Kinematic evaluation of physical impairments of an elite Paralympic karateka

Karate is a Japanese martial art that counts millions of practitioners worldwide and that is spreading also in Paralympic competitions, requiring accurate categories definition for disabled athletes. The aim of the study is to present kinematic data of an elite Paralympic karateka, in comparison with able-bodied athletes. The authors also aim to promote a better classification within the discipline, based on objective biomechanical evaluations of physical impairments. A male black belt Paralympic karateka (age: 36 y; body weight: 75.5 kg; height: 173 cm) with lower limbs impairments was evaluated. The athlete had been performing high level karate for 20 years before the disability took place. After the post-operative rehabilitation, he attended 3/4 sessions of para- karate training per week. He performed a standardized sequence of movements, involving a sequence of offensive and defensive techniques, (kata) from traditional Shotokan karate. Joints and body Center of Mass (CoM) kinematics were collected with an optoelectronic motion capture system and compared with those obtained in two groups of able-bodied (elite and amateurs) athletes from a previous study1. Knee angular range of motion (RoM) and peak angular velocity were obtained. Coordinates of CoM were estimated, using the Segmental Centroid Method2, along with CoM average velocity and acceleration. To assess differences between Paralympic karateka and able-bodied groups, the one-sample t-test was performed. The sequence performed by the karateka lasted more than in both able-bodied groups. CoM average velocity and acceleration decreased in comparison with elite karateka. Knees range of movement and peak angular velocity were similar to amateur but lower than elite athletes. Results show that the physical impairments negatively affected the function of lower limbs in the Paralympic athlete. Fundamental skills in karate elite performance (dynamic balance control and joint RoM and angular velocity) were reduced

Food Habits and Sport Practice According to BMI Categories and Rural/Urban Origin

The juvenile obesity is correlated to dietary and physical activity. Moreover, the rural or urban context could affect other aspects like time available to practice sport or the availability of sport facilities. Thus, this brief report investigated the relationship be- tween origin and food habits in children belonging to different BMI categories. Over than 1400 primary school students were interviewed with their parents about their food habits. All answers were stratified according to origin (rural/urban) and to BMI categories as defined in literature. The percentage of normal weight, overweight and obese children between rural and urban context were similar (p > 0.05). All the BMI categories were familiar to have breakfast and no differences were found between rural or urban context (p > 0.52). Over 70% of children had the principal meal in at least 15 minutes. In particular, all of them used to watch TV during this moment: no differences were found between urban/rural or BMI categories (p = 0.87 and p = 0.98). In general, most of urban children performed physical activity less than seven hours/week, while normal weight subjects were more active than obese one (p = 0.04). We concluded that school promotion and municipalities/institutions interven- tion could be a good solution to reach all children in environment where the amount of facilities is often poor

The LawsAndFamilies questionnaire on legal family formats for same-sex and/or different-sex couples: Text of the questions and of the accompanying guidance document.

This Working Paper of the research project FamiliesAndSocieties contains the text of the LawsAndFamilies questionnaire, plus the text of the guidance document provided to legal experts answering this questionnaire. These texts are preceded by a brief introduction to the background, aims and development of this questionnaire on legal family formats for same-sex and/or different-sex couples. The majority of questions ask if – in the jurisdiction of the legal expert concerned – a specific legal consequence is attached or not to (same-sex and/or different-sex) marriage, registered partnership and/or cohabitation. And it asks since when this is so. The questions are about legal aspects of formalisation, income and troubles, parenting, migration, splitting up and death. The questionnaire is used to create The LawsAndFamilies Database – Aspects of legal family formats for same-sex and different-sex couples, www.LawsAndFamilies.eu, where from early 2017 the answers to the questionnaire provide an overview of the legal situation in more than 20 European countries.Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/320116Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist worl

Agrammatic but numerate

A central question in cognitive neuroscience concerns the extent to which language enables other higher cognitive functions. In the case of mathematics, the resources of the language faculty, both lexical and syntactic, have been claimed to be important for exact calculation, and some functional brain imaging studies have shown that calculation is associated with activation of a network of left-hemisphere language regions, such as the angular gyrus and the banks of the intraparietal sulcus. We investigate the integrity of mathematical calculations in three men with large left-hemisphere perisylvian lesions. Despite severe grammatical impairment and some difficulty in processing phonological and orthographic number words, all basic computational procedures were intact across patients. All three patients solved mathematical problems involving recursiveness and structure-dependent operations (for example, in generating solutions to bracket equations). To our knowledge, these results demonstrate for the first time the remarkable independence of mathematical calculations from language grammar in the mature cognitive system

The ESPRI project: astrometric exoplanet search with PRIMA I. Instrument description and performance of first light observations

The ESPRI project relies on the astrometric capabilities offered by the PRIMA facility of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer for the discovery and study of planetary systems. Our survey consists of obtaining high-precision astrometry for a large sample of stars over several years and to detect their barycentric motions due to orbiting planets. We present the operation principle, the instrument's implementation, and the results of a first series of test observations. A comprehensive overview of the instrument infrastructure is given and the observation strategy for dual-field relative astrometry is presented. The differential delay lines, a key component of the PRIMA facility which was delivered by the ESPRI consortium, are described and their performance within the facility is discussed. Observations of bright visual binaries are used to test the observation procedures and to establish the instrument's astrometric precision and accuracy. The data reduction strategy for astrometry and the necessary corrections to the raw data are presented. Adaptive optics observations with NACO are used as an independent verification of PRIMA astrometric observations. The PRIMA facility was used to carry out tests of astrometric observations. The astrometric performance in terms of precision is limited by the atmospheric turbulence at a level close to the theoretical expectations and a precision of 30 micro-arcseconds was achieved. In contrast, the astrometric accuracy is insufficient for the goals of the ESPRI project and is currently limited by systematic errors that originate in the part of the interferometer beamtrain which is not monitored by the internal metrology system. Our observations led to the definition of corrective actions required to make the facility ready for carrying out the ESPRI search for extrasolar planets.Comment: 32 pages, 39 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Oral and anal high-risk human papilloma virus infection in HIV-positive men who have sex with men over a 24-month longitudinal study: Complexity and vaccine implications

BackgroundFew studies focused on longitudinal modifications over time of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) at anal and oral sites in HIV+ men who have sex with men (MSM).MethodsWe described patterns and longitudinal changes of HR-HPV detection and the prevalence of HR-HPV covered by the nonavalent HPV vaccine (vax-HPV) at oral and anal sites in 165 HIV+ MSM followed in an Italian hospital. The samples were collected at baseline and after 24months (follow-up). The presence of HPV was investigated with Inno-LiPA HPV Genotyping Extra II.ResultsMedian age was 44years (IQR 36-53), median CD4+ cell count at nadir was 312 cells/mm(3) (IQR 187-450). A total of 120 subjects (72.7%) were receiving successful antiretroviral therapy (ART). At baseline and follow-up, the frequency of HR-HPV was significantly higher in the anal site (65.4% vs 9.4 and 62.4% vs 6.8%, respectively). Only 2.9% of subjects were persistently HR-HPV negative at both sites. All oral HR-HPV were single at baseline vs 54.6% at baseline at the anal site (p=0.005), and all oral HR-HPV were single at follow-up vs 54.4% at anal site at follow-up (p=0.002). The lowest rate of concordance between the oral and anal results was found for HR-HPV detection; almost all HR-HPV positive results at both anal and oral sites had different HR-HPV.The most frequent HR-HPV in anal swabs at baseline and follow-up were HPV-16 and HPV-52.At follow-up at anal site, 37.5% of patients had different HR-HPV genotypes respect to baseline, 28.8% of subjects with 1 HR-HPV at baseline had an increased number of HR-HPV, and patients on ART showed a lower frequency of confirmed anal HR-HPV detection than untreated patients (p=0.03) over time. Additionally,54.6 and 50.5% of patients had only HR-vax-HPV at anal site at baseline and follow-up, respectively; 15.2% had only HR-vax-HPV at baseline and follow-up.ConclusionsWe believe that it is important testing multiple sites over time in HIV-positive MSM. ART seems to protect men from anal HR-HPV confirmed detection. Vaccination programmes could reduce the number of HR-HPV genotypes at anal site and the risk of the first HR-HPV acquisition at the oral site

Effective connectivity reveals strategy differences in an expert calculator

Mathematical reasoning is a core component of cognition and the study of experts defines the upper limits of human cognitive abilities, which is why we are fascinated by peak performers, such as chess masters and mental calculators. Here, we investigated the neural bases of calendrical skills, i.e. the ability to rapidly identify the weekday of a particular date, in a gifted mental calculator who does not fall in the autistic spectrum, using functional MRI. Graph-based mapping of effective connectivity, but not univariate analysis, revealed distinct anatomical location of “cortical hubs” supporting the processing of well-practiced close dates and less-practiced remote dates: the former engaged predominantly occipital and medial temporal areas, whereas the latter were associated mainly with prefrontal, orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate connectivity. These results point to the effect of extensive practice on the development of expertise and long term working memory, and demonstrate the role of frontal networks in supporting performance on less practiced calculations, which incur additional processing demands. Through the example of calendrical skills, our results demonstrate that the ability to perform complex calculations is initially supported by extensive attentional and strategic resources, which, as expertise develops, are gradually replaced by access to long term working memory for familiar material

Realization of the farad from the dc quantum Hall effect with digitally-assisted impedance bridges

A new traceability chain for the derivation of the farad from dc quantum Hall effect has been implemented at INRIM. Main components of the chain are two new coaxial transformer bridges: a resistance ratio bridge, and a quadrature bridge, both operating at 1541 Hz. The bridges are energized and controlled with a polyphase direct-digital-synthesizer, which permits to achieve both main and auxiliary equilibria in an automated way; the bridges and do not include any variable inductive divider or variable impedance box. The relative uncertainty in the realization of the farad, at the level of 1000 pF, is estimated to be 64E-9. A first verification of the realization is given by a comparison with the maintained national capacitance standard, where an agreement between measurements within their relative combined uncertainty of 420E-9 is obtained.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 3 table