Height, weight, Body Mass Index, and age in beach volleyball players in relation to level and position.

AIM: This study tried to find out the height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), and age of peak performance beach volleyball players with regard to their level of play and their role. METHODS: The men's and women's pairs that classified in the World Tour and in the Olympic Games during seasons 2000-2006 were analyzed (625 males and 617 females). A descriptive, correlational, and longitudinal design was used. The variables studied were: height, weight, age, BMI, level (World Tour ranking), and player role (blocker, defense specialist, or no specialization). The data were obtained from the webpage of the International Federation of Volleyball. RESULTS: The average characteristics for males were 1.93 m, 88-89 kg, a BMI of 23.8-24.1, and an age range of 29-31 years, and for females, they were 1.77-1.79 m, 66-68 kg, a BMI of 19.2-21.1, and an age range of 27-29 years. CONCLUSION: Beach volleyball players are older and have smaller anthropometric characteristics when compared to indoor volleyball players. Male players present similar values for age and height across rankings. For both genders, with regard to weight and BMI, the higher the level, the larger the value. For women, the players at a higher level presented higher values of age, height, weight, and BMI. With regard to role, the blocking specialists were taller than the defense specialists. The pairs that share the blocking and defense responsibilities have intermediate values.

Percepción de los factores de riesgo de los trastornos alimenticios en jugadoras universitarias de voleibol / Perception of eating disorder risk factors in female college volleyball players

Este estudio aborda los factores de riesgo y el conocimiento de las jugadoras sobre los trastornos alimenticios en jugadoras universitarias de voleibol. La muestra objeto de estudio estuvo compuesta por un total de 50 jugadoras participantes en el Campeonato de España Universitario de 2004-2005. Se realizó un diseño selectivo, descriptivo, y transversal. La información se registró con el cuestionario de alimentación, control de peso, y deporte. El análisis de los datos se realizó a nivel descriptivo (frecuencia y porcentajes). Un 71.5% de las jugadoras indicó estar satisfechas con sus cuerpos, un 45.8% de las jugadoras indicó haber recibido presiones para estar delgadas, un 63.6% de las deportistas indicó haber utilizado medios para el control de su peso, y un 2% de las jugadoras fue diagnosticada con trastornos alimenticios. Seis de cada 10 jugadoras indicó que sus entrenadores son fuentes de información sobre aspectos nutricionales, mientras que únicamente una de cada 10jugadoras indicó que sus entrenadores son fuentes de información sobre los trastornos alimenticios. Los resultados encontrados indican que los entrenadores no tienen un papel activo en la aportación de información y mecanismos de ayuda frente a los trastornos alimenticios. La práctica de voleibol en edad universitaria parece no estar relacionada con un incremento de la ocurrencia de los trastornos alimenticios (AU)

This paper studied the risk factors and player's knowledge of eating disorders in female college volleyball players. Fifty female volleyball players from the 2004-2005 Spanish National University Championship were studied. A selective, descriptive, and transversal design was done. The data was registered with a survey. The data analysis was descriptive(frequencies and percentages). Results showed that 71.5% of subjects were satisfied with their bodies, 45.8% had received pressure to be thin, 63.6% had used methods to control their weight, and 2% had been diagnosed with a clinical eating disorder. Six out of 10 players had received nutritional information from their coaches, however only one out of 10 players had received information about eating disorders. Among this sample, coaches do not have anactive role in giving players information and mechanisms to help prevent eating disorders. Volleyball playing in college does not appear to be related to an increase in eating disorder occurrence (AU)

Effects of retinoic acid upon eye field morphogenesis and differentiation.

This study describes a whole embryo and embryonic field analysis of retinoic acid's (RA) effects upon Xenopus laevis forebrain development and differentiation. By using in situ and immunohistochemical analysis of pax6, Xbf1, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), gene expression during eye field, telencephalon field, and retinal development was followed with and without RA treatment. These studies indicated that RA has strong effects upon embryonic eye and telencephalon field development with greater effects upon the ventral development of these organ fields. The specification and determination of separate eye primordia occurred at stage-16 when the prechordal plate reaches its most anterior aspect in Xenopus laevis. Differentiation of the dopaminergic cells within the retina was also affected in a distinct dorsoventral pattern by RA treatment, and cell type differentiation in the absence of distinct retinal laminae was also observed. It was concluded that early RA treatments affected organ field patterning by suppression of the upstream elements required for organ field development, and RA's effects upon cellular differentiation occur downstream to these organ determinants' expression within a distinct dorsoventral pattern.

Canada's changing immigration policy: implications for Asian immigrants.

"The present paper reviews Canadian immigration policy and assesses the current situation. An analysis of the 1994 immigration consultation process is presented which led to the new changes in immigration policy. Recent changes in the organizational structure of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and its policy are evaluated. The implications of the new immigration policy are discussed, particularly as it relates to Asian immigration."

Social and economic context and attitudes toward immigrants in Canadian cities.

PIP: This article presents a study of the effects of a number of socioeconomic features of Canadian cities, particularly their unemployment rates, on the attitudes toward immigrants of their native-born residents. Using data from a national study of ethnicity and multiculturalism, the authors estimate several regression models predicting 3 separate dimensions of attitude toward immigrants and including as independent variables both individual characteristics and structural characteristics of city of residence. They found no evidence of a sizeable effect of local unemployment rate on attitude toward immigrants. Of the other contextual variables included in the models, the only 2 consistently influencing these attitudes included in the models, educational attainment and income, along with mother tongue, exhibit the strongest and most consistent effects on the attitude dimensions.^ieng