AEROBIC POWER IN CHILD, CADET AND SENIOR JUDO ATHLETES

The aim of the present study was to compare performance and physiological responses during arm and leg aerobic power tests of combat duration in male child, cadet and senior judo athletes. Power output and physiological parameters, i.e., peak oxygen uptake ( ·VO2peak), peak ventilation, peak heart rate, lactate, and rate of perceived exertion, of 7 child (under 15 years: age class U15, 12.7 ± 1.1 yrs), 10 cadet (U17, 14.9 ± 0.7 yrs) and 8 senior ( 20, 29.3 ± 9.2 yrs) male judo athletes were assessed during incremental tests of combat duration on an arm crank and a cycle ergometer. Children as well as cadets demonstrated higher upper body relative VO2peak than seniors (37.3 ± 4.9, 39.2 ± 5.0 and 31.0 ± 2.1 ml∙kg-1∙min-1, respectively); moreover, upper and lower body relative VO2peak decreased with increasing age (r = -0.575, p < 0.003 and r = -0.580, p < 0.002, respectively). Children showed lower blood lactate concentrations after cranking as well as after cycling when compared to seniors (7.8 ± 2.4 vs. 11.4 ± 2.1 mmol∙l-1 and 7.9 ± 3.0 vs. 12.0 ± 1.9 mmol���l-1, respectively); furthermore, blood lactate values after cranking increased with age (r = 0.473, p < 0.017). These differences should be considered in planning the training for judo athletes of different age classes

Association of personal and equipment-related factors on ACL injury risk in alpine skiers with cautious or risk-taking behaviour: A case-control study

Background: In recreational alpine skiing ACL injury risk depends on the interaction of individual characteristics and behaviours as well as on equipment-related factors. Aim: to evaluate if and to what extent personal characteristics and equipment-related parameters are associated with ACL injury risk in cautious and risk-taking recreational alpine skiers. Methods: A retrospective questionnaire-based, case-control study of ACL-injured and uninjured in a cohort of cautious as well as risk-taking recreational skiers was conducted. Participants self-reported their demographics, skiing skill level, and risk-taking behaviour. Ski length, side-cut radius, widths of the tip, waist, and tail were recorded from each participant's skis. Standing heights at the front and rear components of the ski binding were measured with a digital sliding caliper, and a standing height ratio between the front and rear components was calculated. Ski boot sole abrasion at the toe and heel pieces was also measured with the digital sliding caliper. Results: In total, 1068 recreational skiers (50.8% females) with a mean age of 37.8 ± 12.3 years participated, of whom 193 (22.0%) sustained an ACL injury, and 330 (30.9%) participants reported a risk-taking behaviour. Results of the multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that a higher age, a lower skill level, a higher standing height ratio, and greater ski boot sole abrasion at the toe as well as heel pieces were independently associated with an increased ACL injury risk in both the cautious and the risk-taking group. Among cautious skiers, a longer ski length was an additional significant risk factor for sustaining an ACL injury. In conclusion, the same personal and equipment related characteristics contribute to an increase in the ACL injury risk regardless of risk-taking behaviour, with the only difference that longer skis represent an additional risk factor in cautious skiers

Prevalence of sports-related injuries in Paralympic judo: an exploratory study

Objectives The aim was to assess the 1-year retrospective prevalence of athletes reporting a sports-related injury among Paralympic judokas with visual impairment (VI), and to identify any associations between injury, vision class, gender and weight category. Design Cross-sectional retrospective study. Methods The data were collected through an adapted questionnaire given to athletes with VI during an international training camp. Forty-five Paralympic judokas answered the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and chi-square statistics (p < 0.05) were used to analyse the data. Spearman’s correlation was used to analyse multiple injuries. Results Thirty-eight of the athletes reported an injury, giving a 1-year prevalence of 84% (95% CI 71-93). Male athletes reported significantly more injuries compared to female athletes (p = 0.023). Over two thirds of the injuries (71%; 95% CI 55-83) had a traumatic onset. The majority of injuries (74%; 95% CI 58-85) occurred during judo training, and in the standing technique tachi waza (82%; 95% CI 66-91). The shoulder was the most single affected body location (29%). Forty-five percent of the injuries led to a time loss from sport for more than three weeks, and 40% of judokas reported multiple injuries. Conclusions The results from this study demonstrate a high prevalence of mainly traumatic and severe sports-related injuries amongst athletes with VI participating in Paralympic judo. A first step towards prevention could be to minimize the time in tachi waza. However, to improve sports safety and to develop effective strategies for injury prevention, more comprehensive epidemiological studies, and also technical studies assessing injury mechanisms are warranted

Dall'individuo all'audience

L\u2019individuo nella societ\ue0 dell\u2019informazione \ue8 un soggetto che vive prevalentemente di una second hand reality mutuata dai media, rilevante e influente al pari della realt\ue0 esperienziale, immerso in orizzonti spazio-temporali che non obbediscono pi\uf9 ai principi della contiguit\ue0 fisica e della linearit\ue0. Funzioni e effetti mediali, al pari di stili e pratiche di consumo, concorrono a disegnare il profilo di un \u2018grande informato\u2019 che partecipa, a suo modo, alle logiche ed alle contraddizioni della comunicazione. - The individual in the information society is a subject who mainly lives in a second hand reality created by media, relevant and influential as the experiential reality, placed in space-time horizons that no longer obey to the principles of physical contiguity and linearity. Media functions and effects, like consumption styles and practices, contribute to draw the profile of a 'great informed' who, in his own way, participates in the logics and contradictions of communication

Everyday Multiculturalism: Individual Experience of Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity is not a recent phenomenon: societies are based, in their very nature, on a complex variety of differences and specificities, whether these are grounded in religion, politics, class, gender, etc. The problem of transition from a monocultural to a multicultural society is therefore a false problem: a society remains multicultural despite more or less explicit attempts of homogenization and its supposed monoculturalism is nothing other than an intellectual construction. So the question must be formulated in other terms: it is not so much the transition from a monocultural society to a multicultural one that undermines the political and institutional sphere, but its visibility. Considering the intrinsic dualism of multiculturalism (as description and as prescription), the analysis is developed in the light of some considerations that seem unavoidable for a proper understanding of the concept, of its relevance and significance, as well as of its direct consequences on everyday life