Training during the COVID-19 lockdown : knowledge, beliefs, and practices of 12,526 athletes from 142 countries and six continents

OBJECTIVE Our objective was to explore the training-related knowledge, beliefs, and practices of athletes and the influence of lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS Athletes (n = 12,526, comprising 13% world class, 21% international, 36% national, 24% state, and 6% recreational) completed an online survey that was available from 17 May to 5 July 2020 and explored their training behaviors (training knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and practices), including specific questions on their training intensity, frequency, and session duration before and during lockdown (March–June 2020). RESULTS Overall, 85% of athletes wanted to “maintain training,” and 79% disagreed with the statement that it is “okay to not train during lockdown,” with a greater prevalence for both in higher-level athletes. In total, 60% of athletes considered “coaching by correspondence (remote coaching)” to be sufficient (highest amongst world-class athletes). During lockdown, < 40% were able to maintain sport-specific training (e.g., long endurance [39%], interval training [35%], weightlifting [33%], most (83%) training for “general fitness and health maintenance” during lockdown. Athletes trained alone (80%) and focused on bodyweight (65%) and cardiovascular (59%) exercise/training during lockdown. Compared with before lockdown, most athletes reported reduced training frequency (from between five and seven sessions per week to four or fewer), shorter training sessions (from ≥ 60 to < 60 min), and lower sport-specific intensity (~ 38% reduction), irrespective of athlete classification. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19-related lockdowns saw marked reductions in athletic training specificity, intensity, frequency, and duration, with notable within-sample differences (by athlete classification). Higher classification athletes had the strongest desire to “maintain” training and the greatest opposition to “not training” during lockdowns. These higher classification athletes retained training specificity to a greater degree than others, probably because of preferential access to limited training resources. More higher classification athletes considered “coaching by correspondence” as sufficient than did lower classification athletes. These lockdown-mediated changes in training were not conducive to maintenance or progression of athletes’ physical capacities and were also likely detrimental to athletes’ mental health. These data can be used by policy makers, athletes, and their multidisciplinary teams to modulate their practice, with a degree of individualization, in the current and continued pandemic-related scenario. Furthermore, the data may drive training-related educational resources for athletes and their multidisciplinary teams. Such upskilling would provide athletes with evidence to inform their training modifications in response to germane situations (e.g., COVID related, injury, and illness).A specific funding was provided by the National Sports Institute of Malaysia for this study.The National Sports Institute of Malaysia.https://www.springer.com/journal/40279am2023Sports Medicin

COVID-19 lockdown : a global study investigating athletes’ sport classification and sex on training practices

PURPOSE : To investigate differences in athletes’ knowledge, beliefs, and training practices during COVID-19 lockdowns with reference to sport classification and sex. This work extends an initial descriptive evaluation focusing on athlete classification. METHODS : Athletes (12,526; 66% male; 142 countries) completed an online survey (May–July 2020) assessing knowledge, beliefs, and practices toward training. Sports were classified as team sports (45%), endurance (20%), power/technical (10%), combat (9%), aquatic (6%), recreational (4%), racquet (3%), precision (2%), parasports (1%), and others (1%). Further analysis by sex was performed. RESULTS : During lockdown, athletes practiced body-weight-based exercises routinely (67% females and 64% males), ranging from 50% (precision) to 78% (parasports). More sport-specific technical skills were performed in combat, parasports, and precision (∼50%) than other sports (∼35%). Most athletes (range: 50% [parasports] to 75% [endurance]) performed cardiorespiratory training (trivial sex differences). Compared to prelockdown, perceived training intensity was reduced by 29% to 41%, depending on sport (largest decline: ∼38% in team sports, unaffected by sex). Some athletes (range: 7%–49%) maintained their training intensity for strength, endurance, speed, plyometric, change-of-direction, and technical training. Athletes who previously trained ≥5 sessions per week reduced their volume (range: 18%–28%) during lockdown. The proportion of athletes (81%) training ≥60 min/session reduced by 31% to 43% during lockdown. Males and females had comparable moderate levels of training knowledge (56% vs 58%) and beliefs/attitudes (54% vs 56%). CONCLUSIONS : Changes in athletes’ training practices were sport-specific, with few or no sex differences. Team-based sports were generally more susceptible to changes than individual sports. Policy makers should provide athletes with specific training arrangements and educational resources to facilitate remote and/or home-based training during lockdown-type events.https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijspp/ijspp-overview.xmlhj2023Sports Medicin

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Optical, UV-Vis spectroscopy studies, electrical and dielectric properties of transition metal-based of the novel organic-inorganic hybrid (C6H10N2)(Hg2Cl5)(2 center dot)3H(2)O

International audienceIn this work, we are interested in the synthesis of new hybrid material (C6H10N2)(Hg2Cl5)(2 center dot)3H(2)O grown by hydrothermal methods. X-ray diffraction indicates that this compound crystallizes at 150(2) K in the monoclinic system with C2/c space group, with the following unit cell parameters a = 19.6830(15) angstrom, b = 18.1870(15) angstrom, c = 6.8567(6) angstrom, beta = 93.224(3)degrees and Z = 4. On the other hand, the optical properties of this compound were studied using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy in the range 200-800 nm. Furthermore, the optical absorbances are used to determine the absorption coefficient a and the optical band gap Eg, so the Tauc model was used to determine the optical gap energy of the compound (C6H10N2)(Hg2Cl5)(2 center dot)3H(2)O. The analysis of the results revealed the existence of optical allowed indirect transition mechanisms with the band gap energy equal to (2.37 eV) for liquid and (4.33 eV) for solid. Impedance measurements indicate that the electrical and dielectric properties are strongly dependent on both temperature and frequency. Nyquist plots (Z '' versus Z') show that the conductivity behavior is accurately represented by an equivalent circuit model which consists of a series combination of bulk and grain boundary. Furthermore, the angular frequency dependence plots of the real and imaginary parts, epsilon' and epsilon '', of complex dielectric permittivity epsilon* and tan delta losses at several temperatures between 303 and 453 K were studied for the title compound. Finally, the modulus plots can be characterized by the presence of two relaxation peaks

Which factors influence the quality of life of Tunisian patients with lung cancer?

Introduction - No previous study has established the factors that influence the quality of life (QOL) of tunisian patients with lung cancer (LC).This studyaims to identify the factors that influence QOL of tunisian patients with LC. Methods. A medical questionnaire assessed the general and specific characteristics of 100 patients (90 men), and structured questionnaires (QLQ-C30 and QLQ-LC13) assessed QOL. Results -Women, elderly, married and illiterate patients had poor QOL. Compared to patients free from comorbidity, those with one to two comorbidities had lower scores of physical and life-role activities. Compared to patients with cancer discovered less than one year ago, those who’s cancer appeared morethan one year ago had lower scores of global health, physical activity, nausea/vomiting, and higher scores of insomnia and anorexia. Patients with advanced cancer had poor QOL in terms of physical and emotional activities, and insomnia and constipation items. Patients with metastases had a poor QOL in terms of global health, physical activity, fatigue symptom, insomnia, anorexia, and diarrhea. The histological and treatment types did not influence QOL. The QLQ-LC13 scores were not influenced by sex. However, compared to patients treated with chemotherapy, those treated with chemotherapy and surgery had higher scores of dyspnea and peripheral neuropathy. Conclusion - The following factors influenced QOL of Tunisian patients with LC: sex, age, civil status, schooling level, comorbidities, LC stage and duration, metastases. Compared to patients treated with chemotherapy, those treated with chemotherapy and surgery had higher scores of dyspnea and peripheral neuropathy