Background Wheelchair tennis, a globally popular sport, features a professional tour spanning 40 countries and over 160 tournaments. Despite its widespread appeal, information about the physical demands of wheelchair tennis is scattered across various studies, necessitating a comprehensive systematic review to synthesise available data. Objective The aim was to provide a detailed synthesis of the physical demands associated with wheelchair tennis, encompassing diverse factors such as court surfaces, performance levels, sport classes, and sexes. Methods We conducted comprehensive searches in the PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus databases, covering articles from inception to March 1, 2023. Forward and backward citation tracking from the included articles was carried out using Scopus, and we established eligibility criteria following the Population, Exposure, Comparison, Outcome, and Study design (PECOS) framework. Our study focused on wheelchair tennis players participating at regional, national, or international levels, including both juniors and adults, and open and quad players. We analysed singles and doubles matches and considered sex (male, female), sport class (open, quad), and court surface type (hard, clay, grass) as key comparative points. The outcomes of interest encompassed play duration, on-court movement, stroke performance, and physiological match variables. The selected study designs included observational cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies (baseline data only). We calculated pooled means or mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and employed a random-effects meta-analysis with robust variance estimation. We assessed heterogeneity using Cochrane Q and 95% prediction intervals. Results Our literature search retrieved 643 records, with 24 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. Most available information focused on international male wheelchair tennis players in the open division, primarily competing in singles on hard courts. Key findings (mean [95% CI]) for these players on hard courts were match duration 65.9 min [55.0–78.8], set duration 35.0 min [28.2–43.5], game duration 4.6 min [0.92–23.3], rally duration 6.1 s [3.7–10.2], effective playing time 19.8% [18.9–20.7], and work-to-rest ratio 1:4.1 [1:3.7–1:4.4]. Insufficient data were available to analyse play duration for female players. However, for the available data on hard court matches, the average set duration was 34.8 min [32.5–37.2]. International male players on hard court covered an average distance per match of 3859 m [1917–7768], with mean and peak average forward speeds of 1.06 m/s [0.85–1.32] and 3.55 m/s [2.92–4.31], respectively. These players executed an average of 365.9 [317.2–422.1] strokes per match, 200.6 [134.7–299.0] per set, 25.4 [16.7–38.7] per game, and 3.4 [2.6–4.6] per rally. Insufficient data were available for a meta-analysis of female players’ on-court movement and stroke performance. The average and peak heart rates of international male players on hard court were 134.3 [124.2–145.1] and 166.0 [132.7–207.6] beats per minute, and the average match heart rate expressed as a percentage of peak heart rate was 74.7% [46.4–100]. We found no studies concerning regional players or juniors, and only one study on doubles match play. Conclusions While we present a comprehensive overview of the physical demands of wheelchair tennis, our understanding predominantly centres around international male players competing on hard courts in the open division. To attain a more comprehensive insight into the sport’s physical requirements, future research should prioritise the inclusion of data on female and quad players, juniors, doubles, and matches played on clay and grass court surfaces. Such endeavours will facilitate the development of more tailored and effective training programmes for wheelchair tennis players and coaches.
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To assess the reporting quality of interventions aiming at promoting physical activity (PA) using a wearable activity tracker (WAT) in patients with infammatory arthritis (IA) or hip/knee osteoarthritis (OA). A systematic search was performed in eight databases including PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library) for studies published between 2000 and 2022. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data on study characteristics and the reporting of the PA intervention using a WAT using the Consensus on Exercise reporting Template (CERT) (12 items) and Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) E-Health checklist (16 items). The reporting quality of each study was expressed as a percentage of reported items of the total CERT and CONSORT E-Health (50% or less=poor; 51–79%=moderate; and 80–100%=good reporting quality). Sixteen studies were included; three involved patients with IA and 13 with OA. Reporting quality was poor in 6/16 studies and moderate in 10/16 studies, according to the CERT and poor in 8/16 and moderate in 8/16 studies following the CONSORT E-Health checklist. Poorly reported checklist items included: the description of decision rule(s) for determining progression and the starting level, the number of adverse events and how adherence or fdelity was assessed. In clinical trials on PA interventions using a WAT in patients with IA or OA, the reporting quality of delivery process is moderate to poor. The poor reporting quality of the progression and tailoring of the PA programs makes replication difcult. Improvements in reporting quality are necessary.
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The article describes what a restorative city is by looking at research, experiences in different countries and by describing the developments in Restorative City Wrocław. A restorative city is a city that recognises its urban environment as a network of relations in which – in the case of conflict – citizens, institutions and organisations choose a restorative approach to finding a solution in the first place. This necessitates proactive responses to conflict resolution, which go beyond criminal justice and crime prevention strategies that are still predominantly of a reactive nature. The concept of the restorative justice city builds a ‘criminology of trust’, for which crime is not a risk to be managed and controlled but a harm to be addressed by penal policies based on respect, solidarity, inclusion and active participation The restorative city concept, as also seen in Wrocław, is gaining momentum and while it is becoming an appealing policy transfer in an increasingly globalized world.
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Innovating STE(A)M in Higher Education with Transdisciplinary Talent Programs (STEAM+) is a large-scale innovative project with a holistic approach, aiming to provide educational policy makers with instruments to prepare new generations for handling the challenges of our time. Europe faces grand challenges, such as climate change and energy transition, which have a STEM subject at their core, but need transversal skills and knowledge from All other subjects (the extra A) to create STEAM solutions. We need to use brains, hearts and hands of all talents to tackle these challenges. The STEAM+ project uses transdisciplinary talent programs as laboratories of innovation in higher education (HE). The project is co-created by a dedicated and qualified team of 18 partners from 9 countries, bringing together educators, policy makers and future employers, united in their aim to provide new generations with future-proof skills. In the project, we run three international STEAM+ Innovation Labs, where students and teachers from 9 countries come together to co-create solutions for grand challenges. The experience from the Labs and a subsequent series of 54 workshops, 27 national policy meetings and an International Policy Meet-up are used to create two main products:1. An instrument on how to establish transdisciplinary talent programs in HE: The STEAM+ Innovation Lab Implementation Path; 2. An instrument for policy makers at HE, local, regional, national and EU levels to support and recognize (development of) such programs: the STEAM+ Menu for Policy Inspiration.STEAM+ combines three key innovative elements:1. Applying a holistic approach, starting with grand challenges, using international, transdisciplinary and educational chain perspectives;2. Using the proven innovative power of transdisciplinary talent programs;3. Collaborating transnationally with 18 HE and policy partners and 34 enthusiastic associate partners to optimize dissemination of results and impact.
