Assessment of three-dimensional joint kinematics of the upper limb during simulated swimming using wearable inertial-magnetic measurement units     

Silvia Fantozzi  Andrea Giovanardi  Fabrício Anício Magalhães  Rocco Di Michele  Matteo Cortesi  Giorgio Gatta 《Journal of sports sciences》2016,34(11):1073-1080

The analysis of the joint kinematics during swimming plays a fundamental role both in sports conditioning and in clinical contexts. Contrary to the traditional video analysis, wearable inertial-magnetic measurements units (IMMUs) allow to analyse both the underwater and aerial phases of the swimming stroke over the whole length of the swimming pool. Furthermore, the rapid calibration and short data processing required by IMMUs provide coaches and athletes with an immediate feedback on swimming kinematics during training. This study aimed to develop a protocol to assess the three-dimensional kinematics of the upper limbs during swimming using IMMUs. Kinematics were evaluated during simulated dry-land swimming trials performed in the laboratory by eight swimmers. A stereo-photogrammetric system was used as the gold standard. The results showed high coefficient of multiple correlation (CMC) values, with median (first–third quartile) of 0.97 (0.93–0.95) and 0.99 (0.97–0.99) for simulated front-crawl and breaststroke, respectively. Furthermore, the joint angles were estimated with an accuracy increasing from distal to proximal joints, with wrist indices showing median CMC values always higher than 0.90. The present findings represent an important step towards the practical use of technology based on IMMUs for the kinematic analysis of swimming in applied contexts.  相似文献   

Neuromuscular and technical abilities related to age in water-polo players     

Fabio De Siati  Guillaume Laffaye  Giorgio Gatta  Antonio Dello Iacono  Johnny Padulo 《Journal of sports sciences》2016,34(15):1466-1472

Testing is one of the important tasks in any multi-step sport programme. In most ball games, coaches assess motor, physical and technical skills on a regular basis in early stages of talent identification in order to further athletes’ development. The purpose of the study was to investigate anthropometric variables and vertical jump heights as a free throw effectiveness predictor in water-polo players of different age groups. Two hundred and thirty-six young (10–18 years) male water-polo players partitioned into three age groups underwent anthropometric variables’ measures and squat- and countermovement-jump tests, and performed water-polo free throws. Anthropometric variables, vertical jump heights and throw speed – as a proxy for free throw effectiveness – resulted different over age groups. Particularly, throw speed changed from 9.28 to 13.70 m · s^?1 (+48%) from younger to older players. A multiple-regression model indicated that body height, squat-jump height and throw time together explain 52% of variance of throw speed. In conclusion, tall height, high lower limb power and throwing quickness appeared to be relevant determinants for effective free throws. Such indications can help coaches during talent identification and development processes, even by means of novel training strategies. Further research is needed over different maturity statuses.  相似文献   

Wearable inertial sensors in swimming motion analysis: a systematic review     

Fabricio Anicio de Magalhaes  Giorgio Gatta  Silvia Fantozzi 《Journal of sports sciences》2015,33(7):732-745

The use of contemporary technology is widely recognised as a key tool for enhancing competitive performance in swimming. Video analysis is traditionally used by coaches to acquire reliable biomechanical data about swimming performance; however, this approach requires a huge computational effort, thus introducing a delay in providing quantitative information. Inertial and magnetic sensors, including accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers, have been recently introduced to assess the biomechanics of swimming performance. Research in this field has attracted a great deal of interest in the last decade due to the gradual improvement of the performance of sensors and the decreasing cost of miniaturised wearable devices. With the aim of describing the state of the art of current developments in this area, a systematic review of the existing methods was performed using the following databases: PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, IEEE Xplore, Google Scholar, Scopus and Science Direct. Twenty-seven articles published in indexed journals and conference proceedings, focusing on the biomechanical analysis of swimming by means of inertial sensors were reviewed. The articles were categorised according to sensor’s specification, anatomical sites where the sensors were attached, experimental design and applications for the analysis of swimming performance. Results indicate that inertial sensors are reliable tools for swimming biomechanical analyses.  相似文献   

False negativity to carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and drugs: a clinical case     

Matteo Vidali  Vincenza Bianchi  Marco Bagnati  Nadia Atzeni  Andrea Marco Bianchi  Giorgio Bellomo 《Biochemia medica : ?asopis Hrvatskoga dru?tva medicinskih biokemi?ara / HDMB》2014,24(1):175-179

Introduction:

In this work we report on the possible effect of the medical therapy on CDT concentration in a chronic alcohol abuser, with known medical history (July 2007 – April 2012) and alcohol abuse confirmed by relatives.

Case history:

At the end of 2007, patient displayed the following laboratory results: AST 137 U/L, ALT 120 U/L, GGT 434 U/L, MCV 101 fL and CDT 3.3%. On December 2007, after double coronary artery bypass surgery, he began a pharmacological treatment with amlodipine, perindopril, atorvastatin, isosorbide mononitrate, carvedilol, ticlopidine and pantoprazole. In the next months, until may 2011, the patient resumed alcohol abuse, as confirmed by relatives; however, CDT values were repeatedly found negative (0.8% and 1.1%) despite elevated transaminases and GGT, concurrent elevated ethyl glucuronide concentration (> 50 mg/L) and blood alcohol concentration (> 1 g/L). Alcohol consumption still continued despite increasing disulfiram doses ordered by an Alcohol Rehab Center. On May 2011, the patient was transferred to a private medical center where he currently lives.

Conclusions:

This study suggests the possibility that a medical therapy including different drugs may hamper the identification of chronic alcohol abusers by CDT.  相似文献   

Towards a Philosophy of Structural Design     

Giorgio Croci 《European Journal of Engineering Education》1978,3(3-4):219-231

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Accidental digitoxin intoxication: an interplay between laboratory and clinical medicine     

Luigi M Castello  Sophie Negro  Francesca Santi  Isabella Zanotti  Matteo Vidali  Marco Bagnati  Giorgio Bellomo  Gian Carlo Avanzi 《Biochemia medica : ?asopis Hrvatskoga dru?tva medicinskih biokemi?ara / HDMB》2012,22(3):380-384

Introduction:

Two Italian adults arrived at the Emergency Department referring diarrhea, nausea and vomiting for 4 days; weakness, fatigue and visual hallucinations were also complained of. Patients reported the ingestion of some leaves of a plant, which they supposed to be “donkey ears”, a week before. Physical examination showed hypotension and bradycardia and ECG examination disclosed sinus rhythm and repolarization abnormalities (scooping of the ST-T complex) in both patients and a 2:1 AV block in the man.

Materials and methods:

Digoxin concentration was evaluated twice for each patient (at the admission and after 4 hours) by the automated immunoassay system ADVIA Centaur^®. Digitoxin concentration was evaluated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Results:

Despite clinical picture was suggestive of digitalis intoxication, digoxin levels were undetectable. Due to the more severe clinical picture, the male patient was treated with anti-digoxin antibodies (Digifab^®) achieving a good clinical improvement and remission of the AV block within two hours. Initial diagnosis was confirmed by LC-MS/MS showing high digitoxin concentrations, but digoxin was undetectable. Patients remained stable and 48 hours later were discharged from the hospital.

Conclusion:

Whereas digoxin determination frequently relies on monoclonal antibodies which do not cross-react to digitoxin, polyclonal antibodies constituting Digifab^® recognize a large spectrum of cardiac glycosides, including digitoxin. This report emphasizes the primary role of the clinical approach to patients in the emergency setting and how an active communication and a continuous sharing of professional experiences between Laboratory and Clinicians ensure an early and correct diagnosis.  相似文献   

Stimulus nonequivalences in go/no-go avoidance discriminations: Sensory,drive, and response factors     

Marina Frontali  Giorgio Bignami 《Learning & behavior》1974,2(2):153-160

Previous work with rats showed slower active avoidance (AA) and passive avoidance (PA) learning in a light-go/noise-light no-go task (L⁺NL^?) than in a noise-go/light-noise no-go task (N⁺LN^?), independently of noise intensity and of presence or absence of AA pretraining. Experiment I compared these two tasks and the corresponding discriminations with a compound AA and a simple PA signal. The latter were learned at a faster rate, with only negligible differences between the two types of stimulus arrangements (NL⁺L^? vs LN⁺N^?). Experiment II investigated the acquisition and reversal of four go/no-go tasks with a simple AA signal, with either a simple or a compound no-go signal and asymmetrical reinforcement, i.e., with an extinction instead of a PA contingency during the presentation of no-go signals. As in previous experiments with symmetrical reinforcement, the groups with a simple no-go signal (L⁺N^?, N⁺L^?) acquired AA with little or no generalization to the other stimulus. In reversal, however, the L⁺N^? group (formerly N⁺L^?) responded to the no-go signal much more frequently than the other (N⁺L^?, formerly L⁺N^?). Both the L⁺NL^? and the N⁺LN^? groups gave a large number of responses to the extinction signal, but the differences between the two groups were at least as large as in previous work with a PA contingency. These data show that perceptual or attentional phenomena cannot explain stimulus nonequivalences in situations with a compound no-go signal. Furthermore, the similar nonequivalences found in situations with and without differential fear conditioning (AA-extinction tests vs AA-PA tests) leads to complex, highly speculative models concerning possible interactions between response and drive-modulating properties of various stimuli.  相似文献   

Physiological and biomechanical responses to walking underwater on a non-motorised treadmill: effects of different exercise intensities and depths in middle-aged healthy women     

Piero Benelli  Franca Colasanti  Massimiliano Ditroilo  Antonio Cuesta-Vargas  Giorgio Gatta  Francesco Giacomini 《Journal of sports sciences》2013,31(3):268-277

Abstract

Non-motorised underwater treadmills are commonly used in fitness activities. However, no studies have examined physiological and biomechanical responses of walking on non-motorised treadmills at different intensities and depths. Fifteen middle-aged healthy women underwent two underwater walking tests at two different depths, immersed either up to the xiphoid process (deep water) or the iliac crest (shallow water), at 100, 110, 120, 130 step-per-minute (spm). Oxygen consumption (VO₂), heart rate (HR), blood lactate concentration, perceived exertion and step length were determined. Compared to deep water, walking in shallow water exhibited, at all intensities, significantly higher VO₂ (+13.5%, on average) and HR (+8.1%, on average) responses. Water depth did not influence lactate concentration, whereas perceived exertion was higher in shallow compared to deep water, solely at 120 (+40%) and 130 (+39.4%) spm. Average step length was reduced as the intensity increased (from 100 to 130 spm), irrespective of water depth. Expressed as a percentage of maximum, average VO₂ and HR were: 64–76% of peak VO₂ and 71–90% of maximum HR, respectively at both water depths. Accordingly, this form of exercise can be included in the “vigorous” range of exercise intensity, at any of the step frequencies used in this study.  相似文献   

Rapidity: The physical meaning of the hyperbolic angle in special relativity     

Giorgio Goldoni 《Resonance》2007,12(7):86-91

In Special Relativity the Galilean law of addition of velocities is replaced by a law of composition formally identical to the addition formula of the hyperbolic tangent. So a simple additive law can be obtained by inverting the hyperbolic tangent and passing to the hyperbolic angle, called rapidity. This article intends to demonstrate that the use of the hyperbolic angle is not a mere mathematical trick but that rapidity admits a simple physical meaning.  相似文献   

Copernican revolution in the complex plane     

Giorgio Goldoni 《Resonance》2012,17(11):1065-1084

Starting from a simplified model of the Ptolemaic system in the complex plane, we show that Copernicus?? innovation did not merely consist of choosing a reference frame in which the planetary motions were simpler, but in finding the size of the planetary orbits expressed in what we now call astronomical units. In modern times a misleading appeal to relativity and a comparison only on the grounds of precision has led some to consider the Ptolemaic and the Copernican systems as basically equivalent. This erroneous point of view has resulted in the neglect of the main scientific content of the Copernican theory and has left Copernicus only to historians and philosophers of science. It is time to restore Copernicus to the teachers of physics as an incomparable opportunity to show the formidable power of theoretical investigation.  相似文献