Swarming behaviour in elite race bunch cycling: a case study

The current study undertook a dynamical systems analysis of race bunch cycling, considering the 'sports contest' as a dynamical, self organising system (McGarry et al., 2002). Data from one international track racing event was used to analyse a potential non-linear aggregation theory of 'swarming' in the 'points race', with two objectives; 1) To identify a race profile of a basic swarm mentality within the points race; 2) To identify system stability and the possible perturbation of stability in relation to successful and unsuccessful breakaways. Stability was based upon a 'normal' profile of race behaviours, measured by three separate dependent measures, namely; Absolute Difference, Rate of Change and Phase Duration. Results showed; 1) The points race exhibits the quintessential 'attract and repel' elements that characterise the swarm mentality 2) One-way ANOVA revealed that breakaways of both successful (3.3±1.2 half laps) and unsuccessful (3.1±1.5 half laps) conditions tend to differ from the race 'norm' (2.1±1.3 half laps) in terms of phase duration (F(2, 228)=18.4, P<0.05), suggesting that breakaways perturb the system through longer attract and repel phases. Results are discussed in relation to the current and future effectiveness of describing race bunch cycling as a dynamical system

The generation of dual purpose wheat that is high yielding, adapted to climate change and provides straw that is specifically adapted for bio-refining

The planet we live on is for all intents and purposes a closed environment with finite resources, which over the last few hundred years humans have managed to deplete at an alarming rate. As they take millions of years to form they will eventual run out, and because of this there is a clear need for a sustainable replacement for liquid fossil fuels. Wheat straw is an agricultural waste product that has the potential to produce 70 gallons of ethanol per ton of biomass. The aim of this work was to firstly identify variation in wheat straw tissue and growing conditions with regard to recalcitrance and sugar availability for bio-fuel production; this was carried out using the commercial wheat variety Xi19. Xi19 was fractionated into leaf, peduncle- both upper (stem above 10cm) and lower (stem below 10cm) fractions, and samples of “whole” un-fractionated straw. It was found that the only differences seen with regard to tissue type was between the leaf samples and all other fractions (p 0.05). Wheat is a member of the grass family that has been domesticated over thousands of years. This has caused erosion of the gene pool and, with this in mind, crosses have been created using ancient wild type plants with an aim of increasing genetic diversity. The second aim of this study was to analyse the first progeny of these potential new wheat lines for traits such as enhanced sugar composition or reduced recalcitrance that improve the straws suitability for bio-refining. Results suggest that the genetic variation within this new population had increased dramatically and showed an impact on morphology, recalcitrance, and sugar availability following enzyme digestion (% available glucose recovered ranging from a low of 15% to a high of 34%). Thus the wild type relatives do appear to be providing traits that would be beneficial for the use of straw in a bio-refining process. Water consumption for bio-fuel can vary from 2–10 gallons of fresh water for each gallon of bio-fuel produced depending upon the method used. The third aim of this work was to determine if sea water can be substituted for fresh water for each production step. This work showed that acid pre-treatments performed the same in both fresh and sea water, and that the use of sea water for the pre-treatment stage does not appear to effect subsequent enzyme hydrolysis (p > 0.05); Enzyme hydrolysis performed in sea water showed a significant reduction to that in fresh water (p 0.05), and that during fermentation ethanol production was unaffected

Serious Bacterial Infections Acquired During Treatment of Patients Given a Diagnosis of Chronic Lyme Disease - United States.

The term "chronic Lyme disease" is used by some health care providers as a diagnosis for various constitutional, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychiatric symptoms (1,2). Patients with a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease have been provided a wide range of medications as treatment, including long courses of intravenous (IV) antibiotics (3,4). Studies have not shown that such treatments lead to substantial long-term improvement for patients, and they can be harmful (1,5). This report describes cases of septic shock, osteomyelitis, Clostridium difficile colitis, and paraspinal abscess resulting from treatments for chronic Lyme disease. Patients, clinicians, and public health practitioners should be aware that treatments for chronic Lyme disease can carry serious risks

The reliability of Functional Movement Screening (FMS) and in-season changes in physical function and performance among elite rugby league players

This is the authors' PDF post-print of an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Strenght and Conditioning Research. The definitive version is available at http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscrThis is not the published version. The final version of the article is available at doi 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000270Functional Movement Screening (FMS) comprises seven tests that assess fundamental movement characteristics of athletes. However, the reliability of the FMS protocol and its sensitivity to changes in physical performance has not been appropriately investigated. Accordingly, this study aimed to assess the real-time reliability of the FMS protocol and to establish changes in both FMS and tests of physical performance throughout a season. The reliability of the FMS components (12 in total) were assessed via a non-parametric statistical approach, based on two trials, separated by one week. Score on the FMS, strength (3 RM full squat, 1 RM bench press), running speed (10 & 40 m) and jump height of 12 elite male under-19 rugby league players was monitored at pre-, mid- and late-season periods. There was no bias found between trials for the FMS, with the majority of components reaching 100% ‘perfect agreement’. There were no effects of season stage on any of the FMS components; however, an improvement in every performance test was apparent between the pre- and both mid- and late-season periods. Our findings demonstrate that the FMS can be reliably administered to elite rugby league players but question its sensitivity to systematic changes in athletic performance

Genetic Variation in the IL-6 and HLA-DQB1 Genes Is Associated with Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus Infection.

Background. Millions of people are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide and 30% spontaneously clear the infection. Reasons for HCV clearance without antiviral treatment are not well understood. Methods. Blood was collected for DNA analysis from patients with chronic HCV infection or evidence of spontaneous clearance. To overcome anticipated limitations of small sample size, primary analyses consisted of a candidate gene analysis of 12 preselected genes based on known association with host immunologic response to HCV infection. To further reduce the impact of multiple testing on power, a single likelihood ratio test was conducted for each gene using all associated SNPs assayed on the Illumina Quad 610/660W chip. Step-down permutation methods were used to adjust for multiple testing in all analyses. Results. Ninety-five and 62 patients with HCV chronic infection or spontaneous clearance, respectively, were included for analysis. HLA-DQB1 (p = 1.76⁎10(-5)) and IL-6 (p = 0.0007) genes were significantly associated with spontaneous HCV clearance. IL-28B was not significantly associated with spontaneous clearance (p = 0.17). Conclusion. Our whole-gene analytic strategy identified a previously unreported association of IL-6 with spontaneous clearance of HCV infection. We also confirmed the finding that HLA-DQB1 is associated with spontaneous resolution of HCV infection

Ariel - Volume 11 Number 3

Executive Editors Ellen Feldman Leonardo S. Nasca, Jr. Business Managers Barbara L. Davies Martin B. Getzow News Editor Hugh A. Gelabert Features Editor Aaron D. Bleznak CAHS Editor Joan M. Greco Editorial Page Editor Samuel Markind Photography Editor Todd Demmy Sports Editor Paul F. Mansfiel

Effect of pectin on the composition, microbiology, texture, and functionality of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

International audienceAbstractHydrocolloids have been extensively studied in low-fat cheeses as a way to improve defects associated with fat reduction, which are often related to texture and functionality (meltability). Pectin is a polysaccharide obtained from plant cells and is commonly used as a stabilizer for acidified dairy beverages. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of three types of commercial pectins on the characteristics of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese during a ripening period of 180 days. Five Cheddar cheeses were made: full-fat control (FF), reduced-fat control (RF), and reduced-fat cheeses with amidated (RA), high-methoxy (RH), or low-methoxy (RL) pectin added to milk prior processing at concentrations of 0.175%, 0.100%, and 0.075% (w/w), respectively; levels were chosen to avoid phase separation of the casein micelles, due to depletion flocculation. Addition of amidated pectin markedly increased the moisture content of the experimental cheese (~49%), compared to RF (~45%; P 100 N in RF at 180 days; P 85 versus <70% at 180 days; P < 0.05). These results suggest that pectin addition can be used to modify the moisture content, texture, and melting properties of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Measuring patient satisfaction with exercise therapy for knee osteoarthritis: evaluating the utility of the physiotherapy outpatient survey.

OBJECTIVES: To assess patient satisfaction with exercise for knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: A convenience sample of 27 patients recruited to a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing open kinetic chain and closed kinetic chain exercises for knee OA were reassessed at nine months post-randomization. Clinical outcomes included self-report and physical performance measures of function and pain severity. Patients also completed the Physiotherapy Outpatient Survey (POPS), which is a multi-dimensional measure of patient satisfaction with physiotherapy. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in satisfaction between the two intervention groups. Overall mean satisfaction for the entire cohort was 4.07 of a maximum score of 5 (standard deviation (SD) = 0.52). Lower levels of satisfaction with outcome (mean = 3.56, SD = 0.8) were reported compared with other domains of expectations, communication, organization and the therapist (mean = 3.79-4.49; SDs = 0.42-0.92). Both intervention groups improved from baseline on clinical outcomes of pain, self-report function and walking distance, with no significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of satisfaction were reported in this subsample of knee OA patients participating in an RCT evaluating the effects of different exercise approaches for knee OA. Satisfaction varied depending on the satisfaction domain, with lower satisfaction with outcome compared with other aspects of care. The POPS questionnaire can be used to measure the multi-dimensional aspects of satisfaction with physiotherapy