Does choice of athletic footwear affect musculoskeletal injury risk in US Coast Guard recruits? A retrospective cohort study.

Context: Musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) are ubiquitous during initial entry military training, with overuse injuries in the lower extremities the most frequent. A common mechanism for overuse injuries is running, an activity that is an integral part of United States Coast Guard (USCG) training and a requirement for graduation. Objective: Assess the effects of athletic footwear choice on lower quarter MSKI risk in USCG recruits. Design: Descriptive Epidemiological Study Setting: USCG Training Center, Cape May, NJ Participants: A retrospective cohort study was performed in which 1229 recruits (1038 males, 191 females) were allowed to self-select athletic footwear during training. A group of 2876 recruits (2260 males, 616 females) who trained under a policy that required obligatory wear of prescribed athletic shoes served as a control. Main Outcome Measures: Demographic data and physical performance were derived from administrative records. Injury data were abstracted from a medical tracking database. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess group, age, sex, height, body mass, and run times on MSKI outcomes. Results: Ankle-foot, leg, knee and lumbopelvic-hip complex diagnoses were ubiquitous in both groups (experimental: 20.37 to 29.34 per 1000 recruits; control: 18.08 to 25.59 per 1000 recruits). Group was not a significant factor for any of the injuries assessed. Sex was a significant factor in all injury types, with female recruits demonstrating ~2.00 greater odds of experiencing running-related injuries (RRIs), overuse injuries, or any MSKI in general. When considering ankle-foot or bone stress injuries, the risk in female recruits was 3.73 to 4.11 greater odds than their male counterparts. Run time was a significant predictor in RRI, all overuse injuries, and for any MSKI in general. Conclusion: While footwear choice did not influence MSKI risk in USCG recruits, female sex was a primary, nonmodifiable intrinsic risk factor.

Le rôle des pȃturages communaux dans l’agriculture de Pécs à l’époque du dualisme

The purpose of the study. To show the role of pastoral animal husbandry in dualism in a large Hungarian city where the majority of the population lived from industry, trade, mining and transport. How did the city assembly approach the maintenance of the pasture that made up part of the land. Applied methods. We examined the archives of the Baranya County Archives of the Hungarian National Archives, the archives of the city assembly and the city council, the accounting office, the economic supervision, the city regulations and cadastral maps, documents and maps, and we reviewed the local press. Literature and statistical data were compared with the opinions of contemporaries. Outcomes. Research has convincingly demonstrated that pasturage was essential to the lifestyles of the poorer, more self-exploiting suburban residents in particular, and even in the 1910s, most cattle were driven out to Megyeri and Szigeti suburban pastures. In our period, however, the area of pastures decreased significantly due to the conversion of pastures into arable land and meadows, the expansion of the city, and the needs of the military (training ground, shooting range).

Research on the use of virtual reality in intervention and rescue activities

In recent years in the virtual reality the developers succeeded in creating an artificial environment that simulates reality so that the user has the impression of an almost real physical presence in the virtual world. By overlapping and synchronizing the projected images with spatial sounds and even forces that interact with the user, there is a detachment of the user from the real environment and an all-encompassing involvement in the virtual world. The virtual reality is present in aviation, medicine, military training and other top fields. The advantages of using the virtual environment are obvious for areas where inexperience can cause very high loss of life and material loss. Although the participants are immersed in the scenario of the virtual environment, the errors produced allow an evaluation of the mistakes made and their correction, the experience gained being then used in professional activity in the real world. Through the experience of the virtual environment, the fear of various dangers can be overcome, so that the objectives of the exercise can be fulfilled. The aim of the paper is to offer to the rescuers opportunities to interact with the elements of the virtual space to fulfill the purpose of the exercise.

Challenges With Engaging Military Stakeholders for Clinical Research at the Point of Care in the U.S. Military Health System

ABSTRACT The DoD has a specific mission that creates unique challenges for the conduct of clinical research. These unique challenges include (1) the fact that medical readiness is the number one priority, (2) understanding the role of military culture, and (3) understanding the highly transient flow of operations. Appropriate engagement with key stakeholders at the point of care, where research activities are executed, can mean the difference between success and failure. These key stakeholders include the beneficiaries of the study intervention (patients), clinicians delivering the care, and the military and clinic leadership of both. Challenges to recruitment into research studies include military training, temporary duty, and deployments that can disrupt availability for participation. Seeking medical care is still stigmatized in some military settings. Uniformed personnel, including clinicians, patients, and leaders, are constantly changing, often relocating every 2-4 years, limiting their ability to support clinical trials in this setting which often take 5-7 years to plan and execute. When relevant stakeholders are constantly changing, keeping them engaged becomes an enduring priority. Military leaders are driven by the ability to meet the demands of the assigned mission (readiness). Command endorsement and support are critical for service members to participate in stakeholder engagement panels or clinical trials offering novel treatments. To translate science into relevant practice within the Military Health System, early engagement with key stakeholders at the point of care and addressing mission-relevant factors is critical for success.

EU Military Operations as a Tool in the EU’s Foreign Policy Toolbox – The Main Trends and Limitations

The main aim of the article is to characterise and analyse EU military operations, taking into account their objectives, assumptions, successes as well as their limitations and weaknesses. The author focusses his research on EU activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following research questions were posed: – what is the specifi city and characteristic features of EU military crisis management operations; – to what extent and in what direction are military operations launched by the EU evolving; – in what way do EU military operations infl uence the perception of the EU as a civilian and normative power and affect the development of the EU as a security actor; – what are the main limitations and weaknesses of EU military operations and what is their future in EU foreign policy? The author applied the following research methods: factorial, comparative, scenario, quantitative, and qualitative analysis. The main conclusion is that the EU’s military operations and its military training missions should solely be perceived as one of the elements (measures) in EU foreign policy. As has been indicated in the title of the article, they are “a tool in the EU’s foreign policy toolbox”.

Transformational Leadership, Achievement Motivation, and Perceived Stress in Basic Military Training: A Longitudinal Study of Swiss Armed Forces

In Switzerland, military service is a civic obligation for all adult male citizens, and thus, leadership style can be particularly challenging. The present study investigated the impact of superiors’ leadership styles on recruits’ achievement motivation, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and perceived stress during their Basic Military Training (BMT). To this end, a total of 525 male recruits (mean age: 20.3 years) recruits were assessed both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. At the start of BMT (baseline), at week 7, and at week 11, participants completed a series of self-rating questionnaires covering demographic information, achievement motivation, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), perceived stress, and their superiors’ leadership styles (transformational, transactional und laissez-faire). Longitudinally, scores for achievement motivation and OCB showed no significant difference between baseline and the 11th week. In a group comparison, the group experiencing higher transformational leadership (from week 7 to week 11) had the highest scores for achievement motivation and OCB, and the lowest scores for perceived stress, all at week 11. Exploratively, achievement motivation and OCB at baseline were associated with transformational leadership and transactional leadership at week 7 and week 11. Perceived stress at baseline correlated only with transformational leadership but not with transactional leadership, both at week 7 and week 11. Transformational leadership style fostered achievement motivation and OCB in Swiss military recruits and protected them from stress, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Professional development training of cadets at military universities

The research appears to be of relevance due to the ongoing modernization of the system of military training. One of its directions is to establish the compatibility of personal and professional qualities of cadets with the model of a modern military specialist. The aim of the research is to carry out a qualitative analysis of the requirements imposed on the modern military by society and the state in order to reveal the essence of the professional development training of cadets. The study hypothesizes that the collective and co-operational nature of professional development training implemented on the basis of a culturological approach to education creates optimal conditions for the professional and personal growth of cadets in the process of their introduction to military culture. The difference between professional training and military training is analyzed. The culturological approach to cadet professional development training is justified as the methodological basis of professional development training. The author proposes an axiological interpretation of the process of professional development training within the framework of the culturological approach. The main aspects of professional development training are briefly described: intellectual, moral, physical, labor. The key principles of professional development training based on the culturological approach are identified: purposefulness, consistency, continuity, professional orientation, patriotic orientation, humanism, and collectivism. The article emphasizes the collective and co-operational nature (polysubjectivity) of professional development training. The author suggests the definition of the “subject of professional development training”. The subjects of professional development training are cadets, officers, teachers, and university cultural organizations. Apparently, the structure of professional development training (its organizational, content and procedural aspects) varies depending on the subject of professional development training. The article concludes that introduction of practices of psychological and pedagogical support of the prospective military into their professional development training can be seen as the way to modernize the system of professional development training at military universities.

Relationship between weather parameters and risk of exertional heat injuries during military training

Introduction: The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) collaborated with the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) to study the relationship between weather parameters and the incidents of exertional heat injury (EHI) to mitigate the risk of EHI in a practical manner. Methods: Data from the SAF’s heat injury registry and MSS’ meteorological data from 2012 to 2018 were used to establish a consolidated dataset of EHI incidents and same-day weather parameters rank-ordered in deciles. Poisson regression modelling was used to determine the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of the EHI, referencing the first decile of weather parameters. Two frames of analysis were performed - the first described the relationship between the weather parameters and the adjusted IRR for the same day (D), and the second described the relationship between the weather parameters and the adjusted IRR on the following day (D+1). Results: For wet-bulb temperature, the IRR on D+1 approximated unity for the first nine deciles but rose to 3.09 at the tenth decile. For dew-point temperature, the IRR on D+1 approximated unity for the first nine deciles but rose to 3.48 at the tenth decile. By designating a single dew-point temperature cut-off at  25.1°C (transition between the ninth and tenth decile), the adjusted IRR on D +1 was 2.26 on days with dew-point temperature  25.1°C,. Conclusion: Integrating the data from the SAF and MSS demonstrated that a dew-point temperature ≥ 25.1°C on D correlates statistically with the risk of EHI on D +1and could be used to supplement the risk mitigation system.

Urine proteomics as a non-invasive approach to monitor exertional rhabdomyolysis during military training

Exertional rhabdomyolysis (ERM), a condition often associated with strenuous exercise, a common practice in the military activities, can be defined as the process of injury and rupture of muscle cell membranes, with leakage of its components into the blood stream. Creatine kinase (CK) has been extensively used for ERM diagnosis, albeit several studies reported the discrepancy between CK levels and clinical signs or symptoms. In this study, we analyzed the biochemical profile of the blood, and the urinary proteome of ten marine soldiers in a special training course. The samples were collected in two periods, M1 and M2, which correspond to the lowest and highest CK levels during training, respectively. Quantitative urinary proteome profile of M1 and M2 was determined showing changes with highest significance in immune system and cell adhesion-related pathways after strenuous physical exercise. Changes in the abundance of several proteins was observed in individuals carrying genetic polymorphisms related to greater risk for muscle damage. Remarkably, we identified a panel of proteins (CTSH, PIK3IP1, DEFB1, ITGB1, BCAN, and TNFRSF10C) that present high correlation with three classical blood biochemical markers of ERM and AGT MET235Thr and ACE I/D polymorphisms. These proteins represent potential urine markers of muscle damage due to intense physical conditions such as military training activities.