Inter-rater reliability and validity of the Australian Football League\u27s kicking and handball tests

Talent identification tests used at the Australian Football League’s National Draft Combine assess the capacities of athletes to compete at a professional level. Tests created for the National Draft Combine are also commonly used for talent identification and athlete development in development pathways. The skills tests created by the Australian Football League required players to either handball (striking the ball with the hand) or kick to a series of 6 randomly generated targets. Assessors subjectively rate each skill execution giving a 0-5 score for each disposal. This study aimed to investigate the inter-rater reliability and validity of the skills tests at an adolescent sub-elite level. Male Australian footballers were recruited from sub-elite adolescent teams (n=121, age=15.7 ± 0.3 years, height=1.77 ± 0.07 m, mass=69.17 ± 8.08 kg). The coaches (n=7) of each team were also recruited. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using Inter-class correlations (ICC) and Limits of Agreement analysis. Both the kicking (ICC=0.96, P\u3c0.01) and handball tests (ICC=0.89, P\u3c0.01) demonstrated strong reliability and acceptable levels of absolute agreement. Content validity was determined by examining test scores sensitivity to laterality and distance. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing coaches’ perceptions of skill to actual test outcomes. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) examined the main effect of laterality, with scores on the dominant hand (P=0.04) and foot (P\u3c0.01) significantly higher compared to the non-dominant side. Follow-up univariate analysis showing significant differences at every distance in the kicking test. A poor correlation was found between coaches’ perceptions of skill and testing outcomes. The results of this study demonstrate both skill tests demonstrate acceptable inter-rater reliable. Partial content validity was confirmed for the kicking test, however further research is required to confirm validity of the handball test

Alien Registration- Cripps, William S. (Seal Harbor, Hancock County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/19848/thumbnail.jp

Inter-rater reliability and validity of the Australian football league’s kicking and handball tests

Talent identification tests used at the Australian Football League’s National Draft Combine assess the capacities of ath-letes to compete at a professional level. Tests created for the National Draft Combine are also commonly used for talent identification and athlete development in development path-ways. The skills tests created by the Australian Football League required players to either handball (striking the ball with the hand) or kick to a series of 6 randomly generated targets. Asses-sors subjectively rate each skill execution giving a 0-5 score for each disposal. This study aimed to investigate the inter-rater reliability and validity of the skills tests at an adolescent sub-elite level. Male Australian footballers were recruited from sub-elite adolescent teams (n = 121, age = 15.7 ± 0.3 years, height = 1.77 ± 0.07 m, mass = 69.17 ± 8.08 kg). The coaches (n = 7) of each team were also recruited. Inter-rater reliability was as-sessed using Inter-class correlations (ICC) and Limits of Agreement statistics. Both the kicking (ICC = 0.96, p \u3c .01) and handball tests (ICC = 0.89, p \u3c .01) demonstrated strong relia-bility and acceptable levels of absolute agreement. Content validity was determined by examining the test scores sensitivity to laterality and distance. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing coaches’ perceptions of skill to actual test outcomes. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) examined the main effect of laterality, with scores on the dominant hand (p = .04) and foot (p \u3c .01) significantly higher compared to the non-dominant side. Follow-up univariate analysis reported signifi-cant differences at every distance in the kicking test. A poor correlation was found between coaches’ perceptions of skill and testing outcomes. The results of this study demonstrate both skill tests demonstrate acceptable inter-rater reliable. Partial content validity was confirmed for the kicking test, however further research is required to confirm validity of the handball test

Using conditional kernel density estimation for wind power density forecasting

Of the various renewable energy resources, wind power is widely recognized as one of the most promising. The management of wind farms and electricity systems can benefit greatly from the availability of estimates of the probability distribution of wind power generation. However, most research has focused on point forecasting of wind power. In this paper, we develop an approach to producing density forecasts for the wind power generated at individual wind farms. Our interest is in intraday data and prediction from 1 to 72 hours ahead. We model wind power in terms of wind speed and wind direction. In this framework, there are two key uncertainties. First, there is the inherent uncertainty in wind speed and direction, and we model this using a bivariate VARMA-GARCH (vector autoregressive moving average-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic) model, with a Student t distribution, in the Cartesian space of wind speed and direction. Second, there is the stochastic nature of the relationship of wind power to wind speed (described by the power curve), and to wind direction. We model this using conditional kernel density (CKD) estimation, which enables a nonparametric modeling of the conditional density of wind power. Using Monte Carlo simulation of the VARMA-GARCH model and CKD estimation, density forecasts of wind speed and direction are converted to wind power density forecasts. Our work is novel in several respects: previous wind power studies have not modeled a stochastic power curve; to accommodate time evolution in the power curve, we incorporate a time decay factor within the CKD method; and the CKD method is conditional on a density, rather than a single value. The new approach is evaluated using datasets from four Greek wind farms

Dimethylsulfide (DMS) production in polar oceans is resilient to ocean acidification

Emissions of dimethylsulfide (DMS) from the polar oceans play a key role in atmospheric processes and climate. Therefore, it is important we increase our understanding of how DMS production in these regions may respond to environmental change. The polar oceans are particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA). However, our understanding of the polar DMS response is limited to two studies conducted in Arctic waters, where in both cases DMS concentrations decreased with increasing acidity. Here, we report on our findings from seven summertime shipboard microcosm experiments undertaken in a variety of locations in the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean. These experiments reveal no significant effects of short term OA on the net production of DMS by planktonic communities. This is in contrast to identical experiments from temperate NW European shelf waters where surface ocean communities responded to OA with significant increases in dissolved DMS concentrations. A meta-analysis of the findings from both temperate and polar waters (n=18 experiments) reveals clear regional differences in the DMS response to OA. We suggest that these regional differences in DMS response reflect the natural variability in carbonate chemistry to which the respective communities may already be adapted. Future temperate oceans could be more sensitive to OA resulting in a change in DMS emissions to the atmosphere, whilst perhaps surprisingly DMS emissions from the polar oceans may remain relatively unchanged. By demonstrating that DMS emissions from geographically distinct regions may vary in response to OA, our results may facilitate a better understanding of Earth's future climate. Our study suggests that the way in which processes that generate DMS respond to OA may be regionally distinct and this should be taken into account in predicting future DMS emissions and their influence on Earth's climate

Monitoring the CMS strip tracker readout system

The CMS Silicon Strip Tracker at the LHC comprises a sensitive area of approximately 200 m2 and 10 million readout channels. Its data acquisition system is based around a custom analogue front-end chip. Both the control and the readout of the front-end electronics are performed by off-detector VME boards in the counting room, which digitise the raw event data and perform zero-suppression and formatting. The data acquisition system uses the CMS online software framework to configure, control and monitor the hardware components and steer the data acquisition. The first data analysis is performed online within the official CMS reconstruction framework, which provides many services, such as distributed analysis, access to geometry and conditions data, and a Data Quality Monitoring tool based on the online physics reconstruction. The data acquisition monitoring of the Strip Tracker uses both the data acquisition and the reconstruction software frameworks in order to provide real-time feedback to shifters on the operational state of the detector, archiving for later analysis and possibly trigger automatic recovery actions in case of errors. Here we review the proposed architecture of the monitoring system and we describe its software components, which are already in place, the various monitoring streams available, and our experiences of operating and monitoring a large-scale system

The 3D Quaternary geology of the area around Thornton, Cheshire

This report summarises the superficial (Quaternary) geology of the area around Thornton Science Park at Thornton-Le-Moors in north Cheshire, with an emphasis on understanding the geological units in terms of potential fluid transport through them. The study utilised existing geological maps and borehole records to construct a 3D geological model of the superficial deposits, covering an area of 63km2. The Quaternary succession in the area is dominated by glacigenic sediments, comprising till (gravelly clay), glaciofluvial deposits (gravels and sands) and lesser amounts of glaciolacustrine clays and silts. The tills and glaciofluvial deposits are intercalated in some areas, with intervals of sand and gravel within the till modelled as lenses. The superficial deposits vary laterally and vertically across short distances, making extrapolation difficult in areas where borehole data are absent. Holocene sediments, comprising tidal flat deposits, peat and alluvium occupy the northern part of the study area forms a tract through the middle of the area. The northern part of the model covers the southern bank of the Mersey estuary where tidal flat deposits, dominated by silt and clay, are mapped/modelled with till underneath. A laterally persistent peat layer within the tidal flat deposits is modelled where proven in boreholes. The River Gowy runs south-north through the middle of the model area to join the Mersey at Stanlow Point. An arbitrary mapped line separates alluvium associated with the River Gowy from the Mersey estuary tidal flat deposits, with which they are transitional. A large area of peat is mapped/modelled at surface in a marshy area in the River Gowy floodplain. Boreholes prove that much of this peat is underlain by alluvium. Bedrock is mapped/modelled at surface in isolated patches, representing bedrock ‘highs’ where superficial deposits are locally absent. There may be other unproven zones of thin or absent superficial deposits in the area that could provide direct connectivity from the ground surface to the underlying Sherwood Sandstone Group bedrock

Immune and acute phase markers in exercising adults

Many reports have documented the anti-inflammatory effects of regular exercise in adults. However clinicians and researchers remain uncertain on selecting specific biomarkers that are useful for predicting or monitoring chronic inflammatory states and/or disease. Clearer identification of markers (or clusters of markers) in physically active individuals that vary from established references ranges will indicate the extent of the purported anti-inflammatory effect of regular exercise. Physically active adults were recruited from the community to participate in a prospective study comparing self-reported health outcomes and exercise activity across 150 days of dietary intervention. Of the 450 participants recruited, 64 males (mean age 37.4 y, mean BMI = 25.3) and 59 females (mean age 40.4y, mean BMI= 23.4) agreed to supply a baseline blood sample taken at rest. A total of 187 analytes were measured by standard techniques on these pre-intervention samples including 11 immune markers (cell-types and immunoglobulins) and 11 acute phase reactants (WCC, albumin, haptoglobin, CRP, C3, C4, IGF-1, transferrin, iron, ferritin & ceruloplasmin). We compared baseline values with relevent hospital reference range (RR) values where these are assumed to be more reflective of a much less physically-active community population. A total of 5 out of 11 of the acute phase reactants (Hapt, C3, Fer, Trf (for females), and ceruloplasmin (for males)) had \u3e10% of values below the low ‘cut-off end’ of the relevant RR. Three immune cell-types (CD19, CD8 & CD16/56) had \u3e10% of values below the ‘low-cut-off end’ of the relevant RR. In contrast 25% of subjects had an IgE value that exceeded the RR. Collectively our results support the notion that regular exercise or physical activity exerts an anti-inflammatory affect. The results suggest putative roles for a host of exercise associated adaptive mechanisms beyond the generally accepted role for IL-6 derived from skeletal muscle and\or visceral fat. We conclude that across a host of measures, exercising adults have values for immune and acute phase reactants largely within, but at the non-inflammatory ‘end’ of clinical reference ranges

3–20 GHz GaN MMIC Power Amplifier Design Through a COUT Compensation Strategy

This paper presents the design approach for a compact, single-stage, wideband MMIC power amplifier. A method is proposed to compensate the output capacitance of the active device over a frequency range as wide as possible, with minimum impact on the achievable output power, that leads to a 2- element compensating network. A 3- section transformer is then adopted for a real-to-real transformation. The CW characterization shows output power higher than 32dBm and drain efficiency between 35% and 45%, over a fractional bandwidth of 148%, from 3 GHz to 20 GHz