Higher overall mean and criterion-specific tackle-related technique scores were associated with a non-injury outcome. The ability to perform well during tackle events may decrease the risk of injury and may manifest in superior performance.

Article:Tucker, R., Raftery, M., Kemp, S. et ReuseUnless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version -refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher's website. TakedownIf you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. Risk factors for head injury events in professional Rugby AbstractObjectives: The tackle is responsible for the majority of head injuries during Rugby Union. In order to address head injury risk, risk factors during the tackle must first be identified. This study analysed tackle characteristics in the professional game in order to inform potential interventions. Methods: 464 tackles resulting in a head injury assessment (HIA) were analysed in detail, with tackle type, direction, speed, acceleration, nature of head contact and player body position the characteristics of interest. Results: Propensity to cause an HIA was significantly greater for active shoulder tackles, front-on tackles, high speeder tackles and an accelerating tackler. Head contact between a tackler's head and ball carrier's head or shoulder was significantly more likely to cause an HIA than contact below the level of the shoulder (IRR 4.25,). The tackler experiences the majority (78%) of HIAs when head-to-head contact occurs. An upright tackler was 1.5 times more likely to experience an HIA than a bent at the waist tackler (IRR 1.44, CI 1.18 -1.76). Conclusions: This study confirms that energy transfer in the tackle is a risk factor for head injury, since direction, type and speed all influence HIA propensity. The study provides evidence that body position and the height of tackles should be a focus for interventions, since lowering height and adopting a bent at the waist body position is associated with reduced risk for both tacklers and ball carriers. To this end, World Rugby have implemented law change based on the present data. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD? This study is the largest to date to decribe risk factors for head injuries requiring a head injury assessment in professional rugby union, using a cohort of 464 head injury events over three years  The tackler more likely to sustain head injuries than the ball carrier  Energy transfer is a risk factor for head injury, since active shoulder, front on, high speed and acceleration into tackles were more likely to cause head injuries  We find that higher impacts are more than four times more likely to result in head injury. Tack...

BackgroundReports of histiocytic sarcoma (HS) involving the central nervous system (CNS) are sparse and consist mainly of case reports describing 1–3 animals.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to report the signalments, clinical signs, clinicopathologic and diagnostic imaging findings, treatment, and outcome of a series of dogs with HS and CNS involvement.AnimalsNineteen dogs with HS examined at veterinary referral hospitals.MethodsRetrospective case series. Medical records were reviewed and cases with a histopathological diagnosis of CNS HS were included in the study. Diagnostic imaging studies of the CNS were evaluated and histopathologic samples were reviewed to confirm the diagnosis.ResultsRetrievers and Pembroke Welsh Corgis were overrepresented in this cohort of dogs. Tumors involved the brain in 14 dogs and the spinal cord in 5. In 4 dogs, HS was part of a disseminated, multiorgan process whereas it appeared confined to the CNS in 15 dogs. Diagnostic imaging had variable appearances although extraaxial masses predominated in the brain. There was meningeal enhancement in all dogs that was often profound and remote from the primary mass lesion. Pleocytosis was present in all dogs with CSF evaluation. Median survival was 3 days.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceBreed predispositions appear to vary from reports of HS in other organ systems. Some unique imaging and clinicopathologic characteristics, particularly brain herniation, profound meningeal enhancement, and pleocytosis in combination with 1 or more mass lesions, might help to differentiate this neoplasm from others involving the CNS, although this requires further study.

It has been argued that the physical sensations induced by exercise, measured as the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), are distinct from the sense of effort. This study aimed to determine whether a new measure of task effort -the Task Effort and Awareness (TEA) score -is able to measure sensations distinct from those included in the conventional RPE scale. Seven well-trained cyclists completed a maximal effort 100 km time trial (TT) and a submaximal trial at 70% of the power sustained during the TT (70% TT). Five maximal 1 km sprints were included in both trials. Both the RPE related solely to physical sensation (P-RPE) and the TEA score increased during the TT and were linearly related. During the 70% TT, both P-RPE and TEA scores increased, but TEA increased signifi cantly less than P-RPE (p<0.001). TEA scores reached maximal values in all 1 km sprints in both the maximal TT and 70% TT, whereas the RPE increased progressively, reaching a maximal value only in the fi nal 1 km sprints in both the TT and the 70% TT. These results indicate that the physical sensations of effort measured as the P-RPE act as the template regulating performance during exercise and that deviation from that template produces an increase in the sense of effort measured by the TEA score. Together, these controls ensure that the chosen exercise intensity does not threaten bodily homeostasis. Our fi ndings also explain why submaximal exercise conducted within the constraints of the template P-RPE does not produce any conscious awareness of effort.