Drag levels and energy requirements on a SCUBA diver

The popularity of sport diving has increased rapidly since its inception in the 1950’s. Over this period, the trend has been to increase the amount of equipment carried by the diver. There are many undoubted safety advantages associated with the additional kit, but under some conditions, it can impose an additional burden in the form of increased drag. The purpose of this paper is to identify the drag penalties for a number of simple SCUBA configurations. This is achieved through scale model experiments conducted in a wind tunnel. Some comments on the associated energy requirements are made, and from these, the effect on a diver’s bottom time is briefly addressed. The configurations tested include a study of the effect of the equipment configuration and the effect of small changes to the diver incidence. The tests show that the addition of a pony cylinder gives a 10% increase in drag compared to a conventional octopus set-up. When a dive knife, large torch and a Surface Marker Bouy (SMB) are also added this increases to 29%. Over the range tested, the average effect of swimming at a head up incidence to the flow is to increase the drag coefficient by 0.013/degree. This amounts to 16% at 5 degrees and 49% at 15 degrees. Estimates of the effect of the drag changes on bottom time show that particularly at the higher speeds the drag increases result in approximately similar percentage reductions in bottom time. Some simple suggestions for drag reduction are proposed

The effect of different phases of synchrony on the synchrony effect

Synchronization of behaviour between individuals has been found to result in a variety of prosocial outcomes. The role of endorphins in vigorous synchronous activities (Cohen, Ejsmond-Frey, Knight, & Dunbar, 2010) may underlie these effects as endorphins have been implicated in social bonding (Dunbar & Shultz, 2010). Although research on synchronous behaviour has noted that there are two dominant phases of synchrony: in-phase and anti-phase (Marsh, Richardson, Baron, & Schmidt, 2006), research on the effect of synchrony on endorphins has only incorporated in-phase synchrony. The current study examined whether both phases of synchrony would generate the synchrony effect. Twenty-two participants rowed under three counterbalanced conditions - alone, in-phase synchrony and anti-phase synchrony. Endorphin release, as measured via pain threshold, was assessed before and after each session. Change in pain threshold during the in-phase synchrony session was significantly higher than either of the other two conditions. These results suggest that the synchrony effect may be specific to just in-phase synchrony, and that social presence is not a viable explanation for the effect of synchrony on pain threshol

A fatty-acid-binding protein from wheat kernels

A protein of about 7 kDa (W-FABP) has been isolated from mature wheat kernels by H2O extraction and gel filtration of the extract, followed by two steps of high-performance liquid chromatography. The N-terminal amino acid sequence has been determined up to the 28th residue and found to be identical (except for positions 4 and 5) to that deduced from a barley cDNA (EMBL X15257), which had been improperly classified as a non-specific lipid transfer protein (LTP2). Similarly with LTPs, W-FABP does bind fatty acids, but in contrast, it is not significantly homologous to LTPs, it is not recognized by LTP antibodies, it has a more acidic isoelectric point (pH 9.6), and it does not show antibiotic properties

Self-Reported Leadership Experiences in Relation to Inventoried Social and Emotional Intelligence

Leadership has both social and emotional components. Social intelligence appears to tap the social component found in leadership. Recently, emotional intelligence has surfaced as a stable individual difference variable and appears to tap the emotional component of leadership. Mayer and Salovey (1993) suggested that the emotional intelligence and social intelligence constructs overlap. This study examined the power of both emotional and social intelligence to account for variance in self-reported leadership experiences. One hundred ninety-two university students completed measures of social and emotional intelligence and a measure of leadership experiences. Regression analyses showed that both social intelligence and emotional intelligence accounted for variance in leadership experiences. Although emotional intelligence was found to account for variance in leadership, it did not add unique variance beyond social intelligence. Social intelligence appears to play a principal role in leadership

Intraovarian insertion of autologous platelet growth factors as cell-free concentrate: Fertility recovery and first unassisted conception with term delivery at age over 40

Background: The use of autologous platelet-rich plasma as an ovarian treatment has not been standardized and remains controversial. Case Presentation: A 41½-year old woman with diminished ovarian reserve (serum anti- Müllerian hormone = 0.163 mg/mL) and a history of 10 unsuccessful in vitro fertilization cycles presented for reproductive endocrinology consult. She and her partner declined donor oocyte in vitro fertilization. They were both in good general health and laboratory tests were unremarkable, except for mild thrombocytosis (platelets = 386K; normal range 150-379K) discovered in the female. The patient underwent intraovarian injection of fresh platelet-derived growth factor concentrate administered as an enriched cell-free substrate. Serum anti- Müllerian hormone increased by 115% within 6 wks of treatment. Spontaneous ovulation occurred the month after injection and subsequently the serum human chorionic gonadotropin was noted at 804 mIU/mL. Following an uneventful obstetrical course, a male infant was delivered at term without complication. Conclusion: This is the first description of intraovarian injection of enriched platelet-derived growth factors followed by unassisted pregnancy and live birth. As a refinement of conventional ovarian platelet-rich plasma therapy, this procedure may be particularly valuable for refractory cases where prognosis for pregnancy appears especially bleak. A putative role for thrombocytosis is also viewed in parallel with mechanisms of action as advanced earlier. With continued experience in ovarian application of autologous platelet growth factors, additional research will evaluate laboratory protocol/sample preparation, injection technique, and patient selection. Key words: Ovarian rejuvenation, Platelet-rich plasma, Cytokines, Infertility, IVF