[Spontaneous reposition of a hip prosthesis after atraumatic dislocation]. / Spontanreposition einer Hüft-TEP nach atraumatischer Luxation.

Traumatic dislocations of a hip prosthesis are not uncommon, and spontaneous repositions are well documented as well. To the best of our knowledge, however, there has been no report of a spontaneous reposition of a dislocated hip prosthesis head on the stem taper. We present such a rare case.

"White men can't jump." But can they throw? Social perception in European basketball.

In the present article, we investigate the influence of sociocultural stereotypes on the impression formation of basketball players and coaches. In Experiment 1 (n = 32), participants were shown a picture of a black or white basketball player prior to observation of a point-light video of a player executing a basketball free throw. The participant was informed that the player depicted in the picture was executing the free throw. Results indicated that ethnicity of the target player significantly influenced participant evaluations, demonstrating specific stereotypes about black and white basketball players when evaluating performance. In Experiment 2 (n = 30), results derived from the Implicit Association Test indicated that black players are implicitly associated with athletic player attributes. The results are in line with social schema theory and demonstrate that - similar to findings that have been reported in the United States - a subpopulation of German basketball players and coaches hold specific stereotypes about the abilities of black and white basketball athletes. These stereotypes bias impression formation when coaches and players make assessments of basketball performance.

Statistical modelling of gaze behaviour as categorical time series: what you should watch to save soccer penalties.

Previous research on gaze behaviour in sport has typically reported summary fixation statistics thereby largely ignoring the temporal sequencing of gaze. In the present study on penalty kicking in soccer, our aim was to apply a Markov chain modelling method to eye movement data obtained from goalkeepers. Building on the discrete analysis of gaze employed by Dicks et al. (Atten Percept Psychophys 72(3):706-720, 2010b), we wanted to statistically model the relative probabilities of the goalkeeper's gaze being directed to different locations throughout the penalty taker's approach (Dicks et al. in Atten Percept Psychophys 72(3):706-720, 2010b). Examination of gaze behaviours under in situ and video-simulation task constraints reveals differences in information pickup for perception and action (Attention, Perception and Psychophysics 72(3), 706-720). The probabilities of fixating anatomical locations of the penalty taker were high under simulated movement response conditions. In contrast, when actually required to intercept kicks, the goalkeepers initially favoured watching the penalty taker's head but then rapidly shifted focus directly to the ball for approximately the final second prior to foot-ball contact. The increased spatio-temporal demands of in situ interceptive actions over laboratory-based simulated actions lead to different visual search strategies being used. When eye movement data are modelled as time series, it is possible to discern subtle but important behavioural characteristics that are less apparent with discrete summary statistics alone.

New candidate vaccines against blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum malaria: prime-boost immunization regimens incorporating human and simian adenoviral vectors and poxviral vectors expressing an optimized antigen based on merozoite surface protein 1.

Although merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-1) is a leading candidate vaccine antigen for blood-stage malaria, its efficacy in clinical trials has been limited in part by antigenic polymorphism and potentially by the inability of protein-in-adjuvant vaccines to induce strong cellular immunity. Here we report the design of novel vectored Plasmodium falciparum vaccines capable of overcoming such limitations. We optimized an antigenic insert comprising the four conserved blocks of MSP-1 fused to tandemly arranged sequences that represent both allelic forms of the dimorphic 42-kDa C-terminal region. Inserts were expressed by adenoviral and poxviral vectors and employed in heterologous prime-boost regimens. Simian adenoviral vectors were used in an effort to circumvent preexisting immunity to human adenoviruses. In preclinical studies these vaccines induced potent cellular immune responses and high-titer antibodies directed against MSP-1. The antibodies induced were found to have growth-inhibitory activity against dimorphic allelic families of P. falciparum. These vectored vaccines should allow assessment in humans of the safety and efficacy of inducing strong cellular as well as cross-strain humoral immunity to P. falciparum MSP-1.

Significant plastic accumulation on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia.

For over 60 years, our oceans have been a reservoir for exponentially increasing amounts of plastic waste. Plastic has been documented at all levels of the marine food web, from the deepest oceanic trenches to the most far-flung beaches. Here, we present data on the presence of significant quantities of plastic on the remote Cocos (Keeling) Island group, located 2,100 km off the northwest coast of Australia. From our comprehensive surveys of debris on the beach surface, buried, and beach-back vegetation, we estimate there are 414 million anthropogenic debris items, weighing 238 tonnes, currently deposited on the Cocos (Keeling) Island group. Of the identifiable items, ~25% were classified as disposable plastics, including straws, bags, and toothbrushes. Debris buried up to 10 cm below the surface is estimated to account for 93% (~383 million items) of all debris present on Cocos, the majority of which (~60%) is comprised of micro-debris (2-5 mm). In the absence of meaningful change, debris will accumulate rapidly on the world's beaches. Small, buried items pose considerable challenges for wildlife, and volunteers charged with the task of cleaning-up, thus preventing new items from entering the ocean remains key to addressing this issue.

A test of the catecholamines hypothesis for an acute exercise-cognition interaction.

The purpose of the study was to examine the usage of norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) in the brain when exercising while simultaneously undertaking cognitive tests. Plasma concentrations of the NE metabolite 3-methoxy 4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) and the DA metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA) showed a linear increase from rest to exercising at 40% and 80% maximum power output (W.max) while simultaneously undertaking cognitive tasks (random number generation (RNG) and response time). Delta plasma concentrations of MHPG and HVA at each exercise intensity while undertaking cognitive tasks and while exercising without cognitive tasks did not differ. Taking blood samples at 0, 1, 3, and 5 min following cessation of exercise did not affect results. Regression correlations showed that delta MHPG and HVA plasma concentrations at the 1 and 3 min sampling times were strong predictors of delta RNG, response time and movement time. Reaction time at 80% W.max significantly increased, while movement time at 80% W.max significantly decreased. It was concluded that these results provide no support for a direct effect of increased catecholamines concentrations on cognitive performance during exercise. The regression data suggest that there is some relationship between exercise, catecholamines concentrations and cognition.

Creatine supplementation, sleep deprivation, cortisol, melatonin and behavior.

The effect of creatine supplementation and sleep deprivation, with intermittent moderate-intensity exercise, on cognitive and psychomotor performance, mood state, effort and salivary concentrations of cortisol and melatonin were examined. Subjects were divided into a creatine supplementation group and a placebo group. They took 5 g of creatine monohydrate or a placebo, dependent on their group, four times a day for 7 days immediately prior to the experiment. They undertook tests examining central executive functioning, short-term memory, choice reaction time, balance, mood state and effort at baseline and following 18-, 24- and 36-h sleep deprivation, with moderate intermittent exercise. Saliva samples were taken prior to each set of tests. A group x time analysis of covariance, with baseline performance the covariate, showed that the creatine group performed significantly (p < 0.05) better than the placebo group on the central executive task but only at 36 h. The creatine group demonstrated a significant (p < 0.01) linear improvement in performance of the central executive task throughout the experiment, while the placebo group showed no significant effects. There were no significant differences between the groups for any of the other variables. A significant (p < 0.001) main effect of time was found for the balance test with a linear improvement being registered. Cortisol concentrations on Day 1 were significantly (p < 0.01) higher than on Day 2. Mood significantly (p < 0.001) deteriorated up to 24 h with no change from 24 to 36 h. Effort at baseline was significantly (p < 0.01) lower than in the other conditions. It was concluded that, during sleep deprivation with moderate-intensity exercise, creatine supplementation only affects performance of complex central executive tasks.

Improvement of BCG protective efficacy with a novel chimpanzee adenovirus and a modified vaccinia Ankara virus both expressing Ag85A.

A replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus expressing Ag85A (ChAdOx1.85A) was assessed, both alone and in combination with modified vaccinia Ankara also expressing Ag85A (MVA85A), for its immunogenicity and protective efficacy against a Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) challenge in mice. Naïve and BCG-primed mice were vaccinated or boosted with ChAdOx1.85A and MVA85A in different combinations. Although intranasally administered ChAdOx1.85A induced strong immune responses in the lungs, it failed to consistently protect against aerosol M.tb challenge. In contrast, ChAdOx1.85A followed by MVA85A administered either mucosally or systemically, induced strong immune responses and was able to improve the protective efficacy of BCG. This vaccination regime has consistently shown superior protection over BCG alone and should be evaluated further.

Visual strategies of sub-elite cricket batsmen in response to different ball velocities.

When different interceptive skills are considered, humans tend not to pursuit track the approaching object along its entire trajectory to the point of interception. Previous research of cricket batsmen facing medium paced deliveries reported pursuit visual tracking of the ball for the first 100-150 ms of flight followed by a saccade to the predicted ball bounce location. The aim of this study was to examine eye movements of batsmen while facing a range of slow to medium pace delivery speeds. Thirteen sub-elite batsmen faced 36 deliveries from a ball machine in which the projection speed was randomly varied across a range of 17-25 ms(-1). The foveal gaze of the batsmen was recorded with a monocular eye movement registration system. Gaze strategies differed between participants in several ways, i.e., in the initial location of gaze prior to delivery (on the outlet of the ball machine or "parked" at a location on the predicted flight trajectory), the behavior immediately after ball release (pursuit tracking or saccade), and the behavior in mid-late flight (predictive saccade to the bounce point or "parafoveal" pursuit tracking). Across the range of delivery speeds used in the current study, it was possible to pursuit track the ball from release to bounce point but it was also possible to choose to make saccades along the trajectory. Depending on the spatio-temporal demands of the task and the intentions of the batsman a range of visual search strategies can be employed to support their actions.