Simone Biles: defying the laws of physics?

Simone Biles is a gymnast in a league of her own. In the 2016 Olympics in Rio she stunned audiences with a move some thought defies the laws of physics: the Biles, which incorporates a double somersault, a twist in mid-air, and a blind landing (see the video below). How does she do it

Determining spatio-temporal metrics that distinguish play outcomes in field hockey

Tactical behaviour in field sports can be examined using spatio-temporal metrics, which are descriptions of player behaviour derived from data of player positions over time. Many metrics can be computed that describe the cooperative and adversarial interactions between players. The methods typically used by sports performance analysts cannot appropriately analyse the many possible spatio-temporal metrics and their interactions. Tantalisingly, the interactions between these descriptions of player behaviour could potentially describe tactical differences in performance. This thesis describes a programme of research that determined some spatiotemporal metrics that distinguish play outcomes in field hockey. Methods inspired by genetic analysts were used to estimate the influence of combinations of spatio-temporal metrics on the outcome of field hockey plays. The novel application of the genetic methods to sports performance data raised some practical difficulties. Adjustments to the method facilitated the selection of distinguishing metric combinations from an initially large list of over 3,600 metrics. The adjustments made to the genetic methods represent one of several contributions to knowledge made by this programme of research. These contributions will help performance analysts with the increasingly common task of analysing high-dimensional data. Other contributions to knowledge are a suite of metric combinations that distinguish play outcomes in field hockey and empirical support for some tactical preconceptions. The key finding of interest for players and coaches is that play outcomes in field hockey are distinguished by proximity to the goal and passing execution. The metrics that distinguish the several outcomes differ depending on the outcomes being compared. Coaches and athletes should therefore recognise the variety of tactics required to minimise negative outcomes and maximise positive ones

Spatio-temporal metrics that distinguish plays in field hockey : a pilot study

In team invasion sports, tactical behaviour can be examined using spatio-temporal data, i.e. the position of the players at a given time. A review of the spatio-temporal metrics used in team invasion sports performance analysis indicated that thousands of variations of metrics being used. Information about the distribution of metrics' individual effects can inform us of the best variable-selection method. The aim of this pilot study was to estimate the distribution of strong marginal effects of spatio-temporal metrics of field hockey plays. With institutional ethical approval, the Womens’ and Mens’ gold medal games from the EuroHockey 2015 field hockey tournament were recorded. Best, acceptable and worst-case outcomes for plays were described by 1,837 spatio-temporal metrics. Each metric's marginal effects were estimated using Cramér's V, Mutual Information and the I-score. Values for Cramér's V of 0.2 and 0.4 to mark the boundaries of small, moderate and large effects. Less than 1% of metrics show large effects with > 87% of all metrics showing small effects as per the Cramér's V thresholds. These large effect metrics where all within the 98th percentile of Mutual Information values and within the 96th percentile of the I-score values, which supports the Cramér's V distribution of marginal effects. Therefore, according to the recommendations of Tibshirani (1996), univariate variable-selection methods will be the most appropriate for selecting important metrics

A review of spatio-temporal metrics in invasion game sports.

INTRODUCTION: A team's tactical behaviour is often quantified using metrics that relate to player locations at a given time. This spatio-temporal data is easily translated into many metrics that describe the point, line and surface relations of players and the ball over time. This study reviews the spatio-temporal metrics used in invasion game sports. METHOD: A review of six online databases provided 355 publications from which spatio-temporal metrics were extracted. RESULTS: A generalised summary of extracted metrics and metric specifications was compiled. Combining metrics and metric specifications creates all extracted metrics and some new suggestions. The compilation is presented in a table that contains the associated literature from the review as further reading. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: Three conclusions were drawn from the review. Firstly, spatio-temporal metrics don’t suffer from the same lack of consensus on definitions as other sports performance analysis metrics. Secondly, some metrics might not be generalizable to all invasion game sports. Third, the structure of the location and time data constrains the metrics that could be used

Spatio-temporal metrics that distinguish outcomes of field hockey plays

INTRODUCTION: Sports performance analysts have many metrics they can use to investigate athletic performance. The multifactorial nature of sport performance means that interactions between these metrics are potentially important. Methods typically used by sports performance analysts cannot handle many variables and their interactions - especially with the often small sample sizes that are available. Methods borrowed from genetics research can measure the association of large numbers of metrics with relatively few observations. METHOD: The Backward Dropping Algorithm is a non-parametric method to evaluate the association between inputs and a binary outcome. The method measures the influence of metrics based on their overall peformance in interactions with other metrics. RESULTS: The method provides a list of metric combinations from which the importance of individual metrics can be determined. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: The Backward Dropping Algorithm can provide evidence for important metrics and metric combinations. The findings can be used to support or challenge existing practices and have the potential to inform new tactics

Data from: Spatio-temporal metrics that distinguish play outcomes

This Excel spreadsheet contains the coded names and explanations of the spatio-temporal metrics that were included in the study, Spatio-temporal metrics that distinguish play outcomes: A pilot study, which I presented at the ISPAS 22-23 March 2016 workshop in Carlow

Improving patient discharge summary communication

Transitions from one care setting to another represent a high risk point for patient management error. Patient discharge summaries are crucial to ensure safe and effective handover for postoperative surgical instructions and plans. Currently, a postal discharge summary service exists for the majority of Irish hospital discharge communication. However, accurate and timely provision of discharge summaries has the potential to optimise patient care, reduce post-operative complications and error, and improve patient follow-up.</p

<b>Complex mental health difficulties: </b><b>Learning from the UNSEEN study with </b><b>recommendations for GPs</b>

Complex mental health difficulties is a transdiagnostic term used to describe patients with mental ill-health who experience repeated episodes of anxiety and depression, with long-term, frequently unpredictable, changes in mood and difficulties in relationships. These patients often fall between services such as IAPT/Talking Therapies and specialist secondary care mental health teams. The care of patients with complex mental health difficulties represents one of the biggest challenges for general practice and the wider healthcare system.The UNSEEN study (Understanding services for people with Complex Mental Health Difficulties) was a two year research study conducted to examine how general practice can better identify people with complex mental health difficulties and provide high quality care. We carried out interviews with patients and GPs and conducted a database study looking for features within electronic healthcare records which might help us identify patients with complex mental health difficulties. In this document we describe what was learnt from UNSEEN and how this might be helpful for GPs in their day to day practice.Complex mental health difficulties include conditions such as personality disorders, dysthymia and complex PTSD. However, rates of coding in electronic health records or formal diagnosis of these conditions are much lower than the actual prevalence rates and therefore many patients go under-recognised. Following the UNSEEN study, we found 7 key areas to think about when considering complex mental health difficulties: (i) early life and antecedents; (ii) emotional regulation difficulties; (iii) social adversity and vulnerabilities; (iv) overlapping mental health-related problems; (iv) comorbid drug and alcohol use/dependence; (v) patterns of prescribing; and (vii) service use patterns.In interviews, GPs recognised this group of patients and highlighted the significant workload and management challenges. GPs expressed frustrations with services and being left holding patients but also described positive experiences of working with newer primary care transformation teams. Continuity of care, allowing time and space for patients, and promoting an empathic culture within the wider practice team were all considered important. Patients with lived experience of complex mental health difficulties described their experiences of trauma and adverse childhood experiences being central to how they made sense of their diagnoses. Their experiences of trying to obtain help from their GP mirrored what we heard in clinician interviews.The challenges experienced on both sides often result in GPs and patients being left frustrated with unsatisfactory consultations and a perception of little progress despite significant efforts. It can be easy to overlook the importance of good general practice in such situations. However, patients in UNSEEN expressed a great deal of positivity towards their relationships with their GPs despite the difficulties experienced.Bringing together what we have learned from UNSEEN, we provide some suggestions to be in consultations. Ultimately, every patient will be different and have their own story and challenges, but we hope that this document will raise awareness and provide a few practical tips in managing complex mental health difficulties.</p