Effect of contact and no-contact small-sided games on elite handball players

This study aimed to investigate the effect of contact (C-SSG) and no-contact (NC-SSG) handball small-sided games (SSGs) on motion patterns and physiological responses of elite handball players. Twelve male handball players performed 10 C-SSG and 10 NC-SSG while being monitored through the heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) as physiological responses and time-motion activities profile using video-match analysis. Both game conditions resulted in similar HR responses (P > 0.05), but the NC-SSG led to a higher RPE scores. The time-motion activity analysis featured NC-SSG with a greater amount of walking (855.6 ± 25.1 vs. 690.6 ± 35.2 m) and backward movements (187.5 ± 12.3 vs. 142.5 ± 8.7 m) combined with fast running (232.3 ± 8.5 vs. 159.7 ± 5.7 m) and sprinting (79.5 ± 4.7 vs. 39.7 ± 3.7 m) activities (P < 0.001). Conversely, C-SSG had a higher percentage of jogging and sideway movements associated with greater frequency of jumping (0.87 ± 0.09 vs. 0.31 ± 0.06 nr) and physical contact (1.82 ± 0.55 vs. 0.25 ± 0.03 nr) events (P < 0.001). No between-regimen differences were found for the number of throws (P = 0.745). In addition, the RPE was significantly correlated with fast running relative distances (r = 0.909, P < 0.001) and sprinting relative distances (r = 0.939, P < 0.001). In conclusion, this investigation showed that both C-SSG and NC-SSG in team handball can effectively represent specifically oriented exercises, according to the sport-task and the performance demands.     

Long pentraxin 3 as a marker of COVID-19 severity: evidences and perspectives

IntroductionSeveral laboratory tests are characteristically altered in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), but are not totally accurate in predicting the disease outcome. The long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is quickly released directly at inflammation sites by many immune cell types. Previous studies have shown that PTX3 correlated with disease severity in various inflammatory conditions. Our study investigated the use of PTX3 as a potential marker of COVID-19 severity and compared its performance in detecting a more severe form of the disease with that of routine laboratory parameters.Materials and methodsStored serum samples of RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 cases that had been obtained at hospital admission were retrospectively analysed. Intensive care unit (ICU) stay was considered a surrogate endpoint of severe COVID-19. Pentraxin 3 was measured by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsA total of 96 patients were recruited from May 1st, 2020 to June 30th, 2020; 75/96 were transferred to ICU. Pentraxin 3 was higher in ICU vs non-ICU patients (35.86 vs 10.61 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models demonstrated that the only significant laboratory predictor of ICU stay was PTX3 (OR: 1.68 (1.19-2.29), P = 0.003), after controlling for comorbidities. The Receiver Operator Characteristic curve analysis showed that PTX3 had a higher accuracy compared to C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), ferritin in identifying ICU patients (AUC of PTX3 = 0.98; CRP = 0.66; LD = 0.70; ferritin = 0.67, P < 0.001). A cut-off of PTX3 > 18 ng/mL yielded a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 100% in identifying patients requiring ICU.ConclusionHigh values of PTX3 predict a more severe COVID-19.     

Linguistic kernels for answer re-ranking in question answering systems

Answer selection is the most complex phase of a question answering (QA) system. To solve this task, typical approaches use unsupervised methods such as computing the similarity between query and answer, optionally exploiting advanced syntactic, semantic or logic representations.     

Teachers’ Emotional Competence and Social Support: Assessing the Mediating Role of Teacher Burnout

This study explored the relationships among teachers’ emotional competence, burnout as a mediator, and social support. Teachers’ emotional competence was assessed via measures of emotional intensity and emotional regulation. Social support was evaluated in terms of external versus internal support, and teacher dissatisfaction with support received. Participants were 149 Italian primary school teachers. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling. The findings suggested that teacher burnout partially mediated the relationship between emotional intensity and satisfaction with social support received. Overall, the results showed that teachers were at risk of highly intense unpleasant emotions in relation to their burnout syndrome. Moreover, teachers’ satisfaction/dissatisfaction with social support received was predicted by burnout symptoms. These results extend the findings of earlier studies, and provide indications as to how to help teachers experiencing burnout.     

Flow biosensing and sampling in indirect electrochemical detection

Miniaturization in biological analyses has several advantages, such as sample volume reduction and fast response time. The integration of miniaturized biosensors within lab-on-a-chip setups under flow conditions is highly desirable, not only because it simplifies process handling but also because measurements become more robust and operator-independent. In this work, we study the integration of flow amperometric biosensors within a microfluidic platform when analyte concentration is indirectly measured. As a case study, we used a platinum miniaturized glucose biosensor, where glucose is enzymatically converted to [Formula: see text] that is oxidized at the electrode. The experimental results produced are strongly coupled to a theoretical analysis of fluid dynamic conditions affecting the electrochemical response of the sensor. We verified that the choice of the inlet flow rate is a critical parameter in flow biosensors, because it affects both glucose and [Formula: see text] transport, to and from the electrode. We identify optimal flow rate conditions for accurate sensing at high time resolution. A dimensionless theoretical analysis allows the extension of the results to other sensing systems according to fluid dynamic similarity principles. Furthermore, we developed a microfluidic design that connects a sampling unit to the biosensor, in order to decouple the sampling flow rate from that of the actual measurement.     

Preferential text classification: learning algorithms and evaluation measures

In many applicative contexts in which textual documents are labelled with thematic categories, a distinction is made between the primary categories of a document, which represent the topics that are central to it, and its secondary categories, which represent topics that the document only touches upon. We contend that this distinction, so far neglected in text categorization research, is important and deserves to be explicitly tackled. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we propose an evaluation measure for this preferential text categorization task, whereby different kinds of misclassifications involving either primary or secondary categories have a different impact on effectiveness. Second, we establish several baseline results for this task on a well-known benchmark for patent classification in which the distinction between primary and secondary categories is present; these results are obtained by reformulating the preferential text categorization task in terms of well established classification problems, such as single and/or multi-label multiclass classification; state-of-the-art learning technology such as SVMs and kernel-based methods are used. Third, we improve on these results by using a recently proposed class of algorithms explicitly devised for learning from training data expressed in preferential form, i.e., in the form “for document d _i , category c′ is preferred to category c′′”; this allows us to distinguish between primary and secondary categories not only in the classification phase but also in the learning phase, thus differentiating their impact on the classifiers to be generated.     

Quest for accountability: exploring the evaluation process of universities

The article explores the organisational impact of evaluation and control mechanisms on universities from the point of view of accountability. Three case studies are analysed with the aim of understanding the significance of these systems both at corporate governance level and in relation to their influence on the behaviour of the academic staff. Open-ended, in-depth interviews were conducted in three universities from two countries in order to collect the opinions of the top managers and academics with different roles and seniority. The combination of four different but partially overlapping analytical frameworks (new public management, neo-institutional sociology, organisational control theory and sense-making) has supported the analysis and the interpretation of the empirical material collected. The analysis sheds light on a somewhat neglected aspect: the interdependence among various systems and tools that simultaneously operate in an organisation and inevitably combine to influence the behaviour of its employees. On this basis indications are given in order to facilitate the introduction and the management of more appropriate evaluation mechanisms both at the national system and the organisational level.     

Energy cost and kinematics of level,uphill and downhill running: fatigue-induced changes after a mountain ultramarathon

This study aimed to determine whether the fatigue induced by a mountain ultramarathon (MUM) led to changes in energy cost and kinematic during level and graded running. Pre- and post-race, 14 ultratrail runners ran on a level, uphill (5%) and downhill (5%) treadmill at 10 km · h^?1. Kinematic data were acquired using a photocell system. Post-race, the downhill energy cost increased by 13.1% (P < 0.001). No change was noted in level and uphill running. Duty factor and stride frequency were increased, whereas swing time, cycle time and stride length were decreased in all conditions (P < 0.05). Contact time was increased and the rate of force generation was decreased only in the uphill and downhill conditions (P < 0.05). Positive correlations were observed between performance time and the pre- to post-changes in the energy cost of level (r = 0.52, P = 0.04) and uphill running (r = 0.50, P = 0.04). MUM-induced fatigue resulted in physiological and spatiotemporal changes, though the response to fatigue varied considerably between running conditions. These changes resulted in a significant increment only in the downhill energy cost. Incorporating downhill locomotion in the training programmes of ultratrailers may help to improve performance-related physiological and biomechanical parameters.