Biomechanical predictors of ball velocity during punt kicking in elite rugby league kickers

Punt kicking is integral to the attacking and defensive elements of rugby league and the ability to kick the ball with high velocity is desirable. This study aimed to identify important technical aspects of kicking linked to the generation of ball velocity. Maximal punt kicks were obtained from six elite rugby league kickers using a 10-camera motion capture system. Three-dimensional kinematics of the lower extremities was obtained. Regression analysis with ball velocity as criterion was used to identify the kinematic parameters associated with the development of ball velocity. The regression model yielded an adj R2¼0.76, p�0.01. Two parameters were identified: knee extension angular velocity of the kicking limb at impact (R2¼0.50) and peak flexion angular velocity of the kicking hip (R2¼0.26, p�0.01). It is conceivable that players may benefit from exposure to coaching and strength techniques geared toward the modification of kicking mechanics specific to this stud

What happens if you single out? An experiment

We present an experiment investigating the effects of singling out an individual on trust and trustworthiness. We find that (a) trustworthiness falls if there is a singled out subject; (b) non-singled out subjects discriminate against the singled out subject when they are not responsible of the distinct status of this person; (c) under a negative frame, the singled out subject returns significantly less; (d) under a positive frame, the singled out subject behaves bimodally, either selecting very low or very high return rates. Overall, singling out induces a negligible effect on trust but is potentially disruptive for trustworthiness

Entangled Mechanical Oscillators

Hallmarks of quantum mechanics include superposition and entanglement. In the context of large complex systems, these features should lead to situations like Schrodinger's cat, which exists in a superposition of alive and dead states entangled with a radioactive nucleus. Such situations are not observed in nature. This may simply be due to our inability to sufficiently isolate the system of interest from the surrounding environment -- a technical limitation. Another possibility is some as-of-yet undiscovered mechanism that prevents the formation of macroscopic entangled states. Such a limitation might depend on the number of elementary constituents in the system or on the types of degrees of freedom that are entangled. One system ubiquitous to nature where entanglement has not been previously demonstrated is distinct mechanical oscillators. Here we demonstrate deterministic entanglement of separated mechanical oscillators, consisting of the vibrational states of two pairs of atomic ions held in different locations. We also demonstrate entanglement of the internal states of an atomic ion with a distant mechanical oscillator.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Compensation for Commuting in Imperfect Urban Markets

We develop an urban equilibrium job search model with employed and unemployed individuals where residential mobility of the unemployed is restricted. We assume a standard mono-centric model (firms are located in one location), but allow for imperfect labour markets. In contrast to models with perfect labour markets, the model predicts that the employed are only partially compensated for commuting costs in the form of wages. As a result, rent gradients are less steep than predicted by standard urban theories that assume perfectly competitive labour markets. © 2007 the author(s). Journal compilation © 2007 RSAI

Sharing Detailed Research Data Is Associated with Increased Citation Rate

BACKGROUND: Sharing research data provides benefit to the general scientific community, but the benefit is less obvious for the investigator who makes his or her data available. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined the citation history of 85 cancer microarray clinical trial publications with respect to the availability of their data. The 48% of trials with publicly available microarray data received 85% of the aggregate citations. Publicly available data was significantly (p = 0.006) associated with a 69% increase in citations, independently of journal impact factor, date of publication, and author country of origin using linear regression. SIGNIFICANCE: This correlation between publicly available data and increased literature impact may further motivate investigators to share their detailed research data