WEDGED FOOTWEAR PERTURBATIONS AFFECT LOWER EXTREMITY COORDINATION DYNAMICS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the coordinative changes that occur with a footwear perturbation consisting of a neutral shoe and varus and valgus wedged shoes. This type of footwear is often prescribed for clinical use. Lower extremity kinematics were collected as six male subjects ran overground at 3.6 m⋅s-1±5%. A modified vector coding technique assessed coordination between rearfoot motion and leg rotation. It was determined that there were clinically relevant differences between the footwear during the middle and late stance period. The differences were most evident between the varus and valgus conditions. However, the varus condition was closer in coordination structure to the neutral condition. The difference in coordination during the wedged conditions indicated that the valgus wedge perturbation may have implications in producing soft tissue injury

TRANSVERSE PLANE HEAD-TRUNK COORDINATION DURING ANTICIPATED AND UNANTICIPATED SIDESTEPPING TASKS

The purpose of this study was to examine head control during anticipated and unanticipated sidestepping tasks. Twelve collegiate male soccer players performed seven anticipated and seven unanticipated sidestepping tasks. Head and trunk orientation and coordination were assessed during the preparatory and stance phases of the change of direction stride. The head and trunk were less oriented toward the new travel direction with reduced planning time. During the change of direction stride, participants aligned the head with the new travel direction but the trunk lagged behind to a greater extent during the preparatory phase when planning time was reduced. No differences in head and trunk coordination patterns were reported during the stance phase. These different head and trunk orientation and coordination patterns may impact perceptual awareness and potential for injury

SYMPOSIUM ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN DATA ANALYSIS

The purpose of this symposium is to present recent developments in biomechanical data analyses in two areas. First, current methods used in a dynamical systems approach will be described. Second, two statistical approaches, Principal Components Analysis and Functional Data Analysis, will be presented. The emphasis in this symposium will be on how to use each of these recent analysis techniques

Onrechtmatige rechtspraak in Nederland: coulanter compenseren?

Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist worl

Coordination as a function of skill level in the gymnastics longswing

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of inter-joint coordination at different levels of skilled performance to: (1) distinguish learners who were successful versus unsuccessful in terms of their task performance; (2) investigate the pathways of change during the learning of a new coordination pattern and (3) examine how the learner’s coordination patterns relate to those of experts in the longswing gymnastics skill. Continuous relative phase of hip and shoulder joint motions was examined for longswings performed by two groups of novices, successful (n = 4) and unsuccessful (n = 4) over five practice sessions, and two expert gymnasts. Principal component analysis showed that during longswing positions where least continuous relative phase variability occurred for expert gymnasts, high variability distinguished the successful from the unsuccessful novice group. Continuous relative phase profiles of successful novices became more out-of-phase over practice and less similar to the closely in-phase coupling of the expert gymnasts. Collectively, the findings support the proposition that at the level in inter-joint coordination a technique emerges that facilitates successful performance but is not more like an expert’s movement coordination. This finding questions the appropriateness of inferring development towards a “gold champion” movement coordination

HESS Opinions: Science in today's media landscape - Challenges and lessons from hydrologists and journalists

Media such as television, newspapers and social media play a key role in the communication between scientists and the general public. Communicating your science via the media can be positive and rewarding by providing the inherent joy of sharing your knowledge with a broader audience, promoting science as a fundamental part of culture and society, impacting decision- and policy-makers, and giving you a greater recognition by institutions, colleagues and funders. However, the interaction between scientists and journalists is not always straightforward. For instance, scientists may not always be able to translate their work into a compelling story, and journalists may sometimes misinterpret scientific output. In this paper, we present insights from hydrologists and journalists discussing the advantages and benefits as well as the potential pitfalls and aftermath of science-media interaction. As we perceive interacting with the media as a rewarding and essential part of our work, we aim to encourage scientists to participate in the diverse and evolving media landscape. With this paper, we call on the scientific community to support scientists who actively contribute to a fruitful science-media relationship..</p

Risk factors for borderline personality disorder in treatment seeking patients with a substance use disorder: An international multicenter study

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) often co-occur, partly because they share risk factors. In this international multicenter study, risk factors for BPD were examined for SUD patients. In total, 1,205 patients were comprehensively examined by standardized interviews and questionnaires on psychiatric diagnosis and risk factors, and it was found that 1,033 (85.7%) had SUDs without BPD (SUD) and 172 (14.3%) had SUD with BPD (SUD + BPD). SUD + BPD patients were significantly younger, more often females and more often diagnosed with comorbid adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. SUD + BPD patients did not differ from SUD patients on most risk factors typical for SUD such as maternal use of drugs during pregnancy or parents having any SUD. However, SUD + BPD patients did have a higher risk of having experienced emotional and physical abuse, neglect, or family violence in childhood compared to SUD patients, suggesting that child abuse and family violence are BPD-specific risk factors in patients with SUDs

Neurobiological degeneracy and affordance perception support functional intra-individual variability of inter-limb coordination during ice climbing

This study investigated the functional intra-individual movement variability of ice climbers differing in skill level to understand how icefall properties were used by participants as affordances to adapt inter-limb coordination patterns during performance. Seven expert climbers and seven beginners were observed as they climbed a 30 m icefall. Movement and positioning of the left and right hand ice tools, crampons and the climber's pelvis over the first 20 m of the climb were recorded and digitized using video footage from a camera (25 Hz) located perpendicular to the plane of the icefall. Inter-limb coordination, frequency and types of action and vertical axis pelvis displacement exhibited by each climber were analysed for the first five minutes of ascent. Participant perception of climbing affordances was assessed through: (i) calculating the ratio between exploratory movements and performed actions, and (ii), identifying, by self-confrontation interviews, the perceptual variables of environmental properties, which were significant to climbers for their actions. Data revealed that experts used a wider range of upper and lower limb coordination patterns, resulting in the emergence of different types of action and fewer exploratory movements, suggesting that effective holes in the icefall provided affordances to regulate performance. In contrast, beginners displayed lower levels of functional intra-individual variability of motor organization, due to repetitive swinging of ice tools and kicking of crampons to achieve and maintain a deep anchorage, suggesting lack of perceptual attunement and calibration to environmental properties to support climbing performanc

Prevalence of severe childhood obesity in England:2006-2013

BACKGROUND: International evidence shows that severe paediatric obesity results in an increased risk of ill health and may require specialised weight management strategies, yet there remains a lack of data on the extent of the problem. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of severe obesity in children aged 4-5 and 10-11 years, attending English schools between 2006/2007 and 2012/2013. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) data. SETTING: Maintained schools in England. PARTICIPANTS: All children aged 4-5 and 10-11 years included in the NCMP dataset. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of severe childhood obesity, defined using the 99.6th centile of the British 1990 (UK90) growth reference for body mass index (BMI), analysed by sex, geography, ethnic group and deprivation. RESULTS: The key findings show that in 2012/2013, severe obesity (BMI ≥UK90 99.6th centile) was found in 1.9% of girls and 2.3% of boys aged 4-5 years, and 2.9% of girls and 3.9% of boys aged 10-11 years. Severe obesity prevalence varies geographically and is more prevalent in children from deprived areas, and among those from black ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study should help to raise awareness of the prevalence of severe obesity and support the provision of adequate treatment and prevention services both to support children who are already severely obese and reduce the prevalence of extreme weight in the future