Anti-doping inconsistencies snare American star

This article examines the inconsistencies associated with doping control and explains the inequity which results from such inconsistent application particularly where the violation is caused by a recreational substance. This is achieved through an analysis of the WADA code anti-doping rules and the interrelationship with the principle of strict liability and an examination of the recent case IRB v. Keyter. The application of these rules creates impossible behavioural burden on athletes; ultimately this may result in a further challenge to the legal status of such rules under EU competition law.</p

A qualitative analysis of the factors that protect athletes against doping in sport

Design: Ten competitive athletes (M = 5, F = 5) representing five different sports (field hockey, boxing, football, triathlon, rugby) were recruited through convenience sampling to undertake a semi-structured interview to enable a qualitative analysis of athletes' lifelong athletic careers. Method: Verbatim transcripts were analysed using an established three-stage coding process to identify the common themes within the narratives. Results: Personal and situational protective factors were identified in the accounts. Personal factors included: (i) a strong moral stance against cheating; (ii) an identity beyond sport; (iii) self-control; and (iv) resilience to social group pressures. Situational factors included secure attachments to people at all stages of the athlete's life. This facilitated both the promotion of moral decision making and assisted in the development of anti-doping attitudes. When situational factors – such as a pro-doping climate – arose, key attachments in the athletes' lives interplayed with personal factors to reduce the risk of doping. Conclusions: These findings offer insights into factors that protect competitive athletes against using PEDs in sport and further our understanding of the complex interaction between risk and protective factors at individual, psychosocial and societal levels among competitive athletes. As a complex behaviour, doping in sport cannot be prevented by solely focussing on the individual athlete; contextual factors beyond the athlete's control also impact on this behaviour. Thus, a paradigm shift is warranted to move beyond an athlete-centred approach to anti-doping

Bandwidth-control vs. doping-control Mott transition in the Hubbard model

We reinvestigate the bandwidth-control and doping-control Mott transitions (BCMT and DCMT) from a spin liquid Mott insulator to a Fermi liquid metal based on the slave-rotor representation of the Hubbard model,\cite{Florens} where the Mott transitions are described by softening of bosonic collective excitations. We find that the nature of the insulating phase away from half filling is different from that of half filling in the respect that a charge density wave coexists with a topological order (spin liquid) away from half filling because the condensation of vortices generically breaks translational symmetry in the presence of "dual magnetic fields" resulting from hole doping while the topological order remains stable owing to gapless excitations near the Fermi surface. Performing a renormalization group analysis, we discuss the role of dissipative gauge fluctuations due to the Fermi surface in both the BCMT and the DCMT

In vitro metabolic studies of REV-ERB agonists SR9009 and SR9011

SR9009 and SR9011 are attractive as performance-enhancing substances due to their REV-ERB agonist effects and thus circadian rhythm modulation activity. Although no pharmaceutical preparations are available yet, illicit use of SR9009 and SR9011 for doping purposes can be anticipated, especially since SR9009 is marketed in illicit products. Therefore, the aim was to identify potential diagnostic metabolites via in vitro metabolic studies to ensure effective (doping) control. The presence of SR9009 could be demonstrated in a black market product purchased over the Internet. Via human liver microsomal metabolic assays, eight metabolites were detected for SR9009 and fourteen metabolites for SR9011 by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Structure elucidation was performed for all metabolites by LC-HRMS product ion scans in both positive and negative ionization mode. Retrospective data analysis was applied to 1511 doping control samples previously analyzed by a full-scan LC-HRMS screening method to verify the presence of SR9009, SR9011 and their metabolites. So far, the presence of neither the parent compound nor the metabolites could be detected in routine urine samples. However, to further discourage use of these potentially harmful compounds, incorporation of SR9009 and SR9011 into screening methods is highly recommended

Dietary supplement use is related to doping intention via doping attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control.

The use of dietary supplements (e.g., caffeine, creatine, dietary nitrate) has shown to be related to the intention to dope (e.g., amphetamines, anabolic steroids, erythropoietin). In this study, we integrated elements of the theory of planned behaviour to better understand the relationship between dietary supplement use and doping intention. Specifically, we tested whether dietary supplement use is indirectly related to doping via doping attitudes, doping subjective norms, and doping perceived behavioural control. Competitive athletes (N = 443; 46 % female, age = 27.0 ± 8.6 years old, years competing = 8.3 ± 3.5) completed measures of dietary supplement use, doping attitudes, doping subjective norms, doping perceived behavioural control, and doping intention. Parallel mediation analysis indicated that dietary supplement use was not directly related to doping intention, but instead was indirectly related via doping attitudes (effect size = 0.15), doping subjective norms (effect size = 0.17), and doping perceived behavioural control (effect size = 0.15). Contrast analyses reported no differences between each indirect effect. Our results suggest that athletes who use dietary supplements report stronger intentions to dope, which is related to more favourable doping attitudes, a greater social pressure to dope, and a perceived ease in which to dope

Microstructure, magneto-transport and magnetic properties of Gd-doped magnetron-sputtered amorphous carbon

The magnetic rare earth element gadolinium (Gd) was doped into thin films of amorphous carbon (hydrogenated \textit{a}-C:H, or hydrogen-free \textit{a}-C) using magnetron co-sputtering. The Gd acted as a magnetic as well as an electrical dopant, resulting in an enormous negative magnetoresistance below a temperature ($T'$). Hydrogen was introduced to control the amorphous carbon bonding structure. High-resolution electron microscopy, ion-beam analysis and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the influence of Gd doping on the \textit{a-}Gd$_x$C$_{1-x}$(:H$_y$) film morphology, composition, density and bonding. The films were largely amorphous and homogeneous up to $x$=22.0 at.%. As the Gd doping increased, the $sp^{2}$-bonded carbon atoms evolved from carbon chains to 6-member graphitic rings. Incorporation of H opened up the graphitic rings and stabilized a $sp^{2}$-rich carbon-chain random network. The transport properties not only depended on Gd doping, but were also very sensitive to the $sp^{2}$ ordering. Magnetic properties, such as the spin-glass freezing temperature and susceptibility, scaled with the Gd concentration.Comment: 9 figure

Martial Arts and Doping (the case of Sambo)

[EN] Background. Today, the problem of doping is the most well-known negative phenomenon in modern sport, which has become widespread in response to its active commercialization. The majority of people would agree that doping issue has moral and ethical basis, therefore the educational component of anti-doping policies is most promising in achieving the desired result – doping-free sport. Research purpose. The study was aimed to investigate the peculiarities of the ideas sambo athletes may have about the problem of doping in modern sport. Materials and methods. The study involved 97 highly professional sambo athletes from 21 countries, namely Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Japan, the USA, Canada, Cuba, Guatemala, Republic of Korea, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. Results. A survey conducted among the professional sambo athletes, participants of the 2018 World Cup, made it possible to establish their knowledge about and their attitude to doping. It became known that 76.29% of the athletes were well familiar with the doping control procedure, while 23.71% were not. At the same time, 78.35% of the respondents believed that they knew their rights and responsibilities during the doping control procedure, and 21.65% of the athletes did not. 77.32% of the respondents knew the organizer of doping control and 22.68% did not. Conclusions. The analysis of the study results and WADA statistics give grounds to state that the problem of doping in modern athletes remains an urgent problem in professional sports, including sambo.S