KINEMATIC ANALYSIS ON THE PUNT KICK IN FOOTBALL GOALKEEPER

The present study aimed to investigate punt kicks by football goalkeepers on the basis of differences in the effort of the kick. Twelve experienced goalkeepers participated in the study. The participants were made aware that for the maximum distance trial (the 100% trial), they should send the ball as far as possible, and for the 80% and 60% trials they should have a more controlled approach. Punt kicks were divided into three phases: the phase of release of the ball from the left hand (BR), the phase of pivot foot ground-contact (LFC), and the phase of the ball impact (IMP). Right hip and knee joint angles were calculated. In comparison to lower intensity punt kicks, the higher effort punt kicks involved increasing the hip joint extension angle for the right foot during the backswing and lowering the knee joint angle of the right leg at the start of the forward swing, thereby producing forward swing velocity for the right foot

ADJUSTMENT MOVEMENT TO BASEBALLS TOSSED AT DIFFERENT VELOCITIES IN BASEBALL BATTING. －FOCUS ON A SHIFT IN THE CENTRE OF GRAVITY－

The purpose of this study was to compare shifts in the centre of gravity (CG) when balls were tossed at different velocities, in order to obtain data for coaching purposes. The subjects were 10 experienced university baseball players. The subject batted basic toss up ball toward the centre field, both fastballs and slowballs. Data were collected using 2 high-speed cameras (NAC Inc., Japan). The movement timing and velocity of the center of gravity were computed. Batting motion was divided into three phases. The mean times in the 1st phase and 3rd phase were approximately the same for both fast and slow balls, but both the time and distance by which the CG moved in the 2nd phase were significantly greater for slow balls than for fast balls

KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF BASEBALL BATTING MOTION WHEN BATTING PITCHES WITH VARYING VELOCITIES

The purpose of this study was to identify effect of moving the center of gravity of the body and rotating the torso when batting pitches with varying velocity. The subjects were 10 experienced university baseball player. The subjects batted toward the center field, both fastballs and slowballs, aimed near the center of the strike zone from a pitching machine. Data were collected using a three dimensional automatic motion analysis system (Vicon MX). The rotation angle of the torso and displacement of the center of gravity were computed. Due to differences in the shoulder rotation from the latter half of stepping leg touchdown through impact, we believe that the motion is adapted to pitch differences starting from the latter half of stepping leg touchdown. Comparing the shift in the center of gravity of the body during fastballs and slowballs, the forward motion and downward sinking of the center of gravity were significantly larger for slowballs

INFLUENCE OF THE BALL SPEED ON THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE CENTER OF GRAVITY DURING BASEBALL BATTING MOTION

The purpose of this study was to investigate the modification in batting motion with different pitching speeds focusing on differences in batting technical level. The subjects were 10 experienced university baseball player. The subjects batted toward the center field, both fastballs and slowballs, aimed near the center of the strike zone from a pitching machine. Data were collected using a three dimensional automatic motion analysis system (Vicon MX). The displacement of the center of gravity(CG) were computed. Significant differences were seen due to difference in pitching speed in unskilled player. Conversely, in skilled player, no significant difference was found in the movement of CG due to the difference in pitching speed. It was revealed that it was not preferable for movement of the CG to fluctuate by difference in pitching speeds

Immune tolerance caused by repeated P. falciparum infection against SE36 malaria vaccine candidate antigen and the resulting limited polymorphism

Palacpac N.M.Q., Ishii K.J., Arisue N., et al. Immune tolerance caused by repeated P. falciparum infection against SE36 malaria vaccine candidate antigen and the resulting limited polymorphism. Parasitology International 99, 102845 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parint.2023.102845.The call for second generation malaria vaccines needs not only the identification of novel candidate antigens or adjuvants but also a better understanding of immune responses and the underlying protective processes. Plasmodium parasites have evolved a range of strategies to manipulate the host immune system to guarantee survival and establish parasitism. These immune evasion strategies hamper efforts to develop effective malaria vaccines. In the case of a malaria vaccine targeting the N-terminal domain of P. falciparum serine repeat antigen 5 (SE36), now in clinical trials, we observed reduced responsiveness (lowered immunogenicity) which may be attributed to immune tolerance/immune suppression. Here, immunogenicity data and insights into the immune responses to SE36 antigen from epidemiological studies and clinical trials are summarized. Documenting these observations is important to help identify gaps for SE36 continued development and engender hope that highly effective blood-stage/multi-stage vaccines can be achieved

Cell-type-specific Augmentation of the Tumoricidal Activity of Polymeric Adriamycin Combined with Galactosamine

The optimization of drug delivery system with approaches to a target in structure has been implicated to play a role in cancer chemotherapy, because it can reduce the adverse effects. However, this system partly reduces the direct cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs against tumor cells, in comparison to its free form. In the present study, poly(ﾎｱ- malic acid) adriamycin (poly ADR) coated with saccharides including galactosamine which recognizes galactose-lectin specific to hepatocytes was prepared, and its cytotoxicities against Hep G2 cells (human hepatoblastoma), AZ521 cells (human gastric cancer) and KNS cells (human lung cancer) was evaluated using an in vitro cytotoxicity assay. In both AZ521 cells and KNS cells, poly ADR as well as poly ADR coated with glucosamine, glactosamine or mannosamine provided relatively lower cytotoxicities than the free form of ADR. In contrast, Hep G2 cells were to more efficiently sensitized, compared with the free form of ADR or poly ADR combined with or without glucosamine or mannosamine (P<0.01, respectively). These results indicate that poly ADR coated with galactosamine used as a cell recognition element is thus applicable for targeting cancer chemotherapy in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

30-Item General Health Questionnaire Scores in Male and Female University Freshmen

The thirty-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ30) was conducted on 1,432 university freshmen twice in June 1998 and in January 1999 to investigate their mental health conditions after matriculation. After classifying the results by the time of investigation and gender, logistic regression analysis was performed to extract question items correlated with high GHQ scores. As a result, male students investigated in June showed the correlations among high GHQ scores and the following 5 items:subjective health conditions (SC), satisfaction with matriculation (SM), enthusiasm for studies (ES), living with (family or alone) (LW), and the difference between whether they passed the entrance examination directly upon graduation or not (EE), otherwise, that in January correlated with SC and SM only. Female students investigated in June showed the correlations among high GHQ scores and the following 3 items: SC, SM, and ES, otherwise, that in January correlated with SC, ES, and LW. In addition, factor analysis was performed after classifying the replies to GHQ30 by the time of investigation and gender. As a result, uselessness was obtained as the first factor in all students, and the following factors were respectively obtained as the second factor: human relationship and low activity in male students investigated in June, low activity in male students investigated in January, intimacy and high-tension in female students investigated in June, and low-tension in female students investigated in January

Serologic Markers in Relation to Parasite Exposure History Help to Estimate Transmission Dynamics of Plasmodium vivax

Plasmodium vivax infection has been gaining attention because of its re-emergence in several parts of the world. Southeastern Turkey is one of the places in which persistent focal malaria caused exclusively by P. vivax parasites occurs. Although control and elimination studies have been underway for many years, no detailed study has been conducted to understand the mechanisms underlying the ineffective control of malaria in this region. Here, for the first time, using serologic markers we try to extract as much information as possible in this region to get a glimpse of P. vivax transmission. We conducted a sero-immunological study, evaluating antibody responses of individuals living in Sanliurfa to four different P. vivax antigens; three blood-stage antigens (PvMSP119, PvAMA1-ecto, and PvSERA4) and one pre-erythrocytic stage antigen (PvCSP). The results suggest that a prior history of malaria infection and age can be determining factors for the levels and sustainability of naturally acquired antibodies. Significantly higher antibody responses to all the studied antigens were observed in blood smear-negative individuals with a prior history of malaria infection. Moreover, these individuals were significantly older than blood smear-negative individuals with no prior history of infection. These data from an area of sole P. vivax-endemic region may have important implications for the global malaria control/elimination programs and vaccine design