Sport Physiology and Management Investigations
Year:2017 | Volume:9 | Issue:1|Papers Count:11

Chemerin is a component of adipokines secreted from adipose tissue and has several biological roles. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of 8 weeks of resistance training and a short-term detraining on plasma levels of chemerin and body composition in overweight and obese females. For this purpose, 22 overweight and obese females were randomly divided into two groups: experimental (n=12) and control (n=10). Experimental group exercised for 8 weeks (4 sessions per week) with intensity of 65-80% one repetition maximum (1RM) and then experienced 4 weeks of detraining. Blood samples were collected at various stages after 12 hours of fasting in similar conditions. Data were analyzed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, ANOVA with repeated measures, LSD post hoc test and independent t test at the significance level (a<0.05). After the training period, a significant decrease was observed in body composition (weight, fat mass, body mass index and waist to hip ratio) in the experimental group compared with the control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in plasma levels of chemerin (P˃0.05). Also, after 4 weeks of detraining, due to a pause in training, a small increase happened in plasma levels of chemerin which was not statistically significant. Resistance training, as non-pharmacological procedure, plays an important role in improving the health of individuals through a reduction in the levels of cardiovascular risk factors while an increase in these indices as a result of detraining indicates that the favorable outcomes of training disappear with detraining and the body will be exposed to cardiovascular diseases.

This study examined the effect of SERVQUAL aspects of service quality on female customers’ satisfaction in sport clubs. The study was descriptive-correlation conducted as a field. The research population consisted of all female customers of sport clubs in Sabzevar city who had at least 6 months of sport participation. The sample consisted of 154 customers. The questionnaire of Service Quality by Yi-Chin Liu (2008) and questionnaire of Customer Satisfaction by Jao-Chuan Lin (2008) were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze demographic features and inferential statistics including Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression and confirmatory factor analysis were applied as well. Findings showed a positive significant relationship between service quality and female customers’ satisfaction. Among 5 SERVQUAL aspects of service quality, tangibles and empathy were stronger predictors of customer satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that assurance (load=0.95) had the most importance and reliability (load=0.88) had the least importance in service quality priorities of sport clubs.

The aim of this study was to assess cardio-metabolic response to a bout of progressive exercise in the male managers of selected universities in Iran. In this study, 63 managers (age range 30-60 years) with at least 6 months of management were classified into 3 age groups: 30-40, 41-50 and 51-60. Modified Bruce protocol was used to perform progressive exercise on a treadmill. Blood samples were collected following a 10-hour fasting in two stages: before and after the protocol. Data were analyzed using dependent t-test, one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test at significance level of 0.05. The results showed that a bout of progressive exercise significantly changed HDL-C (P values respectively 0.009, 0.001 and 0.001) and total cholesterol (P values respectively 0.001, 0.001 and 0.001) in all three groups.Changes in the LDL-C levels in the age group 41-50 (P=0.001) and adiponectin at the age of 40-30 (P=0.031) and 50-41 (P=0.021) were significant. The inter-group changes were statistically significant only in cholesterol levels in 40-30 group compared with 51-60 group (P=0.038). The present study showed that a bout of progressive exercise on a treadmill had a significant effect on adiponectin levels and improved lipid profiles in male managers with different age groups in selected universities in Iran. Therefore, changes in lifestyle of these managers prevent cardiovascular diseases and increase their efficiency in working environments.

The aim of this study was to investigate attitudes of media management students of Alborz PNU towards reflection of women’s sport in the national media and also to answer this question that whether there were any differences in attitudes towards the reflection of women's sport in the national media between the two groups of boys and girls. This study was practical in terms of the achievements and results, descriptive according to the research objectives and field in terms of data collection. As the population including media management post graduate students was small, all the population was selected as the sample (n=120) and finally 95 questionnaires were used. Farhadian (2011) questionnaire (reliability=0.851) was used. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics including one-sample t test, independent t test and Friedman test in SPSS software were used with 0.05 significance level.Findings showed that the national media failed to reflect women's sport and to conform to strategies of women’s sport. Comments were somewhat better and more positive only in student sports and championship sport than other cases. Also, in terms of gender, there was a difference in men's sports and championship sport, that is to say the boys considered the reflection of women's sport more desirable than girls. On the contrary, the girls had more radical ideas about the superiority of reflecting men's sport in the media. Finally, according to these findings, it is suggested that media authorities and sports and physical education officials should identify the existing weaknesses and shortcomings and try more to eliminate them.

This study was conducted to examine inflammatory cytokines in children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) for 5 weeks of physical activity. In this semi experimental study, 14 ISS children (4 girls, 10 boys) with tanner age£1 were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using Bruce test. Children in experimental group performed 5 weeks of physical activity. Intensity of physical activity was controlled using a polar wrist in the range of 40-60% of the maximum heart rate. Simultaneously, children in control group participated in a drawing course. Inflammatory cytokines were measured at the beginning and after 5 weeks of intervention. Statistical analyses were performed using independent and paired t tests. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. An insignificant decrease was observed in IL-1b and TNF-a in the experimental group while these values increased in the control group. IL-6 remained unchanged in the experimental group while it decreased in the control group. Also, a significant difference in the IL-1b and TNF-a was observed between the groups (P£0.05). It seems that 5 weeks of physical activity almost prevented the pre-inflammatory cytokines from increasing in the experimental group which indicates the positive effect of the physical activity. It is recommended to study physical activity longer than 5 weeks for better results.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the psychological empowerment and organizational learning in Sport and Youth offices in Kermanshah province. This study was descriptive-correlation and conducted as a field study. Data were collected by two standard questionnaires: Psychological Empowerment based on Spritzer model and Organizational Learning according to Nefe model. Statistical population included all male and female staff of Sport and Youth offices of Kermanshah province (N=150). All the population was considered as the sample.Data were analyzed based on research hypotheses using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression. Results of Pearson correlation showed a positive and significant relationship between psychological empowerment and its dimensions with organizational learning and its dimensions. Also, sense of competence (b=0.90) and sense of self-determination (b=0.40) could positively and significantly predict organizational learning. These findings show that empowered staff are required to improve organizational learning and to transform an organization into a dynamic one.

Today, futsal is a team sport with a ball which has been popular in recent years. Now, the players of this sport are at a professional level and in interaction with professional players. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between aerobic endurance and RAST test performance in Iranian female national futsal players (IFNFP). For this purpose, 22 IFNFP (mean age 25.18±3.08 yr; weight 54.64±6.61 kg; height 162.25±5.17 cm) present in the women’s futsal national team camp participated in this study. Aerobic endurance performance, anaerobic power, as well as body composition were measured. To analyze data and the relationship among variables, Pearson correlation coefficient and simple liner regression were used at significance level of P≤0.05. The results showed a significant positive moderate relationship between aerobic endurance and mean anaerobic power of IFNFP (R=0.57, P=0.008).However, there was a poor and opposite relationship between aerobic endurance and fatigue index, aerobic endurance and body fat %, mean anaerobic power and fatigue index, and mean anaerobic power and body fat % of IFNFP (R=0.07, P=0.76; R=0.08, P=0.72; R=0.04, P=0.85; R=0.07, P=0.75 respectively) which was not statistically significant. The results showed that the share of oxidative phosphorylation in consuming the entire energy during intensive short-term runs (less than 6 seconds) can be neglected; but if such short-term runs are supposed to be repeated several times along with short-term recovery, the role of aerobic endurance and in fact oxidative phosphorylation cannot be neglected. Therefore, it seems that the higher the oxygen consumption during intensive short-term runs, the lower the reliance on anaerobic glycolysis will be and also the higher the power maintenance. The results showed a significant positive relationship between aerobic endurance performance and RAST anaerobic test in IFNFP. Therefore, aerobic power specially should be considered as an important and determinant factor in preparing futsal players.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Iranian famous athletes ‘endorsement on attitude and purchase intention of customers and to develop a model of endorsement. The research method was correlation carried out as a field using a questionnaire. The population consisted of the students of physical education and sport sciences of state universities in Iran. The sampling method was cluster-random and finally 823 questionnaires were analyzed. Data were collected using questionnaires of sport and athlete identification, perceived value, Star power (SASP), product-endorser match-up, and purchase intention. To analyze data, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression in SPSS19 and Liserel8.8 were used. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that all coefficients were significant and main indexes of model’s fit showed that the model was good and suitable to extract the relationships among variables. There was a significant correlation between all components of star power of athletes and attitude and purchase intention. Multiple regression showed that 22% of variations in dependent variable (attitude towards product) was related to attractiveness and dependence, and also 16% of variations in dependent variable (purchase intention) was related to attractiveness, dependence, likeable personality and expertise. Also, the model proposed for endorsement was fitted using SEM. Finally, it is necessary to consider the dimensions of star power in the process of selecting athlete endorsers. It is also recommended that there should be a congruence between the athlete endorser and endorsed product. Those mentioned factors finally provoke interest in customers and their purchase intention.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two types of intervention (aerobic exercise and low calorie diet) on serum irisin levels and insulin resistance index in sedentary obese women. For this purpose, 30 women (mean±SD: age 41.33±4.28 yr; weight 77.43±6.85 kg) who referred to health centers in Tehran city were randomly assigned to three groups: aerobic exercise (experimental 1), low calorie diet and aerobic exercise (experimental 2) and control (each group 10 subjects). The program in experimental 1 group consisted of 90 minutes of aerobic exercise and running on a treadmill for 15.18±5.63 minutes, 4 sessions a week for 16 weeks. Experimental 2 group followed a diet with caloric restriction and physical activity equal to energy expenditure of experimental 1 group. Serum irisin, glucose, insulin and insulin resistance were measured using homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) before and after 16 weeks of intervention. Weight, BMI, WHR, serum irisin, fasting glucose, fasting insulin and HOMA-IR decreased significantly after weight loss induced by aerobic exercise and caloric restriction (P<0.05). A significant correlation was observed between changes of serum irisin and changes of weight, WHR and HOMAIR (P<0.05). It seems that 16 weeks of aerobic exercise and low caloric diet influenced the reduction of serum irisin, insulin resistance index and anthropometric profiles in sedentary obese women.

Today’s world is an organizational world and change, transformation, development and improvement are the largest properties of organizations and institutions in today's competitive field. So, the aim of this study was to assess and evaluate the aspects of organizational agility in Sport and Youth general office of Khuzestan province. The statistical population included all of the employees of Sport and Youth general office of Khuzestan province (N=130). The sample was considered equal to the population through census sampling method. Spiders (2007) standard questionnaire was used to collect data. The reliability was calculated 0.82 by Cronbach's alpha. The KMO value of this questionnaire was equal to 67%. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics (one-sample t test, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) were used. The significance level was considered as 0.05. The results showed that Sport and Youth general office in Khuzestan province enjoyed desirable agility in the aspects of flexibility and competence but not in the aspects of quickness and accountability. According these results, it is suggested that this office should employ agility in its organizational structure so that it can appropriately respond to the demands and needs of individuals.

The aim of this study was to compare organizational health in the Ministry pf Sport and Youth. The study was conducted by descriptive (survey) method. The statistical population consisted of all experts working in the Ministry of Sport and Youth with at least an associate degree (N=400). The sample size was estimated according to the Morgan table (n=200). The sampling method was random stratified. OHI Organizational Health Questionnaire by Hoy et al. (1998) with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.88 was used for data collection. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential tests such as ratio test (binomial), two sample mean test and ANOVA test. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was used to rank the dimensions of organizational health. The results showed that the organizational health in the Ministry of Sport and Youth was assessed as appropriate according to the experts. There was no significant difference between male and female experts’ attitudes towards organizational health. There was no significant difference among the education levels in organizational health.