The influence of deformation on barbell mechanics during the clean pull

For simplicity of biomechanical analyses, the weightlifting barbell is typically modelled as a rigid, non-deformable object. Most coaches and weightlifters, however, are aware of the elastic nature of the barbell, and its influence on the successful completion of lifting attempts. Variables such as velocity, work performed, and power output are indicators of the quality of performance during the snatch, clean, and related weightlifting pulling movements. The aim of this study was to establish whether differences exist in determining these biomechanical parameters when the centre of the barbell is analysed compared with each end of the barbell. Nine men performed three maximal-effort repetitions in the clean pull exercise at 85% of their self-reported single repetition maximum (1-RM) clean (90–155 kg) using a barbell instrumented for mechanical analysis. Results indicated that peak barbell speed was 5–30% (P < 0.05) lower for the centre of the barbell than the ends. Although differences (P < 0.05) in kinetic and potential energy were found between the centre and ends of the bar, differences between total work performed were small ( < 6%; P < 0.05) and no differences were observed for average power (P > 0.05). Although approximately the same work and power occur for the centre and ends of the barbell, they manifest as different kinematics as a result of the elastic nature of the equipment. The elastic characteristics should be considered when selecting instrumentation and variables for research involving barbells. Coaches should be aware of the elasticity of barbells, including selecting appropriate viewing angles as well as understanding how deformation may affect the ends of the barbell relative to the centre.     

Monitoring Coagulation Proteins During Progression of Liver Disease

This work was designated to monitor the coagulation abnormalities associated with the gradual progression of liver diseases. The study included fifty patients; forty were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis with different stages categorized according to the Childs-Pugh classification and another ten patients were diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Haemostatic variables including fibrinogen (FI), calcium (FIV), transglutaminase (FXIII), prothrombin time (PT) and platelet count were estimated in patients and compared with the baseline levels of healthy subjects (n = 10). The results demonstrated that the fibrinogen level was progressively decreased, whereas PT was progressively prolonged in Child A, Child B and Child C groups. The maximum deterioration was observed in HCC patients. Calcium significantly increased in mild (Child A) and moderate (Child B) but not in Child C cirrhosis and HCC patients. FXIII level did not show any significant changes in cirrhotic patients compared to healthy group. Some of the haemostatic variables we investigated were correlated with serum albumin and bilirubin but not with aminotransferases (ALT and AST). The results indicated that the haemostatic abnormalities in fibrinogen, calcium and PT (but not FXIII) were deteriorated in parallel with the gradual regression of the constitutional function of liver.     

Teacher empowerment as an important component of job satisfaction: a comparative study of teachers’ perspectives in Al-Farwaniya District,Kuwait

The present comparative study investigates the perceptions of male and female teachers regarding the relationship between empowerment and job satisfaction. The study aims to look at factors that empower teachers and lead to job satisfaction from teachers’ perspectives. For that purpose, teachers were selected from three educational levels (primary, middle and secondary) in Al-Farwaniya District in the State of Kuwait. A total of 231 teachers from the Al-Farwaniya School District responded to a questionnaire. Both t-test and one-way ANOVA were applied. Data analysis reveals a lack of job empowerment and a high degree of dissatisfaction among teachers. The study concludes with several suggestions including opening up a dialogue with teachers in order to understand their problems and needs and involving them in the process of decision-making and change.     

Bibliometric aspects of medical information in Arab countries

This paper discusses the current state and development of health and biomedical literature in Arab countries. The study concentrates on the Arabic sources of medical articles, and surveys and analyzes the size of the literature and its development in the past 100 years. Two aspects of these sources are covered: the Arab medical information sources published within the Arab region, and those published outside the region. This includes the quantity of material available within and outside the Arab region. The size of the Arab medical literature indicates that it is worthy of collection. Treatment of the Arab medical literature, a pressing and urgent issue, is needed to assist in the research and development of an Arab medical infrastructure.     

The influence of deformation on barbell mechanics during the clean pull

For simplicity of biomechanical analyses, the weightlifting barbell is typically modelled as a rigid, nondeformable object. Most coaches and weightlifters, however, are aware of the elastic nature of the barbell, and its influence on the successful completion of lifting attempts. Variables such as velocity, work performed, and power output are indicators of the quality of performance during the snatch, clean, and related weightlifting pulling movements. The aim of this study was to establish whether differences exist in determining these biomechanical parameters when the centre of the barbell is analysed compared with each end of the barbell. Nine men performed three maximal-effort repetitions in the clean pull exercise at 85% of their self-reported single repetition maximum (1-RM) clean (90-155 kg) using a barbell instrumented for mechanical analysis. Results indicated that peak barbell speed was 5-30% (P < 0.05) lower for the centre of the barbell than the ends. Although differences (P < 0.05) in kinetic and potential energy were found between the centre and ends of the bar, differences between total work performed were small (< 6%; P < 0.05) and no differences were observed for average power (P > 0.05). Although approximately the same work and power occur for the centre and ends of the barbell, they manifest as different kinematics as a result of the elastic nature of the equipment. The elastic characteristics should be considered when selecting instrumentation and variables for research involving barbells. Coaches should be aware of the elasticity of barbells, including selecting appropriate viewing angles as well as understanding how deformation may affect the ends of the barbell relative to the centre.     

Fuzzy swarm diversity hybrid model for text summarization

High quality summary is the target and challenge for any automatic text summarization. In this paper, we introduce a different hybrid model for automatic text summarization problem. We exploit strengths of different techniques in building our model: we use diversity-based method to filter similar sentences and select the most diverse ones, differentiate between the more important and less important features using the swarm-based method and use fuzzy logic to make the risks, uncertainty, ambiguity and imprecise values of the text features weights flexibly tolerated. The diversity-based method focuses to reduce redundancy problems and the other two techniques concentrate on the scoring mechanism of the sentences. We presented the proposed model in two forms. In the first form of the model, diversity measures dominate the behavior of the model. In the second form, the diversity constraint is no longer imposed on the model behavior. That means the diversity-based method works same as fuzzy swarm-based method. The results showed that the proposed model in the second form performs better than the first form, the swarm model, the fuzzy swarm method and the benchmark methods. Over results show that combination of diversity measures, swarm techniques and fuzzy logic can generate good summary containing the most important parts in the document.