A Compound Hop Index for Assessing Soccer Players’ Performance

Athletes regularly have to pass a series of tests, among which one of the most frequently used functional performance measures are single-leg hop tests. As the collected individual results of tests constitute a large amount of data, strategies to decrease the amount of data without reducing the number of performed tests are being searched for. Therefore, the study aimed to present an effective method to reduce the hop-test battery data to a single score, namely, the Compound Hop Index (CHI) in the example of a soccer team. A male, first-league soccer team performed a battery of commonly used single-leg hop tests, including single hop and triple hop for distance tests and the six-meter timed hop test. Gathered data, including Limb Symmetry Indexes of the three tests, normalized to body height for the single- and triple-hop-tests distance separately for right and left legs, and the time of the six-meter timed hop test separately for right and left legs were standardized to z-scores. Consecutively, the z-scores were averaged and formed CHI. The developed CHI represents a novel score derived from the average of z-scores that significantly reduces, clarifies, and organizes the hop performance-measures data.

Penyebaran Kutikula Pada Kerabang Telur Pada Usaha Peternakan Ayam Dengan Sistem Free Range

The cuticle is the outermost layer of the egg which deposited on to the surface of the egg during the final 1-1.5 hours prior to oviposition. It is a protective coating which prevents bacterial penetration through the gas exchange pores in the eggshell. The aim of this research is analysing the cuticle cover and ultrastructural features of the mammillary layer cover during production cycle in the free-range system. Data were collected from age 26, 37, 50 and 60 weeks of age to observe the eggshell colour (%), cuticle cover following the MST blue dye which analysed by spectrophotometry based on L*a*b system and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Data were analysed using Statview Software (SAS Institute Inc., Version 5.0.1.0). A two way analysis of variance was conducted taking flock age and shed/flock as the independent variables and body weight, egg quality measurements, spectrophotometry (L*a*b) measurements, single score measurements for cuticle cover, and ultrastructural features as dependent variables. Level of significance was indicated by probability of less than 5%. The Fishers PLSD test was used to differentiate between mean values. The result of this research showed that the cuticle cover is vary from age to age. The greater value of cuticle cover in at 37 weeks of age which the same result also showed by single scrore and SEM. The cuticle cover of the shell is mostly affected by age and also strain. Keyword: Cuticle; Eggshell quality; Laying hens. Abstrak Kutikula pada telur merupakan lapisan terluar telur yang dideposisikan pada lapisan palisade kurang lebih 1,5 – 2 jam di akhir pembentukan kerabang di dalam uterus. Kutikula berfungsi sebagai benteng pertahanan pertama untuk mencegah masuknya bakteri ke dalam telur. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada usaha peternakan ayam petelur yang dipelihara dengan system free range. Telur diambil untuk dianalisa penyebaran kutikula telur pada umur 26, 37, 50, dan 60 minggu. Variable yang diamati meliputi reflektifitas warna kerabang (%), penyebaran kutikula diukur menggunakan MST blue dye dan selanjutnya diukur melalui sistim spectrophotometry, yang difokuskan pada sistim pewarnaan berdasarkan sistim L*a*b* dan single score, dan dilanjutkan dengan pengamatan menggunakan scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Selanjutnya data dianalisis menggunakan Staview software (SAS Institute Inc. version 5.0.1.0) dengan analisis anova dua arah, dimana umur ayam sebagai variable independent dan nilai SCI a* sesudah perendaman dan nilai single score (ΔE*ab) sebagai variable dependent, pada level of significance 5%. Pengaruh yang nyata diuji lanjut menggunakan Fisher PLSD. Pada penelitian ini didapatkan bahwa penyebaran kutikula pada kerabang telur bervariasi selama pengamatan. Penyebaran kutikula terbanyak ditemukan pada saat ayam berumur 37 minggu. Hal ini juga diperkuat dengan hasil yang diperoleh dengan single score (ΔE*ab) yang memperlihatkan nilai ΔE*ab yang tinggi pada umur 37 minggu. Penyebaran kutikula pada kerabang telur sangat dipengaruhi oleh umur dan juga strain ayam. Kata kunci: Ayam petelur; Kualitas telur; Kutikula.

Spatiotemporal Graph Indicators for Air Traffic Complexity Analysis

There has been extensive research in formalising air traffic complexity, but existing works focus mainly on a metric to tie down the peak air traffic controllers workload rather than a dynamic approach to complexity that could guide both strategical, pre-tactical and tactical actions for a smooth flow of aircraft. In this paper, aircraft interdependencies are formalized using graph theory and four complexity indicators are described, which combine spatiotemporal topological information with the severity of the interdependencies. These indicators can be used to predict the dynamic evolution of complexity, by not giving one single score, but measuring complexity in a time window. Results show that these indicators can capture complex spatiotemporal areas in a sector and give a detailed and nuanced view of sector complexity.

Multiple polygenic scores improve bone mineral density prediction in an independent sample of Caucasian women

Purpose of the studyTo determine if multiple Genetic Risk Scores (GRSs) improve bone mineral density (BMD) prediction over single GRS in an independent sample of Caucasian women.Study designBased on summary statistics of four genome-wide association studies related to two osteoporosis-associated traits, namely BMD and heel quantitative ultrasound derived estimated BMD (eBMD), four GRSs were derived for 1205 individuals in the Genome-Wide Scan for Female Osteoporosis Gene Study. The effect of each GRS on BMD variation was assessed using multivariable linear regression, with conventional risk factors adjusted for. Next, the eBMD-related GRS that explained the most variance in BMD was selected to be entered into a multi-score model, along with the BMD-related GRS. Elastic net regularised regression was used to develop the multiscore model, which estimated the joint effect of two GRSs (GRS_BMD and GRS_eBMD) on BMD variation, after being adjusted for conventional risk factors.ResultsWith the same clinical risk factors having been adjusted for, the model that included GRS_BMD performed best by explaining 32.53% of the variance in BMD; the single-score model that included GRS_eBMD explained 34.03% of BMD variance. The model that includes both GRS_BMD and GRS_ eBMD, as well as the clinical risk factors, aggregately explained 35.05% in BMD variation. Compared with the single GRS models, the multiscore model explained significantly more variance in BMD.ConclusionsThe multipolygenic score model explained a considerable amount of BMD variation. Compared with single score models, multipolygenic score model provided significant improvement in explaining BMD variation.

Environmental impact evaluation of crumb rubber industry production process by life cycle assessment (LCA) method (case study: PT FRP)

PT FRP produces crumb rubber SIR 20 with a total annual production of 42.000 tons. This study aims to analyze the environmental impact of 1-ton crumb rubber production using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method to be further explored for recommendations for ecological improvement. LCA was carried by a gate-to-gate scope using SimaPro software with the eco-indicator 99 method. The steps for completing this research refer to ISO 14040:2016. Characterization step results from the category of fossil fuels impact have the highest value (931 MJ surplus). The total value of the single score generated is 369 Pt, with the highest impact value is respiratory inorganics. The dryer drying process, the usage of electricity, and the generator and boiler are four production processes that significantly impact the environment. Improvement recommendations given to reduce the effects of the four processes are using an economizer in the boiler, the combination of fuel used by the boiler, and substitution of diesel fuel with Pertamina Dex as generator’s fuel.

TwinCons: Conservation score for uncovering deep sequence similarity and divergence

We have developed the program TwinCons, to detect noisy signals of deep ancestry of proteins or nucleic acids. As input, the program uses a composite alignment containing pre-defined groups, and mathematically determines a ‘cost’ of transforming one group to the other at each position of the alignment. The output distinguishes conserved, variable and signature positions. A signature is conserved within groups but differs between groups. The method automatically detects continuous characteristic stretches (segments) within alignments. TwinCons provides a convenient representation of conserved, variable and signature positions as a single score, enabling the structural mapping and visualization of these characteristics. Structure is more conserved than sequence. TwinCons highlights alternative sequences of conserved structures. Using TwinCons, we detected highly similar segments between proteins from the translation and transcription systems. TwinCons detects conserved residues within regions of high functional importance for the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and demonstrates that signatures are not confined to specific regions but are distributed across the rRNA structure. The ability to evaluate both nucleic acid and protein alignments allows TwinCons to be used in combined sequence and structural analysis of signatures and conservation in rRNA and in ribosomal proteins (rProteins). TwinCons detects a strong sequence conservation signal between bacterial and archaeal rProteins related by circular permutation. This conserved sequence is structurally colocalized with conserved rRNA, indicated by TwinCons scores of rRNA alignments of bacterial and archaeal groups. This combined analysis revealed deep co-evolution of rRNA and rProtein buried within the deepest branching points in the tree of life.

ALF-Score+ - Personalization of a Predictive Network-Based Walkability Scoring System

Measuring environments around us (cities, roads, social environments) is crucial to understand human behaviour and help predict how aspects of environment influence behaviour and health. Walkability is one measure of environment used to predict health. Walkability combines aspects of environment (population, roads, amenities) into a single score. Existing measures are often one-size-fits-all with very limited personalization. In our previous work, we defined Active Living Feature Score, ALF-Score, a novel approach to measure network-based walkability. ALF-Score uses road network structures and points of interest to generate models capable of estimating walkability for any point on map. One of ALF-Score's contributions was the inclusion of user opinions to partially address the different perception among individuals and help derive a more personalized walkability score. Here, we take this personalization much further by introducing ALF-Score+ which uses individual user demographics (age, gender, ...) grouped using k-means and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding to create clusters based on individuals’ demographic characteristics. Each cluster is treated as a single profile representing a subset of users. Cluster profiles are added into our pipelines to generate profile-specific network-based walkability models. Results show strong variability among scores generated for each cluster profile with a clear variation in walkability generated for different users within same clusters. ALF-Score+ maintains an accuracy of 90.48% on average showing improvement compared to ALF-Score. We found strong association between cluster profiles' demographics and their scores. ALF-Score+ shows promising results providing personalized walkability based on cluster profiles, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach used by other walkability measures.

Life Cycle Assessment of Autonomous Electric Field Tractors in Swedish Agriculture

There is an increased interest for battery electric vehicles in multiple sectors, including agriculture. The potential for lowered environmental impact is one of the key factors, but there exists a knowledge gap between the environmental impact of on-road vehicles and agricultural work machinery. In this study, a life cycle assessment was performed on two smaller, self-driving battery electric tractors, and the results were compared to those of a conventional tractor for eleven midpoint characterisation factors, three damage categories and one weighted single score. The results showed that compared to the conventional tractor, the battery electric tractor had a higher impact in all categories during the production phase, with battery production being a majority contributor. However, over the entire life cycle, it had a lower impact in the weighted single score (−72%) and all three damage categories; human health (−74%), ecosystem impact (−47%) and resource scarcity (−67%). The global warming potential over the life cycle of the battery electric tractor was 102 kg CO2eq ha−1 y−1 compared to 293 kg CO2eq ha−1 y−1 for the conventional system. For the global warming potential category, the use phase was the most influential and the fuel used was the single most important factor.

Life Cycle Analysis of Disposed and Recycled End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels in Australia

This study presents a life cycle analysis (LCA) of end-of-life (EoL) photovoltaic (PV) systems in Australia. Three different EoL scenarios are considered for 1 kWh of electricity generation across a 30-year PV system lifespan: (i) disposal to landfill, (ii) recycling by laminated glass recycling facility (LGRF), and (iii) recycling by full recovery of EoL photovoltaics (FRELP). It is found that recycling technologies reduce the overall impact score of the cradle-to-grave PV systems from 0.00706 to 0.00657 (for LGRF) and 0.00523 (for FRELP), as measured using the LCA ReCiPe endpoint single score. The CO2 emissions to air decrease slightly from 0.059 kg CO2 per kWh (landfill) to 0.054 kg CO2 per kWh (for LGRF) and 0.046 kg CO2 per kWh (for FRELP). Increasing the PV system lifespan from 30 years to 50 and 100 years (a hypothetical scenario) improves the ReCiPe endpoint single-score impact from 0.00706 to 0.00424 and 0.00212, respectively, with corresponding CO2 emissions reductions from 0.059 kg CO2 per kWh to 0.035 and 0.018 kg CO2 per kWh, respectively. These results show that employing recycling slightly reduces the environmental impact of the EoL PV systems. It is, however, noted that recycling scenarios do not consider the recycling plant construction step due to a lack of data on these emerging PV panel recycling plants. Accounting for the latter will increase the environmental impact of the recycling scenarios, possibly defeating the purpose of recycling. Increasing the lifespan of the PV systems increases the longevity of the use of panel materials and is therefore favorable towards reducing environmental impacts. Our findings strongly suggest that PV recycling steps and technologies be carefully considered before implementation. More significantly, it is imperative to consider the circular design step up front, where PV systems are designed via circular economy principles such as utility and longevity and are rolled out through circular business models.