The impact of COVID-19 related disruption on injury rates in elite men’s domestic cricket

This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 enforced prolonged training disruption and shortened competitive season, on in-season injury and illness rates. Injury incidence and percent proportion was calculated for the 2020 elite senior men’s domestic cricket season and compared to a historical average from five previous regular seasons (2015 to 2019 inclusive). The injury profile for the shortened 2020 season was generally equivalent to what would be expected in a regular season, except for a significant increase in medical illness as a proportion of time loss (17% compared to historic average of 6%) and in-season days lost (9% compared to historic average of 3%) due to COVID-19 related instances (most notably precautionary isolation due to contact with a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case). There was a significant increase in the proportion of in-season days lost to thigh injuries (24% compared to 9%) and a significant decrease in the proportion of days lost to hand (4% compared to 12%) and lumbar spine (7% compared to 21%) injuries. These findings enhance understanding of the impact prolonged period of training disruption and shortened season can have on cricket injuries and the challenges faced by practitioners under such circumstances.

Use of a structured approach and virtual simulation practice to improve diagnostic reasoning

Objectives In 2015, the National Academy of Medicine IOM estimated that 12 million patients were misdiagnosed annually. This suggests that despite prolonged training in medical school and residency there remains a need to improve diagnostic reasoning education. This study evaluates a new approach. Methods A total of 285 medical students were enrolled in this 8 center, IRB approved trial. Students were randomized to receive training in either abdominal pain (AP) or loss of consciousness (LOC). Baseline diagnostic accuracy of the two different symptoms was assessed by completing a multiple-choice question (MCQ) examination and virtual patient encounters. Following a structured educational intervention, including a lecture on the diagnostic approach to that symptom and three virtual patient practice cases, each student was re-assessed. Results The change in diagnostic accuracy on virtual patient encounters was compared between (1) baseline and post intervention and (2) post intervention students trained in the prescribed symptom vs. the alternate symptom (controls). The completeness of the student’s differential diagnosis was also compared. Comparison of proportions were conducted using χ 2-tests. Mixed-effects regressions were used to examine differences accounting for case and repeated measures. Compared with baseline, both the AP and LOC groups had marked post-intervention improvements in obtaining a correct final diagnosis; a 27% absolute improvement in the AP group (p<0.001) and a 32% absolute improvement in the LOC group (p<0.001). Compared with controls (the groups trained in the alternate symptoms), the rate of correct diagnoses increased by 13% but was not statistically significant (p=0.132). The completeness and efficiency of the differential diagnoses increased by 16% (β=0.37, p<0.001) and 17% respectively (β=0.45, p<0.001). Conclusions The study showed that a virtual patient platform combined with a diagnostic reasoning framework could be used for education and diagnostic assessment and improved correct diagnosis compared with baseline performance in a simulated platform.

Indicators of exhaustion and stress markers in endurance horses

Prolonged training and physical effort in endurance horses can influence the performance of the endurance horses negatively. The negative impact of the event is especially noticeable if venues are demanding, i.e. bad weather conditions or demanding grounds, high altitude and especially in cases of insufficiently fit horses. One of the most important factors that influence equine performance is abundance of oxygen in the blood, which is directly related to the air oxygen content and changes with atmospheric pressure, so that high altitude and low air pressure demand additional work from horses and accelerate fatigue. The authors goal was to investigate the influence of workload in endurance racing on sport horse organism. A total of 18 trained and competing endurance horses enrolled in a 60 km long endurance race organized on Zlatibor Mountain were included in our survey. Due to the difficult track 8 horses were disqualified due to lameness, and high heart rate and respiration. Only 10 horses completed the race and these animals were submitted to basic physical, clinical and laboratory examinations, in order to evaluate fatigue and stress reaction in endurance horses in Serbia. Results of the clinical and laboratory testing obtained show significant changes in all parameters evaluated which we attributed to physical effort in all 10 horses that finished the race in comparison with the values obtained before the race. In conclusion, 10 horses finished the race and were tested, and they indicated significant alterations in physiological parameters showing stress reaction. The evaluated parameters decreased into physiological interval values during the 5 days following the race.

Benefitting from trial spacing without the cost of prolonged training: Frequency, not duration, of trials with absent stimuli enhances learning

The statistical relation between two events influences the perception of how well one event relates to the presence or absence of another. The simultaneous absence of both events, just like their mutual occurrence, is theoretically relevant for describing their contingency. However, humans tend to weight co-occurring information more heavily than co-absent information. We explored the relevance of co-absent events by varying the duration and frequency of trials without stimuli. In three experiments, we used a rapid trial streaming procedure, and found that the perceived association between events is enhanced with increased frequency of co-absent events. Duration of co-absent events did not play as strong role on judgments of association as did frequency. These findings suggest ways in which the benefits of trial spacing, which are effectively co-absence events, could be preserved without increasing total training time. Specifically, the present results suggest that the benefits of distributed practice can be obtained without increasing the length of the training session by shortening the intervals between events. We also discuss five potential accounts of how the co-absent experience is processed: contingency sensitivity, a memory testing effect, associative interference, reduced cognitive load, and consolidation.

Effect of Previous Strength Training Episodes and Retraining on Cross-Sectional Area and Protein Contents of Rat Soleus Muscle

PURPOSE: This study tested the hypothesis that previous strength training episodes favorably contribute to muscular hypertrophic adaptations in rat soleus muscle after long-term detraining and retraining in rats.METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats (n=24) aged 8 weeks were randomly assigned to four groups: control (CON), detraining (DT), strength training (ST), and retraining (RT). The strength training was a regular bout of ladder climbing exercise that consisted of three sets of five repetitions and three days per week for eight weeks. A cylinder containing weights was loaded to the bottom of each rat’s tail. The weights carried during each training session were initially 50% of body weight and progressively increased by 10% per session. Rats in the DT underwent twenty weeks of detraining periods immediately after eight weeks of strength training. Rats in the ST were aged matched to the RT group and underwent eight weeks of strength training at the same duration with the RT group. Rats in the RT were conducted to the resistance training for eight weeks following the detraining period. Soleus muscles were collected at the end of the training episodes to examine alterations in cross-sectional area and protein contents.RESULTS: ST showed a significant increase in cross-sectional area of the rat soleus muscle, compared with CON. It was interestingly demonstrated that RT markedly elicited hypertrophy of soleus muscle, compared with all other groups. It was supported that RTinduced hypertrophy was related to increased myofibrillar protein contents of the soleus muscle.CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that although prolonged training cessation occurs previous strength training episodes have a positive impact on restoring muscular contractile properties and hypertrophy after retraining.

On-the-Job Training

This chapter talks about the different teaching strategies nurses employ to train caregivers, and the different ways in which caregivers learn in training. Nurses develop strategies based on caregivers' and care recipients' readiness and different levels of knowledge. One of the first things they report doing when making initial contact is to find out what the expectations are, and manage them. Another strategy nurses say they use, especially if someone is hesitant or has anxiety, is to give emotional reassurance, including “lots of praise,” positive reinforcement, and encouragement. In terms of hands-on work, all nurses state that the general process is to demonstrate to the caregiver and/or care recipient exactly what they are going to do, allow them to watch and ask questions, and then observe a return demonstration. It is evident that there is a great deal of variability in how home health nurses convey information. While some of this may be due to agency policies or norms, nurses have different teaching philosophies and styles and are often given much leeway as to how they transmit information. The fragmented nature of the system means that caregivers may experience vast differences in communication processes and in the training they receive. The chapter discusses how caregivers train in three different conditions: caregivers who received prolonged training in rehabilitation facilities and hospitals, caregivers who received some training in hospitals, and caregivers who received little or no training in hospitals.

Alpha and theta brain oscillations play a complementary role in inducing levels of altered consciousness during meditation practice

Background: Neurobiological changes accompanying meditation training are well-characterised. However, little is known about the neural and physiological basis of altered consciousness induced through meditation, despite such alteration being considered essential for the positive effects of meditation on mental health. The meditation depth questionnaire (MEDEQ) measures alteration of consciousness in five progressive levels of experiential “depth”: hindrances, relaxation, concentration, transpersonal qualities and nonduality. Methods: Using the MEDEQ, we investigated the brain (EEG) and bodily (pulse and respiration) correlates of meditation depth in two groups: long-term meditators (LTM) and meditation-naïve controls (CTL). Results: CTLs reported experiencing more hindrances than LTMs. Whereas, LTMs reported more transpersonal qualities and nonduality during practice compared to baseline. In both groups, theta (4–6 Hz) oscillations correlated positively with hindrances, and increasingly negatively with progressively deeper experiences. Alpha (7–13 Hz) amplitude followed the exact opposite pattern. Experiential deepening was accompanied by theta deactivation over different regions in the two groups—frontal-midline in LTMs and frontal-lateral in CTLs—which correspond to two different aspects of executive processing, monitoring and regulation respectively. Experiential deepening was also associated with reduced heart-rate in CTLs but not LTMs. Conclusions: Alpha and theta oscillations have long been reliably associated with meditation. Our study reveals how they relate to different subjective experiences accompanying such practices. We moreover find that—while critical for overcoming hindrances—executive neural processing is downregulated during deep meditation experiences, and that prolonged training enables downregulation of an earlier stage of executive processing. Finally, prolonged meditation training may help reduce interoceptive influences on conscious experience.

Does Brain Lateralization Affect the Performance in Binary Choice Tasks? A Study in the Animal Model Danio rerio

Researchers in behavioral neuroscience commonly observe the behavior of animal subjects in the presence of two alternative stimuli. However, this type of binary choice introduces a potential confound related to side biases. Understanding whether subjects exhibit this bias, and the origin of it (pre-existent or acquired throughout the experimental sessions), is particularly important to interpreting the results. Here, we tested the hypothesis according to which brain lateralization may influence the emergence of side biases in a well-known model of neuroscience, the zebrafish. As a measure of lateralization, individuals were observed in their spontaneous tendencies to monitor a potential predator with either the left or the right eye. Subjects also underwent an operant conditioning task requiring discrimination between two colors placed on the left–right axis. Although the low performance exhibited in the operant conditioning task prevents firm conclusions from being drawn, a positive correlation was found between the direction of lateralization and the tendency to select the stimulus presented on one specific side (e.g., right). The choice for this preferred side did not change throughout the experimental sessions, meaning that this side bias was not the result of the prolonged training. Overall, our study calls for a wider investigation of pre-existing lateralization biases in animal models to set up methodological counterstrategies to test individuals that do not properly work in a binary choice task with stimuli arranged on the left–right axis.