A Comparison of Pairs Figure Skaters in Repeated Jumps

Trends in pairs figure skating have shown that increasingly difficult jumps have become an essential aspect of high-level performance, especially in the latter part of a competitive program. We compared a repeated jump power index in a 60 s repeated jump test to determine the relationship of repeated jump test to competitive rank and to measure 2D hip, knee, and ankle angles and angular velocities at 0, 20, 40, and 60 s. Eighteen National Team Pairs Figure Skaters performed a 60 s repeated jump test on a large switch-mat with timing of flight and ground durations and digital video recording. Each 60-s period was divided into 6, 10-s intervals, with power indexes (W/kg) calculated for each 10-s interval. Power index by 10-s interval repeated measures ANOVAs (RMANOVA) showed that males exceeded females at all intervals, and the highest power index interval was during 10 to 20 s for both sexes. RMANOVAs of angles and angular velocities showed main effects for time only. Power index and jumping techniques among figure skaters showed rapid and steady declines over the test duration. Power index can predict approximately 50% of competitive rank variance, and sex differences in jumping technique were rare

Boosting soil literacy in schools can help improve understanding of soil/human health linkages in Generation Z

Soil health underpins ecosystem services like food security and therefore underpins human health. Poor soil health is a global problem which is hindering attempts to deliver the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We focus on goals 3 (human health), 13 (climate change) which are intimately linked to goal 15 (soil health). Soil health is arguably most fragile in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where aged soils are characterised by poor nutrient and water holding capacity, and are largely deficient in micronutrients such as Zinc. Poor soil health coupled with the largely cereal-based diets can mean that micronutrient malnutrition is high in the region. In sub-Saharan Africa, where much of the population is too poor to purchase mineral supplements, poor soil health (SDG15) can therefore negatively impact on human health (SDG3). We surveyed 3661 school children aged 13–15 in three African countries, Ghana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, for their ‘Attitudes, Behaviours and Competencies’ of soil, which we termed ‘ABC’. The ‘ABC’ survey results showed significant soil illiteracy. The survey showed that although students were generally equipped with a good attitude to (overall 52% positive) and behaviour towards soil (overall 60% engagement), they had little competency as to how to improve soil health (overall 23% knowledge). For example, less than 35% of respondents across all countries know that soil is living. Less than 13% of students are aware of the important role of soil in climate change mitigation. We believe that these two knowledge gaps must be addressed for Generation Z to understand the important linkages between climate change, soil and human health. We propose a hands-on ‘ethics of care’ approach to engage society with soil, piggybacking on existing climate change educational resources by building terrariums with living soil can empower children to learn about soil, plant, human and planetary health. The future of food security depends on Generation Z having soil literacy. Our survey clearly shows that students who think farming is a good way to make money have significantly higher levels of overall soil literacy. We propose that the future of human health depends on soil literacy

Diagnostic stability in young children at risk for autism spectrum disorder:A baby siblings research consortium study

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) made before age 3 has been found to be remarkably stable in clinic- and community-ascertained samples. The stability of an ASD diagnosis in prospectively ascertained samples of infants at risk for ASD due to familial factors has not yet been studied, however. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends intensive surveillance and screening for this high-risk group, which may afford earlier identification. Therefore, it is critical to understand the stability of an ASD diagnosis made before age 3 in young children at familial risk. METHODS: Data were pooled across 7 sites of the Baby Siblings Research Consortium. Evaluations of 418 later-born siblings of children with ASD were conducted at 18, 24, and 36 months of age and a clinical diagnosis of ASD or Not ASD was made at each age. RESULTS: The stability of an ASD diagnosis at 18 months was 93% and at 24 months was 82%. There were relatively few children diagnosed with ASD at 18 or 24 months whose diagnosis was not confirmed at 36 months. There were, however, many children with ASD outcomes at 36 months who had not yet been diagnosed at 18 months (63%) or 24 months (41%). CONCLUSIONS: The stability of an ASD diagnosis in this familial-risk sample was high at both 18 and 24 months of age and comparable with previous data from clinic- and community-ascertained samples. However, almost half of children with ASD outcomes were not identified as being on the spectrum at 24 months and did not receive an ASD diagnosis until 36 months. Thus, longitudinal follow-up is critical for children with early signs of social-communication difficulties, even if they do not meet diagnostic criteria at initial assessment. A public health implication of these data is that screening for ASD may need to be repeated multiple times in the first years of life. These data also suggest that there is a period of early development in which ASD features unfold and emerge but have not yet reached levels supportive of a diagnosis

Better working memory for non-social targets in infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

We compared working memory (WM) for location of social vs. non-social targets in infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (sibs-ASD, n=25) and typically developing children (sibs-TD, n=30) at 6.5 and 9 months of age. There was a significant interaction of risk group and target-type on WM, in which the sibs-ASD had better WM for non-social targets as compared to controls. There was no group by stimulus interaction on two non-memory measures. The results suggest that the increased competency of sibs-ASD in WM (creating, updating, and using transient representations) for non-social stimuli distinguishes them from sibs-TD by 9 months of age. This early emerging strength is discussed as a developmental pathway that may have implications for social attention and learning in children at risk for ASD

The First Detections of the Extragalactic Background Light at 3000, 5500, and 8000A (II): Measurement of Foreground Zodiacal Light

We present a measurement of the absolute surface brightness of the zodiacal light (3900-5100A) toward a fixed extragalactic target at high ecliptic latitude based on moderate resolution (~1.3A per pixel) spectrophotometry obtained with the du Pont 2.5m telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. This measurement and contemporaneous Hubble Space Telescope data from WFPC2 and FOS comprise a coordinated program to measure the mean flux of the diffuse extragalactic background light (EBL). The zodiacal light at optical wavelengths results from scattering by interplanetary dust, so that the zodiacal light flux toward any extragalactic target varies seasonally with the position of the Earth. This measurement of zodiacal light is therefore relevant to the specific observations (date and target field) under discussion. To obtain this result, we have developed a technique that uses the strength of the zodiacal Fraunhofer lines to identify the absolute flux of the zodiacal light in the multiple-component night sky spectrum. Statistical uncertainties in the result are 0.6% (1 sigma). However, the dominant source of uncertainty is systematic errors, which we estimate to be 1.1% (1 sigma). We discuss the contributions included in this estimate explicitly. The systematic errors in this result contribute 25% in quadrature to the final error in our coordinated EBL measurement, which is presented in the first paper of this series.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 22 pages using emulateapj.sty, version with higher resolution figures available at http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~rab/publications.html or at http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Sep01/Bernstein2/frames.htm

Altered Auditory and Multisensory Temporal Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by deficits in social reciprocity and communication, as well as by repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Unusual responses to sensory input and disruptions in the processing of both unisensory and multisensory stimuli also have been reported frequently. However, the specific aspects of sensory processing that are disrupted in ASD have yet to be fully elucidated. Recent published work has shown that children with ASD can integrate low-level audiovisual stimuli, but do so over an extended range of time when compared with typically developing (TD) children. However, the possible contributions of altered unisensory temporal processes to the demonstrated changes in multisensory function are yet unknown. In the current study, unisensory temporal acuity was measured by determining individual thresholds on visual and auditory temporal order judgment (TOJ) tasks, and multisensory temporal function was assessed through a cross-modal version of the TOJ task. Whereas no differences in thresholds for the visual TOJ task were seen between children with ASD and TD, thresholds were higher in ASD on the auditory TOJ task, providing preliminary evidence for impairment in auditory temporal processing. On the multisensory TOJ task, children with ASD showed performance improvements over a wider range of temporal intervals than TD children, reinforcing prior work showing an extended temporal window of multisensory integration in ASD. These findings contribute to a better understanding of basic sensory processing differences, which may be critical for understanding more complex social and cognitive deficits in ASD, and ultimately may contribute to more effective diagnostic and interventional strategies

ELF5 suppresses estrogen sensitivity and underpins the acquisition of antiestrogen resistance in luminal breast cancer.

We have previously shown that during pregnancy the E-twenty-six (ETS) transcription factor ELF5 directs the differentiation of mammary progenitor cells toward the estrogen receptor (ER)-negative and milk producing cell lineage, raising the possibility that ELF5 may suppress the estrogen sensitivity of breast cancers. To test this we constructed inducible models of ELF5 expression in ER positive luminal breast cancer cells and interrogated them using transcript profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation of DNA followed by DNA sequencing (ChIP-Seq). ELF5 suppressed ER and FOXA1 expression and broadly suppressed ER-driven patterns of gene expression including sets of genes distinguishing the luminal molecular subtype. Direct transcriptional targets of ELF5, which included FOXA1, EGFR, and MYC, accurately classified a large cohort of breast cancers into their intrinsic molecular subtypes, predicted ER status with high precision, and defined groups with differential prognosis. Knockdown of ELF5 in basal breast cancer cell lines suppressed basal patterns of gene expression and produced a shift in molecular subtype toward the claudin-low and normal-like groups. Luminal breast cancer cells that acquired resistance to the antiestrogen Tamoxifen showed greatly elevated levels of ELF5 and its transcriptional signature, and became dependent on ELF5 for proliferation, compared to the parental cells. Thus ELF5 provides a key transcriptional determinant of breast cancer molecular subtype by suppression of estrogen sensitivity in luminal breast cancer cells and promotion of basal characteristics in basal breast cancer cells, an action that may be utilised to acquire antiestrogen resistance

An extended multisensory temporal binding window in autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) form a continuum of neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by deficits in communication and reciprocal social interaction, as well as by repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Sensory disturbances are also frequently reported in clinical and autobiographical accounts. However, surprisingly few empirical studies have characterized the fundamental features of sensory and multisensory processing in ASD. The current study is structured to test for potential differences in multisensory temporal function in ASD by making use of a temporally dependent, low-level multisensory illusion. In this illusion, the presentation of a single flash of light accompanied by multiple sounds often results in the illusory perception of multiple flashes. By systematically varying the temporal structure of the audiovisual stimuli, a “temporal window” within which these stimuli are likely to be bound into a single perceptual entity can be defined. The results of this study revealed that children with ASD report the flash-beep illusion over an extended range of stimulus onset asynchronies relative to children with typical development, suggesting that children with ASD have altered multisensory temporal function. These findings provide valuable new insights into our understanding of sensory processing in ASD and may hold promise for the development of more sensitive diagnostic measures and improved remediation strategies