Masaryk University Journals / Časopisy Masarykovy univerzity
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Effectiveness of the Involvement Of Selected Muscles During the Pre-Jump and Wind-Up Phase During the Execution of a Spike In U16 – U18 Female Beach Volleyball Players
Get PDFBackground: „Laterality in beach volleyball is mainly manifested in the attacking activities of an individual (serving, spiking). Functional asymmetry affects the player’s movement expression in all movement situations, and laterality is also important for the specialization of individual players.Objective: The study aims to assess the lateral involvement of selected muscles (deltoideus, biceps femoris semitendinosus) and their efficiency in the phases before the spike jump and in the wind-up phase of the spike.Materials and Methods: The research group consisted of 12 female players with an average age 16.17 (SD= 1.5). The main method used for data collection was measurement by Noraxon surface electromyography. We entered the transformed data into Microsoft Excel 365 for Mac. To evaluate the data, we used descriptive (frequency, percentage) and inferential (Shapiro-Wilk test, T-test, Man Whitney U test and correlation) statistical methods. Results: The conclusion of the study is that there is no difference between the right and left sides in the evaluated muscle groups (deltoideus= 0.206; biceps femoris=0.569; semitendinosus=0.792). An interesting finding of the study is the strong correlation between the left deltoideus and the right biceps is interesting (0.812). The efficiency is higher in the wind-up phase of all the assessed muscles. The highest difference in efficiency is in the biceps femoris on the left leg, where the difference in efficiency of engagement in individual phases is over 25%. Conversely, the lowest difference is for the left semitendinosus (5.5%).Conclusions: The study confirms that the effectiveness of muscle activity is more efficient in the wind-up phase, at the same time we add that in this phase the muscles work more symmetrically
School-Based Physical Activity Programmes: An Integrative Review of Health-Related Research
Get PDFA widespread lack of healthy habits is a paramount concern to all, and schools, especially through physical education, can be an important setting to promote physical activity and healthier habits among young people. An integrative review was conducted between 2010 and 2023, exploring physical activity programmes in schools and to discuss strategies to elevate students’ physical activity levels and habits for a lifetime of autonomous wellbeing. The results included 42 articles: eight reviews completed on related research, 12 studies focused on school-based physical activity intervention programmes, and 22 dedicated to the relationship between physical activity, physical education and health. Recommendations include prioritizing longitudinal research, enhancing student-teacher relationship and collaboration, increasing the level of interest in physical education and the participation in enjoyable activities, developing young people’s knowledge, and addressing contextual factors affecting physical activity
Absurdno-iracionálny rozmer baladických príbehov Pavla Országha Hviezdoslava
No full textThe study focuses on the balladic works of the classic of Slovak literature P. O. Hviezdoslav, which have so far received only marginal attention in Slovak literary scholarship. In his ballads, he adapted some traditional themes of folk and romantic ballad (guilt and punishment, moral failure, coming to terms with folk tradition, and others) and also broadened the thematic range of the genre with his own themes (the search for a spiritual way out of pragmatic criteria of truth, property disputes, and tawdry solutions to life's problems, social contradictions and their consequences). The study specifically focused on the analysis of three balladic stories (Topeľci, Krivoprísažník, and Pomsta mŕtvych, which contain an absurdist-irrational dimension to the actions of characters from the afterlife and the real world. This strange encounter of characters is a story about the affirmation of the natural palette of life and death.Dôležitou súčasťou epickej tvorby Pavla Országha Hviezdoslava sú jeho balady. Majú rozličnú tvarovú, tematickú, poetickú a verzologickú stavbu. Tri z nich (Krivoprísažník, Topeľci, Pomsta mŕtvych) obsahujú motívy posmrtného života, pričom treba zdôrazniť, že ich spracovanie je novátorské. Kým v prvej z nich (Krivoprísažník) autor hľadal odpoveď na ukončenie iracionálneho úkazu, v balade Pomsta mŕtvych spredmetnil tému posmrtnej spravodlivosti medzi bohatými a chudobnými. Tretia balada (Topeľci) má svoju osobitosť v nekonvenčnej prezentácii sporu medzi prirodzenosťou života a absurdno-iracionálnym územím predstavivosti. Aj uvedenými baladami potvrdil poznanie, že jeho básnické dielo nebolo a nebude zdrojom oddychu, ale podnetom k zmysluplnému dialógu o literatúre s nadčasovými umeleckými parametrami
Tomáš Mitis: IN ICONA TRITONIS ... : another seal poem from the Bohemian region
No full textTomáš Mitis, a poet of the age of Ferdinand I of Habsburg, focusses in a poem, which is dedicated to the utraquist priest Jan Mystopol, on Mystopol's seal. The seal shows the ancient god Triton, blowig his horn. Mitis draws parallels between both of them: As Triton rushes in before Oceanus with his horn and drives out the giants (falsely called centaurs by Mitis), so Mystopol rushes in before God and his spiritual flock and expells the devil. In addition to the poem, the essay referred to a pictorial representation of Mystopols seal in the Old Tow Gradual (Staroměstský graduál; National Library Prague, Česko XVII.A.40, fol. 77r). The historical background of the poem is Reform utraquism, which brought Mystopol into conflict with King Ferdinand. On account of naming Mystopol Administrator in the title and the year the print was published, the verses could be dated between 1541/42 and 1550
The dynamic and timbre of restored Janáček's grand piano : how they may have influenced his compositions?
No full textWhat are the acoustic properties of the grand piano on which Leoš Janáček wrote most of his compositions? The paper describes the analysis of 2 instruments: renovated Janáček's Ehrbar and the Bösendorfer 185 VC. The double decay time was measured only at the Ehrbar, dynamic ranges and spectra of both instruments were measured and compared with each other. For the analysis, individual tones but also excerpts from the cycle On an Overgrown Path played by the pianist were selected. For accuracy, the room reverberations, where grand pianos were recorded, were also measured
Self-experiencing in a specific form of acting improvisation
No full textThe improvising actor may experience a range of feelings that may not relate to the content of their improvisation or the themes that emerge during the improvisation. Some of these feelings are even considered negative, yet they can be a positive and activating impetus for the development of play. Using the example of a specific variant of acting improvisation, which is practised from 'point zero', the article demonstrates the influence that these feelings have on inducing the creative state of the actor. For my analysis, I will make use of, among other sources, students' written reflections of the practice of the psychosomatic discipline of Dialogical Acting with the Inner Partner, which was founded by Czech actor, director, psychologist, and acting teacher Ivan Vyskočil. I will primarily focus on the feelings of embarrassment, awkwardness, boredom, amazement, wonder, and joy in play
Doing the work: embodied cognition, ecological psychology, and screen actor training
No full textRegarding acting and its training as a situated activity, best apprehended through an ecological, embodied focus on mutually constitutive interactions between the actor's mind, body, and performance environment, in this work we formally examine the development of undergraduate actors' performative skills – and requisite mental and physical resources – within an undergraduate pedagogical training program in screen acting. In meeting the actor's basic responsibility – the achievement of performative reality effects – successful actors must concretely demonstrate several core competencies based on situation-specific, task-oriented activities – demonstrable skills amenable to practical instruction and assessment within the classroom as well as to theoretical scrutiny from a pragmatic psychological perspective. Our interdisciplinary research program details the instruction and acquisition of a core set of aptitudes essential to the screen actor's successful engagement with the constraints and opportunities of a demanding, medium-specific production environment
'What a weird word it is' : typographic meaning-making in Robert Nye's The Late Mr. Shakespeare from a multimodal perspective
No full textThis paper examines typography as a semiotic mode involved in multimodal creation of typographic meaning-making in Robert Nye's The Late Mr. Shakespeare. The semiotic principles of symbol, index, icon, and discursive import are employed to describe typographic meaning-making in Nye's novel. The distinctive typographic features of weight, connectivity and curvature, slanted regular, abnormal hyphens, division slash, the inconsistent use of majuscules and minuscules come to exemplify the effect of salience as a narrative technique in typographic meaning-making. In addition, the interaction of the modes in the given text displays visual similarities either in terms of typography and sound (for example, mocking accent, animal onomatopoeia), in terms of the typeface and handwriting, or between regular type text and the one in italics, thus giving a special prominence to a multimodal analysis of Nye's The Late Mr. Shakespeare
Discrepancies in Popularity and Research Focus in Online Social Networks
No full textPurpose – As the usage of online social networks increases, so does the volume of research addressing them. The aim of this research study is to explore the relationship between the popularity of online social networks and their prevalence in scientific literature.
Design / methodology / approach – This study conducts a bibliometric analysis, analysing publications related to the fifteen most popular online social networks worldwide, including Douyin, Facebook, Instagram, Kuaishou, Pinterest, QQ, Reddit, Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, WeChat, Weibo, WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. The objective is to identify current trends in online social networks research and assess whether these trends align with user engagement levels.
Results – The findings highlight substantial discrepancies with the most notable in case of Twitter, which, despite being only the 12th largest network by monthly active users count, is prominently featured in approximately 40% of publications. In contrast, Facebook, despite its leading user base, is featured in about 30% of studies. The representation of other networks in scholarly discourse shows considerable variation, with some networks scarcely mentioned despite significant public usage.
Originality / value – This research offers a comprehensive analysis of how the popularity of various online social networks correlates with their academic research coverage, highlighting discrepancies and exploring underlying factors. Future research should extend beyond selected platforms to understand the unique social, cultural, economic or political impacts of each online social network. Additionally, there is a critical need for ongoing adaptation in research methodologies in response to the rapid evolution of online social networks to ensure that academic inquiries remain pertinent and responsive to real-world changes