Half-Time Strategies to Enhance Second-Half Performance in Team-Sports Players: A Review and Recommendations

The competitive demands of numerous intermittent team sports require that two consecutive periods of play are separated by a half-time break. Typically, half-time allows players to: return to the changing rooms, temporarily relax from the cognitive demands of the first half of match-play, rehydrate, re-fuel, attend to injury or equipment concerns, and to receive tactical instruction and coach feedback in preparation for the second half. These passive practices have been associated with physiological changes which impair physical and cognitive performance in the initial stages of the second half. An increased risk of injury has also been observed following half-time. On the day of competition, modification of half-time practices may therefore provide Sports Scientists and Strength and Conditioning Coaches with an opportunity to optimise second half performance. An overview of strategies that may benefit team sports athletes is presented; specifically, the efficacy of: heat maintenance strategies (including passive and active methods), hormonal priming (through video feedback), post-activation potentiation, and modified hydro-nutritional practices are discussed. A theoretical model of applying these strategies in a manner that compliments current practice is also presented

The effects of traditional, superset, and tri-set resistance training structures on perceived intensity and physiological responses.

PURPOSE: Investigate the acute and short-term (i.e., 24 h) effects of traditional (TRAD), superset (SS), and tri-set (TRI) resistance training protocols on perceptions of intensity and physiological responses. METHODS: Fourteen male participants completed a familiarisation session and three resistance training protocols (i.e., TRAD, SS, and TRI) in a randomised-crossover design. Rating of perceived exertion, lactate concentration ([Lac]), creatine kinase concentration ([CK]), countermovement jump (CMJ), testosterone, and cortisol concentrations was measured pre, immediately, and 24-h post the resistance training sessions with magnitude-based inferences assessing changes/differences within/between protocols. RESULTS: TRI reported possible to almost certainly greater efficiency and rate of perceived exertion, although session perceived load was very likely lower. SS and TRI had very likely to almost certainly greater lactate responses during the protocols, with changes in [CK] being very likely and likely increased at 24 h, respectively. At 24-h post-training, CMJ variables in the TRAD protocol had returned to baseline; however, SS and TRI were still possibly to likely reduced. Possible increases in testosterone immediately post SS and TRI protocols were reported, with SS showing possible increases at 24-h post-training. TRAD and SS showed almost certain and likely decreases in cortisol immediately post, respectively, with TRAD reporting likely decreases at 24-h post-training. CONCLUSIONS: SS and TRI can enhance training efficiency and reduce training time. However, acute and short-term physiological responses differ between protocols. Athletes can utilise SS and TRI resistance training, but may require additional recovery post-training to minimise effects of fatigue

La progettazione dei distretti rurali : un modello per il \u201ccaso agro-energetico\u201d

Partendo dal concetto di \u201cdistretto rurale\u201d espresso nell\u2019art. 13 del D. Lgs. 228/01, \u201cOrientamento e modernizzazione del settore agricolo\u201d, lo studio propone un modello di analisi progettuale per la definizione di un distretto rurale agro-energetico. A tal fine risulta decisamente importante disporre di un\u2019analisi preliminare (agro-ambientale, socio-economica, della filiera energetica, ecc.) per individuare le peculiarit\ue0, i punti di forza e le criticit\ue0 del territorio in esame. La metodologia proposta prevede una prima fase, su scala regionale e, solo in un secondo momento, una fase progettuale su scala locale

Assessment of the Parth-Worth Utility of the Biofuels. Use in the Public Transportation: a first analysis

The present paper is the initial result of a research work called \uab The part-worth utility of biomasses use for the pollution reduction in the transport sector: a case study in the Milan\u2019s metropolitan area \ubb. The study is focused on the evolutionary dynamics of the \u201curban system\u201d and on the life quality improvement demands expressed by its citizens. In particular, the urban system faces an increasingly urgent issue: how to harmonize the strategic development with environmental and economic sustainability. The aim of the study is to evaluate the part-worth utility, attributed by the citizens, to the bio-fuel use in the public transportation sector. To do that, a case study was defined (the Milan metropolitan area), and the pollution reduction proposal\u2019s effect upon the citizens\u2019 behaviour will be evaluated. Here the context of reference is first introduced and, subsequently, the theoretical models that have determined the choice of the methodology are analyzed. In particular will be discussed the specificities, the methodological phases and the \u201cplus value\u201d of the two principal methodologies for the economic evaluation of the extra-market goods: the Contingent Evaluation and the Choice Experiment. The research project is realized thanks to the funding of the Ingenio Global Subsidy, financed by the European Social Fund, the Italian \u201cMinistero del Lavoro e della Previdenza Sociale\u201d and the Lombardia Region. The study has been joined, with a collaborative research method, by Milan\u2019s public transportation firm: ATM Spa (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi)

Territorial analysis in support of policy-making. A conceptual and methodological model

The present work, to allow a more effective and significant overall evaluation of every sector analysis, proposes a conceptual and methodological course of action for the territorial analysis, as a support for the definition of the guidelines to plan public intervention for agriculture and the territory. The crux of a territorial analysis may lie in the difficulty of dealing with more phenomena simultaneously and, in particular, in some cases, in the need of a concise analysis of its different aspects (agricultural, urban, environmental, and socio-economic). That is the reason why the method proposed consists of descriptive and analytical phases which determine an increasing expressiveness of data to the detriment of their initial analytical phase. The final phase of the process is the cluster analysis which allows to share the area investigated into homogeneous territorial groups. Finally, the results are displayed, at first by a dendrogram and, further on, by a map representation. To illustrate the method proposed, and as a test-bed, we have carried out the territorial analysis of the area of the future Monza\u2019s province, a territory adjacent to the metropolitan area of Milan