20588 research outputs found
Sort by
Athlete monitoring and training modification decision-making: Insights from high-level endurance sports coaches
No full textAthlete monitoring technology has proliferated in the last decades. However, much of what is known about athlete monitoring tends to come from unpublished personal experiences and anecdotal information. In the last decade, considerable athlete monitoring research has been conducted, leading to multiple reviews and consensus statements mainly on athlete monitoring tools and methods. Recognising that athlete monitoring is a human-driven process, typically with the coach as the decision-maker, it is imperative to study coaches given their extensive knowledge and expertise. The overall aim of the thesis was to gain insights into why and how high-level endurance sports coaches use athlete monitoring information to inform training modifications decisions.
This thesis was approached from a pragmatic research paradigm with a critical realism ontology, contextualism epistemology, an intentional theory of language, and an experiential research orientation. Further, the theoretical framework of this thesis includes the biopsychosocial model, complex adaptive systems, and ecological dynamics. Moreover, athlete monitoring was defined as the systematic collection and analysis of data related to an athlete and their training process over time indicating that athlete monitoring is multifaceted and can involve the collection of a wide range of numerical (i.e., quantitative) and non-numerical (i.e., qualitative) data, including but not limited to training, recovery, health and well-being, and behaviours.
The first study was a scoping review to map and summarise the sports coaches’ and support staff’s perspectives on athlete monitoring to explore the breadth of literature, identify knowledge gaps and inform future research based on the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology. From the 4381 identified records, 42 met the eligibility criteria with 55% of the studies being published between 2020-2022. Almost all studies were conducted within the Anglosphere and with coaches or support staff working with athletes at a national or international level. This study indicated that the main reasons for coaches and support staff to implement monitoring were to reduce injury and illness, inform the training program, and improve or maintain performance. While athlete monitoring was perceived as valuable and effective, coaches and support staff expected a higher effectiveness, especially from training load monitoring, while believing in the potential of athlete monitoring. Lastly, the coaches and support staff acknowledge that athlete monitoring, and specifically the quantification, is not an all-encompassing solution, believing it should be part of the bigger picture. This scoping review highlighted that to coaches and support staff athlete monitoring extends beyond quantitative information and encompasses qualitative subjective information underscoring the irreplaceable value of close and regular monitoring. This substantiates that coaches and support staff will remain central to athlete monitoring, even amidst the anticipated technological process. Given the limited research on athlete monitoring perspectives of world-class coaches in endurance sports, this became the focus of the next study.
The second study was a qualitative descriptive study based on interviews which were analysed guided by Braun & Clarke’s (2022) reflexive thematic analysis, aimed to describe and explore the athlete monitoring perspectives of world-class endurance sports coaches across various endurance sporting disciplines. Twelve world-class coaches participated in semi-structured interviews (78 ± 9min). Three themes were generated: “Bringing the best out of every athlete”, “The central role of relationships and communication in coaching and athlete monitoring”, and “Leveraging athlete monitoring for learning, understanding, and decision-making”. The analysis highlighted that world-class coaches consider athlete monitoring as all-encompassing, and while athlete monitoring does not guarantee success, it can substantially contribute towards it. The world-class endurance coaches emphasised that athlete monitoring is a versatile tool that can help bring out the best in athletes and support learning and decision[1]making processes, but it should not be seen as the holy grail. Further, they place significant value on balancing multiple data types (i.e. objective, quantified subjective, and qualitative subjective data), contextualising data to avoid misinterpretation, and not overreacting to athlete monitoring data. The coaches also focused on developing strong coach-athlete relationships founded on trust and open communication, which enables and facilitates effective athlete monitoring. Lastly, they consider the coach as the sense- and decision-maker of athlete monitoring information. However, limited research has investigated the decision-making practices of endurance coaches in situ, therefore the following study focused on high-level coaches’ training modification decision-making.
The third study was guided by Stake’s (1995) case study methodology and was a longitudinal instrumental case study of world-class cycling and an elite rowing coach. This case study purpose was to improve our understanding of how training modifications were made by professional high-level endurance coaches and explore the role athlete monitoring has in this. The data collection included four semi-structured interviews and eleven retrospective verbal reports with stimulated recall, three group meetings, and eight days of field observations (totalling 1024min of recordings, excluding field work times and notes). The qualitative analysis generated three themes regarding coaches’ athlete monitoring and training modifications: “The only constant in coaching is change: Anticipating modifications and being ready for the unexpected”, “Gathering, complementing, and balancing information for continuous situational assessment and training modification triggers”, and “Empowering athlete autonomy of training modification decision-making within coach boundaries”. The main findings of this case study analysis indicated that anticipatory thinking and conditional decision-making enhanced coaches’ adaptability to modify training and that athlete monitoring had a central role to modify training as key component of the continuous situational assessment through complementing and balancing various data sources and types. However, often non-athlete monitoring information, such as weather, logistics, and organisational decisions, was the decision trigger. Coaches share training modification decision-making by empowering athletes to autonomously modify training sessions within agreed-upon boundaries with coaches utilising coach-athlete communication as a key athlete monitoring tool. Moreover, training modification differences between the coaches reflected mainly sport-specific and organisational factors, and highlighted a disparity in injury occurrences between professional cyclists and under-23 rowers. This study reinforced the value of being adaptable to emerging circumstances highlighting that high-level endurance coaches maintained regular, open communication, and balancing multiple information sources to enhance training effectiveness.
This thesis contributes to the field by eliciting expert endurance coaches’ knowledge and practice on athlete monitoring in a unique sample of high-level coaches through qualitative methodologies. The findings further support the importance of athlete monitoring, while cautioning against overestimating its capabilities and advocating for a critical perspective. The findings also underscore the importance of high-level coaches integrating both quantitative and qualitative data, developing and maintaining a strong coach-athlete relationship, and being adaptable to modify training by employing anticipatory thinking and conditional decision-making. This thesis, highlights the importance of human-dependant aspects of athlete monitoring, offering important insights into the future role of sports coaches and support staff, future research and practical applications in sports coaching
The MASCC COG-IMPACT: The COSA endorsement of a MASCC developed unmet needs assessment tool for cancer-related cognitive impairment impact
No full textCo-designing a resilience-based mentoring program for novice midwives: A participatory action research approach
No full textAim: To co-design a resilience-based mentoring program for novice midwives in Western Australia, informed by the experiences of past midwifery graduates and the perspectives of midwives in senior roles. Background: Effective workforce planning and retention strategies are essential in preventing the continued loss of midwives and in attracting newly qualified midwives to healthcare organisations. Transitioning from student to registered midwife is a known period of vulnerability that requires structured, evidence-informed support. Design: A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was adopted to collaboratively develop a mentoring program tailored to the transition needs of newly qualified midwives. Methods: Fourteen participants contributed to the study: seven midwives in senior roles with experience in graduate support and mentoring programs and seven midwifery graduates from both public and private sectors. Two rounds of focus groups were conducted with stakeholders and recent graduates. Data were analysed thematically using open, selective and theoretical coding. Findings from the analysis were used to inform the design and content of the mentoring program. Results: Key elements identified as essential for novice midwife support included extended orientation, consistent mentorship, emotional support, professional development opportunities and structured feedback. A mentoring program was co-designed with a focus on building emotional resilience through strategies aligned with Southwick\u27s resilience framework. Conclusion: An evidence-based, stakeholder-informed mentoring program can support novice midwives\u27 professional identity, emotional wellbeing and confidence, leading to improved retention and service outcomes. By addressing early-career vulnerabilities, such a program offers a cost-effective, scalable solution to strengthening the midwifery workforce and meeting future service demands
Harnessing the power of amphoterically modified Chitosan coagulants for enhanced polyester microplastic fibre removal from water
No full textMicroplastic fibre (MPF) is the dominant type of microplastic present in water treatment plants’ influent. Coagulation–flocculation followed by sedimentation effectively removes microplastics during pre-treatment; however, conventional inorganic coagulants produce high sludge volume, causing secondary pollution. Chitosan offers a greener alternative but is limited by poor solubility and low molecular weight. In this study, two amphoteric modifications were successfully incorporated into Chitosan, including CMC-CTA, synthesised by modifying carboxymethyl Chitosan (CMC) with 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (CTA); and CMC-g-PDMC, synthesised by grafting poly[(2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride] (PDMC) onto CMC. Their coagulation performance for MPF removal was assessed by turbidity measurement. The effects of coagulant dosage, solution pH and sedimentation time were systematically investigated. Zeta potential measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were employed to investigate the MPF removal mechanism. Among the three coagulants tested, CMC-CTA exhibited the lowest residual turbidity with a coagulant dosage as low as 1 mg/L. Both modified coagulants performed better at neutral to near-alkaline pH, with the lowest residual turbidity recorded at a pH of 8. The MPF removal mechanism by CMC-CTA and CMC-g-PDMC appeared to involve charge patching. These findings provide new insights into MPF removal via amphoteric Chitosan coagulants, particularly in neutral and near alkaline pH ranges, typical of water treatment plant influents
High-dose beta-alanine supplementation for two weeks did not enhance intermittent endurance or sprint performance in trained futsal players
No full textBackground: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a high-dose beta-alanine (BA) supplementation on physical performance, blood lactate concentration, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) in trained futsal players. Methods: Sixteen trained futsal players participated in a randomized, parallel, double-blind experiment, completing a two-week supplementation period with either 12 g/day of BA (n = 8; age: 19 ± 2 years; height: 1.78 ± 0.03 m; body mass: 68.5 ± 5.4 kg) or a placebo (PLA) (n = 8; age: 18 ± 1 years; height: 1.74 ± 0.08 m; body mass: 65.6 ± 6.4 kg). Athletes completed the futsal intermittent endurance test (FIET) and a 30-m speed test before and after supplementation. Plasma lactate levels were measured before, immediately after, and three minutes post-FIET, while RPE was assessed during each FIET stage. Results: There was a significant main effect of time for distance covered in the FIET (Pre-BA: 1618.13 ± 268.14 m; Post-BA: 1857.50 ± 277.81 m; Pre-PLA: 1519.13 ± 243.19 m; Post-PLA: 1621.88 ± 323.65 m; p = 0.003; ηp2 = 0.73), while no significant interaction effect was revealed for FIET (p = 0.147; ηp2 = 0.27). Furthermore, no significant interaction effects were found in the 30-m sprint test (p = 0.149; ηp2 = 0.27, Pre-BA: 4.33 ± 0.25 s; Post-BA: 4.22 ± 0.124 s; Pre-PLA: 4.33 ± 0.26 s; Post-PLA: 4.37 ± 0.22 s). Neither plasma lactate levels nor RPE showed significant main effects of treatment or timepoint (all p \u3e 0.5). Conclusion: Two weeks of high-dose BA supplementation did not have an ergogenic impact on the distance covered during the intermittent endurance test, sprint performance, blood lactate, or RPE in trained futsal players
Management of atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome with triggers: Diagnostic and treatment algorithms from an Asia-Pacific perspective
No full textComplement-amplifying events/conditions associated with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) include pregnancy/postpartum period, severe hypertension, autoimmune diseases, drug exposures, infections and organ transplantation. Some of these ‘triggers’ may exist comorbidly with atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS; a complement-mediated form of TMA), unmask previously undiagnosed aHUS, or occur secondary to aHUS, thus creating a considerable diagnostic challenge. A major goal in patients presenting with TMA is to differentiate complement-mediated aHUS from other causes of TMA such that appropriate targeted treatment with complement 5 (C5) inhibitors can be initiated rapidly to avoid irreversible end-organ damage. To this end, nephrologists and haematologists from Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan met virtually to discuss the management of TMA/aHUS in the presence of trigger conditions, focusing on the role of C5 inhibitors. To assist primary healthcare physicians and specialists from other disciplines in identifying and managing aHUS in the presence of triggers, the panel developed diagnostic and treatment algorithms as the main meeting output. Individual algorithms are presented for the settings of pregnancy, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, drug exposures, and kidney transplant. The algorithms combine clinical evidence with the panel\u27s collective expertise to provide practical steps to differentiate aHUS and can be refined by local experts to reflect respective healthcare systems, approval and reimbursement procedures, resources and access to treatments for aHUS in any Asia-Pacific country
Role of ethical leadership in creating meaningful work through corporate social responsibility in Bhutan: A conditional mediation model
No full textThis research investigated how ethical leaders drive employees to experience meaningfulness at work by influencing employees\u27 perception of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It also examined if employees\u27 skepticism towards CSR moderates these relationships. Conducted in Bhutan, where CSR is legally required but emerging, the study surveyed 797 employees from 15 companies using partial least squares path modeling. Findings confirmed that the perceived CSR mediates the positive link between ethical leadership and meaningfulness at work. Meanwhile, employees\u27 skepticism towards CSR weakens both the positive impact of CSR perception on meaningfulness at work as well as the mediated path. The study highlights CSR as a potential source of meaningfulness at work, reflecting the core values and genuine concern of the company for the betterment of society. The research provides theoretical insights for researchers and practitioners to improve CSR practices to create meaningful work while highlighting the importance of managing employees\u27 skepticism towards CSR. It also broadens the understanding of CSR manifestation in a context beyond developed countries
A study on the Doppler effect influence on subcarrier power allocation for a UWAC OFDM system
No full textUnderwater acoustic channels are highly time-varying and suffer from Doppler distortions and frequency-selective fades, which degrade the performance of the OFDM receiver. Therefore, this research enhances the transmission capability of OFDM by addressing two core issues: Doppler distortions and frequency-selective fades. The proposed study mitigates the Doppler shift at the subcarrier level using the cross-ambiguity function and employs an AI-based channel predictor that forecasts instantaneous channel gains for dynamic subcarrier power allocation. By integrating subcarrier-level CAF Doppler correction with predictive, adaptive power allocation, this research aims to improve spectral efficiency maximize per-subcarrier SNR, and increase the data rate in UWAC systems.
Simulation results confrm that the proposed CAF Doppler mitigation restores orthogonality and reduces ICI by over 3 dB. Furthermore, the CNN-based predictor delivers channel-state estimates with a normalized MSE below 1 × 10−2 , and the capped water-filling algorithm achieves a roughly 20% reduction in BER as compared to conventional OFDM with equal power allocation. This approach relies on standard pilot subcarriers and a lightweight CNN, making it compatible with existing OFDM frameworks
Mental health in preprofessional and professional circus artists: A narrative review
No full textMental health has received little attention in preprofessional and professional circus despite the performance demands, cognitive skill, and emotional labor required. This review aimed to consolidate the literature, identify research gaps, and guide practice priorities for mental health in preprofessional and professional circus artists. A narrative review of the literature was conducted based on the International Olympic Committee’s 2019 consensus statement for mental health in elite athletes. Articles reported on mental health symptoms and disorders (n = 13) and interventions (n = 3) in preprofessional and professional circus contexts. Circus artists may experience more symptoms of depression, anxiety, fatigue, and disordered eating compared to the general population. Mental health symptoms may be related to discipline, age, gender, professional status, coping resources, environmental demands, and injury. There is insufficient evidence to support the development of best practice guidelines; however, multidisciplinary collaboration to support mental health appears to be important for preprofessional and professional circus artists