Effect of number of college baseball pitching on movement, performance, physical strength, physiological, and psychological functions of pitchers / 体力科学

This study aimed to examine the effects of college baseball pitching on movement, performance, physical strength, and physiological and psychological functions of pitchers. The participants were 10 right-handed male pitchers from the University baseball team. The number of pitches were 15 per inning and 135 per nine innings. Ball speed and accuracy were measured for each pitching. The grip strength, back muscle strength, and standing long jump were measured before and after all pitches. Blood lactate levels were measured before pitching, at the end of the 5th and 7th innings, and at 3rd, 6th, and 9th minutes after pitching. The participant’s heart rate and subjective exercise intensity were measured at the beginning and end of each inning using the Borg scale measurement. Five high-speed cameras were used to capture the pitching motions. The displacement of the center of gravity, lower and upper limb joint angles, and the speed of each segment were calculated. The baseball speed and accuracy did not change with the increased number of pitches. However, the grip strength decreased. Although blood lactate and heart rate were not altered, subjective exercise intensity was increased. The lower limb kinematics remained unchanged; however, elbow height was reduced in the upper limb. These results suggest that highly competitive pitchers experience subjective fatigue with the increased number of pitches, however, they maintain pitch performance, speed, and accuracy without altering whole-body physiology and lower-body function and form.

Survey on Customer Satisfaction for Evaluation and Improvement of Physical Assessment Practical Training Seminar for Pharmacists / 社会薬学

<p>In the areas of home medical care and self-medication, the role of the pharmacist is growing, partly as a result of Japan’s aging society and the need to reduce medical costs. In response, the Kinki University Faculty of Pharmacy implemented a physical assessment practical training seminar in order to improve the physical assessment skills of practicing pharmacists. A series of questionnaires were conducted among pharmacists to investigate their perceptions of physical assessment practical training seminars. The results of the questionnaires were analyzed using Customer Satisfaction (CS) analysis and text mining. Based on a 5-point scale (1-low∼5-high), questionnaires revealed satisfaction for physical assessment practical training seminars was 4.6±0.6 (Ave.±S.D.). CS analysis revealed that the items “lectures” and “case seminars” had the highest level of satisfaction. However, items showing low levels of satisfaction were “auscultation of respiratory sounds” and “SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation).” Results of text mining suggested a relationship between “physical assessment” and “difficult”. Analysis of the questionnaires showed a high level satisfaction with physical assessment practical training seminars, notably physical assessment practice methods. However, CS analysis and text mining indicate the finer techniques of physical assessment were difficult to acquire.</p>