Indices of physical fitness in rhythmic gymnastics athletes / índices de aptidão física nos atletas de ginástica rítmica / índices de aptitud física en atletas de gimnasia rítmica

ABSTRACT Introduction: Rhythmic gymnastics uses the body as a tool for expression and choreographed beauty. Athletes use various body movements and beautiful voices to create a competitive sport that combines technology and art. This high-level sports performance set results from much targeted fitness training. Yet, the sport lacks research relating fitness to the difficulties of the new rules. Objective: This paper explores the choreographic differences in rhythmic gymnastics under the current rules. The differences in athletes' body fitness are also evaluated. Methods: The fitness indices of 120 rhythmic gymnasts were evaluated by a developed method encompassing the upper body, trunk and lower limbs. A general analysis of the movement organization characteristics of Chinese rhythmic gymnasts was also performed. Armed with these data, the mathematical statistics method was adopted to conduct empirical research. results: The 10-second long jump, standing jump, lifting, plank, and other 10-s performances in elite athletes were significantly more expressive than those in ordinary athletes (P<0.01). In the lifting test, elite athletes were significantly better than ordinary athletes (P<0.01). There was a significant difference between elite and ordinary athletes in the plank stand (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the remaining individual scores. Conclusion: The critical period of the upper limb development of rhythmic gymnasts is significantly lagged compared to the lower limbs. The artistic arrangement of rhythmic gymnastics is fundamental to its good presentation. The innovations and diversified changes evidenced an advance in rhythmic gymnastics that athletes must absorb to achieve better competitive results. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: A ginástica rítmica utiliza o corpo como uma ferramenta de expressão e beleza coreografada. Os atletas utilizam vários movimentos corporais e belas vozes para criar um esporte de competição que combina tecnologia e arte. Esse conjunto de desempenho esportivo de alto nível é resultado de muito treinamento de aptidão física direcionado. Ainda assim, o esporte carece de pesquisas relacionando a aptidão física às dificuldades das novas regras vigentes. Objetivo: Este artigo explora as diferenças coreográficas da ginástica rítmica sob as diferentes regras atuais. As diferenças na aptidão física corporal dos atletas também são avaliadas. Métodos: Os índices de aptidão física de 120 ginastas rítmicos foram avaliados por um método desenvolvido que englobou a parte superior do corpo, o tronco e os membros inferiores. Também se efetuou uma análise geral das características de organização do movimento dos ginastas rítmicos chineses. Munidos desses dados, adotou-se o método de estatística matemática para realizar pesquisas empíricas. Resultados: Os 10 segundos de salto em distância, salto em pé, elevações, prancha e outros 10-s de desempenho nos atletas de elite foram significativamente mais expressivos do que nos dos atletas comuns (P<0,01). No teste de elevação, os atletas de elite foram significativamente melhores do que os atletas comuns (P<0,01). Houve uma diferença significativa entre atletas de elite e atletas comuns no suporte de prancha (P<0,05). Não houve diferença significativa nas pontuações individuais restantes. Conclusão: O período crítico do desenvolvimento dos membros superiores dos ginastas rítmicos está significativamente defasado em comparação com os membros inferiores. O arranjo artístico da ginástica rítmica demonstrou-se fundamental para a sua boa apresentação. As inovações e mudanças diversificadas evidenciaram um avanço na ginástica rítmica que deve ser absorvido pelos esportistas visando melhores resultados competitivos. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: La gimnasia rítmica utiliza el cuerpo como herramienta de expresión y belleza coreográfica. Los atletas utilizan diversos movimientos corporales y bellas voces para crear un deporte de competición que combina tecnología y arte. Este conjunto de rendimiento deportivo de alto nivel es el resultado de un entrenamiento físico muy específico. Sin embargo, el deporte carece de investigaciones que relacionen la aptitud con las dificultades de las nuevas normas vigentes. Objetivo: Este trabajo explora las diferencias coreográficas en la gimnasia rítmica bajo las diferentes reglas actuales. También se evalúan las diferencias en el estado físico de los atletas. Métodos: Se evaluaron los índices de aptitud física de 120 gimnastas rítmicas mediante un método desarrollado que abarcaba la parte superior del cuerpo, el tronco y las extremidades inferiores. También se realizó un análisis general de las características de organización del movimiento de las gimnastas rítmicas chinas. Con estos datos, se adoptó el método de la estadística matemática para realizar la investigación empírica. Resultados: Los 10 segundos de salto de longitud, salto de pie, levantamiento, plancha y otros 10 segundos de rendimiento en los atletas de élite fueron significativamente más expresivos que los de los atletas ordinarios (P<0,01). En la prueba de levantamiento, los atletas de élite fueron significativamente mejores que los ordinarios (P<0,01). Hubo una diferencia significativa entre los atletas de élite y los atletas ordinarios en el soporte de la tabla (P<0,05). No hubo diferencias significativas en el resto de las puntuaciones individuales. Conclusión: El periodo crítico del desarrollo de las extremidades superiores de las gimnastas rítmicas está significativamente retrasado en comparación con las extremidades inferiores. La disposición artística de la gimnasia rítmica resultó fundamental para su buena presentación. Las innovaciones y los cambios diversificados evidenciaron un avance en la gimnasia rítmica que debe ser absorbido por los atletas que aspiran a obtener mejores resultados competitivos. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Post-liver transplant outcomes in patients with major psychiatric diagnosis in the United States.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Higher rates of psychiatric disorders are reported among cirrhotic patients. This study examines the demographic and clinical outcomes post-liver transplant (LT) among cirrhotic patients with a major psychiatric diagnosis (cases) compared to those without psychiatric diagnosis (controls). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective case control design was used among 189 cirrhotic patients who had undergone LT at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute, Memphis, TN between January 2006 and December 2014. Multivariable regression and Cox proportional hazard regression were conducted to compare allograft loss and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: The study sample consisted of a matched cohort of 95 cases and 94 controls with LT. Females and those with Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) were more likely to have psychiatric diagnosis. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were twice as likely to have allograft loss. Psychiatric patients with HCC had two and a half times (HR 2.54; 95% CI: 1.20-5.37; p = 0.015) likelihood of all-cause mortality. Data censored at 1-year post-LT revealed that patients with psychiatric diagnosis have a three to four times higher hazard for allograft loss and all-cause mortality compared to controls after adjusting for covariates, whereas when the data is censored at 5 year, allograft loss and all-cause mortality have two times higher hazard ratio. CONCLUSIONS: The Cox proportional hazard regression analysis of censored data at 1 and 5 year indicate higher allograft loss and all-cause mortality among LT patients with psychiatric diagnosis. Patients with well-controlled psychiatric disorders who undergo LT need close monitoring and medication adherence.

New model predicting gastroesophageal varices and variceal hemorrhage in patients with chronic liver disease.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The predictors for gastroesophageal varices (GOV) and hemorrhage development have not been well studied in different liver diseases or different population. This study aimed to evaluate whether a new algorithm focusing on chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients is also applicable to other chronic liver diseases (CLDs) in Chinese population. PATIENTS OR MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 659 CHB patients and 386 patients with other CLDs. A total of 439 CHB patients were included in training set, the other 220 CHB patients and other patients with CLDs were included in validation set. A new algorithm for diagnosing GOV was established and its sensitivity and specificity for predicting the varices was verified. RESULTS: Multivariable logistic regression revealed that the rough surface of the liver (p<0.001), splenic thickness (p<0.001), and liver stiffness (p=0.006) were independent predictors of GOV. The new algorithm was considered to be a reliable diagnostic model to evaluate the presence of varices. The AUROC was 0.94 (p<0.001) in CHB validation set and 0.90 (<0.001) in non-CHB validation set. When the cut-off value was chosen as -1.048, the sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing GOV in CHB population were 89.1% and 82.5%, respectively. Importantly, the new algorithm accurately predicted the variceal hemorrhage not only in CHB patients, but also in patients with other CLDs. CONCLUSION: The new algorithm is regarded as a reliable model to prognosticate varices and variceal hemorrhage, and stratified not only the high-risk CHB patients, but also in patients with other CLDs for developing GOV and variceal bleeding.

Quantum interference in multi-branched molecules: The exact transfer matrix solutions.

We present a transfer matrix formalism for studying quantum interference in a single molecule electronic system with internal branched structures. Based on the Schrödinger equation with the Bethe ansatz and employing Kirchhoff's rule for quantum wires, we derive a general closed-form expression for the transmission and reflection amplitudes of a two-port quantum network. We show that the transport through a molecule with complex internal structures can be reduced to that of a single two-port scattering unit, which contains all the information of the original composite molecule. Our method allows for the calculation of the transmission coefficient for various types of individual molecular modules giving rise to different resonant transport behaviors such as the Breit-Wigner, Fano, and Mach-Zehnder resonances. As an illustration, we first re-derive the transmittance of the Aharonov-Bohm ring, and then we apply our formulation to N identical parity-time (PT)-symmetric potentials, connected in series as well as in parallel. It is shown that the spectral singularities and PT-symmetric transitions of single scattering cells may be observed in coupled systems. Such transitions may occur at the same or distinct values of the critical parameters, depending on the connection modes under which the scattering objects are coupled.

Analysis of risk factors leading to postoperative urethral stricture and bladder neck contracture following transurethral resection of prostate.

PURPOSE: To determine risk factors of postoperative urethral stricture (US) and vesical neck contracture (BNC) after transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) from perioperative parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 373 patients underwent TURP in a Chinese center for lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic obstruction (LUTS/BPO), with their perioperative and follow-up clinical data being collected. Univariate analyses were used to determine variables which had correlation with the incidence of US and BNC before logistic regression being applied to find out independent risk factors. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 29.3 months with the incidence of US and BNC being 7.8% and 5.4% respectively. Resection speed, reduction in hemoglobin (ΔHb) and hematocrit (ΔHCT) levels, incidence of urethral mucosa rupture, re-catheterization and continuous infection had significant correlation with US, while PSA level, storage score, total prostate volume (TPV), transitional zone volume (TZV), transitional zone index (TZI), resection time and resected gland weight had significant correlation with BNC. Lower resection speed (OR=0.48), urethral mucosa rupture (OR=2.44) and continuous infection (OR=1.49) as well as higher storage score (OR=2.51) and lower TPV (OR=0.15) were found to be the independent risk factors of US and BNC respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Lower resection speed, intraoperative urethral mucosa rupture and postoperative continuous infection were associated with a higher risk of US while severer storage phase symptom and smaller prostate size were associated with a higher risk of BNC after TURP.

Analysis of risk factors leading to postoperative urethral stricture and bladder neck contracture following transurethral resection of prostate

ABSTRACT Purpose: To determine risk factors of postoperative urethral stricture (US) and vesical neck contracture (BNC) after transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) from perioperative parameters. Materials and Methods: 373 patients underwent TURP in a Chinese center for lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic obstruction (LUTS/BPO), with their perioperative and follow-up clinical data being collected. Univariate analyses were used to determine variables which had correlation with the incidence of US and BNC before logistic regression being applied to find out independent risk factors. Results: The median follow-up was 29.3 months with the incidence of US and BNC being 7.8% and 5.4% respectively. Resection speed, reduction in hemoglobin (ΔHb) and hematocrit (ΔHCT) levels, incidence of urethral mucosa rupture, re-catheterization and continuous infection had significant correlation with US, while PSA level, storage score, total prostate volume (TPV), transitional zone volume (TZV), transitional zone index (TZI), resection time and resected gland weight had significant correlation with BNC. Lower resection speed (OR=0.48), urethral mucosa rupture (OR=2.44) and continuous infection (OR=1.49) as well as higher storage score (OR=2.51) and lower TPV (OR=0.15) were found to be the independent risk factors of US and BNC respectively. Conclusions: Lower resection speed, intraoperative urethral mucosa rupture and postoperative continuous infection were associated with a higher risk of US while severer storage phase symptom and smaller prostate size were associated with a higher risk of BNC after TURP.

Möbius transformations and electronic transport properties of large disorderless networks.

We show that the key transport states, insulating and conducting, of large regular networks of scatterers can be described generically by negative and zero Lyapunov exponents, respectively, of Möbius maps that relate the scattering matrix of systems with successive sizes. The conductive phase is represented by weakly chaotic attractors that have been linked with anomalous transport and ergodicity breaking. Our conclusions, verified for serial as well as parallel stub and ring structures, reveal that mesoscopic behavior results from a drastic reduction of degrees of freedom.

Association between AA-NAT gene polymorphism and reproductive performance in sheep

Arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) is critical enzyme in Melatonin (MLT) biosynthesis for MLT regulating the animal seasonal breeding. In this study, DNA sequencing methods were applied to detect the polymorphisms of the AA-NAT gene in 179 Chinese sheep belonging to two non-seasonal reproduction breeds and two seasonal reproduction breeds. One mutation at exon 3 (NM_001009461:c.486A > G) was firstly described at the sheep AA-NAT locus. Hence, we described the SmaI PCR-RFLP method for detecting EX3 486A > G mutation, frequencies of the AA-NAT-G allele varied from 0.871 to 0.908 in two non-seasonal reproduction breeds and 0.517 to 0.578 in two seasonal reproduction breeds. The associations of SmaI polymorphism with estrus traits was analyzed in non-seasonal reproduction breeds sheep and seasonal reproduction breeds sheep, the significant statistical results were found between them, the GG genotype frequencies was higher in non-seasonal reproduction breeds (p < 0.001), while, the GA genotype frequencies was higher in seasonal reproduction breeds (p < 0.05). Hence, the EX3 486A > G mutation could facilitate association analysis and serve as a genetic marker for Chinese sheep breeding and genetics.

Periodic precursors of nonlinear dynamical transitions.

We study the resonant response of a nonlinear system to external periodic perturbations. We show by numerical simulation that the periodic resonance curve may anticipate the dynamical instability of the unperturbed nonlinear periodic system, at parameter values far away from the bifurcation points. In the presence of noise, the buried intrinsic periodic dynamics can be picked out by analyzing the system's response to periodic modulation of appropriate intensity.

Noise-induced coherence in bistable systems with multiple time delays.

We study the correlation properties of noise-driven bistable systems with multiple time-delay feedbacks. For small noisy perturbation and feedback magnitude, we derive the autocorrelation function and the power spectrum based on the two-state model with transition rates depending on the earlier states of the system. A comparison between the single and double time delays reveals that the auto correlation functions exhibit exponential decay with small undulation for the double time delays, in contrast with the remarkable oscillatory behavior at small time lags for the single time delay.

Synchronization and symmetry-breaking bifurcations in constructive networks of coupled chaotic oscillators.

The spatiotemporal dynamics of networks based on a ring of coupled oscillators with regular shortcuts beyond the nearest-neighbor couplings is studied by using master stability equations and numerical simulations. The generic criterion for dynamic synchronization has been extended to arbitrary network topologies with zero row-sum. The symmetry-breaking oscillation patterns that resulted from the Hopf bifurcation from synchronous states are analyzed by the symmetry group theory.