Motor Skills in Hearing Impaired Children with or without Cochlear Implant--A Systematic Review.

Hearing impairment is a major limitation in communication, and it can obstruct psychological development, development of social skills and motor development. Hearing impairment is the third most common contemporary chronic health condition, and it has become a public health problem. The effectiveness of problem solving in everyday life and in emergency situations depends greatly on the amount and quality of the motor programs. Therefore, it is evident that the normal motor development in persons with hearing impairment is essential for everyday life. The aim of this research is to analyze the available information pertaining to motor skills of hearing impaired children both with and without a cochlear implant (CI) and to analyze possibilities of influencing their motor skills. The relevant studies on motor skills of hearing impaired children both with and without CI were obtained by an extensive computer search of various databases using special keywords and extraction with respect to certain criteria, resulting in 22 studies. The overall results of this systematic review indicate that the children with hearing impairment exhibit suboptimal levels of motor skills especially balance. Very few studies compared children with hearing impairment with CI units and without CI units and the results of those studies are quite contradictory. Numerous studies have confirmed that the regular and appropriate physical exercise can improve motor skills of children with hearing impairment, especially balance. The fact that the development of motor skills is crucial for the child's interaction with the outside world, action, perception and acquisition of academic skills and other skills necessary for life shows the importance of motor skills development for children with hearing impairment.

Technical and Tactical Aspects that Differentiate Winning and Losing Performances in Elite Male Karate Fighters.

The purpose of this research was to identify the fighters' technical and tactical activity indicators in order to determine indicator significance regarding situational efficiency and designation between winning and losing performances in a karate match. We scientifically observed a sample of 274 male contesters of 137 karate matches during the 2008 World Karate Championship in Tokyo. Each individual competitor was observed in maximum of three matches. The matches were recorded using a DVD camera in order to collect data for further analysis, and the sample was further described using 48 technical and tactical indicators of situational efficiency and match outcome variables. The obtained results indicate that a karate match is composed of 91% of non-scoring techniques and 9% of scoring techniques in the total technique frequency. On this basis a significant difference in the situational efficiency between the match winners and the losing contesters has been discovered. Those two groups of fighters exhibit a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in 11 out of 21 observed variables of situational efficiency in the table of derived situational indicators. A prevalence of non-scoring techniques suggests that energy demand and technical and tactical requirements of a karate match are in the largest extent defined by non-scoring techniques. Therefore, it would be a grave mistake to disregard non-scoring karate techniques in any future situational efficiency studies. It has been discovered that the winners differ from the defeated contesters by a higher level of situational efficiency in their executed techniques, which incorporate versatility, biomechanical and structural complexity, topological diversity and a specific tactical concept of technique use in the attack phase.

Effects of Different Multi-Year Physical Exercise Programs on Motor Skills in Preschool Children.

Acquiring optimal motor skills in preschool children presents a key element for proper psychomotor development. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine gender differences and the effects of a multi-year exercise program on the level of motor skills in 161 preschool children (5-6 yo). Participants were divided into one control and three experimental groups. Motor skills were assessed with the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2). To determine the difference in scores for each BOT-2 test between control and experimental groups, one-way ANOVA was used for girls and boys separately, while two-way ANOVA was used to determine the difference between the genders in the overall BOT-2 score. The results indicate that a 1-year multilateral exercise program has a positive effect on the level of motor skills in preschool children. Interestingly, additional years of participation in exercise programs yielded the maintenance of acquired motor skills level. Additionally, the exercise program affected preschool girls more than boys considering both individual and composite BOT-2 scores. According to the findings of this study, the presented exercise program could have potential benefits on multilateral development of the motor skills in preschool children, which could facilitate the balance of locomotor and manipulative skills. Therefore, the integration of multilateral programs intended for preschool children could be considered for implementation within the kindergarten curriculum.

Women in sports: the applicability of common national reference intervals for inflammatory and coagulation biomarkers (HemSter Study).

INTRODUCTION: Intensive physical activity causes functional and metabolic changes in the athlete's organism. The study aimed to verify the common national available reference intervals (RIs) for common inflammatory and screening coagulation tests in a population of healthy young female athletes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty-one female athletes (age range: 16-34), from various sports disciplines (water polo, handball, volleyball, football, basketball), were included in the study. All participants completed the international physical activity short-form questionnaire. Blood samples were collected between 8-10 am, after an overnight fast, before any physical activity. Reference intervals were determined according to Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute EP28-A3C Guidelines. RESULTS: Calculated RIs for white blood cell count (WBC), prothrombin time (PT), and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) ratio were in accordance with the common national RIs. Calculated RI for C-reactive protein (CRP) was lower (< 2.9 mg/L) than the proposed cut-off for a healthy population (< 5.0 mg/L). Reference interval for fibrinogen was higher (1.9-4.4 g/L), than the available RIs (1.8-3.5 g/L). D-dimer cut-off value was set at 852 µg/L fibrinogen equivalent units (FEU), higher than the proposed 500 µg/L FEU for venous thromboembolism (VTE) exclusion. CONCLUSIONS: The applicability of the available RIs for WBC count, PT, and APTT-ratio was confirmed. However, RIs for CRP and fibrinogen differed significantly than the available common national RIs for the healthy non-athletes' population. A higher cut-off for D-dimers should be extensively verified before implementation for VTE diagnosis exclusion in a group of healthy young female athletes.

Women in sports: The applicability of reference intervals for 6 commercially available testosterone immunoassays (HemSter Study).

BACKGROUND: Testosterone levels in female athletes are increased due to their physical activity and correlate with their exercise volume. We therefore hypothesized that the reference intervals (RIs) derived from the general population are not applicable for female athletes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the given RIs for 6 commercially available testosterone immunoassays in a group of female athletes. METHODS: Our study included 121 female athletes from various sporting disciplines (water polo, handball, volleyball, football, and basketball). The physical activity score was assessed by the Short Form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Total testosterone was measured in serum samples by the reference LC-MS/MS method and six different immunoassays (Abbott Architect 2nd Generation Testosterone, Beckman Coulter Access Testosterone, Roche Elecsys Testosterone II, Siemens Atellica® IM Testosterone II (TSTII), Siemens IMMULITE 2000 Total Testosterone, and Snibe MAGLUMI™ Testosterone). RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in age (P = 0.042), weight (P = 0.001), height (P < 0.001), and BMI (P < 0.001) between athletes across different sports. Their quantitative measurements of physical activity and testosterone concentration did not differ significantly between subgroups of various sports, P = 0.167 and P = 0.181, respectively. All immunoassays had a positive absolute and relative bias, in comparison with the LC-MS/MS. The manufacturer's RI was not verified for Abbott Architect, Beckman Coulter Access, and Roche Elecsys Testosterone methods, with the highest percentage of athletes above RI for Beckman Coulter (30%). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that the upper reference limit provided was too low for some young female athletes. Clinical laboratories should consider implementation of the new proposed RIs.