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On 1 April 2011, rower and adventurer Sarah Outen set off in her kayak from Tower Bridge for France. Her aim was simple: to circle the globe entirely under her own steam - cycling, kayaking and rowing across Europe, Asia, the Pacific, the Americas, the Atlantic and eventually home. A year later, Sarah was plucked from the Pacific ocean amid tropical storm Mawar, her boat broken, her spirit even more so. But that wasn't the end. Despite ill health and depression, giving up was not an option. So Sarah set off once more to finish what she had started, becoming the first woman to row solo from Japan to Alaska, as well as the first woman to row the Pacific from West to East. She kayaked the treacherous Aleutian chain and cycled the Americas, before setting sail on the Atlantic, despite the risk of another row-ending storm ... Dare to Do is more than an adventure story. It is a story of the kindness of strangers and the spirit of travel; a story of the raw power of nature, of finding love in unexpected places, and of discovering your inner strength. It is about trying and failing, and trying again, and about how, even when all seems lost, you can find yourself.

This study characterizes the requirements of the kayak ( kay ) gene in Drosophila melanogaster adult eye biology by examining mutant phenotypes in photoreceptor development, external eye morphology, corneal and bristle ultrastructure, and visually guided behaviors, such as phototaxis, in kay strong loss-of-function homozygous mutant clones. Despite previous studies on kay , there is a dearth of phenotypic characterization of the morphological and behavioral consequences of kay loss-of-function alleles in the adult eye. We find that kay is expressed in developing ommatidia in eye discs. The kay mutant ommatidia are misaligned, lack photoreceptors, have malformed corneal surfaces, and have misshaped, misplaced, and fewer mechanosensory bristles. Corneal nipples, while present in mutant corneas on the corneal surface, are disorganized and malformed. With an average of 30% of the eye territory mutant, flies have a significantly lower response in a behavioral phototaxis assay. Altogether, kay function is required for multiple cell types in the adult retina, and this stands in stark contrast with other jun kinase genes, like the fly homologs of jun kinase and jun , genes not required for adult eye morphogenesis. This is consistent with Kayak functions that are independent of heterodimerizing with Jun proteins or requiring activation of the jun kinase pathway.

Dietary nitrate (BR) and caffeine (CAF) ingestion have been shown to increase sports performance. However, the isolated and combined effects of BR and CAF ingestion on time trial (TT) performance as well as the accompanying physiological and perceptual responses have never been investigated in highly trained kayak athletes. Therefore, the present study examined the impact of an isolated and combined supplementation with BR (140 ml beetroot concentrate, ~12.5 mmol nitrate) and CAF (3 mg/kg bodyweight) on 1000 m ergometer TT performance as well as the accompanying physiological (i.e. cardiorespiratory function, muscle oxygenation, muscle activity) and perceptual responses (i.e. fatigue, effort, and exercise-induced pain perception) in male highly trained kayakers. It was hypothesized that the isolated ingestion of BR and CAF would both improve ergometer-based 1000 m TT performance and induce supplement-specific physiological and perceptual responses. Considering the primary effects of BR on muscle function and of CAF on the central nervous system, it was further assumed that the combined ingestion will result in an additional performance increase and supplement-specific physiological and perceptual responses. Using a prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind crossover design, 12 male highly trained kayak athletes from local clubs were investigated. They completed four measurement sessions resulting in four randomized conditions: (i) BR+CAF; (ii) BR+CAF placebo (BR+PLA); (iii) CAF+BR placebo (CAF+PLA); and (iv) BR placebo + CAF placebo (PLA+PLA). An air-braked instrumented kayak-ergometer was used to record 1000 m TT performance, power output, and stroke frequency. Heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO ), maximum VO (VO ), respiratory equivalent of O (VE/VO ), and carbon dioxide (VE/VCO ) were measured continuously. Furthermore, oxygenation of the deltoid muscle was measured with near-infrared spectroscopy (mNIRS) and muscle activity of nine unilateral muscles with surface electromyography (i.e. deltoideus, serratus anterior, triceps brachii caput lateralis, trapezius, infraspinatus, latissimus dorsi, obliquus externus, flexor carpi radialis, and vastus lateralis muscle) during the 1000 m TT. After the TT, fatigue, effort, and exercise-induced pain perception were queried. One- and two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures were conducted to determine differences between conditions for the entire 1000 m TT and predefined sections (0-50 m, 50-100 m, 100-150 m, 150-250 m, 250-500 m, 500-750 m, 750-1000 m), respectively (  ≤ 0.05). The supplements did not have an ergogenic effect on TT performance compared to the PLA+PLA condition, either in isolation or in combination. The same applied to the majority of physiological parameters and the perceptual responses. Nevertheless, VE/VO was lower during the sections 150-250 m (-5.00%;  = 0.02) and 250-500 m (-3.49%;  = 0.03) in the BR+PLA condition, whereby VE/VCO was higher during the section 150-250 m (4.19%;  = 0.04) in the CAF+PLA compared to the PLA+PLA condition, respectively. Data indicate that the isolated and combined ingestion of BR and CAF had no effect on 1000 m TT performance, the majority of physiological responses, and perceptual responses in highly trained kayakers. These findings might be related to the dosage and/or a ceiling effect due to the already efficient vascular, metabolic, and muscle function, including high amounts of endogenous produced nitric oxide, in athletes.

In the last 60,000 y humans have expanded across the globe and now occupy a wider range than any other terrestrial species. Our ability to successfully adapt to such a diverse range of habitats is often explained in terms of our cognitive ability. Humans have relatively bigger brains and more computing power than other animals, and this allows us to figure out how to live in a wide range of environments. Here we argue that humans may be smarter than other creatures, but none of us is nearly smart enough to acquire all of the information necessary to survive in any single habitat. In even the simplest foraging societies, people depend on a vast array of tools, detailed bodies of local knowledge, and complex social arrangements and often do not understand why these tools, beliefs, and behaviors are adaptive. We owe our success to our uniquely developed ability to learn from others. This capacity enables humans to gradually accumulate information across generations and develop well-adapted tools, beliefs, and practices that are too complex for any single individual to invent during their lifetime.

This article focuses on the design of a sensor system for a non-planar surface, in particular a cylindrical shape, such as a kayak paddle. The main objective is to develop a piezoresistive sensor system to measure the pressure exerted by the hand on the shaft. The study begins with static characterization of the sensors, including dispersion analysis to assess their sensitivity, linearity and measurement range. A calibration process is carried out using a dedicated test bench, and an inverse viscoelastic model is used to establish an accurate relationship between the measured resistance and the corresponding pressure. The sensor system is connected to a data acquisition board equipped with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that enables the direct conversion of analog data into digital resistance values. Furthermore, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless communication is employed to facilitate data transfer to a computer, enabling a detailed pressure mapping of the kayak paddle and real-time data collection. The calibrated sensors are then tested and validated on the kayak paddle, facilitating the mapping of pressure zones on the paddle surface. This mapping provides information for locating areas of high pressure exertion during kayaker movements.

PurposeTo assess the performance change and physiological adaptations following nine sessions of short high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or sprint-interval training (SIT) in sprint kayakers.MethodsTwelve trained kayakers performed an incremental test and 3 time trials (200 m, 500 m and 1000 m) on a kayak ergometer. Oxygen consumption (V̇O2) and muscle oxygenation of the latissimus dorsi, biceps brachii, and vastus lateralis were measured. Athletes were then paired for sex and V̇O2max and randomized into a HIIT or a SIT training group, and performed nine training sessions before repeating the tests.ResultsTraining improved performance in HIIT (200 m: + 3.8 ± 3.1%, p = 0.06; 500 m: + 2.1 ± 4.1%, p = 0.056; 1000 m: + 3.0 ± 4.6%, p = 0.13) but changes in performance remained within the smallest worthwhile change in SIT (200 m: + 0.8 ± 4.1%, p = 0.59; 500 m: + 0.5 ± 4.1%, p = 0.87; 1000 m: + 1.3 ± 4.6%, p = 0.57). In the 1000 m, training led to a greater deoxygenation in the biceps brachii and vastus lateralis in HIIT, and in the latissimus dorsi in SIT. In HIIT, the best predictors of improvements in 1000 m performance were increases in latissimus dorsi and vastus lateralis maximal deoxygenation.ConclusionIn a group of trained sprint kayakers, greater improvements in performance can be obtained with HIIT compared with SIT, for any distance. Training did not change V̇O2peak, but increased muscle maximal deoxygenation, suggesting both HIIT and SIT elicit peripheral adaptations. Performance improvement in the 1000 m was associated with increased maximal muscle deoxygenation, reinforcing the contribution of peripheral adaptations to performance in sprint kayaking.

Maritime vessel detection in infrared images at night faces challenges such as low contrast, target blurriness, occlusion, and small object sizes, which can lead to high rates of false positives and missed detection. We presented an enhanced algorithm integrating attention mechanisms and deformable convolution. First, the SE attention mechanism was employed to suppress noise interference in images, enhancing foreground targets attention, thereby effectively improving recall and reducing missed detection of target vessels. Second, to address the varying scales and deformations of maritime vessels, deformable convolution was utilized to minimize target loss during training, effectively preventing complex backgrounds from being misclassified as vessels and enhancing the ability to detect small vessels, such as fishing boats and kayaks the detection capability for small targets such as fishing boats and kayaks. The experiments showed that the enhanced algorithm reached a mAP@.5 of 94.4% on a public dataset, with recall and mean average precision increasing by 1.6% and 0.3%. Furthermore, the precision-recall difference was reduced from 2.4% to 0.5%, achieving a balance between the two and enhancing the overall model performance, thereby improving the detection effectiveness of maritime vessels at night.

The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between changes in physiological tremor after exercise and changes in the traction properties of the stretch reflex indirectly assessed using the Hoffmann reflex test. The research involved 19 young men practicing canoe sprint (age 16.4 ± 0.7 years, body mass 74.4 ± 6.7 kg, body height 182.1 ± 4.3 cm, training experience 4.8 ± 1.6 years). During resting tests, Hoffmann reflex measurements were performed from the soleus muscle, physiological tremor of the lower limb, and the blood lactate concentration was determined. Then, a graded test was carried out on the kayak/canoe ergometer. Immediately after the exercise and in the 10th and 25th minute following the exercise, Hoffmann’s reflex of the soleus muscle was measured. The physiological tremor was measured at 5, 15 and 30 min after exercise. Blood lactate concentrations were determined immediately after physiological tremor. Both the parameters of Hoffmann’s reflex and physiological tremor changed significantly after exercise. There were no significant interrelationships between Hoffmann reflex measurements and physiological tremor in resting and post-exercise conditions. No significant correlation was detected between changes in physiological tremor and changes in Hoffmann reflex parameters. It is to be assumed that there is no connection between a stretch reflex and a physiological tremor.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), is currently designing a small autonomous passenger ferry for up to 12 passengers. The ferry will bridge a harbor channel in Trondheim, Norway. This paper presents the results of the preliminary hazard analysis conducted in the early design phase of the ferry. The main hazards and envisioned risk reduction measures are associated with software failure, failure of communication system, both internal and external, traffic in the channel, especially kayaks, passenger handling, and monitoring, and weather conditions. In addition, this paper summarizes practical challenges encountered in the ferry project. These challenges are related to available hazard and risk analysis methods and data, determining and establishing an equivalent safety level, and some of the prescriptive regulations currently in use by the Norwegian Maritime Authority. The presented analysis and identified challenges may assist other, similar projects designing and developing autonomous vessels.