Assessment of throwing arm biomechanics with a motusBASEBALLTM pitching sleeve during long-toss throws and pitching in college baseball pitchers

In baseball, long-toss throws are commonly used in return-to-throw programs and for general conditioning; however, the majority of these programs are based on conventional wisdom. Few studies have examined the biomechanics of long-toss throwing and the impact of throw distance. The purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences exist among commonly-used sub-maximal distance long-toss throws and mound pitching. Nineteen college baseball pitchers (19 ± 1.3 years; 88.3 ± 8.4 kg; and 73.9 ± 18.6 cm) wore a motusBASEBALL™ sleeve and sensor which measured peak elbow varus torque (VT), peak forearm angular velocity (Vmax), and peak arm-cocking angle (ACA). Each player completed five long-toss throws at distances of 27 m, 37 m, 46 m, 55 m and five pitches from a mound at regulation (18.4 m). There were no significant differences among throwing conditions for both VT and Vmax (p<0.05). For ACA, there was a significant increase (approximately 12°) as the long-toss distance increased. Coaches and trainers should be aware that sub-maximal distance long-toss throws (27 - 55 m+) generate high-magnitude throwing arm biomechanics (kinetics, velocities, range of motion) that approach or even exceed those generated during pitching; precaution needs to be used when implementing long-tosses into throwing and rehabilitation programs

Impact of the Farmington Bay Eutrophication Plume on the Plankton Ecology of Gilbert Bay, Great Salt Lake

Farmington Bay in the Great Salt Lake is hypereutrophic because of extreme nitrogen and phosphorus loading, largely from greater metropolitan Salt Lake City sewage effluents. Although this causes detrimental impacts within the bay, the influence of the outflow of its algal- and nutrient-rich waters into Gilbert Bay is largely unknown. To address this issue, students in the 2010 Aquatic Ecology Practicum course from Utah State University did a 13-km long transect analysis of trophic parameters from the causeway bridge separating the two bays, out into the pelagic zone of Gilbert Bay (Figure 1; Appendix A). On the September 30th date of the transect, flows out of Farmington Bay were low and consequently the plume did not extend far into the lake and we could not detect a plume using MODIS satellite imagery. Nevertheless, the students were able to measure a distinct gradient in a variety of parameters and used water from Gilbert and Farmington Bay in an experiment to assess how Farmington Bay water influences brine shrimp growth. Conductivity profiles indicated that the less dense Farmington Bay water formed an overflow plume that was only 0.2-0.4 m thick