The study explored the competition between teammates for playing time (i.e., positional competition) within university team sports from the athletes’ perspective. Sixteen Canadian interuniversity team sport athletes (11 women, 5 men) participated in semistructured interviews. Results revealed that positional competition (a) occurs between players in the same position, (b) is necessary to determine playing time, (c) is an ongoing, omni-present process, and (d) happens under the awareness of the coach. Furthermore, various inputs (by the individual athlete, team, coach), processes (performance-related, information-related), and outcomes (individual, collective) became apparent. Positional competition is a group process that occurs across multiple competitive situations (e.g., practices, games). Future research is needed to clearly define and operationalize it as its own construct.

BackgroundPatients with acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) have an increased short-term and long-term risk of mortality. In most North American intensive care units (ICUs), these patients receive continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).ObjectiveWe aim to identify clinical and demographic factors associated with mortality within 24 h of initiating CRRT.DesignThis paper is a prospective cohort study.SettingThe setting involves three ICUs (12-bed surgical ICU, 10-bed medical ICU, and a 7-bed combined ICU for both medical and surgical patients) of the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR) Saskatchewan, Canada.PatientsThe patients were 106 individuals with AKI who were admitted to the ICUs and received CRRT from April 2013 to September 2014.MeasurementsDate and time of admission, transfer to, and initiation of CRRT were documented. Demographic data, use of vasoactive medications, ventilator settings, pH, urine output, and chronic disease comorbidities were measured.MethodsThe methods involved a stepwise multiple variable logistic regression model using death within 24 h of starting CRRT as the dependent variable, with significant variables derived from univariate analysis as covariates.ResultsOf the 2634 patients admitted to the ICUs in the study period (April 2013 to September 2014), 83.6 % (2201/2634) had no AKI. Two hundred and sixty-nine or 10.2 % of the patients had stage 3 AKI. One hundred six of the 269 patients (40%) were started on CRRT. Of those on CRRT, 66/106 died in the ICU while on CRRT. Seventeen of the 66 patients (26%) died within 24 h of initiating therapy. In univariate logistic regression models, factors associated with early mortality included fraction of inspired oxygen (per 0.1 unit) (OR 1.39, 95 % CI 1.09–1.77); epinephrine dose >10 μg/min (OR 5.81, 95 % CI 1.86–18.16); vasopressin >0.02 μg/min (OR 3.99, 95 % CI 1.07–14.84); and norepinephrine dose >20 μg/min (OR 11.04, 95 % CI 2.38–51.24) which were associated with early mortality. When included in stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis, only FiO2 (per 0.1 unit) and the dose of norepinephrine of >20 μg/min were independently associated with early mortality.LimitationsThe small sample size was a limitation of this study.ConclusionPatients admitted to the ICU with AKI requiring CRRT have a high risk of early mortality. In these patients, vasopressor use and hypoxia were independently associated with adverse short-term survival.

Competition is a common phenomenon and occurs frequently in sports. In high performance sports, competition takes place not only between teams (interteam competition) but also within a team (intrateam competition). In the intrateam competition, coaches might play a central role because of their power to structure competition within their teams. Yet, there is a lack of research exploring how coaches facilitate this type of competition. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to explore how university-level team sport coaches’ experience, structure and use intrateam competition. Eight full-time Canadian Interuniversity Sports head coaches participated in semistructured interviews. The participants indicated that intrateam competition involves two distinct types of competition: situational and positional competition. While situational competition occurs primarily in practices, positional competition is an ongoing, continual process in which athletes who occupy the same position compete for playing time. The coaches shared important considerations about how to carefully structure and use both types of competition constructively. The study is an original account of intrateam competition as a multifaceted, constructive process within high performance sport teams.

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