The precision and torque production of common hip adductor squeeze tests used in elite football

Objectives: Decreased hip adductor strength is a known risk factor for groin injury in footballers, with clinicians testing adductor strength in various positions and using different protocols. Understanding how reliable and how much torque different adductor squeeze tests produce will facilitate choosing the most appropriate method for future testing. In this study, the reliability and torque production of three common adductor squeeze tests were investigated. Design: Test–retest reliability and cross-sectional comparison. Methods: Twenty elite level footballers (16–33 years) without previous or current groin pain were recruited. Relative and absolute test–retest reliability, and torque production of three adductor squeeze tests (long-lever in abduction, short-lever in adduction and short-lever in abduction/external rotation)were investigated. Each participant performed a series of isometric strength tests measured by hand-held dynamometry in each position, on two test days separated by two weeks. Results: No systematic variation was seen for any of the tests when using the mean of three measures(ICC = 0.84–0.97, MDC% = 6.6–19.5). The smallest variation was observed when taking the mean of threer epetitions in the long-lever position (ICC = 0.97, MDC% = 6.6). The long-lever test also yielded the highest mean torque values, which were 69% and 11% higher than the short-lever in adduction test and short-lever in abduction/external rotation test respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusions: All three tests described in this study are reliable methods of measuring adductor squeeze strength. However, the test performed in the long-lever position seems the most promising as it displays high test–retest precision and the highest adductor torque production

14C dating of lime mortar – preparation of the sample, a challenge for the geologist and the mineral chemist

Lime mortar from old constructions can he successfully dated using the 14C method if special care is taken during sampling and sample preparation. The main problems with dating is identification and removal of fossil limestone in the filler. Especially in limestone areas contamination from filler limestone can be severe. Proper identification of the contaminants enables us to develop optimal laboratory protocols for sample handling. Contaminants including limestone and marble filler material, incompletely burnt limestone residues, and recrystallisations in the mortar can be identified in thin sections of intact mortar samples and in the fine fractions of crushed mortars using polarising microscopy and cathodoluminescense. Careful crushing and sieving of the mortar samples, however, effectively removes limestone grains and particles. The proportion of limestone contaminant in the samples can be assessed by traditional point counting or computer image analysis of luminescence micrographs. A sufficient number of samples from each construction phase are needed for statistical significance of the dating

The influence of the graphite mechanical properties on the constitutive response of a ferritic ductile cast iron – A micromechanical FE analysis

In the present paper a micro-mechanical approach is used to investigate the influence of the graphite mechanical properties on the loading response in the early deformation range of ductile cast iron. A periodic unit cell composed by a single graphite nodule embedded in a uniform ferritic matrix is considered and elasto-plastic behavior of both constituents is assumed; damage evolution in the ductile matrix is taken into account via Lemaitre’s isotropic model. Full 3D and 2D plane-stress finite element analyses are performed to simulate the loading conditions experienced by nodules located in the bulk as well as on the material surface. The effects of residual stresses arising during the manufacturing process are also accounted for. It is shown that the constitutive response of the equivalent composite medium can match ductile cast iron only if the graphite Young’s modulus value lies within a certain interval, which differs from that reported in previous works on the subject. Experimental support for the numerical results is provided

Anru Lee, In the Name of Harmony and Prosperity. Labor and Gender Politics in Taiwan´s Economic Restructuring

Deux épisodes survenus lors de l’un de mes derniers séjours d’études à Taiwan il y a quelques années sont restés gravés dans ma mémoire : Episode 1 : Je visite une usine textile située dans une zone franche industrielle en compagnie du patron. Alors que nous contemplons les immenses ateliers de production vides, il m’explique en soupirant comment la main-d’œuvre est progressivement devenue rare : « Il y a deux ans, la moitié des ouvriers est partie. Le même phénomène a eu lieu l’année derniè..

Anru Lee, In the Name of Harmony and Prosperity. Labor and Gender Politics in Taiwan´s Economic RestructuringCatherine Farris, Anru Lee, Murray Rubinstein (eds.), Women in the New Taiwan. Gender Roles and Gender Consciousness in a Changing Society

Two episodes stand out from one of my last research sojourns to Taiwan a few years ago. Episode 1 ! With the factory owner in a textile factory in one of the export processing zones we look at the large empty production halls while he tells me of a disappearing work force. “Two years ago half of the work force left and the same happened again last year. Next year I expect the same if I´m not allowed to import workers! Only R&D, (Research and Development) and high-end products, such as suede c..

Where Have All The Young Girls Gone?

This article looks at regional discrimination against daughters in China. To see where and why this discrimination occurs, it considers a number of demographic variables, such as infant and child mortality by sex as well as sex ratios of populations in East, South-East, and South Asia. It refutes the idea that rigid population control is the main cause of skewed sex ratios. An amalgam of cultural and economic factors are seen as the main contributing causes including a lack of institutionalised old age support from the state and a culture that gives the main responsibility for this to sons