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This study examined the psychophysiological responses of players to mental fatigue (MF) during simulated badminton matches. Sixteen badminton athletes (age = 19.06 ± 1.29 years) participated in this study voluntarily. Before starting the measurements, the players were informed about the measurements, and anthropometric measurements were performed. Official badminton competition rules and formats were used. Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) responses were recorded before and after the games. At the end of each set, the players' perceived exertion (RPE), visual analogue scale (VAS), and enjoyment scale values were determined. Mental fatigue increased perceived exertion and mental fatigue levels during the match, and at the same time, the enjoyment of badminton players decreased (p<0.05). Based on mood responses, an increase in negative moods, such as anger and fatigue, was observed after MF, whereas a decrease in vigour mood occurred (p<0.05). However, no mood change was observed before or after the match without MF (p>0.05). After the game was played with MF, only a decrease in the feeling of vigour was detected compared to the game without fatigue (p<0.05). The results may help coaches and sports psychologists better understand their athletes and take appropriate measures when necessary. Understanding the effect of MF on athlete performance may help athletes direct their training programs directly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychomotricity is a broad term that encompasses different approaches to bodily action to support children and adolescents to reach their highest motor and cognitive potential. The aim of the study was to highlight gender differences in the manifestation of psychomotor behaviors in 8-9-year-old children who practice sports swimming. The subjects (N=52, 26 males, 26 females) are children aged 8.0-9.11 years (M = 8.80; SD = ±0.65) who practice swimming in one of the swimming pools of a city in Romania. They were tested, using specific instruments, to assess the level of manual dexterity, body schema, hand laterality, body balance, body balance on water/buoyancy, general coordination. For four of the variables (manual dexterity, body schema, hand laterality and spatial orientation) no statistically significant differences were found, while for the other three (body balance, body balance on water and general coordination) statistically significant differences were recorded. The results indicate differences between the two genders, girls in this age group who practice swimming having more developed psychomotor skills compared to boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article re-examines the initial training of physical education teachers with the purpose of pinning down its professional significance. The author maintains that we have lost, in part, its meaning, and, in an attempt to recover it, offers two initial strategies: to revisit two basic concepts: education in general and physical education in particular. Purposes: To seek answers to the following questions:What does being a real ‘physical educator’ actually mean? Although it is not easy to answer his question due to the breadth it would encompass and the multitude of issues it would cover. What training should a physical educator have and how should it be delivered? Another question we must consider along with those mentioned previously is what training is relevant to teachers of physical education? Any teacher who delivers physical education (or any other subject) must receive both personal and professional training (covering the curriculum and methodology).

Introduction: This paper examines the convergence of the opinions of European higher education institution (HEI) experts on possible implementation of dual career policies and provision areas at university level. Methods: An online 32-item questionnaire encompassing 26 dual career aspects collected the opinion of European HEI experts as the last phase of a Delphi method preceded by i) focus groups with student-athletes who aimed to identify needs for dual careers and ii) a workshop with 21 dual career experts to generate the statements to be included in the survey. Seventy-one HEI experts from 12 EU member states participated in the survey, rating each dual career aspect identified in previous phases. Results: The relative position of each aspect has been plotted based on relevance (x-axis) and feasibility (y-axis). The Quadrant IV of the resulting scatterplots identified the following nine aspects rated as highly relevant and highly feasible for implementation: tutorship/mentorship, psychological support, programmes based on integration of academic departments and sports services, and adaptable programmes to the needs of each student-athletes (assistance/tutorship area), individual study plans and distance learning (curricula requirements area), publicity for student-athletes and initiatives for increasing the awareness of student-athletes and knowledge of dual career issues (social support area), and access to educational facilities (logistic support area). Discussion and conclusions: The HEI experts' views represent a coherent and useful starting point to develop a deep understanding of the considered 26 aspects founded on a phenomenological lifeworld-led approach and emphasizes the need for a minimum standard for dual career policies and provisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper presents the theoretical aspects related to the topic of psychomotricity and the way in which it is reflected in the domain-specific literature worldwide. The purpose of the study was to clarify the concepts, to identify specific classifications for the different application areas of psychomotricity, to generalize the components of psychomotricity and to identify evaluation methods for psychomotricity belonging to several domains. The study was carried out with the help of traditional means, in libraries and in the online environment. We accessed international databases that are acknowledged for the field of Sport Science and Physical Education in Romania. These databases are also acknowledged by other related research domains. 637 specialized bibliographic references were identified, out of which 584 online sources. In the present analysis we described the common aspects found in 50 bibliographic sources as well as definitions and concepts about psychomotor activity, stages of motor development and components of psychomotor activity and some psychomotor evaluation methods. The conclusion of the study is that the field of psychomotricity is very wide. The multidimensional approach of this subject is found in various fields of activity such as medicine, psychology, physiology, recreational or educational activities organized within a formal framework. Depending on the particular features of the psychomotor exercises, the educational values take multiple forms. The results in some domains interfere with those in other domains by the way in which the transfer between the motor and the cognitive components, between the physical and the psychological components is performed or vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the idea that in the public hospitals in Romania, in time, was formed an ever-increasing gap in terms of funding, we performed an analysis to identify whether the level of funding for similar hospital services depends on the costs incurred by treatment with the same type of patient. Analysis of the correlation between the complexity of diagnoses treated and quantitative indicators of a hospital allowed us to identify how these parameters affect finally efficiency and performance of the hospital. Our approach used advanced statistical analysis to study four hospitalized morbidity indicators based on diagnostic groups (number of patients discharged, average length of stay, number of days of hospitalization and case-mix index) and an indicator of organizational structure of the hospital (number of beds) for the 61 municipal hospitals in Romania in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify the students' motivation for participating to sports competitions in school. For this approach, we have identified a stratified random sample made up of 515 boys and 338 girls. The questionnaire we have used has included three categories of reasons for the participation to sports actions: social motives, sports motives and health-promotion motives, intrinsic and extrinsic. The data obtained have emphasized positive results for both genders, on the three motivation directions: "fun and joy"; "the wish of being healthy"; "the wish of being part of a team". Motivations such as "the wish of being the best, of being a champion"; "the wish of being popular"; "the wish to compete" were frequent among boys, while girls have mostly social and recreational motives: making new friends, maintaining a health body, fitness. Hence, the combination of the pleasure to participate to the competition and the wish to make new friends are the ways through which we can also increase the number of girls who participate to school competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary society, with all its notable technological, medical and political developments, also leads to a regress in the level of outdoor activity, a fact which will have a negative impact on future generations that are currently in the educational system. As such, when the word „technology” is mentioned, one automatically thinks about well-known developments: automobiles, tablets, phones and TVs, all of which limit our motive activities. Medical technology and pharmaceutical products have invaded the media space with rapid promises of spectacular and immediate results. Discussions on this matter are quite obvious. The political space, as it is segmented in four-year intervals, brings to our attention many strategies and initiatives, each one more utopian than the last. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral education is determined by the social phenomenon, which confers its content and represents a component of general education; it contributes to the formation and development of moral conscience and behaviour, to shaping the moral profile of the personality, and to the elaboration of social-moral behaviour. In many European countries, there are educational policies that promote the social and moral development of young people. According to the provisions of the National Curriculum currently into effect in our country, all the areas in the curriculum have the obligation of contributing to the social and moral development of young people. In this sense, researchers in the field pinpoint that physical education and sport - mostly physical education and sport teachers - have an important role in reaching this objective. Nonetheless, there is only scanty conclusive evidence to support this theory. In addition, scientists consider the social and moral field differently. Currently, there is too little information on the way in which physical education and sport teachers become aware of their responsibility in the social and moral development of the students through the discipline they teach. There is also insufficient information of the way they understand and apply the objectives of moral education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]