Off-side front foot drives in men's high performance cricket.

We investigated the techniques used by nine right-handed, international batsmen to perform front foot off-side drives in first class and international matches. All strokes were captured using two synchronised high-speed video cameras; nine were selected for kinematic analysis. These movement sequences were then manually digitised at a sampling frequency of 125 Hz using APAS motion analysis software. The results of this study indicated that the batsmen used movement patterns that enabled important aspects of stroke production, such as the front stride and the downswing of the bat, to be delayed so that additional information from ball flight could be assimilated. Front upper limb segments were constrained to work in a unitary fashion, with the peak horizontal end point speed of each segment occurring almost simultaneously just before impact. It has been suggested that these strategies serve to enhance stroke accuracy. Other aspects of their techniques included a distinctively looped bat path, a front foot placement that occurred only just before impact, and a front ankle that was positioned well inside the line of the ball at impact. Various technical parameters, such as the alignment of the trunk relative to ground and the continuous flow of the bat between the backswing and downswing, were similar to findings in previous batting research. Other characteristics of stroke production not previously addressed, including the path of the bat and the timing of the front stride, may challenge some long held beliefs evident in current coaching literature.

An analysis of movement and discomfort of the female breast during exercise and the effects of breast support in three cases.

Breast pain is common during exercise, occurring in up to 56% of subjects in some surveys. This pain is mainly associated with the movement of breast tissue. In an attempt to analyse this movement and the resulting pain, the movement of the female breast tissue was quantified in four conditions of breast support ("sports bra", "fashion bra", "crop top" and bare breasted) during four different activities (running, jogging, aerobics march and walking). These activities represented general patterns of exercise for adult females in Australian society. All three subjects were healthy, active, young women of varying breast size (12B, 14B & 14C) that were typical of young women. Two of the subjects had noted breast pain whilst exercising. The results showed that wearing external support for the breast tissue reduced absolute vertical movement and maximum downward deceleration force on the breast. Support also reduced perceived pain. When compared to other forms of breast support a "sports bra" (brassiere designed for breast support whilst exercising) provided superior support for the breast in relation to the amplitude of movement, deceleration forces on the breast, and perceived pain. The data indicates that adult females should wear appropriate breast support to reduce perceived breast discomfort or pain. Of the three garments examined in this study, the fitted sports bra provided superior support and pain reduction.

Validation of a malnutrition screening tool for patients receiving radiotherapy.

Nutrition screening identifies individuals who are malnourished or at risk of becoming malnourished and who may benefit from nutrition support. The aim of this study was to validate a new malnutrition screening tool (MST) in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. The MST was compared with the subjective global assessment (SGA) of nutritional status. One hundred and six patients attending two cancer care centres in Australia were independently rated as well nourished or malnourished using SGA and at risk or not at risk of malnutrition using the MST. Convergent validity of the MST was established by determining the ability of the MST to predict SGA. According to SGA, 89% of the patients were well nourished and 11% were moderately malnourished. According to the MST, 28% of patients were at risk of malnutrition. The MST had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 81%. The positive predictive value was 0.4 and the negative predictive value was 1.0. The MST is easy to use and is a strong predictor of nutritional status. The malnutrition screening tool is a simple, quick, valid tool that can be used to identify radiation oncology outpatients who are at risk of malnutrition.

Biomechanics of iliotibial band friction syndrome in runners.

We propose a biomechanical model to explain the pathogenesis of iliotibial band friction syndrome in distance runners. The model is based on a kinematic study of nine runners with iliotibial band friction syndrome, a cadaveric study of 11 normal knees, and a literature review. Friction (or impingement) occurs near footstrike, predominantly in the foot contact phase, between the posterior edge of the iliotibial band and the underlying lateral femoral epicondyle. The study subjects had an average knee flexion angle of 21.4 degrees +/- 4.3 degrees at footstrike, with friction occurring at, or slightly below, the 30 degrees of flexion traditionally described in the literature. In the cadavers we examined, there was substantial variation in the width of the iliotibial bands. This variation may affect individual predisposition to iliotibial band friction syndrome. Downhill running predisposes the runner to iliotibial band friction syndrome because the knee flexion angle at footstrike is reduced. Sprinting and faster running on level ground are less likely to cause or aggravate iliotibial band friction syndrome because, at footstrike, the knee is flexed beyond the angles at which friction occurs.

A clinical and flow cytometric analysis of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer.

Abnormal cellular DNA content, a hallmark of malignancy, is known to be an important prognostic factor in many human solid tumors; however, no data have been published on whether cellular DNA content carries prognostic significance for patients with nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). Archival, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded pathology specimens representing pretreatment tissue biopsies from 55 patients (41 men and 14 women) with NPC were analyzed for cellular DNA content in a retrospective fashion from 1968 to 1988. Individual tumors were classified as either lymphoepithelioma, squamous cell, or anaplastic carcinoma, and were staged according to International Union Against Cancer (UICC) criteria. All patients were treated with curative intent using a 4 to 6 MeV linear accelerator to total doses ranging from 50 to 60 Gy in 4 to 6 weeks. The overall 5-year actuarial survival for all 55 patients was 44.4% (men, 41%; women, 52%). Survival by T stage was as follows: T1, 65%; T2, 51%; T3, 36%; and T4, 27%. Similarly, the 5-year survival rate declined as the bulk of nodal metastases increased: N0, 62%; N2, 50%; N3, 37%; and N1, 25%. Patients who had anaplastic carcinoma had a 5-year survival of 73%, those with lymphoepithelioma had a 60% survival, and those with squamous cell cancer (SCC) had a 30% survival. There was a statistically significant difference in 5-year survival between patients with SCC and those with nonkeratinizing histologies (P less than 0.05). In addition, there was a significant association between patients older than 40 years of age with SCC and patients younger than 40 years of age with nonkeratinizing malignancies (P less than 0.01). Of the 55 tumors successfully analyzed, 22 (40%) were diploid and 33 (60%) were aneuploid. The mean coefficient of variation (CV) of all 55 samples was 6.17%. There was no significant difference in 5-year survival between patients with diploid and those with aneuploid tumors (48% versus 42%). Furthermore, there was no statistically significant survival difference between aneuploid and diploid tumors within any one histologic subgroup. There was also no significant survival difference related to the DNA index. The results indicate that the extent of local tumor spread is still the most important prognostic factor for patients treated with radiotherapy for NPC. The data support the conclusion that patients with lymphoepithelioma and anaplastic carcinomas have a superior survival to patients with squamous cell carcinoma.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Radiotherapy for stage 2 testicular seminoma: the prognostic influence of tumor bulk.

Forty-nine consecutive patients with stage 2 testicular seminoma were treated with primary radiotherapy from 1968 to 1985. Overall diseases-free survival (DFS) for patients with 36 months minimum follow-up was 82% at 3 years. This figure did not decline further with time. Infradiaphragmatic bulk disease was found to be a significant prognostic factor for local and distant relapse as well as for ultimate survival. Patients with either stage 2A or 2B disease (infradiaphragmatic bulk less than or equal to 10 cm size) had a 3-year DFS of 89% compared with a 64% 3-year DFS rate for patients with stage 2C disease (infradiaphragmatic bulk greater than or equal to 10 cm size). The (local plus distant) relapse rate was 4.0% for patients with stage 2A disease, 16.7% for patients with stage 2B disease, and 33.3% for patients with stage 2C disease. The majority of distant relapses were multifocal and prophylactic mediastinal irradiation did not appear to influence either relapse rate nor overall survival. Of seven patients who relapsed, four died of progressive malignancy, two deaths were related to salvage chemotherapy, and only one patient is alive and well following successful chemotherapeutic salvage. On the basis of our experience, we recommend radiotherapy with the use of modern imaging techniques as initial treatment for patients with retroperitoneal masses less than 10 cm size. Aggressive cisplatin-based chemotherapy should be seriously considered for patients with retroperitoneal masses greater than or equal to 10 cm size, or for patients who relapse following radiotherapy.

Functional variability of the lower extremity during the support phase of running.

The purpose of the research was to determine the variability of selected parameters during the support phase of running between consecutive right footfalls, and the included left footfall, as well as to acquire additional descriptive data on lower extremity function. Eleven college aged male runners were filmed (200 fps) from the rear and side while running on a treadmill at 4.29--4.47 m/sec. The statistical analysis of the mean absolute differences for temporal events between the three footfalls resulted in no significant differences. An estimate of event variability was calculated to be the actual time +/- 0.0110 sec or the percentage +/- 4.98% at the 95% confidence interval. Comparisons between the absolute deviations of selected body part positions and/or orientations for the test conditions resulted in no statistically significant differences. Estimates of variability ranging from 1.78--4.08 deg were calculated. Even though no statistically significant differences were obtained, the magnitude of the variability obtained for the parameters evaluated would seem to indicate a need for calculating representative or average values if subtle differences in lower extremity function are to be detected.