Baseline concussion assessment performance by sex in military service academy rugby players: findings from the CARE Consortium.

BACKGROUND: Normative student-athlete concussion assessment data may not be appropriate for service academy members (SAMs), particularly rugby players, because of the uniqueness of their academic/military training environment. Having accurate baseline data for this population is important because of their high risk for concussion and frequent lack of assigned sports medicine professional. The primary purpose of this study was to characterise baseline performance on a concussion assessment battery, with secondary purpose to determine effect of sex and concussion history on these measures among SAM rugby players. METHODS: 601 rugby-playing SAMs (19.3±1.5 years, 37.9% female) completed baseline concussion assessments: the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) Symptom and Symptom Severity Checklist, Standard Assessment of Concussion (SAC) and a neuropsychological test (either ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) or ANAM (Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics)). Groups were compared using an independent samples t-test or Mann-Whitney U test. A 2 (sex) × 2 (concussion history) ANOVA was conducted to determine the effects of sex and concussion history on outcomes. RESULTS: Women reported greater SCAT total symptoms (3.3 vs 2.8, p<0.001, r=0.143) and symptom severities (5.7 vs 4.3, p<0.001, r=0.139), and performed worse on ImPACT Visual Memory (79.3 vs 82.6, p=0.002, r=0.144) than men. Women performed better than men on SAC (28.0 vs 27.7, p=0.03, r=0.088), ImPACT Reaction Time Composite (0.59 vs 0.61, p=0.04, r=0.092) and ANAM Code Substitution Delayed (64.3 vs 61.5, p=0.04, d=0.433). Individuals with a history of concussion reported lower ImPACT Symptom Severity (2.6 vs 4.2, p=0.02, r=0.110). There was no interaction between concussion history and sex on outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide reference data for SAM rugby players on baseline assessments and to help in clinical decision-making when managing sports-related concussion in absence of baseline data.

Investigation of the validity and reliability of four objective techniques for measuring forward shoulder posture.

Clinicians often rely on visual inspection and descriptive terms to documents a patient's forward shoulder posture. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and intrarater reliability of four objective techniques to measure forward shoulder posture. Subjects were 25 males and 24 females. Subjects had a lateral cervical spine radiograph taken, from which the horizontal distance from the C7 spinous process to the anterior tip of the left anterior acromion process was measured. Subjects then proceeded twice through a random order of four measurements: the Baylor square, the double square, the Sahrmann technique, and scapular position. These results were then used to determine the intrarater reliability of each technique. Multiple regression analyses were performed on each measure's mean scores to determine both the correlation with and the predictive value for the radiographic measurement. The intraclass correlation coefficients for intrarater reliability ranged from .89 to .91. The correlation coefficients ranged from -.33 to .77, and the coefficients of determination ranged from .10 to .59 (N = 49). The researchers demonstrated clinical reliability for each technique; however, validity compared with the radiographic measurement could not be established. These techniques may have clinical value in objectively measuring change in a patient's shoulder posture as a result of a treatment program. Before any of these measures could be universally recommended in clinical practice, future research is necessary to establish interrater reliability and assess each technique's ability to detect postural changes over time.

Conformational stability of CH3CH2PH2BH3 from temperature dependent FT-IR spectra of xenon solutions and r0 structural parameters.

Variable temperature (-55--100 degrees C) studies of the infrared spectra (3500-400 cm(-1)) of ethylphosphine-borane, CH3CH2PH2BH3, and ethylphosphine-borane-d5 dissolved in liquid xenon have been recorded. From these data, the enthalpy difference has been determined to be 86 +/- 8 cm(-1) (1.03 +/- 0.10 kJ/mol), with the trans conformer the more stable rotamer. Complete vibrational assignments are presented for both conformers, which are consistent with the predicted frequencies obtained from the ab initio MP2/6-31G(d) calculations. The optimized geometries, conformational stabilities, harmonic force fields, infrared intensities, Raman activities, and depolarization ratios have been obtained from RHF/6-31G(d) and/or MP2/6-31G(d) ab initio calculations. These quantities are compared to the corresponding experimental quantities when appropriate as well as with some corresponding results for some similar molecules. The r0 structural parameters have been obtained from a combination of the previously reported microwave rotational constants and ab initio predicted parameters.