An Examination of Policy and Procedure Practices of Secondary School Athletic Trainers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the status of P&P practices of secondary school athletic trainers. Methods: Following an online informed consent confirmation, participants completed a Policies and Procedures Status questionnaire, including demographics. This was distributed to certified athletic trainers currently employed in the secondary school setting in the United States. The survey consisted of 49 questions about the status of P&Ps using one of the following responses: the practice is in operation and it appears in written form; the practice is in operation but does not appear in written form; the practice is not in operation but does appear in written form; and the practice is not in operation and it does not appear in written form. This study utilized descriptive statistics, consisting of means, frequencies, and percentages, to report results that described the current status of policies and procedures Results: There was a total of 232 participants. 72.6% of secondary school athletic trainers had existing P&P manuals and 37.9% reported the P&P manual existed when they acquired the position. 31.9% who did not have an existing P&P manual upon starting their position never developed a manual. 45.7% of all P&Ps were reported to exist in both written and operational form and 25.9% reported having neither written nor operational forms of P&Ps. 54.5% used the BOC Guiding Principles for AT Policy and Procedure Development and 45.2% used the BOC Facility Principles document. Conclusion: The results revealed almost half of participants reported the risk management practices in the P&P manual were in operational and written form. P&Ps that have been described in NATA Position Statements were more likely to be in both written and operational form when compared to those that were not. Secondary school athletic trainers may have limited guidance and training in risk management, with even less guidance on resources specifically for developing and reviewing P&Ps

An Examination of Employment Model and Policy and Procedure Practices of Secondary School Athletic Trainers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the policy and procedure practices of secondary school athletic trainers based on employment models. Methods: Following an online informed consent confirmation, participants completed a Policies and procedures status questionnaire, including demographics. This was distributed to certified athletic trainers currently employed in the secondary school setting in the United States. The survey consisted of 49 questions about the status of policies and procedures being in operation and/or written form. Results from the policies and procedures questionnaire were combined with the recorded employment model type to compare the status of policies and procedures between employment models. This study utilized descriptive and inferential statistics consisting of means, frequencies, percentages, and chi square analyses to report results that described and compared the current status of policies and procedures based on employment model. Results: There was a total of 232 participants. Fifty-nine percent (59.9%) of participants were directly employed athletic trainers and 40.1% were outreach employed athletic trainers. Policy and procedure manuals were in existence according to 72% of the participants. A total of 49 variables were inquired about. Of the 26 clinically significant (pConclusion: The results revealed that athletic trainers who identified the outreach employment model were more likely to have policies in both operation and in written form over those identifying with the directly employed model

A Comparison of Static Stretching Versus Combined Static and Ballistic Stretching in Active Knee Range of Motion

Background: There is continued controversy related to flexibility gains from different stretching protocols and within single protocols. Stretching methods include static, ballistic, dynamic, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). A combination of stretching methods may be an improved way to increase active knee range of motion (ROM). This study evaluated a single program formulated with static and ballistic components. Objective: To compare active knee ROM following stretching programs which either included combined static and ballistic stretching (CSBS) or static stretching (SS) alone. It was hypothesized that CSBS would show a greater increase in active knee ROM than SS. Setting: The pre- and post- measurements were performed in a laboratory. Subjects were randomly assigned to either treatment group or a non-stretching control group and given written instructions on how to perform their designated protocol at home. Subjects: Forty-three (33M, 10F) healthy collegiate aged participants (24.0 + 3.69 yrs, 176.21 + 10.0 cm, 78.15 + 12.93 kg) with no history of injury to the lower extremity or low back for the previous 6 months were eligible to participate in the study. Interventions: Two treatment groups either performed SS or CSBS for 30 seconds on each leg, twice a day for 2 weeks. All subjects but 3 provided both legs, and each leg was evaluated separately, providing 83 total measurements. Main Outcome Measures: A Johnson Digital Inclinometer was used to measure active knee extension. A mixed ANOVA with a Tukey post hoc test was used for statistical analysis. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in active knee ROM between groups at the pre-test, F(2,80)=1.062, p=.351, partial ƞ2=.026 (SS: 52.56 + 7.50º, CSBS: 49.84 + 8.91⁰, control: 49.39 + 10.09⁰). There was a statistically significant difference in active knee ROM between groups at the post-test, F(2,80)=29.034, p .05). There was homogeneity of covariance’s, as assessed by Box\u27s test of equality of covariance matrices (p = .076). There was homogeneity of variances, as assessed by Levene\u27s test of homogeneity of variance (p\u3e.05). Conclusions: SS and CSBS are equally effective for improving active knee ROM. A trend indicating CSBS showing only slightly greater differences may be due to limited time allowed to master the CSBS method, with no supervision during stretching sessions

The Effect of Holographic Wristbands on Proprioception

Context: Wearing wristbands embedded with holograms at certain frequencies are believed to increase proprioception. There has been very little research to determine if holographic wristbands have any physiological effect on the body. Objective: To determine if the holograms embedded in the wristbands will improve proprioception during a single leg stance test on the dominant foot. Design and Setting: Controlled Athletic Training laboratory study. Participants: Twenty-four healthy college students of different activity levels (7 men, 17 women; age = 22.6 ± 1.2 years, height = 170.18 ± 12.10 cm, mass = 69.51 ± 15.63 kg) without any lower extremity injuries in the past three months participated. The subjects were also excluded if they have worn a holographic wristband in the past three months. Intervention(s): Each subject completed two trials under three protocols (holographic wristband, placebo wristband, no wristband) in a counter-balanced order for a total of six different tests with each test lasting 30 seconds. Subjects tested under each protocol using a single leg stance test on their dominant leg, hands on their hips, and looking forward at a fixed point on the wall. Main Outcome Measure(s): Balance analysis of the subjects was performed using an AMTI AccuSway Force Platform measuring Center of Pressure velocity and Center of Pressure Area 95. A statistical analysis of the data was done using repeated measures to test for differences between each condition. Results: The results showed no significant differences between protocols for Center of Pressure velocity (F = 1.130, P = .332). We also found no significant differences between protocols for Center of Pressure Area 95 (F = 1.271, P = .290). Conclusions: The results showed that the use of the holographic wristbands or a placebo wristband did not appear to have an impact on static balance. Overall, the results show that the use of the wristbands did not appear to have an impact on proprioception

A Core Outcome Measurement Set for Pediatric Critical Care

Objectives: To identify a PICU Core Outcome Measurement Set (PICU COMS), a set of measures that can be used to evaluate the PICU Core Outcome Set (PICU COS) domains in PICU patients and their families. Design: A modified Delphi consensus process. Setting: Four webinars attended by PICU physicians and nurses, pediatric surgeons, rehabilitation physicians, and scientists with expertise in PICU clinical care or research (n = 35). Attendees were from eight countries and convened from the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Pediatric Outcomes STudies after PICU Investigators and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network PICU COS Investigators. Subjects: Measures to assess outcome domains of the PICU COS are as follows: cognitive, emotional, overall (including health-related quality of life), physical, and family health. Measures evaluating social health were also considered. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Measures were classified as general or additional based on generalizability across PICU populations, feasibility, and relevance to specific COS domains. Measures with high consensus, defined as 80% agreement for inclusion, were selected for the PICU COMS. Among 140 candidate measures, 24 were delineated as general (broadly applicable) and, of these, 10 achieved consensus for inclusion in the COMS (7 patient-oriented and 3 family-oriented). Six of the seven patient measures were applicable to the broadest range of patients, diagnoses, and developmental abilities. All were validated in pediatric populations and have normative pediatric data. Twenty additional measures focusing on specific populations or in-depth evaluation of a COS subdomain also met consensus for inclusion as COMS additional measures. Conclusions: The PICU COMS delineates measures to evaluate domains in the PICU COS and facilitates comparability across future research studies to characterize PICU survivorship and enable interventional studies to target long-term outcomes after critical illness.</p

Expanded encyclopaedias of DNA elements in the human and mouse genomes

AbstractThe human and mouse genomes contain instructions that specify RNAs and proteins and govern the timing, magnitude, and cellular context of their production. To better delineate these elements, phase III of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project has expanded analysis of the cell and tissue repertoires of RNA transcription, chromatin structure and modification, DNA methylation, chromatin looping, and occupancy by transcription factors and RNA-binding proteins. Here we summarize these efforts, which have produced 5,992 new experimental datasets, including systematic determinations across mouse fetal development. All data are available through the ENCODE data portal (https://www.encodeproject.org), including phase II ENCODE1 and Roadmap Epigenomics2 data. We have developed a registry of 926,535 human and 339,815 mouse candidate cis-regulatory elements, covering 7.9 and 3.4% of their respective genomes, by integrating selected datatypes associated with gene regulation, and constructed a web-based server (SCREEN; http://screen.encodeproject.org) to provide flexible, user-defined access to this resource. Collectively, the ENCODE data and registry provide an expansive resource for the scientific community to build a better understanding of the organization and function of the human and mouse genomes.11Nsciescopu

Perspectives on ENCODE

The Encylopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project launched in 2003 with the long-term goal of developing a comprehensive map of functional elements in the human genome. These included genes, biochemical regions associated with gene regulation (for example, transcription factor binding sites, open chromatin, and histone marks) and transcript isoforms. The marks serve as sites for candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs) that may serve functional roles in regulating gene expression1. The project has been extended to model organisms, particularly the mouse. In the third phase of ENCODE, nearly a million and more than 300,000 cCRE annotations have been generated for human and mouse, respectively, and these have provided a valuable resource for the scientific community.11Nsciescopu