression analysis through the origin was used to compare the PowerLine values with known values from the load cell and the inclinometer. Laboratory testing proved the force and angle sensors to be valid throughout the testing range (0 N to 554.8 + 20.4 N, and -80° to +60° respectively) when fully functioning. The PowerLine Boat Instrumentation System appears to be appropriate for measuring biomechanical variables in an elite sculling programme. On-water reliability testing is still required to fully evaluate their application in quantifying the effect of interventions made to technique or boat set-up

Effective conversion of amide to carboxylic acid on polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1) with nitrous acid

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Carboxylate-functionalised polymers of intrinsic microporosity (C-PIMs) are highly desirable materials for membrane separation applications. The recently reported method to afford C-PIMs was via an extensive base hydrolysis process requiring 360 h. Herein, a novel and effective method to convert PIM-CONH2 to C-PIM using nitrous acid was studied. The chemical structure of C-PIM was characterised by1H NMR,13C NMR, FTIR, elemental analysis, UV-Vis, TGA and TGA-MS. Complete conversion from amide to carboxylic acid groups was confirmed. Decarboxylation of C-PIM was also successfully studied by TGA-MS for the first time, with a loss of m/z 44 amu (CO2) observed at the first degradation stage. TGA also revealed decreased thermal stability of C-PIM relative to PIM-CONH2 under both N2 and air atmosphere. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis showed continuous molecular weight degradation of C-PIM with extended reaction time. Aromatic nitration was also observed as a side reaction in some cases

RELIABILITY OF 3D FRONTAL PLANE KNEE AB/ADDUCTION RANGE OF MOTION DURING RUNNING IN YOUNG ATHLETES

This study quantified within-session and between-session reliability of 3D frontal plane knee ab/adduction range of motion during the stance phase of running gait calculated for 18 long term athlete development programme participants (10 males and 8 females, 11.5 ±1.4 years) during two testing sessions (spaced 10 weeks apart). Average mean differences in frontal plane knee ab/adduction between running trials (for the right or left side) within a session (week 1 or week 10) ranged from 0.2 to 7.2% (ES 0.01–0.26) which were acceptable differences. However, average mean differences between sessions for running trials (for the right or left side) ranged from 0.1 to 20% (ES 0.01–0.6). The mixed model resulted in estimates of knee ab/adduction range of motion for effects of limb side (3.6°), session (2.8°), run trial (0.2°) and subjects (4.5°). Within-session ICCs ranged from 0.80 to 0.92 and between-session ICCs ranged from 0.51 to 0.73. Based on these ICCs, within-session reliability of frontal plane knee ab/adduction is good and between-session reliability is average to good

BIOMECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GRINDING IN AMERICA’S CUP SAILING

Understanding the biomechanics of a sporting movement and what aspects of the movement technique most influence performance can facilitate more specific training, both in terms of strength and conditioning and technical improvements. This study was undertaken to describe the kinetic, kinematic, and muscular activation characteristics of the grinding movement in America’s Cup sailing, a high intensity constrained cyclic movement (similar to bicycling) performed with the upper limbs

Cystic fibrosis mice carrying the missense mutation G551D replicate human genotype phenotype correlations

We have generated a mouse carrying the human G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (CFTR) by a one-step gene targeting procedure. These mutant mice show cystic fibrosis pathology but have a reduced risk of fatal intestinal blockage compared with 'null' mutants, in keeping with the reduced incidence of meconium ileus in G551D patients. The G551D mutant mice show greatly reduced CFTR-related chloride transport, displaying activity intermediate between that of cftr(mlUNC) replacement ('null') and cftr(mlHGU) insertional (residual activity) mutants and equivalent to approximately 4% of wild-type CFTR activity. The long-term survival of these animals should provide an excellent model with which to study cystic fibrosis, and they illustrate the value of mouse models carrying relevant mutations for examining genotype-phenotype correlations

Rhythm and Vowel Quality in Accents of English

In a sample of 27 speakers of Scottish Standard English two notoriously variable consonantal features are investigated: the contrast of /m/ and /w/ and non-prevocalic /r/, the latter both in terms of its presence or absence and the phonetic form it takes, if present. The pattern of realisation of non-prevocalic /r/ largely confirms previously reported findings. But there are a number of surprising results regarding the merger of /m/ and /w/ and the loss of non-prevocalic /r/: While the former is more likely to happen in younger speakers and females, the latter seems more likely in older speakers and males. This is suggestive of change in progress leading to a loss of the /m/ - /w/ contrast, while the variation found in non-prevocalic /r/ follows an almost inverse sociolinguistic pattern that does not suggest any such change and is additionally largely explicable in language-internal terms. One phenomenon requiring further investigation is the curious effect direct contact with Southern English accents seems to have on non-prevocalic /r/: innovation on the structural level (i.e. loss) and conservatism on the realisational level (i.e. increased incidence of [r] and [r]) appear to be conditioned by the same sociolinguistic factors

Electronic transport properties of quasicrystals: a Review

We present a review of some results concerning electronic transport properties of quasicrystals. After a short introduction to the basic concepts of quasiperiodicity, we consider the experimental transport properties of electrical conductivity with particular focus on the effect of temperature, magnetic field and defects. Then, we present some heuristic approaches that tend to give a coherent view of different, and to some extent complementary, transport mechanisms in quasicrystals. Numerical results are also presented and in particular the evaluation of the linear response Kubo-Greenwood formula of conductivity in quasiperiodic systems in presence of disorder.Comment: Latex, 28 pages, Journ. of Math. Phys., Vol38 April 199

Projetivismo dos valores em Nietzsche

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to claim Nietzsche’s place within the philosophical tradition of projectivism. Indeed, as will be shown, although Nietzsche is almost unanimously ignored by scholars working on projectivism, during the whole development of his philosophical thought, he holds a position which can be reasonably defined as “projectivist”. Resumo: Este artigo tem por objetivo reivindicar o lugar da filosofia nietzschiana na tradição filosófica do projetivismo. Com efeito, como mostrarei, mesmo se Nietzsche é quase unanimemente ignorado nas obras dos especialistas nessa tradição, ele mantém, ao longo de seu desenvolvimento filosófico, uma posição que se pode com razão definir como “projetivista”