An Assist for Cognitive Diagnostics in Soccer: Two Valid Tasks Measuring Inhibition and Cognitive Flexibility in a Soccer-Specific Setting With a Soccer-Specific Motor Response

In professional soccer, players, coaches, and researchers alike recognize the importance of cognitive skills. Research addressing the relevance of cognitive skills has been based on the cognitive component skills approach (i.e., general cognitive processes) or the expert performance approach (i.e., sport-specific cognitive processes). Our project aimed to combine the strengths of both approaches to develop and validate cognitive tasks measuring inhibition and cognitive flexibility in a soccer-specific setting with a soccer-specific motor response. In the main study 77 elite youth soccer players completed a computerized version of the standard flanker and number–letter tasks as well as flanker and number–letter tasks requiring a soccer-specific motor response (i.e., pass) in a soccer-specific setting (i.e., the SoccerBot360). Results show good reliability for both tasks. For the SoccerBot360 number–letter task, switch effects for response times and accuracy and acceptable convergent validity were shown. A flanker effect for response time but not accuracy was apparent. Due to no acceptable convergent validity, the flanker task was revised (i.e., adaptation of stimuli) and 63 adult soccer players participated in a follow-up validation study in the SoccerBot100. The revised flanker task showed the flanker effect for response time, but not for accuracy. However, acceptable convergent validity for response time was present. Thus, the soccer-specific number–letter and to some extent the soccer-specific flanker task show potential to be used as a valid cognitive diagnostic tool by soccer clubs.Peer Reviewe

Bioavailability of Macro and Micronutrients Across Global Topsoils: Main Drivers and Global Change Impacts

Understanding the chemical composition of our planet\u27s crust was one of the biggest questions of the 20th century. More than 100 years later, we are still far from understanding the global patterns in the bioavailability and spatial coupling of elements in topsoils worldwide, despite their importance for the productivity and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we measured the bioavailability and coupling of thirteen macro- and micronutrients and phytotoxic elements in topsoils (3–8 cm) from a range of terrestrial ecosystems across all continents (∼10,000 observations) and in response to global change manipulations (∼5,000 observations). For this, we incubated between 1 and 4 pairs of anionic and cationic exchange membranes per site for a mean period of 53 days. The most bioavailable elements (Ca, Mg, and K) were also amongst the most abundant in the crust. Patterns of bioavailability were biome-dependent and controlled by soil properties such as pH, organic matter content and texture, plant cover, and climate. However, global change simulations resulted in important alterations in the bioavailability of elements. Elements were highly coupled, and coupling was predictable by the atomic properties of elements, particularly mass, mass to charge ratio, and second ionization energy. Deviations from the predictable coupling-atomic mass relationship were attributed to global change and agriculture. Our work illustrates the tight links between the bioavailability and coupling of topsoil elements and environmental context, human activities, and atomic properties of elements, thus deeply enhancing our integrated understanding of the biogeochemical connections that underlie the productivity and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems in a changing world

Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19-Associated Hospitalizations Among Adults During SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 Variant Predominance - COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network, 14 States, June 20, 2021-May 31, 2022.

Beginning the week of March 20–26, 2022, the Omicron BA.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, became the predominant circulating variant in the United States, accounting for >50% of sequenced isolates.* Data from the COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) were analyzed to describe recent COVID-19–associated hospitalization rates among adults aged ≥18 years during the period coinciding with BA.2 predominance (BA.2 period [Omicron BA.2 and BA.2.12.1; March 20–May 31, 2022]). Weekly hospitalization rates (hospitalizations per 100,000 population) among adults aged ≥65 years increased threefold, from 6.9 (week ending April 2, 2022) to 27.6 (week ending May 28, 2022); hospitalization rates in adults aged 18–49 and 50–64 years both increased 1.7-fold during the same time interval. Hospitalization rates among unvaccinated adults were 3.4 times as high as those among vaccinated adults. Among hospitalized nonpregnant patients in this same period, 39.1% had received a primary vaccination series and 1 booster or additional dose; 5.0% had received a primary series and ≥2 boosters or additional doses. All adults should stay up to date† with COVID-19 vaccination, and multiple nonpharmaceutical and medical prevention measures should be used to protect those at high risk for severe COVID-19 illness, irrespective of vaccination status§ (1).Beginning the week of March 20–26, 2022, the Omicron BA.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, became the predominant circulating variant in the United States, accounting for >50% of sequenced isolates.* Data from the COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) were analyzed to describe recent COVID-19–associated hospitalization rates among adults aged ≥18 years during the period coinciding with BA.2 predominance (BA.2 period [Omicron BA.2 and BA.2.12.1; March 20–May 31, 2022]). Weekly hospitalization rates (hospitalizations per 100,000 population) among adults aged ≥65 years increased threefold, from 6.9 (week ending April 2, 2022) to 27.6 (week ending May 28, 2022); hospitalization rates in adults aged 18–49 and 50–64 years both increased 1.7-fold during the same time interval. Hospitalization rates among unvaccinated adults were 3.4 times as high as those among vaccinated adults. Among hospitalized nonpregnant patients in this same period, 39.1% had received a primary vaccination series and 1 booster or additional dose; 5.0% had received a primary series and ≥2 boosters or additional doses. All adults should stay up to date† with COVID-19 vaccination, and multiple nonpharmaceutical and medical prevention measures should be used to protect those at high risk for severe COVID-19 illness, irrespective of vaccination status§ (1)

Climate Science: A Summary for Actuaries - What the IPCC Climate Change Report 2021 Means for the Actuarial Profession

This Summary, based on the IPCC Working Group I Sixth Assessment Report released in August 2021, is tailored to the actuarial community to provide helpful insights into what the IPCC report means for the Actuarial profession. The IPCC Working Group I report addresses the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change. It brings together the latest advances in climate science, combining multiple lines of evidence from paleoclimate, observations, process understanding, and global and regional climate simulations to get the clearest picture of past, present, and possible future climate. Actuaries, as risk professionals, need to understand the physical impacts of climate systems and climate changes. Such impacts will affect how risks are underwritten, priced, managed, and reported, whether for general, life or health insurance, pensions, other financial institutions, or social security. It is important for actuaries to understand the magnitude of the potential changes, the uncertainty of their frequency and intensity, and the inherent volatility of such risks. Each of the physical changes analyzed in the latest IPCC Working Group I report could have an impact on human well-being and the long-term sustainability of the environment. Within these changes, actuaries are particularly interested in the effect of climate change on floods, droughts, fires, storms, rise of sea level, air pollution and the long-term effects of climate change. The Summary focuses on the physical changes affecting the most common perils analysed by actuaries and is supplemented with two Annexes on data and regional specificities and a glossary to support its users

Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Children Aged <18 Years Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 - COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1-July 25, 2020.

Most reported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children aged <18 years appear to be asymptomatic or mild (1). Less is known about severe COVID-19 illness requiring hospitalization in children. During March 1-July 25, 2020, 576 pediatric COVID-19 cases were reported to the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET), a population-based surveillance system that collects data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in 14 states (2,3). Based on these data, the cumulative COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate among children aged <18 years during March 1-July 25, 2020, was 8.0 per 100,000 population, with the highest rate among children aged <2 years (24.8). During March 21-July 25, weekly hospitalization rates steadily increased among children (from 0.1 to 0.4 per 100,000, with a weekly high of 0.7 per 100,000). Overall, Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) and non-Hispanic black (black) children had higher cumulative rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations (16.4 and 10.5 per 100,000, respectively) than did non-Hispanic white (white) children (2.1). Among 208 (36.1%) hospitalized children with complete medical chart reviews, 69 (33.2%) were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU); 12 of 207 (5.8%) required invasive mechanical ventilation, and one patient died during hospitalization. Although the cumulative rate of pediatric COVID-19-associated hospitalization remains low (8.0 per 100,000 population) compared with that among adults (164.5),* weekly rates increased during the surveillance period, and one in three hospitalized children were admitted to the ICU, similar to the proportion among adults. Continued tracking of SARS-CoV-2 infections among children is important to characterize morbidity and mortality. Reinforcement of prevention efforts is essential in congregate settings that serve children, including childcare centers and schools

Hospitalizations Associated with COVID-19 Among Children and Adolescents - COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1, 2020-August 14, 2021.

Although COVID-19-associated hospitalizations and deaths have occurred more frequently in adults,† COVID-19 can also lead to severe outcomes in children and adolescents (1,2). Schools are opening for in-person learning, and many prekindergarten children are returning to early care and education programs during a time when the number of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is increasing.§ Therefore, it is important to monitor indicators of severe COVID-19 among children and adolescents. This analysis uses Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET)¶ data to describe COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among U.S. children and adolescents aged 0-17 years. During March 1, 2020-August 14, 2021, the cumulative incidence of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations was 49.7 per 100,000 children and adolescents. The weekly COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate per 100,000 children and adolescents during the week ending August 14, 2021 (1.4) was nearly five times the rate during the week ending June 26, 2021 (0.3); among children aged 0-4 years, the weekly hospitalization rate during the week ending August 14, 2021, was nearly 10 times that during the week ending June 26, 2021.** During June 20-July 31, 2021, the hospitalization rate among unvaccinated adolescents (aged 12-17 years) was 10.1 times higher than that among fully vaccinated adolescents. Among all hospitalized children and adolescents with COVID-19, the proportions with indicators of severe disease (such as intensive care unit [ICU] admission) after the Delta variant became predominant (June 20-July 31, 2021) were similar to those earlier in the pandemic (March 1, 2020-June 19, 2021). Implementation of preventive measures to reduce transmission and severe outcomes in children is critical, including vaccination of eligible persons, universal mask wearing in schools, recommended mask wearing by persons aged ≥2 years in other indoor public spaces and child care centers,†† and quarantining as recommended after exposure to persons with COVID-19.§§