Reliability of the Hip Extension Lower Exercise as a Measure of Eccentric Hamstring Strength

Hamstring strain injury (HSI) is a very common lower-body injury in field sports, and eccentric (ECC) hamstring strength is a potential modifiable risk factor, therefore having reliable eccentric hamstring strength assessments is critical. The aim of this study was to access test–retest reliability of the hip extension lower (HEL) exercise as a measure of ECC hamstring strength and inter-limb asymmetries. Twelve male elite level soccer players (mean; age: 21.8 years; height: 180.4 cm; weight: 75.7 kg) volunteered to participate in this study. Participants were from the same soccer club, covered all playing positions, and had no current injury issues. Participants performed two familiarization sessions to acquaint themselves with the device and exercise protocol. During testing, each participant performed three repetitions with 60s intra-set recovery provided. Average and peak force (N) was recorded for both limbs. Testing sessions took place on the same day and time over a two-week pre-season period and followed a full recovery day. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Coefficient of Variation (CV%), Minimal Detectable Change (MDC) and Typical Error (TE) were used to assess reliability. The HEL showed excellent reliability for average force (N) in the left (ICC (95% CI) = 0.9 (0.7–0.97); TE = 14.1 N, CV% = 1.87; MDC = 39.06 N) and right (ICC (95% CI) = 0.91 (0.73–0.97); TE = 20.89 N, CV% = 3.26; MDC = 57.87 N) limb, and also excellent reliability for peak force in the left (ICC (95% CI) = 0.91 (0.71–0.97); TE = 13.55 N, CV% = 1.61; MDC = 57.87 N) and right (ICC (95% CI) = 0.9 (0.7–0.97); TE = 21.70 N, CV% = 3.31; MDC = 60.11 N) limb. This data suggests the HEL as a reliable measure of both ECC hamstring strength and inter-limb asymmetries. Practitioners should consider the HEL as a reliable choice for measuring and monitoring eccentric hamstring strength in their athletes.

Impact of Hearing Impairment on Missingness of Cognitive Test Scores in the ARIC Study

Despite its high prevalence, the impact of hearing impairment on completion of cognitive tests, many of which rely on auditory input to access test material, has not been described. We investigated if hearing impairment is associated with missing scores in 3602 adults (72-94 years, 23% black, 60% female). Cognition was measured using 10 neurocognitive tests. Pure tone better-ear hearing thresholds (0.5-4 kHz) were averaged and categorized. ≥Moderate hearing impairment (versus none) was associated with greater missingness on two auditory tests: Logical Memory (prevalence ratio [PR]:1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.01,1.70) and Digits Backwards (PR:1.35, 95% CI:1.00,1.82); and the non-auditory Trail Making Test Part B (PR:1.48, 95% CI:1.24,1.77). Compared to models using complete cognitive data, models that imputed missing scores showed stronger associations of hearing impairment with poor cognitive performance. Older adults with HI are less likely to complete cognitive testing, resulting in biased estimates of the hearing impairment-cognitive performance relationship.

Drawing on repeat test takers to study test preparation practices and their links to score gains

A key concern of washback research in language testing is with the value of test preparation for facilitating learning and improving test performance. Although test takers may draw on a wide range of preparation activities, the majority of research studies examining test preparation have taken place in classroom settings, leaving self-access approaches largely unexamined. The aim of the current study was to (a) explore possible links between self-access test preparation activities and improved test performance and (b) examine how repeat test takers adjust their test preparation activities from test sitting to test sitting while preparing for the Pearson Test of English (Academic). The study involved the collection and analysis of interviews from 60 recent repeat test takers. The interview data were coded for themes and sub-themes and analyzed for the kind of test preparation activities in which learners engaged, and how these changed over time. The interviews showed that the test takers were strategic in their preparation, by changing their approaches depending on their previous test results. The largest number of significant improvements was identified for speaking, where test takers engaged in a variety of strategies, some of which were construct-irrelevant. The findings are discussed in relation to test validity and washback.

Prospective Evaluation of the mariPOC Test for Detection of Clostridioides difficile Glutamate Dehydrogenase and Toxins A/B

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate a novel automated random-access test, mariPOC CDI (ArcDia Ltd., Finland), for the detection of Clostridioides difficile glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and toxins A and B directly from fecal specimens. The mariPOC test was compared with both the GenomEra C. difficile PCR assay (Abacus Diagnostica Oy, Finland) and the TechLab C. diff Quik Chek Complete (Alere Inc.; now Abbot) membrane enzyme immunoassay (MEIA). Culture and the Xpert C. difficile assay (Cepheid Inc., USA) were used to resolve discrepant results. In total, 337 specimens were tested with the mariPOC CDI test and GenomEra PCR. Of these specimens, 157 were also tested with the TechLab MEIA. The sensitivity of the mariPOC test for GDH was slightly lower (95.2%) than that obtained with the TechLab assay (100.0%), but no toxin-positive cases were missed. The sensitivity of the mariPOC test for the detection of toxigenic C. difficile by analyzing toxin expression was better (81.6%) than that of the TechLab assay (71.1%). The analytical specificities for the mariPOC and the TechLab tests were 98.3% and 100.0% for GDH and 100.0% and 99.2% for toxin A/B, respectively. The analytical specificity of the GenomEra method was 100.0%. The mariPOC and TechLab GDH tests and GenomEra PCR had high negative predictive values of 99.3%, 98.3%, and 99.7%, respectively, in excluding infection with toxigenic C. difficile. The mariPOC toxin A/B test and GenomEra PCR had an identical analytical positive predictive value of 100%, providing highly reliable information about toxin expression and the presence of toxin genes, respectively.

Tata Kelola Pemerintahan Daerah Otonom Baru pada Kabupaten Pesisir Barat, Provinsi Lampung

This study aims to describe the transparency of the bureaucratic arena of Pesisir Barat District and Pesawaran District in the implementation of government. This research is a research using descriptive quantitative research type. This research is also comparative (comparative research), because the research method is conducted to know the comparison of transparency between the bureaucratic arena of Pesisir Barat District and Pesawaran District seen from one indicator, that is access test result. The research findings show that most of the public documents contained in access tests are considered to be highly sensitive documents according to the perceptions of government actors. So that governance in Pesisir Barat District and Pesawaran District tend to be closed. Although the transparency in Pesawaran District is better than the West Coast District, which is an average of 1.36; but approaching tend to be closed. While the Pesisir Barat District has a value of 0.63 which means tend to be very closed. Thus, governance in these two new autonomous regions is still not transparent, in accordance with the demands of public disclosure rules. Justice, transparency, participation, and accountability are prerequisites for good and clean governance of corruption, collusion and nepotism.Keywords: Governance, Transparency, Accessibility, Public Documents, Autonomous Region

Neural dynamics in response to binary taste mixtures

Taste stimuli encountered in the natural environment are usually combinations of multiple tastants. Although a great deal is known about how neurons in the taste system respond to single taste stimuli in isolation, less is known about how the brain deals with such mixture stimuli. Here, we probe the responses of single neurons in primary gustatory cortex (GC) of awake rats to an array of taste stimuli including 100% citric acid (100 mM), 100% sodium chloride (100 mM), 100% sucrose (100 mM), and a range of binary mixtures (90/10, 70/30, 50/50, 30/70, and 10/90%). We tested for the presence of three different hypothetical response patterns: 1) responses varying monotonically as a function of concentration of sucrose (or acid) in the mixture (the “monotonic” pattern); 2) responses increasing or decreasing as a function of degree of mixture of the stimulus (the “mixture” pattern); and 3) responses that change abruptly from being similar to one pure taste to being similar the other (the “categorical” pattern). Our results demonstrate the presence of both monotonic and mixture patterns within responses of GC neurons. Specifically, further analysis (that included the presentation of 50 mM sucrose and citric acid) made it clear that mixture suppression reliably precedes a palatability-related pattern. The temporal dynamics of the emergence of the palatability-related pattern parallel the temporal dynamics of the emergence of preference behavior for the same mixtures as measured by a brief access test. We saw no evidence of categorical coding.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in rats increases sucrose taste-related motivated behavior independent of pharmacological GLP-1-receptor modulation

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery has been shown to decrease consummatory responsiveness of rats to high sucrose concentrations, and genetic deletion of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors (GLP-1R) has been shown to decrease consummatory responsiveness of mice to low-sucrose concentrations. Here we assessed the effects of RYGB and pharmacological GLP-1R modulation on sucrose licking by chow-fed rats in a brief-access test that assessed consummatory and appetitive behaviors. Rats were tested while fasted presurgically and postsurgically and while nondeprived postsurgically and 5 h after intraperitoneal injections with the GLP-1R antagonist exendin-3(9–39) (30 μg/kg), agonist exendin-4 (1 μg/kg), and vehicle in 30-min sessions during which a sucrose concentration series (0.01–1.0 M) was presented in 10-s trials. Other rats were tested postsurgically or 15 min after peptide or vehicle injection while fasted and while nondeprived. Independent of food-deprivation state, sucrose experience, or GLP-1R modulation, RYGB rats took 1.5–3× as many trials as sham-operated rats, indicating increased appetitive behavior. Under nondeprived conditions, RYGB rats with presurgical sucrose experience licked more to sucrose relative to water compared with sham-operated rats. Exendin-4 and exendin-3(9–39) impacted 0.3 M sucrose intake in a one-bottle test, but never interacted with surgical group to affect brief-access responding. Unlike prior reports in both clearly obese and relatively leaner rats given RYGB and in GLP-1R knockout mice, we found that neither RYGB nor GLP-1R blockade decreased consummatory responsiveness to sucrose in our less obese chow-fed rats. Collectively, these results highlight the fact that changes in taste-driven motivated behavior to sucrose after RYGB and/or GLP-1R modulation are very model and measure dependent.