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This study explores the relationship between common mental disorders and mental toughness in professional South African rugby players. A cross-sectional survey design was used by administering a questionnaire and preliminary and bivariate analyses were conducted. The inclusion criteria were professional rugby players who are able to communicate in English. The results indicated that, in general, these players (N = 215) portray significant mental toughness ( M = 5.69) on a 7-point scale. Anxiety/depression and distress measured the lowest ( M = 1.65) of all the common mental disorders measured in this study. Furthermore, the results indicated a positive relationship between mental toughness and sound sleep ( r = .262). Negative relationships were found between mental toughness and all other common mental disorders with the highest relationship being with anxiety/depression positive2 ( r = –.423). Other significant relationships were found with anxiety/depression ( r = –.401), distress ( r = –.259), and common mental disorders problems in general ( r = –.220). The results indicated that the management of teams and clinicians need to look at specific aspects, such as alcohol consumption among players, the implications of alcohol use on performance, but also mental wellbeing in general.

The Dutch Reformed Church (DR Church) proclaimed the Year of Hope in 2001 as part of the church's response to complex social problems regarding poverty and factors affecting reconciliation and morality within the South African society at that stage. The ultimate objective was to mobilise the church to address these matters through different means, on different levels and within the respective contexts. In this church historiographic article, newspaper articles and official church documents are reviewed to assess the church's dealing with the Year of Hope and its subsequent effects in the years that followed, on the DR Church's resolutions, declarations and activities concerning the matters first articulated when introducing the Year of Hope. It is clear that the DR Church has not neglected its social and prophetic responsibilities. In this article, interest is also expressed, particularly in how the theme of hope is superposing matters of poverty, reconciliation and morality. Twenty years had lapsed since the Year of Hope. In this article it is argued that the theme of hope in social and ecclesiastical matters is still acutely relevant, and in the conclusion the idea is introduced of a theology of hope to direct the church in continuing to be a bearer of hope within society. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS: Although the focus of this study falls within the field of Church Historiography, the study of the matters concerned, furthers inquiry in relation to Practical Theology and, more specifically, from a public theological perspective.

This study aimed to investigate whether differences exist in the personality profiles of professional and semi-professional rugby union players. Participants were 73 male rugby players, 52 professional players and 21 semi-professional players. All participants completed the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI) as part of the WebNeuro Sport online assessment. An independent sample t-test showed a statistically significant difference in neuroticism between the professional and semi-professional players. The magnitude-based inference method confirmed the results of the independent sample t-test with a moderate effect. The potential practical value of these findings is that the Neuroticism scale of the Big Five personality dimensions can be used as a screening tool for indicating which players a team would want to recruit and invest time and money in since these players will most likely be capable of progressing to the top level in their sport

This study investigated possible cognitive functioning profile differences between professional and semi-professional rugby players. Seventy-nine male rugby union players (professional = 55, semi-p...

During the past nearly 30 years the epochs of democratisation and globalisation became intertwined with the South African society, determining its spirit of the age. The democratisation of South African since 1994 has its own history of radical rather than evolutionary transformative measures which brought about constructive changes to the political and social fibre of a secularised South Africa. In conjunction, globalisation as dominant worldview became evident in the transposition of South Africa into a secular, liberal, capitalistic, pluralistic society. Over this period the Afrikaans-speaking churches of reformed tradition were not immune to these influences, channelled via their members’ experiences of and responses to their changing social and economic setup. These churches have since also changed. Their influence on society and social matters has dwindled. The contexts of their congregations changed. Their traditional collective forms of institutionalised religion are changing due to the influence of a plurality of different personal, religious beliefs and practices. These developments challenge these churches to rethink their denominational identities and consider the way in which they approach society and what they can contribute to the ecumenical church.

This brief report constitutes an evidence based, evaluation of a resilience workshop for 328 male professional rugby players, with mean age of 25 and standard deviation (SD) of 4.7 years. Quantitative findings revealed significant changes in pre-test to post-test resilience scale scores. Qualitative findings indicated helpful experiential dimensions and those needing change. Integral findings pointed towards ongoing, humanistic, dynamic and systemic approaches involving all stakeholders in the professional rugby fraternity are recommended. This work is based on research supported by the University of Zululand, South Africa and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF).

International audience; As low-income communities are most vulnerable to climate-associated health concerns, access to healthcare will increase in importance as a key priority in South Africa. This study explores healthcare sustainability in the Agincourt sub-district, Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region in Mpumalanga, South Africa. A rapid assessment and response methodology (RAR) was implemented, which includes the examination of previous studies conducted in the sub-district, the mapping of healthcare facilities in the area, and the implementation of a facility infrastructure and workforce capacity investigation by means of key informant (KI) interviews at eight healthcare facilities. Findings indicate that the greatest need across the facilities relate to access to medical doctors and pharmacists. None of the facilities factored climate associations with health into their clinical care strategies. The necessity to train healthcare facility staff on aspects related to climate change, health, and sustainability is highlighted. Environmental health practitioners should also be incorporated in grassroots community climate adaptation strategies. Outcomes further indicate the need for the advancement of integrated healthcare and climate adaptation strategies that focus on strengthening healthcare systems, which may include novel technological approaches such as telemedicine. Policy makers need to be proactive and pre-emptive in finding and improving processes and models to render healthcare services prepared for climate change.

Background: Stress fractures are a common military training injury. Flexibility of muscles and joints may directly influence stress-fracture risk by way of altering the forces applied to bone. Hip external rotation and ankle plantar- and dorsiflexion have been inconsistently reported to pose a risk to stress fracture development in military soldiers. Thus this study aimed to present results that could help define the risk flexibility may pose in the development of stress fractures amongst military male soldiers.Methods: An experimental one-group pretest–posttest study design assessing the injury incidence, bilateral hip external rotation, ankle plantar- and dorsiflexion of South African male military soldiers (n = 100) undergoing 12 weeks of basic military training (BMT) was undertaken. The parametric t-test for dependent samples (α = 0.05) and effect size (ES) was used to analyse the data.Results: No stress fractures were diagnosed in the 100 operational military training injuries reported. BMT resulted ...

We examine the social, political, and philosophical influences on Adler’s life and work in a “genealogical” manner to contextualize the formation of Adlerian Individual Psychology. The notion of genealogy as an orientation to history derives from the work of Michel Foucault, who drew it from Friedrich Nietzsche. We discuss conditions and constraints exercised by socioeconomic elements and the progress of formation of the discourse of Adlerian psychology up to 1917. Genealogy suggests that a psychology is progressively constituted in a narrative manner, employing continuities and discontinuities to arrive at a discursive formation. In this essay we weave history, principle, and philosophy to form a fresh perspective on the development of Adlerian psychology. This approach suggests an alternate way to read Adler.

Background: Fitness is defined in the health context as a state of good health or physical condition, primarily as a result of exercise and proper nutrition. Conventional methods of measuring fitne...

The modelling of thermodynamic properties of liquids from local density fluctuations is relevant to many chemical and biological processes. The Kirkwood–Buff (KB) theory connects the microscopic structure of isotropic liquids with macroscopic properties such as partial derivatives of activity coefficients, partial molar volumes and compressibilities. Originally, KB integrals were formulated for open and infinite systems which are difficult to access with standard Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Recently, KB integrals for finite and open systems were formulated (J Phys Chem Lett. 2013;4:235). From the scaling of KB integrals for finite subvolumes, embedded in larger reservoirs, with the inverse of the size of these subvolumes, estimates for KB integrals in the thermodynamic limit are obtained. Two system size effects are observed in MD simulations: (1) effects due to the size of the simulation box and the size of the finite subvolume embedded in the simulation box, and (2) effects due to computing radial distribution functions (RDF) from a closed and finite system. In this study, we investigate the two effects in detail by computing KB integrals using the following methods: (1) Monte Carlo simulations of finite subvolumes of a liquid with an analytic RDF and (2) MD simulations of a WCA mixture for various simulation box sizes, but at the same thermodynamic state. We investigate the effect of the size of the simulation box and quantify the differences compared to KB integrals computed in the thermodynamic limit. We demonstrate that calculations of KB integrals should not be extended beyond half the size of the simulation box. For finite-size effects related to the RDF, we find that the Van der Vegt correction (J Chem Theory Comput. 2013;9:1347) yields the most accurate results. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

Businesses with more than one site strive to minimize operational variability across their entire organization. However, uniformly implementing company-wide standards is difficult because each site maintains its own personality—its own culture. When a business strives to reduce its global process safety risk, a significant incident that exposes a particular site's weakness may result in a simple corporate decision forcing all sites to implement the same process safety improvement. This article shares the basic concept and the novel use of a risk minimization tool, commonly used to reduce financial risks in an investment portfolio, to help decision-makers minimize their multisite, global process safety risk without adding undue stress on the rest of the organization. This approach helps quantify each individual site's process safety risks into a global business process safety risk model, uses a Monte Carlo simulation to determine which site-specific factors contribute the most to the overall business risk, and then helps decision-makers prioritize and choose site-specific risk reduction efforts that minimizes the global risk. The global process safety risk reduction model used to show how to use this approach is based on a simplified risk equation containing site-specific terms for frequency, consequence and operational discipline. Often the most contentious term in risk estimating is the frequency, especially with significant scenarios that have never happened before and, hence, have a very low likelihood. The beauty of the Monte Carlo simulation is that the user can account for the uncertainty in the frequency by choosing a frequency probability function based on a range of possible best- to worst-case consequence scenarios. From the surgical perspective, a person (the whole organization) with cancer is often adversely affected when treated with chemotherapy. The results from this approach, using the image of a “PSM Gamma Knife,” show how selective site-specific risk reduction treatments specifically address each site's process safety risk to help reduce the overall risk without adversely affecting the health of the whole organization. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2012

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was used to assess whole body and regional soft tissue mass, fat mass and lean body mass compositional changes in 68 female recruits (age 20.8 +/- 1.14 years; body mass 59.5 +/- 8.79 kg; stature 159.57 +/- 5.53 cm) pre- and post 12-weeks of military basic training. A decrease in total body fat tissue mass (10.2%) and regional percent fat (10.9%) was measured with an increase in total lean body mass (8.7%). Of interest were the differences in the responses in the tissue composition of the arms (16.2% loss in fat mass with an 11.6% gain in lean mass), trunk (17.0% decrease in fat mass with a 10.4% increase in lean mass) and the legs (10.5% increase in lean mass but no change in fat mass). These findings show the importance of considering regional rather than whole body composition changes when assessing the effects of a training programme. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Female soldiers experienced a change in total body fat tissue (-10.2%) and lean body mass (+8.7%) after basic training; however, no significant fat mass decrease was evident in the leg region. Regional rather than whole body composition changes need to be considered when assessing the effects of a training programme.

This quasi-experimental longitudinal study assessed the effect of a one-day Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)-based workshop on work-related rumination, chronic fatigue and sleep quality. We hypothesised that participants who attended the workshop would report lower levels of affective work-related rumination and chronic fatigue and improved sleep quality, at follow-up, six months after workshop completion. Two hundred and twenty seven participants took part in the study, with 102 participants attending a one-day workshop delivered in their place of work. Participants completed an online questionnaire at two time-points, with follow-up occurring 6 months after initial survey completion. Results showed that participants who took part in the CBT workshop reported significantly lower levels of affective rumination (p=.03) and chronic fatigue (p=.003), at follow-up in comparison to individuals who did not attend the workshop; however there were no significant differences between the groups in self-reported sleep quality (p=.06). A combination of more effective recovery both at work and outside of work may explain the reductions in both affective rumination and fatigue over time. This study adds to the recovery from work literature by providing initial support for a one-day CBT-based workshop delivered in the workplace.

The influence of secularisation on the DR Church: A church historical and sociological perspective The influence of religious discourses and institutions in South Africa, as elsewhere, diminishes because of structural secularisation. Social secularisation as another form of secularisation compromises the 'necessity’ for religion in modern day social culture. Humanistic Western Individualism is the dominant social meaning system (also in South Africa) best associated with this process. The actualisation of its priorities (personal freedom, privacy, emancipation of the self, freedom of choice and to strive for personal affluence) plays a significant role in the lives of the Dutch Reformed Church’s congregants. Social secularisation liberates people from ecclesiastical doctrine as regulatory for personal life and reason and marks the growing indifference to the official church. This leads to a legitimacy crisis concerning established religious meaning systems. Ironically religion doesn’t disappear altogether because of secularisation. It does however, transposes traditional forms of collective religion because the sustainment of religion as phenomenon depends increasingly on religiosities in the private sphere. Consequently, the proliferation of different personal, religious beliefs and practices also increases religious pluralism within the Dutch Reformed Church, challenging its reformed identity.

The construction of a rugby player index for the successful evaluation of rugby players Two hundred and thirty eight (238) male rugby players of different ages were evaluated to ascertain the importance of anthropometry, physical and motor skills, sport specific testing and sports vision techniques with an ultimate goal of constructing a rugby player index. Players performed within international norms for some components but performed well-below average for most.

The effect of sport specific exercises on the visual skills of adult rugby players The purpose of this study was to determine if sport specific exercises will improve the visual performance of male rugby players. Twenty six adult male rugby players, aged 18-26, participated in order to evaluate the effect of sport specific exercises on visual skills. Significant improvements were seen.

Dexmedetomidine (Precedex®) is a selective alpha-2-receptor agonist that has been available for clinical use since 1999. Dexmedetomidine is currently registered in South Africa for postoperative sedation, after cardiac surgery, for 24 hours. The off label use of dexmedetomidine, for indications and duration of use other than registered, is widely published and accepted.

The aim of this paper is to investigate how South African Black children living in three different geographical areas (rural, urban and semi‐urban) perceived and made sense of the events surrounding the political transformation that took place in South Africa. One hundred and ninety‐six children aged seven, nine, eleven and fourteen were interviewed a few months after the first general election. The children were interviewed individually in Setswana their mother‐tongue. The questions were open ended. Content analyses of their reports revealed that the children's perceptions and understanding of the events surrounding them grew in sophistication with age. It was also shown that the children's construction of these events was influenced by the community in which they were living.

Die moderne leefwyse bring dikwels mee dat ons die belangrikheid van liggaamlike oefening uit die oog verloor. Ons toenemend passiewe leefwyse het gelei tot 'n aansienlike toename in die voorkoms van lewenstylsiektes soos hipertensie en verskeie vorme van vaskulere patologie. In hierdie studie word die kardiostres-indekse (KSI'e) van aktiewe en sedentere individue met mekaar vergelyk ten einde insig te verkry in die uitwerking van die aansienlike veranderinge wat in die gemoderniseerde samelewing plaasgevind het. Die aktiewe populasie het bestaan uit 217 weermagrekrute wat reeds 20 weke van hul basiese weermagopleiding voltooi het. Die (n = 126) lede van die sedentere populasie is gewerf uit 'n tradisionele tersiere onderwysinstansie. Die deelnemers uit beide populasies moes drie toetssessies bywoon wat gedurende week 1, week 12 en week 20 gehou is. Hulle het 'n nie-ingrypende Viport™-toets ondergaan om hul KSI, harttempo en QRS-duur te bepaal. Die resultate het getoon dat alhoewel die basislyn vir KSI, bloeddruk en harttempo aanvanklik hoer was onder die aktiewe populasie, die aanvang van die liggaamsoefeningprogram ten opsigte van hierdie drie faktore 'n geleidelike afname en dus 'n verandering in die rigting, en uiteindelik gesonder marges tot gevolg gehad het. Die KSI het egter nie die normale reikwydte ten opsigte van een van die twee groepe bereik nie, wat daarop gedui het dat alhoewel liggaamlike aktiwiteit fisiologiese stresvlakke verminder, ander sleutelfaktore, te wete leefwyse en stresvlakke, ook in ag geneem moet word. Die studie onderskryf die idee dat 'n toename in liggaamlike aktiwiteit die potensiaal het om 'n individu se vatbaarheid vir kardiovaskulere siektes te verminder. Die studie ondersoek ook die uitwerking van oefening op die hart deur die gebruik van KSI as 'n meetinstrument. A comparison between the cardio-stress indices of an active and a sedentary population. Our modern lifestyle often results in the importance of physical exercise being overlooked. The increasingly passive way of life has resulted in a notable increase in the prevalence of lifestyle disorders, such as hypertension and some forms of vascular pathology. This study compares the cardio-stress indices (CSIs) of active and sedentary individuals to provide insight into the impact of the significant changes that have taken place in the modernised society. The active population consisted of 217 military recruits who had completed 20 weeks of basic military training. The sedentary population (n = 126) was sourced from a traditional tertiary institution where the focus is on attending lectures. Participants from both populations were required to attend three testing sessions, which were held during Week 1, Week 12 and Week 20. Subjects underwent a non-invasive Viport™ test to measure their CSI, heart rate and QRS duration. The results showed that although baseline readings for CSI, blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were initially higher among the active population, the commencement of the physical training programme resulted in a steady decline in respect of these three factors to approach healthier margins. However, the CSI for neither population reached the normal range, indicating that although physical activity reduces physiological stress levels, other key factors, namely lifestyle stress levels, must also be taken into account. The study supports the notion that increased physical activity has the potential to reduce the predisposition of an individual to cardiovascular disorders and contributes towards establishing the effect of training on heart health by using CSI as a means of measurement.

The aim of this study was to describe the classroom and playground behaviour of children who had been nominated either as popular or as rejected by their peers. The subjects were black South African children aged between 8 years and 12 years and 3 months, living in a semi‐urban area in one of the former “homelands”. The children's peer status was assessed using the sociometric method developed by Newcomb and Bukowski (1983). Out of six‐hundred and thirty‐one children thus assessed, 29 were nominated as popular and 29 as rejected. Observations were carried out for 30 minutes in the classroom during a formal lesson and for 30 minutes in the playground during recess. Results show that the rejected and the popular children did not differ in their initiations of contact with other children, but popular children were the recipients of more initiations of contact/approaches from others than the rejected. Social rejection by peers was related to aggression and disruptiveness, while popularity was associated with ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits and limitations of using three dimensional (3D) musculoskeletal modelling (LifeModeler) in assessing the safety and efficacy of exercising on an abdominal crunch resistance training machine. Three anthropometric cases were studied, representing a 5th percentile female, and 50th percentile and 95th percentile male. Results indicated that the LifeModeler default model was capable of solving the forward dynamics simulations without adjustments. The modelling was able to indicate high risk for back injury when performing the abdominal crunch exercise as a result of the unacceptable intervertebral joint loading that occurs during the exercise. Individuals with small anthropometric dimensions such as some females and children cannot be accommodated suitably on the abdominal crunch machine which negatively impacts exercise posture and technique. Hip flexor muscle contribution in the execution of the exercise for the 5th percentile female was substantial thus reducing the efficacy of the exercise in isolating the abdominal muscles.

Vision is one of the most important special senses and is the primary source of external information. The role of vision in our everyday lifestyles is immense and adequate visual skills are needed for simple tasks which include reading and writing, that are especially important for students. Stress is an important factor which most students deal with, and along with other external factors, could adversely affect the ability to effectively perform many visual skills. This study aims to determine if sports vision exercises could improve visual skills and thereby enhance motor and cognitive performance. A 169 second year physiology students (18-22 years of age) participated in the study. The students were divided into control (n=78) and experimental groups (n=91) and pre and post sports vision tests were conducted. This included testing visual skills such as visual acuity, eye dominance, focusing, tracking, vergence, sequencing, eye-hand coordination, visualization and reflex. The results showed a significant improvement in the sequencing and eye-hand coordination tests in the experimental group, whilst a non-significant improvement (control group) was observed in the visual acuity, visualization, tracking, vergence and reflex tests. The improvements (except for focusing) were greater in the experimental group than in the control group. The study clearly showed that correct sports vision training can improve certain visual skills and lead to an enhancement of motor and cognitive learning and performance. Sports vision exercises are therefore an efficient method of improving certain visual skills and possibly minimizing any defects caused by stress. Key words: Sports vision exercises, visual skills, students.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits and limitations of using three dimensional (3D) musculoskeletal modelling (LifeModeler) in assessing the safety and efficacy of exercising on a seated biceps curl resistance training machine. Three anthropometric cases were studied, representing a 5th percentile female, 50th percentile and 95th percentile male. Results indicated that the LifeModeler default model was not adequate to solve the forward dynamics simulations. Therefore adjustments had to be made to the default model to successfully complete the forward dynamics simulations. The software was able to sufficiently highlight the shortcomings of the biceps curl machine's engineered adjustability in relation to the anthropometric dimensions of the studied cases, as the 5th percentile female could not be accommodated suitably on the machine. High lumbar spine anterior/posterior shear forces for all anthropometric cases and maximum muscle tensions for the female and 50th percentile male indicate that the seated biceps curl exercise may pose risks for injuries. To conclude, it appears that 3D musculoskeletal modelling can be used to evaluate resistance training equipment such as the seated biceps curl machine. However the limitations as indicated by this study must be taken into consideration, especially when using the default LifeModeler model.

Sport has become increasingly competitive and this places enormous pressure on sportsmen to perform at their absolute best. For athletes to achieve their greatest potentials, aspects of sport such as reaction time and hand-eye coordination need to be at their peaks. Sports vision aims to enhance performance through a variety of procedures and training techniques that target basic skills. Twenty six (26) rugby players aged 18 to 26 were subjected to three different sports vision tests. The players were exposed to a period of isolated exercises for physical exertion intervention between the pre- and post sports vision tests. The pre-exercise and post-exercise values of the players were pooled to determine the averages and differences. An improvement in performance was observed by players exposed to these exercises. A significant improvement (p Key words: Hand-eye coordination, performance, rugby, sport, training, vision.

The objective of this study was to investigate the interaction between the prior experience, cognitive perceptions and psychological skills of senior rugby players in South Africa. The study population included 139 trans-national players, 106 provincial players and 95 club rugby players (N=340). A cross-sectional design was used to assess the players’ psychological skills by means of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28). Players’ prior experience and cognitive perceptions were determined by means of a biographical questionnaire. Different biographical variables appeared to distinguish between the groups with respectively high and low levels of psychological skills on the different levels of rugby. The players’ perceptions regarding their own abilities to optimally prepare themselves psychologically before a game appeared to be the only common denominator differentiating between the groups with high and low levels of psychological skills. A combination of perceptions and prior experience explained 44.81% of t he variance in the psychological skills (ACSI-28 total) of the club rugby players, 9% of the variance on provincial level and 21.3% of the variance on trans-national level. There appeared to be significant interaction between prior sport experience, certain cognitive perceptions and the psychological skills of the rugby players involved in this study. Cognitive psychological intervention could therefore play an important part in the psychological preparation of senior rugby players in South Africa. Key words: Psychological skills; Cognitive perceptions; Prior experience; Rugby.

The aim of this study was to determine the role and the impact of a visual skills training programme on the skills performance of cricket players, and whether visual training programmes are beneficial to competitive sports performance. Highly skilled cricket players (n=13) who were actively participating at a provincial level of competition, served as participants. Since the sample was relatively small non-parametric statistics, i.e. Wilcoxon test was used to analyze data. After initial testing the cricket players participated in an eight-week visual skill and performance skills programme for 60 minutes a day, once a week. The programme included sports vision activities, speed and agility activities and ball skills activities. The pre-training and post-training values of the cricket players were recorded and significance of difference was determined by using the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Data revealed that the visual skills programme had a significant influence on most of the tested variables (ball handling skills, co-ordination, visual awareness, eye tracking skills, accuracy, peripheral awareness, pro-action – reaction skills and visual concentration). For some variables that were tested on the experimental group improvements were found, which indicates that the improvements can be ascribed to the visual skills programme. More than half of the variables tested improved in the experimental group as well. It can thus be concluded that there was an increase in most of the variables tested (ball handling skills, co-ordination, visual awareness, eye tracking skills, accuracy, peripheral awareness, pro-action – reaction skills and visual concentration). Visual skills training, utilizing the conditions in this investigation, can result in an increase in the players’ visual fields. Visual skills training programmes can be beneficial to competitive sports performance. Key words: Cricketers, visual, perceptual, and motor skills, speed, agility, and visual performance.

Sport has become a very competitive business and focus has been placed on reaching ones full potential. Few aspects like hand-eye co-ordination and visual reaction time have been addressed in the past. Visual involvement in a sport varies according to environmental demands associated with that particular sport. These environmental demands are matched by a task of specific motor responses. This study was carried out in order to determine the relevance of sport vision testing and visual skills training in soccer players. This study also seeks to determine the visual skills of soccer players by assessing depth perception, accommodation flexibility, eye tracking, eye jumps, peripheral awareness and visual memory of soccer players. Fourty-eight soccer players aged 12 to 20 were assessed. The results were compared according to age group and the four main positions in soccer, namely: striker, midfielder, defender and goalkeeper. The results indicated that visual skills tend to improve with age and that different positions do not necessarily require different levels of visual skills. This reinforces the suggestion that visual skills are not necessarily a function of the position one plays. Sportsmen will have a great advantage over their fellow rivals due to improvements in their exercise and sports vision training programs. These training programs can help improve and train the athlete’s visual coordination, increase concentration and focus, hand-eye co-ordination, anticipation as well as gain knowledge about their motor response. These principles can also be implemented in a similar evaluation of other athletes and non-athletes. Key words: Sport vision, hand-eye co-ordination, visual concentration, peripheral awareness.

According to this study, research indicates that there is not a lot of information surrounding the focus on prayer in church polity and therefore attention is lacking in this field during the training of office bearers and thus the content and composition of prayers leaves one untouched. The focus of this study is a theoretical approach to the place and content of prayer in church polity according to the practical ministry of prayer during three consecutive synods of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The content of chapter one focuses on the idea that both Scripture and theological literature offer material to be integrated into a synthesis of what the ius constituendum imply and where to the practise as ius constitutum is measured with the purpose on an increased focus on prayer in church polity. Chapter two elaborates on the different aspects of prayer in conjunction with church polity in which the communal prayer of church leaders imposes certain requirements to the prayer leader in connection with the use of language, content and agenda that is embedded on the confession that Christ is the Head of and reigns over his Church. In the third chapter the focus is fixed on the four core elements of the church: unity, holiness, catholicity, apostolicity and the implication it has on prayer in the reformed church polity regarding more explicit intercession in prayer. The fourth chapter is an empirical examination of 121 prayers that was recorded during the 2003, 2006 and 2009 synods of the GKSA in accordance to the ius constituendum as discussed in chapters two and three summarised under twenty headings. The final chapter suggests corrections based on hermeneutical interaction between the ius constituendum and ius constitutum and resulting in improved formulated prayers that focus on the affairs of the agenda. Prayer ministry should not be left to the improvisation of the moment, but detail preparation should be done. Errors which were pointed out in this study, should thus be prevented. In church government, prayers should reflect the agenda in all prayer elements focusing on the kingdom of God from within the church with an outward spiral to the whole cosmos. Thesis (Ph.D. (Church Polity))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Visual performance is an important factor in sport excellence. Over the past few years, aspects like hand-eye co-ordination, visual reaction time and their relation to eye exercises have been addressed frequently. Theories maintain that visual involvement varies according to the environmental demands, and that athlete's visual characteristics therefore vary according to the sports in which they specialise, have also been covered. It is well known that environmental demands are matched by task-specific motor response. The extension of this theory shows that visual ability can affect both motor learning and performance, and that the nature of the visual involvement will vary according to environmental demands. The purpose of this study was to determine if exercise will improve the visual performance of female rugby players, in order to achieve maximal results on the sports field. Twenty female rugby players aged 19 to 24 were chosen as subjects. In order to evaluate the effect of sport vision specific exercises on hand-eye co-ordination, a pretest - post-test experimental groups design was adopted for the study. The pre-exercise and post-exercise values of the subjects in the control and experimental groups were pooled to determine the averages and differences. From the results, it can be seen that there was an improvement in the performance of the subjects who were exposed to the specific exercises. This study could assist in advocating a theoretical framework and providing an empirical data base to guide and evaluate future research.

No Abstract. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 12(1) 2006: 41-49

No Abstract. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 12(1) 2006: 50-59

No Abstract. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 12(1) 2006: 70-81

Objective. To compare the effects of a 3-month land- and waterbased exercise programme among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sufferers. Methods. Patients with RA Functional Class I and II ( N =10) were randomly assigned to a land-based exercise group (Group L) ( N =4), water-based exercise group (Group W) ( N =4) or a control group (Group C) ( N =2). Testing parameters included swollen joint count (SJC), tender joint count (TJC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), haemoglobin (Hb), 50-ft (15.2-m) walk test, grip strength, isokinetic strength of knee extensors and flexors, knee range of motion (ROM) and aerobic capacity. Results. There were individual improvements in most of the physical status parameters tested for the experimental groups (land-based exercise group and water-based exercise group) while the general trend for the control group was that of deterioration. Appropriate land-based exercises did not appear to aggravate disease activity. However, the water-based exercise programme was superior in controlling the disease activity with regards to the tender and swollen joint counts. Conclusion. Both exercise interventions appeared to be beneficial in the treatment of RA. Further research is required comparing various modes of exercises for the treatment of RA, using larger samples and evaluating the long-term effects.

Objective. To determine the attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of talented young athletes residing in Gauteng regarding prohibited performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and anti-doping rules and regulations.Methods. This was a survey study using a quantitative research approach. South African TuksSport academy athletes at the High Performance Centre, University of Pretoria, and competitive high-school athletes at four private high schools in Gauteng completed the survey. A selfdetermined, structured questionnaire was used to establish the attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of the athletes.Results. A total of 346 (208 males, 138 females) athletes, mean (standard deviation) age 16.9 (1.4) years participated in the survey. According to this survey, 3.9% of the athletes in this survey admitted to using a prohibited PED and more than 14.0% of the athletes said they would consider using a prohibited PED if they knew they would not get caught. Ambition (46.0%) and emotional pressure (22.5%) were the primary reasons why the athletes would consider using prohibited PEDs. Even though coaches appeared to be one of the main sources of information (on PEDs and anti-doping rules), only 42.1% of the athletes felt that they were well informed.Conclusion. Controlling doping by means of testing is important. However, it may be necessary to put more emphasis on changing attitudes towards doping and implementing additional educational programmes.

Objective . To evaluate whether three-dimensional (3D) musculoskeletal modelling could be effective in assessing the safety and efficacy of exercising on a seated row resistance-training machine. The focus of the evaluation was on biomechanical and anthropometric considerations of the end user. Methods. Three anthropometric cases were created; these represented a 5th percentile female as well as a 50th and a 95th percentile male based on body mass index. Two repetitions, with a resistance equal to 50% of the functional strength of one repetition maximum (1RM) for each anthropometric case, were performed. Results. Results indicate that the default model of the LifeModeler software has important limitations that should be taken into consideration when used to evaluate exercise equipment. Adjustments had to be made to the model to solve the forward dynamics simulations; as a result, no muscle forces or contraction values were obtained. This negatively influenced the value of the results as these parameters are important when analysing an exercise. The seated row resistance-training machine’s engineered or manufactured adjustability was sufficient, as it appeared to accommodate the three anthropometric cases adequately during execution of this exercise. Conclusion. It appears that 3D musculoskeletal modelling can be used to evaluate resistance-training exercises such as the seated row; however, the limitations indicated by this study must be taken into consideration, especially when using the default LifeModeler model

Background The continued presence of stigma and its persistence even in areas where HIV prevalence is high makes it an extraordinarily important, yet difficult, issue to eradicate. The study aimed to assess current and emerging HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination trends in South Africa as experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). Methods The PLHIV Stigma Index, a questionnaire that measures and detects changing trends in relation to stigma and discrimination experienced by PLHIV, was used as the survey tool. The study was conducted in 10 clinics in four provinces supported by the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD), with an interview total of 486 PLHIV. A cross-sectional design was implemented in the study, and both descriptive and inferential analysis was conducted on the data. Results Findings suggest that PLHIV in this population experience significant levels of stigma and discrimination that negatively impact on their health, working and family life, as well as their access to health services. Internalised stigma was prominent, with many participants blaming themselves for their status. Conclusion The findings can be used to develop and inform programmes and interventions to reduce stigma experienced by PLHIV. The current measures for dealing with stigma should be expanded to incorporate the issues related to health, education and discrimination experienced in the workplace, that were highlighted by the study.