Search results for "athlete"

Effectiveness of a screening program for HBV, HCV, and HIV infections in African migrants to Sicily

2021

BACKGROUND Migrants from Africa are vulnerable to viral infections during their journey. METHODS Migrants who arrived in western Sicily were offered early screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A questionnaire was administered to evaluate risk factors, and antiviral therapy was offered to subjects with active infection. A multiple regression analysis and adjusted odds ratio were obtained to evaluate risk factors. RESULTS Overall, 2,639 of 2,751 (95.9%) migrants who arrived between 2015 and 2017 accepted screening and 1,911 (72.4%) completed the questionnaire. HBsAg was positive in 257 (9.7%) migrants, 24 (0.9%) were …

High Performance Athletes' Dual Career Possibilities in Latvian Higher Educational Institutions

2013

2016

Purpose This study assessed the prevalence of physical and cognitive doping in recreational triathletes with two different randomized response models, that is, the Cheater Detection Model (CDM) and the Unrelated Question Model (UQM). Since both models have been employed in assessing doping, the major objective of this study was to investigate whether the estimates of these two models converge. Material and Methods An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 2,967 athletes at two triathlon events (Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Germany). Doping behavior was assessed either with the CDM (Frankfurt sample, one Wiesbaden subsample) or the UQM (one Wiesbaden subsample). A generalized likelihood-rati…

Why Did the ‘Flying Finns’ Walk? A Footnote to the History of Athletics Training

2012

In the twenty-first century, distance runners invariably train by running. A few generations ago, however, virtually all elite runners were dedicated walkers; they sought to improve their running prowess by vigorous walking exercises. As idiosyncratic as their training philosophy retrospectively sounds, it needs to be assessed in its original context. Of all modern sports, distance running seemed a particularly suspicious activity to contemporary observers, as suggested by evidence from Finland and other leading sporting nations. A grown-up person dashing about in skimpy clothes easily ended up being classified as a mental case. Serious athletes therefore chose walking work-outs over unabas…

Idiosyncratic description of anger states in skilled Spanish karate athletes: an application of the IZOF model

2004

This study examined content and intensity of anger prior to, during, and after best ever and worst ever performances in 43 high-level Spanish karate athletes using individualized anger profiling. Optimal and dysfunctional anger intensities were assessed using a modified version of Borg’s Category Ratio (CR-10) scale. Anger profiling was supplemented with positive and negative emotion profiling. As expected, content of anger descriptors was highly idiosyncratic. Moreover, great variability in optimal and dysfunctional anger intensities was found at individual and group levels. In best performances, anger was related to the generation of additional energy, whereas in worst performances, anger…

Narrative and discursive perspectives on athletic identity : Past, present, and future

2016

Abstract Objectives The dominant role-based conceptualisations of athletic identity have recently been challenged in favour of theoretical perspectives that view identity as a complex cultural construction. In the present study, we analysed empirical studies on athletic identity positioned in narrative and discursive approaches to gain an insight into the use and subsequent contribution of these approaches to knowledge production in this research topic. Design and method A total of 23 articles, of which 18 narrative studies and five discursive studies, were identified in a systematic literature search. We used the meta-study method to analyse these studies in terms of basic assumptions, met…

Learning in sport : from life skills to existential learning

2020

Youth sport is habitually promoted as an important context for learning that contributes to a person’s broader development beyond sport-specific skills. A growing body of research in this area has operated within a life skills discourse that focuses on useful, positive and decontextualised skills in the production of successful and adaptive citizens. In this paper, we argue that the ideological discourse of life skills, underpinned by ideas about sport-based positive youth development, has unduly narrowed the research on learning in sport to only what is deemed functional, teachable, and economically productive. After considering the problems associated with the currently dominant life skil…

Relationship between Training Load Management and Immunoglobulin A to Avoid Immunosuppression after Soccer Training and Competition: A Theoretical Fr…

2021

Immunoglobulin A (IgA), which is the main effector against upper respiratory tract viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been related to training load management. The aim of this systematic review was to establish the relationship between training load and salivary IgA based on current evidence in order to avoid immunosuppression after exercise and players´ vulnerability to virus contagion. A systematic review of relevant articles was carried out using two electronic databases (PubMed and Web of Science) until 19 May 2021. From a total of 127 studies initially found, 23 were included in the qualitative synthesis. These studies were clustered depen…

Inequality in the world of sports: Differences of pre-participation examination in athletes in high- versus low-income countries.

2019

A New Fitness Test of Estimating VO2max in Well-Trained Rowing Athletes

2021

BackgroundThis study was designed to investigate the validity of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) estimation through the Firstbeat fitness test (FFT) method when using submaximal rowing and running programs for well-trained athletes.MethodsWell-trained flatwater rowers (n = 45, 19.8 ± 3.0 years, 184 ± 8.7 cm, 76 ± 12.9 kg, and 58.7 ± 6.0 mL⋅kg–1⋅min–1) and paddlers (n = 45, 19.0 ± 2.5 years, 180 ± 7.7 cm, 74 ± 9.4 kg, and 59.9 ± 4.8 mL⋅kg–1⋅min–1) completed the FFT and maximal graded exercise test (GXT) programs of rowing and running, respectively. The estimated VO2max was calculated using the FFT system, and the measured VO2max was obtained from the GXT programs. Differences between the…