Variations of workload and well-being measures across a professional basketball season

The aims of this study were: (i) to describe weekly variations of acute load (AL), acute:chronic workload ratio, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and fatigue; (ii) to analyze variations of weekly workload and well-being in three periods of the season (P1, P2, and P3); and (iii) to analyze the relationships between workload and well-being measures. Fifteen professional basketball players from a first-league European club were monitored throughout the season using the CR-10 Borg scale and the Hooper questionnaire. Weekly AL and acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) were weekly calculated for monitoring of the internal load. In addition, DOMS and fatigue values were weekly calculated. Greater AL, DOMS, and fatigue values were found during the early season, and the highest ACWR value was found during the second period. Overall, AL presented large correlations with DOMS (r=0.60) and fatigue (r=0.62). The results of this study indicate that load is higher in the first period and then decreases throughout the season. The results also showed that AL is more closely related to well-being parameters than ACWR.

Recent Advances in Practical Methods for Liver Cell Biology: A Short Overview

Molecular and cellular research modalities for the study of liver pathologies have been tremendously improved over the recent decades. Advanced technologies offer novel opportunities to establish cell isolation techniques with excellent purity, paving the path for 2D and 3D microscopy and high-throughput assays (e.g., bulk or single-cell RNA sequencing). The use of stem cell and organoid research will help to decipher the pathophysiology of liver diseases and the interaction between various parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells. Furthermore, sophisticated animal models of liver disease allow for the in vivo assessment of fibrogenesis, portal hypertension and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and for the preclinical testing of therapeutic strategies. The purpose of this review is to portray in detail novel in vitro and in vivo methods for the study of liver cell biology that had been presented at the workshop of the 8th meeting of the European Club for Liver Cell Biology (ECLCB-8) in October of 2018 in Bonn, Germany.

Dealing With Randomness in Match Outcomes: How to Rethink Performance Evaluation in European Club Football Using Expected Goals

In European club football, decision makers often rely on recent match outcomes when evaluating team performance, even though short-term results are heavily influenced by randomness. This can lead to systematic misjudgments. In this article, we propose a complementary approach for performance evaluation. We build upon the concept of expected goals based on quantified scoring chances and develop a chart that visualizes situations in which a team’s true performance likely deviates from the performance indicated by match outcomes. This should prevent clubs from making flawed decisions when match outcomes are misleading due to the influence of random forces.

Die UEFA Champions League als politischer Mythos. Einigung Europas oder Entfremdung der Fans?

The article seeks to describe and discuss the UEFA Champions League as an eventually emerging political myth. This continent-wide competition in top-level European club football has been rendered both an „integration engine“ (contributing to a further amalgamation of societies of supporters and interested Europeans in a lifeworldy sphere) as well a „grave digger“ of football (due, for instance, to its detrimental effects on some national competitions across Europe). Following from that, we distinguish between two countervailing narrative strands, with several motives and sub-narratives in both, that have the potential to either cement or to undermine the mythological nature of the Champions League. Whereas the positive narrative hints at politically relevant forms of societal integration through the presence of a continent-wide, de facto league of top football clubs, the negative counterpart suggests that the Champions League is a driver for (over-)commercialisation and a threat for the integrity of „true“/traditional football. We argue that these two Champions League narratives do not seem to (completely) neutralise each other. While fans may be alienated by the commercialisation triggered through the Champions League, at the same time the Champions League may have a unifying effect by widening perspectives, fostering a common continental communicative space, or constituting an engine of lived integration. In the remainder we seek to outline possible avenues of future research into how football fans - not so much elite commentators such as politicians, club and association officers, scholars and journalists - indeed perceive of the Champions League and hence link up to the two broader narratives identified.

European Club Football after “Five Treatments” with Financial Fair Play—Time for an Assessment

UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations (FFP) have impacted European club football. After five distinct applications of the break-even requirement, which represents the cornerstone of these regulations, it is time for an assessment. How has the situation in European top-division football changed since the FFP regulation? The most recent financial data show that European club football is characterized by significant financial recovery and further polarization. How has the FFP regulation presumably affected this development? This article discusses plausible reasons why FFP has contributed to financial recovery but has not aggravated polarization. Understanding the drivers of polarization is essential before taking further regulatory steps.