The objectives of this study were (a) to determine the concurrent validity of the flight time (FT) and double integration of vertical reaction force (DIF) methods in the estimation of vertical jump height with the video method (VID) as reference; (b) to verify the degree of agreement among the 3 methods; (c) to propose regression equations to predict the jump height using the FT and DIF. Twenty healthy male and female nonathlete college students participated in this study. The experiment involved positioning a contact mat (CTM) on the force platform (FP), with a video camera 3 m from the FP and perpendicular to the sagittal plane of the subject being assessed. Each participant performed 15 countermovement jumps with 60-second intervals between the trials. Significant differences were found between the jump height obtained by VID and the results with FT (p ≤ 0.01) and DIF (p ≤ 0.01), showing that the methods are not valid. Additionally, the DIF showed a greater degree of agreement with the reference method than the FT did, and both presented a systematic error. From the linear regression test was determined the prediction equations with a high degree of linearity between the methods VID vs. DIF (R = 0.988) and VID vs. FT (R = 0.979). Therefore, the prediction equations suggested may allow coaches to measure the vertical jump performance of athletes by the FT and DIF, using a CTM or an FP, which represents more practical and viable approaches in the sports field; comparisons can then be made with the results of other athletes evaluated by VID.

We present an endomicroscope apparatus that exhibits out-of-focus background rejection based on wide-field illumination through a flexible imaging fiber bundle. Our technique, called HiLo microscopy, involves acquiring two images, one with grid-pattern illumination and another with standard uniform illumination. An evaluation of the image contrast with grid-pattern illumination provides an optically sectioned image with low resolution. This is complemented with high-resolution information from the uniform illumination image, leading to a full-resolution image that is optically sectioned. HiLo endomicroscope movies are presented of fluorescently labeled rat colonic mucosa.

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