Sequential Mapping of Game Patterns in Men and Women Professional Padel Players.

PURPOSE: This study analyzed the sequences of actions in professional men and women padel players to identify common game patterns. METHODS: The sample comprised 17,557 stroke-by-stroke actions (N = 1640 rallies) of the championship World Padel Tour. Multistep Markov chains were used to calculate the conditional probabilities of occurrence of actions during the rally. RESULTS: Results revealed that men's and women's padel is mainly defined by 36 patterns constituting 55% and 63% of all actions in the game, respectively, with the 10 most common sequences accounting for 42% to 45% of the game. There were recurrent technical-tactical actions with specific offensive and defensive functions that were constantly reiterated during the rallies. In men, the use of smash, volley, bandeja, direct, back wall, back-wall lobs, and direct lobs followed a foreseeable pattern up to 8 lags, whereas women described predictable interactions for volley, bandeja, direct, lobs, and direct lobs up to 5 lags and for smash and back wall up to 4 lags. CONCLUSIONS: The ability of padel players to recall these patterns and enhance their anticipation skills may potentially improve their performance. These findings contribute to a better knowledge of professional padel game dynamics while providing coaches and players with useful information to optimize training and decision-making strategies.

Can You Tell Who Scores? An Assessment of the Recognition of Affective States Based on the Nonverbal Behavior of Amateur Tennis Players in Competitive Matches.

The purpose of the present study was to assess whether the recognition of tennis players' affective state associated with their nonverbal behavior would be influenced by (a) the importance of the situation, (b) the point outcome, and (c) the tennis expertise of the observer. Two hundred sixty-nine participants (Mage = 30.51 years; 116 female; 79 tennis club members) watched video excerpts showing the nonverbal behavior of amateur tennis players during competitive matches immediately after the end of a rally and were asked to estimate whether the player had just won or lost the point. Results indicate that the recognition rates were higher for situations closer to the end of a game, closer to the end of a set, and with a tighter score during a game. Moreover, recognition rates were higher for lost than for won points, while the tennis expertise of participants had no influence on the recognition rates.

The effect of Black-White income inequality on perceived interracial psychological outcomes via perceived interracial competition.

This research examined the influence of Black-White income inequality on negative interracial psychological outcomes and the role of perceived interracial competition as a mediational mechanism. The research utilized three different designs across three preregistered experiments to assess the proposed processes. Study 1 (N = 846) used a measurement-of-mediation design and found that participants assigned to the high racial income gap condition reported more perceived interracial competition, discrimination, avoidance, and anxiety relative to those in the low racial income gap condition. Effects were mediated by increased perceptions of interracial competition. Studies 2a (n = 827) and 2b (n = 841) used an experimental-causal-chain design and replicated the effect of the racial income gap condition on increased perceptions of interracial competition (Study 2a) and showed that participants in the high perceived interracial competition condition-the manipulated mechanism-exhibited greater perceived discrimination, anxiety, and mistrust relative to those in the low perceived interracial competition condition (Study 2b). Study 3 (N = 1,583) diversified the sample by recruiting similar numbers of Black (n = 796) and White (n = 787) participants and used a moderation-of-process design by simultaneously manipulating the racial income gap and perceived interracial competition. Competition moderated effects: Inequality effects were stronger for those in the high competition condition. Implications for theory development are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Protocol for the assessment of individual tactical behavior (padti) - validation and reproducibility: preliminary evidence / Protocolo de avaliação do desempenho tático individual (padti) - validação e reproditiblidade: evidências preliminares

ABSTRACT In order to carry out the process of validation and reproducibility of the Protocol for the Assessment of Individual Tactical Behavior of Soccer athletes (PADTI), a study was carried out divided into three stages: I) preparation of the PADTI; II) logical, content and construct validation and; III) reproducibility. The PADTI was developed based on the 8 fundamental tactical principles of soccer, which were inserted in a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet, used to collect, store and process the tactical actions of soccer players during the game. The PADTI validity process was performed by 8 professionals, using a spreadsheet to account for items using a Likert scale (5 points). Reproducibility was carried out in two moments with an interval of 15 days, using as a sample the tactical behaviors of the athletes of the Brazilian team, during a soccer match of the 2018 world cup. validity (IV) of 90%. There were no significant differences between the responses of the evaluators (χ² = 12.199; p = 0.094). The intraclass correlation (ICC) values were greater than 0.814 (CI: 95%: 0.251 - 0.954; p <0.001) and Cronbach's Alpha values were greater than α = 0.814. The results indicated that the PADTI is a valid and useful methodology for assessing the tactical performance of soccer players in a game situation.

RESUMO Com o objetivo de realizar o processo de validação e reprodutibilidade do Protocolo de Avaliação do Comportamento Tático Individual de atletas de Futebol (PADTI), foi realizado um estudo dividido em três etapas: I) elaboração do PADTI; II) validação lógica, de conteúdo e constructo e; III) reprodutibilidade. O PADTI foi elaborado com base nos 8 princípios táticos fundamentais do futebol, os quais foram inseridos em uma planilha do programa Microsoft Excel®, utilizada para coletar, armazenar e processar as ações táticas dos atletas de futebol durante o jogo. O processo de validade do PADTI, foi realizado por 8 profissionais, por meio de uma planilha para contabilizar os itens utilizando-se de uma escala likert (5 pontos). A reprodutibilidade foi realizada em dois momentos com intervalo de 15 dias, utilizando como amostra os comportamentos táticos dos atletas da seleção brasileira, durante uma partida de futebol da copa do mundo de 2018. O PADTI foi aprovado pela maioria dos avaliadores especialistas, com índice de validade (IV) de 90%. Não foram observadas diferenças significantes entre as repostas dos avaliadores (χ²=12,199; p = 0,094). Os valores de correlação intraclasse (ICC) foram superiores a 0,814 (IC: 95%: 0,251 - 0,954; p< 0,001) e os valores de Alpha de Cronbach foram superiores a α= 0,814. Os resultados indicaram que o PADTI é uma metodologia válida e útil para avaliação do desempenho tático de atletas de futebol em situação de jogo.

(In)tolerância como política: os discursos de direita e de esquerda no facebook / (In)tolerance as policy: the rightist and leftist discourses on facebook / (In)tolerancia como política: los discursos de la derecha y la izquierda en facebook

Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar traços da mentalidade potencialmente autoritária a partir do discurso de usuários do Facebook vinculados a páginas de cunho político autodeclarado de direita e de esquerda no Brasil. A Netnografia é utilizada como aporte metodológico para imersão on-line nas páginas "Eu era Direita e não sabia" e "Jovens de Esquerda", selecionadas por meio do Facebook Audience Insights, ferramenta disponibilizada pelo Facebook. Delas, foram extraídas oito postagens com maior engajamento (número de comentários, curtidas e compartilhamentos), identificadas pelo Netvizz. Foram coletados 3.489 comentários, os quais foram organizados em um corpus textual submetido ao software IRAMUTEQ e analisados sob a perspectiva da análise crítica imanente da teoria crítica. Como resultado, apresenta-se a forma como o pensamento autoritário se manifesta na racionalização da sociedade contemporânea e nas práticas discursivas em redes sociais on-line, enraizada no âmbito sociopolítico brasileiro, ameaçando o processo democrático e a construção de uma sociedade plural e liberta.(AU)

This study aims to analyze traits of the potentially authoritarian mentality from the speech of Facebook users linked to political pages self-declared as rightist and leftist in Brazil. Netnography is used as a methodological contribution for online immersion in the pages "Eu era Direita e não sabia" and "Jovens de Esquerda" selected via Facebook Audience Insights, a tool provided by Facebook. From these, eight posts with greater engagement (number of comments, likes and shares), identified by Netvizz, were extracted. We collected 3,489 comments, which were organized in a textual corpus submitted to IRAMUTEQ software and analyzed from the perspective of immanent critical analysis of Critical Theory. As a result, we present the way in which authoritarian thinking manifests itself in the rationalization of contemporary society and in discursive practices in online social networks, rooted in the Brazilian socio-political sphere, threatening the democratic process and the construction of a plural and free society.(AU)

Este estudio tiene como objetivo analizar las huellas de la mentalidad potencialmente autoritaria a partir de los discursos de usuarios en Facebook vinculados a páginas políticas autodeclaradas de derecha y de izquierda en Brasil. La netnografía se utiliza como marco metodológico para la inmersión en línea en las páginas "Eu era Direita e não sabia" y "Jovens de Esquerda", seleccionadas por Facebook Audience Insights, herramienta proporcionada por Facebook. Se extrajeron las ocho publicaciones con mayor compromiso (número de comentarios, gustos y compartidas), identificadas por Netvizz. Se recogieron 3.489 comentarios, los cuales fueron organizados en un corpus textual sometido al software IRAMUTEQ y analizado bajo la perspectiva del análisis crítico inmanente de la teoría crítica. Los resultados presentan la forma en que el pensamiento autoritario se manifiesta en la racionalización de la sociedad contemporánea y en prácticas discursivas en redes sociales en línea, arraigada en el ámbito sociopolítico brasileño, que amenazan el proceso democrático y la construcción de una sociedad plural y liberada.(AU)

As startups no contexto da organização capitalista financeira e as subjetividades empreendedoras / Startups in the context of financial capitalist organization and entrepreneurial subjectivities / Startups en el contexto de la organización capitalista financiera y subjetividades emprendedoras

As startups são empresas que apresentam modelos de negócios marcados pela inovação, rapidez, flexibilidade e alta capacidade de adaptação aos mercados. Atuando em diferentes setores socioeconômicos, elas prometem criar e transformar produtos e serviços. A emergência e disseminação dessas empresas ocorrem em um momento histórico de mudanças iniciadas a partir de 1970 e marcadas pelas crises geradas com o esgotamento do paradigma da sociedade urbano industrial. No Brasil, o número desse modelo de negócio apresentou uma expansão expressiva, alcançando a marca de 13.374 nos últimos cinco anos. Atento a esse cenário, o objetivo desta pesquisa consistiu em compreender como sujeitos, grupos e instituições atribuem sentidos à experiência de trabalho nas chamadas startups. Na parte teórica, as condições sociais e econômicas que possibilitaram a emergência e disseminação das startups são analisadas em uma perspectiva crítica. A parte empírica, por sua vez, apresenta depoimentos de empreendedores relatando o contexto geral de atuação nas startups. Ao final deste artigo, conclui-se que há uma instrumentalização capitalística de componentes subjetivos específicos selecionados e colocados em circulação para fortalecer o modo de produção capitalista financeirizado.(AU)

Startups are companies that have business models characterized by innovation, speed, flexibility, and a high capacity to adapt to markets. Operating in different socioeconomic sectors, they promise to create and transform products and services. The emergence and dissemination of these companies occur at a historical moment of changes that began from 1970 and are marked by the crises generated by the exhaustion of the paradigm of industrial urban society. In Brazil, the number of businesses in this model showed a significant expansion, reaching 13,374 companies in the last five years. Attentive to this scenario, the objective of this research was to understand how subjects, groups, and institutions attribute meanings to the work experience in so-called startups. In the theoretical part, the social and economic conditions that enabled the emergence and dissemination of startups are analyzed in a critical perspective. The empirical part presents entrepreneurs reporting the general context of action in startups. At the end of this article, it is concluded that there is a capitalistic instrumentalization of specific subjective components that are selected and put into circulation to strengthen the financed capitalist production.(AU)

Las startups son empresas que tienen modelos de negocio marcados por la innovación, la velocidad, la flexibilidad y una alta capacidad de adaptación a los mercados. Desde diferentes sectores socioeconómicos, las startups prometen crear y transformar productos y servicios. La aparición y difusión de estas empresas se produce en un momento histórico de cambios que comenzó a partir de 1970 y que está marcado por crisis generadas por el agotamiento del paradigma de la sociedad urbana industrial. En Brasil, estas empresas se expandieron significativamente alcanzando la marca de 13.374 empresas en los últimos cinco años. En este escenario, el objetivo de esta investigación fue entender cómo los sujetos, grupos e instituciones atribuyen significados a la experiencia laboral en las startups. En la parte teórica, se analizan las condiciones sociales y económicas que permitieron el surgimiento y la difusión de las startups en una perspectiva crítica. La parte empírica presenta testimonios de emprendedores que informan sobre el trabajo en startups. La investigación concluye que hay una instrumentalización capitalista de componentes subjetivos específicos que se seleccionan y ponen en circulación para fortalecer el modo de producción capitalista financiero.(AU)

Adaptação acadêmica em universitários / Academic adaptation in university students / Adaptación académica en estudiantes universitários

O objetivo do estudo foi investigar o impacto das variáveis habilidades sociais, resolução de problemas sociais, automonitoria, autoeficácia e coping na adaptação acadêmica em estudantes de instituições de ensino superior públicas e privadas. Participaram 637 estudantes de ambos os sexos, sendo 36,5% (115) homens de instituições públicas e 22,3% (72) de instituições privadas, com idade variando entre 18 e 38 anos (M=24,7; DP=6,3), de diferentes graduações. Foram utilizados o Inventário de Resolução de Problemas Sociais, o Inventário de Habilidades Sociais, a Escala de Automonitoria, a Escala de Autoeficácia Acadêmica de Estudantes do Ensino Superior, o Inventário de Estratégias de Coping e o Questionário de Vivências Acadêmicas-reduzido. A autoeficácia na gestão acadêmica (40,9%) e a autoafirmação na expressão de afeto positivo (13,7%) apresentaram maior impacto para os estudantes de instituições públicas e privadas, podendo contribuir com possíveis intervenções no processo de adaptação ao ensino superior. Pesquisas prospectivas podem investigar questões relacionadas a dados sociodemográficos.(AU)

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the variables Social Skills, Resolution of Social Problems, Self-monitoring, Self-efficacy and Coping on Academic Adaptation in students from public and private higher education institutions. 637 students of both sexes participated, being 36.5% (115) men from public institutions and 22.3% (72) from private institutions, aged between 18 to 38 years (M = 24.7; SD = 6.3), of different grades. The Social Problem Solving Inventory, the Social Skills Inventory, the Self-Monitring Scale, the Higher Education Students' Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Coping Strategies Inventory and the Academic Experiences-Reduced Questionnaire were used. Self-efficacy in Academic Management (40.9%) and Self-affirmation in the Expression of Positive Affection (13.7%) had a greater impact on students from public and private institutions, which may contribute to possible interventions in the process of adapting to Higher Education. Prospective research can investigate issues related to sociodemographic data.(AU)

El objetivo del estudio fue investigar el impacto de las variables Habilidades sociales, Resolución de problemas sociales, Autocontrol, Autoeficacia y Afrontamiento en la adaptación académica en estudiantes de instituciones de educación superior públicas y privadas. Participaron 637 estudiantes de ambos sexos, siendo 36,5% (115) hombres de instituciones públicas y 22,3% (72) de instituciones privadas, con edades entre 18 y 38 años (M = 24,7; SD = 6,3), de diferentes grados. Se utilizaron el Inventario de Resolución de Problemas Sociales, el Inventario de Habilidades Sociales, la Escala de Autocontrol, la Escala de Autoeficacia Académica de los Estudiantes de Educación Superior, el Inventario de Estrategias de Afrontamiento y el Cuestionario de Experiencias Académicas Reducidas. La Autoeficacia en la Gestión Académica (40,9%) y la Autoafirmación en la Expresión de Afecto Positivo (13,7%) tuvieron un mayor impacto en los estudiantes de instituciones públicas y privadas, lo que puede contribuir a posibles intervenciones en el proceso de adaptación a la Educación Superior. La investigación prospectiva puede investigar cuestiones relacionadas con los datos sociodemográficos.(AU)

Indicadores claves de desempeño y su aplicación en la gerencia estratégica de las empresas de salud / Key performance indicators and their application in the strategic management of healthcare companies

Introducción: La gerencia empresarial, a lo largo de la historia, se ha preocupado por alcanzar objetivos y metas mediante la utilización de estrategias con el fin de tratar de garantizar los réditos que le permitan seguir trabajando en el tiempo. El interés de lograr alcanzar la eficiencia empresarial ha sido clave para que los investigadores modernos hayan realizado importantes aportes a la epistemología de las ciencias administrativas. Surge entonces la pregunta en la mente de los administradores: ¿Es de importancia la aplicación de indicadores claves de desempeño en la gerencia estratégica de las empresas de salud? Los indicadores claves de desempeño, o KPIs por sus siglas en inglés, forman parte del conjunto de métricos que la administración moderna utiliza para saber si el negocio está logrando los objetivos y metas planteadas por la gerencia. El tablero de mando integral de Kaplan y Norton, desde su aparición en el año de 1992, ha sido también de gran valor para la gerencia estratégica empresarial. Objetivo: Presentar la importancia que tiene la utilización de los indicadores claves de desempeño al ser aplicados en la gerencia estratégica de las empresas de salud. Metodología: Basada en el paradigma cualitativo-descriptivo de investigación acción, el cual se sustentó en literatura científica publicada entre los años 2017 y 2021 apoyado en las plataformas Google Scholar y SciELO. Los criterios de inclusión fueron artículos y textos que abordaran los temas de: indicadores claves de desempeño, inteligencia de negocios, gerencia estratégica y tablero de mando integral. Resultado y Conclusiones: El continuo monitoreo del ambiente competitivo en el que la empresa está inmerso, permite la adaptación de los métricos de acuerdo con los cambios del entorno. En la medida en que los métricos permitan a la empresa volverse líquida, es decir, facilitar que se amolde a los cambios en el medioambiente económico, se facilitará la toma de decisiones de negocios eficaces y oportunas.

Introduction: Business management throughout history has been concerned with achieving objectives and goals, through the use of strategies in order to try to guarantee the revenues that allow it to continue operating over time. The interest in achieving business efficiency has been key for modern researchers to have made important contributions to the epistemology of administrative sciences. The question then arises in the minds of administrators: Is it important to apply key performance indicators in the strategic management of health companies? Key performance indicators, or KPIs for its acronym in English, are part of the set of metrics that modern management uses to know if the business is achieving the objectives and goals set by senior management. Kaplan and Norton's Balanced Scorecard, since its appearance in 1992, has also been of great value for strategic business management. Objective: To present the importance of the use of key performance indicators when applied in the strategic management of health companies Methodology: Based on the qualitative-descriptive and hermeneutical paradigm in the which was based on studies between 2017 and 2021 supported by the Google Scholar and SciELO platforms. The inclusion criteria were articles and texts that addressed the topics of: key performance indicators, business intelligence, strategic management and balanced scorecard. Results and Conclusions: The continuous monitoring of the competitive environment in which the company is immersed, allows the adaptation of the metrics according to changes in the environment. To the extent that the metrics allow the company to become liquid, that is, make it easier to adapt to changes in the economic environment, effective and timely business decision-making will be facilitated.

Fighting force and experience combine to determine contest success in a warlike mammal.

Conflicts between social groups or "intergroup contests" are proposed to play a major role in the evolution of cooperation and social organization in humans and some nonhuman animal societies. In humans, success in warfare and other collective conflicts depends on both fighting group size and the presence and actions of key individuals, such as leaders or talismanic warriors. Understanding the determinants of intergroup contest success in other warlike animals may help to reveal the role of these contests in social evolution. Using 19 y of data on intergroup encounters in a particularly violent social mammal, the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo), we show that two factors, the number of adult males and the age of the oldest male (the "senior" male), have the strongest impacts on the probability of group victory. The advantage conferred by senior males appears to stem from their fighting experience. However, the galvanizing effect of senior males declines as they grow old until, at very advanced ages, senior males become a liability rather than an asset and can be evicted. As in human conflict, strength in numbers and the experience of key individuals combine to determine intergroup contest success in this animal society. We discuss how selection arising from intergroup contests may explain a suite of features of individual life history and social organization, including male eviction, sex-assortative alloparental care, and adult sex ratio.

Evaluation of tourism competitiveness and mechanisms of spatial differentiation in Xinjiang, China.

Evaluation of tourism competitiveness is useful for measuring the level of regional tourism development. It is of great importance to understand the advantages and disadvantages of tourism development correctly and formulate corresponding development strategies. To investigate tourism competitiveness, this paper established an evaluation index system, including tourism development competitiveness, tourism resource competitiveness, and tourism-support competitiveness, for 14 prefectures and cities in Xinjiang in China. The characteristics and laws of spatial differentiation were analyzed. Factor analysis was applied to examine the spatial differentiation of regional tourism competitiveness. The results showed an obvious spatial differentiation in tourism competitiveness among the 14 prefectures and cities. In terms of development competitiveness, Yili and Urumqi constituted the spatial center, followed by Changji, Altay, and Ba Prefecture. As the provincial capital, Urumqi has political, economic, cultural, transportation, and geographic advantages, but its competitiveness is not prominent in terms of monopoly and efficiency. In terms of resource competitiveness, Yili is the core attraction, while Urumqi, Kashgar, Altay, and Ba Prefecture are dominant attractions. With respect to supporting competitiveness, Bo Prefecture has high value, followed by Urumqi City and Aksu. Hetian and Ke Prefecture have the lowest values. The comprehensive competitiveness of tourism is centered on Yili. Urumqi and Bo Prefecture are subcenters, and Changji, Altay, Ba Prefecture, Aksu, and Kashgar are characterized as multi-polar competition areas. Using the KMO and Bartlett's sphericity tests, the cumulative contribution variance of the eigenvalues of the eight factors extracted by the maximum variance rotation method was found to be 92.714%. Socio-economic conditions, tourism resources, infrastructure construction, regional cultural influence, ecological environment carrying capacity, tertiary industry development, tourism service level, and living security system are the main driving factors affecting the spatial differentiation of tourism competitiveness in Xinjiang. Analyzing the spatial evolution characteristics and the driving factors of the regional tourism competitiveness in Xinjiang, this paper seeks to promote the optimal allocation of tourism production factors in the macro regional system, and provide theoretical guidance and an empirical basis for the comprehensive and harmonic development of regional tourism.

Resource competition and technological diversity.

The work develops and investigates a mathematical model for evolution of the technological structure of an economic system where different technologies compete for the common essential resources. The model is represented by a system of consumer-resource rate equations. Consumers are technologies formalized as populations of weakly differentiated firms producing a similar commodity with like average output. Firms are characterized by the Leontief-Liebig production function in stock-flow representation. Firms self-replicate with a rate proportional to production output of the respective technology and dissolve with a constant rate of decay. The resources are supplied to the system from outside and consumed by concerned technologies; the unutilized resource amounts are removed elsewhere. The inverse of a per firm break-even resource availability is proposed to serve as a measure for competitiveness towards a given resource. The necessary conditions for coexistence of different technologies are derived, according to which each contender must be a superior competitor for one specific resource and an inferior competitor for the others. The model yields a version of the principle of competitive exclusion: in a steady state, the number of competing technologies cannot exceed the number of limiting resources. Competitive outcomes (either dominance or coexistence) in the general system of multiple technologies feeding on multiple essential resources are shown to be predictable from knowledge of the resource-dependent consumption and growth rates of each technological population taken alone. The proposed model of exploitative competition with explicit resource dynamics enables more profound insight into the patterns of technological change as opposed to conventional mainstream models of innovation diffusion.

Fitness costs of female choosiness are low in a socially monogamous songbird.

Female mate choice is thought to be responsible for the evolution of many extravagant male ornaments and displays, but the costs of being too selective may hinder the evolution of choosiness. Selection against choosiness may be particularly strong in socially monogamous mating systems, because females may end up without a partner and forego reproduction, especially when many females prefer the same few partners (frequency-dependent selection). Here, we quantify the fitness costs of having mating preferences that are difficult to satisfy, by manipulating the availability of preferred males. We capitalize on the recent discovery that female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) prefer males of familiar song dialect. We measured female fitness in captive breeding colonies in which one-third of females were given ample opportunity to choose a mate of their preferred dialect (two-thirds of all males; "relaxed competition"), while two-thirds of the females had to compete over a limited pool of mates they preferred (one-third of all males; "high competition"). As expected, social pairings were strongly assortative with regard to song dialect. In the high-competition group, 26% of the females remained unpaired, yet they still obtained relatively high fitness by using brood parasitism as an alternative reproductive tactic. Another 31% of high-competition females paired disassortatively for song dialect. These females showed increased levels of extra-pair paternity, mostly with same-dialect males as sires, suggesting that preferences were not abolished after social pairing. However, females that paired disassortatively for song dialect did not have lower reproductive success. Overall, females in the high-competition group reached equal fitness to those that experienced relaxed competition. Our study suggests that alternative reproductive tactics such as egg dumping can help overcome the frequency-dependent costs of being selective in a monogamous mating system, thereby facilitating the evolution of female choosiness.

Development of a video analysis protocol and assessment of fall characteristics in equestrian cross-country eventing.

Cross-country eventing is one of the highest-risk sporting activities for serious injury outcomes. This study investigated relationships between fall characteristics and high-risk falls at jumps in cross-country eventing. A video analysis protocol was systematically developed to analyze 87 video recordings of high-risk rider falls; defined as when the rider's head impacted the ground and/or where there was potential horse impact with the rider. Falls were classified according to competition type, jump type, horse-related, and rider-related factors. At least one high-risk fall characteristic was observed in 45 of 87 examined falls. Multivariable best subsets regression identified five independent variables explaining 38.4% of the variance in the number of high-risk falls. Increased likelihood of high-risk falls was associated with continuation of horse direction or speed upon rider ground impact, higher jump approach speed, changes in rider body posture upon landing, rider air jacket usage, and reduced rider fall time. The Eventing Fall Assessment Instrument (EFAI) video analysis protocol (attached as supplementary material) facilitated systematic examination of multiple characteristics associated with high-risk falls and identified likely influential characteristics. Based on EFAI and subsequent data analyses, findings suggest optimized approach speed for correct striding and take-off; jump design to enable run-out; and rider training could help reduce the occurrence of high-risk falls. Air jacket usage and their design characteristics warrant further investigation.

Age-related differences in strategic competition.

Understanding how people of different ages decide in competition is a question of theoretical and practical importance. Using an experimental laboratory approach, this research investigates the ability of younger and older adults to think and act strategically with equal or unequal resources. In zero-sum games of resource allocation, younger adults (19-35 years) and older adults (65-81 years) made strategic decisions in competition against opponents of a similar age (Study 1; N = 120) or different age (Study 2; N = 120). The findings highlight people's ability to make good interpersonal decisions in complex scenarios: Both younger and older adults were aware of their relative strength (in terms of material resources) and allocated their resources adaptively. When competing against opponents of a similar age, people's gains were in line with game-theoretic predictions. However, younger adults made superior strategic allocations and won more frequently when competing against older adults. Measures of fluid cognitive and numerical abilities correlated with strategic behavior in interpersonal competition.

Sex Differences in Neuromuscular Fatigue and Changes in Cost of Running after Mountain Trail Races of Various Distances.

INTRODUCTION: Women have been shown to experience less neuromuscular fatigue than men in knee extensors (KE) and less peripheral fatigue in plantar flexors (PF) after ultratrail running, but it is unknown if these differences exist for shorter trail running races and whether this may impact running economy. The purpose of this study was to characterize sex differences in fatigability over a range of running distances and to examine possible differences in the postrace alteration of the cost of running (Cr). METHODS: Eighteen pairs of men and women were matched by performance after completing different races ranging from 40 to 171 km, divided into SHORT versus LONG races (<60 and >100 km, respectively). Neuromuscular function and Cr were tested before and after each race. Neuromuscular function was evaluated on both KE and PF with voluntary and evoked contractions using electrical nerve (KE and PF) and transcranial magnetic (KE) stimulation. Oxygen uptake, respiratory exchange ratio, and ventilation were measured on a treadmill and used to calculate Cr. RESULTS: Compared with men, women displayed a smaller decrease in maximal strength in KE (-36% vs -27%, respectively, P < 0.01), independent of race distance. In SHORT only, women displayed less peripheral fatigue in PF compared with men (Δ peak twitch: -10% vs -24%, respectively, P < 0.05). Cr increased similarly in men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Women experience less neuromuscular fatigue than men after both "classic" and "extreme" prolonged running exercises but this does not impact the degradation of the energy Cr.

An assessment of physical and spatiotemporal behaviour during different phases of match play in professional Australian football.

Despite advancements in the scale of data available for quantifying the physical and spatiotemporal characteristics of match play, there is an absence of research combining these aspects in professional sport. This study sought to differentiate between phases of play in professional Australian football using novel physical and spatiotemporal metrics. Data was obtained from Australian Football League games to provide new insight into the specific characteristics of each phase of play. A retrospective cross-sectional design was utilised with team's physical and spatiotemporal variables, measured via global navigation satellite system devices. A multinomial logistic regression was conducted to determine which physical and spatiotemporal measures were associated with each phase of play (contested play, defence, offence, set shot, goal reset, umpire stoppage). The addition of the predictors to a model that contained only the intercept significantly improved the fit between the model and data, with the logistic model correctly predicting the phase of play for 63.7% of the cases. This was the first study to concurrently examine differences in physical and spatiotemporal characteristics with respect to phase of play in an Australian football context. Differences in duration, physical and spatiotemporal properties were observed, providing new insight for coaches and subsequently providing direction for conditioning and practice design.