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PubMed2004

Active living and injury risk.

The purpose of this study was to get reliable insight into injury risk in various commuting and lifestyle activities, as well as recreational and competitive sports. A cohort of 3 657 persons was randomly selected from the 15- to 74-year-old Finnish population. Ninety-two percent (n = 3 363) of the subjects accepted to participate the one-year follow-up, record all their physical activities that lasted 15 min or more, and register all acute and overuse injuries that occurred during these activities. To collect the information, the study subjects were interviewed by phone by the trained personnel of the Statistics Finland three times in four-month intervals. The individual injury risk per exposure time was relatively low, ranging from 0.19 to 1.5 per 1 000 hours of participation, in commuting and lifestyle activities including walking and cycling to work, gardening, home repair, hunting and fishing, and, in sports such as golf, dancing, swimming, walking, and rowing. The risk was clearly higher in squash, orienteering, and contact and team sports, such as judo, wrestling, karate, rinkball, floorball, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, volleyball, and Finnish baseball ranging from 6.6 to 18.3 per 1 000 hours of participation. However, the highest absolute number of injuries occurred in low-risk activities, such as gardening, walking, home-repair, and cycling, because they are performed so often. In conclusion, individual injury risk per exposure hours is relatively low in commuting and lifestyle activities compared to many recreational and competitive sports. However, at a population level, these low-to-moderate intensity activities are widely practised producing a rather high absolute number of injuries, and thus, preventive efforts are needed in these activities, too.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1998

Relationship between muscle fiber pennation and force generation capability in Olympic athletes.

The thickness (TBmt) and fiber pennation angle (TBpen) of triceps brachii as well as isokinetic force developed during elbow extension were measured in Olympic athletes to investigate the relationship between muscle fiber pennation and force generation capability. The subjects were male members of the 1996 Japanese Olympic team who competed in seven different events; 9 wrestlers, 16 soccer players, 11 sprinters, 5 judo athletes, 7 gymnasts, 9 rowers and 18 baseball players. The TBmt and TBpen, measured by a B-mode ultrasound, ranged between 29 mm and 50 mm and between 11 degrees and 30 degrees, respectively, and on average were larger in the judo athletes, wrestlers and gymnasts compared to the other groups. A significant correlation (r=0.580, p < 0.05) was found between TPpen and TBmt per unit of the upper arm length, and so the observed event-related differences in TBpen tended to reflect the differences in TBmt. The isokinetic forces relative to the cross-sectional area (CSA) estimated from TBmt, measured at two constant velocities of 1.05 rad/s (F1.05/CSA) and 3.14 rad/s (F3.14/ CSA), were negatively correlated to the CSA; r=-0.617 (p < 0.05) for F1.05/CSA and r=-0.635 (p < 0.05) for F3.14/CSA. In addition, low but significant negative correlations existed between TBpen and both F1.05/CSA (r=-0.365, p < 0.05) and F3.14/ CSA (r=-0.336, p <0.05). Even when the effect of TBpen was statistically normalized, the F1.05/CSA and F3.14/CSA were still negatively correlated to the CSA, r=-0.530 (p < 0.05) for F1.05/ CSA and r=-0.561 (p < 0.05) for F3.14/CSA. Therefore, at least in the Olympic athletes tested in this study, the magnitude of the pennation angles reflects muscle size, but it does not seem to be a factor that explains extensively the lower F/CSA in athletes with large muscle size.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Sports injuries of the nervous system].

Almost 1% of all Germans suffer sports injuries each year, almost 5% of all peripheral nerve lesions are due to sports. A review is given on various activities detailing the specific risks for traumata of the central and peripheral nervous system. Specifically these are volleyball, handball, basketball, American football, soccer, bowling, hockey, baseball, tennis, golf, javelin, fencing, wrestling, judo, boxing, running, jumping, dancing, mountain climbing, weight lifting, gymnastics, horse-back riding, swimming, rowing, skiing, skating, shooting, (motor) biking, car racing, flying, and sports for the disabled. The knowledge of typical traumata should enable the neurologist to rapidly and reliably recognize related lesions and to contribute to their prevention or improvement.

Athletic Injuries↗
PubMed1995

Safety in the presence of lightning.

Not enough emphasis is usually placed on the proactive ability to recognize the lightning hazard. Instead, most literature and training materials treat the reactive mode. The latter approach emphasizes the posture to take when a person is caught by surprise in the open by a thunderstorm when the lightning threat is at its greatest; in other words, it is too late for precautions. The same reactive approach concentrates on what a person is wearing or holding when lightning is overhead instead of how the person came to be in this situation in the first place. Rather than focusing on these last-minute factors, the primary issue must be on the ability of a person, whether in a baseball game, riding a bike, or on a golf course, to recognize in advance the existence of a major lightning threat. This proactive approach emphasizes advance planning and recognition of a potential threat from lightning. A complete plan involves a sequence of decisions on a time scale from days to seconds. Although most of the available information in pamphlets and safety guidelines is correct concerning the reactive phase of lightning safety, the hazard remains important because of the lack of emphasis on planning and awareness.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

Successful hand transplantation. One-year follow-up. Louisville Hand Transplant Team.

BACKGROUND: On the basis of positive results in studies of the transplantation of pig extremities and the information exchanged at an international symposium on composite tissue transplantation, we developed a protocol for human hand transplantation. METHODS: After a comprehensive pretransplantation evaluation and informed-consent process, the left hand of a 58-year-old cadaveric donor, matched for size, sex, and skin tone, was transplanted to a 37-year-old man who had lost his dominant left hand 13 years earlier. Immunosuppression consisted of basiliximab for induction therapy and tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone for maintenance therapy. RESULTS: The cold-ischemia time of the donor hand was 310 minutes. There were no intraoperative or early postoperative complications. Moderate acute cellular rejection of the skin of the graft developed 6, 20, and 27 weeks after transplantation. All three episodes resolved completely after treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone and topical tacrolimus and clobetasol. Temperature, pain, and pressure sensation had developed in the hand and fingers by one year. At one year, the patient had regained the ability to perform many functional activities with his left hand that he had not been able to perform with his prosthesis, such as throwing a baseball, turning the pages of a newspaper, writing, and tying his shoelaces. CONCLUSIONS: Early success has been achieved in hand transplantation with the use of currently available immunosuppressive drugs.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Emergency visits for sports-related injuries.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We sought to estimate the effect and magnitude of patients with sports-related injuries presenting to hospital emergency departments in the United States and to examine differences in patient and visit characteristics between sports- and nonsports-related injuries. METHODS: Data from the 1997 and 1998 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a national probabilistic sample of 496 US hospital EDs, were combined to examine emergency visits for sports-related injuries. Data from 16,997 sample ED encounter records for injuries that included narrative cause of injury text were analyzed. Narrative text entries were coded to 1 of 84 sport and recreational activity codes. Sample weights were applied to provide annual national estimates. Estimates of sports-related injury visits were based on 1,775 records with an assigned sports-related activity code. RESULTS: There were an average annual estimated 2.6 million emergency visits for sports-related injuries by persons between the ages of 5 and 24 years. They accounted for over 68% of the total 3.7 million sport injuries presented to the ED by persons of all ages. As a proportion of all kinds of injuries presenting to the ED, sports-related injuries accounted for more than one fifth of the visits by persons 5 to 24 years old. The use rate was 33.9 ED visits per 1,000 persons in this age group (95% confidence interval 30.3 to 37.5). The sports-related injury visit rate for male patients was more than double the rate for female patients (48.2 versus 19.2 per 1,000 persons between 5 and 24 years of age). Visits from sports-related activities for this age group were more frequent for basketball and cycling compared with other categories (eg, baseball, skateboarding, gymnastics). Compared with nonsports-related injuries for this age group, sports-related injuries were more likely to be to the brain or skull and upper and lower extremities. Patients with sports-related injuries were more likely to have a diagnosis of fracture and sprain or strain and less likely to have an open wound. They were also more likely to have diagnostic and therapeutic services provided, especially orthopedic care. CONCLUSION: Sports-related activities by school-age children and young adults produce a significant amount of emergency medical use in the United States. The ED is an appropriate venue to target injury prevention counseling.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Vascular complications in high-performance athletes.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate our experience with the diagnosis and management of vascular injuries in a group of high-performance athletes. METHODS: Between June 1994 and June 2000, we treated 26 patients who sustained vascular complications as a result of athletic competition. Clinical presentation, type of athletic competition, location of injury, type of therapy, and degree of rehabilitation were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 23.8 years (range, 17-40). Twenty-one (81%) patients were men, and five (19%) were women. Athletes included 8 major-league baseball players, 7 football players, 2 world-class cyclists, 2 rock climbers, 2 wind surfers, 1 swimmer, 1 kayaker, 1 weight lifter, 1 marksman, and 1 volleyball player. There were 14 (54%) arterial and 12 (46%) venous complications. Arterial injuries included 7 (50%) axillary/subclavian artery or branch artery aneurysms with secondary embolization, 6 (43%) popliteal artery injuries, and 1 (7%) case of intimal hyperplasia and stenosis involving the external iliac artery. Subclavian vein thrombosis (SVT) accounted for all venous complications. Five of the seven patients with axillary/subclavian branch artery aneurysms required lytic therapy for distal emboli, and six required operative intervention. All popliteal artery injuries were treated by femoropopliteal bypass graft with autogenous saphenous vein. The external iliac artery lesion, which occurred in a cyclist, was repaired with limited resection and vein patch angioplasty. All 12 patients with SVT were treated initially with lytic therapy and anticoagulation. Eight patients required thoracic outlet decompression and venolysis of the subclavian vein. Thirteen arterial reconstructions have remained patent at an average follow-up of 31.9 months (range, 2-74). One patient with a popliteal artery injury required reoperation at 2 months for occlusion of his bypass graft. Eleven of the patients with an arterial injury were able to return to their prior level of competition. All of the patients with SVT have remained stable without further venous thrombosis and have returned to their usual level of activity. CONCLUSIONS: Athletes are susceptible to a variety of vascular injuries that may not be easily recognized. A high level of suspicion, a thorough workup including noninvasive studies and arteriography/venography, and prompt treatment are important for a successful outcome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

How to catch a cricket ball.

A cricket or baseball fielder can run so as to arrive at just the right place at just the right time to catch a ball. It is shown that if the fielder runs so that d2(tan alpha)/dt2 = 0, where alpha is the angle of elevation of gaze from fielder to ball, then the ball will generally be intercepted before it hits the ground. This is true whatever the aerodynamic drag experienced by the ball. The only exception is if the ball is not approaching the fielder before he starts to run.

Attention↗
PubMed2000

Mapping the pathways for O2 entry into and exit from myoglobin.

The effects of mutagenesis on geminate and bimolecular O2 rebinding to 90 mutants at 27 different positions were used to map pathways for ligand movement into and out of sperm whale myoglobin. By analogy to a baseball glove, the protein "catches" and then "holds" incoming ligand molecules long enough to allow bond formation with the iron atom. Opening of the glove occurs by outward movements of the distal histidine (His(64)), and the ligands are trapped in the interior "webbing" of the distal pocket, in the space surrounded by Ile(28), Leu(29), Leu(32), Val(68), and Ile(107). The size of this pocket is a major determinant of the rate of ligand entry into the protein. Immediately after photo- or thermal dissociation, O2 moves away from the iron into this interior pocket. The majority of the dissociated ligands return to the active site and either rebind to the iron atom or escape through the His(64) gate. A fraction of the ligands migrate further away from the heme group into cavities that have been defined as Xe binding sites 4 and 1; however, most of these ligands also return to the distal pocket, and net escape through the interior of wild-type myoglobin is <20-25%.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of personal exposure meter placement for the determination of office worker ELF magnetic field exposures.

This article compares extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic field exposures measured by placing EMDEX Lite personal exposure meters (PEMs) at the head, chest, and waist level for a group of office workers. Twenty-three volunteers were solicited to wear three PEMs simultaneously; one was attached to a baseball cap worn on the head, one was attached to a band and worn around the neck (positioned on the chest), and one was worn in a belted pouch around the waist (positioned on the right side of the hip). The effect of PEM placement was evaluated by comparing full-shift average exposures and daily maximum or peak exposure. The results of this investigation indicate that time-weighted average magnetic field exposures determined at the hip provide the highest mean exposure estimates. Averages of the full-shift mean magnetic field measurements taken at hip and head levels were statistically greater than measurements taken at the chest level by 33 and 22%, respectively. Comparisons of the maximum or peak magnetic field exposures by body position indicate that the hip position produced an average exposure estimate that was 136% greater than the average head-level measurement. Results suggest that for office workers PEM meter placement on the body does not produce large differences in full-shift average ELF magnetic flux density exposures. However, the hip position produced the largest daily maximum or peak exposures. It is recommended that PEMs be placed on the hip for exposure assessments in office environments, because this placement is the most commonly used, the most convenient, and resulted in the highest magnetic field exposures.

Electromagnetic Fields↗
PubMed1985

Skill level, vision, and proprioception in simple one-hand catching.

Two experiments examined the interaction of vision and articular proprioception in simple one-hand catching. In Experiment 1 (N = 18) skilled baseball and softball players used the left and right hands to catch slowly moving tennis balls, while Experiment 2 (N = 16) used novice catchers as subjects. In half the trials, sight of the catching hand was prevented by placing a screen alongside the subjects' face. Results of Experiment 1 revealed that the screen caused minimal disruption of the positioning phase of the catch, with moderate disruption of the grasping phase. However, for the unskilled subjects of Experiment 2, the screen caused considerable disruption of positioning. The data provide only minimal support for Smyth and Marriott' (1982) contention that limb position is inadequately specified by articular proprioception. It is argued that skill level serves as a mediator in the ability to use proprioception for limb positioning, but vision appears necessary to control the precise temporal organization of the grasp phase of one-hand catching.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Evidence of a reduced home advantage when a team moves to a new stadium.

Home advantage is well documented for professional baseball, basketball and ice hockey in North America. One of the possible causes of this advantage is familiarity with the local playing facility. This was investigated and quantified in an analysis of 37 teams moving to new stadiums, but in the same city, from 1987 to 2001. Home advantage during the first season in a new stadium after the move was significantly less than home advantage in the final season in the old stadium (P= 0.011). The reduction was evident in all three sports. Possible confounding factors, such as crowd size and crowd density, were considered but did not appear to have an effect. It is estimated that about 24% of the advantage of playing at home maybe lost when a team relocates to a new facility.

Competitive Behavior↗
PubMed2002

Sequential muscle activity and its functional role in the upper extremity and trunk during overarm throwing.

The proximal-to-distal segmental sequence has been identified in many sports activities, including baseball pitching and ball kicking. However, proximal-to-distal sequential muscle activity has not been identified. The aims of this study were to establish whether sequential muscle activity does occur and, if it does, to determine its functional role. We recorded surface electromyograms (EMGs) for 17 muscles from the upper extremity and abdomen during overarm throwing and detected the onset and peak times as indices of muscle activity. The following electromyographic properties were commonly identified in the participants. First, sequential muscle activity was observed from the scapular protractors to the shoulder horizontal flexors and from the shoulder horizontal flexors to the elbow extensor, but not from the elbow extensor to the wrist flexor or forearm pronator. Secondly, the external oblique contralateral to the throwing arm became activated before the ipsilateral external oblique. This sequence is considered to be very effective for the generation of high force and energy in the trunk. Thirdly, the ipsilateral external oblique began its activity almost at foot strike. Finally, the main activity of the rectus abdominis appeared just before the point of release.

Abdominal Muscles↗
PubMed2005

Home advantage in speed skating: evidence from individual data.

Home advantage is a well-documented phenomenon in many sports. Home advantage has been shown to exist for team sports (soccer, hockey, football, baseball, basketball) and for countries organizing sports tournaments like the Olympics and World Cup Soccer. There is also some evidence for home advantage in some individual sports, but there is a much more limited literature. This paper addresses the issue of home advantage in speed skating. From a methodological point of view, it is difficult to identify home advantage, because skaters vary in their abilities and the conditions of tournaments vary. There is a small but significant home advantage using a generalized linear mixed model, with random effects for skaters and fixed effects for skating rinks and seasons. Even though the home advantage effect exists, it is very small when compared to variation in skating times due to differences of rinks and individual abilities.

Competitive Behavior↗
PubMed2006

Effects of swing-weight on swing speed and racket power.

Measurements are presented of the speed at which six different rods could be swung by four male students. Three of the rods had the same mass but their swing-weight (i.e. moment of inertia) differed by large factors. The other three rods had the same swing-weight but different masses. Our primary objective was to quantify the effects of mass and swing-weight on swing speed. The result has a direct bearing on whether baseball, tennis, cricket and golf participants should choose a heavy or light implement to impart maximum speed to a ball. When swinging with maximum effort, swing speed (V) was found to decrease as swing-weight (Io) increased, according to the relation V = C/Ion, where C is a different constant for each participant and n = 0.27 when Io > 0.03 kg x m2. Remarkably similar results were obtained previously with softball bats (where n = 0.25) and golf clubs (where n = 0.26). Swing speed remained approximately constant as swing mass increased (when keeping swing-weight fixed). The implications for racket power are discussed.

Acceleration↗
PubMed1995

Applying contextual interference to the Pawlata roll.

Contextual interference is manipulated by changing the practice order of a number of similar motor tasks, so that the learning context of each interferes with that of the other. The effect has been found to generalize to baseball batting, badminton serving and volleyball skills. The present study examined whether this practice technique could be applied to a Pawlata roll in a kayak. The study was further motivated by the fact that many instructors in Britain currently advocate learning the Pawlata roll in one direction only to a criterion of accuracy, thereafter transferring to the opposite direction. Contextual interference literature predicts that skill retention would be better served by practising on alternate sides. Accordingly, 16 undergraduate students with no kayaking experience were randomly allocated to either a low contextual interference group, which followed U'ren's (1993) recommendations, or a high contextual interference group, which practised the skill on alternate sides. The high contextual interference group took less time to acquire the skill, and were also quicker to achieve successful performance in retention (full roll) and transfer (half roll) tests, regardless of the direction of the roll, 1 week later. The time savings in practice were not expected, as acquisition under high contextual interference was improved rather than impaired. This finding suggests that bilateral transfer was increased by randomizing practice. These results are worthy of further investigation, in that they suggest that the recommended training methods may not be optimal.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Changes in limb striking pattern: effects of speed and accuracy.

This study investigated the changes in an arm striking pattern as a result of practice and the effects of speed and accuracy requirements on such changes. The task was to strike a baseball-size foam ball from a batting tee adjusted to the height of each subject's iliac crest. Ten righthanded subjects, initially displaying an inefficient striking pattern, volunteered for this study. All subjects performed the task according to the following conditions: (1) speed, (2) accuracy, and (3) speed and accuracy. Each subject completed 10 trials in each condition (randomly ordered) for five consecutive days. A high-speed camera (64 fps) was used to photograph subjects' striking patterns for each condition over the 5-day period. Analysis of variance of joint angles at arm reversal and contact and velocity of hand relative to the glenohumeral axis at contact revealed that subjects initially constrained limb segments to act in a unitary fashion; then, with practice, a more efficient pattern was developed. The requirement of speed was found to enhance a change in limb configuration, whereas the requirement of accuracy, and subsequent reduction in speed, impeded the development of a more efficient striking pattern. Analysis of radial error revealed no differences in accuracies to the target by either condition or day of practice. A graphic analysis of segmental angular momentum versus relative time showed that joint angle changes allowed subjects to transfer angular momentum and thereby increase the velocity of the hand at contact.

Acceleration↗