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Evidence for a role of TRIB3 in the regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis
Get PDFMegakaryocytopoiesis is a complex differentiation process driven by the hormone thrombopoietin by which haematopoietic progenitor cells give rise to megakaryocytes, the giant bone marrow cells that in turn break down to form blood platelets. The Tribbles Pseudokinase 3 gene (TRIB3) encodes a pleiotropic protein increasingly implicated in the regulation of cellular differentiation programmes. Previous studies have hinted that TRIB3 could be also involved in megakaryocytopoiesis but its role in this process has so far not been investigated. Using cellular model systems of haematopoietic lineage differentiation here we demonstrate that TRIB3 is a negative modulator of megakaryocytopoiesis. We found that in primary cultures derived from human haematopoietic progenitor cells, thrombopoietin-induced megakaryocytic differentiation led to a time and dose-dependent decrease in TRIB3 mRNA levels. In the haematopoietic cell line UT7/mpl, silencing of TRIB3 increased basal and thrombopoietin-stimulated megakaryocyte antigen expression, as well as basal levels of ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In primary haematopoietic cell cultures, silencing of TRIB3 facilitated megakaryocyte differentiation. In contrast, over-expression of TRIB3 in these cells inhibited the differentiation process. The in-vitro identification of TRIB3 as a negative regulator of megakaryocytopoiesis suggests that in-vivo this gene could be important for the regulation of platelet production
The experience of competition stress and emotions in cricket
Get PDFThe purpose of the study was to conduct an in-depth examination of the stress and emotion process experienced by three sub-elite level male cricketers over a series of five competitive performances. Using reflective diaries and follow up semi-structured interviews, the findings highlighted the impact of appraisal, coping, and emotion on performance, with perceptions of control and self-confidence emerging as variables that can influence the emotive and behavioral outcomes of a stressful transaction. Post-performance, guided athlete reflection was advanced as a valuable tool in the production and application of idiographic coping behaviors that could enhance perceptions of control and self-confidence and influence stress and emotion processes
Music listening in relation to recommended daily noise exposure dose and hearing problems using personal listening devices in adolescents and young adults
Get PDFObjective: This systematic review aimed to explore the evidence on whether the preferred listening levels (PLLs) and durations of music listening through personal listening devices (PLDs) in adolescents and young adults exceed the current recommended 100% daily noise dose; together with the impact on hearing and possible influential factors of such listening behaviours. Design: A systematic search was conducted using multiple online bibliographic databases. Study sample: The 26 studies were included on the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The results showed that up to 58.2% of participants exceeded the 100% daily noise dose, particularly in the presence of background noise. Significantly positive correlations were found among background noise levels and mean PLLs, as well as the proportion of participants exceeding the 100% daily noise dose. Moreover, significantly worse hearing thresholds were found in PLD users using audiometry, and significantly poor results in otoacoustic emission (OAE), even in the participants with self-reported ‘normal hearing’. Conclusion: It is crucial to develop appropriate standards and safe recommendations for daily music exposure dose in future studies. Providing an essential guide and effective education to adolescents and young adults will help raise awareness, increase knowledge, and consequently change attitudes and listening habits
Latent learning in the work place: The placement experiences of student coaches
No full textThe aim of this study was to investigate the work-based internship experiences of eight student-coaches. This was particularly in terms of what precisely such coaches learned within the practical context, and how they engaged with unexpected situational events. The methods employed within the project included focus group interviews and participant observation. In particular, the student-coaches were both interviewed and observed over the course of a nine-month sporting season, with each phase of the research informing the next. The subsequent data were primarily subject to a thematic analysis. The findings of the study were organized under four principal themes: (1) the reality shock felt by the student-coaches in terms of the gap between what they expected and what they experienced; (2) the lack of respect demonstrated by the organizational head coaches for the
students; (3) the students’ response in terms of developing their micro-political literacy; and (4) the social price paid by the student-coaches in adopting such action. The results point to the limitations of student learning within high-performance sporting environments. In this respect, the student-coaches’ experiences were not what was expected or desired. Despite this, many valuable and relevant lessons were learned. These related to developing students’ micro-political literacy; necessary knowledge for any neophyte coaches trying to establish bone-fide situational roles
Consistency of Field-Based Measures of Neuromuscular Control Using Force Plate Diagnostics in Elite Male Youth Soccer Players
Get PDFConsistency of field-based measures of neuromuscular control using force-plate diagnostics in elite male youth soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 30(12): 3304–3311, 2016—Deficits in neuromuscular control during movement patterns such as landing are suggested pathomechanics that underlie sport-related injury. A common mode of assessment is measurement of landing forces during jumping tasks; however, these measures have been used less frequently in male youth soccer players, and reliability data are sparse. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability of a field-based neuromuscular control screening battery using force-plate diagnostics in this cohort. Twenty-six pre–peak height velocity (PHV) and 25 post-PHV elite male youth soccer players completed a drop vertical jump (DVJ), single-leg 75% horizontal hop and stick (75%HOP), and single-leg countermovement jump (SLCMJ). Measures of peak landing vertical ground reaction force (pVGRF), time to stabilization, time to pVGRF, and pVGRF asymmetry were recorded. A test-retest design was used, and reliability statistics included change in mean, intraclass correlation coefficient, and coefficient of variation (CV). No significant differences in mean score were reported for any of the assessed variables between test sessions. In both groups, pVGRF and asymmetry during the 75%HOP and SLCMJ demonstrated largely acceptable reliability (CV ≤ 10%). Greater variability was evident in DVJ pVGRF and all other assessed variables, across the 3 protocols (CV range = 13.8–49.7%). Intraclass correlation coefficient values ranged from small to large and were generally higher in the post-PHV players. The results of this study suggest that pVGRF and asymmetry can be reliably assessed using a 75%HOP and SLCMJ in this cohort. These measures could be used to support a screening battery for elite male youth soccer players and for test-retest comparison
Rich digital collaborations in a small rural community
No full textIn this chapter we describe experience in the design and installation of a low-cost multi-touch table in a rural island community. We will discuss the creation of the table including: pragmatic challenges of installation, and then reinstallation as the physical fabric of the multi-purpose building (café, cinema, meeting area and cattle market) altered; technical challenges of using off-the-shelf components to create state-of-the art multi-touch interactions and tactile BYOD (bring your own device) end-user rogramming; design challenges of creating high-production value bespoke mountings and furniture using digital fabrication in
an environment that could include sewing needles, ketchup laden sandwiches and cow manure. The resulting installation has been used in semi-in-the-wild studies of bespoke applications, leading to understandings of the way small communities could use advanced interactions. More broadly this sits within a context of related studies of information technology in rural developments and a desire to understand how communities can become users of the rich streams of open data now available, and, perhaps more important, offer ways in which small communities can become empowered through the creation and control of their own data
The Campanologists Teacup: A Creative Collaboration of Technology and Making
Get PDFThis paper explores intersections of technology, making and material process in ways that go beyond the current
paradigm of digital fabrication techniques and craft practice, through an artists report on a collaborative project
that brings together ceramics and electronics.
The Camponologists Teacup (2015) is a ceramic and kinetic sound art work made by Ingrid Murphy and Jon
pigott, exhibited as part of the Sensorial Object exhibition in Cardiff Craft in the Bay and subsequently selected
for exhibition at the forthcoming British Ceramics Biennial. The work explores the material quality of ceramic form
through its sonic qualities by way of a custom made electromechanical system that bounces a ball around the
inside of ceramic gramophone horns. The kinetic activity is triggered by the audience tapping a small teacup in a
manor that traditionally would have been used to investigate the quality and integrity of a piece of ceramics. The
result is an interactive and kinetic sound piece that produces a subtle and intriguing soundscape from a series of
unusual and striking ceramic forms.
The work brings together two distinct approaches to technology and craft. Murphy’s practice combines traditional
ceramic processes with new technologies and digital approaches that enable both virtual and physical outcomes.
Murphy research explores how technological constructs influence how we conceive, produce and percieve the
crafted object. Pigott’s work has most recently focussed on sound producing electromechanical sculpture. Often
kinetic in nature his work typically contains elements of hand made and hand assembled electronics and
electro-mechanics, while a core value always remains the sounding quality of material form. This paper explores
the context for this type of practice as partly informed by the handmade electronics and technological
intervention that emerged from creative activities of the1960s, a time when practices such as kinetic sculpture
and experimental music were influenced by developments in systems engineering and burgeoning digital
technologies.
The Camponologists Teacup represents an original culmination of two identifiable and distinct strands which
form the intersection of the maker movement, those of traditional craft skills, combined with hand made
electronics. This paper explores these two fields of making and the ways in which they relate to and reflect on
each other within the collaborative project. This presents possible alternative ways of thinking about the bringing
together of technology and material process outside of the established, commercially available black boxes of
digital fabrication
Student involvement in the UK sex industry: motivations and experiences
Get PDFThe Student Sex Work Project was set up in 2012 in the United Kingdom (UK) to locate students who are involved in the sex industry, to discover their motivations and needs, and in doing so provide an evidence base to consider the development of policy and practice within Higher Education. As part of this initiative, a large survey was undertaken comprising students from throughout the UK. Reporting on the findings from this survey, the article sheds some light on what occupations students take up in the sex industry, what motivates their participation and how they experience the work. The study also offers a much‐needed empirical input to the ongoing academic debates on the nature of sex work. The results suggest that there can be little doubt of a student presence within the sex industry in the UK. The motivations and experiences of student sex workers cover elements of agency and choice as well as of force and exploitation and it is suggested that student sex work is best understood from a polymorphous framework which leaves room for a wide variety of experiences and challenges
Asymmetrical lower extremity loading early after ACL reconstruction is a significant predictor of asymmetrical loading at the time of return to sport
Get PDFOBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to examine whether asymmetrical lower limb loading early after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (1 mo) can predict asymmetrical lower limb loading at the time of return to sport (6 mos) and whether other early predictors as knee joint range of motion or maximal isometric strength affect this relationship.
DESIGN:
Ground reaction forces were measured during a sit-to-stand task 1 mo after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and a vertical countermovement jump 6 mos after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in 58 athletes. Other early postoperative measurements were knee joint range of motion (2 wks, 1 mo, and 2 mos after surgery) and maximal isometric strength of the knee extensor and flexor muscles (2 mos after surgery). Linear regression models were developed using side-to-side limb symmetry index (LSI) of countermovement jump as the dependent variable.
RESULTS:
LSI of sit-to-stand task 1 mo after surgery was a significant independent predictor of LSI of countermovement jump 6 mos after surgery. After accounting for deficits in knee joint range of motion and LSI of maximal isometric strength (ΔR² = 0.35, P < 0.01), LSI of sit-to-stand task predicted LSI of countermovement jump (ΔR² = 0.14 P < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS:
Asymmetrical lower extremity loading 1 mo after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is an early predictor of asymmetrical lower extremity loading 6 mos after surgery
Exploring mini rugby union coaches’ perceptions of competitive activities
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to explore volunteer rugby
union coaches’ perceptions of organised competitive
participation during childhood. Participants were 202 under-9
(U9) mini rugby union coaches who had coached during
the 2010/11 season. Coaches completed an Internet-based
survey, and cluster analysis was used to identify different
groups based on attitudes towards the Rugby Football
Union’s current rules and proposed changes to these rules.
Three distinct groups were identified based on whether they
wanted to maintain the status quo (Traditionalists); maintain
some elements of structure (Moderates); or have a much
less structured introduction to rugby (Radicals). In total, over
three quarters of coaches favoured structured elements
(early specialisation), while less than a quarter favoured a less
structured game (late specialisation). Only the Radical’s views
matched those espoused by elite coaches and U9 players
themselves, raising several issues regarding coach education
for player development during childhood. In the short term
there are the difficulties of aligning disparate views of U9
player development via coaching for and during competitive
games. This is further complicated by the challenges of
enhancing the skills of thousands of volunteer coaches with
limited experience, knowledge and expertise in coaching
during childhood