Identifying performance variables associated with visual impairment classification in para-cycling is one of the steps to improve the evidence-based classification system, and consequently, bring equality in Paralympic sports. Thus, this retrospective study aimed to analyze a 1-km tandem-track race performance among para-cyclists (male and female) with different visual impairment degrees (B1, B2, and B3) and to verify the retrospective performance over 20 yrs in all sport classes. The data were extracted from 427 para-cyclists (251 male and 176 female) who competed in the Para-Cycling World Championships and Paralympic Games. The following performance variables were analyzed: time trial, velocity, pace strategies, and number of medals. A one-way analysis of variance was used to compare performance variables among athletes of different sport classes (B1, B2, and B3) and χ2 tests were implemented to test the association between sport classes and medal distribution with a level of significance set at a P value of less than 0.05. The main results revealed that partially sighted athletes exhibited better tandem-track race performance compared with blind athletes (P < 0.05). Significant associations between sport classes and medal distribution in male (P = 0.026) and female (P = 0.017) athletes were found (higher in B3 athletes). Only 23.2% of male and 41.5% of female B3 athletes were medalists, and B3 athletes performed better specifically compared with B1 in most race distances. Finally, B2 and B3 athletes showed higher performance improvements than B1 throughout 20 yrs in the male group. It was concluded that male and female visual impairment athletes who classified as B1 displayed lower tandem-track race performance and medal frequency compared with partially sighted athletes, mainly considering those in the B3 class. The competitive system for athletes with visual impairment should be improved to provide more equity in the track para-cycling events.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare time-trial performances in elite paratriathlon athletes, according to visual classes, sex, and medal distribution.DesignThe data were acquired from official books on Para Triathlon World Cups (2018–2020). The sample included 150 athletes with visual impairment, in classes: PTVI1, PTVI2, and PTVI3. One-way analysis of variance, the Student t test, and χ2 were used to compare the performance variables and association between visual impairment classes and distribution of medals within different visual impairment classes.ResultsSex comparisons demonstrated better performance for male athletes compared with female athletes (P < 0.05). In the sex-specific analysis, only cycling velocity was higher for female, being lower for PTVI1 compared with PTVI3 (P = 0.012). In visual impairment class results, the first transition time was higher for PTVI1 compared with PTVI2 (P = 0.050) and PTVI3 (P = 0.027) and, in the second transition, higher for PTVI1 compared with PTVI2 (P = 0.001). The χ2 test showed a higher percentage of gold medals for PTVI3 athletes considering the whole group (P = 0.050).ConclusionsThese results indicate that male athletes have better performance than female athletes. PTVI1 female athletes showed lower cycling velocity compared with PTVI3. Considering both male and female groups, blind athletes presented higher transition times and a lower percentage of medals.

Fake news is information that does not represent reality but is commonly shared on the internet as if it were true, mainly because of its dramatic, appealing, and controversial content. Therefore, a relevant issue is to find characteristics that can assist in identifying Fake News, mainly nowadays, where an increasing number of fake news is spread all over the internet every day. This work aims to extract knowledge from Brazilian fake news data based on statistical learning. Initially, an exploratory data analysis is performed for the available variables to extract insights from the differences between fake and true news. Then, the prediction and modelling are carried out. The learning phase aims to build a model and measure the features that best explain the behaviour of misleading texts, which leads to a parsimonious model.Finally, the test phase estimates the fitted model accuracy based on 10-fold crossvalidation in the Monte Carlo framework. The results show that four variables are significant to explain fake news. Moreover, our model achieved comparable results with state-of-the-art, 0.941 F-measure, for a single classifier while having the advantage of being a parsimonious model. This work's details and code can be found at https://github.com/limagbz/fake-news-ptBR.

This narrative review aims to provide a general overview of the literature about frame running, which is a recent modality of Para-Athletics. Frame running is practiced by using a tricycle without pedals called PETRA RaceRunner, by people with moderate to severe cerebral palsy and other lower limb functional limitations. Briefly, the movement pattern is very similar to walking and running. This review includes studies from scientific databases and content of official sports web sites by using the keywords "framerunning," "racerunning," and "petra racerunning." According to our search, this narrative review highlighted three themes involving the practice of frame running, namely health and quality of life, sports classification, and training and testing in the frame running context.