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In Austria, exercise therapy is an accredited profession that requires academic training on the university master’s level. However, exercise therapy is not listed in the service plans of health and medical insurance funds and is therefore not reimbursed as a health service for patients. This position paper aims to compile the scientific evidence of the efficacy and effectiveness of exercise therapy as a treatment component in medical care. It also informs about the skills and competencies that exercise therapists acquire during their university studies in sport science. Thus, the necessity to include exercise therapy as a health service for patients is argued. Additionally, legal parity for exercise therapists within the healthcare professions offering evidence-based treatment methods is advocated. Numerous studies confirm that exercise therapy clearly leads to improvements in musculoskeletal, internal, neurological, psychiatric, and psychosomatic diseases. Exercise therapy is a highly evidence-based, low-side-effect component of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation measures for almost all chronic diseases. It has a positive impact on pathogenesis, symptoms, fitness, quality of life, morbidity, and mortality of affected patients. The five-year academic training in sport science for exercise therapists conveys medical, theoretical knowledge, and practical skills on training and exercise, communication-related, sports-, and movement-related skills, as well as a profound education in scientific methodology. Consequently, the integration of exercise as therapeutic treatment into the healthcare system is highly indicated from a medical, societal and economic perspective. A new legal framework offering self-employment regulations for exercise therapists is required.

Metal recycling is essential for strengthening a circular economy. Microbial leaching (bioleaching) is an economical and environmentally friendly technology widely used to extract metals from insoluble ores or secondary resources such as dust, ashes, and slags. On the other hand, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) would offer an energy-efficient application for recovering valuable metals from an aqueous solution. In this study, we investigated a MEC for Zn recovery from metal-laden bioleachate for the first time by applying a constant potential of −100 mV vs. Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl) on a synthetic wastewater-treating bioanode. Zn was deposited onto the cathode surface with a recovery efficiency of 41 ± 13% and an energy consumption of 2.55 kWh kg−1. For comparison, Zn recovery from zinc sulfate solution resulted in a Zn recovery efficiency of 100 ± 0% and an energy consumption of 0.70 kWh kg−1. Furthermore, selective metal precipitation of the bioleachate was performed. Individual metals were almost completely precipitated from the bioleachate at pH 5 (Al), pH 7 (Zn and Fe), and pH 9 (Mg and Mn).

Current trends in attacking strategies and increases in external workload have led to a need for fast and well-conditioned athletes in modern soccer. More recently, progressions in speed, coordination, power and endurance were found over a decade in elite Austrian youth players. However, possible confounders such as relative age, maturation, learning effects, and academy philosophy may have influenced these changes. The present study aimed to determine the decade effect on fitness under statistical control of players' exact age, height, body mass, test location as well as total number of pretests and time interval between test and pretest. Players annually completed a battery of anthropometric, general and soccer-specific fitness tests. MANCOVA was calculated to identify the overall impacts of the covariates on fitness. To balance the covariates of initially 2,530 “former” (2002 to 2005) and 2,611 “recent” (2012 to 2015) players, 1:1 nearest neighbor propensity score (PS) matching was used, resulting in 587 U13, 573 U14, 475 U15, 325 U16, 262 U17, and 129 U18 matched pairs. The decade effect on fitness was assessed by independent t-tests and Cohen's d separately at each age group. Superior performances of recent players were found for linear sprint across all age categories (d = 0.154–0.476) as well as for agility (d = 0.125–0.340) and change-of-direction speed (d = 0.172–0.466) in U15 to U18. Reaction speed increased in U13 (d = 0.288) and U15 (d = 0.310). Flexibility reduced over the decade in all age categories (d = −0.151 to −0.589) and upper-limb power decreased (d = −0.278 to −0.347) in U13 and U14. Balancing the covariate distribution via PS matching generally confirmed previous findings, with fitness decade effects reflecting the athletic needs for modern soccer. Since fitness performance changed over time, reference values should be periodically updated. Coaches favor both physical and cognitive fast players nowadays. Thus, training should target all aspects of speed, without disregarding flexibility, upper-limb power and other preventive strategies that keep the players on the pitch.

IntroductionAlthough a few studies suggest that young overweight to obese children and adolescents (YO) may have impaired postural control compared to young normal-weight (YN) peers, little information exists about how these two groups differ in the quality of the underlying balance strategies employed. Hence, the aim of the present study was a first comprehensive examination of the structural complexity of postural sways in these two cohorts during quiet bilateral standing.MethodsNineteen YO secondary school students (13.0 ± 1.4 years; male = 10, female = 9) were carefully matched to YN controls (13.0 ± 1.5 years) for age, sex, height, and school. Mediolateral (ML) and anteriorposterior (AP) acceleration signals were recorded with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) positioned at the trunk while standing barefoot in two conditions: firm and foam support surface. The magnitude of postural fluctuations was obtained using the root mean square (RMS). The temporal structure of the signals was analyzed via sample entropy (SEn), largest Lyapunov exponent (LyE), and detrended fluctuation analysis (α-DFA) algorithm. Reliability was assessed using a test–retest design.ResultsIn both groups, foam standing caused higher postural fluctuations (higher RMS values) and reduced structural complexity (lower SEn values, higher LyE values, higher α-DFA values). In comparison to YN, YO exhibited a higher RMSAP. Especially in ML direction, the acceleration signals of the YO had higher repeatability (smaller SEn values), greater long-range correlations (higher α-DFA values), and lower local stability (higher LyE values). However, these observations were largely independent of the task difficulty. Except for α-DFAAP, the IMU approach proved reliable to characterize posture control.DiscussionOur outcomes confirm postural control deficits in YO compared to their YN peers and indicate impaired regulatory mechanisms reflected as rigidity. Such less complex patterns usually reflect diverse pathologies, are detrimental to compensate for internal or external perturbations, and are attributed to lower adaptability and task performance. Without targeted balance stimuli, YO likely end in a lifelong vicious circle of mutually dependent poor balance regulation and low physical activity.

In Austria, exercise therapy is an accredited profession that requires academic training on a university’s master level. However, exercise therapy is not listed in the service plans of health and medical insurance funds and is therefore not reimbursed as a health service for patients. This position paper aims to compile the scientific evidence of the efficacy and effectiveness of exercise therapy as a treatment component in medical care. It also informs about the skills and competencies that exercise therapists acquire during their university education in sport science. Based on that, the necessity to include exercise therapy as a health service for patients is argued. Additionally, legal parity for exercise therapists within the healthcare professions offering evidence-based treatment methods is advocated. Numerous studies confirm that exercise therapy clearly leads to improvements in musculoskeletal, internal, neurological, psychiatric, and psychosomatic diseases. Exercise therapy is thus a highly evidence-based, low-sideeffect component of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation measures for almost all chronic diseases. It has a positive impact on pathogenesis, symptoms, fitness, quality of life, morbidity, and mortality of patients. The five-year academic training in sport science for exercise therapists conveys medical, theoretical knowledge, and practical skills on training and exercise, communication-related, sports-, and movement-related skills, as well as a profound education in scientific methodology. Consequently, the integration of exercise as therapeutic treatment into the healthcare system is highly indicated from a medical, societal and economic perspective. A new legal framework offering self-employment regulations for exercise therapists is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in physical (e.g., high-intensity running and sprinting), technical (e.g., passing rate), and tactical (e.g., player density) aspects made elite level soccer more challenging within the past years. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether these evolutions are also been reflected in changes in anthropometric and fitness characteristics between former (2002 to 2005) and current (2012 to 2015) elite Austrian youth development center (U13 to U14) and soccer academy (U15 to U18) players. A battery of anthropometric, general and soccer-specific fitness tests was conducted annually at the end of each year. Independent t-test and Cohen’s d (ES) were calculated to compare the two four-year periods (2530 vs. 2611 players) at each age group separately. Current players were significantly faster in 20 m sprint (ES = 0.26–0.50) and reaction test (ES = 0.15–0.39, except for U18), but less flexible at sit-and-reach (ES = –0.19 to –0.55), in all age categories. Whereas height (ES = 0.26–0.32), body mass (ES = 0.11–0.18) and countermovement jump (ES = 0.24–0.26) increased significantly at youth development center level, current academy players performed superior at shuttle sprint (ES = 0.21–0.59), hurdles agility run (ES = 0.24–0.49), and endurance run (ES = 0.11–0.20). These changes over time in speed, change-of-direction ability, lower-body power, coordination, and endurance were attributed to modern training approaches (e.g., modified games and change-of-direction drills) and modifications in selection politics (e.g., coaches favor speed and decision-making skills).