Salsa Dance and Perceived Mental Health Benefits: A Servant Leadership Theory-Driven Study

The purpose of the current study was to assess servant leadership dimensions, perceived mental health benefits, and correlations between the two following an eight-week servant leadership theory-driven salsa dance programme taught to novice learners at a West Midlands, UK university. Upon completion of the salsa dance programme (frequency – once per week, intensity – moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, time – 90 minutes, type – group-based Cuban style salsa dance), a paper questionnaire was administered to the participants to complete in person. The questionnaire contained 18 items related to servant leadership dimensions (authenticity, empowerment, humility, standing back, and stewardship) in terms of the teaching and learning of salsa dance and four items related to perceived mental health benefits (mood enhancement, self-confidence, skill mastery, and social well-being). Authenticity and stewardship were rated higher in females when compared to males. Differences were found between perceived mental health benefits in both females and males with mood enhancement rated highest in both genders. This is the first study we are aware of to have applied principles of servant leadership in the teaching of salsa dance as a leisure-time physical activity. Servant leadership may have facilitated the high perceived mental health benefits observed

Injury Surveillance of Nonprofessional Salsa Dance

Background: The present investigation sought to (i) establish the extent of injuries, (ii) determine the odds of sustaining an injury, and (iii) calculate the injury incidence rate in non-professional salsa dance. Methods: Salsa dancers were invited to complete an anonymous web-based survey containing 11 demographic background and 10 (1 yr retrospective) injury history questions. Results: The response rate was 77%. The final sample of respondents included 303 women and 147 men, of which 22% and 14%, respectively, sustained ≥ 1 injury during salsa dance in the past year. The odds of injury was 2.00 (95% CI 1.14 – 3.50) times greater (p < 0.05) for women than for men. Age, body mass index, and salsa dance experience were also found to be significant (all p < 0.05) predictors of injury. The injury incidence rate for women and men was 1.1 (95% CI 0.9 – 1.4) and 0.5 (95% CI 0.3 – 0.7) injuries per 1000 h of exposure, respectively. Conclusions: This is the first study to have described salsa dancers in terms of their injury history profile. Our results indicate that the likelihood of sustaining an injury during this physical activity is similar to that of ballroom, but lower than that of Spanish, aerobic, and Zumba® dance

Gasification and pyrolysis of Posidonia oceanica in the presence of dolomite

In the present work, a very detailed study of the reforming of syngas produced in the decomposition of Posidonia oceanica is done. The effect of the presence of different amounts of dolomite is analyzed. Also pyrolysis is studied, in nitrogen atmosphere, and gasification in the presence of air, oxygen and different amounts of steam. A detailed discussion on formation and destruction of tars is done. Furthermore, the effect of the heating rate in the decomposition and the residence time of the evolved gases are discussed. Syngas with ratio H2/CO from 0.3 to ca. 3 can be obtained from this interesting material. Marine species (microalgae) are usually studied with the aim of cultivating them for gas or oil production, but in this paper we draw attention to the possibility of using a natural resource with a very small impact in the ecosystem.Support for this work was provided by the CTQ2013-41006-R project from the Ministry of Education and Science (Spain) and the PROMETEOII/2014/007 project from the Valencian Community Government (Spain)

Ecotoxicological characterization of biochars : role of feedstock and pyrolysis temperature

Seven contrasting feedstocks were subjected to slow pyrolysis at low (300 or 350 °C) and high temperature (550 or 600 °C), and both biochars and the corresponding feedstocks tested for short-term ecotoxicity using basal soil respiration and collembolan reproduction tests. After a 28-d incubation, soil basal respiration was not inhibited but stimulated by additions of feedstocks and biochars. However, variation in soil respiration was dependent on both feedstock and pyrolysis temperature. In the last case, respiration decreased with pyrolysis temperature (r = − 0.78; p < 0.0001, n = 21) and increased with a higher volatile matter content (r = 0.51; p < 0.017), these two variables being correlated (r = − 0.86, p < 0.0001). Collembolan reproduction was generally unaffected by any of the additions, but when inhibited, it was mostly influenced by feedstock, and generally without any influence of charring itself and pyrolysis temperature. Strong inhibition was only observed in uncharred food waste and resulting biochars. Inhibition effects were probably linked to high soluble Na and NH4 concentrations when both feedstocks and biochars were considered, but mostly to soluble Na when only biochars were taken into account. The general lack of toxicity of the set of slow pyrolysis biochars in this study at typical field application rates (≤ 20 Mg ha− 1) suggests a low short-term toxicity risk. At higher application rates (20-540 Mg ha− 1), some biochars affected collembolan reproduction to some extent, but only strongly in the food waste biochars. Such negative impacts were not anticipated by the criteria set in currently available biochar quality standards, pointing out the need to consider ecotoxicological criteria either explicitly or implicitly in biochar characterization schemes or in management recommendations

Gasification and Pyrolysis of Posidonia oceanica in the Presence of Dolomite

Resumen del póster presentado en Symposium on Renewable Energy and Products from Biomass and Waste, CIUDEN (Cubillos de Sil, León, Spain), 12-13 May 2015Thermochemical conversion pathways of biomass for the production of primary energy by direct combustion, as well as other thermal processes, have a remarkable drawback among others: tar formation. In the present work, a detailed study of the reforming of syngas produced in the decomposition of Posidonia oceanica is done. The effect of the presence of different amounts of dolomite is analysed. Gasification of the species is done in the presence of sub-stoichiometric air, analyzing the produced gases. Also pyrolysis is studied, in nitrogen atmosphere, and gasification in the presence of air, oxygen and different amounts of steam. A discussion on formation and destruction of tars is done. Furthermore, the effect of the heating rate in the decomposition and the residence time of the evolved gases are discussed. Syngas with ratio H2/CO from 0.3 to ca. 3 can be obtained from this interesting material. It can be concluded that: 1) The presence of increasing percentages of water vapor in the reaction gases in the presence of dolomite increases the ratio H2/CO and decreases the NCV of the gas for all reaction atmospheres and residence times; 2) The highest values of the ratio H2/CO and less NCV are obtained for combustion in sub-stoichiometric air and low residence time; 3) The possible use of syngas goes from heat engines use with internal and external combustion to the processing fluid for obtaining biofuels, methanol, ammonia, synthetic natural gas and hydrogen; 4) If atmospheres are used with an amount of oxygen, it would be necessary a post-treatment aimed to remove the oxygen gas. Marine species (microalgae) are usually studied with the aim of cultivate them for gas or oil production, but in this work we draw attention to the possibility of using a natural resource with a very small impact in the ecosystem.Authors kindly wish to thank the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain): CTQ2013-41006-R and Valencian Community Government (Spain): PROMETEOII/2014/007 for provided support of this work. The author M.E. Iñiguez also thanks the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain), for a Ph.D. grant (contract grant number BES-2014-069473)

Injury Surveillance of Female Adult Zumba® Dancers

BACKGROUND: We sought to describe the patterns of injury and to establish the injury incidence rates associated with Zumba®.METHODS: Zumba® dancers were invited to complete an anonymous web-based survey containing 13 demographic background and 14 (1 year retrospective) injury history questions. Inclusion criteria stated that the respondents had to be aged 18-64 years and currently involved in group-based classes of Zumba®, either as a registered instructor or class participant. Binomial logistic regression analysis was used to predict the odds of injury during Zumba® and Mann-Whitney Tests were employed to ascertain differences between groups.RESULTS: The survey response rate was 74%. The final sample of respondents (N.=138; female=100%) included 19 registered instructors and 119 class participants, of which 58% and 16%, respectively, sustained ≥1 injury during Zumba® in the past year. The odds of injury was 7 (95% CI 2-19) times greater (P&lt;0.01) for registered instructors than for class participants. Zumba® dancers had a 17 (95% CI 7-28) % greater (P&lt;0.01) odds of injury for every 1 hour of non-Zumba®-related moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) engagement per week. The injury incidence rate for registered instructors and class participants was 5.7 (95% CI 3.1-8.2) and 3.9 (95% CI 2.5-5.3) injuries per 1000 hours of exposure, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: Zumba® presents a low risk of injury; for registered instructors, the increased risk of injury is likely due to the high total volume of MVPA participated in weekly

The health-enhancing efficacy of Zumba® fitness : an 8-week randomised controlled study

The purpose of this study was to gain a holistic understanding of the efficacy of Zumba® fitness in a community-recruited cohort of overweight and physically inactive women by evaluating (i) its physiological effects on cardiovascular risk factors and inflammatory biomarkers and (ii) its mental health-enhancing effects on factors of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Participants were randomly assigned to either engagement in one to two 1 h classes of Zumba® fitness weekly (intervention group; n = 10) or maintenance of habitual activity (control group; n = 10). Laboratory assessments were conducted pre- (week 0) and post-intervention (week 8) with anthropometric, physiological, inflammatory and HRQoL data collected. In the intervention group, maximal oxygen uptake significantly increased (P < 0.05; partial η(2) = 0.56) by 3.1 mL · kg(-1) · min(-1), per cent body fat significantly decreased (P < 0.05; partial η(2) = 0.42) by -1.2%, and interleukin-6 and white blood cell (WBC) count both significantly decreased (P < 0.01) by -0.4 pg · mL(-1) (partial η(2) = 0.96) and -2.1 × 10(9) cells · L(-1) (partial η(2) = 0.87), respectively. Large magnitude enhancements were observed in the HRQoL factors of physical functioning, general health, energy/fatigue and emotional well-being. When interpreted in a community-based physical activity and psychosocial health promotion context, our data suggest that Zumba® fitness is indeed an efficacious health-enhancing activity for adults

Crescimento de Schinus terebinthifolius na região do baixo São Francisco.

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