Association of physical activity levels and prevalence of major degenerative diseases: Evidence from the national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES) 1999–2018

Objectives: Degenerative diseases are associated with lower healthy life expectancy and higher mortality. Physical activity (PA) has demonstrated a fundamental role in the prevention and control of several pathologies associated to the aging process. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of PA with the prevalence of sarcopenia, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis in non-institutionalized American population. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out in participants aged ≥50 years from the 1999–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Sarcopenia was defined using appendicular lean mass adjusted for body mass index (ALM:BMI; men 1800 MET-min/week was associated with reduced odds for osteoporosis; and performing 150–1800 MET-min/week of PA was associated with reduced odds for osteoarthritis after adjust the results by several confounders. Conclusions: The benefits of PA in sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis prevention are evident among Americans aged ≥50 years

Swimming training repercussion on metabolic and structural bone development; benefits of the incorporation of whole body vibration or pilometric training; the RENACIMIENTO project

Introduction: Enviromental factors such as exercise participation and nutrition have often been linked to bone improvements. However, not all sports have the same effects, being non-osteogenic sports such as swimming defined as negative or neutral sports to practice regarding bone mass by some authors, similarly exercise-diet interaction in especific groups is still not clear. Objective: To present the methodology of the RENACIMENTO project that aims to evaluate body composition and more specifically bone mass by several techniques in adolescent swimmers and to observe the effects and perdurability of whole body vibration (WBV) and jumping intervention (JIN) on body composition and fitness on this population and explore posible diet interactions. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: 78 swimmers (12-17 y) and 26 sex- and age-matched controls will participate in this study. Dual energy X-ray, peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography, Quantitative Ultrasound, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, and anthropometry measurements will be performed in order to evaluate body composition. Physical activity, nutrition, pubertal development and socio-economical status may act as confounders of body composition and therefore will also be registered. Several fitness factors regarding strength, endurance, performance and others will also be registered to evaluate differences with controls and act as confounders. A 7-month WBV therapy will be performed by 26 swimmers consisting of a training of 15 minutes 3 times per week. An 8 month JIM will also be performed by 26 swimmers 3 times per week. The remaining 26 swimmers will continue their normal swimming training. Four evaluations will be performed, the first one in order to describe differences between swimmers and controls. The second one to describe the effects of the interventions and the third and fourth evaluations to describe the perdurability of the effects of the WBV and JIN. Conclusion: The RENACIMIENTO project will allow to answer several questions regarding body composition, fitness, bone mass and interaction with diet of adolescent swimmers, describe swimming as a positive, negative or neutral sport to practice regarding these parameters and elucidate the effects and perdurability of WBV and JIM on body composition

Some Reflections on Age Discrimination, Referees’ Retirement Ages and European Sports (Law)

Introduction: This paper is the first in a series of reflections on the relationship between discrimination, sport and the law, a body of work that has been motivated in part by the potential impact of the 2000 Equalities Directive upon European sports law, but also by developments in human rights jurisprudence and in the domestic laws of several jurisdictions. The phenomenon of age discrimination in sport, and the social and economic impact thereof, has been far less widely considered than is the case with other forms of sports discrimination (although the literature would miraculously emerge if the subject-matter were more directly concerned with men’s professional football). In contrast, free movement and competition law have impacted significantly upon sports provisions that discriminate on the basis of nationality; it is equally evident that age discrimination in the context of sports employment has not been considered with anything approaching the degree of sophistication that pervades our understanding of discrimination in occupation or employment on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation and religion/belief (the other discriminatory forms that are covered by the 2000 Directive); and our poor understanding of age-related sports discrimination generally stands in marked contrast to our appreciation of how challenges to discrimination on the grounds of sex and race have precipitated far-reaching changes to sports practices. Throughout the EU, with the possible exception of the Irish Republic, age discrimination law is far less advanced than is the case with discrimination which takes any of those other forms, the remedies are weaker and fewer people are aware of them. However, this state of affairs will undoubtedly change under the impact of the Equalities Directive, and even though the provisions themselves (and member states’ transposing of them) attract legitimate criticism, some longstanding practices of sports bodies are now open to challenge

A global risk assessment of primates under climate and land use/cover scenarios

Primates are facing an impending extinction crisis, driven by extensive habitat loss, land use change, and hunting. Climate change is an additional threat, which alone or in combination with other drivers, may severely impact those taxa unable to track suitable environmental conditions. Here, we investigate the extent of climate and land use/cover (LUC) change‐related risks for primates. We employed an analytical approach to objectively select a subset of climate scenarios, for which we then calculated changes in climatic and LUC conditions for 2050 across primate ranges (N=426 species) under a best‐ and a worst‐case scenario. Generalised linear models were used to examine whether these changes varied according to region, conservation status, range extent, and dominant habitat. Finally, we reclassified primate ranges based on different magnitudes of maximum temperature change, and quantified the proportion of ranges overall and of primate hotspots in particular that are likely to be exposed to extreme temperature increases. We found that, under the worst‐case scenario, 74% of Neotropical forest‐dwelling primates are likely to be exposed to maximum temperature increases up to 7°C. In contrast, 38% of Malagasy savanna primates will experience less pronounced warming of up to 3.5°C. About one quarter of Asian and African primates will face up to 50% crop expansion within their range. Primary land (undisturbed habitat) is expected to disappear across species’ ranges, whereas secondary land (disturbed habitat) will increase by up to 98%. With 86% of primate ranges likely to be exposed to maximum temperature increases >3°C, primate hotspots in the Neotropics are expected to be particularly vulnerable. Our study highlights the fundamental exposure risk of a large percentage of primate ranges to predicted climate and LUC changes. Importantly, our findings underscore the urgency with which climate change mitigation measures need to be implemented to avert primate extinctions on an unprecedented scale

Resonance locking in giant planets indicated by the rapid orbital expansion of Titan

Saturn is orbited by dozens of moons, and the intricate dynamics of this complex system provide clues about its formation and evolution. Tidal friction within Saturn causes its moons to migrate outwards, driving them into orbital resonances that pump their eccen- tricities or inclinations, which in turn leads to tidal heating of the moons. However, in gi- ant planets, the dissipative processes that determine the tidal migration timescale remain poorly understood. Standard theories suggest an orbital expansion rate inversely pro- portional to the power 11/2 in distance1, implying negligible migration for outer moons such as Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Here, we use two independent measurements ob- tained with the Cassini spacecraft to measure Titan’s orbital expansion rate. We find Titan rapidly migrates away from Saturn on a timescale of roughly 10 Gyr, corresponding to a tidal quality factor of Saturn of Q ≃ 100, which is more than a hundred times smaller than most expectations. Our results for Titan and five other moons agree with the predic- tions of a resonance locking tidal theory2, sustained by excitation of inertial waves inside the planet. The associated tidal expansion is only weakly sensitive to orbital distance, motivating a revision of the evolutionary history of Saturn’s moon system. In particular, it suggests Titan formed significantly closer to Saturn and has migrated outward to its current position

Does acute caffeine supplementation improve physical performance in female team-sport athletes? Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Recent original research and meta-analyses suggest that acute caffeine supplementation improves exercise performance in team-sport athletes (TSA). Nonetheless, most of the studies testing the effects of caffeine on TSA included samples of male athletes, and there is no meta-analysis of the performance-enhancing effects of caffeine on female TSA. The aim of the present study was to synthesize the existing literature regarding the effect of caffeine supplementation on physical performance in adult female TSA. Methods: A search was performed in Pubmed/Medline, SPORTDiscus and Scopus. The search was performed from the inception of indexing until 1 Sep-tember 2021. Crossover randomized controlled trials (RCT) assessing the effects of oral caffeine intake on several aspects of performance in female TSA were selected. The methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed for individual studies using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale (PEDro) and the RoB 2 tool. A random-effects meta-analysis of standardized mean differences (SMD) was performed for several performance variables. Results: The search retrieved 18 articles that fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Overall, most of the studies were of excellent quality with a low risk of bias. The meta-analysis results showed that caffeine increased performance in specific team-sport skills (SMD: 0.384, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.077–0.691), countermovement jump (SMD: 0.208, CI: 0.079–0.337), total body impacts (SMD: 0.488; 95% CI: 0.050, 0.927) and hand-grip strength (SMD: 0.395, CI: 0.126–0.665). No effects were found on the ratings of perceived exertion, squat jumps, agility, repeated sprint ability or agility tests performed after fatigue. Conclusions: The results of the meta-analysis revealed that acute caffeine intake was effective in increasing some aspects of team-sports performance in women athletes. Hence, caffeine could be considered as a supplementation strategy for female athletes competing in team sports. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland