A COMPARISON OF SINGLE- AND DOUBLE-LEG RUNNING VERTICAL JUMPS IN VOLLEYBALL

Single- and double-leg vertical jumps are often performed in volleyball games. But the contribution from individual leg in single- and double-leg running vertical jump skills in volleyball has not been revealed. The purpose of this study was to determine the differences between single- and double- leg running vertical jumps (1-LRVJ and 2-LRVJ) on the biomechanical characteristics. Ten male college volleyball players voluntarily participated in this study. Two volleyball running vertical jumps were executed randomly. Three trials of each running vertical jump were recorded for each subject. Data were collected using six infra-red Qualisys motion capture cameras at 180 Hz sampling rate and two AMTI force platforms at 1800 Hz sampling rate, respectively. The jump height of 2-LRVJ was significantly higher than 1-LRVJ (P< .05), In push-off phase, 1-LRVJ had less angle change, but greater moment and higher impact force (P< .05). These results suggested that 1-LRVJ product higher leg stiffness with 2-LRVJ, it also increase higher risk of injury. We suggested using two- leg jumping style to enhance jump high, and avoid lower limbs injury

Online assessment of patients' views on hospital performances using Rasch model's KIDMAP diagram

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To overcome the drawback of individual item-by-item box plots of disclosure for patient views on healthcare service quality, we propose to inspect interrelationships among items that measure a common entity. A visual diagram on the Internet is developed to provide thorough information for hospitals.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used the Rasch rating scale model to analyze the 2003 English inpatient questionnaire data regarding patient satisfactory perception, which were collected from 169 hospitals, examined model-data fit, and developed a KIDMAP diagram on the Internet depicting the satisfaction level of each hospital and investigating aberrant responses with Z-scores and MNSQ statistics for individual hospitals. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis was conducted to verify construct equivalence across types of hospitals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>18 of the 45 items fit to the model's expectations, indicating they jointly defined a common construct and an equal-interval logit scale was achieved. The most difficult aspect for hospitals to earn inpatients' satisfaction were item 29 (staff told you about any medication side effects to watch when going home). No DIF in the 18-item questionnaire was found between types of hospitals, indicating the questionnaire measured the same construct across hospitals. Different types of hospitals obtained different levels of satisfaction. The KIDMAP on the Internet provided more interpretable and visualized message than traditional item-by-item box plots of disclosure.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>After removing misfit items, we find that the 18-item questionnaire measures the same construct across types of hospitals. The KIDMAP on the Internet provides an exemplary comparison in quality of healthcare. Rasch analysis allows intra- and inter-hospital performances to be compared easily and reliably with each other on the Internet.</p

Correlation between Pineal Activation and Religious Meditation Observed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The human brain possesses plenty of functions but little is known about its scientific relationship with mind and spirit. Conferences^1,2^ focused on the connection between science and religion were held very recently in which neuroscientists, Buddhist scholars and Dalai Lama discussed attention, mental imagery, emotion, mind, brain functions and meditation, suggesting religious meditation offers an effective means to investigate the mystery of mind and spirit. In the past decade, scientists struggled to obtain brain mappings for various meditation styles using different brain imaging techniques and stimulating results have been observed^3-17^. In this letter we report that, together with other brain regions, pineal body exhibit significant activation during meditation process, supporting the long lasting speculation that pineal plays an important role in the intrinsic awareness which might concern spirit or soul. Pineal is known as an endocrine organ which produces substrates including melatonin and has been ascribed numerous even mysterious functions but its activation during meditation has never been observed by brain imaging technique. In seventeenth century, based on anatomic observation, Descartes ventured to suggest that pineal serves as the principal seat of the soul^18-20^. Inspired by its geometric center in the brain, physiologists, psychologists, philosophers and religionists have been speculating for centuries about pineal&#x27;s function relevant to spirit and soul. In this study, we chose Chinese Original Quiet Sitting, one style of meditation, to explore this long lasting speculation by functional magnetic resonance imaging technique. Our results demonstrate a correlation between pineal activation and religious meditation which might have profound implications in physiological understanding of the intrinsic awareness

Nanotargeted Radionuclides for Cancer Nuclear Imaging and Internal Radiotherapy

Current progress in nanomedicine has exploited the possibility of designing tumor-targeted nanocarriers being able to deliver radionuclide payloads in a site or molecular selective manner to improve the efficacy and safety of cancer imaging and therapy. Radionuclides of auger electron-, α-, β-, and γ-radiation emitters have been surface-bioconjugated or after-loaded in nanoparticles to improve the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of cancer imaging and therapy in preclinical and clinical studies. This article provides a brief overview of current status of applications, advantages, problems, up-to-date research and development, and future prospects of nanotargeted radionuclides in cancer nuclear imaging and radiotherapy. Passive and active nanotargeting delivery of radionuclides with illustrating examples for tumor imaging and therapy are reviewed and summarized. Research on combing different modes of selective delivery of radionuclides through nanocarriers targeted delivery for tumor imaging and therapy offers the new possibility of large increases in cancer diagnostic efficacy and therapeutic index. However, further efforts and challenges in preclinical and clinical efficacy and toxicity studies are required to translate those advanced technologies to the clinical applications for cancer patients

INFLUENCE OF APPROACH SPEED AND DISTANCE ON BIOMECHANICS DURING SINGLE-LEGGED RUNNING VERTICAL JUMP

The purpose of this study was to look into the kinematics, kinetics and EMG of the single legged running vertical jumps in different approach speed and distance. 12 basketball player performed single-legged running vertical jumps with 2 approach speed and 3 distance randomly. Kinematic and Kinetic data were collected by a force and 11 infrared high speed cameras. EMG data were recorded by Delsys surface EMG system. Two-way repeated measures AMOVA (2 speeds x 3 distance) was used for establishing differences (significance level p< .05). The jump height, jumt moment of lower extremity, knee power and the activation of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius were found significantly larger in fast approach speed. We suggested using fast approach speed and 9m approach distance to enhance the single-legged running vertical jump ability

THE PREDICTION OF FATIGUE-RELATED MUSCLE ADAPTATION IN DIFFERENT WORKLOAD DURING CYCLING ROWING EXERCISE

The purpose of this study was to identify the fatigue-related muscles during the different percentage of the maximal workload. Seven subjects were recruited and, firstly, performed the maximal workload test for 3 minutes. After 24 hours, the different workload tests (60%, 70% and 80% of the maximal workload) were used to reveal the fatigue-related muscle. The result showed that the biceps and triceps had the extreme contribution at the minor and greater workload. However, the neuromuscular fatigue threshold (NFT) is to predict the possibly fatigue muscle condition during the entire exercise. And the most contribution of the EMG expression didn’t stand for the greater value of the EMG number

PLATFORM HEIGHT FOR DROP JUMP DETERMINED BY COUNTER MOVEMENT JUMP

The purpose of the study was to apply personal counter movement jump (CMJ) ability as a standard of choosing the height of the platform and to analyze the kinematics and kinetics during DJ in order to find the appropriate height of the platform for an individual. Twenty male Division I college volleyball players were the participants. Data were collected using 11 infrared Eagle cameras and two AMTI force platforms. The major finding was that the personalized platform height designed according to personal jumping ability showed significant increase in the impulse of eccentric phase during the drop height being above 100%CMJ. The platform height chosen according to 100%CMJ would be an appropriate height for an individual