Comparing the magnitude and direction of asymmetry during the squat,countermovement and drop jump tests in elite youth female soccer players

ABSTRACT

The aims of the present study were to provide an in-depth comparison of inter-limb asymmetry and determine how consistently asymmetry favours the same limb during different vertical jump tests. Eighteen elite female under-17 soccer players conducted unilateral squat jumps (SJ), countermovement jumps (CMJ) and drop jumps (DJ) on a portable force platform, with jump height, peak force, concentric impulse and peak power as common metrics across tests. For the magnitude of asymmetry, concentric impulse was significantly greater during the SJ test compared to CMJ (p = 0.019) and DJ (p = 0.003). No other significant differences in magnitude were present. For the direction of asymmetry, Kappa coefficients revealed fair to substantial levels of agreement between the SJ and CMJ (Kappa = 0.35 to 0.61) tests, but only slight to fair levels of agreement between the SJ and DJ (Kappa = ?0.26 to 0.18) and CMJ and DJ (Kappa = ?0.13 to 0.26) tests. These results highlight that the mean asymmetry value may be a poor indicator of true variability of between-limb differences in healthy athletes. The direction of asymmetry may provide a useful monitoring tool for practitioners in healthy athletes, when no obvious between-limb deficit exists.     

Information and information technologies as applied in political strategy modeling

This paper analyzes modern information technologies as applied in the political environment and considers the content and peculiarities of using IT programs in strategic political modeling.     

Provider documentation of patient education: a lean investigation

Purpose

The study evaluates how providers give patient education materials and identifies improvements to comply with Meaningful Use (MU) requirements.

Methods

Thirty-eight patient-provider interactions in two health care outpatient clinics were observed.

Results

Providers do not uniformly know MU patient education requirements. Providers have individual preferences and find gaps in what is available. Accessing and documenting patient education varies among providers. Embedded electronic health record (EHR) materials, while available, have technical access barriers.

Conclusions

Providers'' EHR skills and knowledge levels contribute to non-standardized patient education delivery.     

The legacy of Nikola Tesla The AC system that he helped to usher in

Alternating Current (AC) is used all over the world today. In India we use AC at 50 Hz (cycles per second) and in USA and Canada at 60 Hz. During the latter part of the 19th century, even during the early part of the 20th century, Direct Current or DC was widely used. Had we continued with DC, electricity would not have been as widely available as it is today and its use would have been cumbersome, costly and severely restricted. We owe it mainly to the Serbian genius Nikola Tesla that electricity has reached almost every nook and corner of most continents.     

Statistics at County Hall

‘But how is statistics used in practice?’ ask our pupils. Peter Reynolds outlines two applications that landed on his desk.