Federal Scientific Center of Physical Culture and Sports

Purpose: The EU funded Placemaking & Sport project enabled sport organisations to rethink their sport and physical activity offers through placemaking and local community involvement. The project encouraged sport organisations and towns in Denmark, France, Spain, Malta, and Italy to explore new ways of engaging communities in an active lifestyle to bring public space to life. Project Description. Development and Implementation: Coordinated by ISCA, the project paired grassroots organisations with city representatives – Azur Sport Santé and the City of Nice (France), UISP and UISP Matera (Italy), MOVE Malta and Sport Malta (Malta), DGI and the City of Copenhagen (Denmark), DES and City of Valencia (Spain). The project showcased how, by engaging the local communities’ needs, movement can thrive in unexpected spaces, promoting healthier and more connected cities. After 18 months of experimentation in diverse cities across Europe, various placemaking methodologies were piloted with the focus on engaging local citizens in decision-making and together transforming spaces into active thriving public places. This included teenagers in Italy, elderly in Denmark, schools, sport and nature organisations in Malta, neighbourhood associations in Spain, and street art associations & museums in France. Through physical activity and play, but also sharing memories, rekindling childhood connections to parks and squares, inventing games, and telling stories, the transformative power of placemaking in creating more vibrant and inclusive communities was showcased. Dissemination: The dissemination efforts were focusing on the storytelling of the local activities that were amplified through podcasts and videos. A follow-up initiative in France has already been funded to continue developing their pilot. The learning materials and resources are collected on https://placemaking.isca.org to further build capacities of the sector. Conclusions: With urban areas facing a shortage of sport facilities, the project demonstrated how squares and parks could serve as accessible venues for physical activity. It sought to reshape the perception of where and how people move while keeping the community at the centre of it through diverse engagement activities. It promoted flexible, inclusive spaces that encourage walking, socialising, and informal recreation ensuring that movement becomes a natural part of everyday life for people of all ages and abilities. Keywords: Participation, placemaking, physical activity, sport, urban development

Aim: To review information resources on this problem for the provision of modern knowledge in the pathogenesis of this pathology. Materials and Methods: An analysis of data from literary sources and medical articles in Pub Med was carried out in order to clarify the influence of cortisol and testosterone on the development of metabolic syndrome. The search was conducted over the last 5 years, but there is material from 2001, 2018, and 2019. Total volume of the number of sources: 17. Conclusions: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a collection of abnormalities that predispose individuals to diabetes, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Patients with metabolic syndrome exhibit hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system, resulting in «functional hypercorticism.» Stress is thought to play a significant role in this interaction by increasing the sensitivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The enzyme 11-betahydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11HSD1), which is involved in glucocorticoid metabolism in peripheral tissues (particularly adipose tissue and liver), has been implicated in metabolic syndrome and central obesity. Overexpression of 11HSD1 in adipocytes is observed in metabolic syndrome and central obesity, leading to increased conversion of cortisone to cortisol and excessive tissue-specific glucocorticoid activity.

Purpose of the study: to analyse the institutional structure of scientific and methodological support (SMS) for the training of athletes in the United States, based on the activities of major organisations in the field of sports science. Methods: systematisation of data, structural and comparative analysis of materials, documents, annual and financial reports of national public organisations responsible for SMS in the United States. Results. The search systematised information on existing organisations in the field of scientific support for athlete training in the United States and identified the main areas of activity and approaches to financing scientific support programmes for athlete training. It was established that the US National Olympic and Paralympic Committees, as well as the NCAA Institute of Sports Science, are key organisations in the field of scientific support for elite athletes. Furthermore, the International Association of Sports Sciences and the American College of Sports Medicine are not involved in sports science and scientific support for sports, predominantly conducting commercial educational activity in the professional training and development of coaches and fitness instructors. Neither SHAPE America (formerly NASPE) is engaged in scientific support for elite sport – their focus is school and community physical education, teacher standards, and public health-oriented promotion of physical activity, rather than athlete training. Universities are also involved in the field of scientific support for sport in the United States, however their fragmented participation does not contribute to the formation of a unified base of scientific knowledge in the field of SMS training for athletes. Conclusion. The analysis identified the main areas of activity of organizations in the field of scientific support for sport in the United States and demonstrated their functional role in the training of highly skilled athletes and the implementation of scientific developments in the process of sports training.

Relevance. Individually oriented training of road cyclists is hampered by the lack of a reliable approach to determining the proper parameters of training work. The objective is to adapt the concept of the full bioenergetic spectrum of physical load (FBES) by Magniy Rodionovich Smirnov as a theoretical, methodological and technological basis for personalized optimization of training effects. Methods. Theoretical analysis of the FBES concept, data from modern sources on sports biochemistry and physiology in terms of aerobic-anaerobic interactions; comparative analysis of FBES and zonal training models; construction of an individual energy profile of a hypothetical athlete based on laboratory and field test data; development of a functional diagram of a digital platform and a module for automated load programming (in the form of a conceptual architecture and a technological model); expert assessment of the practical significance and a pedagogical experiment to verify the developed pedagogical technology. Results. A method for calculating training parameters using a database management system (DBMS) has been developed for integration into a module of a specialized digital platform for programming training sessions. Conclusion. The theoretical and methodological prerequisites and technological solutions for applying the PBES concept in designing the content of classes in the macro- and mesostructure of sports training for highly qualified road cyclists are revealed. The proposed method allows modeling the proper ratio of aerobic and anaerobic loads with individualization by power and duration. The transition zones and switching points of metabolic modes substantiated by M.R. Smirnov were chosen as critically important guidelines in the developed pedagogical technology.

Creatine is a nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid and a main component of phosphocreatine. In recent years, creatine is considered as a component of dietary nutrition, to improve the efficiency of physical activity and increase muscle mass of athletes and older people. Creatine has been shown to be able restore cardiac contractility impairment after myocardial infarction. However, as muscle cells do not synthesise creatine, the efficiency of creatine depends on its transmembrane transport. In our study, we evaluated the effect of «ProCreatine» (ProCr), a novel membrane transporter-independent creatine modification on fatigability of the rat gastrocnemius muscle and portal vein smooth muscle using fatigue stimulation pools. Mechanokinetic and biomechanical markers of fatigue in muscles to maintain the level of isometric tension induced by field electrical stimulation were examined. The results indicate that administration of ProCr to skeletal muscle significantly increases maximal force output, integrated muscle contractile force and significantly increases muscle productivity. We observed positive changes in all studied biochemical indices of fatigue. In addition, ProCr increases the duration of sustaining a constant level of isometric contraction in portal vein smooth muscle caused by electrical stimulation by 6 fold. Regular creatine in the same dose had no significant effect on these parameters neither in skeletal nor in smooth muscles. The data obtained suggest the possibility of using ProCr as a therapeutic agent capable of reducing and correcting pathological conditions of the muscular system that arise during the processes of fatigue in skeletal muscles and smooth muscles of hollow organs.

The delivery of public infrastructure projects in South Africa is bedevilled with many challenges leading to project delays and loss of needed public resources. This study, therefore, sought to identify the risk factors affecting project delivery and the sources of these risk factors. This study employs a qualitative research methodology. To gather the required data, open-ended interview questions were administered to the participants from the various provincial departments in the Northern Cape responsible for delivering public infrastructure construction projects. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the relevant participants to form part of the study. The data collected were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The underpinning factors for these risks affecting project execution are classified as internally and externally generated. The identified risk factors pose a significant threat to project delivery leading to delay and loss of public funds and adequate service delivery to the public. This study helps us understand the risk factors and their source for public infrastructure construction projects. The government and departments in the Northern Cape and other provinces can take measures to tackle these risk factors and alleviate their negative impact on project delivery.

See the retraction notice BIO Web of Conferences 84, 00001 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/20248400001