The physical demands of professional soccer goalkeepers throughout a week-long competitive microcycle and transiently throughout match-play

ABSTRACT

The physical demands of English Premier League soccer goalkeepers were quantified during training and match-play in a two-part study. Goalkeeper-specific micromechanical electrical systems (MEMS) devices, profiled training and match-day activities throughout one competitive week (n=8; part A). Changes in MEMS-derived outputs were also profiled throughout match-play (100 matches; n=8, 18±14 observations per goalkeeper; part B). In part A, goalkeeping-training elicited the most dives (51±11) versus all activities (all p≤0.030) except shooting-training (p=0.069). Small-sided games elicited the fewest (5±3) dives (all p≤0.012). High-speed distance covered in match (103±72 m) was similar to goalkeeping-training (p=0.484), while exceeding shooting-training, small-sided games, pre-match shooting, and pre-match warm-up (all p=0.012). Most changes of direction (34±12) and explosive efforts (70±18) occurred during goalkeeping-training, with values exceeding match (both p=0.012). In part B, between-half reductions in total distance, but increased high-speed changes of direction and explosive efforts, occurred (both p≤0.05). Excluding the number of high jumps, all variables differed from 0-15-min during at least one match epoch, with more dives (1.3±1.4 vs 1.0±1.1) and explosive efforts (2.5±2.4 vs 2.0±1.8) performed between 75-90-min versus 0-15-min (all p<0.05). These data highlight the differing physical demands of various activities performed by professional soccer goalkeepers throughout a competitive week.     

Fāṭimid Alexandria as an Entrepôt in the East–West Exchange of Islamic Scholarship

Abstract

The arrival in Alexandria of al-?ur?ūshī from Spain and al-Silafī from Iran and the settling there of both early in the sixth/twelfth century created a nucleus of Sunni learning that grew into a full-blown renaissance. Many additional scholars participated, either as students and colleagues of these two, or on their own. As one result, the city itself became, over the first half of that century, a noted entrepôt for the east–west exchange of scholarship in the Muslim world, and all this despite the core Shi‘ism of the Fā?imid dynasty that controlled Egypt, including Alexandria. This renaissance in fact continued to flourish until the Fā?imids were finally supplanted in 567/1171 by the Ayyūbids, a full two decades into the second half of the same century, at which time Cairo became once again a major centre of Sunnism.     

The library's role in countering infodemics

Internet and communication technologies enable the creation of tremendous amounts of textual, graphic, and pictorial information. User-generated content published through personal web pages, blogs, and social media platforms has not only increased the amount of information available, but also expanded its reach. However, this ubiquity of information and empowerment of its creators leads to potentially controversial, futile, and inaccurate content circulating throughout the world. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, this can create false hope, fear, anxiety, harm, and confusion amongst information stakeholders. The World Health Organization recently applied the term “infodemic” to the COVID-19 pandemic. This commentary briefly discusses the current infodemic, its potential consequences, and the role of libraries—specifically health sciences, biomedical, and medical libraries—to help counter the COVID-19 infodemic. The discussion also has relevance for infodemics relating to other health and non-health affairs.     

A Cross-Sectional Test of Sign Creation by Children in the Gesture and Vocal Modalities

Naturalistic studies show that children can create language-like communication systems in the absence of conventional language. However, experimental evidence is mixed. We address this discrepancy using an experimental paradigm that simulates naturalistic sign creation. Specifically, we tested if a sample of 6- to 12-year-old children (52 girls and 56 boys drawn from an urban, predominantly white population in Western Australia) can comprehend and create novel gestural and vocal signs. Experiment 1 tested children’s ability to comprehend novel signs. Experiment 2 tested children’s ability to create novel signs. Results show that children can comprehend and create gestural and vocal signs, that communication is more successful in the gesture modality, and that older children outperform younger children.     

Relations as the aim of education in Joseon neo-Confucianism: The case of the Five Relationships

Abstract

This article attempts to explain through the lens of the Five Relationships the meaning of Joseon neo-Confucian view which emphasized relationship development as the aim and contents of education. In neo-Confucianism, education is the task of guiding learners in cultivating and unfolding capabilities in the relationships of everyday life. Within the context of neo-Confucianism, the development of competency in relationships was another expression of the educational goal of actualizing the ‘original nature’ including of the four virtues. Understanding the nature of education to be the embodiment of the original nature, neo-Confucian scholars sought its actual manifestation in everyday life, taking the practice of five particular relationships to be the core method. Encompassing both ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ while progressing from the Elementary Learning into the Great Learning, neo-Confucian education characteristically takes the Five Relationships as both its foundation and its outcome. Despite the pre-modern limitations involved in the history of the practice of the Five Relationships, this neo-Confucian view of education prompts us to consider plainly the meaning of relationship development as the core contents and aim of education. Furthermore, this view affords prospects especially valuable for critically supplementing upon the discussion of a ‘pedagogy of relation’ introduced in academic circles in the West.