Surveying the Aspect of the Medieval West Anatolian Town

The aim of this short article is modest: it means to fill a lacuna in scholarly output by offering a concise and accessible survey of the physical structure of the typical west Anatolian town in the High Middle Ages. Attempts to locate such a study meet with disappointment. If one wishes to look through the eyes of medieval travellers in Anatolia, whether they be merchants, pilgrims or soldiers, and discover what type of construction they witnessed when approaching and entering a typical town, one is compelled to trawl through a great number of specialist articles and monographs dealing with specific archaeological sites or particular narrow periods of history. This laborious exercise will be made somewhat redundant by a brief synthesis of the appropriate evidence which historians and archaeologists have addressed and compiled since the late 1950s when attempting to reconstruct the development of the Byzantine city. The article traces the slow development of the typical Anatolian urban form and aspect from the late fourth century, through the mid-seventh to mid-eighth centuries, and then through to a period of urban recovery until the latter part of the twelfth century. The choice of periods separated by some 800 years is not arbitrary: the physical character (and function) of the typical town began to change in the late fourth century, and the form it obtained during the seventh and eighth centuries continued to be the one retained (with inconsequential variations to the general pattern) during the intermediate periods of Byzantine recovery     

Mumford on aesthetic–moral interaction in sport

Stephen Mumford argues that aesthetic and moral values in sport are interdependent, focusing on cases where immorality taints beautiful performance. This interdependence thesis is insightful but, I argue, in need of refinement, as its normative implications are unclear and perhaps implausible (e.g. the Nazi aesthetics problem). I also challenge Mumford’s perspective on the infamous Dynamo Kiev death match. Whereas Mumford claims that the match’s morally oppressive circumstances detract from it so that ‘it was not something knowingly we should have admired aesthetically’, I argue that, on the contrary, and in light of what Mumford says about other cases, such circumstances actually enhance the game’s aesthetics such that it would be wrong not to appreciate it aesthetically.     

Understanding key performance indicators for breast support: An analysis of breast support effects on biomechanical,physiological and subjective measures during running

To assess the effectiveness of breast support previous studies monitored breast kinematics and kinetics, subjective feedback, muscle activity (EMG), ground reaction forces (GRFs) and physiological measures in isolation. Comparing these variables within one study will establish the key performance variables that distinguish between breast supports during activities such as running. This study investigates the effects of changes in breast support on biomechanical, physiological and subjective measures during running. Ten females (34D) ran for 10 min in high and low breast supports, and for 2 min bare breasted (2.8 m·s^?1). Breast and body kinematics, EMG, expired air and heart rate were recorded. GRFs were recorded during 10 m overground runs (2.8 m·s^?1) and subjective feedback obtained after each condition. Of the 62 variables measured, 22 kinematic and subjective variables were influenced by changes in breast support. Willingness to exercise, time lag and superio-inferior breast velocity were most affected. GRFs, EMG and physiological variables were unaffected by breast support changes during running. Breast displacement reduction, although previously advocated, was not the most sensitive variable to breast support changes during running. Instead breast support products should be assessed using a battery of performance indicators, including the key kinematic and subjective variables identified here.     

Contextual factors on physical demands in professional women’s soccer: Female Athletes in Motion study

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of contextual factors on relative locomotor and metabolic power distances during professional female soccer matches. Twenty-eight players (forwards, n?=?4; midfielders, n?=?12; defenders, n?=?12) that competed in a 90-min home and away match (regular season only). The generalised estimating equations (GEE) was used to evaluate relative locomotor and metabolic power distances for three contextual factors: location (home vs. away), type of turf (natural vs. artificial), and match outcome (win, loss and draw). No differences were observed for home vs. away matches. Moderate-intensity running (20.0?±?1.0?m?min^?1 and 16.4?±?0.9?m?min^?1), high-intensity running (8.6?±?0.4?m?min^?1 and 7.3?±?0.4?m?min^?1) and high-metabolic power (16.3?±?0.5?m?min^?1 and 14.4?±?0.5?m?min^?1) distances were elevated on artificial turf compared to natural grass, respectively. Relative sprint distance was greater during losses compared with draws (4.3?±?0.4?m?min^?1 and 3.4?±?0.3?m?min^?1). Overall physical demands of professional women’s soccer were not impacted by match location. However, the elevation of moderate and high-intensity demands while playing on artificial turf may have implications on match preparations as well as recovery strategies.     

A post-American world? Assessing the cognitive and attitudinal impacts of challenges to American exceptionalism

A number of voices have emerged in U.S. political discourse questioning the legitimacy of American exceptionalism, suggesting we are in a “post-American world.” Our research examines the effects that political messages that explicitly challenge American exceptionalism can have on U.S. public opinion. Drawing upon social identity theory, we find that explicit challenges to American exceptionalism significantly impact Americans’ views toward their own nation, their willingness to denigrate foreign publics, and their broader foreign policy preferences.     

How much effort is needed to keep up with the literature relevant for primary care?

OBJECTIVES: Medicine must keep current with the research literature, and keeping current requires continuously updating the clinical knowledge base (i.e., references that provide answers to clinical questions). The authors estimated the volume of medical literature potentially relevant to primary care published in a month and the time required for physicians trained in medical epidemiology to evaluate it for updating a clinical knowledge base. METHODS: We included journals listed in five primary care journal review services (ACP Journal Club, DynaMed, Evidence-Based Practice, Journal Watch, and QuickScan Reviews). Finding little overlap, we added the 2001 "Brandon/Hill Selected List of Print Books and Journals for the Small Medical Library." We counted articles (including letters, editorials, and other commentaries) published in March 2002, using bibliographic software where possible and hand counting when necessary. For journals not published in March 2002, we reviewed the nearest issue. Five primary care physicians independently evaluated fifty randomly selected articles and timed the process. RESULTS: The combined list contained 341 currently active journals with 8,265 articles. Adjusting for publication frequency, we estimate 7,287 articles are published monthly in this set of journals. Physicians trained in epidemiology would take an estimated 627.5 hours per month to evaluate these articles. CONCLUSIONS: To provide practicing clinicians with the best current evidence, more comprehensive and systematic literature surveillance efforts are needed.     

Bilateral arm power imbalance in swim bench exercise to exhaustion

We examined the supposition that swimmers may exhibit an imbalance in bilateral arm power output during simulated swimming exercise. Ten competitive front crawl swimmers (5 males, 5 females; age 20.5+/-2.3 years; height 1.74+/-0.09 m; body mass 72.0+/-16.7 kg; 400 m freestyle swim time 278+/-20.5 s; mean +/- s) performed four incremental (10 W x min(-1)) swim ramp tests on a computer-interfaced biokinetic swim bench ergometer. External power output from each arm was measured continuously to exhaustion. The results showed that, throughout the course of the simulated swim, external power output clearly favoured the left arm (F1,9 = 12.5, P= 0.006). This was especially evident in the final 30 s to exhaustion, when 54.0+/-3.87% of external power output was derived from the left arm versus 46.0+/-3.87% from the right arm. The disparity in external power output was further highlighted when the participants were grouped into unilateral and bilateral breathers. Unilateral breathers (n = 5) produced 57.1+/-2.62% of external power output from the left armversus 42.9+/-2.62% from the right arm (P= 0.001). Bilateral breathers (n = 5) exhibited a more balanced external power output of 51.0+/-1.82% from the left arm and 49.0+/-1.82% from the right arm (P = 0.177). Evidence of power imbalance in the simulated swimming stroke may have important implications for optimizing swim performance. The observed power imbalance may be reduced when a bilateral breathing technique is adopted.     

Braided composite materials for the production of lightweight, high rigidity golf shafts

Braiding is not currently used in the production of golf shafts. The objective of this work was to develop, through a modelling process consisting of altering lamina sequence, a golf shaft, using braided laminas, which would have mass, stiffness and torque comparable to commercially available composite and steel shafts. A 2D conical braided composite model was previously developed and validated to predict elastic constants of braided closed meshed structures. Energy methods were used to calculate the stiffness and torque of shafts using prescribed industry approaches. Shaft mass was calculated based on geometry and density of constitutent materials. Modelled shafts had both braided and unidirectional layers and compared favourably with or were better than commercially available composite and steel shafts in terms of deflection force and twist angle; they had the same weight as composite shafts but were much lighter than steel shafts. If these findings are verified, braided composites would be a viable and effective approach to the design of future golf shafts.