1,720,959 research outputs found
Physical tests, hormonal and oxidative-stress related biomarkers in intermittent training of Taekwondo Athletes
Full text linkA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Human Movement Science, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2019.This thesis presents four studies. Study one aimed at identifying the anthropometric, physical and physiological characteristics of junior Taekwondo athletes required to achieve an international status in 25 males and 11 females aged 25.5±2.6 years. Body composition [percentage body fat (%BF), sum of skinfolds (SS)], flexibility (sit & reach, hip flexor (HF) and quadriceps flexibility (QF), lower extremity explosive power [vertical jump (Diff VJ)] and vertical jump relative power (R Power), muscle endurance (sit-ups and push-ups), muscular strength (handgrip right and left), hexagonal agility (HEX) and agility T-test, aerobic power (20 m bleep test (20MST) converted to maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max.). Significantly higher %BF and sum of skinfolds were recorded in junior female players. No differences in body mass, stature and body mass index (BMI) were found. Female athletes showed lower (p<0.001) results in push-ups compared to males. Maximal grip strength of both hands was higher (p<0.05) in males.
Study two investigated the effects of 4 weeks high-intensity intermittent Taekwondo (TKD) training program on body composition, physical fitness and performance of thirty-four (n=34) active TKD athletes of South African Zulu ancestry aged 20-26 years. The athletes were divided into control group (CG; n=10 male, n=7 female), performed interval TKD and strength training of lower intensity (70-75 % VO2max), experimental group (EG; n=10 male, n=7 female) that performed a high-intensity intermittent TKD and strength training (85-95 % VO2max). Body composition parameters: body mass, % body fat, sum of skinfolds, blood pressure (BP) and resting heart rate (RHR) flexibility, leg power, muscle strength and endurance, agility, VO2max (20m bleep test) were measured. Data were analysed using t-test for independent samples and Z-score individual radar plots statistics for assessment of each athlete. After 4 weeks of training, athletes in the experimental group showed a significant reduction in body weight (p<0.05), BMI (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p<0.05), resting heartrate (RHR) (p<0.05), SS (p<0.05), and fat % (p<0.001) and significant improvement (p<0.001) in flexibility, muscle strength, power, agility and VO2max. In male controls, fat % was decreased (p<0.05), flexibility and VO2max were increased (p<0.05). In female controls, only flexibility was improved (p<0.05).
Study three assessed the hormonal and biochemical responses of young male and female Taekwondo athletes during the 4 week high-intensity Taekwondo training. Twenty-eight (N=28) [16 males and 12 females] South African Taekwondo (TKD) athletes aged 20-26 years, BMI=23.7±2.9 14 were subjected to 4 weeks TKD and strength training divided in two groups: experimental (n=8 male, n=6 female) performing high intensity intermittent (85-90% VO2max) TKD training and a control group (n=8 males, n=6 females), performing interval TKD training of lower intensity (70-75% VO2max). A structured Taekwondo tasks (sTT) test was conducted before and after the training period within the experimental group after 4 weeks of high intensity intermittent Taekwondo (HIITKD) training period, the post-sTT test total testosterone level was higher (p<0.05) by 21.7% compared to the pre-sTT test value. No differences between groups were found` in free testosterone, testosterone-binding globulin and cortisol. Post-sTT test cortisol/total testosterone (C/tT) ratio decreased by 13.3% in the experimental group and increased by 18.5% in controls (p<0.05) after the training period.
Study four assessed the haematological parameters in twenty-eight (N=28) [16 males and 12 females] South African Taekwondo (TKD) athletes aged 20-26years, BMI=23.7±2.9 14 subjected to 4 weeks of TKD training who were divided into two groups: experimental (n=8 male, n=6 female) performing high intensity intermittent (85-90% VO2max) TKD training and a control group (n=8 males, n=6 females) performing interval TKD training of lower intensity (70-75% VO2max). A structured Taekwondo tasks (sTT) test was conducted before and after the training period. Within the experimental group, after 4 weeks of high intensity intermittent Taekwondo (HIITKD) training period, the post-sTT test total testosterone level was higher (p<0.05) by 21.7% compared to the pre-sTT test value. No differences between groups were found in Haematocrit mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemaglobin (MCH), mean corpuscuclar haemaglobin concentration (MCHC), red distribution width (RDW), Platelets, Eosinophil and Basophil levels between experimental and control groups in the male and female athletes after the training period. RBC (L), Hb, Haematocrit, MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW, and Lymphocyte levels increased significantly in experimental groups in both female and male TKD athletes.
Discussion
Intermittent physical events may produce great strength and muscle power demands on both upper and lower body with high anaerobic energy demand.
Conclusion. The findings of this study which were obtained from Taekwondo athletes of Zulu ancestry support the effectiveness of 4 weeks high intensity intermittent training in improving body composition, cardiorespiratory response, blood hormone and physical performance that could contribute to improve health and enhanced combat skills of Taekwondo athletes
The effect of a 10-week Tae-bo intervention program on cardiometabolic disease risk factors in overweight and obese females at the University of Zululand
Full text linkDissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Science (Sports Science) in the Department of Biokinetics and Sports Science, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013.The prevalence of obesity, sedentary life styles and associated cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk are increasing among black African women and require urgent attention in the form of preventative strategies. To date, there is limited scientific evidence highlighting the efficacy of Tae-bo as an intervention for reducing CMD risk. Regular physical activity leads to significant changes in terms of the reduction of CMD risk. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of a 10-week Tae-bo intervention program on cardiometabolic disease risk factors in overweight and obese females. Sixty previously sedentary participants who were overweight (BMI > 25–29.9 kg.m-2) or obese (BMI ≥ 30–39.9 kg.m-2) were recruited for the study. Participants performed a 10-week aerobic (Tae-bo) program 60 min/day for three days a week at moderate intensity (40–60% HRR) for the first five weeks and high intensity (60–70% HRR) for the last five weeks. The intensities were established by the use of Karvonen‟s formula. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, fasting glucose and lipoproteins (both using finger prick) were measured at baseline, after six weeks and 24 hours after completion of the 10-week program. Data was analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance and a Tukey Post hoc test. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 26.7% pre-intervention and decreased to 16.3% post intervention. There was a statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) improvement in all the parameters measured, mid and post intervention. Some effect sizes, following the intervention, include: weight (0.3), BMI (0.2), TC/HDL (-0.2). A 10-week Tae-bo training program was effective in reducing cardiometabolic disease risk factors in overweight/obese female university students.University of Zululand and the Community Engagement Working Group (CEWG
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
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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