GROUND REACTION FORCES PRODUCED IN BASKETBALL MANEUVERS WITH NEW AND STRUCTURALLY DAMAGED SHOES

The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in ground reaction forces between new shoes and shoes with obvious structural damage. Six male Division III basketball players performed eight directional basketball maneuvers in random order on an AMTI© 1000 force plate. Subjects were tested when the shoes were new and after the shoes had structural damage. Results indicated that forces were significantly higher in new shoes than damaged shoes (vertical: left forward, peak-1; left shuffle, peak-2; left back, peak-1 and ms; medial-lateral: left shuffle, peak-2; anterior-posterior: forward, peak-2; left back, peak-1; back, peak-1). No significance was found in time to peak forces or total time. This study concluded that new shoes showed significantly higher forces than shoes with obvious structural damage

ANALYSIS OF GROUND REACTION FORCES PRODUCED IN BASKETBALL MANEUVERS OVER A SEASON

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in ground reaction forces of college basketball players over a season. Eleven male Division III basketball players performed eight directional basketball maneuvers in random order on an AMTI© 1000 force plate. Subjects were tested every two weeks over an eight week period. Typical ground reaction force curves for vertical, medial/lateral and anterior/posterior were obtained. Results indicated no significant changes occurred across the group, however individual changes were apparent for some subjects, predominantly in the shuffle movements. This study concluded that there were no significant differences across subjects but individual differences in ground reaction force data did occur in some subjects

THE EFFECT OF SHOE WEAR ON THE DROP STEP

Peak jump height and the efficiency of the closed kinetic chain in basketball can contribute to the success of an individual player or team (Dowling, Vamos, 1993). This performance can be altered as shoe structure is compromised, possibly leading to a decrease in performance. The purpose of this study was to determine if angular velocity at the knee and hip as well as jump height performance were compromised with shoe deterioration. In this study, 12 male members of an NCAA Division III basketball team performed a drop step movement with a vertical jump. Subjects were filmed with a digital video camera filming at 60 Hz and vertical force (Fz) data was recorded using a force plate. Knee angles increased significantly (&#945; < 0.05) over the eight weeks of testing. Additionally, total time and peak height decreased while vertical force at toe-off increased. Although total time for performing the drop step movement was decreased throughout the study, peak jump height was compromised with shoe deterioration

The Association between walking and perceived environment in Chinese community residents: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The neighborhood environment, as a determinant of walking, has been assessed in several developed countries. However, few studies have investigated these associations in Chinese populations. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between the perceived neighborhood environment and walking for recreation or transportation purposes among Chinese community residents. METHODS: We used a multi-stage stratified random sampling design to conduct a cross-sectional study of 1528 Chinese adults in Shanghai. Environmental and walking variables were assessed using a revised Abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Chinese subjects and a long version of International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Self-reported demographic variables including gender, age, employment status, and location of community were also collected. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to examine the association between the neighborhood environment and walking. RESULTS: Based on the results of IPAQ, 13.7% of the overall subjects were physical inactive, which was considered to be lowly active. For all participants, accessibility to services was significantly associated with walking for both recreation and transportation (odds ratio=1.062, 95% confidence interval: 1.016, 1.110; odds ratio=1.053; 95% confidence interval: 1.008, 1.100, respectively). In males, accessibility to services was significantly associated both with walking for recreation and walking for transportation. However, a significantly negative association was found between the neighborhood surroundings and walking for recreation. In contrast, females who perceived good traffic safety tended to walk for recreation. Data also revealed a difference between working and retired individuals. Among working participants, perceived environmental variables were not significantly associated with walking for recreation and transportation. CONCLUSIONS: The association between neighborhood environment and walking varied depending on the reason for walking and the characteristics of the participants. Our findings suggest that interventions to promote walking in community residents should include improving the neighborhood environment, particularly accessibility to services such as building more stores, parks, and public transit facilities

Physical activity level of participants.

<p>*Significant at <i>P</i><0.05,</p><p>**Significant at <i>P</i><0.01.</p

Results of perceived neighborhood walkable environmental measures.

<p>*Significant at <i>P</i><0.05.</p

Odds ratios for active walkers (all respondents, males, females, and working and retired individuals).

<p>Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.</p><p>For all the respondents, odds ratios were calculated after adjustment for age, gender, location of the community, physical activity knowledge score, employment status, BMI, marital status, education, and hypertension.</p><p>For male and female respondents, odds ratios were calculated after adjusting for age, location of community, physical activity knowledge score, employment status, BMI, marital status, education, and hypertension.</p><p>For working and retired individuals, odds ratios were calculated after adjustment for age, gender location of community, physical activity knowledge score, BMI, marital status, education, and hypertension.</p><p>For the respective categories, an active walker was defined as a respondent who reported walking for recreation or transportation >90 min/week.</p

A qualitative study of smoking behavior among the floating population in Shanghai, China

BACKGROUND: China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco and lung cancer is China’s leading cause of cancer deaths. The large majority of Chinese smokers are men. Tobacco consumption is of particular concern among China’s internal floating (or migrant) population, which has become a permanent feature of Chinese society, because this population is very large (over 100 million persons) and it has a high prevalence of smoking. Considering additionally that like the general population of China, the smoking prevalence rate of women from this group is quite low, we therefore aimed to explore smoking-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours among male smokers in the floating population to help inform the development of effective smoking cessation interventions in this important target group in China. METHODS: We interviewed 39 floating population male smokers in six focus groups and performed a qualitative content analysis of the interviews. RESULTS: Most participants knew that smoking is risky to health but they knew little about why. Habit and social participation were key drivers of smoking. Smoking was regarded as a core component of their identity by the urban residents. Some participants had tried to stop smoking but none reported having ever been educated about smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking cessation interventions for China’s male floating population would need to incorporate comprehensive education and information about why smoking is dangerous and the benefits of stopping