Influence of saddle setback on pedalling technique effectiveness in cycling

Besides its regulation by Union Cycliste Internationale, the evidence relating saddle setback to pedalling performance remains inconclusive. This study investigates the influence of saddle setback on pedalling effectiveness through two indexes: an index of pedalling force effectiveness and an index of pedalling work effectiveness. Eleven cyclists were assessed six saddle setback conditions while pedalling at a steady power output of 200 W and cadence of 90 rpm. A force sensor was integrated within the seat post to compute the centre of pressure on the saddle. From instrumented pedals, an index of force effectiveness (ratio between the force directed perpendicular to the crank arm and the total force applied to the pedal) and an index of work effectiveness (based on the minimisation of negative crank work) were calculated. In comparison with a forward position, sitting backward significantly decreased 5% cumulative total work, increased index of work effectiveness (84.2 ± 3.7 vs. 82.0 ± 4.7%), and increased index of force effectiveness (41.7 ± 2.9 vs. 39.9 ± 3.7 and 36.9 ± 0.7%). Thus, while it was previously reported that sitting more forward favours maximal power, this study demonstrates that it also leads to a decreased effectiveness in steady-state pedalling.     

The Impact of Parental Involvement on the Quality of Day‐care Centres

The children, parents and professional staff of four intercultural day‐care centres for disadvantaged families in France were filmed in the course of their interactions over a 6‐month period. These interactions were analysed according to three different methods used in cognitive psychology: task analysis, analysis of the symbols used for communication and analysis of the structures of the pedagogical assistance provided. The results show that, for a given child, the presence of other parents participating in the day‐care centre alongside the professional staff helps to create an environment rich in cognitive interactions. This environment enhances the child's cognitive development by providing diversity and disequilibrium, both of which are useful and necessary conditions for cognitive operation. This in turn will affect the relation between the degree of disadvantage and the degree of cognitive interaction. These results suggest that cognitive effects of socially disadvantaged milieu may be attenuated by encouraging children and parents to increase their participation in the day‐care centres.     

Effects of synchronous versus asynchronous push modes on performance and biomechanical parameters in elite wheelchair basketball

This study aimed to compare the effects of synchronous (SYN) vs asynchronous (ASY) modes of wheelchair propulsion in field sprint tests on performance and biomechanical parameters. Seven elite wheelchair basketball players performed two separate (SYN and ASY) straight-line 20-m sprints. ASY increased sprint time and decreased push frequency compared to SYN (p < 0.05). Peak velocity and total force for the mean of the last three pushes were higher in SYN. Rate of rise was higher in SYN for the first, second and third pushes (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found for peak power and mean work. SYN mode induces better performance (13% difference in speed). However, the increase in rate of rise, thus the expansion of the total force when gripping the hand rim, push frequency and total force in SYN modes seems to expand the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders during manual wheelchair propulsion for upper limb joints than ASY.     

Graph-based data mining: A new tool for the analysis and comparison of scientific domains represented as scientograms

The creation of some kind of representations depicting the current state of Science (or scientograms) is an established and beaten track for many years now. However, if we are concerned with the automatic comparison, analysis and understanding of a set of scientograms, showing for instance the evolution of a scientific domain or a face-to-face comparison of several countries, the task is titanically complex as the amount of data to analyze becomes huge and complex. In this paper, we aim to show that graph-based data mining tools are useful to deal with scientogram analysis. Subdue, the first algorithm proposed in the graph mining area, has been chosen for this purpose. This algorithm has been customized to deal with three different scientogram analysis tasks regarding the evolution of a scientific domain over time, the extraction of the common research categories substructures in the world, and the comparison of scientific domains between different countries. The outcomes obtained in the developed experiments have clearly demonstrated the potential of graph mining tools in scientogram analysis.