Physiological responses according to rules changes during 3 vs. 3 small-sided games in youth soccer players: stop-ball vs. small-goals rules

Abstract

Small-sided games (SSGs) are effective for soccer-specific aerobic endurance training. To date, no study has investigated the effect of stop-ball (SB-SSG) rule on the physiological responses to SSG. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of SB-SSG vs. small-goals (SG-SSG) rules on physiological responses during a 3 vs. 3 SSG in young soccer players. Twelve male amateur young soccer players (age, 14.0 ± 0.7 years; body mass, 51.8 ± 8.0 kg; height, 164 ± 7 cm) randomly performed either SB-SSG or SG-SSG for 4 × 4 min separated by 2 min of recovery on a 20 × 15 m pitch. During the SB-SSG, participants were instructed to stop the ball with the soles of their boots in a 15 × 1 m surface behind the pitch bottom line; whereas during the SG-SSG, the participants were instructed to score to a mini-goal (i.e., 1 × 0.5 m). During each test session, the mean heart rate (HR), the post-SSG rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scores and blood lactate concentrations ([La^?]) were recorded. Results showed that SB-SSG induced significantly higher mean HR (178 ± 3 vs. 174 ± 3 bpm; P < 0.05) and [La^?] (4.66 ± 0.98 vs. 4.16 ± 1.02 mol · L^–1; P < 0.05) than SG-SSG. However, there was no significant difference between SB-SSG and SG-SSG for the RPE scores. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates the effectiveness of SB-SSG in SSG training. Indeed, SB-SSG can influence the effort intensity in SSG (i.e., resulted in a higher intensity than SG-SSG). Therefore, coaches have the possibility to choose between SB-SSG and SG-SSG rules during training sessions according to their physical and technical objectives.     

Pengajaran Mengarang

Penguasaan bahasa seakan-akan tidak memerlukan usaha sama sekali. Pendapat ini kuranglah benar. Hal yang sebenarnya ialah, bahawa setelah bertahun-tahun dengan latihan yang tidak jemujemu dan kesalahan yang dibetulkan berulang-ulang secara eksplisit dan implisit barulah akhimya kanakkanak itu dapat menyesuaikan bahasa orang dewasa. Kepada manusia pula pada umumnya penguasaan bahasa itu merupakan suatu prestasi yang luarbiasa selama hidupnya.     

Iranians’ contribution to world literature on neuroscience

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyse Iranian scientific publications in the neuroscience subfields by librarians and neuroscientists, using Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) via Web of Science data over the period, 2002–2008. Methods: Data were retrieved from the SCIE. Data were collected from the ‘subject area’ of the database and classified by neuroscience experts into 14 subfields. To identify the citation patterns, we applied the ‘impact factor’ and the ‘number of publication’. Data were also analysed using HISTCITE, Excel 2007 and SPSS. Results: Seven hundred and thirty‐four papers have been published by Iranian between 2002 and 2008. Findings showed a growing trend of neuroscience papers in the last 3 years with most papers (264) classified in the neuropharmacology subfield. There were fewer papers in neurohistory, psychopharmacology and artificial intelligence. International contributions of authors were mostly in the neurology subfield, and ‘Collaboration Coefficient’ for the neuroscience subfields in Iran was 0.686 which is acceptable. Most international collaboration between Iranians and developed countries was from USA. Eighty‐seven percent of the published papers were in journals with the impact factor between 0 and 4; 25% of papers were published by the researchers affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Conclusion: Progress of neuroscience in Iran is mostly seen in the neuropharmacology and the neurology subfields. Other subfields should also be considered as a research priority by health policymakers. As this study was carried out by the collaboration of librarians and neuroscientists, it has been proved valuable for both librarians and policymakers. This study may be encouraging for librarians from other developing countries.     

A “research” into international student-related research: (Re)Visualising our stand?

This paper uses Tight (High Educ Res Dev 23(4):395–411, 2004; High Educ Res Dev 31(5):723–740, 2012; High Educ Res Dev 32(1):136–151, 2013)’s journal analysis and review framework to review a sample of 497 journal articles on researches concerning international students over the past 30 years. It was found that a majority of the articles focus on the students’ in-campus, academic and social experience. Even with different conceptualisation of the terms “international student” and “international student mobility”, international students undergo similar challenges throughout their sojourn duration, and much of the responsibilities in managing international students fall on universities and respective faculty members within the institutions. It might seem as if we are going in circles in terms of the issues and concerns in managing international students, but the silver lining out of this observation is the increased ethnical awareness among countries and higher education institutions in hosting and safeguarding the students throughout their international higher education experience, albeit rather slowly. The analysis brings to attention how much have we achieved in internationalisation of higher education in general and international student-related research in particular, and the potential for greater expansion and focus on managing the student population within a comprehensive “life cycle” approach.     

Morphological and biochemical responses of Oryza sativa L. (cultivar MR219) to ion beam irradiation

Objective

Heavy ion beam, which has emerged as a new mutagen in the mutation breeding of crops and ornamental plants, is expected to result in the induction of novel mutations. This study investigates the morphological and biochemical responses of Oryza sativa toward different doses of carbon ion beam irradiation.

Methods

In this study, the dry seeds of O. sativa were irradiated at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 Gy, followed by in-vitro germination under controlled conditions. Morphological and biochemical studies were conducted to investigate the morphological and physiological responses of O. sativa towards ion beam irradiation.

Results

The study demonstrated that low doses (10 Gy) of ion beam have a stimulating effect on the height, root length, and fresh weight of the plantlets but not on the number of leaves. Meanwhile, doses higher than 10 Gy caused reductions in all the morphological parameters studied as compared to the control samples. The highest total soluble protein content [(2.11±0.47) mg/g FW] was observed in plantlets irradiated at 20 Gy. All irradiated plantlets were found to have 0.85% to 58.32% higher specific activity of peroxidase as compared to the control samples. The present study also revealed that low doses of ion beam (10 and 20 Gy) had negligible effect on the total chlorophyll content of O. sativa plantlets while 40 Gy had a stimulating effect on the chlorophyll content. Plantlets irradiated between 40 to 120 Gy were shown to be 0.38% to 9.98% higher in total soluble nitrogen content which, however, was not significantly different from the control samples.

Conclusions

Carbon ion beam irradiation administered at low to moderate doses of 10 to 40 Gy may induce O. sativa mutants with superior characteristics.     

Measuring Effectiveness and Efficiency of an Academic Library's Collection and Services of the Central Library,Allahabad University: Users’ Point of View

The main purpose of this study is to know the users opinion regarding the adequacy of the library's collection and to analyze the level of users’ satisfaction about the library collection, organization, facilities, and services. A well-structured survey was administered to the faculty members, research scholars, and students of the Allahabad University Library to collect data. Data show that the majority of the respondents believess that not only does the library possess an average collection, but the overall library's function, i.e., library collection, organization of collection, attitude of library staff, services, and IT-based services, is also rated average.     

Distractions in the School Science Laboratory

In this article, I make a case for the potential educative worth of distractions for learning science in the school laboratory. Distractions are operationalized as experiences lying outside the main purpose of the laboratory activity, thereby diverting students’ attention from that purpose. Through a practical epistemology analysis, I examined in close detail the conversations of three groups of high school students trying to explain how a real galvanic cell works. The three groups experienced the same two distractions, (1) a nonworking light-emitting diode and (2) negative readings on a voltmeter. The analysis reveals how one of the groups, through a series of contingencies, successively made the two distractions continuous with the main purpose of the activity. In the remaining two groups, no such continuity was established. The results show that (a) experiences initially being distracting, perplexing, and confusing may indeed acquire significance for the students’ possibilities of coping with the main purpose of the activity but that (b) the outcome is highly contingent on the particular experiences drawn upon by the students to cope with the distractions. Consequently, I discuss ways in which teachers may turn distractions encountered in laboratory activities into educative experiences for more than a few lucky students.     

Teacher-student development in mathematics classrooms: Interrelated zones of free movement and promoted actions

This paper applies and extends Valsiner’s ‘zone theory’ (zones of free movement and promoted actions) through an examination of an intervention to establish inquiry communities in primary mathematics classrooms. Valsiner’s zone theory, in a classroom setting, views students’ freedom of choice of action and thought as mediated by the teacher. The extension of this theory adds that teachers’ freedom of choice of action and thought is mediated by ‘significant others’ and also by the actions of students with new freedoms. The paper presents necessary theoretical constructs and provides extracts from lessons and from teacher-teacher collaboration to illustrate the theoretical extension.