ABSTRACT
Introduction: the systematic analysis of the relationships between relevant psychological variables for sports performance and injuries is essential to contribute to their prevention in specific sports. Material and methods: a descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional study was carried out in the first category women's national softball championship in Cuba. 88 athletes participated with an average chronological age of 22.91 (SD=6.13) and a sports experience of 10.83 years (SD=4.92). A specific questionnaire, the Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory and the Psychological Inventory of Sport Execution was applied. Descriptive statistics and Kendall's Tau_b nonparametric correlation coefficient was used for data analysis. Results: A high injury load was verified with a low perception of the role of psychological factors in its etiology, as well as a notable occurrence of new injuries with negative emotional repercussions. Negative correlations of self-confidence, negative coping control, visual-imaginative control, positive coping control, and attitude control with history of injuries were obtained. The high anxiety showed significant relationships with previous injuries and new injuries during the analyzed competition. Conclusions: the findings are especially congruent with previous results in elite softball players, although new and greater relationships between variables were determined. All this means that stimulating psychological skills to control anxiety in competition could contribute to the prevention of injuries. However, longitudinal analyzes are required to confirm the predictive role of these variables before proposing psychological interventions in this regard.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (CO-VID-19) is a clinical entity caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which has become a pandemic in the first half of 2020, dominating the global epidemiological panorama. Although the main affected focus is the respiratory tract, injury of other organs is not infrequent, including the kidneys, the gastrointestinal tract, and the cardiovascular system. In particular, the relationship between cardiovascular disorders and COVID-19 is bidirectional, as the preexistence of cardiovascular disease increases de risk of infection and complications. On the other hand, the infection has also been shown to generate cardiovascular injury via various mechanisms. The increased risk of various cardiovascular events has been documented in patients with COVID-19. Thus, considering cardiovascular function has been recommended in the management of patients with COVID-19, chiefly those with comorbidities. The objective of this review is to evaluate the mechanisms and theories explaining the cardiovascular effects of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, and to recognize its clinical implications.
ABSTRACT
The pandemic has accelerated the use and development of video conferencing platforms due to COVID-19, and it is necessary to find an application that best suits our requirements. This article evaluates nine features of nine video conferencing applications to find the best choice. A detailed analysis has been conducted in this article using surveys to collect data from two samples at national and international level. The methodology followed is the CDIO methodology, a tool to address complex problems in four stages: conception, design, implementation, and operation. The primary aim of this paper is to examine which is the best livestreaming option according to the selected criteria, using, as references, well-known applications such as Jitsi, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Big Blue Button, among others. An application of multicriteria analysis is also shown to support the evaluation of these platforms compared to the established criteria. © 2021, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
Primer sets are short DNA sequences of 18-22 base pairs, that can be used to verify the presence of a virus, and designed to attach to a specific part of a viral DNA. Designing a primer set requires choosing a region of DNA, avoiding the possibility of hybridization to a similar sequence, as well as considering its GC content and Tm (melting temperature). Coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, have a considerably large genome (around 30 thousand nucleotides) when compared to other viruses. With the rapid rise and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants, it has become a priority to breach our lack of specific primers available for diagnosis of this new variants. Here, we propose an evolutionary-based approach to primer design, able to rapidly deliver a high-quality primer set for a target sequence of the virus variant. Starting from viral sequences collected from open repositories, the proposed approach is proven able to uncover a specific primer set for the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant. Only recently identified, B.1.1.7 is already considered potentially dangerous, as it presents a considerably higher transmissibility when compared to other variants. © 2021 ACM.