Morphological similarities and differences of young players from selected sport team games

Introduction: Body physique is an important determinant of sports success. Knowledge in this area enables the effective selection of players for various sports disciplines. Aim: Using a multidimensional perspective, to determine the degree of variation in the body physique of athletes from four sports disciplines: American football, football, volleyball and handball. Materials and methods: The research was carried out in 2017 in sport clubs operating in the Lower Silesia Voivodship. The research group consisted of 125 male players, with a mean age of 16.27 years. They represented 4 sports disciplines and included 22 American football players, 30 football players, 49 handball players and 24 volleyball players. In the analysis, the measurements of height and weight were used as well as the Body Max Index, calculated with the following formula: body weight [kg]/body height [m]2 Results: The American football players had the highest body weight and the highest BMI. The handball and volleyball players were the tallest. The football players were characterised by the lowest body weight. Conclusions: Each of the analysed sports disciplines prefers players with a different body physique. Nevertheless, a greater similarity between the handball and volleyball players can be observed. American football players are more different morphologically, whereas football players are the least similar to the players from the other disciplines. The results of the study will facilitate both players' and coaches' decision-making process regarding the change of the sports discipline and the choice of a new one, if such need arises

Predictors of injuries among young players team games

Introduction: The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the basic somatic traits and the metric age and training experience of players and the injuries suffered. Material and methods: 125 male athletes aged between 14 and 19 years old were examined. They represented 4 sports disciplines. Respondents practicing American football (22 players), respondents playing football (30 players), respondents practicing handball (49 players), respondents practicing volleyball (24 players). All players belonged to the category of juniors. The research tool was a short questionnaire, in which the surveyed person gave their name and date of birth. The next part of the questionnaire contained questions about the sport practiced. The next stage of the study was the measurement of body height, which was performed with a Swiss anthropometer, and body weight was measured on electronic weight. The Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated from the formula: body weight [kg]/height [m]2. Results: In all analysed sports, body weight is the most important for the number of injuries. BMI is important in all team sports. Slim body reduces the number of injuries by about 2-8 injuries. From among the analysed variables the body structure features have an influence on the number of injuries. There were no correlations between the age of competitors and their training experience. The number of injuries depends mainly on the body weight of the player. Conclusion: Football players suffered the most injuries during their career, followed by handball players. Average injuries of American football players and volleyball players were much lower and similar to each other. While analysing the whole group of the respondents, it was observed that among the variables discussed above, the weight of competitors has the strongest influence on the number of injuries suffered. The body weight has the strongest statistically significant effect on injuries in American football, and secondly in volleyball. The weakest, statistically insignificant, body weight affects injuries in footballers

Functional immunogenetic variation, rather than local adaptation, predicts ectoparasite infection intensity in a model fish species

Natural host populations differ in their susceptibility to infection by parasites, and these intrapopulation differences are still an incompletely understood component of host-parasite dynamics. In this study, we used controlled infection experiments with wild-caught guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and their ectoparasite Gyrodactylus turnbulli to investigate the roles of local adaptation and host genetic composition (immunogenetic and neutral) in explaining differences in susceptibility to infection. We found differences between our four study host populations that were consistent between two parasite source populations, with no indication of local adaptation by either host or parasite at two tested spatial scales. Greater values of host population genetic variability metrics broadly aligned with lower population mean infection intensity, with the best alignments associated with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) “supertypes”. Controlling for intrapopulation differences and potential inbreeding variance, we found a significant negative relationship between individual-level functional MHC variability and infection: fish carrying more MHC supertypes experienced infections of lower severity, with limited evidence for supertype-specific effects. We conclude that population-level differences in host infection susceptibility probably reflect variation in parasite selective pressure and/or host evolutionary potential, underpinned by functional immunogenetic variation

Selective Bispecific T Cell Recruiting Antibody and Antitumor Activity of Adoptive T Cell Transfer

Background: One bottleneck for adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) is recruitment of T cells into tumors. We hypothesized that combining tumor-specific T cells, modified with a marker antigen and a bispecific antibody (BiAb) that selectively recognizes transduced T cells and tumor cells would improve T cell recruitment to tumors and enhance therapeutic efficacy. Methods: SV40 T antigen-specific T cells from T cell receptor (TCR)-I-transgenic mice were transduced with a truncated human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as a marker protein. Targeting and killing by combined ACT and anti-EGFR-anti-EpCAM BiAb therapy was analyzed in C57Bl/6 mice (n = six to 12 per group) carrying subcutaneous tumors of the murine gastric cancer cell line GC8 (SV40+ and EpCAM+). Anti-EGFR x anti-c-Met BiAb was used for targeting of human tumor-specific T cells to c-Met+ human tumor cell lines. Differences between experimental conditions were analyzed using the Student's t test, and differences in tumor growth with two-way analysis of variance. Overall survival was analyzed by log-rank test. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: The BiAb linked EGFR-transduced T cells to tumor cells and enhanced tumor cell lysis. In vivo, the combination of ACT and Biab produced increased T cell infiltration of tumors, retarded tumor growth, and prolonged survival compared with ACT with a control antibody (median survival 95 vs 75 days, P < .001). In human cells, this strategy enhanced recruitment of human EGFR-transduced T cells to immobilized c-Met and recognition of tyrosinase+ melanoma cells by TCR-, as well as of CEA+ colon cancer cells by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells. Conclusions: BiAb recruitment of tumor-specific T cells transduced with a marker antigen to tumor cells may enhance efficacy of AC

Gene duplications, divergence and recombination shape adaptive evolution of the fish ectoparasite, Gyrodactylus bullatarudis

Determining the molecular basis of parasite adaptation to its host is an important component in understanding host-parasite coevolution and the epidemiology of parasitic infections. Here, we investigate short- and long-term adaptive evolution in the eukaryotic parasite, Gyrodactylus bullatarudis, infecting Caribbean guppies (Poecilia reticulata), by comparing the reference genome of Tobagonian G. bullatarudis with other Platyhelminthes, and by analyzing resequenced samples from local Trinidadian populations. At the macroevolutionary timescale, we observed duplication of G-protein and serine proteases genes, which are likely important in host-parasite arms races. Serine protease also showed strong evidence of ongoing, diversifying selection at the microevolutionary timescale. Furthermore, our analyses revealed that a hybridization event, involving two divergent genomes, followed by recombination has dramatically affected the genetic composition of Trinidadian populations. The recombinant genotypes invaded Trinidad and replaced local parasites in all populations. We localized more than 300 genes in regions fixed in local populations for variants of different origin, possibly due to diversifying selection pressure from local host populations. In addition, around 70 genes were localized in regions identified as heterozygous in some, but not all, individuals. This pattern is consistent with a very recent spread of recombinant parasites. Overall, our results are consistent with the notion that recombination between divergent genomes can result in particularly successful parasites

Selective bispecific T cell recruiting antibody and antitumor activity of adoptive T cell transfer

Background: One bottleneck for adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) is recruitment of T cells into tumors. We hypothesized that combining tumor-specific T cells, modified with a marker antigen and a bispecific antibody (BiAb) that selectively recognizes transduced T cells and tumor cells would improve T cell recruitment to tumors and enhance therapeutic efficacy.Methods: SV40 T antigen–specific T cells from T cell receptor (TCR)-I–transgenic mice were transduced with a truncated human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as a marker protein. Targeting and killing by combined ACT and anti-EGFR–anti-EpCAM BiAb therapy was analyzed in C57Bl/6 mice (n = six to 12 per group) carrying subcutaneous tumors of the murine gastric cancer cell line GC8 (SV40+ and EpCAM+). Anti-EGFR x anti-c-Met BiAb was used for targeting of human tumor-specific T cells to c-Met+ human tumor cell lines. Differences between experimental conditions were analyzed using the Student’s t test, and differences in tumor growth with two-way analysis of variance. Overall survival was analyzed by log-rank test. All statistical tests were two-sided.Results: The BiAb linked EGFR-transduced T cells to tumor cells and enhanced tumor cell lysis. In vivo, the combination of ACT and Biab produced increased T cell infiltration of tumors, retarded tumor growth, and prolonged survival compared with ACT with a control antibody (median survival 95 vs 75 days, P < .001). In human cells, this strategy enhanced recruitment of human EGFR–transduced T cells to immobilized c-Met and recognition of tyrosinase+ melanoma cells by TCR-, as well as of CEA+ colon cancer cells by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)–modified T cells.Conclusions: BiAb recruitment of tumor-specific T cells transduced with a marker antigen to tumor cells may enhance efficacy of ACT

Youth teams players injuries in selected sports

Wstęp. Celem badań było określenie częstości urazów czterech dyscyplin sportowych – gier zespołowych oraz określenia powiązań między poszczególnymi dyscyplinami, a rodzajem i miejscem występowania najczęstszych urazów, a także ich podobieństw pod tym, w ujęciu wielowymiarowym. Materiał i metody. Badania przeprowadzono w 2017 roku, w klubach sportowych funkcjonujących na terenie województwa dolnośląskiego. Grupę badawczą stanowiło 125 zawodników płci męskiej w wieku między 15 a 18 rokiem życia (kadet-junior) ze średnią 16,27 lat. Reprezentowali oni 4 dyscypliny sportowe. 22 zawodników uprawiających football amerykański, 30 zawodników uprawiających piłkę nożną, 49 zawodników piłkę ręczną oraz 24 zawodników uprawiających piłkę siatkową. Do analizy wykorzystano dane ankietowe dotyczące urazów związanych z uprawianą dyscypliną sportu. Wyniki. Zdecydowana większość badanych 81,60% odniosła uraz w wyniku uprawiania wybranej dyscypliny sportu. Najczęściej urazy odnosili piłkarze nożni, 96,66%, najrzadziej siatkarze 54,55%. Najczęściej urazom ulegają kończyny, szczególnie kończyna dolna - 70,40% wszystkich stwierdzonych urazów. Najczęstszym rodzajem urazu jest stłuczenie 54,40%. Ogółem, niewiele mniej urazów dotyczy uszkodzenia mięśni - 52%. Wnioski. Uprawianie przedstawionych sportowych gier zespołowych wiąże się z ryzykiem wystąpienia urazu. Najbardziej na uraz narażeni są piłkarze nożni, a najmniej siatkarze. Urazy najczęściej dotyczą kończyn dolnych, z czego większość to stłuczenia i urazy mięśniowe. Postuluje się poszukiwanie rozwiązań prewencyjnych chroniących zawodników przed urazami.Background. Purpose of the study was to determine the degree of frequently of injuries in four sports-team games and determine the relationship between the disciplines and the type and prevalence of the most common injuries, as well as their similarities in this, in a multidimensional approach. Material and methods. The research was conducted in the year 2017, in sports clubs on the territory of the Lower Silesia region. Research group accounted for 125 male athletes aged between 15 and 18 years of age (Cadet-junior) with an average of 16.27 years. They represented 4 sports. 22 athletes with American football, 30 athletes football, 49 players handball and 24 volleyball athletes. The analysis uses survey data on the history of injuries related to cultivated discipline related to the circumstances, the part of the body and type of injury. Results. The vast majority of the surveyed 81.60% had an injury as a result of practicing chosen sport. The most common injuries suffered footballers, 96.66%, the least volleyball players 54.55%. The most common injuries are the limbs, especially low limb-70.40% of all identified injuries. The most common type of injury is breaking 54.40%. Overall, a little less injuries to the affected muscle damage (break, sprain) 52% Conclusions. Practice of the presented sports team involves a risk of injury. Most of the injuries are exposed footballers, and the least volleyball players. Injuries most often apply to the lower limbs, with most of the bruises and muscle injuries. Calls for a search for preventive solutions to protect players from injuries