The amateur-professional debate: an exploration of attitudes and opinions within the Gaelic Athletic Association

The amateur-professional debate is a recurrent theme within the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). This exploratory study reviews the literature in terms of the preconditions to and the implications of professionalism in sport, with specific reference to both rugby union and soccer. This review provides the framework for the discussion on the key issues pertaining to the debate using qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, namely, senior inter-County players, senior administrators and executive members of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA). In addition to payment for play, the research identifies and discusses the attitudes and opinions of the participants on other important aspects which are relevant to the debate; these include firstly, broken-time payments and shamateurism, commercialisation and sponsorship; secondly, the structural implications, particularly, player contracts and transfers; the implications for the club; thirdly, the role of players’ association; fourthly, the role of the GPA within the amateur-professional debate; and finally a review of amateurism. The results of the research highlight that the aforementioned aspects are central to the amateur-professional debate within an indigenous sports organisation. The research identifies that professionalism within the GAA cannot be examined solely in terms of direct payment to the players

Mechanisms of Chemical Carcinogenesis in the Kidneys

Chemical carcinogens are substances which induce malignant tumours, increase their incidence or decrease the time taken for tumour formation. Often, exposure to chemical carcinogens results in tissue specific patterns of tumorigenicity. The very same anatomical, biochemical and physiological specialisations which permit the kidney to perform its vital roles in maintaining tissue homeostasis may in fact increase the risk of carcinogen exposure and contribute to the organ specific carcinogenicity observed with numerous kidney carcinogens. This review will address the numerous mechanisms which play a role in the concentration, bioactivation, and uptake of substances from both the urine and blood which significantly increase the risk of cancer in the kidney

A Comparison of Medication Management Between Older and Younger Adults Living With HIV

The aims of this study were to examine differences in medication management between older and younger adults living with HIV and to examine the relationship between age and cognitive ability, depressive symptoms, and self-efficacy on medication management. This research utilized a descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional design to compare medication management between older and younger adults living with HIV and to describe differences in predictive factors of cognition, depressive symptoms, and self-efficacy on medication management. Results indicated that both older and younger adults had poor medication management skills and high rates of mild cognitive impairment. While older adults performed worse on the medication management test than younger adults, the results were not statistically significant. In both older and younger adults, cognitive ability and depressive symptoms were predictors of medication management, with cognitive ability being the strongest predictor for both groups. Cognitive ability was a stronger predictor for older adults than for younger adults