Coronavirus disease(COVID-19):The need to maintain regular physical activity while taking precautions

The on-going Coronavirus disease(COVID-19)outbreak in China has become the world's leading health headline and is causing major panic and public concerns.On January 30,2020,the World Health Organization(WHO)declared that the new coronavirus outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern.1 The virus has already had a direct impact on more than 10 million people in the city of Wuhan and has reached other parts of China as well,posing a health threat of unknown magnitude globally.As of February 8,2020,WHO reported 34,886 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally,with 34,589 of them occurring in China(including 6101 severe cases and 723 deaths).A total of 288 other confirmed cases(with 1 death)have been reported in 24 countries,including Japan,Australia,Germany,and United States.2 However,these daily estimates are expected to rise even higher as reports from health authorities in China3 are gathered and near real-time updates of the Johns Hopkins virus dashboard are made 4 The outbreak has caused governments in various countries to take swift and protective measures.In China,these included putting cities on lockdown,5 implementing travel wamings/bans and cancellations,6 extending national holidays,and closing schools and postponing classes7.     

The relationship between adaptive behavior and intelligence for special needs students

This study employed the technique of factor analysis to study the relationship between social system adaptive behavior, as measured by the Adaptive Behavior Inventory for Children, and intelligence, as measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, in a sample of 100 special needs students, ages 6–11. The results clearly supported the existence of two distinct factors among the WISC-R and ABIC subscales, with each factor composed primarily of either intelligence or adaptive behavior subscales. Thus, the data supported the discriminant validity of the two measures. Implications for the evaluation of special needs students are discussed.     

The effect of beetroot juice supplementation on repeat-sprint performance in hypoxia

This investigation assessed the effect of dietary nitrate (NO₃^?) supplementation, in the form of beetroot juice (BR), on repeat-sprint performance in normoxia and normobaric hypoxia. 12 male team-sport athletes (age 22.3 ± 2.6 y, VO_2peak 53.1 ± 8.7 mL.kg^?1.min^?1) completed three exercise trials involving a 10 min submaximal warm-up and 4 sets of cycling repeat-sprint efforts (RSE; 9 × 4 s) at sea level (CON), or at 3000 m simulated altitude following acute supplementation (140 mL) with BR (HYP_BR; 13 mmol NO₃^?) or NO₃^–depleted BR placebo (HYP_PLA). Peak (PPO) and mean (MPO) power output, plus work decrement were recorded during the RSE task, while oxygen consumption (VO₂) was measured during the warm-up. There were no significant differences observed between HYP_BR and HYP_PLA for PPO or MPO; however, work decrement was reduced in the first RSE set in HYP_BR compared with HYP_PLA. There was a moderate effect for VO₂ to be lower following BR at the end of the 10 min warm-up (ES = 0.50 ± 0.51). Dietary NO₃^? may not improve repeat-sprint performance in hypoxia but may reduce VO₂ during submaximal exercise. Therefore, BR supplementation may be more effective for performance improvement during predominantly aerobic exercise.     

Understanding the track and field sprint start through a functional analysis of the external force features which contribute to higher levels of block phase performance

This study aimed to identify the continuous ground reaction force (GRF) features which contribute to higher levels of block phase performance. Twenty-three sprint-trained athletes completed starts from their preferred settings during which GRFs were recorded separately under each block. Continuous features of the magnitude and direction of the resultant GRF signals which explained 90% of the variation between the sprinters were identified. Each sprinter’s coefficient score for these continuous features was then input to a linear regression model to predict block phase performance (normalised external power). Four significant (p < 0.05) predictor features associated with GRF magnitude were identified; there were none associated with GRF direction. A feature associated with greater rear block GRF magnitudes from the onset of the push was the most important predictor (β = 1.185), followed by greater front block GRF magnitudes for the final three-quarters of the push (β = 0.791). Features which included a later rear block exit (β = 0.254) and greater front leg GRF magnitudes during the mid-push phase (β = 0.224) were also significant predictors. Sprint practitioners are encouraged, where possible, to consider the continuous magnitude of the GRFs produced throughout the block phase in addition to selected discrete values.