Dietary Acid-Base Balance in High-Performance Athletes.

Physical exercise leads to metabolic changes that affect the acid-base balance in skeletal muscles and other tissues. Nutrition is one of the factors that may influence the acid-base balance in the body. Keeping alkaline circumstances in the body is important not only for health and athletic performance in training but also during competition in many sport events. This is especially significant for athletes who practice in sport at the highest level of competition. The aim of the study was to determine the dietary acid-base balance in competitive Lithuanian high-performance athletes, and to evaluate the effect of actual diets of athletes on NEAP (net endogenous acid production), muscle mass and body mineral content during a four-year Olympic cycle. The research participants were 18.1 ± 3.3-year-old Lithuanian high performance athletes (n = 323). The actual diet was investigated using the 24 h recall dietary survey method. The measurements of body composition were performed using BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis). The potential renal acid load of the diets of athletes (dietary PRAL) and NEAP were calculated. In 10.2% of athletes, NEAP exceeds 100 mEq · day-1 and is on average 126.1 ± 32.7 mEq · day-1. Higher NEAP in athletes is associated with lower muscle mass (ß -1.2% of body weight, p < 0.001) but has no effect on the amount of minerals in the body (ß 0.01% of body weight, p = 0.073). Overall, 25-30% of Lithuanian high-performance athletes use high-protein diets (2.0-4.8 g · kg-1 · day-1) leading to a dietary acid-base imbalance as well as an excessive production of endogenous acids in the body. Athletes are recommended to consume higher amounts of potassium and magnesium. An increase in calcium intake up to 1500 mg per day is recommended. In exceptional cases, periodised nutrition for athletes may involve diets complemented with bicarbonate and/or beta-alanine supplements.

Psychomotor Abilities of Elderly People and Their Motivation to Participate in Organized Physical Activity.

Background: Functional training has an effect on the physical parameters of people, but the motivation of the elderly people practicing sports varies depending on the events taking place in their close environment and the specifics of their relationships.Methods: Participants were recruited in the City Leisure Center for Elderly People and Social Care Home for Elderly People and randomly assigned to two groups: a study group and control group. The survey sample consisted of 40 respondents (aged 68 ± 8 years), who met the inclusion criteria. Respondents exercised to the Adapted Physical Activity Program, which consisted of a study of motivation to exercise, testing of physical parameters and adaptation of functional training to respondents physical needs.Results: Before starting functional training, the balance of study group was 44% (p < .05) lower if compared to the control group. We determined statistically significant change of coordination after FT - 17.75% (p < .05). The data of semi-structured interview were coded and attributed to specific subcategories, four categories were established: self-expression, self-awareness, body image, and self-esteem.Conclusions: Certain living environments may limit the need and possibility for the elderly people to exercise while enjoying the sense of communion through physical activity.

Investigation of the antimicrobial activity of Rhaponticum (Rhaponticum carthamoides D.C. Iljin) and shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa L.).

The aim of the study was to determine antimicrobial activity of rhaponticum and shrubby cinquefoil extracts. MATERIAL AND METHODS. Ethanol extract from the leaves of rhaponticum (Rhaponticum carthamoides D.C. Iljin) and shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa L.) was produced at the Department of Food Technology, Kaunas University of Technology. The antimicrobial activity of the viscous extract or rhaponticum and shrubby cinquefoil was evaluated using standard microorganism cultures (bacteria Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 33499, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 12459, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Bacillus cereus ATCC 8035 and fungi Candida albicans ATCC 60193). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the examined preparations was determined. RESULTS. Both studied preparations - rhaponticum (Rhaponticum carthamoides D.C. Iljin) and shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa L.) - demonstrated similar antimicrobial activity. The highest sensitivity to the studied preparations was observed in microbes with eukaryotic cell structure: Candida albicans, which is a fungus, and a spore-forming prokaryotic bacterium, Bacillus cereus. The highest resistance was observed in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. CONCLUSIONS. The studied preparations - viscous extracts of rhaponticum and shrubby cinquefoil - are substances with antimicrobial activity against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Proteus mirabilis) bacteria, spore-forming bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus), and fungi (Candida albicans).

[Quality of life of athletes with disability and some aspects of equal possibilities]. / Neigaliuju sportininku gyvenimo kokybe ir kai kurie lygiu galimybiu aspektai.

The International Olympic and Paralympic Committees have decided that in 2012, the Olympic and Parolympic Games in London will take place at the same time. For this reason, the aim of our study was to determine whether athletes with disability in Lithuania have the same possibilities for sports - and thus for integration into the unified Lithuanian sports system - as those without disability. An anonymous inquiry of athletes with and without disability was performed in 2006. We analyzed 235 questionnaires filled in by the participants of the study; 159 subjects were with and 76 without disability. The Lithuanian Paralympic Committee approved the questionnaires and gave an agreement for the study. The inquiry was performed in Lithuanian sports clubs for the persons with disability and in the Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education. The obtained findings about the respondents' personality and environmental factors indicated that the indices of self-awareness in all athletes without disability were significantly higher than in athletes with disability (P<0.05). More than one-half (56.6%) of the respondents without disability indicated that their life was meaningful, whereas the respective percentage of athletes with disability was only 33.8% (P<0.05). As many as 59% of the respondents without disability were satisfied with their quality of life, compared to 36.2% of the respondents with disability. More than one-half (56.6%) of athletes without disability indicated that sports played an important role in their lives, whereas the respective percentage of athletes with disability was significantly lower - 33.2%. Only one-half (51.6%) of the participants with disability of the study had a permanent instructor (coach). The absolute majority of the respondents (irrespectively of the presence or absence of disability) indicated that sports helped them realize their potential. According to our findings, the majority of the respondents without disability (74.6%) and the absolute majority of respondents with disability (92.5%) indicated that sports of the persons with disability is not sufficiently propagated in mass media. Age and sex did not have any influence on the factors studied. Insufficient information about sports of the persons with disability and significantly lower indices in personality, physical and social environmental factors among athletes with disability are the main obstacles in the creation of an independent social sports system for the persons with disability and integration of these athletes into the general Lithuanian sports system in the aspect of equal possibilities.

[Socialization of athletes with disabilities in adapted physical activity]. / Neigaliuju socializacija taikomojoje fizineje veikloje.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the impairment of the body functions on the participation of people with disabilities in sports activities. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was carried out in the institutions mostly attended by people with severe physical disabilities. The participants took a modified Kenny test and answered the questions of a questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 35 persons with severe physical disabilities. RESULTS: The findings of this study showed that people with disabilities who were not engaged in sports were of much worse opinion about their health condition (P=0.02) and they needed more help from family or friends (P=0.035) compared to the disabled who were not engaged in sports, but in the group of people with disabilities who were engaged in sports, the correlations of those indicators were statistically significant (r=0.59 and r=0.68, respectively). The main motivation of sports participation of people with disabilities (about 80%) was the need for communication and gaining independence. Health improvement was mentioned by less than half of people with disabilities (about 41%) engaged in sports. CONCLUSIONS: The syndrome of movement function impairment, duration of impairment, marital status, the age of persons with disabilities, and objectively determined impairment of biosocial self-service functions did not impact sports participation of people with disabilities. However, subjective sensation of pain and the need of medical aid, which did not match the objective functional impairments, could be the obstacle for people with disabilities to participate in sports.

Psychosocial environment for the integrated education opportunities of the disabled in Lithuania.

BACKGROUND: The policy of the diminution of the social isolation of the disabled is the main objective of the strategy of the EU new policy concerning the disabled. Lithuanian society faces this objective as well. For this reason, this study aiming at providing the theoretical basis for and predicting the possible psycho-social environment in an integrated education system, as well as at the evaluation of the reasons for the formation of a positive approach to the disabled, is especially relevant, since it creates the prerequisites for the optimisation of the process of the integration of disabled schoolchildren into the general system of education. METHOD: The sample of the study consisted of 2471 children from the same schools: not integrated (1958), integrated (126) and special schools (382). Empirical methods: questionnaire poll, comparative analysis. The statistical analysis was carried out using SAS. RESULTS: Our study showed that the majority of schoolchildren without disabilities and disabled schoolchildren have positive intentions for interpersonal interactions (>82%) and positive emotions (>69%) independently of the discrepant character of interpersonal contacts, different conditions of education and family life, and despite of low level of knowledge. CONCLUSION: The results of the study confirmed positive intentions for interpersonal interaction between disabled schoolchildren and schoolchildren without disabilities, as well as a positive character of emotions, and disprove the unsound myth of the opponents of the social integration of the disabled stating that disabled children in comprehensive schools would undoubtedly experience offence from their peers without disabilities.