Match running performance during fixture congestion in elite soccer: Research issues and future directions

Match congestion in elite soccer has been proposed to result in residual fatigue and underperformance in ensuing competition due to insufficient recovery time. In this article, matters relating to match congestion and running performance in elite soccer competition are discussed. The authors suggest a need to determine the extent to which elite players are in reality exposed to periods of match congestion hence to potential declines in performance. Despite evidence of exercise-induced muscle damage combined with a decline in physical performance up to 72-hours post-match, research using time-motion analyses suggest running performance represented by distances covered is unaffected over periods of match congestion. The authors recommend analysis of alternative movement variables including accelerations, decelerations and turns that are taxing metabolically and contribute greatly to muscle damage. Moreover, a holistic approach combining subjective ratings with biochemical, hormonal and immunological responses to exercise would be pertinent especially in players frequently exposed to match congestion. Contemporary practitioners typically implement various post-match recovery treatments during dense schedules in an attempt to accelerate recovery and ensure that subsequent running performance is not unduly affected. However, empirical evidence to support their efficacy in maintaining running performance is lacking and the authors recommend controlled intervention studies using match simulations in an attempt to verify their effectiveness. These points are critically addressed using findings from the current scientific literature while gaps in the current body of knowledge and future directions for research are highlighted

Review of Heavy-Duty Engine Combustion Research at Sandia National Laboratories

The objectives of this paper are to describe the research efforts in diesel engine combustion at Sandia National Laboratories' Combustion Research Facility and to provide recent experimental results. We have four diesel engine experiments supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies: a one-cylinder version of a Cummins heavy-duty engine, a diesel simulation facility, a one-cylinder Caterpillar engine to evaluate combustion of alternative fuels, and a homogeneous-charge, compression-ignition (HCCI) engine facility is under development. Recent experimental results to be discussed are: the effects of injection timing and diluent addition on late-combustion soot burnout, diesel-spray ignition and premixed-burn behavior, a comparison of the combustion characteristics of M85 (a mixture of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline) and DF2 (No.2 diesel reference fuel), and a description of our HCCI experimental program and modeling work

Overview of Engine Combustion Research at Sandia National Laboratories

The objectives of this paper are to describe the ongoing projects in diesel engine combustion research at Sandia National Laboratories' Combustion Research Facility and to detail recent experimental results. The approach we are employing is to assemble experimental hardware that mimic realistic engine geometries while enabling optical access. For example, we are using multi-cylinder engine heads or one-cylinder versions of production heads mated to one-cylinder engine blocks. Optical access is then obtained through a periscope in an exhaust valve, quartz windows in the piston crown, windows in spacer plates just below the head, or quartz cylinder liners. We have three diesel engine experiments supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies: a one-cylinder version of a Cummins heavy-duty engine, a diesel simulation facility, and a one-cylinder Caterpillar engine to evaluate combustion of alternative diesel fuels

IL11 stimulates ERK/P90RSK to inhibit LKB1/AMPK and activate mTOR initiating a mesenchymal program in stromal, epithelial, and cancer cells

IL11 initiates fibroblast activation but also causes epithelial cell dysfunction. The mechanisms underlying these processes are not known. We report that IL11-stimulated ERK/P90RSK activity causes the phosphorylation of LKB1 at S325 and S428, leading to its inactivation. This inhibits AMPK and activates mTOR across cell types. In stromal cells, IL11-stimulated ERK activity inhibits LKB1/AMPK which is associated with mTOR activation, ⍺SMA expression, and myofibroblast transformation. In hepatocytes and epithelial cells, IL11/ERK activity inhibits LKB1/AMPK leading to mTOR activation, SNAI1 expression, and cell dysfunction. Across cells, IL11-induced phenotypes were inhibited by metformin stimulated AMPK activation. In mice, genetic or pharmacologic manipulation of IL11 activity revealed a critical role of IL11/ERK signaling for LKB1/AMPK inhibition and mTOR activation in fatty liver disease. These data identify the IL11/mTOR axis as a signaling commonality in stromal, epithelial, and cancer cells and reveal a shared IL11-driven mesenchymal program across cell types

Thermophysics of alkali and related azides II. Heat capacities of potassium, rubidium, cesium, and thallium azides from 5 to 350 K,

The heat capacities of potassium, rubidium, cesium, and thallium azides were determined from 5 to 350 K by adiabatic calorimetry. Although the alkali-metal azides studied in this work exhibited no thermal anomalies over the temperature range studied, thallium azide has a bifurcated anomaly with two maxima at (233.0+/-0.1) K and (242.04+/-0.02) K. The associated excess entropy was 0.90 calth K-1 mol-1. The thermal properties of the azides and the corresponding structurally similar hydrogen difluorides are nearly identical. Both have linear symmetrical anions. However, thallium azide shows a solid-solid phase transition not exhibited by thallium hydrogen difluoride. At 298.15 K the values of Cpo, So, and -{Go(T)-Ho(0)}/T, respectively, are 18.38, 24.86, and 12.676 calth K-1 mol-1 for potassium azide; 19.09, 28.78, and 15.58 calth K-1 mol-1 for rubidium azide; 19.89, 32.11, and 18.17 calth K-1 mol-1 for cesium azide; and 19.26, 32.09, and 18.69 calth K-1 mol-1 for thallium azide. Heat capacities at constant volume for KN3 were deduced from infrared and Raman data.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22778/1/0000333.pd

Carbonyl[hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)borato]copper(I) acetonitrile solvate

The title compound, [Cu(C15H22BN6)(CO)]·C2H3N, crystallizes as neutral [Tp*Cu(CO)] {[Tp*]- = hydro­tris(3,5-di­methyl­pyrazol-1-yl)­borate} molecular units and non-coordinated aceto­nitrile mol­ecules. The distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry of the copper(I) centre comprises the three N atoms of the [Tp*]- anion [Cu-N 2.033 (2)-2.054 (2) Å] and the C atom of the carbon monoxide mol­ecule [Cu-C 1.785 (4) Å]

Luminescence Analyses of Samples from Thailand and Laos

Prior investigation of cover sands in Thailand and Vietnam identified two distinct materials present; material containing high sensitivity quartz with robust SAR-OSL luminescence ages <35ka, and material containing lower sensitivity quartz with OSL signals in excess of the ~50ka saturation limit of the SAR method. Thermal transfer methods were developed to extend the range of equivalent dose determination for these older materials. In the work reported here, additional samples of older materials from three sites have been analysed to extend the extent of these observations. An additional set of profile samples (SUTL3002) and a dating sample (SUTL3003) were collected below the previous samples at Huai Om, Thailand. Laboratory profile measurements give similar sensitivities and apparent doses for quartz grains from the gravel layer to the earlier analyses from the sands immediately above these, with the sandy layer (associated with tektites) and weathered basement samples yielding quartz with even lower sensitivity. The tube sample from immediately above the weathered basement gives an age of 120 ± 10 ka, slightly older than the sample previously measured immediately above the gravel layer (95 ± 15 ka). A sample from the granule layer at Pakse, Laos (SUTL3004) gives an age of 150 ± 25 ka. A breccia sample from Tad Huakhon, Laos, (SUTL3005) taken from a layer between the basement and a basalt layer gives luminescence sensitivities two orders of magnitude higher than the lower sand and granule layer samples, potentially a result of heating from the lava flow above, and gives an age of 80 ± 20 ka

Cardiac Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Like Cells Derived from a Young Patient with Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease Have a Prematurely Aged Phenotype.

There is significant interest in the role of stem cells in cardiac regeneration, and yet little is known about how cardiac disease progression affects native cardiac stem cells in the human heart. In this brief report, cardiac mesenchymal stem cell-like cells (CMSCLC) from the right atria of a 21-year-old female patient with a bicuspid aortic valve and aortic stenosis (referred to as biscuspid aortic valve disease BAVD-CMSCLC), were compared with those of a 78-year-old female patient undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (referred to as coronary artery disease CAD-CMSCLC). Cells were analyzed for expression of MSC markers, ability to form CFU-Fs, metabolic activity, cell cycle kinetics, expression of NANOG and p16, and telomere length. The cardiac-derived cells expressed MSC markers and were able to form CFU-Fs, with higher rate of formation in CAD-CMSCLCs. BAVD-CMSCLCs did not display normal MSC morphology, had a much lower cell doubling rate, and were less metabolically active than CAD-CMSCLCs. Cell cycle analysis revealed a population of BAVD-CMSCLC in G2/M phase, whereas the bulk of CAD-CMSCLC were in the G0/G1 phase. BAVD-CMSCLC had lower expression of NANOG and shorter telomere lengths, but higher expression of p16 compared with the CAD-CMSCLC. In conclusion, BAVD-CMSCLC have a prematurely aged phenotype compared with CAD-CMSCLC, despite originating from a younger patient