Search

This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 enforced prolonged training disruption and shortened competitive season, on in-season injury and illness rates. Injury incidence and percent proportion was calculated for the 2020 elite men’s senior domestic cricket season and compared to a historical average from five previous regular seasons (2015 to 2019 inclusive). The injury profile for the shortened 2020 season was generally equivalent to what would be expected in a regular season, except for a significant increase in medical illness as a proportion of time loss (17% compared to historic average of 6%) and in-season days lost (9% compared to historic average of 3%) due to COVID-19 related instances (most notably precautionary isolation due to contact with a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case). There was a significant increase in the proportion of in-season days lost to thigh injuries (24% compared to 9%) and a significant decrease in the proportion of days lost to hand (4% compared to 12%) and lumbar spine (7% compared to 21%) injuries. These findings enhance understanding of the impact prolonged period of training disruption and shortened season can have on cricket injuries and the challenges faced by practitioners under such circumstances.

Objectives: Describe hamstring injury incidence across competition formats, activity at time of injury, and time of season, facilitating the identification of injury risk factors in elite men's senior First-Class County Cricket. Design: Prospective cohort. Methods: Hamstring time loss injury incidence (between format, activity, and time of season) calculated for elite men's senior First-Class County Cricket seasons 2010 to 2019. Results: The diagnosis with the highest seasonal incidence was ‘Biceps femoris strain grade 1–2’ (2.5 injuries/100 players). Hamstring injury incidence was highest in One-Day cricket (mean 27.2 injuries/1000 team days). Running between wickets when batting was the activity associated with the highest incidence in the shorter competition formats (8.4 and 4.8 injuries/1000 team days for One-Day and T20, respectively). Bowling delivery stride or follow through was the activity with the highest incidence for longer multi-day Test format (mean 2.3 injuries/1000 team days), although similar incidence was observed across all formats for this activity. Most injuries were sustained at the start of the season (April; 22.7 injuries/1000 team days), with significantly fewer injuries at end of the season (September; 4.1 injuries/1000 team days). Conclusions: Similar bowling injury incidence across formats suggests hamstring injury risk is associated more with the activity itself, whereas injury risk when batting was susceptible to changes in match intensity. The notably higher (albeit non-significant) incidence in April may allude to a lack of preparedness to meet the physical demands of the start of the season. The findings have practical relevance for practitioners, identifying potential opportunities for preventative strategies.

There is limited literature about how to best “do” community involvement in research and no one model of community involvement in research that has been shown to be more effective than others. This paper presents one way to receive the input of people with experiences relevant to research with marginalised groups, including people who use and inject drugs. The UNSW Community Reference Panel is a virtual network of people from across Australia who are engaged to provide input and consultation on research design, processes, materials, and outputs. Although this panel goes some way towards community involvement and consultation in the research process, it does not take the place of other aspects of community governance and ownership, especially as informed by principles of research with Indigenous peoples. This model is an example of a means to bring the voices and perspectives of people who are generally excluded from the research and decision-making structures that affect their lives, including people who inject drugs, to influence the questions that are asked in research, how research gets done, and to what purpose research findings are put.

Objectives This study primarily aimed to explore injury incidence rates in the three main domestic competition formats in England and Wales (First-Class, One-Day and Twenty20 [T20]). For the first time, the study also describes the epidemiology of elite men’s domestic cricket injuries across nine seasons (2010–2018 inclusive). Design Prospective cohort analysis. Methods Injury incidence and prevalence from all injuries calculated according to the updated international consensus statement on injury surveillance in cricket, with statistical process control charts (SPC) used to detect trends in the data. Results The average match injury incidence was 102 injuries/1000 days of play, with highest incidence in One-Day (254 injuries/1000 days of play), followed by T20 (136 injuries/1000 days of play) and First-Class Cricket (68 injuries/1000 days of play). Most match injuries were sustained during bowling (41.6 injuries/1000 days of play), followed by fielding (26.8 injuries/1000 days of play) and batting (22.3 injuries/1000 days of play). The thigh was the body area most commonly injured (7.4 injuries/100 players per season), with lumbar spine injuries the most prevalent (1.3% of players unavailable on any given day during the season). On average, 7.5% of players were unavailable on any given day during the domestic season when all injuries were considered (match and training). The SPC charts showed relatively consistent match injury incidence for all competitions, reproduced across all nine seasons. Conclusion These findings provide a robust empirical base for the extent of the injury problem in domestic cricket played in England and Wales, with similar injury profiles across the three formats.

Three multimaterial support structures were designed and built to support 200 mm (8 in.) diameter “surrogate” mirrors for the deployable optical telescope (DOT) ground experiment at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/VS). A “spider-truss” structure was selected for its stiffness. Materials used included “Invar” alloy and AS4-epoxy composite rods manufactured by the “pultrusion” process, for their low thermal expansion coefficients, and aluminum for its machinability and low density. The composite rods were pultruded at AFRL/VS, and their coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) were determined by a laser interferometry method. Finite-element method (FEM) analysis of the vibration modes of the structure was conducted to determine the optimum selection of materials. FEM analyses were also used to determine the mirror surface figure errors caused by ±5°C temperature fluctuation, as a function of the materials chosen. The paper discusses the rationale for the materials selection and design issues.

Background: Operative mortality is comparatively higher for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or valve reoperations. Studies of reoperative risk have focussed on surgical techniques. We sought to determine the risk and predictors of poor outcome in current practice, and theinfluenceofpreoperativesymptoms.Method:For everyredopatient(n = 289),weselectedthebest-matchedpairof patientswhounderwent a primary operation (n = 578) between 1998 and 2006. Matching variables were age, gender, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and type of operation. Poor outcome was defined as operative mortality or major morbidity. Result:Median age was 68 (interquartile range 62—73) years and 28%werefemaleforbothgroups.Severesymptomsandcardiacmorbiditydominatedthepresentation ofredopatients.CABG(53%),valverepair/ replacement (34%) and combined CABG and valve (12%) were performed with overall operative mortality of 6.6% (median additive EuroScore 7.0) for redo versus 1.6% (median additive EuroScore 4.0) for primary groups (p < .0001). Whereas no significant difference was observed between primary (1.6%) and redo CABG (3.9%, p = .19), valve reoperations had higher operative mortality (9.6% vs 1.5%, p < .0001). Major complications occurred more frequently after redo valve compared to primary valve operations (28% vs 14%, p = .001). Reoperation (odds ratio [OR] 1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66—2.42, p = .48) was not a predictor of major adverse event after CABG or valve surgery. Determinants of poor outcome after valve reoperations were New York Heart Association class III/IV (OR 6.86, 95% CI 2.29—12.11, p = .03), duration of extracorporeal circulation (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.02—1.35, p = .03) and mitral valve replacement (OR 4.07, 95% CI 1.83—36.01, p = .04). The predictors of major adverse events after redo CABG were congestive heart failure (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.04—8.98, p = .006) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR 17.5, 95% CI 1.87—35.21, p = .05) and interval from prior surgery (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.09—1.92, p = .01). Conclusion: In the current era, redo CABG is nearly as safe as the primary operation. A valve reoperation, on the contrary, is higher risk due, partly, to severe symptoms at presentation. Patients should be referred and operated on early before they develop severe symptoms. # 2007 European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In many active noise control applications, it is necessary that acoustic actuators be mounted in small enclosures due to volume constraints and in order to remain unobtrusive. However, the air spring of the enclosure is detrimental to the low-frequency performance of the actuator. For launch vehicle noise control applications, mass and volume constraints are very limiting, but the low-frequency performance of the actuator is critical. This work presents a novel approach that uses a nonlinear buckling suspension system and partial evacuation of the air within the enclosure to yield a compact, sealed acoustic driver that exhibits a very low natural frequency. Linear models of the device are presented and numerical simulations are given to illustrate the advantages of this design concept. An experimental prototype was built and measurements indicate that this design can significantly improve the low-frequency response of compact acoustic actuators.

Background: Patients presenting for cardiac surgery are often treated with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), either for heart failure or hypertension. Control of systemic vascular resistance (SVR) during surgery can be difficult in such patients. Angiotensin II has been available as an unlicensed vasoconstrictor, but there is concern about renal damage and its use. Aim: This study compared a standard vasoconstrictor with angiotensin II and examined the effect on renal function after cardiac surgery. Method: Twenty consecutive, consenting patients scheduled for cardiac surgery that had been taking ACEIs for at least 6 months, were randomly assigned to receive either phenylephrine or angiotensin II for the control of SVR during and for 24 h after cardiac surgery. A pulmonary artery catheter was used to guide therapy. Creatinine clearance was measured before, 24 and 48 h after surgery. Results: Low SVR and blood pressure requiring intervention was seen in all patients, particularly during cardiopulmonary bypass. One patient in the control group failed to respond to P, but responded normally to angiotensin II. Neither drug caused renal impairment. Conclusion: Angiotensin II is a safe alternative to phenylephrine in patients on ACEIs and should be considered in patients who fail to respond to conventional vasoconstrictors.

Total field magnetometer sensors, such as those of the optically-pumped cesium vapour variety, are not conventionally used in electrical geophysics. Exceptions to this are Sub-Audio Magnetics (SAM) surveys, carried out with such a sensor typically moving and measuring magnetic fields continuously at sample rates of 1 - 4 kHz. At the very low base frequencies (often below 1 Hz) used in EM surveys for highly conductive targets in very conductive terrain, cesium vapour magnetometers have an instrument noise level which is superior to almost all sensor types. This is an important issue for the detection and discrimination of highly conductive targets and can accelerate data acquisition.

Launch acoustic and vibration loads have the potential to damage sensitive payloads within a payload fairing, often requiring more structural mass to withstand these loads than would otherwise be necessary to survive launch. Experiments demonstrating several vibro‐acoustic mitigation technologies developed by AFRL/VS and its contractors flew on the Vibro‐Acoustic Launch Protection Experiment 2 (VALPE‐2) aboard a Terrier‐Improved Orion sounding rocket from Wallops Island Flight Facility in August 2003. Flight data collected in November 2002 from a nearly identical launch (VALPE‐1) was used to characterize the fairing environment for comparison. Preparations for the flight experiments are discussed along with the performance of the various experiments in flight. The several experiments include an Adaptive Vibro‐Acoustic Device (AVAD) to mitigate acoustic loads, an active/passive hybrid vibration isolation system using voice‐coil actuation and a ShockRing passive component, a voice‐coil regenerative electronics vibration isolation system to absorb a portion of the vibration energy during launch and use it to power an active isolation system during a staging event, and a ChamberCore composite fairing with implications for passive acoustic performance.