1,721,019 research outputs found
Physical activity levels and health-related quality of life in young Italian population
No full textAim. Significant levels of physical activity (PA) have benefit in reducing chronic diseases in the general adults, but little is known on the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and PA levels among young population. This study aims to investigate the association between different levels of PA and HRQoL in a random sample of 155 Italian University students (age range: 18-30 years old).
Methods. We used the short version of IPAQ and SF-36 to assess PA levels and HRQoL, respectively. Differences in HRQoL scores between the three IPAQ categories (low, moderate and high) were evaluated by the analysis of covariance (with age and BMI as covariates). Forward stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to determine the most predictive variables for a good HRQoL.
Results. A significant relationship between PA (Kcal/week and METs/week) and Physical Functioning, Role Physical, General Health, and Physical Summary Component scores was observed in women, while the Role Physical, and the Vitality were associated with PA in men. The amount of PA (day/week, Kcal/week and METs/week) significantly predicted the HRQoL scores and the variance explained by the function ranged from 5.75% to 14.24% for women and from 5.41% to 10.95% for men. The regular frequency of PA during the week was the most important positive predictors for the highest scores in most of HRQoL domains.
Conclusion. Our results confirm that the highest PA Levels were associated with more favorable scores in HRQoL dimensions, also among young Italian population
Physical activity levels and health-related quality of life in young Italian population
No full textAim. Significant levels of physical activity (PA) have benefit in reducing chronic diseases in the general adults, but little is known on the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and PA levels among young population. This study aims to investigate the association between different levels of PA and HRQoL in a random sample of 155 Italian University students (age range: 18-30 years old).
Methods. We used the short version of IPAQ and SF-36 to assess PA levels and HRQoL, respectively. Differences in HRQoL scores between the three IPAQ categories (low, moderate and high) were evaluated by the analysis of covariance (with age and BMI as covariates). Forward stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to determine the most predictive variables for a good HRQoL.
Results. A significant relationship between PA (Kcal/week and METs/week) and Physical Functioning, Role Physical, General Health, and Physical Summary Component scores was observed in women, while the Role Physical, and the Vitality were associated with PA in men. The amount of PA (day/week, Kcal/week and METs/week) significantly predicted the HRQoL scores and the variance explained by the function ranged from 5.75% to 14.24% for women and from 5.41% to 10.95% for men. The regular frequency of PA during the week was the most important positive predictors for the highest scores in most of HRQoL domains.
Conclusion. Our results confirm that the highest PA Levels were associated with more favorable scores in HRQoL dimensions, also among young Italian population
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
ACE I/D and ACTN3 R577X polymorphisms, body composition and somatotype in top-level Italian gymnasts.
No full textIntroduction ACE I/D and ACTN3 R577X polymorphisms have been associated with elite athletic status, and recently with differences in muscle strength and power, body fat and bone mineral density in human (Puthucheary et al. 2011; Yang et al. 2011). Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of ACE I/D and ACTN3 R577X polymorphisms on body composition and somatotype of elite Italian gymnasts. Methods Nineteen athletes of the Artistic Gymnastic Italian National Team (n=10 males, n=9 females) who were competitive at Olympic levels were genotyped for ACE I/D and ACTN3 R577X. The athletes had been gymnasts for an average of 14.3 years, and they trained for 31.2±2.5 h/week. The analysis was computed for each gender separately. Correlations were computed by mean of Pearson’s r test. Differences between genotypes and phenotypes were determined using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results None of the tested athletes was deficient for the α-actinin-3 protein (XX genotype). In females, we found a significant negative correlation between ACTN-3 and triceps skinfold (r=-.92), and endomorphy (r=-0.83). Gymnasts carrying RR genotype showed higher values of body fat parameters than those with RX genotype (P=0.41). ACE polymorphism was significantly correlated with tight (r=.91) and triceps (r=.84) skinfolds. Athletes carrying DD genotype showed higher values of skinfolds thickness than those with ID and II genotypes (P=0.17). In males, only the R577X polymorphism displayed a significant correlation with arm (r=.74) and tight (r=.80) muscle area (TMA and AMA, respectively), mesomorphy (r=.83) and femur diameter (r=.81). Particularly, gymnasts with RR genotype showed significant higher values of AMA (RR=85.7±8.7 vs RX=72.6±9.1 cm2; P=0.04) and TMA (RR=200.2±8.7 vs RX=178.4±10.8 cm2; P=0.008), mesomorphy (RR=7.0±0.5 vs RX=5.6±0.5; P=0.002) and femur diameter (RR=9.5±0.2 vs RX=8.9 mm; P=0.02) with respect to those with RX genotype. Discussion Our results suggested a possible effect of ACTN3 on muscle mass in males, while in female gymnasts both genes seem to have a small influence on body fat. In line with other previous researches (Massidda et al. 2009), it can be confirmed that the presence of a functional ACTN3 in fast-twitch muscle fibers might improve the potential to achieve better performance level in male and possibly female gymnasts, while ACE does not seem beneficial for gymnastic performance in both sex
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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