Search Results (413)

Climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity, and duration of heatwaves, making extreme heat a recurrent public health challenge with important nutritional implications. High ambient temperatures affect human health through thermoregulatory strain, sweating, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, cardiovascular and renal stress, impaired cognitive and physical performance, and exacerbation of chronic diseases. Diet and hydration may therefore represent modifiable, although still underinvestigated, components of heat-health prevention. This narrative review synthesizes evidence on hydration, electrolyte balance, meal composition, dietary quality, vulnerable populations, Mediterranean dietary patterns, seasonality, environmental sustainability, and public health strategies for reducing heat-related health risks. Evidence from climate-health research, physiology, nutrition science, occupational and sports medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, and public health guidance was integrated. Particular attention was given to distinguishing direct heat-health evidence from recommendations based on indirect evidence, physiological plausibility, or expert consensus. Regular water intake, water-rich foods, avoidance of alcohol, moderation of sugar-sweetened beverages, and individualized electrolyte replacement during prolonged or intense sweating are supported by physiological rationale and public health guidance, although direct heatwave-specific intervention studies remain limited. Dietary recommendations should prioritize smaller, digestible, nutrient-dense meals that preserve nutritional adequacy while reducing unnecessary digestive and metabolic burden. However, evidence on meal size, macronutrient composition, and heat-related outcomes remains largely indirect. Vulnerable groups, including older adults, children, pregnant women, individuals with chronic diseases, outdoor workers, athletes, and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, require tailored strategies. The Mediterranean diet may provide a useful regional model because it emphasizes seasonal plant foods, fruits and vegetables with high water content, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, culinary simplicity, and environmental sustainability; however, its specific role in heat adaptation requires further study. Integrating nutrition and hydration into heat-health action plans may improve preparedness and support climate-resilient food systems. Future studies should evaluate hydration protocols, meal patterns, Mediterranean diet adherence, biomarkers of nutritional heat resilience, and nutrition-sensitive interventions in real-world heat exposure settings. Full article

Monitoring physiological responses to intensified training is critical in elite sport, yet evidence in world-class kayak paddlers remains limited. To assess biochemical and hematological acute responses during an intensified training microcycle in an elite flat-water kayaker, a 35-year-old Olympic-level kayaker was monitored across two consecutive 7-day microcycles (pre-intensified and intensified). During the intensified microcycle, fasting venous blood samples were collected over five consecutive mornings. Hematological, biochemical, and hormonal markers were analyzed using standardized laboratory procedures. Training intensification induced marked but physiological changes. From Monday to Tuesday, leucocytes increased from 5.7 to 7.3 × 10⁹/L (+28%), while creatine kinase (CK) rose from 291 to 602 U/L (+107%) and remained elevated (579–604 U/L). Serum iron decreased from 131 to 88 µg/dL (−32.8%) and remained below baseline throughout the microcycle. Triglycerides declined from 63 to 52 mg/dL (−17.5%) and stabilized thereafter. AST increased from 33 to 41 U/L (+24.2%) with minor fluctuations. Across the microcycle, cortisol rose from 522 to 575–578 nmol/L (+10–10.7%), whereas testosterone remained stable (29.4–31.2 nmol/L). Epinephrine increased from 13 to 37 ng/L (+184.6%). Erythrocytes, hemoglobin, and C-reactive protein remained stable. The intensified microcycle elicited substantial but controlled physiological perturbations, reflecting increased muscle stress and systemic load without evidence of maladaptation. Full article

Climate change adaptation in cities increasingly requires not only technical and spatial solutions, but also a better understanding of residents’ beliefs and expectations towards green infrastructure. This study aimed to identify the relationship between climate change knowledge and preferences for urban green infrastructure among Warsaw residents. The research was based on a CAWI survey conducted at the end of 2024 among 780 adult residents of Warsaw. Respondent segmentation was performed using hierarchical cluster analysis and k-means clustering, while differences between groups were assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis and chi-square tests. Four resident segments were identified: Climate Aware, Natural-Factor Oriented, Sceptics, and Uncertain. These groups were found to differ significantly in their climate change knowledge and beliefs, socio-demographic characteristics, motivations for using green areas, and preferences for specific green infrastructure elements. Climate-aware residents attached particular importance to multifunctional green and blue infrastructure, including large parks, trees, water elements, and proximity to natural areas. More sceptical residents tended to perceive green areas mainly through their recreational and sport-related functions. The findings indicate that climate-adaptive green infrastructure should be planned in a socially differentiated way, combining environmental, recreational, and tourism-related functions to strengthen both urban resilience and the attractiveness of Warsaw. Full article

This paper presents a novel approach for estimating 3D human pose from monocular video sequences in underwater scenarios, tackling the unique challenges posed by water refraction, body occlusion, low image quality and illumination distortion in underwater environments. Leveraging both 2D keypoint extraction and parametric model estimation, our method operates in a two-stage framework including preprocessing and optimization. In the preprocessing stage, a Part Attention Regressor (PARE) is adopted to dynamically estimate SMPL human body parameters, particularly adept at handling occlusions common in underwater scenarios. Additionally, a 2D keypoint detector, employing YOLO for bounding box detection and HRNet for keypoint regression, enhances feature extraction despite underwater image challenges. In the optimization stage, we propose an underwater variational autoencoder (UW-VAE), which adopts a data-driven strategy to learn the biomechanical prior distribution of underwater human poses and implicitly correct unreasonable pose parameters caused by refraction and occlusion. The optimization process incorporates constraints aligning final SMPL models with detected 2D keypoints, minimizing disparity between adjusted and original SMPL models, and ensuring temporal consistency. Furthermore, to address the scarcity of annotated underwater datasets, we build a full pipeline to generate synthetic underwater datasets with complete annotations based on UW-VAE. Experimental results on the SwimXYZ synthetic dataset show that our method achieves 51.60% PCK@0.2 and 80.13% PCK@0.5, outperforming state-of-the-art land-based methods across most stroke categories. Validation on real-world underwater swimming datasets demonstrates improved 2D keypoint accuracy after synthetic-data fine-tuning, which provides a new solution for 3D human motion analysis in underwater sports, biomechanical research and swimming training. Full article

This study evaluated the effect of sports and energy drinks on the surface roughness of three commonly used restorative dental materials: resin-based composites (RBCs), resin-modified glass ionomer cements (RMGICs), and conventional glass ionomer cements (GICs). Sixty-three A2-shade specimens of each material were fabricated, stored in distilled water for 24 h, and then immersed in six commercially available beverages or distilled water (control) for 6, 30, or 60 h. Surface roughness was assessed after each immersion period using contact profilometry, and the effects of material type, immersion medium, and exposure time were compared. Surface roughness increased with longer immersion times for all materials, although the magnitude of change varied significantly among material types. RBCs showed the greatest resistance to surface degradation, whereas RMGICs and particularly GICs exhibited progressively higher roughness values over time. Beverages generally produced greater surface roughness than distilled water, with sugar-containing formulations showing higher roughness values than their sugar-free counterparts. Prolonged exposure to sports and energy drinks may adversely affect the surface integrity of restorative materials. Resin-based composites demonstrated the highest resistance to roughness changes, whereas glass ionomer cements were the most susceptible. Increased surface roughness may contribute to plaque accumulation, staining, and material wear, potentially compromising the long-term clinical performance of restorations. Full article

As wearable sensors advance toward long-term motion monitoring and operation in humid environments, performance priorities are shifting from sensitivity to sustained reliability. Hydrogels are attractive sensing materials due to their tissue-like compliance, biocompatibility, and tunable conductivity; however, their hydrated networks readily absorb water under perspiration, high humidity, and underwater conditions, leading to structural relaxation, interfacial instability, conductive pathway disruption, and signal drift. Thus, anti-swelling design should move beyond reducing swelling ratios toward coordinated regulation of water transport, internal water environment, interfacial integrity, and signal stability. This review summarizes recent advances in anti-swelling hydrogel-based wearable sensors, focusing on structural engineering strategies, including network confinement, surface hydrophobicity, core–shell architectures, and gradient structures, as well as material regulation mechanisms, including ionic/coordination crosslinking, nanoconfinement, zwitterionic hydration, and solvation-mediated anti-water exchange, highlighting their synergistic roles in long-term anti-swelling performance and environmental adaptability. Representative applications in perspiration monitoring, underwater motion sensing, rehabilitation, and intelligent interaction demonstrate the importance of anti-swelling regulation for reliable sensing in wet environments. Finally, the remaining challenges are summarized, together with future perspectives on the synergistic design of structures, materials, and interfaces, standardized evaluation systems for realistic motion environments, and scalable manufacturing. Anti-swelling hydrogel sensors are expected to evolve from low-swelling materials into environmentally adaptive sensing platforms for aqueous environments, enabling advances in underwater sports monitoring, digital health, and underwater human–machine interaction. Full article

Urban vitality is a key indicator for characterizing the quality of urban space and the operational status of urban functions. However, existing studies still have limitations in multidimensional vitality measurement at the block scale, the representation of hierarchical differences in cultural facilities, and the coupling coordination diagnosis of multidimensional vitality. This study takes 2504 blocks in the central urban area of Nanjing as the basic analytical units and integrates multi-source geospatial data, including VIIRS nighttime light data, Baidu Huiyan population heat data, POIs, road networks, and water systems, to construct a three-dimensional urban vitality evaluation system encompassing economic, social, and cultural vitality. A Composite Nighttime Light Index (CNLI) is constructed by geometrically fusing VIIRS nighttime light data with the kernel density of industry- and consumption-related POIs to reduce the impact of the spatial generalization of nighttime lights on block-scale economic vitality measurement. Meanwhile, population heat data and cultural POIs are used to characterize social vitality and cultural resource supply, respectively, and PCA, a coupling coordination model, and spatial autocorrelation analysis are combined to identify the spatial structure of multidimensional vitality and the dominant factors of disorder. External reference variables are also introduced to conduct convergent validity verification. The results indicate that the comprehensive vitality of Nanjing’s central urban area exhibits a distinct “core agglomeration–multi-node diffusion” structure. High-vitality zones are primarily concentrated in Xinjiekou, Confucius Temple, Hunan Road–Zhongyang Road, Longjiang, and the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, with localized vitality patches forming at peripheral commercial and transportation nodes. Both comprehensive vitality and coupling coordination degree exhibit significant positive spatial autocorrelation, with Moran’s I values of 0.8089 and 0.8372, respectively. The disorder types show distinct quantitative differences and spatial differentiation. Among these, blocks with lagging cultural vitality are the most numerous; peripheral new towns and newly developed residential areas are more prone to cultural vitality lag; areas surrounding scenic spots, universities, and large ecological spaces tend to exhibit economic vitality lag; and less developed peripheral blocks primarily exhibit comprehensive disorder. Based on accessible multi-source geospatial data, this study constructs a block-scale framework for measuring multidimensional urban vitality and diagnosing coordination status. This framework can provide a reference for vitality identification, functional shortcoming diagnosis, and refined spatial governance in Nanjing’s central urban area, and offer a case reference for historic and cultural cities with similar spatial structures. Full article

This study was developed within the framework of the GOLL (Green Olympic Living Lab and Environment Change) project, promoted by the Municipality of Coimbra, Portugal. The project uses the Mário Mexia Multisport Pavilion (MMMP) and the Olympic Swimming Pools Complex (OSPC) as living lab case studies for sustainability-oriented sports infrastructure management. The study combines a review of best practices in sustainable sports facilities with an applied case study focusing on infrastructure characterisation and the identification of intervention requirements (InRs). The review addresses the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainable sports facilities, including energy and water efficiency, digital technologies, renewable energy integration, waste management, mobility, certification systems, and user inclusion. The adopted methodology integrates a literature review, technical inspections, and the analysis of building systems and resource consumption. The findings highlight the significant potential for improving operational performance, resource efficiency, and overall sustainability by adopting more integrated maintenance and management approaches. However, practical implementation remains dependent on overcoming challenges related to costs, data integration, and stakeholder engagement. The paper also discusses the potential adoption of integrated maintenance approaches, including the potential adoption of tailored digital management solutions and certification schemes, which may support more structured and proactive management. Within the GOLL living lab environment, this contributes to more informed technical, operational, and policy decision-making for the sustainable rehabilitation and management of sports facilities. Full article

Urban parks are widely regarded as healthy and sustainable urban infrastructures, yet their respiratory benefits depend on the coupling of design, behaviour, and perception rather than ambient PM concentrations alone. A multi-season daytime fair-weather panel study across five urban park space types integrated in situ PM monitoring, SOPARC-based behavior mapping (9173 users), dwell-time surveys, and inhalation-rate libraries to estimate per capita inhaled doses, while an on-site survey (n = 837) assessed perceived PM and its influence on space choice. Understory and water spaces exhibited the highest PM₁₀ and TSP concentrations, whereas waterfront areas were the cleanest; winter concentrations were elevated but preserved the same space-type ranking. Sports spaces had the most intense activity profiles (61.9% moderate-to-extreme), and understory and sports spaces supported the longest stays, with little seasonal change in either intensity or duration. Consequently, per capita PM exposure was highest in sports and understory spaces and lowest in water and waterfront spaces. Spaces that attracted more users also delivered higher per capita doses, indicating an overlap between popularity and high-dose micro-environments. Perceptually, 94.9% of users rated PM as low or relatively low in water spaces, whereas squares had the highest share of “moderate or worse” ratings (26.4%); 78.1% chose locations based on perceived air quality, despite weak or even negative correlations with measured PM. These findings reveal a design-driven exposure architecture in which space configuration organizes both PM concentrations and user behavior, while misperception can steer visitors, especially in winter, toward the very park micro-environments that deliver the highest inhaled doses. This study provides evidence for exposure-aware park design and management that can reduce respiratory risk while supporting sustainable outdoor recreation and healthier urban living. Full article

In professional water polo, understanding the effects of ball wettability on game dynamics is essential but remains insufficiently investigated. This research aims to evaluate how the surface wettability of various professional water polo balls could influence their behavior during play. The study employed a combination of laboratory measurements to assess the wettability of multiple ball brands using the sessile drop method under standardized conditions. FTIR spectroscopy was also performed to characterize the surface chemical composition and support the interpretation of wettability differences observed in contact angle measurements. Performance-related parameters, including static contact angle values and droplet behavior during measurement, were analyzed in relation to surface chemistry and material composition. Significant variability in wettability was observed across different ball brands. These differences indicate that surface properties may play an important role in modulating ball–water interaction mechanisms, which are influenced by both chemical composition and surface morphology. Based on these results, we propose including wettability-related parameters in the official water polo equipment guidelines, which currently cover only size, weight, and material composition. This adjustment could help standardize ball behavior across competitive play, leading to more consistent and fair conditions. This study extends current knowledge of the physical factors influencing sports performance and suggests practical improvements to enhance fairness and quality in water polo competitions. Full article

Background: Competitive sports represent a powerful physiological and psychological stressor capable of modulating neuroendocrine and immune pathways. Water polo, characterized by intense intermittent exertion and frequent physical contact, provides a unique model to investigate competition-related stress biology. Methods: Sixteen male Italian Serie C water polo players were enrolled in the study. Using a within-subject design, saliva samples were collected under controlled circadian conditions. Salivary biomarkers, including cortisol, IgA, and cytokines, were assessed both before and after training sessions and competitive matches. Results: Both training and competition elicited POST-session increases in salivary cortisol and cytokines, alongside reductions in IgA. However, competition produced significantly higher anticipatory and POST-session cortisol concentrations. A larger POST-session decreases in IgA compared with training was observed. Cytokine concentrations increased from PRE- to POST-session in both conditions, with significantly greater induction during competition across the panel. During training, selected cytokines showed positive within-session correlations with cortisol, indicating coordinated hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal–immune activation under lower psychosocial load. These associations were attenuated and less consistent during competition. Conclusions: Official competition amplifies endocrine and immune responses beyond those observed during match-like training in elite water polo players, despite comparable physical demands. Altered cytokine–cortisol coupling under competitive conditions suggests modulation of neuroendocrine–immune integration by psychosocial stress. Combined salivary profiling of cortisol, cytokines, and IgA represents a feasible, non-invasive approach for monitoring psychophysiological load in elite aquatic team sports. Full article

Background and Objectives: Water polo (WP) is a high-intensity, intermittent aquatic team sport that has been extensively investigated within sports science. While contemporary literature has examined the body composition and morphological characteristics of elite and international WP players, this study aimed to define the general body composition profile of world-class WP players and determine position-specific differences. Methods: The study involved 72 national team players from Serbia, Croatia, Greece, and Italy who participated in the Olympic Games, World Championships, or European Championships. Participants’ body composition was measured using the InBody 720 multichannel bioimpedance method. Ten different variables were examined to assess body structure regarding contractile and ballast components. Results: MANOVA revealed statistically significant differences in body composition across playing positions (Wilks’ lambda = 0.239, p < 0.000, η²_p = 0.402). The variables that had the greatest impact on the difference were: body mass, body fat and body mass index with the 47.0, 44.4, and 43.7% of explained total variance of the impact on the differences (p = 0.000), respectively. Conclusions: world-class WP players assigned to different playing positions differ significantly in body composition. These positional profiles should be considered in talent identification, selection procedures, training, and nutritional strategies to optimize performance models, considering the future evolution of the game at the highest competitive level. Coaches could use this information to initially select players for different specific positions based on anthropometric and body composition criteria. Full article

Paralympic water polo requires classification systems that reflect sport-specific functional performance under ecologically valid conditions. This pilot study proposes a task-specific kinematic profiling framework for deriving objective, biomechanically interpretable descriptors of residual motor function. Five male national-level water polo athletes—three with eligible motor impairments and two able-bodied reference participants—performed standardized sport-specific tasks comprising upright floating, vertical propulsion, unilateral passing, non-contested shooting, and contested shooting under physical opposition. Stereoscopic video, OpenPose-based three-dimensional reconstruction, and phase-based analysis were used to extract features and composite indices of postural control, propulsion capacity, upper-limb residual function, and resistance to perturbation. Automatic ball-release detection matched manual frame-level verification in all 128 analyzed ball-related trials. Within the task-specific indices, where higher scores indicate greater functional burden, core values ranged from 0.05–0.15 for upright floating, 0.29–0.68 for combined arm-and-leg vertical propulsion, and 0.040–0.148 for contested shooting across the available subject–side combinations. The profiles showed task- and side-specific differences in stabilization, propulsion, and post-contact motor reorganization. The framework uses pose estimation as a quantitative measurement tool and treats visibility interruptions as functionally meaningful events rather than noise. It is not intended to replace official classification procedures, but to provide transparent and interpretable candidate descriptors for future evidence-based classification research in Paralympic water polo. Full article

European catfish, an invasive alien species (IAS) that inhabits the Tagus River in Extremadura, is a threat to freshwater biodiversity and the local economy. As a freshwater mega-predator, it eats all kinds of fish, impacting local ichthyofauna as well as sport-recreational angling, a major economic driver in Extremadura, with 100,000 angling licenses issued by the Extremadura local government and more than 1000 annual bank fishing competitions. The introduction of Silurus glanis into Tagus basin is recent, dating to the 20th century, but it has rapidly spread. Although this expansion is driven by anglers, boat anglers account for only two per thousand anglers in the region, and even among them European catfish anglers are scarce, as fishing for this species is prohibited in the region and local anglers and anglers associations are against European catfish expansion. Efforts to control catfish in Extremadura have been based on studies of selective capture methods, such as trammel nets, gill nets, long lines, fish traps, and electrofishing combined with nets in areas where barbel congregate during their spawning migration. The most effective and selective methods for European catfish, avoiding bycatch, are trammel nets and electrofishing. Therefore, a combination of these methods and collaboration between local government and anglers are proposed for its control in reservoirs. In cases of recent introductions into standing water, rapid actions have been taken, involving complete drainage of the water body, rescue of native fish and removal of European catfish. These measures are feasible in reservoirs up to 10 hectares and can be combined with sediment management to improve water quality. Deterrence and control measures have been implemented in response to the promotion of catfish angling in regional media and on social media. To control European catfish expansion, collaborative actions involving public agencies, local government, angler associations and public awareness are essential. Full article

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of different small-sided game (SSG) formats on internal load, perceived enjoyment, and technical-tactical performance in elite youth water polo players. Twenty male athletes (U16, n = 10; U18, n = 10) performed in three 4 vs. 4 SSG formats with different time of ball possessions and size of field areas. Technical-tactical variables were assessed using the Team Sport Assessment Procedure (TSAP), while internal load and enjoyment were measured through session-RPE (s-RPE) and a 7-point enjoyment Likert scale (ENJ). Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models and Spearman correlations. SSG format significantly influenced internal load, with higher RPE values (F = 6.878; p = 0.004) and s-RPE (F = 6.27; p = 0.006) observed in larger formats of the SSG. Technical-tactical indices were also affected, with significant differences found for volume of play (VP) (F = 17.041; p < 0.001) and performance score (PS) (F = 18.574; p < 0.001), showing higher values in the smallest format (SSG1). Enjoyment differed between categories (F = 13.136; p = 0.003), with higher scores in U16 players. No significant correlations were found between final RPE and TSAP indices (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that SSGs are effective tools for simultaneously developing physical and technical-tactical skills. Coaches should manipulate task constraints to balance training intensity and skill development, while also enhancing player motivation and engagement. Full article