Musculoskeletal Injury in Referees That Officiate Over Ladies Gaelic Football and Camogie.

Aim Ladies Gaelic football and Camogie are leading female sports in Ireland. Referees are essential to the game, however, no research has examined injury in referees that officiate over female Gaelic games to date. Therefore, this study aims to retrospectively examine the musculoskeletal injury profile and injury prevention practices of referees that officiate over female Gaelic games. Methods A retrospective anonymous questionnaire examined injuries that occurred in the previous 12 months in currently active Ladies Gaelic football and Camogie referees (n=170). Incidence and repeat incidence proportions were calculated along with descriptive statistics. Results In 2019, 42.9% (n=73) of referees sampled sustained an injury with 27.4% (n=20) sustaining two or more. Injuries primarily occurred to the lower extremity (79.6%,n=78), particularly the lower leg (20.4%,n=20) and knee (18.4%,18). Muscle strains and cramps (55.1%,n=54) were most frequent and injuries predominantly occurred during games (71.4%,n=70). Referees largely completed a warm-up but just 30.6% (n=52) conducted a cool-down. Over half had undertaken injury prevention education but only 37.6% (n=64) incorporated injury prevention elements into their training. Conclusion Just over two in five referees that officiate female Gaelic games became injured in the previous year, however their utilisation of injury prevention strategies, beyond completing a warm-up, is lacking. Thus, a referee specific injury prevention programme should be developed and if found to be effective, incorporated into a comprehensive injury prevention strategy by the governing bodies.

Maternity records in Edinburgh and Aberdeen in 1936: a comparison.

Historians have long used maternity records to understand the evolution of maternity services. More recently, epidemiologists have become interested in obstetric hospital records as a source of data (e.g. birth weight, social class), to study the influence of early life on future health and disease: life course epidemiology. Edinburgh and Aberdeen are unusual in holding detailed records from several maternity institutions. The records of 1936 are of particular interest because all children born in this year and at school in Scotland at age 11 sat a cognitive ability test, the Scottish Mental Survey 1947. This study aims to describe the maternity services in Edinburgh and Aberdeen in 1936, between the First and Second World Wars. Understanding the richness of data in birth records, the manner in which they were recorded, and the context of the institutions in their community is essential for interpreting life course epidemiology studies.

Effects of contact dermatitis on hepatic gene expression in broilers.

1. Severe foot and hock dermatitis in broiler chickens can reduce growth rate and increase susceptibility to bacterial infection, affecting both profitability and welfare. However, little is known about the underlying physiological changes associated with foot and hock lesions. 2. This study compared global hepatic gene expression in control birds and those with ammonia-induced foot and hock lesions using Agilent 44 K chicken oligonucleotide microarrays (8 birds per group). 3. In total, 417 genes were differentially expressed of which 174 could be mapped onto the genome. Genes associated with energy metabolism, thyroid hormone activity and cellular control were affected, while there was also evidence of an up-regulation of genes linked to a pro-inflammatory response. 4. It is conceivable that pain is the underlying cause for the observed changes in energy metabolism genes. 5. Changes in hepatic gene expression provide new information on how a chicken's physiological mechanisms alter to cope with foot and hock lesions. The findings support other data indicating that birds with increased severity of lesions are likely to be in pain and that growth will be compromised. Reduction of the incidence of dermatitis by improved husbandry should therefore benefit both welfare and commercial performance.

The relationship between physical activity and leg health in the broiler chicken.

1. The relationship between the physical activity and leg health of broiler chickens was assessed on a semi-commercial scale. 2. Three batches of birds (2128 per batch) were raised under two lighting regimes during the photoperiod; either a step-wise change of light intensity alternating between an illuminance of 200 and 10 lx or a constant illuminance of 10 lx. The activity of focal individuals (24 per batch) was observed at 2, 4 and 6 weeks of age, and leg health assessed weekly, based on gait score, the prevalence of burns on the hock and foot pad, and angulation and rotation of the leg at the intertarsal joint. Cortical bone density and thickness and area moments of inertia of the mid-physis tibiotarsus were measured post mortem at 6 weeks of age. 3. The step-wise change in light intensity did not affect overall performance, activity or leg health. 4. An individual bird's activity did not affect its gait score, the prevalence of hock burn or foot pad burn, cortical density or thickness or shape of the tibiotarsus. Sex of the bird was the only factor to affect significantly the area moment of inertia in the horizontal and vertical planes of the tibiotarsus, with females showing a lower moment of inertia for both. No variable had a significant effect on cortical density or thickness. Mean cortical density was low across all birds and may indicate that, when allowed to move freely as much or as little as they choose, broiler chickens do not exercise enough or do not perform the higher impact activities required to affect bone quality. 5. These findings imply that the activity of broiler chickens raised on a semi-commercial scale is unaffected by step-wise changes in light intensity and that other husbandry measures are needed to raise activity and hence improve leg health.

Exponential processes in human auditory excitation and adaptation.

Peripheral auditory adaptation has been studied extensively in animal models, and multiple exponential components have been identified. This study explores the feasibility of estimating these component processes for human listeners with a peripheral model of adaptation. The processes were estimated from off-frequency masked detection data that probed temporal masking responses to a gated narrowband masker. The resulting response patterns reflected step-like onset and offset features with characteristically little evidence of confounding backward and forward masking. The model was implemented with linear combinations of exponential functions to represent the unadapted excitation response to gating the masker on and then off and the opposing effects of adaptation in each instance. The onset and offset of the temporal masking response were assumed to be approximately inverse operations and were modeled independently in this scheme. The unadapted excitation response at masker onset and the reversed excitation response at masker offset were each represented in the model by a single exponential function. The adaptation processes were modeled by three independent exponential functions, which were reversed at masker offset. Each adaptation component was subtractive and partially negated the unadapted excitation response to the dynamic masker. This scheme allowed for quantification of the response amplitude, action latency, and time constant for the unadapted excitation component and for each adaptation component. The results reveal that (1) the amplitudes of the unadapted excitation and reversed excitation components grow nonlinearly with masker level and mirror the 'compressive' input-output velocity response of the basilar membrane; (2) the time constants for the unadapted excitation and reversed excitation components are related inversely to masker intensity, which is compatible with neural synchrony increasing at masker onset (or offset) with increasing masker strength; (3) the composite strength of adaptation levels off at high masker levels; this 'saturation' response is consistent with a diminished contribution from peripheral neural adaptation processes at high sound levels; and (4) the response dynamics for two of the adaptation components correspond generally to those for the 'very rapid'/'rapid' processes and 'short-term' processes described in animal studies of peripheral neural adaptation. The action latency of a third adaptation component suggests the role of a second-order peripheral or central process. This modeling exercise (1) indicates that multiple adaptation processes, whatever their origins, contribute substantively to the form of the temporal masking response and (2) supports a sum-of-exponentials scheme for estimating properties of the component processes.

Enhancements of the edges of temporal masking functions by complex patterns of overshoot and undershoot.

The purpose of this report is to present new data that provide a novel perspective on temporal masking, different from that found in the classical auditory literature on this topic. Specifically, measurement conditions are presented that minimize rather than maximize temporal spread of masking for a gated (200-ms) narrow-band (405-Hz-wide) noise masker logarithmically centered at 2500 Hz. Masked detection thresholds were measured for brief sinusoids in a two-interval, forced-choice (21FC) task. Detection was measured at each of 43 temporal positions within the signal observation interval for the sinusoidal signal presented either preceding, during, or following the gating of the masker, which was centered temporally within each 500-ms observation interval. Results are presented for three listeners; first, for detection of a 1900-Hz signal across a range of masker component levels (0-70 dB SPL) and, second, for masked detection as a function of signal frequency (fs = 500-5000 Hz) for a fixed masker component level (40 dB SPL). For signals presented off-frequency from the masker, and at low-to-moderate masker levels, the resulting temporal masking functions are characterized by sharp temporal edges. The sharpness of the edges is accentuated by complex patterns of temporal overshoot and undershoot, corresponding with diminished and enhanced detection, respectively, at both masker onset and offset. This information about the onset and offset timing of the gated masker is faithfully represented in the temporal masking functions over the full decade range of signal frequencies (except for fs=2500 Hz presented at the center frequency of the masker). The precise representation of the timing information is remarkable considering that the temporal envelope characteristics of the gated masker are evident in the remote masking response at least two octaves below the frequencies of the masker at a cochlear place where little or no masker activity would be expected. This general enhancement of the temporal edges of the masking response is reminiscent of spectral edge enhancement by lateral suppression/inhibition.

Temporal gap detection measured with multiple sinusoidal markers: effects of marker number, frequency, and temporal position.

Detection thresholds were measured for silent temporal gaps within combinations of two, three, or four sinusoidal markers (i.e., combinations of one or two pre-gap markers with one or two post-gap markers). The markers were selected from the frequency range 2000-3100 Hz. Sinusoidal frequencies F1 and F4 were used as pre-gap markers, while F2 and F3 served as post-gap markers. Temporal gap detection (TGD) thresholds were measured from sets of three normal-hearing adults who tracked 70.7% correct detection thresholds adaptively across blocks of 50 two-interval, two-alternative, forced-choice trials. For symmetric marker conditions, where pre- and post-gap markers were equivalent in frequency (e.g., F1 = F2 or F1 = F2 and F3 = F4), TGD thresholds were < 10 ms. However, for asymmetric marker frequency alignments across the silent gap, including stimulus configurations where only three markers were presented on a trial (e.g., F1 = F2, F2 not equal to F3, no F4), performance was highly variable and was dramatically disrupted by the presentation of a second post-gap marker. The multiple-marker results reveal that TGD depends greatly on the number of markers presented, both in terms of the marker temporal position before and after the silent gap signal and the marker frequency alignment (symmetry) across the gap. These results, which cannot be predicted from models of the auditory periphery, may reflect perceptual mechanisms that are important in grouping and organizing auditory images.

Evidence for an across-frequency, between-channel process in asymptotic monaural temporal gap detection.

Monaurally measured temporal gap detection (TGD) thresholds characteristically increase as the frequency difference is increased over a range of about half an octave to an octave between two sinusoids that mark the onset and offset of the silent gap. For greater sinusoidal frequency separations, the TGD thresholds often become asymptotic. This pattern probably reflects two different processes. The first process likely reflects within-channel processing within a single auditory filter or channel. The second process is less certain, but may reflect between-channel processing of the silent gap stimulus across two or more independent frequency channels. To evaluate the hypothesis that asymptotic monaural gap detection can be explained by a simple between-channel process, TGD thresholds were measured as a function of frequency separation between a pregap sinusoid presented to the left ear (channel 1) and a postgap sinusoid, of higher frequency, presented to the right ear (channel 2). The rationale for dichotic presentation of the sinusoidal markers and gap signal followed from the fact that the gap detection task must be performed between two independent channels by combining the outputs from each channel (ear) and recovering the gap information centrally. The resulting TGD thresholds for pregap sinusoids from 250 to 4000 Hz were relatively invariant and increased only slightly with increasing marker frequency separation. The average TGD thresholds for four listeners were in the range of 30 to 40 ms, which corresponded closely with their asymptotic TGD thresholds for the same set of stimulus conditions measured monaurally. This correspondence of the two data sets supports an across-frequency, between-channel process for asymptotic monaural gap detection at marker frequency separations greater than about half an octave.

Evaluation of a maximum likelihood procedure for measuring pure-tone thresholds under computer control.

An adaptive, maximum likelihood (ML) procedure was assessed as an automated tool for estimating audiometric pure-tone thresholds in the clinic under computer control. Pure-tone air-conduction thresholds were measured from 101 workmen who received annual hearing rechecks as part of their employee hearing conservation program. A pure-tone threshold was measured bilaterally for each of the standard audiometric frequencies in a 15-trial block to yield 60 percent correct detection with the ML procedure. The workmen were tested on a modified "yes-no" task. On a trial, the signal was presented in a visually cued 200-msec observation interval. Each workman then had 1000 msec to make a "yes" response. If the workman did not respond during the 1000-msec response period, then the computer assumed a "no" response. After either the "yes" or "no" response, the computer adjusted the signal level for the next trial. The thresholds measured by ML procedure compared favorably with thresholds measured from the same listeners by conventional (CONV) audiometry. The efficiency of the ML procedure was also compared in terms of the time necessary for an experienced audiologist to instruct the listener and perform CONV audiometry. CONV audiometry (3-4 minutes per listener) required about half of the time needed for the ML procedure (6-7 minutes per listener). The relatively longer time associated with measuring an audiogram with the ML procedure was due primarily to more trials being used to estimate threshold.

Performance with an adaptive frequency response hearing aid in a sample of elderly hearing-impaired listeners.

This study assessed the efficacy of an adaptive frequency response hearing aid (AFR) for improving speech perception ability in noise among a group of elderly hearing-impaired listeners. A speech recognition task, self-assessed speech intelligibility task, and qualitative judgment task were administered to examine subtle differences in the effects of the AFR "signal processing" versus linear amplification. Group scores showed statistically significant improvement with AFR processing on the speech recognition task involving high-predictability sentences, but not on any other measures. However, there was a trend toward improved scores with AFR processing for low-predictability sentences as well. These results suggest that AFR circuitry may be most useful for enhancing recognition of speech in high-cue contexts. Wide individual subject variability was observed on all measures. This demonstrates the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of noise reduction hearing aids on an individual basis and with more than one task.

Dementia and the nursing home: association with care needs.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether RUG reimbursement categories accurately predict requirements for care in nursing homes. DESIGN: Prospective descriptive study of residents in lower reimbursement categories according to RUG. SETTING: Three nursing homes in New York City. PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of 173 residents who agreed to participate, not significantly different from 201 who did not agree to participate. MAIN MEASURES: Chart review; assessment of residents' cognitive and functional abilities; nursing assistants' ratings of residents' functional abilities, behavioral problems, the amount of effort required in care; and time-motion studies of staff-resident interactions. RESULTS: Both the residents' RUG classification (P less than 0.01) and the level of ADL independence (P less than 0.001) had significant impacts on the staff effort required in their care, with more dependent residents requiring greater effort. The residents' level of cognitive impairment also had a significant impact on the staff effort, with the severely impaired requiring greater effort (P less than 0.05). The time-motion analysis indicated that residents within the same RUG category differed in the number of staff-resident interactions based on their level of cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive impairment is a significant morbidity (or co-morbidity) in determining the quantity of staff effort required by the resident, and behavioral interventions are an important care component. There is marked heterogeneity within lower (RUG) reimbursement categories which translates into strikingly different care requirements.

The detection of Giardia muris and Giardia lamblia cysts by immunofluorescence in animal tissues and fecal samples subjected to cycles of freezing and thawing.

The effects of freezing and thawing on the detection of selected Giardia spp. cysts were investigated using immunofluorescence, bright field microscopy, and low voltage scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Giardia muris cysts were obtained from either animal carcasses, fecal pellets, or isolated cyst preparations, whereas Giardia lamblia cysts were isolated from fecal samples. These samples were stained using an immunofluorescence technique after 1-3 freezing (-16 C) and thawing (20 C) cycles. Cysts were detected successfully by immunofluorescence in all samples. However, in those samples subjected to freeze-thawing, the cyst walls often became distorted and then were not detectable by bright field microscopy. Low voltage SEM demonstrated that the filaments in the distorted cyst wall underwent rearrangements of interfilament spacing. Quantitation of cyst recovery after freezing and thawing demonstrated that a substantial loss occurred after 1 cycle of alternating temperature when low concentrations of cysts were used, but not with high concentrations of cysts. Cyst recovery, after 3 freezing and thawing cycles, was dramatically lowered irrespective of the initial cyst concentration. These results demonstrated that immunofluorescence was an effective technique for the detection of Giardia spp. cysts in frozen samples and would suggest that freezing and thawing of fecal samples could prevent the detection of cysts when only bright field microscopy was employed.

Perception of alcohol use and misuse in three ethnic communities: implications for prevention programming.

This article compares data about perceptions of alcohol use and misuse, including perceived patterns of use, extent of the problem, reasons for use, and causes and effects of alcohol misuse in the Chinese, Indo-Pakistani, and Latin American communities in British Columbia. The methodology employed is an adaptation of Neuber's Community Needs Assessment model, using data from three sources: (1) relevant literature, (2) interviews with designated key informants, and (3) interviews with selected potential program consumers within the community. This article focuses on data gathered from potential program consumers. Results indicate that alcohol-related problems are considered least serious and widespread in the Chinese community and considerably more serious in the Latin American and Indo-Pakistani communities. Family difficulties present themselves in all communities as both possible causes and major consequences of alcohol misuse. Finally, implications for developing culturally responsive prevention programs are drawn.

Prevalence of Giardia spp. in beaver and muskrat populations in northeastern states and Minnesota: detection of intestinal trophozoites at necropsy provides greater sensitivity than detection of cysts in fecal samples.

Surveys of the prevalence of the intestinal protozoan Giardia spp. in animal populations have relied almost exclusively on the detection of cysts in fecal samples. We have determined the prevalence of Giardia spp. in beaver and muskrat populations in four northeastern states and Minnesota by using both the detection of trophozoites in mucosal scrapings from live-trapped animals at necropsy and the detection of cysts in fecal samples collected from kill-trapped animals. In muskrats the prevalence of Giardia infection was 36.6% by cyst detection in fecal samples (n = 790) from kill-trapped animals and 95.9% in live-trapped muskrats when the intestinal contents were analyzed for the presence of trophozoites (n = 219). Similarly, in beavers, Giardia infection was 9.2% by cyst detection in fecal samples (n = 662) from kill-trapped beavers and 13.7% in live-trapped animals examined for the presence of intestinal trophozoites (n = 302). The detection of trophozoites in mucosal scrapings from live-trapped animals consistently yielded a significantly higher prevalence for both muskrats and beavers than did the method based on detection of cysts in the fecal samples. The prevalence of Giardia infection in juvenile and adult live-trapped muskrats was similar (92.5 and 94.4%, respectively), but the prevalence in juvenile live-trapped beavers (23.2%) was significantly greater than that seen in the adult animals (12.6%). No difference in Giardia prevalence on the basis of sex was seen in either animal species. Regional variation, often statistically significant, was seen in the prevalence of Giardia in beavers in the northeastern states and Minnesota, but was not detected for muskrats.

Cross-species transmission of Giardia spp.: inoculation of beavers and muskrats with cysts of human, beaver, mouse, and muskrat origin.

Giardia cysts isolated from humans, beavers, mice, and muskrats were tested in cross-species transmission experiments for their ability to infect either beavers or muskrats. Giardia cysts, derived from multiple symptomatic human donors and used for inoculation of beavers or muskrats, were shown to be viable by incorporation of fluorogenic dyes, excystation, and their ability to produce infections in the Mongolian gerbil model. Inoculation of beavers with 5 x 10(5) Giardia lamblia cysts resulted in the infection of 75% of the animals (n = 8), as judged by the presence of fecal cysts or intestinal trophozoites at necropsy. The mean prepatent period was 13.1 days. An infective dose experiment, using 5 x 10(1) to 5 x 10(5) viable G. lamblia cysts collected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, demonstrated that doses of between, less than 50, and less than 500 viable cysts were required to produce infection in beavers. Scanning electron microscopy of beaver small intestine revealed that attachment of G. lamblia trophozoites produced lesions in the microvillous border. Inoculation of muskrats with G. lamblia cysts produced infections when the dose of cysts was equal to or greater than 1.25 x 10(5). The inoculation of beavers with Giardia ondatrae or Giardia muris cysts did not produce any infection; however, the administration to muskrats of Giardia cysts of beaver origin resulted in the infection of 62% of the animals (n = 8), with a prepatent period of 5 days. Our results demonstrated that beavers and muskrats could be infected with Giardia cysts derived from humans, but only by using large numbers of cysts.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Clinical comparison of the threshold-related and single-intensity strategies of the Humphrey Field Analyzer.

The threshold-related, eccentricity-compensated strategy was compared to the single-intensity strategy using a minimal test point distribution. Forty-two eyes known to be free of any visual field defect and 44 eyes with documented defects were tested with each screening strategy. The threshold-related, eccentricity-compensated strategy yielded a slightly poorer sensitivity (84.4%) and specificity (97.6%) than the single-intensity sensitivity (90.9%) and specificity (100%). An explanation for this decreased sensitivity is offered. The 40-point test was useful for some general screening. Recommendations are made for appropriate utilization and interpretation.

Production of viable Giardia cysts in vitro: determination by fluorogenic dye staining, excystation, and animal infectivity in the mouse and Mongolian gerbil.

The purpose of this research was to document the formation of viable Giardia cysts in vitro. Viability staining, using fluorogenic dyes that required metabolic conversion for detection, and immunocytochemistry at the light microscopic level provided information on viability and for the identification of formed in vitro. Analysis of cysts formed in vivo and in vitro showed similar morphologic appearances by both light and electron microscopy. Cysts formed in vitro were capable of establishing infections in both mouse and gerbil models for giardiasis. Trophozoites obtained from mice experimentally infected with in vitro-formed cysts could be maintained in culture and induced a second time to form cysts in vitro. This model for the production of viable Giardia cysts in vitro should facilitate research on controlling the complete life cycle of Giardia outside an animal host.

Characterization of the amine oxidase involved in the growth of Trichosporon cutaneum X4 on ethylamine as source of carbon, nitrogen and energy.

The amine oxidase from Trichosporon cutaneum X4 grown on ethylamine as carbon, nitrogen and energy source was purified to near homogeneity. The purified enzyme showed the highest resistance to heat of any amine oxidase hitherto characterized from a yeast (half-life at 62 degrees C, 14 min). Measurement of kinetic parameters as a function of carbon chain length showed results typical of a benzylamine oxidase. Both non-denaturing- and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed multiple bands, and dimethyl suberimidate cross-linking studies revealed that the enzyme consisted of multimers of two polypeptide chains of Mr respectively 19,000 and 26,000. The smallest structure to show activity probably contained two of each kind of subunit.

A new type of methylamine oxidase: the sole oxidase produced during growth of Sporobolomyces albo-rubescens on primary alkylamines.

Under conditions known to separate methylamine oxidase from benzylamine oxidase in other yeast strains, only a single oxidase could be detected in Sporobolomyces albo-rubescens. This occurred irrespective of whether methylamine or n-butylamine was the nitrogen source for growth. The oxidase did not attack benzylamine. It was concluded that this organism can only produce a methylamine oxidase. The enzyme was purified to 90% homogeneity and found to have properties significantly different from the methylamine oxidases previously characterised. It lost only 40% of its activity in 30 min at 45 degrees C, whereas methylamine oxidases previously described had half-lives of from 2 to 9 min at 45 degrees C. It showed also a lower activity with short chain 1-aminoalkanes and a higher activity with longer chain 1-aminoalkanes than other methylamine oxidases, and had a significantly smaller subunit molecular weight (57,000 compared with 80,000).