Isolation of anaerobic, extremely thermophilic, sulphur metabolising archaebacteria from New Zealand hot springs

Enrichments of New Zealand geo-thermal samples, initiated in anaerobic sulphur-containing media and incubated at temperatures above 85°C, yielded rod and coccal shaped organisms which possessed archaebacterial characteristics. Pure cultures were isolated and characterised. Five of the seven isolates, which were rod-shaped organisms and did not have an obligate requirement for sulphur respiration, were similar to Ther-moproteus sp. but had more neutral pH optima for growth. Three of these five Thermoproteus sp. were obligate heterotrophs, which has not previously been reported. The two coccal isolates had an obligate requirement for sulphur as an electron acceptor and were similar to Desulfurococcus sp. but again with more neutral pH optima for growth

Lifetime Extension, Repowering or Decommissioning? Decision Support for Operators of Ageing Wind Turbines

In Germany, more than one third of the installed wind energy capacity will leave the feed-in tariff funding between 2021 and 2025. Operators of affected turbines are therefore increasingly concerned with the design of profitable end-of-funding strategies. This requires feasibility analyses of both lifetime extension and repowering options and entails the subsequent challenge to determine the optimal lifetime extension and corresponding repowering timing. To support operators and other stakeholders dealing with wind turbines' end-of-life issues, this study presents a geographic information system that permits evaluating optimal end-of-funding strategies at different spatial scales reaching down to detailed analyses on individual turbine level. The decision support system processes topographic, wind, turbine, and finance data in an integrated system of resource simulations, spatial planning analyses and economic viability assessments. Case-study results show that a uniform end-of-funding strategy cannot be applied to all ageing turbines. Conducted sensitivity analyses rather indicate that the best strategy highly depends on various turbine-specific aspects, especially the location, type and maintenance costs as well as exogenous factors, including the developments of electricity spot market prices and tendered feed-in premiums. In light of latest trends regarding the exogenous factors, lifetime extension and repowering potentials increase. However, the results also indicate that dismantling, disposal and recycling of numerous ageing turbines will become a major challenge for the wind energy sector in the next decade. © 2019 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

WHY IS THE LEFT KNEE RATHER PRONE TO INJURY DURING TEAM HANDBALL-SPECIFIC SIDE-CUTTING MANEUVERS TO THE RIGHT?

The purpose of this study was the biomechanical inter-leg evaluation in three team handball-specific side-cutting maneuvers. This should help to gain a better understanding how different movement executions potentially produce harmful demands to one or both knee joints. Therefore, eight competitive handball player performed the three most common side-cutting maneuvers to the right side (side-cutting maneuver was performed with alternating or simultaneous steps) in a game-like setting in a movement laboratory. Movement data were collected with a 3D motion capture system and two linked 3D force plates. The analysis of the side-cutting maneuvers revealed increased vertical and medio-lateral ground reaction force components on the left leg, which initiated the side-cutting maneuver. The peak knee abduction moments in the weight acceptance phase did not differ between the left and the right leg in all three side-cutting maneuvers. However, higher peak knee valgus angles occurred at the left leg, which increased with increasing stance time. The results of this study indicate that during the performance of handball-specific side-cutting maneuvers to the right, the left knee joint has a greater risk to get injured. Consequently, athletes and coaches should place special focus on the movement execution of the cutting initiating leg to reduce the risk of knee injuries. Furthermore, leg explosive strength and core stability should be in major focus in training exercises to prepare the athlete for the demands in such high intensity movements

IDENTIFICATION OF FATIGUE-RELATED KINEMATIC CHANGES IN ELITE RUNNERS USING A SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE APPROACH

Understanding the kinematic changes underlying fatigue is essential in running biomechanics. The aim of this study was to identify fatigue-related kinematic changes in elite runners using a support vector machine approach. Full-body kinematics of thirteen trained runners were recorded in a non-fatigued and a fatigued state during treadmill running at their individual fatigue-speed. A support vector machine was trained and used to identify kinematic differences between the non-fatigued and fatigued state based on principal component scores. Strides during non-fatigued and fatigued running could be separated with 99.4% classification accuracy. Four upper limb (two shoulder and two elbow), four lower limb (one ankle, two knee and one hip) and two trunk (one thoracic and one lumbar spine) principal component scores were identified as most discriminative kinematic features between non-fatigued and fatigued running. The findings of the study suggest the feasibility of a support vector machine approach to identify subtle fatigue-related kinematic changes in elite runners

Rollator usage lets young individuals switch movement strategies in sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit tasks

The transitions between sitting and standing have a high physical and coordination demand, frequently causing falls in older individuals. Rollators, or four-wheeled walkers, are often prescribed to reduce lower-limb load and to improve balance but have been found a fall risk. This study investigated how rollator support affects sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit movements. Twenty young participants stood up and sat down under three handle support conditions (unassisted, light touch, and full support). As increasing task demands may affect coordination, a challenging floor condition (balance pads) was included. Full-body kinematics and ground reaction forces were recorded, reduced in dimensionality by principal component analyses, and clustered by k-means into movement strategies. Rollator support caused the participants to switch strategies, especially when their balance was challenged, but did not lead to support-specific strategies, i.e., clusters that only comprise light touch or full support trials. Three strategies for sit-to-stand were found: forward leaning, hybrid, and vertical rise; two in the challenging condition (exaggerated forward and forward leaning). For stand-to-sit, three strategies were found: backward lowering, hybrid, and vertical lowering; two in the challenging condition (exaggerated forward and forward leaning). Hence, young individuals adjust their strategy selection to different conditions. Future studies may apply this methodology to older individuals to recommend safe strategies and ultimately reduce falls

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium effects in relativistic heavy ion collisions

The hypothesis of local equilibrium (LE) in relativistic heavy ion collisions at energies from AGS to RHIC is checked in the microscopic transport model. We find that kinetic, thermal, and chemical equilibration of the expanding hadronic matter is nearly reached in central collisions at AGS energy for t >_ fm/c in a central cell. At these times the equation of state may be approximated by a simple dependence P ~= (0.12-0.15) epsilon. Increasing deviations of the yields and the energy spectra of hadrons from statistical model values are observed for increasing bombarding energies. The origin of these deviations is traced to the irreversible multiparticle decays of strings and many-body (N >_ 3) decays of resonances. The violations of LE indicate that the matter in the cell reaches a steady state instead of idealized equilibrium. The entropy density in the cell is only about 6% smaller than that of the equilibrium state