The role of the shaft in the golf swing has been the subject of scientific debate for many years but there is little consensus regarding the effects of altering shaft bending stiffness. The aim of this thesis was to determine and explain the effects of changes in shaft stiffness on body kinematics, shaft strain and key performance indicators including club head speed, impact location on the club face and launch conditions. For this purpose, three clubs matched in all properties but shaft bending stiffness (l-flex (217 cpm), r-flex (245 cpm) and x-flex (272 cpm)) were instrumented with strain gauges. In an initial study, seventeen male golfers (handicap 1.8 ±1.9) tested these clubs, but no shaft effects on body kinematics, club head speed and ball launch conditions were identified. A follow-up study involved twenty skilled players (handicap 0.3 ±1.7), testing only the l- and x-flex clubs. Two optical motion capture systems were used to determine wrist angular kinematics, club head presentation and the ball's impact location on the club face. There was an effect of shaft stiffness on ball and club head speed, both of which increased by 0.7 % for the l-flex club (p = 0.008 and < 0.001, respectively). Two factors contributed to these increases: (i) a faster recovery of the l-flex shaft from lag to lead bending just before impact (p < 0.001); (ii) an increase of 0.5 % in angular velocity of the grip of the l-flex club at impact (p = 0.005). A difference in angular wrist kinematics between the two clubs was identified for two swing events and may have contributed to the increase in angular velocity. The face angle (p = 0.176) and the ball's impact location (p = 0.907 and p = 0.774) were unaffected by changes in shaft stiffness. Decreases in shaft stiffness were associated with significantly more shaft bending at the transition from backswing to downswing (p < 0.001), but the amount of lead bending at impact was found to be largely unaffected by shaft stiffness. The test protocol from the follow-up study was repeated using a golf robot, confirming the results for ball speed and wrist kinematics if the impact speed was set to replicate the mean club head speed achieved by the human players. Results from this thesis contradict the conventional view that reducing shaft stiffness leads to an increase in lead bending at impact and, consequently, to an increase in ball launch angle. Overall, these results suggest that it is unlikely that changes in overall shaft stiffness in themselves have a marked effect on driving performance.

Epidemiological studies have reported that ozone-pollution has a negative impact on human health. This pollutant is associated with high temperatures and is expected to continue to rise with the predicted global warming. People and athletes that exercise outdoors are of particular concern because, the more intense and the more prolonged the activity, the higher the ozone dose delivered to the lungs and potentially the higher the risk for performance impairment, lung function decrement, onset of lung inflammation, lung injury and oxidative stress. The main aim of the studies contained in this thesis was to evaluate the impact of ozone-pollution (0.1 ppm), heat and humidity on well trained runners taking part in an 8 km time trial run. Different end points were investigated for an analysis of the impact on performance outcome, lung function, lung inflammation and oxidative stress. In addition, a second aim was to investigate whether a 2-week supplementation period of vitamin C (500 mg•day-1) and vitamin E (100 IU•day-1) would provide any beneficial effects to the participants. The participants' lung function was measured by spirometry. Lung inflammation and oxidative stress status were assessed by a variety of markers both in the upper respiratory airways, by nasal lavage, and in the plasma. The markers assessed included: neutrophil count, clara cell protein (CC16), interleukin-8 (IL-8), uric acid, GSH/Protein and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity. The results showed that the athletes performance was significantly decreased in the hot and humid condition (mean ± SD: 32min 35sec ± 2min 25sec) and in the hot, humid and ozone-polluted condition (33min 09sec ± 2min 44sec) when compared with the ozone alone condition (30min 27sec ± 2min 23sec) and the control condition (30min 15sec ± 1min 58seg). Ozone alone had little effect on the performance variable. The participants' lung function was not affected by the adverse environmental conditions. Evidence of early lung epithelial injury, however, was observed by an increase in CC16 in the upper respiratory airways immediately after the exercise trial in the hot, humid and ozone-polluted environment; though this was not observed for any other marker of inflammation at this time point. In this same adverse environmental condition, an increase in the GSH/Protein concentration in the upper respiratory airways was found immediately after the exercise. It was observed that the 2-week supplementation protocol improved the runners' time to complete the 8 km time-trial run in the hot, humid and ozone-polluted environment by 2.6%. In addition, the supplementation was shown to be effective in decreasing the lung inflammation induced by the combination of ozone pollution, heat and intense exercise. This was observed by a smaller increase in the concentration of CC16 in both the upper respiratory airways (0.67 ± 0.5 mg•l-1) and plasma (39.4 ± 17.4 ng•ml-1) in the vitamin treatment compared to the placebo. In addition, in the vitamin treatment the, cortisol concentration (29.2 ± 14.8 ng•ml-1) after the run, the IL-8 concentration (75.8 ± 43.2 pg•ml-1) and neutrophil percentage (22.6 ± 17.2 %) in the airways 6 h after the run were also reduced compared to the values in the placebo treatment (49.9 ± 13.4 ng•ml-1; 126.6 ± 103.2 pg•ml-1; 25.2 ± 22.6 % respectively). Taken into consideration together, these results provide evidence that heat and humidity combined with ozone have a detrimental effect on athletes' performance in an 8 km time trial, it cannot be discounted that this was simply due to the heat and humidity as there was no differences in the two heat performances. The hot, humid and ozone environment elicited an early epithelial damage characterized by increase in CC16 concentration in the airways. Moreover, an increase in the antioxidant concentration in the upper respiratory airways in that same trial, as indicated by the nasal lavage GSH/protein, suggests a protective mechanism against the oxidative stress stimulated by the high intensity exercise in association with ozone, heat and humidity. Heat and humidity alone had a similar detrimental effect in performance. While, ozone alone had little effect on the variables. In addition, it can be suggested that 2 weeks of a low dosage of vitamin C and E supplementation might present some benefits for the performance outcome and immune system of trained individuals when taking part in a running competition in an ozone-polluted, hot and humid environment. These benefits will, however, depend on the regulation of the antioxidants uptake and metabolism of each subject.

Family vacations are an important part of life for many families. This paper will give an overview of family recreation and family vacations. Family recreation has many positive effects that influence family life and can lead to a better overall satisfaction for parents and children. This leads to certain advantages that many families experience while on vacation. Lastly, leisure constraints theory and family systems theory are described. These two theories serve as the theoretical framework of this study. In order to collect data a questionnaire was e-mailed to parents whose children attended a children's program while on family vacations. A qualitative approach was used to analyze the data from the structured electronic interview. The overall theme that emerged during this study is that stressful experiences that parents experience during family vacations can be eased through the children's program. Findings indicated that parents were very satisfied with the offered programs, children's participation in such programs provided opportunity for parental time alone, parents experienced positive emotions while their children were at the program, and the children's program eased general difficulties families may experience during family vacations. Future research needs to explore these findings more in-depth in order to better understand the benefits of such programs and to better explore what makes a successful youth program.

The game of soccer places various physiological demands on players, who are required to respond by carrying out a range of locomotor activities at different intensities. Such activity patterns contribute to a high energy turnover in both training and match-play, which in turn requires the intake of adequate fuel sources to sustain it. Adequate nutrient intake constitutes an important foundation for physical performance by providing fuel for biological work, both short and long term as required throughout the course of a soccer match. Despite the popularity of the sport worldwide, few studies investigating the effect of nutrition on performance in soccer have been conducted to substantiate the effect of optimal nutrition over the duration of a standard soccer match. This dearth of evidence has contributed in turn to a lack of specific nutrition guidelines for soccer players, coaches, sport scientists, nutritionists and club administrators. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the physiological, psychological and sociological aspects of nutrition and soccer, and posit a comprehensive nutritional framework to actively engage soccer players in adopting diets supportive of optimal performance in soccer training and match-play. The researcher set out by hypothesising that an optimal diet positively influences physical performance in soccer match-play. To test this hypothesis, a 90 h diet was developed for the participating semi-professional soccer players. Following implementation of the diet, a 90-minute soccer-specific simulation protocol, BEAST90mod was used to test its effects on physical performance in soccer. The remaining three inter-linked studies were longitudinal in nature, and carried out with participants forming part of the Malta U21 National Soccer Team. In the first instance, players’ habitual dietary intake, expenditure and energy balance was examined. The researcher then gathered information about the players’ knowledge, attitudes, habits, perceptions and barriers towards a diet conducive with optimal soccer performance. The same players finally underwent a 9-month nutritional education and support intervention, the efficacy of which was measured by the researcher throughout the intervention period. The principle aim of the research is to present findings that provide players and stakeholders in soccer a clear indication of the effects of specialist nutrition in soccer, and empower them with a range of appropriate tools and strategies as employed throughout the support programme. It ultimately seeks to improve physical performance in soccer training and match-play by informing sound individual and team approaches to nutritional decision-making.

Neste estudo, foram analisadas as políticas de esporte e de lazer em Porto Alegre, no período de 1989 a 2000. A pesquisa investigou em que medida a Supervisão de Esportes e Recreação Pública (SERP) e a Secretaria Municipal de Esportes, Recreação e Lazer (SME) obtiveram êxito na democratização do esporte e do lazer na cidade. A democratização foi analisada na perspectiva do acesso às atividades de esporte e de lazer e do poder de decisão da população na formulação, implementação e avaliação das políticas públicas. A coleta dos dados compreendeu documentos e entrevistas. Os documentos consistiram de relatórios, planos de investimentos e leis municipais; planos e relatórios da SERP e SME; e documentos do Partido dos Trabalhadores referentes ao esporte e lazer do município. Foram realizadas 19 entrevistas semi-estruturadas com professores, gestores públicos, líderes comunitários e usuários dos programas de esporte e de lazer. Os dados permitiram concluir que a democratização do esporte e do lazer na primeira gestão (1989-1992) não se efetivou na forma desejada, embora tenham ocorrido avanços no acesso aos serviços e no processo de tomada de decisão com o Orçamento Participativo (OP). Na segunda gestão (1993-1996), o acesso da população aos espaços de esporte e de lazer apresentou melhorias. Quanto ao poder de decisão, existiu um maior acesso da população com a criação da SME e da temática de esporte e de lazer no OP. Entretanto, o atendimento e a participação nas decisões continuaram abaixo do desejado. A terceira gestão (1997-2000) foi mais participativa, tendo ocorrido um processo de democratização na SME que, através da regionalização de suas ações, possibilitou maior integração com a população. Como conseqüência, houve ampliação e diversificação das ações oferecidas às comunidades. O poder de decisão foi ampliado com a realização de uma conferência municipal para discussão de propostas de esporte e de lazer. / The study focused on the public policies of sport and leisure for Porto Alegre from 1989 to 2000. The purpose was to investigate whether the Department of Sports and Public Recreation (SERP) and the Secretary of Sports, Recreation and Leisure (SME) obtained success in their goals of democratizing sport and leisure in the city. Democratization was considered in the perspective of the access to sport and leisure programs and the participation of the population in the process of policy-making. Data collection comprised documents and interviews. The document analysis considered the city council legislation and financial plans and reports, plans and reports of SERP and SME, and documents on sport and leisure produced by the Worker’s Party. The interviews were carried out with 19 public authorities, community leaders, leisure and sport instructors and park users. The study allowed concluding that the democratization of sport and leisure in the first administration period (1989-1992) did not occur as expected, even though progress was achieved in the access to the programs and in the decision-making process, with the introduction of the Participative Budget (OP). In the second administration (1993-1996), the population access to sport and leisure programs presented improvements. In the power of decision, a larger access of the population existed, being created the SME and the section of sport and of leisure in the OP. However, the attendance and the participation in the process of decision-making continued lower than expected. The third administration period (1997-2000) was more participative, a decentralization process occurred in SME facilitating larger integration with the population. As consequence, there were amplification and diversification of the actions offered to the communities. The power decision was enlarged with the accomplishment of a municipal conference for discussion with the population of proposals of sports and leisure for the city.

This thesis provides an overview of spending leisure time by a pupil of a lower secondary school at the level of organized activities. In the theoretical part the important terms, such as leisure time, leisure time education, leisure time teacher, are defined. In this part, a pupil of a lower secondary school and a gifted pupil are characterized, the sense of leisure time activities at the level of organized activities is mentioned and finally the educational facilities for leisure education and leisure facilities used by pupils are listed. The empirical part provides a list of various leisure time institutions which the city of Příbram offers and it also presents an elaborated research survey, which is subsequently evaluated using statistical functions into tables and graphs. Among other things, as a part of my teaching specialization, in addition to other leisure activities, I incorporated in this work a part aimed at natural and technical leisure activities that are helpful in educating gifted pupils as a future generation and who are a real shortage in this area.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-02-05Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:05:19Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 campagna_j_dr_rcla.pdf: 811550 bytes, checksum: 667cb2ab4df18d42e933efd07b679f8f (MD5) / Considerando a educação humana como processo complexo, multifacetado, abrangente e continuado que perdura ao longo de toda existência e, ainda, o lazer como uma das vertentes da educação não-formal, o objetivo deste estudo qualitativo residiu em investigar os significados e as ressonâncias da educação não-formal da pessoa idosa, favorecida no contexto das vivências dos conteúdos culturais do lazer. Estruturado a partir de três indicadores (envelhecimento, educação, lazer), o estudo problematizou o significado e a percepção que tem o idoso sobre si mesmo, as possibilidades educativas não-formais no âmbito das vivências dos conteúdos culturais do lazer e as ressonâncias das atitudes pró-ativas no lazer com relação à predisposição para novas aprendizagens. Para isso, associou a revisão de literatura a uma pesquisa exploratória desenvolvida por meio de um questinário com vinte e quatro questões abertas, aplicado a uma amostra aleatória de cinquenta participantes da comunidade rioclarense, com sessenta anos ou mais, de ambos os sexos, de diferentes nacionalidades, profissões e níveis de escolaridade. A análise dos dados feita por meio da Técnica de Análise de Conteúdo Temático elegeu cinco sub-indicadores - biológico, psicológico, sociocultural, filosófico, pedagógico. Dentre os resultados sobre o ENVELHECIMENTO e seus desdobramentos, esse estudo constatou a existência de uma predisposição favorável atrelada às percepções positivas dessa etapa da vida, evidenciando num redimensionando da imagem social do idoso, frequentemente, associada às inexoráveis e intransferíveis perdas que essa fase acarreta ao ser vivo. A interveniência da EDUCAÇÃO, na preparação para o envelhecimento bem sucedido foi maciçamente exaltada pelos participantes, na condição de eternos, ativos e reflexivos aprendizes desse processo de mudanças... / Considering education as a complex, multifaceted and continued human process that lasts throughout the entire existence, and yet, leisure as an element of non-formal education, the purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the meanings and the echoes of non-formal education of the elderly, favored in the context of cultural content of leisure experiences. Structured in three indicators (age, education, leisure), the study problematizes the meaning and perception of elderly about themselves; non-formal educational opportunities within leisure experiences and the ressonances of pro-active attitudes in their leisure time with respect to predisposition to new learning. For this, a literature review was associated to a survey developed by a questionnaire with twenty-four open questions and applied to a random sample of fifty participants of Rio Claro community, ages over sixty years, of both genders, different nationalities, professions and levels of schooling. Data analyses made by Content Analysis Technique have elected five sub-indicators - biological, psychological, sociocultural, philosophical and pedagogical. Among the results on Aging and its developments, this study found the existence of a favorable predisposition linked to positive perceptions of this phase of life, showing a reframing of the social image of the elderly, often associated with the inexorable and untransferred losses that this phase leads to be alive. The intervention of Education, in preparation for the massively successful aging was exalted by the participants, provided by the eternal, active and reflective learners of this process of change. There was a perception that all non-formal educational experiences can be seen as vehicle and object of education as a basis for learning to learn, to know, to be, and to live, attributes related to autonomy, discernment and personal responsibility... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Western society highly values work, and is structured in such a way that people have to be involved in the paid labour force to live. Forms of work that are unpaid are often not recognized as “real” or “meaningful”. Consequently, populations that are not involved in the paid labour force can often be conceptualized as unproductive, which is often the case when discussing retired seniors in Canada. Despite the wide-spread social expectations that older people should be retired and the public programs that enable their retirement, ideals about the makeup of meaningful social roles have not changed very much, and so are applied to this population in a similar manner as to their younger counterparts. In other words, people are not generally seen as socially productive or as having meaningful social roles if they are not active in the paid labour force. For this reason, many sociologists have come to characterize older people as being a “roleless” population. If not characterized as roleless, “retired” in itself has also been classified as a role for elderly people, but the social function of a retired person has not been clearly defined either. Because of this, this Master’s thesis endeavoured to learn more about the work-related roles and identities of retired seniors. Through discussions with seniors about the different work activities they have been involved in throughout their lives, the social expectations projected onto them, and how they conceive their own roles and identities, this study unravels classic definitions of work, leisure, and retirement.

Increasing physical activity (PA) and reducing the time spent sedentary can favourably impact health in youth. Active video games discourage sedentary behaviour by incorporating PA into video gaming, and have the potential for increasing opportunities for, and the promotion of, PA. The aims of this thesis were to a) compare adolescents' energy expenditure (EE) whilst playing sedentary and active video games; b) to examine the contribution of upper limb and total body movement to adolescents' EE whilst playing non-ambulatory active video games; c) to compare the physiological cost and enjoyment of active video gaming with sedentary video gaming and aerobic exercise in adolescents, and young and older adults; and, d) to evaluate the short-term (12 weeks) effects of a home-based active video gaming intervention on children's habitual PA and sedentary time, behaviour preferences, and, body composition, with a mid-test analysis incorporated at 6 weeks. The first three studies were cross-sectional. They revealed that active video games significantly increased PA and EE compared with sedentary video games in adolescents. These increases were typically of insufficient intensity though to contribute towards recommendations for daily PA in youth, and were less than those observed for authentic sports and brisk treadmill walking and treadmill jogging. Nevertheless, active video games encouraged PA and discouraged sedentary behaviour compared to sedentary equivalents. Further, similar physiological responses observed between adolescents and adults in study three provided support for the promotion of active rather than sedentary video gaming throughout the lifecourse. Greater enjoyment of active video games compared to a sedentary video game and brisk treadmill walking and treadmill jogging suggested that active video games may be an enjoyable mode of entertainment for young people and adults. The methodologically-focused study two revealed that the best single measure for explaining the variance in EE during active video gaming was a hip-mounted accelerometer. This was congruent with current recommendations for measuring habitual PA using accelerometers. Interestingly, using combined PA data from accelerometers placed on the hip and wrist similarly explained the variance in EE during active gaming compared to combined HR and activity monitoring. This provided support for the assessment of upper limb movements during non-ambulatory activities in adolescents. The intervention study revealed that a targeted increase in active video gaming and decrease in sedentary video gaming at 6 weeks did not positively affect children's PA relative to an age-matched comparison group. An increase in total video gaming was observed at 6 and 12 weeks relative to the comparison group, and this was accompanied by non-significant but detrimental changes in PA compared to the comparison group. These findings may suggest that an increase in time spent playing video games may be detrimental to PA in children. Rather than simply enabling PA by providing active video gaming equipment, interventions that consider the wide range of PA and sedentary behaviour opportunities available to young people in the home environment may be necessary to benefit PA and health. Further, the novelty effect observed for active video game use supports the call for the production of new active video games that attract children and sustain their interest.

Um modo de vida com skholé parece ter sido vivenciado na Grécia Clássica, nos primórdios do nascimento da filosofia, entre os séculos X e VII a. C., e se aperfeiçoa entre os séculos VI e IV a. C. Aristóteles é sem dúvida quem lhe dá um tratamento mais sistemático e uma relevância mais notável ao conferir-lhe prestígio quando postula o surgimento da filosofia e da ciência como resultado do tempo livre. Nas obras A Política e a Ética a Nicômaco, ele utiliza conceitos estruturantes para demonstrar quais os tipos de vida e como eles interferem na formação do caráter, no processo de deliberação e na realização da ação. Compreender o trabalho como necessário para suprir as necessidades humanas e o consumo, abre o debate sobre o tempo livre para a vida contemplativa. A análise expositiva gira em torno do conceito de skholé com o objetivo de tentar indicar o seu lugar no debate éticofilosófico contemporâneo, inclusive no âmbito das éticas aplicadas. O homem contemporâneo precisa resgatar um tipo de ocupação que não seja negócio, nem obrigação, mas skholé, ócio ou lazer, como imprescindível não só para a saúde física e mental, mas também para a constituição do caráter moral e para uma existência humana ética e feliz. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-04-20T18:38:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Neura Maria Gandolfi.pdf: 1175550 bytes, checksum: 3752a22928f2e758aba36267bfcc1a4e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-20T18:38:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Neura Maria Gandolfi.pdf: 1175550 bytes, checksum: 3752a22928f2e758aba36267bfcc1a4e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-20 / A lifestyle with skholé seems to have been experienced in Classical Greece, in the beginning of the philosophy birth between the X and VII centuries B. C. and improves between the VI and IV centuries B.C. Aristotle is beyond question the one who gives you a more systematic treatment and a greater relevance to confer prestige when it postulates the onset of philosophy and science as a result of free time. Aristotle in his books, The Politics and the Nicomachean Ethics, uses structural concepts to demonstrate what types of life and how they interfere with the formation of character, the deliberation process and the achievement of the action. Understand the work as necessary to supply human needs and consumption, open debate on the free time to the contemplative life. The expository analysis goes around of the concept of skholé with the purpose to try to indicate the place on the contemporary philosophical-ethical debate, even in the context of applied ethics. Contemporary man needs to rescue a type of occupation that is not business, nor obligation, but skholé, entertainment and leisure as essential not only for the physical and mental health but also for the constitution of the moral character and an ethics and happy human existence.