Hydration status and fluid balance of elite European youth soccer players during consecutive training sessions

The objective of the study was to investigate the hydration status and fluid balance of elite European youth soccer players during three consecutive training sessions. Fourteen males (age 16.9 ± 0.8 years, height 1.79 ± 0.06 m, body mass (BM) 70.6 ± 5.0 kg) had their hydration status assessed from first morning urine samples (baseline) and pre- and post-training using urine specif-ic gravity (USG) measures, and their fluid balance calculated from pre- to post-training BM change, corrected for fluid intake and urine output. Most participants were hypohydrated upon waking (USG >1.020; 77% on days 1 and 3, and 62% on day 2). There was no significant difference between first morning and pre-training USG (p = 0.11) and no influence of training session (p = 0.34) or time (pre- vs. post-training; p = 0.16) on USG. Significant BM loss occurred in sessions 1-3 (0.69 ± 0.22, 0.42 ± 0.25, and 0.38 ± 0.30 kg respectively, p < 0.05). Mean fluid intake in sessions 1-3 was 425 ± 185, 355 ± 161, and 247 ± 157 ml, respectively (p < 0.05). Participants replaced on average 71.3 ± 64.1% (range 0-363.6%) of fluid losses across the three sessions. Body mass loss, fluid intake, and USG measures showed large inter-individual variation. Elite young European soccer players likely wake and present for training hypohydrat-ed, when a USG threshold of 1.020 is applied. When training in a cool environment with ad libitum access to fluid, replacing ~71% of sweat losses results in minimal hypohydration (<1% BM). Consumption of fluid ad libitum throughout training ap-pears to prevent excessive (≥2% BM) dehydration, as advised by current fluid intake guidelines. Current fluid intake guide-lines appear applicable for elite European youth soccer players training in a cool environment

NCAA Scholarship Restrictions as Anticompetitive Measures: The One-Year Rule and Scholarship Caps as Avenues for Antitrust Society

By referencing the historical record to expose the NCAA’s one-year rule and per sport scholarship limits as cost-cutting, anticompetitive measures imposing harmful effects upon scholarship-seeking student athletes, this Note argues that despite the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana’s unfavorable ruling in Agnew v. NCAA, a Sherman Act claim against the NCAA linking bachelor’s degrees and scholarships could be legally viable. In particular, just application of the quick look rule of reason, an abbreviated form of antitrust analysis, could lead a court to find the NCAA’s one-year rule and per sport scholarship caps as violative of Section I of the Sherman Act. This follows from the origins of the targeted scholarship rules in a horizontal agreement among NCAA members informed by motives of crass commercialism, not the romantic NCAA values of amateurism and the educated athlete. A court mindful of this legacy, and possessing evidence of the anticompetitive results that these rules have brought about, could fairly find the one-year rule and per sport scholarship caps to be illegal restraints of trade meant to boost NCAA member revenues at the expense of their student-athlete consumers

Exploring and enhancing wellbeing through therapeutic photography. [Blog post]

In this contribution to The Polyphony blog, Neil Gibson reflects on therapeutic photography and self-esteem. Photography can be a catalyst for communication. When we engage with our own photographs, we are reminded of times gone by, significant moments, fleeting experiences, or the routine of everyday existence. Drill deeper, and we get a sense of who we are, what is important to us, and we can use the power of creativity to express ourselves. These reflections are based on a workshop delivered at the June 2023 Scottish Medical Humanities Conference

Using therapeutic photography in social work: an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the dynamics within a group programme.

Therapeutic photography is the practice of using photography in order to explore issues and reach defined outcomes with people who use services. It has been deemed to be an accessible tool which can have a positive impact on self-esteem, self-efficacy and empowerment. Using interpretive phenomenological analysis, this research analyses observations and focus group feedback from a group of participants receiving support from a third-sector organisation for mental health issues. Specifically, the data were analysed to look at how a therapeutic photography programme contributed to group dynamics, exploration and outcomes. Three inter-related super-ordinate themes were identified, these being (1) exposing the self; (2) searching; and (3) developing the self. These themes centred around the identity of the participants as they explored their photographs and associated narratives. The results suggest that the medium of photography contributes to enhanced self-disclosure and social bonding through the familiarity of engaging with photographs. The photographs also enable participants to feel in control of the information shared, facilitating the level of exploration and personal learning around identity and roles and could be beneficial in social work with groups where these outcomes are sought. This article looks at the dynamics of using photographs within a group intervention and assessed the therapeutic benefits for participants who were receiving support from a third-sector organisation specialising in mental health issues. Results suggest that the familiar nature of taking photographs meant that participants were able to quickly become acquainted with the dynamics of interacting with the images and using these as a catalyst for communication with one another. This facilitated learning about themselves and about coping strategies employed by others. The article concludes by suggesting further research in this area to investigate the applicability of these techniques in other types of social work interventions

High-Throughput SNP Genotyping

Whole genome approaches using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers have the potential to transform complex disease genetics and expedite pharmacogenetics research. This has led to a requirement for high-throughput SNP genotyping platforms. Development of a successful high-throughput genotyping platform depends on coupling reliable assay chemistry with an appropriate detection system to maximise efficiency with respect to accuracy, speed and cost. Current technology platforms are able to deliver throughputs in excess of 100 000 genotypes per day, with an accuracy of >99%, at a cost of 20–30 cents per genotype. In order to meet the demands of the coming years, however, genotyping platforms need to deliver throughputs in the order of one million genotypes per day at a cost of only a few cents per genotype. In addition, DNA template requirements must be minimised such that hundreds of thousands of SNPs can be interrogated using a relatively small amount of genomic DNA. As such, it is predicted that the next generation of high-throughput genotyping platforms will exploit large-scale multiplex reactions and solid phase assay detection systems

Resilience and social cohesion through the lens of residents in a Kenyan informal settlement.

Over recent years, resilient attitudes and behaviour are widely seen within the Global North to be potential solutions to community developmental challenges. Although greater international emphasis is being placed on ‘bottom up’ approaches, learning from existing levels of resilience among communities such as residents in informal settlements has aroused limited attention. Instead analysis of informal settlements tends to concentrate on the multitude of environmental, economic and social problems that many communities share and internationally derived normative solutions. To help address this relative neglect, research was designed that sought more information about local experiences, people and processes that have been instrumental in building levels of resilience that help overcome challenges and improve well-being. Using the photovoice methodological technique, a project was developed to capture experiences of participants in Kibera, Nairobi. Participants were young people and either role models or had the potential to be. In so doing the project was participant driven, learning from residents about who and what have been influential in the development and maintenance of resilience. The results highlighted the particular significance of social cohesion and, in particular, relationships and attachment to place

No-Regret Learning in Extensive-Form Games with Imperfect Recall

Counterfactual Regret Minimization (CFR) is an efficient no-regret learning algorithm for decision problems modeled as extensive games. CFR's regret bounds depend on the requirement of perfect recall: players always remember information that was revealed to them and the order in which it was revealed. In games without perfect recall, however, CFR's guarantees do not apply. In this paper, we present the first regret bound for CFR when applied to a general class of games with imperfect recall. In addition, we show that CFR applied to any abstraction belonging to our general class results in a regret bound not just for the abstract game, but for the full game as well. We verify our theory and show how imperfect recall can be used to trade a small increase in regret for a significant reduction in memory in three domains: die-roll poker, phantom tic-tac-toe, and Bluff.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, expanded version of article to appear in Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth International Conference on Machine Learnin