title: Sleep and performance during a preseason in elite rugby union athletes

authors: Teece, Angus R.

subjects: athletic performance

abstract: BACKGROUND: Preseason training optimises adaptations in the physical qualities required in rugby union athletes. Sleep can be compromised during periods of intensified training. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between sleep quantity and changes in physical performance over a preseason phase in professional rugby union athletes. METHODS: Twenty-nine professional rugby union athletes (Mean ± SD, age: 23 ± 3 years) had their sleep duration monitored for 3 weeks using wrist actigraphy. Strength and speed were assessed at baseline and at week 3. Aerobic capacity and body composition were assessed at baseline, at week 3 and at week 5. Participants were stratified into 2 groups for analysis: <7 h 30 min sleep per night (LOW, n = 15) and >7 h 30 min sleep per night (HIGH, n = 14). RESULTS: A significant group x time interaction was determined for aerobic capacity (p = 0.02, d = 1.25) at week 3 and for skinfolds at week 3 (p < 0.01, d = 0.58) and at week 5 (p = 0.02, d = 0.92), in favour of the HIGH sleep group. No differences were evident between groups for strength or speed measures (p ≥ 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study highlights that longer sleep duration during the preseason may assist in enhancing physical qualities including aerobic capacity and body composition in elite rugby union athletes.

text: Sleep and performance during a preseason in elite rugby union athletes BACKGROUND: Preseason training optimises adaptations in the physical qualities required in rugby union athletes. Sleep can be compromised during periods of intensified training. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between sleep quantity and changes in physical performance over a preseason phase in professional rugby union athletes. METHODS: Twenty-nine professional rugby union athletes (Mean ± SD, age: 23 ± 3 years) had their sleep duration monitored for 3 weeks using wrist actigraphy. Strength and speed were assessed at baseline and at week 3. Aerobic capacity and body composition were assessed at baseline, at week 3 and at week 5. Participants were stratified into 2 groups for analysis: <7 h 30 min sleep per night (LOW, n = 15) and >7 h 30 min sleep per night (HIGH, n = 14). RESULTS: A significant group x time interaction was determined for aerobic capacity (p = 0.02, d = 1.25) at week 3 and for skinfolds at week 3 (p < 0.01, d = 0.58) and at week 5 (p = 0.02, d = 0.92), in favour of the HIGH sleep group. No differences were evident between groups for strength or speed measures (p ≥ 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study highlights that longer sleep duration during the preseason may assist in enhancing physical qualities including aerobic capacity and body composition in elite rugby union athletes.

year: 2021

title: Beyond Earth's globalization: Sociology of outer space?

authors: Peters, Michael A.

abstract: This paper raises the possibility of a sociology of outer space that examines the spatial turn and the turn to space in recent sociology. Rapid developments in space technology, travel and colonization now raise a set of questions about the extension of the spatial turn in sociology to outer space, to a space and territory no longer tied to earth's limits. A significant theme in the sociology of outer space is how space-time compression is conceptualized outside of the frame of planet Earth to describe the overcoming of the friction of distance with new forms of space travel, transportation and communication and the extent to which new technologies driving and associated with the globalization of postmodern capitalism are generating new extra-world spatialities as an extension of Earth-bound economic and political processes. In this context, the paper also briefly records and examines the shift from the "Space Race" to space commercialization.

text: Beyond Earth's globalization: Sociology of outer space? This paper raises the possibility of a sociology of outer space that examines the spatial turn and the turn to space in recent sociology. Rapid developments in space technology, travel and colonization now raise a set of questions about the extension of the spatial turn in sociology to outer space, to a space and territory no longer tied to earth's limits. A significant theme in the sociology of outer space is how space-time compression is conceptualized outside of the frame of planet Earth to describe the overcoming of the friction of distance with new forms of space travel, transportation and communication and the extent to which new technologies driving and associated with the globalization of postmodern capitalism are generating new extra-world spatialities as an extension of Earth-bound economic and political processes. In this context, the paper also briefly records and examines the shift from the "Space Race" to space commercialization.

year: 2017

title: The development of an indigenous knowledge program in a New Zealand Maori-language immersion school

authors: Harrison, Barbara

subjects: knowledge

abstract: In 1985, Te Wharekura o Rakaumangamanga initiated a Maori-language immersion program for children ages 5 through 18. In recent years, a program based on Waikato-Tainui tribal epistemology has been incorporated into the language immersion program. This article describes the community context and the language immersion and tribal knowledge programs. We consider the relationship of these programs to individual and tribal self-determination and to theories of minority achievement, particularly the work of John Ogbu.

text: The development of an indigenous knowledge program in a New Zealand Maori-language immersion school In 1985, Te Wharekura o Rakaumangamanga initiated a Maori-language immersion program for children ages 5 through 18. In recent years, a program based on Waikato-Tainui tribal epistemology has been incorporated into the language immersion program. This article describes the community context and the language immersion and tribal knowledge programs. We consider the relationship of these programs to individual and tribal self-determination and to theories of minority achievement, particularly the work of John Ogbu.

year: 2005-03