No abstract

Hoverboards are always more popular among children. Hoverboards are to them like a game or a mean of transport, but they could be used as a valid and useful instrument in children’s training programs to improve their performance. In this study, we compared the athletic performance of two groups of 12 children. A total of 24 children aged between 8 and 11 years followed a similar training program for five months, but the first group used a hoverboard (Hb+ group: Age: Standard Deviation (SD) = 1.15 Mean = 9.66; Weight: SD = 5.90 Mean = 32; Height: SD = 7.64 Mean = 135.08) for some of the training time, differently from the second group (Hb- group: Age: SD = 1.15 Mean = 9.66; Weight: SD = 5.82 Mean = 31.16; Height: SD = 7.66 Mean = 136.16), which never used it. All of the children were asked to complete three tests (one leg test, stork test and balance beam walking test) before starting their own training program and after five months, to evaluate how their performances changed in terms of time. Comparing the recorded time difference between T0 and T1 of the Hb+ group with the same difference measured in Hb- group, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference (p value < 0.05) between these data for all three tests. Children who used the hoverboard in their training program achieved better result than children who did not use it. In the future, the hoverboard could help athletes to improve their performances, possibly applying it not only in football training, but even in other sports.

Recent events in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic showed how the health situation and overcrowding in prisons are a source of high risk to the health and physical and mental well-being of the prison population and how this has become an important medical problem. The original purpose of this study, which was initially planned to last 6 months, was to examine the effects of a training program on cardio-respiratory capacity, resistance to dynamic strength of the upper and lower body and muscle mass. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the purpose was subsequently modified by highlighting whether and which deficiencies occurred as a result of the absence of physical activity. Forty adult men between 35 and 55 years of age with more than 1 year of detention were selected and randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group and control group. The fitness training protocol of the experimental group consisted of three weekly sessions lasting 90 min, while control group subjects followed a walk of 30–60 min three days a week without running or resistance training. The unpaired and paired t-tests revealed significant effects of both health status and fitness level (p < 0.05; p < 0.01) on group training. The results of this research show that prisoners can improve their fitness and health through participation in physical education programs. This conclusion is especially important for prisoners who have to serve very long prison sentences and who are at great risk of showing poor physical condition levels.

The management of vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) is based on conservative treatment and minimally invasive vertebral augmentation procedures. However, the role of vertebral augmentation is now being questioned by clinical trials and extensive studies. The aim of this review is to report the most relevant evidences on effectiveness, safety, and indications of the currently available vertebral augmentation techniques. Conservative treatment with bracing is effective in reducing acute but it has no effect on segmental kyphosis progression and pseudoarthrosis can occur. Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) was the first vertebral augmentation technique to be proposed for the treatment of VCFs. Two blinded and randomized clinical trials compared PV to a sham procedure and no significant differences in terms of efficacy were reported. More recent studies have suggested that PV can still benefit patients with acute VCFs and severe pain at onset. Balloon kyphoplasty (BK) was developed to improve the segmental alignment restoring the height of collapsed vertebrae. BK allows similar pain relief and disability improvement, as well as greater kyphosis correction compared to PV, moreover BKP seems to reduce cement leakage. Vertebral body stenting (VBS) and the KIVA system are third generation techniques of vertebral augmentation. VBS aims to increase the effectiveness in restoring the segmental alignment, while the KIVA system can prevent cement leakage. These techniques are effective and safe, even if their superiority to BK has yet to be proven by studies with a high level of evidence.