RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOWER EXTREMITY STIFFNESS AND ECCENTRIC LEG STRENGTH IN HORIZONTAL JUMPERS

Eccentric strength in the lower extremity has been identified as a key performance component in the horizontal jumps (Graham-Smith & Lees, 2005). Whilst isokinetic dynamometry provides a safe and reliable method of testing maximal eccentric strength, it is often criticised as being non functional due to testing at constant angular velocity and being an open kinetic chain movement (Baltzopoulos & Brodie, 1989; Augustsson & Thomeé, 2000). Therefore, eccentric leg strength measured during isokinetic testing may have limited transfer to functional performance. Lower extremity stiffness, such as vertical stiffness and knee joint stiffness (Farley et al., 1998) and knee joint moment, can be calculated during functional movements utilising force platforms, motion analysis and inverse dynamics. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between isokinetic eccentric leg strength and measures of lower extremity stiffness and knee joint moment during a single leg hop for distance test

Mixed metal nanoparticle assembly and the effect on surface enhanced raman scattering

Here we report the assembly of mixed metal nanoparticles using an oligonucleotide-templated approach. Substitution of one of the gold nanoparticle probes with an analagous silver probe to produce a hetero-metal duplex permitted surface enhanced Raman scattering of the dye label, exploiting the improved surface enhancement properties of silver nanoparticles whilst maintaining the surface chemistry benefits of gold nanoaprticle

ISOKINETIC STRENGTH PROFILE OF FEMALE SOCCER PLAYERS: BETWEEN LIMB COMPARISONS.

The purpose of this study was to provide an isokinetic strength profile of female soccer players and examine whether limb preference influences bilateral and reciprocal knee joint muscle balance. Gravity corrected isokinetic (60°·s-1) concentric and eccentric moment-angle profiles of both limbs were collected from 25 female soccer players from the 2nd tier of English women’s soccer. Bilateral muscle imbalances were present, but limb preference only had small effects on muscle strength asymmetry and reciprocal muscle balance ratios. Trivial to small non-significant differences between preferred and non-preferred limbs were observed throughout isokinetic range for each muscle group in each mode, suggesting that injury mitigation strategies for female soccer players should focus on developing global knee extensor and flexor strength, rather than on regional strength deficits

The TRIPS intellectual property waiver proposal: creating the right incentives in patent law and politics to end the COVID-19 pandemic

The structure of global intellectual property law as incorporated in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is implicated in the current lack of COVID-19 vaccines, medical equipment, medicines and diagnostics (hereafter, ‘health-technologies’), which are needed to combat the pandemic. Although equitable access to vaccines is in the moral, political and economic interests of the global public and requires global solidarity, the phenomenon of COVID-19 ‘vaccine nationalism’ has brought into sharp relief the misalignment of current legal and financial incentives to produce and distribute vaccines equitably. The crisis further demonstrates the failure of high-income countries (HICs) to realise the promise they made at the time of the TRIPS negotiations in 1994, that by agreeing to the terms of TRIPS, lower and middle-income countries (LMICs) would benefit from technology transfer and the building of productive capacity. As such, the current crisis is revealing not only of inadequacies of how to deal with global emergencies, but also of deficiencies within the international ‘patent bargain’ itself. This paper elucidates the legal issues surrounding the ‘TRIPS waiver’ proposal initially put forward by India and South Africa in October 2020, which, as of May 2021, is supported by more than 60 states, and which has received statements of support from the World Health Organisation (WHO). We analyse the different intellectual property rights relevant to the proposal – focusing primarily on patent rights and trade secrets – which are most relevant to the present COVID-19 vaccine context. We explain why the existing TRIPS flexibilities around compulsory licensing are incapable of addressing the present pandemic context adequately, both in terms of procedure and legal substance. The extent of the current health crisis posed by COVID-19 is as undeniable as the current global response is untenable. Given the ongoing absence of sufficient engagement by the pharmaceutical industry with proposed global mechanisms to share intellectual property rights, data and know-how to address the pandemic, we argue that mandatory mechanisms are needed. The TRIPS waiver is an essential legal instrument in this context for enabling a radical increase in manufacturing capacity, and hence supply, of COVID-19 vaccines, creating a pathway to achieve global equitable access. We make two arguments to this effect: first, the TRIPS waiver is a necessary and proportionate legal measure for clearing intellectual property (IP) barriers in a direct, consistent and efficient fashion, enabling the freedom to operate for more companies to produce COVID-19 vaccines and other health technologies without the fear of infringing another party’s IP rights and the attendant threat of litigation; and second, the TRIPS waiver acts as an important political, moral and economic lever towards encouraging solutions aimed at global equitable access to vaccines, which is in the wider interest of the global public

Addressing vaccine inequity during the COVID-19 pandemic: the TRIPS intellectual property waiver proposal & beyond

This article examines global vaccine inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic. We critique intellectual property (IP) law under the 1995 WTO TRIPS Agreement, and specifically, the role that IP plays in enabling the inequities of production, distribution and pricing in the COVID-19 vaccine context. Given the failure of international response mechanisms, including COVAX and C-TAP, to address vaccine inequity, we argue the TRIPS waiver proposal offers a necessary and proportionate legal measure for clearing IP barriers that cannot be achieved by TRIPS flexibilities. Finally, we reflect on the waiver in the wider context of TRIPS

COVID-19 vaccines: wealthier nations, including the UK, must drop their opposition to the proposed TRIPS waiver at the WTO

Waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines would help boost production and distribution to the world’s poorer countries, particularly as infection levels are once again rising across the globe, and new mutations risk rendering existing vaccines ineffective. A temporary waiver proposal put forward by India and South Africa was nevertheless blocked by a number of wealthier nations, including the UK. In an open letter signed by over 120 academics, Hyo Yoon Kang, Aisling McMahon, Graham Dutfield, Luke McDonagh, and Siva Thambisetty urge that the waiver must be supported

Inequalities in the dental health needs and access to dental services among looked after children in Scotland: a population data linkage study

Background: There is limited evidence on the health needs and service access among children and young people who are looked after by the state. The aim of this study was to compare dental treatment needs and access to dental services (as an exemplar of wider health and well-being concerns) among children and young people who are looked after with the general child population. Methods: Population data linkage study utilising national datasets of social work referrals for ‘looked after’ placements, the Scottish census of children in local authority schools, and national health service’s dental health and service datasets. Results: 633 204 children in publicly funded schools in Scotland during the academic year 2011/2012, of whom 10 927 (1.7%) were known to be looked after during that or a previous year (from 2007–2008). The children in the looked after children (LAC) group were more likely to have urgent dental treatment need at 5 years of age: 23%vs10% (n=209/16533), adjusted (for age, sex and area socioeconomic deprivation) OR 2.65 (95% CI 2.30 to 3.05); were less likely to attend a dentist regularly: 51%vs63% (n=5519/388934), 0.55 (0.53 to 0.58) and more likely to have teeth extracted under general anaesthesia: 9%vs5% (n=967/30253), 1.91 (1.78 to 2.04). Conclusions: LAC are more likely to have dental treatment needs and less likely to access dental services even when accounting for sociodemographic factors. Greater efforts are required to integrate child social and healthcare for LAC and to develop preventive care pathways on entering and throughout their time in the care system

Level 9 CPD Module Educating for Food Sector Sustainability

Module Descriptor for lecturer professional development in Educating for Food Sustainability. In response to SDG 4.7, which requires learners acquire knowledge and skills for sustainability, this module addresses a gap identified by the National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in the ‘preparedness of lecturers to facilitate the type of participatory learning’ associated with balancing social and economic well-being with Earth’s ability to replenish its natural resources. For food-sector educators committed to embedding sustainability in their academic practice, this module aims to develop a community of practice, comprising faculty, students, industry and community that can support authentic and transformative living-lab experiences for a sustainable future of our food systems. Deploying inquiry-based, evidence-based and action-learning approaches, this module focuses on addressing future-of-food issues within a holistic framework informed by the 4 Cs of culture, campus, curriculum and community as a means for transforming food-sector higher education