Inclusive basketball training for players with intellectual disability.

Objectives: To evaluate sport-specific basketball skills before and after 8 months of integrated and non-integrated basketball practice of participants with intellectual disability; in relation to the competitive basketball level and the degree of intellectual disability.

Design: Pre-test/training/post-test design.

Methods: Forty-one adult male players with intellectual disability were randomly divided into 21 athletes playing in the Integrated Basketball group together with 10 athletes without intellectual disability, and 20 athletes playing in the Non-integrated Basketball group.

How Match-Related Variables Influence the Physical Demands of Professional Female Soccer Players during the Regular Season.

To investigate how contextual or environmental factors may influence the athletic performance of female soccer players during competitions, this study aimed to assess the impact of match-related variables (playing surface; opponent levels; opponent result trends; match status, and match outcomes) on the athletic performance of professional female soccer athletes. Seventeen athletes (25.5 ± 4.

Benefits of inclusive sport training on fitness and health of athletes with and without intellectual disability.

Sedentary behaviours in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) negatively impact health-related determinants and increase the risk of physical dysfunction or chronic health issues. Inclusive sport practice can enhance social inclusion and fitness, benefiting overall person development and life quality. This study aimed to assess fitness level variation in athletes with and without ID before and after a 9-month inclusive (INC) and non-inclusive (N_INC) basketball training.

Professional football training and recovery: A longitudinal study on the effects of weekly conditioning session and workload variables.

The main purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate football players' recovery status, through hormonal response, in relation to accumulated workload at two comparable time points of the first (T1) and second half (T2) of the competitive season. Moreover, this study investigated athletes' hormonal response to a typical weekly conditioning session (5 days before match: MD-5), at T1 and T2, to detect changes in players' recovery capability over time. Salivary cortisol (sC) and testosterone (sT) of 24 professional players (27.

Academic achievement and healthy lifestyle habits in primary school children: an interventional study.

Purposes: First, to examine the relationship between primary school children's academic achievement and healthy lifestyle habits. Second, to evaluate the effectiveness of two different 5-month physical education interventions (traditional physical education vs. coordinative physical education) on children's academic achievement.

Morpho-Functional Analyses Demonstrate That Tyrosol Rescues Dexamethasone-Induced Muscle Atrophy.

Prolonged exposure to high dosages of dexamethasone, which is a synthetic glucocorticoid and a well-known anti-inflammatory drug, may lead to an increase in reactive oxygen species production, contributing to muscle wasting. The prevention of muscle atrophy by ingestion of functional foods is an attractive issue. In the last decade, natural antioxidant compounds have been increasingly investigated as promising molecules able to counteract oxidative-stress-induced muscle atrophy.

Effects of Fitlight training on cognitive-motor performance in élite judo athletes.

Aims: The aims of this study were to verify if a 5-week cognitive-motor training (CMT) using FitlightsTM induced changes in young adult judo athletes compared to a non-intervention group. Specifically, it was verified if CMT influenced executive functions (EFs), physical fitness and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. Additionally, athletes' competitive results were compared between groups.

Chronic Effects of Asymmetric and Symmetric Sport Load in Varsity Athletes across a Six Month Sport Season.

The relation between specific sport practice and possible spine modifications is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different sports on the spine in adult varsity athletes across a six month sports season. Forty-four athletes (24.

Acute Effects of Fitlight Training on Cognitive-Motor Processes in Young Basketball Players.

Cognitive-motor training could be used to improve open-skill sport performances, increasing cognitive demands to stimulate executive function (EF) development. Nevertheless, a distributed training proposal for the improvement of EFs is increasingly difficult to combine with seasonal sport commitments. This study aimed to investigate whether a massed basketball training program enriched with Fitlight training can improve EFs and motor performance.

Live Streaming vs. Pre-Recorded Training during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italian Rhythmic Gymnastics.

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak led to an inevitable and drastic transition to online training systems. This study aimed to analyze the differences between live-streaming and pre-recorded training modalities in rhythmic gymnastics (RG) with coaches and gymnasts of different technical levels. A total of 238 coaches and 277 athletes affiliated with the Italian Gymnastics Federation (FGI) participated in the study.

Detecting Metabolic Thresholds from Nonlinear Analysis of Heart Rate Time Series: A Review.

Heart rate time series are widely used to characterize physiological states and athletic performance. Among the main indicators of metabolic and physiological states, the detection of metabolic thresholds is an important tool in establishing training protocols in both sport and clinical fields. This paper reviews the most common methods, applied to heart rate (HR) time series, aiming to detect metabolic thresholds.

Physical Education on the Beach: An Alternative Way to Improve Primary School Children's Skill- and Health-Related Outcomes during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 restrictions could preclude children from participating in physical education (PE) interventions. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a PE intervention conducted on the beach on children's skill- and health-related outcomes, as a possible alternative PE intervention that could be also applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 106 primary school children, randomly assigned to the traditional indoor (TI) intervention or to the experimental outdoor (EO) intervention.

Nanoparticle-Biological Interactions in a Marine Benthic Foraminifer.

The adverse effects of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) in marine environments have recently attracted great attention although their effects on marine benthic organisms such as foraminifera are still largely overlooked. Here we document the effects of three negatively charged ENM, different in size and composition, titanium dioxide (TiO), polystyrene (PS) and silicon dioxide (SiO), on a microbial eukaryote (the benthic foraminifera Ammonia parkinsoniana) using multiple approaches. This research clearly shows the presence, within the foraminiferal cytoplasm, of metallic (Ti) and organic (PS) ENM that promote physiological stress.

Mercury-Pollution Induction of Intracellular Lipid Accumulation and Lysosomal Compartment Amplification in the Benthic Foraminifer Ammonia parkinsoniana.

Heavy metals such as mercury (Hg) pose a significant health hazard through bioaccumulation and biomagnification. By penetrating cell membranes, heavy metal ions may lead to pathological conditions. Here we examined the responses of Ammonia parkinsoniana, a benthic foraminiferan, to different concentrations of Hg in the artificial sea water.

Effect of democratic reforms on child mortality: a synthetic control analysis.

Background: The effects of political regimes on health are unclear because empirical evidence is neither strong nor robust. Traditional econometric tools do not allow the direction of causality to be established clearly. We used a new method to investigate whether political transition into democracy affected child mortality.

Effect of Different Exercise Intensities on the Myotendinous Junction Plasticity.

Myotendinous junctions (MTJs) are anatomical regions specialized in transmission of contractile strength from muscle to tendon and, for this reason, a common site where acute injuries occur during sport activities. In this work we investigated the influence of exercise intensity on MTJ plasticity, as well as on the expression of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and their receptors in muscle and tendon. Three groups of rats were analyzed: control (CTRL), slow-runner (RUN-S) and fast-runner (RUN-F) trained using a treadmill.

Effects of lead pollution on Ammonia parkinsoniana (foraminifera): ultrastructural and microanalytical approaches.

The responses of Ammonia parkinsoniana (Foraminifera) exposed to different concentrations of lead (Pb) were evaluated at the cytological level. Foraminifera-bearing sediments were placed in mesocosms that were housed in aquaria each with seawater of a different lead concentration. On the basis of transmission electron microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectrometer analyses, it was possible to recognize numerous morphological differences between untreated (i.

Skeletal Muscle Cell Behavior After Physical Agent Treatments.

Apoptosis is essential for skeletal muscle development and homeostasis. It has been frequently involved in several muscle myopathies and sarcopenia, as well as in denervation, in disuse and acute strenuous or eccentric physical exercise. In this work skeletal muscle cell death, induced in vitro by a variety of physical triggers, has been investigated.

Morphological adaptation and protein modulation of myotendinous junction following moderate aerobic training.

Myotendinous junction is the muscle-tendon interface through which the contractile force can be transferred from myofibrils to the tendon extracellular matrix. At the ultrastructural level, aerobic training can modify the distal myotendinous junction of rat gastrocnemius, increasing the contact area between tissues. The aim of this work is to investigate the correlation between morphological changes and protein modulation of the myotendinous junction following moderate training.

Metabolic and cytoprotective effects of in vivo peri-patellar hyaluronic acid injections in cultured tenocytes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate tenocyte mechanobiology after sudden-detraining and to examine the hypothesis that repeated peri-patellar injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) on detrained patellar tendon (PT) may reduce and limit detrained-associated damage in tenocytes. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: Untrained, Trained and Detrained. In the Detrained rats, the left tendon was untreated while the right tendon received repeated peri-patellar injections of either HA or saline (NaCl).

Antioxidants in the prevention of UVB-induced keratynocyte apoptosis.

Skin cells can respond to UVB-induced damage by counteracting it through antioxidant activation and DNA repair mechanisms or, when damage is massive by undergoing programmed cell death. Antioxidant factors, and, in particular, food compounds, have attracted much interest because of their potential use in new protective strategies for degenerative skin disorders. Melatonin, creatine and hydroxytyrosol show a variety of pharmacological and clinical benefits including anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

Melatonin prevents chemical-induced haemopoietic cell death.

Melatonin (MEL), a methoxyindole synthesized by the pineal gland, is a powerful antioxidant in tissues as well as within cells, with a fundamental role in ameliorating homeostasis in a number of specific pathologies. It acts both as a direct radical scavenger and by stimulating production/activity of intracellular antioxidant enzymes. In this work, some chemical triggers, with different mechanisms of action, have been chosen to induce cell death in U937 hematopoietic cell line.

Morphogenesis of rat myotendinous junction.

Myotendinous junction (MTJ) is the highly specialized complex which connects the skeletal muscle to the tendon for transmitting the contractile force between the two tissues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the MTJ development and rat EDL was chosen as a model. 1, 15, 30 day animals were considered and the junctions were analyzed by light and electron microscopy.