Evaluation of the risks associated with the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during a professional football club's training in Brazil

COVID-19 is an infectious disease with respiratory transmission caused by the new coronavirus. Due to the high viral transmissibility, sports activities were severely impacted all over the world and in Brazil football was paralyzed for about four months. The objective of this study was to identify the activities with the highest risk of Covid-19 transmission in a professional soccer club in Rio de Janeiro based on a cross-sectional study with a semi-quantitative emphasis. The results showed that physical training showed a greater number of touches (105) with a high prevalence of hand on the ball (94%). The antibody search found that 24,2% tested positive for IgG during the study. During the training phase, no cases of SARS-CoV-2 transmission between players and staff were identified. It is believed that biosafety measures and the individual and collective commitment of everyone to social isolation and hygiene measures are an important strategy for the viability of sports activities.

TRAINING PRACTICES OF FILIPINO ATHLETES DURING THE EARLY COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

The imposition of COVID-19 lockdown restricted the daily activities of many people, including athletes. This study investigated the training practices of athletes in the Philippines during the early COVID-19 lockdown. A total of 442 athletes answered an online survey (May-July 2020), with questions pertaining to training practices, such as training frequency and duration. Data were analyzed according to: athlete classification (world-class, international, national, state, or recreational), sport category (individual or team), and sex (male or female). During lockdown, significant reductions in training frequency (except recreational, i.e., lower pre-lockdown training) and duration were observed for all athletic classifications. Similarly, training frequency and duration decreased significantly irrespective of sport category and sex. World class athletes appeared to be less affected by lockdown (types of exercise and specific training) as compared to lower-classification athletes. Athletes grouped in accordance with sex and sport category demonstrated little to no difference in training practices during the COVID-19 lockdown. The findings of the current study highlight the challenges experienced by athletes during lockdown, which may aid policy makers in the development of guidelines related to lockdown or lockdown-like situations to establish appropriate support for affected athletes. © 2022, University of Zagreb - Faculty of Kinesiology. All rights reserved.

COVID-19, sustainability and Olympic Games: which lessons can we learn from Tokyo 2020?

Purpose This paper aims to understand how the sustainability theme has been incorporated into the new Olympic planning guidelines based on analysing the case of Tokyo (2020), which was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach For this, field research using the case study method was carried out that involved 21 in-depth interviews with experts from different entities affected by the event. Findings As a result, it was possible to identify that some characteristics already presented in the Tokyo project came to break away from the gigantism observed in the past Olympic editions in an attempt to demonstrate alignment with the new principles brought by the IOC (2020) and 2020 + 5 Agenda that had as one of its main objectives to simplify the Olympics, making the event more sustainable and accessible for future host societies. Originality/value At the end, some trends for the future of the Olympic Games are also presented in order to guide future studies in the area, as well as help the future host cities and their companies in planning their investments.

Sleep Quality and Physical Activity as Predictors of Mental Wellbeing Variance in Older Adults during COVID-19 Lockdown: ECLB COVID-19 International Online Survey

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 lockdown could engender disruption to lifestyle behaviors, thus impairing mental wellbeing in the general population. This study investigated whether sociodemographic variables, changes in physical activity, and sleep quality from pre- to during lockdown were predictors of change in mental wellbeing in quarantined older adults. METHODS: A 12-week international online survey was launched in 14 languages on 6 April 2020. Forty-one research institutions from Europe, Western-Asia, North-Africa, and the Americas, promoted the survey. The survey was presented in a differential format with questions related to responses "pre" and "during" the lockdown period. Participants responded to the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. RESULTS: Replies from older adults (aged >55 years, n = 517), mainly from Europe (50.1%), Western-Asia (6.8%), America (30%), and North-Africa (9.3%) were analyzed. The COVID-19 lockdown led to significantly decreased mental wellbeing, sleep quality, and total physical activity energy expenditure levels (all p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that the change in total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure (F_{(2, 514)} = 66.41 p < 0.001) were significant predictors of the decrease in mental wellbeing from pre- to during lockdown (p < 0.001, R²: 0.20). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 lockdown deleteriously affected physical activity and sleep patterns. Furthermore, change in the total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure were significant predictors for the decrease in mental wellbeing.

Tackling Big Data and Black Swans through Fractal Approach and Quantum Technology

Since the dawn of time, man has always tried to predict the future. Inserted in an environmental context, the knowledge of the variables that influenced his life allowed him to reap daily benefits and ultimately ensured his survival. Weather forecasts, bets on sports results, financial analysis, estimation of life span probabilities, to name just a few examples, are based on increasingly accurate estimates thanks to increasingly efficient statistical techniques and detection tools. Risk and uncertainty, however, although increasingly limited, represent an essential variable of any future event. The possibility of measuring and preventing (even if close to their occurrence) unlikely, but potentially catastrophic events, can determine extraordinary competitive advantages or even just guarantee the survival of a business or human existence. Unlikely events, but catastrophic, are the so-called "black swans"[1], and represent the nightmare of those who rely on the Gaussian approach, since, even if they fall into the tails of the bell, they represent a non-negligible threat. Studies on the black swan, especially after the events linked to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, have brought to light the so-called fractal approach that comes closest to the occurrence of most natural events. The analysis of big data, focused on the identification of the black swan, can follow different paths, in any case, the "normal"Gauss curve, as demonstrated, does not lend itself to this type of analysis, therefore most of the statistical tools which are based on this are not suitable for these analyses. This research highlights and tries to demonstrate how the fractal approach, combined with quantum technology, could really represent a great advance in the reliability of future predictions and the detection of black swans. © 2020 ACM.