Device for on-the-water measurement of rowing output

All those who compete in the sport of rowing have used the land rowing machine, Ergometer (commonly called the ‘erg’), manufactured by Concept II (Morrisville, Vermont, USA). Ergon is the Greek word for work, hence the Ergometer measures work. Rowers are commonly ranked according to their ‘erg score.’ The fault in this ranking is that the land Ergometer cannot account for many of the important technical aspects associated with rowing on the water. The goals of this project were to (1) develop a system for on-the-water measurement of work during rowing and then (2) demonstrate the potential of such a system to quantify performance and improve rowing technique. To achieve these goals, force was measured using strain gauges glued to the shaft of the rowing oar and angular displacement was measured using a potentiometer. The force and displacement measurements were sent to a microcontroller, which calculated the total work done in a particular stroke, as well as other parameters, and displayed the values to the rower. The parameters were used to evaluate the performance of three collegiate rowers on the water. The data were also used to plot force profiles, which were reviewed with each rower and the coach to illustrate the rowers’ habits and facilitate improving technique. One rower was ‘tutored’ with the device through five on-the-water practices, after which his force profiles and parameter values demonstrated significant improvement. The device not only provided a standard to which all rowers were compared on the water, but also supplied the rowers with important information on technical aspects of their strokes and pacing themselves.     

对静水皮划艇比赛速度结构和战术规律性探讨

在文献资料法和录像分析法的基础上分析介绍了静水皮划艇项目的专项运动特征、速度结构的表现形式,相应的战术在大赛中的制胜作用、国内外在皮划艇比赛中速度结构的实践运用,目的是总结皮划艇比赛中的竞速规律、速度结构模式和能量代谢特点,提出皮艇战术研究的重点和方向。     

Associations of accelerometer-measured sedentary time,sedentary bouts,and physical activity with adiposity and fitness in children

ABSTRACT

Sedentary time (ST) has been inconsistently associated with adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness in children in previous studies. We studied cross-sectional associations of ST, light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with fat mass index (FMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (estimated VO₂max). Associations were evaluated with and without considering pattern of ST by bout length. We measured ST and activity by a wrist-worn accelerometer, FMI by bioelectrical impedance, and VO₂max by Pacer test in 443 children (51.2% girls, 10.2 ± 0.6 years). Isotemporal substitution regression models estimated the effects of substituting ST, LPA, and MVPA on FMI and VO₂max. Further models repeated analyses separating ST into short (<10 min) and long (≥10 min) bouts. Only replacing ST or LPA with MVPA was consistently associated with lower FMI and greater VO₂max. When separated by bout length, only one unique association was found where replacing long ST bouts with short ST bouts was associated with lower FMI in girls only. In conclusion, activity pattern is associated with adiposity in girls and fitness in boys and girls. Separating ST into long and short ST bouts may be of minimal importance when assessing associations with adiposity and fitness using wrist-worn accelerometry in children.     

Are hsCRP Levels and LDL/HDL Ratio Better and Early Markers to Unmask Onset of Dyslipidemia and Inflammation in Asymptomatic Subclinical Hypothyroidism?

The implications of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) are many amongst which the most important is progression to overt hypothyroidism. Other debatable aspects are its association with cardiovascular risk, neuromuscular and psychiatric dysfunction, increased predisposition to developing metabolic syndrome and an underlying pro-inflammatory state. We aimed to study the lipid profile, lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] and hsCRP levels and insulin resistance in a group of patients with SCH in a referral hospital and see if any significant differences exist between them and euthyroids. This is a case–control study where the selection of controls and cases was based on the thyroid profile. Subjects were selected on their visit to clinical biochemistry lab for thyroid function tests. 33 euthyroids were taken as controls (Group I) and 38 patients comprising of subclinical hypothyroids were grouped as cases (Group II). Serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was in the range of 0.5–5.0 mIU/L for euthyroids and for subclinical hypothyroids the concentration of TSH was more than 5 mIU/L. The concentration of tri-iodothyronine (T₃) and thyroxine (T₄) were in normal reference range in both the groups. Individual lipid profile parameters failed to show a significant p value between cases and controls. The LDL/HDL ratio was highly significant (p value < 0.0001) and hsCRP was also statistically between the two groups (p value = 0.0054). Lp(a) and insulin resistance did not differ significantly. SCH is a common disorder that frequently progresses to overt hypothyroidism. This study underlines the importance of LDL/HDL ratio rather than measurement of individual lipid profile parameters in bringing to light the dyslipidemic state associated with SCH. Moreover the use of hsCRP to detect an underlying pro-inflammatory state in SCH can also be emphasized.     

螺杆截面形状的数值拟合方法研究

研究了曲线拟合方法的特点,讨论了三次样条曲线和参数三次样条曲线的拟合方法在螺杆截面廓形拟合中的应用,给出了拟合的方程,并用实例验证了拟合的效果.同时解决了拟合过程中的单调性、失真、端点切向量的确定方法等一些关键技术问题.该方法为精确地生成刀具轨迹提供了光滑的型线方程.     

采用非对称渐开线齿轮减少齿根应力的研究

为了减小齿轮的齿根弯曲应力,提高齿轮的传动能力,本文根据非对称渐开线齿轮研究学者提出的齿廓方程构建思路进行了建模,并用NISAⅡ进行了齿轮应力变化的有限元分析。通过分析比较得出使用非对称渐开线齿轮可以提高齿轮的弯曲强度从而提高齿轮的传动能力。     

Modeling Unobserved Heterogeneity Using Latent Profile Analysis: A Monte Carlo Simulation

Latent profile analysis (LPA) has become a popular statistical method for modeling unobserved population heterogeneity in cross-sectionally sampled data, but very few empirical studies have examined the question of how well enumeration indexes accurately identify the correct number of latent profiles present. This Monte Carlo simulation study examined the ability of several classes of enumeration indexes to correctly identify the number of latent population profiles present under 3 different research design conditions: sample size, the number of observed variables used for LPA, and the separation distance among the latent profiles measured in Mahalanobis D units. Results showed that, for the homogeneous population (i.e., the population has k = 1 latent profile) conditions, many of the enumeration indexes used in LPA were able to correctly identify the single latent profile if variances and covariances were freely estimated. However, for a heterogeneous population (i.e., the population has k = 3 distinct latent profiles), the correct identification rate for the enumeration indexes in the k = 3 latent profile conditions was typically very low. These results are compared with the previous cross-sectional mixture modeling studies, and the limitations of this study, as well as future cross-sectional mixture modeling and enumeration index research possibilities, are discussed.     

Disentangling Shape from Level Effects in Person-Centered Analyses: An Illustration Based on University Teachers’ Multidimensional Profiles of Effectiveness

This study compares alternative ways of disentangling the effects of level (the tendency for a person to be high, medium, or low across all factors) and shape (the tendency for a person to have a distinct pattern of factors on which they are high, medium, or low) in profile analyses. This issue is particularly relevant to performance appraisals where it is often useful to identify specific strengths and weaknesses over and above a person global performance, but also to person-centered analyses more generally where the observation of qualitative (shape) differences between profiles is often used as justification for the added value of profiles. Substantively, this study illustrates these issues in the identification of profiles of teachers based on multidimensional students’ ratings of their effectiveness, using an archival data set of 31,951 class-average ratings based on the Students’ Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) instrument collected over a 13-year period. The results show the superiority of a factor mixture operationalization of teaching effectiveness in which a global effectiveness factor was used to control for unnecessary level effects in the profiles.     

基于代谢组学的高原训练初期的适应特征

摘要：目的：高原因其特殊环境,世居平原运动员初上高原训练时机体会产生一系列应激反应。借助代谢组学技术,从急性应激和慢性适应2个纬度,比较分析高原训练初期运动员代谢功能所发生的改变。方法：以16名优秀赛艇运动员为研究对象,在高原训练前、年度高原冬训的第4天、第14天调整休息后次日晨取肘静脉血5 mL,分离血浆,借助LC-MS平台测量分析各血浆代谢物,以PCA、OPLS-DA比较各时间点代谢谱的变化。高原训练初期的主要训练内容为低强度有氧训练。结果：1）与高原训练前比较,高原第4天和高原第14天发生显著改变的血浆代谢物各有近80种：a）与高原训练前比较,高原训练第4天血浆苯甲酰胺、吲哚-3-乙醛分别升高约35倍、17倍,血浆苯乙胺、苯酚、吲哚等分别升高约4-8倍;b）高原训练第14天与高原训练前相比,血浆苯甲酰胺、吲哚-3-乙醛、苯乙胺、吲哚等显著升高约2-6倍;血浆胆固醇羟化硫酸酯、色氨酸、3-(4-羟基-3-甲氧基苯基)-2-氧丙酸等下降约2-8倍。2）与高原训练前比较,高原训练第4天苯丙氨酸、色氨酸代谢显著加强,同时,苯丙氨酸、酪氨酸、色氨酸、氨酰-tRNA生物合成显著增加,但不饱和脂肪酸的生物合成显著下调;高原第14天,苯丙氨酸、酪氨酸代谢显著加强,同时,苯丙氨酸、酪氨酸、色氨酸、氨酰-tRNA生物合成仍显著增加,不饱和脂肪酸的生物合成显著下调;高原第14天与高原第4天比较,氨酰-tRNA、缬氨酸,亮氨酸、异亮氨酸生物合成显著上调,而不饱和脂肪酸的生物合成显著下调,精氨酸、脯氨酸代谢加强。结论：优秀赛艇运动员高原训练急性应答期,参与中枢神经系统能量代谢调控的苯甲酰胺、吲哚-3-乙醛升高达数十倍,之后升高幅度下降,可能是高原训练初期代谢适应的敏感标志物。中枢神经系统的应激与适应可能在运动员高原训练初期代谢应答中发挥着关键作用。高原训练初期芳香族氨基酸、支链氨基酸代谢较为活跃,不饱和脂肪酸代谢抑制,其确切调节机制尚待深入研究。     

Profile and Motivations of Registered Whole-Body Donors in Turkey: Istanbul University Experience

Little is known regarding the profiles of whole body donors in Muslim majority countries where donation is scarce. Therefore, this study aims to profile registered donors in Turkey by means of a survey. The explored data could be used to improve ongoing campaign efforts and ethical practices such as commemoration services. Registered donors of the donation programs at the two faculties of medicine of Istanbul University were compared with the national population and a cluster analysis was performed to reveal any concealed sub-groups. Data from 188 respondents were analyzed. The majority of registered donors were married (42%), male (65.4%), aged over 50 years (76%), held a tertiary education degree (49.7%), and were irreligious (58.5%). Cluster analysis revealed two groups with significantly different educational levels, marital statuses, and religious choices. Regarding whether their bodies could be used for education or research, the majority (64.5%) of the respondents left the decision to the anatomy department. Similarly, 73.8% approved indefinite use of their organs, body parts and/or skeletons. The respondents were also willing to share their medical history (94.2%) and personal information (81.6%) if needed. Motivational themes for body donation including usefulness, impermanence, religion, awareness, and kinship were devised after a thematic analysis. Among the respondents, 56.5% were registered organ donors and 63.3% were frequent blood donors. The results of this study provide data that may help revising informed consent forms, developing and implementing thanksgiving ceremonies, and selecting additional targets for supporting body donation campaign activities such as organ and blood donation units.