The knowledge and attitudes of South African-based runners regarding the use of analgesics during training and competition

Background: The use of analgesics is prevalent in runners, with the associated potential for serious harm. However, there is limited information regarding runners’ knowledge and attitudes towards the use of analgesics in relation to running. Objectives: To describe South African-based runners’ knowledge and attitudes regarding running-related analgesic use. Methods: This study has a descriptive, cross-sectional design. South African-based runners, over the age of 18 who ran at least one race in the year preceding the study were included in this study. Participants completed an online questionnaire, including sections on demographic information, training and competition history, pain medication use, and knowledge and attitudes regarding running-related analgesic use. Results: Data from 332 participants were analysed. Attitudes regarding the use of analgesics in relation to running were generally positive; however, knowledge was poor, with only 20% of participants achieving adequate knowledge scores (75% or above). Very few (n=49; 15%) had both adequate knowledge and positive attitudes, with most respondents (n=188; 58%) having inadequate knowledge and negative attitudes. Negative attitudes towards the use of analgesics were found to increase the odds of running-related analgesic use (OR 2.32; 95% CI:1.31-4.11). Conclusion: Knowledge regarding running-related use of analgesics was inadequate. Despite a lack of knowledge, attitudes were positive. Participants displayed positive attitudes towards safe practice regarding running-related analgesic use, but these did not translate into good practice. Targeted interventions are required to educate runners and improve their knowledge of all the effects associated with running-related analgesic use.

The No Free Lunch Theorem, Kolmogorov Complexity, and the Role of Inductive Biases in Machine Learning

No free lunch theorems for supervised learning state that no learner can solve all problems or that all learners achieve exactly the same accuracy on average over a uniform distribution on learning problems. Accordingly, these theorems are often referenced in support of the notion that individual problems require specially tailored inductive biases. While virtually all uniformly sampled datasets have high complexity, real-world problems disproportionately generate low-complexity data, and we argue that neural network models share this same preference, formalized using Kolmogorov complexity. Notably, we show that architectures designed for a particular domain, such as computer vision, can compress datasets on a variety of seemingly unrelated domains. Our experiments show that pre-trained and even randomly initialized language models prefer to generate low-complexity sequences. Whereas no free lunch theorems seemingly indicate that individual problems require specialized learners, we explain how tasks that often require human intervention such as picking an appropriately sized model when labeled data is scarce or plentiful can be automated into a single learning algorithm. These observations justify the trend in deep learning of unifying seemingly disparate problems with an increasingly small set of machine learning models

An exploration of multilinguals’ voice-hearing experiences

Research on multilinguals’ voice-hearing, sometimes termed auditory-verbal hallucinations, is dominated by reports from treating psychiatrists, skewing toward etic over emic approaches. Most also pre-dates developments in both voice-hearing and multilingualism research which highlight the complexity and dynamic nature of both phenomena and shows little cross-fertilisation between the two fields. This paper sits within this gap, presenting results from an in-depth interview study with ten UK-resident multilingual voice-hearers analysed via constructionist reflexive thematic analysis. A high proportion of participants described hearing voices they did not (fully) understand, challenging the dominance of the hypothesis that voice-hearing originates from misattributed inner speech. This set of experiences is presented along a spectrum with a complex array of associated emotions and subtle experiential distinctions. The relationship between language experiences, voices’ languages, and associated emotions was similarly complex and individual: participants described voices both reflecting and distorting or shifting the contexts, domains, interlocutors and feelings associated with their various languages. This has implications for therapeutic and peer support for those who are distressed by their voices, as well as opening up new avenues in voice-hearing phenomenology and aetiology

Estrogen and progesterone-related gene variants and colorectal cancer risk in women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Observational studies and randomized trials have suggested that estrogens and/or progesterone may lower the risk for colorectal cancer. Inherited variation in the sex-hormone genes may be one mechanism by which sex hormones affect colorectal cancer, although data are limited.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding 3 hormone receptors (<it>ESR1, ESR2, PGR</it>) and 5 hormone synthesizers (<it>CYP19A1 and CYP17A1, HSD17B1, HSD17B2, HSD17B4</it>) among 427 women with incident colorectal cancer and 871 matched controls who were Caucasians of European ancestry from 93676 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational cohort. A total of 242 haplotype-tagging and functional SNPs in the 8 genes were included for analysis. Unconditional logistic regression with adjustment for age and hysterectomy status was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed a weak association between the <it>CYP17A1 </it>rs17724534 SNP and colorectal cancer risk (OR per risk allele (A) = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.09-1.78, corrected p-value = 0.07). In addition, a suggestive interaction between rs17724534 and rs10883782 in 2 discrete LD blocks of <it>CYP17A1 </it>was observed in relation to colorectal cancer (empirical p value = 0.04). Moreover, one haplotype block of <it>CYP19A1 </it>was associated with colorectal cancer (corrected global p value = 0.02), which likely reflected the association with the tagging SNP, rs1902584, in the block.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings offer some support for a suggestive association of <it>CYP17A1 </it>and <it>CYP19A1 </it>variants with colorectal cancer risk.</p

Ultra-high temperature ceramics for transpiration cooling applications in hypersonic vehicles

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Aspirin for the prevention of cognitive decline in the elderly: rationale and design of a neuro-vascular imaging study (ENVIS-ion)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper describes the rationale and design of the ENVIS-ion Study, which aims to determine whether low-dose aspirin reduces the development of white matter hyper-intense (WMH) lesions and silent brain infarction (SBI). Additional aims include determining whether a) changes in retinal vascular imaging (RVI) parameters parallel changes in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); b) changes in RVI parameters are observed with aspirin therapy; c) baseline cognitive function correlates with MRI and RVI parameters; d) changes in cognitive function correlate with changes in brain MRI and RVI and e) whether factors such as age, gender or blood pressure influence the above associations.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of three years duration set in two Australian academic medical centre outpatient clinics. This study will enrol 600 adults aged 70 years and over with normal cognitive function and without overt cardiovascular disease. Subjects will undergo cognitive testing, brain MRI and RVI at baseline and after 3 years of study treatment. All subjects will be recruited from a 19,000-patient clinical outcome trial conducted in Australia and the United States that will evaluate the effects of aspirin in maintaining disability-free longevity over 5 years. The intervention will be aspirin 100 mg daily versus matching placebo, randomized on a 1:1 basis.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study will improve understanding of the mechanisms at the level of brain and vascular structure that underlie the effects of aspirin on cognitive function. Given the limited access and high cost of MRI, RVI may prove useful as a tool for the identification of individuals at high risk for the development of cerebrovascular disease and cognitive decline.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01038583">NCT01038583</a></p

The Aromatase Gene (CYP19A1) Variants and Circulating Hepatocyte Growth Factor in Postmenopausal Women

Background: Estrogen and androgen have been linked to the regulation of circulating hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), an adipose tissue-derived cytokine. It is possible that the CYP19A1 gene which alters sex hormones production may influence HGF levels. We examined the association between the CYP19A1 gene variants and plasma HGF concentrations. Design We evaluated 45 common and putative functional variants of CYP19A1 and circulating levels of HGF among 260 postmenopausal women who later developed colorectal cancer from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Cohort. As the distribution of HGF levels was highly skewed, we transformed HGF concentrations for all women into a log-, ranked-, or normal score-scale value. Multiple linear regression with adjustment for age was used to evaluate the associations. Results: We observed an association between the rs7172156, rs1008805, rs6493494, rs749292, and rs11636639 variants and HGF levels in ranked and normal score scales (corrected p values ≤0.02), although the association of these 5 SNPs with log-scale HGF was not significant (corrected p values ≥0.16). The associations remained unchanged after additional adjustment for hormone therapy use and estradiol levels. These 5 SNPs, which were in linkage disequilibrium (pairwise D′≥97%, r2≥56%), constituted a block with 2 common haplotypes accounting for 82% frequency. The most common haplotype, TCCCA, was associated with lower ranked- or normal score-transformed HGF levels (corrected p values ≤0.001), whereas the second most common haplotype, CTTCA, was associated with higher ranked- or normal score-transformed HGF levels (corrected p values ≤0.02). Conclusion: Our findings of a potential association between the CYP19A1 variants and circulating HGF levels warrant confirmation in studies with larger sample size

The Galactic dynamics revealed by the filamentary structure in atomic hydrogen emission

Funding: J.D.S., R.K.S., and S.C.O.G. are funded by the European Research Council via the ERC Synergy Grant “ECOGAL – Understanding our Galactic ecosystem: From the disk of the Milky Way to the formation sites of stars and planets” (project ID 855130). R.J.S. acknowledges funding from an STFC ERF (grant ST/N00485X/1) and HPC from the DiRAC facility (ST/P002293/1).We present a study of the filamentary structure in the atomic hydrogen (HI) emission at the 21 cm wavelength toward the Galactic plane using the observations in the HI4PI survey. Using the Hessian matrix method across radial velocity channels, we identified the filamentary structures and quantified their orientations using circular statistics. We found that the regions of the Milky Way's disk beyond 10 kpc and up to roughly 18 kpc from the Galactic center display HI filamentary structures predominantly parallel to the Galactic plane. For regions at lower Galactocentric radii, we found that the HI filaments are mostly perpendicular or do not have a preferred orientation with respect to the Galactic plane. We interpret these results as the imprint of supernova feedback in the inner Galaxy and Galactic rotation in the outer Milky Way. We found that the HI filamentary structures follow the Galactic warp and that they highlight some of the variations interpreted as the effect of the gravitational interaction with satellite galaxies. In addition, the mean scale height of the filamentary structures is lower than that sampled by the bulk of the HI emission, thus indicating that the cold and warm atomic hydrogen phases have different scale heights in the outer galaxy. Finally, we found that the fraction of the column density in HI filaments is almost constant up to approximately 18 kpc from the Galactic center. This is possibly a result of the roughly constant ratio between the cold and warm atomic hydrogen phases inferred from the HI absorption studies. Our results indicate that the HI filamentary structures provide insight into the dynamical processes shaping the Galactic disk. Their orientations record how and where the stellar energy input, the Galactic fountain process, the cosmic ray diffusion, and the gas accretion have molded the diffuse interstellar medium in the Galactic plane.Peer reviewe