Assessing the variation in the load that produces maximal upper-body power

Substantial variation in the load that produces maximal power has been reported. It has been suggested that the variation observed may be due to differences in subject physical characteristics. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the extent in which anthropometric measures correlate to the load that produces maximal power. Anthropometric measures (upper-arm length, forearm length, total arm length, upper-arm girth) and bench press strength were assessed in 26 professional rugby union players. Peak power was then determined in the bench press throw exercise using loads of 20 to 60% of one repetition maximum (1RM) in the bench press exercise. Maximal power occurred at 30 +/- 14 %1RM (mean +/- SD). Upper-arm length had the highest correlation with the load maximizing power: -0.61 (90% confidence limits -0.35 to -0.78), implying loads of 22 vs. 38 %1RM maximize power for players with typically long vs. short upper-arm length. Correlations for forearm length, total arm length and upper-arm girth to the load that maximized power were -0.29 (0.04 to -0.57), -0.56 (-0.28 to -0.75), and -0.29 (0.04 to -0.57), respectively. The relationship between 1RM and the load that produced maximal power was r = -0.23 (0.10 to -0.52). The between-subject variation in the load that maximised power observed (SD= +/- 14 %1RM) may have been due to differences in anthropometric characteristics, and absolute strength and power outputs. Indeed, athletes with longer limbs and larger girths, and greater maximal strength and power outputs utilised a lower percentage of 1RM loads to achieve maximum power. Therefore, we recommend individual assessment of the load that maximizes power output

Tides and Water Level Requirements for N.O.S Hydrographic Surveys

The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) of the National Ocean Service (NOS) contributes to the NOAA Nautical Charting Program by establishing requirements for, and providing the critical water level data necessary to produce accurate depth measurements. CO-OPS efforts involve six main functional areas: 1) tide and water level requirement planning; 2) preliminary tidal zoning development; 3) water level station installation, operation and removal; 4) data quality control, processing, and tabulation; 5) tidal datum computation and tidal datum recovery; and 6) generation of water level reducers and final tidal zoning. For each functional area, CO-OPS maintains appropriate specifications and standard operating procedures under the umbrella of an overall Data Quality Assurance Plan (DQAP). The objective of this effort is to provide the tide and water level correction information necessary to reduce soundings to Chart Datum. The goal is to provide water level correction information that meets current error budgets for correctors to soundings. The total uncertainty in the water level corrections are derived from three main sources: 1) errors in the actual measurement of water level; 2) uncertainties in the computation of tidal datums based on short period observations and in the datum recovery process at historical locations; and 3) uncertainties in the application of tidal zoning within the survey area. CO-OPS plans tide and water level requirements by balancing these uncertainties to provide the most effective combination of water level observations and zoning that meets allowable error budgets

Including Risk in Economic Feasibility Analyses: The Case of Ethanol Production in Texas

The widespread use of personal computers and spreadsheet models for feasibility studies makes risk-based Monte Carlo simulation analysis of proposed investments a relatively simple task. Add-in simulation packages for Microsoft® Excel can be used to make spreadsheet models stochastic. Rather than basing investment decisions on point estimates, investors can easily estimate the implied distributions of returns for uncertain investments and calculate the risk of an investment as well as the probability of success. The benefits of using Monte Carlo simulation to analyze a risky investment are demonstrated using an ethanol plant as an example.economic feasibility analysis, ethanol feasibility, risk management, stochastic simulation, Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The nature of electron correlation in a dissociating bond

We have constructed the unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF), restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF), and full configuration interaction (FCI) position and momentum intracules and holes for H···H at bond lengths R from 1 to 10 bohrs. We trace the recently discovered inversion of the UHF position hole at intermediate R to over-localization of the spin-orbitals, and support this by a correlation energy component analysis. The RHF and UHF momentum holes are found to be more complicated; however their features are explained through decomposition of electron correlation effects. The UHF momentum hole is also found to invert and exhibits interesting behavior at large R. The RHF (but not UHF) and FCI momentum intracules exhibit Young-type interference patterns related to recent double photoionization experiments. Our analyses yield the most comprehensive picture to date of the behavior of the electrons during homolytic bond fission.J. W. H. thanks the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada for funding. L.K.M. thanks the RSC for a Summer Research Scholarship. P.M.W.G. thanks the NCI National Facility for a generous grant of supercomputer time and the Australian Research Council (Grant Nos. DP0984806 and DP1094170)

Capacity markets and the EU target model – a Great Britain case study

The growth of interconnection between national electricity markets is key to the development and competitive efficiency of the Single EU Market for Electricity. However, in parallel with the development of the Single Market, a growing number of EU Member States have implemented – or are in the process of developing – national Capacity Mechanisms in order to ensure future security of supply, which may distort the cross-border trade of energy across interconnectors and reduce total welfare. In particular, the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) legislative package recently brought in by the UK government introduced a Capacity Market (in which two rounds of auctions have taken place to date) for the provision of generation capacity from 2018. In order to ensure that such national markets do not distort the wider energy market, it is important that the role of cross-border capacity, and the availability of interconnector capacity, is correctly consolidated into such mechanisms. In the first annual GB auction the net contribution of interconnection was included on a conservative basis informed by historical data, and while interconnectors have since been permitted to bid into the Capacity Market at a de-rated value (in a similar manner to domestic generation), generators in other markets are still not able to explicitly participate. This may continue to introduce market distortions and adversely impact both short-term dispatch and long-term investment decisions in both the GB and neighbouring markets. A number of routes are available to resolve this through a mechanism to permit cross-border participation of generators, but this requires resolution of a number of complicating factors, not least a means for properly allocating transmission capacity without introducing further distortions to the energy market. Alternative solutions could be enacted at an EU-level, such as through the alignment of Capacity Mechanisms to a common model, or the introduction of an EU-wide single Capacity Mechanism, but the current regulatory focus appears to remain on resolution of such issues at a national level

Seismic Deformation of Dams by Correlative Methods

Analyses are presented of the anticipated earthquake performance of three generally similar earth dams, situated in a seismically active area of northern California. The series of analyses illustrates a cost-effective approach which involved full-scale finite element analyses of one dam, and the use of limited dynamic analysis techniques and correlations to evaluate the other two. The simplified techniques were applied only after testing them against the finite element analyses, information is also presented on how the results of simplified and full-scale dynamic analysis procedures correlate

Synthesis of wind time series for network adequacy assessment

When representing the stochastic characteristics of wind generators within power system simulations, the spatial and temporal correlations of the wind resource must be correctly modelled to ensure that reserve and network capacity requirements are not underestimated. A methodology for capturing these correlations within a vector auto-regressive (VAR) model is presented, and applied to a large-scale reanalysis dataset of historical wind speed data for the British Isles. This is combined with a wind speed-to-power conversion model trained against historically metered data from wind farms on the Great Britain (GB) electricity system in order to derive a lightweight model for simulating injections of wind power across a transmission network. The model is demonstrated to adequately represent ramp rates, both at a site and network level, as well as the individual correlations between sites, while being suitable for network adequacy studies which may require the simulation of many years of operation

The impact of socioeconomic status on arthritis and osteoporosis

Background: Low socioeconomic status has been shown to be associated with both osteoarthri s and rheumatoid arthri s, impac ng on outcomes and even the development of arthri s. However the associa on with osteoporosis has been less clear. The reasons for the associa on may be linked to socioeconomic status through educa onal aspects, income, employment type and even area of residence. Purpose: The purpose of this study was use a monthly surveillance and monitoring system to examine the prevalence of self-reported osteoarthri s, rheumatoid arthri  s and osteoporosis over  me and the associa  on with measures of socioeconomic status