The effect of lower-limb wearable resistance on anterior pelvic tilt during high-speed running: A pilot study

This study determined the effect of two different lower-limb wearable resistance loads on anterior pelvic tilt during high-speed (4.72 – 6.71 m/s) treadmill running. Nine athletes completed a series of 10-second intervals at a self-selected speed for each experimental condition. Compared to unloaded running, the heaviest wearable resistance load (0.91 – 1.24 kg) significantly (p \u3c 0.05) reduced anterior pelvic tilt at the instants of maximal hip extension and maximal hip flexion by -3.54⁰ (ES = 0.80) and -3.30⁰ (ES = 0.55), respectively. Individual responses showed a primary trend towards a reduction in anterior pelvic tilt when running with wearable resistance (6/9 athletes). This study provides initial evidence for the use of lower-limb wearable resistance as a training stimulus to induce pelvic kinematic changes over time

THE EFFECT OF LOWER LIMB WEARABLE RESISTANCE LOCATION ON SPRINT RUNNING STEP KINEMATICS

This study quantified changes in step kinematics between unloaded, thigh, and shank wearable resistance (WR) at 2% body mass (BM) during over ground sprint running. Eleven male athletes completed two maximal effort sprint trials over 52 m of in-ground force plates, for each condition. There were no significant (p \u3e 0.05) changes in sprint times between all conditions. Compared to unloaded sprinting, shank WR significantly changed step frequency (SF) (-2.1% acceleration phase and -2.5% max velocity phase (MVP)), contact times (CT) (2.1% MVP) and flight times (3.3% MVP); thigh WR significantly changed SF (-1.4% MVP) and CT (2.9% MVP). It appears peripheral loading (2% BM) of the thigh and shank affects SF and CT but not step length and width. Such differential loading could be used to train different mechanical determinants of speed

ISBS 2018 AUCKLAND CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS PROGRAMME

FORCEDECKS WORKSHOP - COMMERCIALISATION & FUNDING by Philip Graham Smith This workshop aims to improve your ability to attract and create commercialisation and funding opportunities. This workshop will challenge delegates to identify their real areas of expertise and consider ways in which they can attract and create funding opportunities. The aim is to help academics of all ages to focus their expertise, to manage their time more effectively and to explore new avenues to make their careers more rewarding, fulfilling and hopefully less stressful. Having been a former Head of Department and Associate Head of School (Business & Engagement), Dr Graham-Smith has been in the trenches and acknowledges the increasing demands and pressures of working in academia. The workshop will help delegates to strip back the various aspects of their roles, and to examine ways in which their teaching, research, consultancy and funding expectations can be managed successfully. Phil will be reflective on his own career and share experiences of working in academia, professional sport and private industry. SPRINZ WORKSHOP - ORAL PRESENTATION FEEDBACK by Joshua McGeown, Gillian Weir, Professor Mike McGuigan and SPRINZ PhD students This workshop aims to help you engaging your audience during your ISBS presentation. This workshop aims to provide delegates with tips and feedback as to how best present their research for the ISBS 2018 congress. This interactive workshop will help delegates to learn how to distill and communicate complex ideas, structure your narrative and how to best visualize your data. Participants are encouraged to bring their ISBS presentations to practice and receive constructive feedback. NZ HERALD WORKSHOP - HOW TO WORK WITH THE MEDIA TO AMPLIFY YOUR WORK by Dylan Cleaver, Editor at large with the New Zealand Herald This workshop will help delegates be able to interact with media to be able to amplify their work. Never before has there been so much attention given to the injury toll in elite sport, with the spotlight firmly centered on head injuries and the potential for long-term cognitive damage to those afflicted. With so much important research being done in the field of sports injury, it is important to know how to work with the media to highlight it. This workshop aims to give a brief overview of the fast-changing modern media landscape. It will offer advice as to how to establish contacts in the media and how to use those contacts wisely. It will demonstrate how to get your key messages across using simple language, without dumbing down the issue. It will traverse ethical issues and, finally, what to do when the message goes wrong. Attendees will use the lessons learnt from the examples, to workshop during the session how they can work with media to amplify their work. WORKSHOP - JAPAN COLLABORATION by Sayumi Iwamoto, Erika Ikeda, Ryu Nagahara, and Aaron Uthoff Do you want to share your experience with other researchers who are keen to conduct international research collaboration? The workshop will share experiences and key tips to enable successfully working together. “There are many positives with working with Japanese researchers, but the one that stands out the most to me is their willingness to share knowledge and lend a helping hand.” (Aaron Uthoff) AUT ENGINEERING WORKSHOP - AI CHALLENGES by Boris Bacic & Russell Pears from Auckland University of Technology Engineering School This workshop will help you to consider pushing your boundaries of biomechanics and sport science by embracing artificial intelligence (Dr Boris Bačić and Assoc. Prof Russel Pears, Auckland University of Technology, NZ). Pushing the boundaries of biomechanics and sport science also means embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to advance and augment ways in which sport is coached, played, promoted, broadcasted and commercialised. Technologies capable of capturing human motion enable the advancement of research and can create strategic differences in elite sport, which is reflected by their increasing presence in the growing market of sport gadgets, exergames and rehabilitation technologies. Data-driven machine-learning AI approaches have the potential to provide insights from data, find patterns in specific contexts, generate knowledge, validate expert’s common-sense rules, and offload support decisions and automate cognitive activities. The workshop will provide a theoretical introduction and a set of analytical and model-designing visual tools for getting started. For those interested in Matlab or other languages, code samples will be provided. The participants will be able to use free open source software alternatives as part of hands-on exercises in a supervised lab. SPRINGER WORKSHOP - WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL PAPER – AN EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE by Steve McMillan from Springer’s Sports Medicine journal This workshop will help delegates increase their likelihood of success in publishing in journals such as Sports Medicine. From a compelling cover letter to a concise conclusion, Sports Medicine’s Co-Editor in Chief, Steve McMillan, will provide an editor’s perspective on what makes a successful paper. Sports Medicine receives over 600 submissions a year and can publish only a quarter of these … How do the editors decide which manuscripts to send to peer review? Which manuscripts survive peer review? What details are essential to enable readers to best understand your research and allow for potential replication? What information is required from an ethical perspective? Why do word counts matter anyway?! This interactive workshop will guide you on how to produce an impressive manuscript and increase your chances of getting published in a reputable journal. NORAXON WORKSHOP - ELECTROMYOGRAPHY IN SPORTS PERFORMANCE by Coleman Bessert and Erin Feser from NORAXON. Noraxon USA (www.noraxon.com) will be hosting a workshop on electromyography (EMG) use in sports performance settings. “You will be able to develop a better understanding of how EMG fits into an athlete monitoring program or research investigation by learning what can, and cannot, be determined with EMG data and reporting. Participants will see hands-on use of precision EMG systems and biomechanics analysis software with practical, sport-specific examples.” Erin Feser , Director of Education for Noraxon USA

Differences in unilateral chest press muscle activation and kinematics on a stable versus unstable surface while holding one versus two dumbbells

Training the bench press exercise on a traditional flat bench does not induce a level of instability as seen in sport movements and activities of daily living. Twenty participants were recruited to test two forms of instability: using one dumbbell rather than two and lifting on the COR bench compared to a flat bench. Electromyography (EMG) amplitudes of the pectoralis major, middle trapezius, external oblique, and internal oblique were recorded and compared. Differences in range of motion (ROM) were evaluated by measuring an angular representation of the shoulder complex. Four separate conditions of unilateral bench press were tested while lifting on a: flat bench with one dumbbell, flat bench with two dumbbells, COR Bench with one dumbbell, and COR Bench with two dumbbells. The results imply that there are no differences in EMG amplitude or ROM between the COR bench and traditional bench. However, greater ROM was found to be utilized in the single dumbbell condition, both in the COR bench and the flat bench

The modified Thomas test is not a valid measure of hip extension unless pelvic tilt is controlled

The modified Thomas test was developed to assess the presence of hip flexion contracture and to measure hip extensibility. Despite its widespread use, to the authors’ knowledge, its criterion reference validity has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess the criterion reference validity of the modified Thomas test for measuring peak hip extension angle and hip extension deficits, as defined by the hip not being able to extend to 0º, or neutral. Twenty-nine healthy college students (age = 22.00 ± 3.80 years; height = 1.71 ± 0.09 m; body mass = 70.00 ± 15.60 kg) were recruited for this study. Bland–Altman plots revealed poor validity for the modified Thomas test’s ability to measure hip extension, which could not be explained by differences in hip flexion ability alone. The modified Thomas test displayed a sensitivity of 31.82% (95% CI [13.86–54.87]) and a specificity of 57.14% (95% CI [18.41–90.10]) for testing hip extension deficits. It appears, however, that by controlling pelvic tilt, much of this variance can be accounted for (r = 0.98). When pelvic tilt is not controlled, the modified Thomas test displays poor criterion reference validity and, as per previous studies, poor reliability. However, when pelvic tilt is controlled, the modified Thomas test appears to be a valid test for evaluating peak hip extension angle

Acute effects of anterior thigh foam rolling on hip angle, knee angle, and rectus femoris length in the modified Thomas test

Background. Foam rolling has been shown to acutely increase range of motion (ROM) during knee flexion and hip flexion with the experimenter applying an external force, yet no study to date has measured hip extensibility as a result of foam rolling with controlled knee flexion and hip extension moments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of foam rolling on hip extension, knee flexion, and rectus femoris length during the modified Thomas test.Methods. Twenty-three healthy participants (male = 7; female = 16; age = 22 ± 3.3 years; height = 170 ± 9.18 cm; mass = 67.7 ± 14.9 kg) performed two, one-minute bouts of foam rolling applied to the anterior thigh. Hip extension and knee flexion were measured via motion capture before and after the foam rolling intervention, from which rectus femoris length was calculated.Results. Although the increase in hip extension (change = +1.86° (+0.11, +3.61); z(22) = 2.08; p = 0.0372; Pearson’s r = 0.43 (0.02, 0.72)) was not due to chance alone, it cannot be said that the observed changes in knee flexion (change = −1.39° (−5.53, +2.75); t(22) = −0.70; p = 0.4933; Cohen’s d = − 0.15 (−0.58, 0.29)) or rectus femoris length (change = −0.005 (−0.013, +0.003); t(22) = −1.30; p = 0.2070; Cohen’s d = − 0.27 (−0.70, 0.16)) were not due to chance alone.Conclusions. Although a small change in hip extension was observed, no changes in knee flexion or rectus femoris length were observed. From these data, it appears unlikely that foam rolling applied to the anterior thigh will improve passive hip extension and knee flexion ROM, especially if performed in combination with a dynamic stretching protocol

Quantifying the incremental value of deep learning: Application to lung nodule detection.

We present a case study for implementing a machine learning algorithm with an incremental value framework in the domain of lung cancer research. Machine learning methods have often been shown to be competitive with prediction models in some domains; however, implementation of these methods is in early development. Often these methods are only directly compared to existing methods; here we present a framework for assessing the value of a machine learning model by assessing the incremental value. We developed a machine learning model to identify and classify lung nodules and assessed the incremental value added to existing risk prediction models. Multiple external datasets were used for validation. We found that our image model, trained on a dataset from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), improves upon existing models that are restricted to patient characteristics, but it was inconclusive about whether it improves on models that consider nodule features. Another interesting finding is the variable performance on different datasets, suggesting population generalization with machine learning models may be more challenging than is often considered