Effects of shoes on kinetics and kinematics of the squash forward lunge in male players

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.Squash is associated with a high incidence of chronic injuries. Currently there is a trend in many sports for players to select minimalist footwear. The aim of the current investigation was to examine the effects of squashspecific, running shoes and minimalist footwear on the kinetics and 3-D kinematics of the lunge movement in squash players. Twelve male squash players performed lunge movements whilst wearing minimalist, running shoe and squash-specific footwear. 3-D kinematics of the lower extremities were measured using an eightcamera motion analysis system alongside kinetic and tibial acceleration information which were obtained using a force platform and an accelerometer. Differences between footwear were examined using one-way repeated measures ANOVA. The results show firstly that loading rate parameters were significantly greater in the minimalist (average = 85.36B.W/s and instantaneous = 179.09B.W/s) footwear in relation to the squashspecific (average = 38.66 B.W/s and instantaneous = 50.73B.W/s) and running footwear (average = 37.62B.W/s and instantaneous = 48.14B.W/s). In addition, tibial acceleration parameters were also significantly greater in the minimalist (peak tibial acceleration = 8.45 g and tibial acceleration slope = 422.28g/s) footwear in relation to the squash-specific (peak tibial acceleration = 4.33 g and tibial acceleration slope = 182.57g/s) and running footwear (peak tibial acceleration = 4.81 g and tibial acceleration slope = 226.72g/s). The significant increase in impact loading in the minimalist footwear therefore suggests this type of shoe may place squash players at an increased risk of developing impact-related chronic injuries.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Community learning and development training for professionals engaged in community regeneration and community planning

The study was commissioned by the Scottish Executive Development Department to identify training needs and current provision of community learning and development (CLD) training for a range of professionals (other than those formally qualified in CLD) who are engaged in community regeneration and community planning (Local Government in Scotland Act 2003). It was one of a series of studies emanating from the Scottish Executive response to the review: „Empowered to Practice – the future of community learning and development training in Scotland‟. One of the themes of the report taken up by the Scottish Executive was the need for; „wider opportunities for joint training with other disciplines such as teachers, librarians, college lecturers, health workers and social workers‟

The Snake Goddess Dethroned: Deconstructing the Work and Legacy of Sir Arthur Evans

While the Minoan Snake Goddess is one of the most reproduced and familiar images in the art historical canon, her function—and indeed, her very essence—continues to be shaped by the man who coined the term Minoan and discovered the site in which she and her sisters lay for generations undisturbed. When Sir Arthur Evans concluded that these statuettes were evidence of Minoan worship of a single great Mother Goddess in 1903, he finally fulfilled his aim discover a prehistoric European civilization to rival that of the ancient Near East. However, Evans did not simply discover these statuettes (and on a broader scale, the ruins themselves)—he meticulously restored and reconstituted them in order to fit his own narrative concerning Minoan religion. Evans’s finds at Knossos have proven to be a watershed moment in the field of Mediterranean archaeology and as such, his interpretations of the Snake Goddess, although unsubstantiated, continue to shape modern perceptions of Minoan art and culture. In an attempt to understand how Evans came to the conclusion that the Snake Goddess was one manifestation of the Great Mother Goddess, this thesis takes on a historiographical lens by critically examining and deconstructing the scholarly traditions and popular anthropological paradigms that Evans worked within in order to determine the degree to which preconceived notions of prehistory influenced Evans’s reconstruction and interpretation of the Snake Goddess figurines

Structural characterization of the carbohydrate-binding module of NanA sialidase, a pneumococcal virulence factor

This research was supported by the University of St Andrews and grants provided by the Medical Research Council.Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae Neuraminidase A (NanA) is a multi-domain protein anchored to the bacterial surface. Upstream of the catalytic domain of NanA is a domain that conforms to the sialic acid-recognising CBM40 family of the CAZY (carbohydrate-active enzymes) database. This domain has been identified to play a critical role in allowing the bacterium to promote adhesion and invasion of human brain microvascular endothelial cells, and hence may play a key role in promoting bacterial meningitis. In addition, the CBM40 domain has also been reported to activate host chemokines and neutrophil recruitment during infection. Results: Crystal structures of both apo- and holo- forms of the NanA CBM40 domain (residues 121 to 305), have been determined to 1.8 angstrom resolution. The domain shares the fold of other CBM40 domains that are associated with sialidases. When in complex with alpha 2,3- or alpha 2,6-sialyllactose, the domain is shown to interact only with the terminal sialic acid. Significantly, a deep acidic pocket adjacent to the sialic acid-binding site is identified, which is occupied by a lysine from a symmetry-related molecule in the crystal. This pocket is adjacent to a region that is predicted to be involved in protein-protein interactions. Conclusions: The structural data provide the details of linkage-independent sialyllactose binding by NanA CBM40 and reveal striking surface features that may hold the key to recognition of binding partners on the host cell surface. The structure also suggests that small molecules or sialic acid analogues could be developed to fill the acidic pocket and hence provide a new therapeutic avenue against meningitis caused by S. pneumoniae.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Functional Significance of Glycoprotein Clearance by the Asialoglycoprotein Receptor and the Mannose/GalNAc-4-SO4 Receptor

Glycosylation plays an important role in many biological functions. Two highly abundant, carbohydrate-specific, endocytic receptors reside in parenchymal and endothelial cells of the liver. Our lab has shown that the asialoglycoprotein receptor: ASGR) is capable of clearing glycoproteins bearing terminal Siaalpha2,6GalNAc as well as ones bearing terminal Gal/ GalNAc and that the Mannose/GalNAc-4-SO4 receptor: MR) is capable of clearing glycoproteins bearing terminal GalNAc-4-SO4. I am taking a genetic approach identifying endogenous ligands for the ASGR and the MR in vivo and establishing the biologic significance of clearing these glycoproteins from the blood. A number of glycosylated hormones such as luteinizing hormone: LH), thyroid stimulating hormone, and the prolactin like proteins bear structures that would be recognized by either the ASGR or the MR and clearance would potentially help regulate their concentrations following release into the blood. I have obtained ASGR-/-, MR-/-, and ASGR-/-MR-/- mice. I am using mass spectrometric methods to identify glycoproteins that are elevated in the blood of these mice. Glycoproteins bearing Siaalpha2,6Gal are elevated in ASGR-/- mice suggesting that glycoproteins with Siaalpha2,6Gal rather than terminal Gal or GalNAc are cleared by the ASGR. Many are acute phase proteins and we propose that the ASGR helps regulate their relative concentrations in vivo and enhances their increase during the acute phase response. LH bears terminal GalNAc-4-SO4 and the half life of LH is increased in MR-/- mice indicating that the MR does account for LH clearance in vivo. ASGR-/- mice also have elevated LH, but the half life is not increased indicating an alternative mechanism of elevating LH in ASGR-/-, likely through a protein bearing Siaalpha2,6Gal/GalNAc. Ablation of both the MR and ASGR results in mice that are fertile, but unable to induce parturition. This suggests clearance of proteins bearing Siaalpha2,6Gal/GalNAc and GalNAc-4-SO4 is critical for appropriate plasma protein levels changes associated with parturition. Clearance by the ASGR and MR may contribute to regulating the concentrations of a range of glycoproteins including acute phase proteins and hormones

Terrible Beauty : The many faces of Helen of Troy in painting from antiquity to the nineteenth century

Helen of Troy is one of the most complex and enigmatic characters from Greek mythology. For nearly two thousand years, her story has consistently been retold, reshaped, and reinterpreted in a rich variety of narratives produced in different contexts for different audiences. In the absence of a canonical version Helen’s tale, philosophers, poets, playwrights, novelists, musicians, filmmakers, and artists in every period have interpreted, modified, and embellished her character in disparate and contradictory terms. Consequently, she has played a significant role in Western artistic canon in a way no other figure from Greek mythology has been able to accomplish; she is potentially the best known and most frequently painted woman in the West, aside from the Virgin Mary and Eve. As the paradigm of absolute beauty, Helen consistently eludes and obstructs all who attempt to depict her. In this way, she constitutes the painter’s greatest challenge: that is, how to represent someone who, by her very nature, is unrepresentable. In spite of —or, perhaps, on account of—her virtual incompatibility with visual representation, artists across all generations have attempted to capture Helen’s beauty by removing her from the indescribable realm of the absolute and force her into a relative position within the ‘real’ world. Within these pictorial confines, Helen becomes an object of the male gaze, vulnerable to sexualization and fetishization as well as to slander and blame. Thus, in the world of art, as in literature, Helen emerges as both the epitome of feminine beauty and as a potent symbol of the destruction that irresistible beauty can wield. Over the last twenty years, there has been increasing scholarly interest in Helen’s cultural impact as an object of desire and a symbol of the timeless male obsession with controlling female sexuality. Though several remarkable scholars have brought new and indispensable insight into the study of Helen’s reception, they have disproportionately emphasized Helen’s representation in literature while largely overlooking Helen’s prominent position and varying reception in art history. This thesis seeks to fill a considerable gap in the literature by expanding upon the complex issue of Helen’s feminine beauty, sexuality, and power from the perspective of her depiction in painting. Its purpose is not to be a definitive survey of the reception of Helen in art, but rather a critical analysis of a limited number of artworks that exceptionally demonstrate the tensions and contradictions surrounding Helen’s legendary beauty and enigmatic persona, as well as the diverse ways in which she has been rediscovered and reassessed by successive generations of artists. Her varied representations in Attic red-figure vase painting, medieval and quattrocento painting and illumination, and the works of the Pre- Raphaelites and Gustave Moreau are the concern of this investigation

Influence of minimalist footwear on knee and ankle loads during the squash lunge

Squash is associated with a high incidence of knee and ankle joint injuries. The aim of this work was to examine the effects of squash specific, running shoes and minimalist footwear on knee and ankle loads during the lunge movement in squash players. Twelve male squash players performed lunge movements whilst wearing squash specific, running shoes and minimalist footwear. The loads experienced by the knee and ankle joints were calculated. Patellofemoral forces were significantly greater in running shoes (5.10 B.W) compared to minimalist footwear (4.29 B.W). Achille tendon forces were significantly larger in the minimalist footwear (3.10 B.W) compared to the running shoes (2.64 B.W) and squash specific footwear (2.88 B.W). This shows that whilst minimalist footwear may reduce the incidence of knee pathologies in squash players corresponding increases in ankle loading may induce an injury risk at this joint