Relations of Body Mass Index,body fat,and power of various muscles to sport injuries

The aim of the present study was to estimate associations of Body Mass Index, body fat, and muscle power on sport injuries. In injured and noninjured athletes during a sport season of four months, the differences in Body Mass Index, the percent body fat, and back, leg, and right- and left-hand muscle strength were examined. The subjects were 329 men and 127 women attending classes in the departments of Physical Training and Sport of Atatürk University (Erzurum, Erzincan, and A?ri in Turkey). Body Mass Index was higher in injured athletes than in noninjured ones, but there was no difference in percent body fat between injured and noninjured athletes. The back and leg muscle power were higher for noninjured athletes than for injured ones. The right- and left-hand power was higher for injured athletes in some sports. Because the back and leg muscles function in control of equilibrium, the power of these muscles may be important for control related to avoidance of sport injuries.     

Relations among hand preference,craniofacial asymmetry,and ear advantage in young subjects

The relations for hand preference with craniofacial asymmetry and ear advantage, and between craniofacial asymmetry and ear advantage were investigated in young healthy subjects. Ear advantage was recorded as duration of hearing, craniofacial asymmetry by computerized tomography in 44 right-handed and 38 left-handed male and female high school students. Right-handers had a right ear advantage and a larger left craniofacial region, whereas left-handers had a left ear advantage and a larger right craniofacial region. These results are consistent with the speculation that hand preference may be related to craniofacial and consequently aural asymmetries.     

Callous-unemotional traits and developmental pathways to severe conduct problems

One method for defining pathways through which children develop severe conduct problems is based on the presence or absence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. This study investigated potential differences between nonreferred children (mean age = 12.36 years; SD = 1.73) with and without CU traits (n = 98). Children with conduct problems, irrespective of the presence of CU traits, tended to have significant problems in emotional and behavioral regulation. In contrast, CU traits, irespective of the presence of conduct problems, were associated with a lack of behavioral inhibition. Hostile attributional biases were associated with conduct problems but only in boys and in the absence of CU traits. These findings suggest that the processes underlying deficits in emotional and behavioral regulation in children with conduct problems may be different for children with CU traits.     

A short-lived face alert during inhibition of return

In the present study, we explored the role of faces in oculomotor inhibition of return (IOR) using a tightly controlled spatial cuing paradigm. We measured saccadic response latency to targets following peripheral cues that were either faces or objects of lesser sociobiological salience. A recurring influence from cue content was observed across numerous methodological variations. Faces versus other object cues briefly reduced saccade latencies toward subsequently presented targets, independently of attentional allocation and IOR. The results suggest a short-lived priming effect or social facilitation effect from the mere presence of a face. In the present study, we further showed that saccadic responses were unaffected by face versus nonface objects in double-cue presentations. Our findings indicate that peripheral face cues do not influence attentional orienting processes involved in IOR any differently from other objects in a tightly controlled oculomotor IOR paradigm.     

Unilateral nostril breathing in intraocular pressure of right-handed healthy subjects

The effects of unilateral forced nostril breathing on the intraocular pressures of right and left eyes was studied in 24 male and 26 female right-handed adults. In men, the forced breathing through both the right and left nostrils significantly decreased the intraocular pressures of both right and left eyes. For women, the forced breathing through right nostril did not affect the intraocular pressures of right and left eyes, and the forced breathing through left nostril also had no effect on the intraocular pressure of right eye, although it decreased the intraocular pressure of left eye significantly. These results show that unilateral forced nostril breathing decreases intraocular pressure especially in men, perhaps increasing sympathetic nervous system activity.