Effect of 8-Week ß-Alanine Supplementation on CRP, IL-6, Body Composition, and Bio-Motor Abilities in Elite Male Basketball Players.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of 8-week ß-alanine supplementation on C-Reactive Protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), body composition, and bio-motor abilities in elite male basketball players. Twenty male basketball players (age: 23 + 0.6 years; body mass: 78.3 + 4.8 kg; height:185.3 + 5.4 cm, %BF, 15.2 ± 4.8) volunteered to participate in this study. They were divided into a ß-alanine group (BG, N = 10) and a placebo group (PG, N = 10). All players were preparing for university competitions and had played for over five years. Players used 6.4 g/d of ß-alanine in BG and maltodextrin in PG. The participants were involved in regular basketball training three months before the study. CRP, IL-6, body composition parameters, and bio-motor abilities were measured before starting the exercises and after completing the eight-week training period. The research findings showed a significant decrease in CRP and IL-6 and an increase in anaerobic peak power between the pre-test and post-test, as well as between BG and PG groups (p < 0.05). Although the other measured factors were a relative improvement compared to the pre-test and also compared to PG, these changes were not statistically significant (p < 0.05). Eight weeks of ß-alanine supplementation ameliorated increases in IL-6 and CRP associated with in-season physical stressors in collegiate basketball players. These changes in pro-inflammatory cytokines suggest that ß-alanine supplementation may be a useful nutritional strategy for immune regulation and can also improve anaerobic performance compared to PG.

Post-Lockdown Effects on Students' Mental Health in Romania: Perceived Stress, Missing Daily Social Interactions, and Boredom Proneness.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide was accompanied by intense fears, confusion, worries, anger, and stress threatening people's mental health. Unprecedented measures to slow down and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 have had various impacts on the population's health behaviour and mental health. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the lockdown's effects on university students' mental health in Romania. Based on a cross-sectional design, the survey data were collected from a sample of 722 participants (247 males; M = 21.1 years; SD ± 1.73). A path analysis was performed to verify the hypothesised direct and indirect effects included in the multiple mediation model. The findings showed a positive association between stress and boredom proneness, missing daily social interactions, spending more time on phone conversations, and the increasing interest in following news about the pandemic. The path analysis revealed an excellent fit between the proposed multiple mediation model and the sample data. Boredom proneness and missing daily social interactions both affected stress, directly and indirectly, through more time spent on phone conversations. In addition, it was found that the increased interest in following news about the pandemic mediated the relationship between boredom proneness and perceived stress. In terms of gender differences, our findings revealed that female students experienced significantly higher stress levels than male students, perceived to a greater extent the lack of daily social interactions, and spent more time on phone conversations. Overall, the findings further extend the empirical evidence on university students' mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, universities need to organise support programmes focused on developing university students' coping strategies to maintain their mental health even in adverse contexts.

Modelling Potential Geographical Access of the Population to Public Hospitals and Quality Health Care in Romania.

The geographical accessibility to hospitals relies on the configuration of the hospital network, spatial impedance and population distribution. This paper explores the potential geographic accessibility of the population to public hospitals in Romania by using the Distance Application Program Interface (API) Matrix service from Google Maps and open data sources. Based on real-time traffic navigation data, we examined the potential accessibility of hospitals through a weighted model that took into account the hospital competency level and travel time while using personal car transportation mode. Two scenarios were generated that depend on hospitals' level of competency (I-V). When considering all categories of hospitals, access is relatively good with over 80% of the population reaching hospitals in less than 30 min. This is much lower in the case of hospitals that provide complex care, with 34% of the population travelling between 90 to 120 min to the nearest hospital classed in the first or second category of competence. The index of spatial accessibility (ISA), calculated as a function of real travel time and level of competency of the hospitals, shows spatial patterns of services access that highlight regional disparities or critical areas. The high concentration of infrastructure and specialised medical personnel in particular regions and large cities limits the access of a large part of the population to quality health services with travel time and distances exceeding optimal European level values. The results can help decision-makers to optimise the location of health services and improve health care delivery.