Young footballers, assessed by deep breathing test, have a higher vagal response

Parasympathetic function can be assessed by the deep breathing test (DB) as a simple and reproducible cardiovascular reflex. The aim of this study is to use this test to compare the vagal response of a young footballers group to of age-matched untrained normal subjects. Deep breathing test was performed in 2 groups: one of 20 adult young footballers (average age of 19.3 ± 0.6 years), and a second age-matched group of 20 untrained subjects (average age of 19.6 ± 0.6 years). Subjects underwent the DB test after 30 min resting in supine position, and responses were expressed as a percentage of variation of heart rate during the stimulation. Student’s t-test was used to evaluate statistical differences among the two groups for all parameters (vagal response, heart rate, VO2max….) and considering p < 0.05 as a significant difference. The results showed that vagal response to deep breathing test was significantly higher in the young footballers when compared to the untrained controls (72.6% ± 16.2% vs 55.0% ± 12.8%, respectively, p = 0.03). The basal heart rate was significantly lower in footballers than in the controls group (52.1 ± 7.4 bat/min vs 69.8 ± 14.3 bat/min, p < 0.01). The use of the simple test of deep breathing allowed us to demonstrate that adult young footballers have a significantly lower basal HR and higher parasympathetic response in comparison to untrained subjects.

ECG and Echocardiographic Findings of Athletes in Bamako—A Study among 227 Footballers

Background: A cardiovascular assessment is rarely performed among athletes despite more and more frequently reported fatal events. Most of these accidents are of cardiovascular origin. Moreover, data on ECG or Echocardiography are rare in our context justifying our study to assess electrical and echocardiographic pattern among high-level footballer in Bamako. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted in Bamako from April 2015 to?March 2016 among high-level footballers aged 14 to 35 years old without distinction of sex with at least 10 hours weekly training since one year. The ECG and echocardiographies were recorded respectively with a 12-lead CONTEC and an ATL 5000 echocardiographic machine. Each ECG record was analyzed by a cardiologist in accordance with the Seattle 2013 criteria and those pathological reviewed by a second cardiologist according to the same criteria and definitively classified as normal (physiological) or abnormal ECG (requiring complementary explorations). A third cardiologist was associated in case of discordance of the first results. The collected data were inserted in a Microsoft Excel sheet and analyzed with SPSS version 20. Chi Square and Fisher statistical tests were used to compare our results. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: We collected data of 227 top footballers with male sex represented in 90.3% giving a sex ratio of 3.04. Means for age, weight, height, body mass index (BMI) were respectively 22 years, 69.90 kg, 177.21 cm and 22.21 kg/m2. Sinus bradycardia was found in a proportion of 45.8% more represented in the age group of 30 and more years (p = 0.275). First-degree atrioventricular block (AVB) was present in 19.4%. Short PR was found in 0.4% of the sample. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVG) according to the Sokolow index was found in 70.5% (96.9% males and 3.1% females) with p Conclusion: Many electrical and echocardiographic signs of cardiac adaptation were found in our sample and must lead to a closer follow-up of these trained footballers to avoid or prevent dramatic cardiovascular events.

Bonding Around a Ball A former Zimbabwean youth international professional footballer trains young talents in China

At dusk,on a football field in Side Park in Beijing’s Chaoyang District,a group of eight-year-old children are playing football."Yes sir!"Against all expectations,these Chinese children respond together in English to a tall and athletic man.He is their Zimbabwean coach Walter Musanhu,who can only speak very basic Mandarin.You may wonder how they could understand each other.But as Musanhu put it,football is a multilingual and universal sport that mixes cultures and brings people together.

The Association Between Subjective Wellness Symptoms and Blood Biomarker Data in English Premier League Footballers

The present study investigates the association between subjective wellness symptoms,and categorical point-of-care(POC)blood biomarkers of the free oxygen radical test(FORT),and systemic inflammation through high sensitivity C-reactive protein(Hs-CRP),in English Premier League footballers.Data from 38 male professional elite athletes(Mean Age=25.8,SD=4.4)from the English Premier League were included in the study,with a total of 674 individual testing records collected over an entire Premier League season.A player wellness questionnaire,along with fasted and rested point-of-care blood biomarker testing were collected weekly across the season.The wellness questionnaire collected subjective symptoms of illness and fatigue,while FORT and Hs-CRP were assessed through point-of-care analysis to highlight periods of excessive hydroperoxide production and systemic inflammation.Using a chi square goodness of fit model,results showed that there was a significant association between the frequency of symptoms logged and categorical POC blood biomarker data of FORT and HsCRP(P<0.01).Of the records demonstrating normal levels of Hs-CRP and FORT concentrations,27%logged symptoms with an average of 1.5 symptoms reported per answered record.Comparatively,excessive biomarker values demonstrated 55%of records having symptoms logged,averaging 2.4 symptoms reported per record.

Orientation and Decision-Making for Soccer Based on Sports Analytics and AI:A Systematic Review

Due to ever-growing soccer data collection approaches and progressing artificial intelligence(AI) methods, soccer analysis, evaluation, and decision-making have received increasing interest from not only the professional sports analytics realm but also the academic AI research community. AI brings gamechanging approaches for soccer analytics where soccer has been a typical benchmark for AI research. The combination has been an emerging topic. In this paper, soccer match analytics are taken as a complete observation-orientation-decision-action(OODA) loop.In addition, as in AI frameworks such as that for reinforcement learning, interacting with a virtual environment enables an evolving model. Therefore, both soccer analytics in the real world and virtual domains are discussed. With the intersection of the OODA loop and the real-virtual domains, available soccer data, including event and tracking data, and diverse orientation and decisionmaking models for both real-world and virtual soccer matches are comprehensively reviewed. Finally, some promising directions in this interdisciplinary area are pointed out. It is claimed that paradigms for both professional sports analytics and AI research could be combined. Moreover, it is quite promising to bridge the gap between the real and virtual domains for soccer match analysis and decision-making.

Science Put to the Test of Mysticism in the “Navetanes”

Mystical practices or “Xon” exist in virtually every sector of social life in Senegal. Popular or “navétane” football is particularly and profoundly affected by this phenomenon, to the point of raising questions about their place in this sport, which is naturally governed by scientific rules of performance. To provide an answer, we used qualitative methods, including participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 9 coaches and those in charge of the “xonjom”. The main results highlight the predominance of “Xon” over training. The players pay more attention to the mystics. The creation of a commission responsible for occult practices and the efforts made by the players to approach occultists and ensure that their instructions are respected attest to the importance of “xonjom”. As a result of the social anchoring provided by education, popular football is not spared from “xon”. More time is spent practising mysticism than training. They are seen as a source of victory, playing the role of psychological preparation. The centralisation of “xonjom” is reflected in the prioritisation of “xon” over training. The marabouts’ instructions take precedence over those of the trainers.

My Favorite Sport

Hello, everyone. I'm He Wei. My favorite sport is playing football. In middle school, I joined in the football team. All the teammates trained hard after school. Once our school had a match with another school. At first, we were all nervous and couldn't cooperate very well,because it was the first time for us to compete for the honor of the school.

Echoes From Cote d’Ivoire

A look back at the upsets and unexpected turnarounds at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations,Cote d’Ivoire brilliantly orchestrated and won the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations(CAN),held from 13 January to 11 February 2024,demonstrating its excellence in sports,security and modernisation.Sporting challenges were at the heart of the event,with 24 passionately competitive teams divided into six groups,offering intensely contested matches to an enthusiastic audience.These encounters highlighted the balance of footballing power between nations,and unexpected turnarounds defying predictions of bookmakers and football pundits.

World News

A GALLERY OF PEOPLE AND PLACES FRANCE The five Olympic rings hang from Eiffel Tower in Paris on 18 June GERMANY Two seals move footballs towards a goal post in an event held to predict the outcome of the group stage of the EURO 2024 in Wilhelmshaven,Lower Saxony,on 13 June.

Too Much Sex Can Bring Footballers to their Knees

bring somebody to his knees系英语成语。含义:迫使某人屈服。 而本文的标题就是一个双关语,耐人寻味。其转义是:过频的性行为使足球运动员屈服。而此标题却“反其道而行之”,硬是使用 bring somebody to hisknees,它的字面意思是:过频的性行为使足球运动员易患膝关节炎。 英语喜用首字母缩略词,本文的SARA就是一例。本文作者对这个不常用的首字母缩略词用同位语作了解释。如: SARA,or sexually acquired reactive arthritis,据其解释,我们可以将 SARA译作:因性行为而得的反应性关节炎。 作者在谈论足球运动员的性生活时,轻描淡写,大有“外交辞令”之风: The Ievel of promiscuity(乱搞男女关系)among these sportsmen calls rorconcern. 调查所显示的情况却十分严重: …five of them(笔者注:10人)admitted having had more than 11 sexualpartners in their lifetime. 性行为过频过滥,重则导致艾滋病,轻则引起SARA(对运动员来讲,也可能是career-threatening)。除了足球运动员之外,本文还向另两类人敲响了警钟: Frequent travelers and entertainers(演艺人员)are most at risk.

Footballer's ankle: a case report

ZHANG Yaonan , Hashimoto Jun, Inui Hiroaki and Nobuhara Katsuya Department of Orthopaedics, Beijing Hospital, Beijing 100730, China (Zhang YN)

QI PO CHUAN CHUAN XIANG Footballer foodies score big

When four Shanghai female footballers retired from profes・sional play;they eschewed the opportunity to become coaches and decided to open a Sichuan hotpot restau・rant together instead.

Refinement of saliva microRNA biomarkers for sports-related concussion

Background:Recognizing sport-related concussion(SRC)is challenging and relies heavily on subjective symptom reports.An objective,biological marker could improve recognition and understanding of SRC.There is emerging evidence that salivary micro-ribonucleic acids(miRNAs)may serve as biomarkers of concussion;however,it remains unclear whether concussion-related miRNAs are impacted by exercise.We sought to determine whether40 miRNAs previously implicated in concussion pathophysiology were affected by participation in a variety of contact and non-contact sports.Our goal was to refine a miRNA-based tool capable of identifying athletes with SRC without the confounding effects of exercise.Methods:This case-control study harmonized data from concussed and non-concussed athletes recruited across 10 sites.Levels of salivary miRNAs within 455 samples from 314 individuals were measured with RNA sequencing.Within-subjects testing was used to identify and exclude miRNAs that changed with either(a)a single episode of exercise(166 samples from 83 individuals)or(b)season-long participation in contact sports(212 samples from 106 individuals).The miRNAs that were not impacted by exercise were interrogated for SRC diagnostic utility using logistic regression(172 samples from 75 concussed and 97 non-concussed individuals).Results:Two miRNAs(miR-532-5p and miR-182-5p)decreased(adjusted p<0.05)after a single episode of exercise,and 1 miRNA(miR-4510)increased only after contact sports participation.Twenty-three miRNAs changed at the end of a contact sports season.Two of these miRNAs(miR-26b-3p and miR-29c-3p)were associated(R>0.50;adjusted p<0.05)with the number of head impacts sustained in a single football practice.Among the 15 miRNAs not confounded by exercise or season-long contact sports participation,11 demonstrated a significant difference(adjusted p<0.05)between concussed and non-concussed participants,and 6 displayed moderate ability(area under curve>0.70)to identify concussion.A single ratio(miR-27a-5p/miR-30a-3p)displayed the highest accuracy(AUC=0.810,sensitivity=82.4%,specificity=73.3%)for differentiating concussed and non-concussed participants.Accuracy did not differ between participants with SRC and non-SRC(z=0.5,p=0.60).Conclusion:Salivary miRNA levels may accurately identify SRC when not confounded by exercise.Refinement of this approach in a large cohort of athletes could eventually lead to a non-invasive,sideline adjunct for SRC assessment.

Effects of the FIFA 11+program on performance,biomechanical measures,and physiological responses:A systematic review

Background:The side effects of the FIFA 11+program on performance have not been generally reviewed.The objective of this study was to synthesize the literature on the effects of the 11+on players’performance.Methods:Five online databases(PubMed,Scopus,ScienceDirect,Springer,and Google Scholar)were searched(from April 2006 to March 2022)using predefined keywords and sub-keywords.The potential references were primarily recorded through Endnote and imported to Covidence.Out of the 123 references screened by 2 blinded researchers through the software,59 full texts were assessed for eligibility,33 of which were ultimately included.The quality of the studies and the risk of bias were then assessed.Study ID,title,place,aim,design,start/end dates,population description,study criteria,statistical analysis,and outcomes were extracted.Results:Studies were conducted on male and female players aged 10-32 years old.The quality of the studies was moderate to high,and except for unclear bias for blinding outcome assessment,the risk of bias for all domains was low.Long-term application of the 11+improved most biomechanical measures and physiological responses except for lower extremity stability,ankle evertors time latency,ankle dorsiflexion,and proprioception.Conversely,the 11+showed acute negative effects on physical performance compared to dynamic warm-ups and non-significant effects on technical abilities.Conclusion:Mid-to-long-term implementation of the 11+improved the maj ority of biomechanical and a couple of physical measure s but showed no effects on technical skills.Precaution must be observed for using the 11+before competitions,as it could acutely decrease physical/technical performance.Given the contradictory nature of the literature,further studies should evaluate the short-to-mid-term effects of the 11+.Further studies are required to address ankle responses to the 11+intervention.

Automatic Team Assignment and Jersey Number Recognition in Football Videos

Football is one of the most-watched sports,but analyzing players’per-formance is currently difficult and labor intensive.Performance analysis is done manually,which means that someone must watch video recordings and then log each player’s performance.This includes the number of passes and shots taken by each player,the location of the action,and whether or not the play had a successful outcome.Due to the time-consuming nature of manual analyses,interest in automatic analysis tools is high despite the many interdependent phases involved,such as pitch segmentation,player and ball detection,assigning players to their teams,identifying individual players,activity recognition,etc.This paper proposes a system for developing an automatic video analysis tool for sports.The proposed system is the first to integrate multiple phases,such as segmenting the field,detecting the players and the ball,assigning players to their teams,and iden-tifying players’jersey numbers.In team assignment,this research employed unsu-pervised learning based on convolutional autoencoders(CAEs)to learn discriminative latent representations and minimize the latent embedding distance between the players on the same team while simultaneously maximizing the dis-tance between those on opposing teams.This paper also created a highly accurate approach for the real-time detection of the ball.Furthermore,it also addressed the lack of jersey number datasets by creating a new dataset with more than 6,500 images for numbers ranging from 0 to 99.Since achieving a high perfor-mance in deep learning requires a large training set,and the collected dataset was not enough,this research utilized transfer learning(TL)to first pretrain the jersey number detection model on another large dataset and then fine-tune it on the target dataset to increase the accuracy.To test the proposed system,this paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of its individual stages as well as of the sys-tem as a whole.

Incidence of sports-related sternoclavicular joint dislocations in the United States over the last two decades

BACKGROUND Epidemiological understanding of acute sternoclavicular(SC)dislocations secondary to sports across the United States is poorly defined.AIM To identify and assess epidemiological trends of SC dislocations occurring secondary to sports-related mechanisms across United States over the past two decades.METHODS This cross-sectional,descriptive epidemiological study evaluates epidemiological trends of SC dislocations from sports that present to emergency departments(EDs)across the United States.Data were obtained from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database spanning two decades.Data on incidence,patient demographics,mechanisms of injury,dislocation types,incident locales,and patient dispositions were collected.RESULTS 1622 SC dislocations occurred nationwide from 2001 to 2020[incidence=0.262/1000000 people,confidence interval(CI)=0.250-0.275],comprising 0.1%of shoulder/upper trunk dislocations.Most patients were male(91%,n=1480)and aged 5-17(61%,n=982).Football,wrestling,and biking were the most frequently implicated sports,with contact sports responsible for 59%of athletic injuries(n=961).Recreational vehicle-related sports injuries,such as all-terrain vehicles,dirt bikes,and mopeds accounted for 7.8%of all injuries(n=126),with dirt bikes specifically comprising 3.7%(n=61).Ultimately,82%were discharged from the ED(n=1337),12%were admitted(n=194),and 6%were transferred(n=90).All recorded posterior dislocations were admitted or transferred from the ED.Patients sustaining SC dislocations from contact sports had a significantly increased risk of hospital admission or transfer rather than discharge from the ED as compared to patients whose injuries were from non-contact sports(incidence rate ratio=1.46,CI:=1.32-1.61,P<0.001).CONCLUSION SC dislocations from sports continue to be rare with a stably low incidence over the past two decades,likely comprising a smaller proportion of shoulder dislocations than previously thought.Contact sports are a frequent source of injury,especially among school-aged and teenage males.Most patients are discharged directly from the ED;however,a substantial number are hospitalized,many of which had documented posterior dislocations.Ultimately,understanding the epidemiology and mechanism-related trends of acute SC dislocations is important given the potential severity of these injuries,concentration in a specific population,and uncertainty linked to rare presentation.

Concept, Interests and Systems: Logical Consciousness of the China Campus Football Policy Trip

Based on the “Healthy China 2030 Planning Outline”, the literature method and logical analysis method are used to review and analyze the implementation process of China’s school football policy from three dimensions: value, interest appeal and institutional background. The study believes that in order to break through the bottleneck of policy implementation and improve the effect of policy implementation, it is necessary to establish correct values and form broad recognition of policies;meet the reasonable interests of all parties and form a synergy for policy implementation;optimize the institutional environment for policy implementation and form effective incentives.

Off the Pitch

Made-in-China products shine at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar After four years of anticipation,the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicked off in Qatar on 20 November 2022.Though China National Football Team failed to qualify for the carnival,football fans could find a footprint of China all over the place,ranging from stadiums built with Chinese technology to made-in-China products such as new energy vehicles,cute plush mascots of La’eeb,coffee mugs,and replicas of the World Cup trophy and other souvenirs.

体验夺旗橄榄球的魅力

As the weather gets warmer and the breeze blows the grass,flag football(夺旗橄榄球)is the best way for students to kick off the Spring.Last month,the students at Xiangxian High School experienced the charm of flag football for the first time.Immediately,flag football has become a popular sport among the students.

2000、2001年大学英语四级考试词汇题简析(上)

自从1987年在大专院校实施大学英语四级考试以来,参考人数逐年上升。而且,各院校尤其是普通高校的四、六级通过率近几年来都大幅度提高,有的院校的四级通过率竟然由起初的10％上升到现在的80％甚至更高。由此可见,大学英语四、六级考试的实施的确推动了大学英语教学,从而极大地激发了广大大学生学习英语的热情,并为他们进一步学好英语打下了坚实的基础。