Barbell back squat:How do resistance bands affect muscle activation and knee kinematics?

ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine whether looped resistance bands affect knee kinematics and lower body muscle activation during the barbell back squat.MethodsTwenty-six healthy participants (13 female, 13 male) calculated their one repetition maximum (RM) prior to data collection. Each participant performed three squats at both 80% and 40% 1RM wearing a light resistance band, an extra-heavy resistance band and no resistance band.Vicon 3D motion analysis cameras were used to collect the kinematic data, and Delsys Trigno Lab wireless electromyography (EMG) system was used to measure vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and biceps femoris muscle activity. Peak knee flexion angle, peak knee valgus angle and maximum tibial rotation values were examined. Peak EMG values were also analysed after being normalised and expressed as a percentage of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC).ResultsGluteus maximus (GM) activity is significantly increased when a resistance band is used during squatting. However, squatting with a resistance band is detrimental to knee kinematics as it leads to an increase in knee valgus angle and maximum tibial rotation angle. A direct correlation is recorded between an increase in resistance and an increase in these two angles.ConclusionsSquatting with resistance bands is likely to increase the risk of knee injury. Coaches and clinicians who already implement this technique are advised to remove resistance band squats from training and rehabilitation programmes. Further research evaluating the long-term effects of using resistance bands during the barbell back squat should be considered

Estimating the economic burden of low health literacy in the Blacktown community in Sydney, Australia : a population-based study

Evidence shows that inadequate or low health literacy (LHL) levels are significantly associated with economic ramifications at the individual, employer, and health care system levels. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the economic burden of LHL among a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community in Blacktown: a local government area (LGA) in Sydney, Australia. This study is a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from publicly available datasets, including 2011 and 2016 census data and National Health Survey (NHS) data (2017–2018) from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and figures on Disease Expenditure in Australia for 2015–2016 provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). This study found that 20% of Blacktown residents reported low levels of active engagement with health care providers (Domain 6 of the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ)), with 14% reporting a limited understanding of the health information required to take action towards improving health or making health care decisions (Domain 9 of the HLQ). The overall extra/delta cost (direct and indirect health care costs) associated with LHL in the Blacktown LGA was estimated to be between $11,785,528 and$15,432,239 in 2020. This is projected to increase to between $18,922,844 and$24,191,911 in 2030. Additionally, the extra disability-adjusted life year (DALY) value in 2020, for all chronic diseases and age-groups—comprising the extra costs incurred due to years of life lost (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD)—was estimated at $414,231,335. The findings of our study may enable policymakers to have a deeper understanding of the economic burden of LHL in terms of its impact on the health care system and the production economy

Probing Dark force at BES-III/BEPCII

We study an experimental search of a GeV scale vector boson at BES-III/BEPCII. It is responsible for mediating a new U(1)$_d$ interaction, as recently exploited in the context of weakly interacting massive particle dark matter. At low energy $e^+ e^-$ colliders this dark state can be efficiently probed. We discuss the direct productions of this light vector $U$ boson and the decay of this state with BES-III data and its foreseen larger data. In particular, we show that Higgs' strahlung in the dark sector can lead to multilepton signatures, which probe the physics range for kinetic mixing parameter $\epsilon \sim 10^{-4} -10^{-3}$ over a large portion of the parameter space.Comment: 8 pages and 4 figures, version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Facilitation through altered resource availability in a mixed-species rodent malaria infection

A major challenge in disease ecology is to understand how co‐infecting parasite species interact. We manipulate in vivo resources and immunity to explain interactions between two rodent malaria parasites, Plasmodium chabaudi and P. yoelii. These species have analogous resource‐use strategies to the human parasites Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax: P. chabaudi and P. falciparum infect red blood cells (RBC) of all ages (RBC generalist); P. yoelii and P. vivax preferentially infect young RBCs (RBC specialist). We find that: (1) recent infection with the RBC generalist facilitates the RBC specialist (P. yoelii density is enhanced ~10 fold). This occurs because the RBC generalist increases availability of the RBC specialist's preferred resource; (2) co‐infections with the RBC generalist and RBC specialist are highly virulent; (3) and the presence of an RBC generalist in a host population can increase the prevalence of an RBC specialist. Thus, we show that resources shape how parasite species interact and have epidemiological consequences

Gas phase stabiliser-free production of hydrogen peroxide using supported gold-palladium catalysts

Hydrogen peroxide synthesis from hydrogen and oxygen in the gas phase is postulated to be a key reaction step in the gas phase epoxidation of propene using gold–titanium silicate catalysts. During this process H2O2 is consumed in a secondary step to oxidise an organic molecule so is typically not observed as a reaction product. We demonstrate that using AuPd nanoparticles, which are known to have high H2O2 synthesis rates in the liquid phase, it is possible to not only oxidise organic molecules in the gas phase but to detect H2O2 for the first time as a reaction product in both a fixed bed reactor and a pulsed Temporal Analysis of Products (TAP) reactor without stabilisers present in the gas feed. This observation opens up possibility of synthesising H2O2 directly using a gas phase reaction

Young women's use of a microbicide surrogate: The complex influence of relationship characteristics and perceived male partners' evaluations

This is the post-print version of the article. The official published version can be found at the link below.Currently in clinical trials, vaginal microbicides are proposed as a female-initiated method of sexually transmitted infection prevention. Much of microbicide acceptability research has been conducted outside of the United States and frequently without consideration of the social interaction between sex partners, ignoring the complex gender and power structures often inherent in young women’s (heterosexual) relationships. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to build on existing microbicide research by exploring the role of male partners and relationship characteristics on young women’s use of a microbicide surrogate, an inert vaginal moisturizer (VM), in a large city in the United States. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 young women (18–23 years old; 85% African American; 47.5% mothers) following use of the VM during coital events for a 4 week period. Overall, the results indicated that relationship dynamics and perceptions of male partners influenced VM evaluation. These two factors suggest that relationship context will need to be considered in the promotion of vaginal microbicides. The findings offer insights into how future acceptability and use of microbicides will be influenced by gendered power dynamics. The results also underscore the importance of incorporating men into microbicide promotion efforts while encouraging a dialogue that focuses attention on power inequities that can exist in heterosexual relationships. Detailed understanding of these issues is essential for successful microbicide acceptability, social marketing, education, and use.This study was funded by a grant from National Institutes of Health (NIHU19AI 31494) as well as research awards to the first author: Friends of the Kinsey Institute Research Grant Award, Indiana University’s School of HPER Graduate Student Grant-in-Aid of Research Award, William L. Yarber Sexual Health Fellowship, and the Indiana University Graduate and Professional Student Organization Research Grant

Cholecystectomy and the risk of colorectal cancer by tumor mismatch repair deficiency status

Gallbladder diseases and cholecystectomy may play a role in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). Our aim was to investigate the association between cholecystectomy and CRC risk overall and by sex, family history, anatomical location, and tumor mismatch repair (MMR) status

Elucidating the role of CO2 in the soft oxidative dehydrogenation of propane over ceria-based catalysts

A mixed oxide support containing Ce, Zr, and Al was synthesized using a physical grinding method and applied in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane using CO 2 as the oxidant. The activity of the support was compared with that of fully formulated catalysts containing palladium. The Pd/CeZrAlO x material exhibited long-term stability and selectivity to propene (during continuous operation for 140 h), which is not normally associated with dehydrogenation catalysts. From temperature-programmed desorption of NH 3 and CO 2 it was found that the catalyst possessed both acidic and basic sites. In addition, temperature-programmed reduction showed that palladium promoted both the reduction and reoxidation of the support. When the role of CO 2 was investigated in the absence of gas-phase oxidant, using a temporal analysis of products (TAP) reactor, it was found that CO 2 dissociates over the reduced catalyst, leading to formation of CO and selective oxygen species. It is proposed that CO 2 has the dual role of regenerating selective oxygen species and shifting the equilibrium for alkane dehydrogenation by consuming H 2 through the reverse water-gas-shift reaction. These two mechanistic functions have previously been considered to be mutually exclusive

Alcohol and other drug use at school leavers’ celebrations

Background - A significant proportion of adolescents who attend celebratory events often engage in substantial alcohol and other drug use. We examined patterns, influences and impacts of drug consumption at an end of schooling life celebration. Methods - Seventeen- to 18-year-old Australians who intended to attend (n = 541) and who attended the celebration (n = 405), respectively, completed pre- and post-event surveys. Results - Males consumed 18.44 and females 13.24 Australian standard drinks on an average day during the school leavers' event. Compared with their last social event, there was greater alcohol (P < 0.0005) and ecstasy use (P < 0.046 for Day 1 and P < 0.008 on Day 3). However, the number of drinks consumed per hour appeared to be similar across contexts. Most (87%) experienced at least one negative outcome attributed to alcohol and other drug use. Safety strategies were frequently used and appeared to be protective against some of the most common harms (hangover, vomiting, black out and unprotected sex). Conclusions - The use of alcohol and other drugs at this celebratory event appears to be reflective of the greater than usual number of drinking hours that are available to participants. The use of safety strategies can be successful in mitigating some of the most common drug-related harms