Introduction: Maximal effort physiological tests provide information about the current functional capacity of athletes. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate anaerobic performance parameters in elite athletes and to compare them in terms of the specific demands of each sport. We also created and applied the new software which enables us to quantify a new parameter -explosive muscle power (EP), a major component in sports requiring explosive bursts of movement lasting from a few seconds to 1 or 2 minutes. This new parameter reflects the velocity of energy transformation from intramuscular ATP and high-energy phosphates into mechanical power. Methods: All Wingate test parameters (standard parameters) -anaerobic power (AP), anaerobic capacity (AC), and explosive power (EP) as the new parameter were recorded in 104 subjects: 30 non-athletes and 74 athletes divided into different groups depending on their sport specialty (20 rowers, 28 wrestlers and 26 soccer players). Results: Anaerobic power (AP), anaerobic capacity (AC) and explosive power (EP) were significantly higher in the group of athletes compared to non-athletes. Among athletes, significant differences were observed in some parameters according to the type of activities they are involved in. The highest values were recorded in the group of wrestlers (AP=836W; AC=16.6kJ; EP=139W/s). The values of AP (absolute values) and EP (absolute and relative values) were significantly higher in wrestlers than in soccer players and rowers, but there was no significant difference in AC among these groups. The EP variable had a distribution similar to AP. Conclusions: Alongside anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity, the assessment of explosive power may complement the anaerobic profile of athletes. Experts in the field of sports medicine and exercise physiology could find these results useful in improving test variables, which are more important for specific sports, and for evaluating and monitoring training progress. Level of Evidence I; Diagnostic studies -Investigating a diagnostic test.

The use of the standardized dry ivy leaf extract after nasal packing removal significantly lowers the proportion of nasal secretion.

Background Lertal® is an oral food supplement containing 80 mg of dry extract of Perilla frutescens, 150 mg of bioflavonoid quercetin, and 5 μg of vitamin D3. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Lertal® as a complementary therapy to topical therapy of patients with moderate-to-severe seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (SAR). Results Seventy (n=70) adult patients with moderate-to-severe SAR were included in this prospective study and treated by four different procedures: (1) 21 patients received azelastine intranasal spray for 30 days and, after that, azelastine spray and Lertal® tablets for the next 30 days; (2) 19 patients received combined azelastine with fluticasone intranasal spray for 30 days and azelastine with fluticasone spray and Lertal® tablets for the next 30 days; (3) 15 patients received azelastine spray only for 60 days; (4) 15 patients received combined azelastine with fluticasone spray only for 60 days. Levels of SAR symptoms (sneezing, tearing, ocular itching, rhinorrhea, nasal obstruction, hyposmia, and cough), as well as Total Symptom Scores (TSS), were evaluated at the start of this investigation (visit 0), after 30 days of treatment (visit 1), and after 60 days of treatment (visit 2) using a visual analog scale. After 30 days of treatment, better effects were achieved in groups in which patients were treated with combined (antihistamine with corticosteroid) spray. After 60 days of therapy, we found the best effects in procedure 2 and slightly worse effects in procedure 1. The high differences in the reduction of TSS between the 60th and 30th day were found for procedure 2 (p<0.001) and procedure 1 (p<0.001). The worse improvement of symptoms we found was in procedure 4 (p<0.01), and, for the procedure 3, we found no significant difference (p=0.140). None of the patients reported adverse effects during the therapy. Conclusion Our results suggest that addition of food supplement Lertal® to the standard topical therapy of patients with moderate-to-severe SAR increases the effects of intranasal therapy in reducing nasal and ocular symptoms.

Current recommendations proposed by pediatric audiologists are to commence with hearing amplification in children aged 6 months and above, after previous determination of the type and degree of hearing impairment and audiometric configuration. The goal of this study was to compare results obtained by click-evoked auditory brainstem response (c-ABR) and auditory steady state response (ASSR) in a group of children. This study included 68 children with different degrees of hearing impairment evaluated by c-ABR and ASSR. It is well-known that the c-ABR threshold highly correlates with behavioral hearing level at 2 kHz. In our study, the correlation between the c-ABR and ASSR thresholds in the whole sample was 0.58, 0.73, 0.97, 0.96, 0.95, 0.97; in the group of children with c-ABR thresholds up to 40 dBHL, it was 0.42, 0.73, 0.86, 0.74, 0.81, 0.81; and in the group with c-ABR thresholds worse than 40 dBHL, it was 0.46, 0.56, 0.89, 0.83, 0.85, 0.89 at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 1-4, 2-4 kHz, respectively. Individual differences between the c-ABR and ASSR thresholds in the whole sample were up to 95, 90, 20, 25 dB at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz, respectively. Study results indicated that there was strong correlation between the c-ABR and ASSR thresholds at 2, 4, 1-4, 2-4 kHz. The ASSR can be used as a valuable clinical tool and an excellent complementary method which, along with other audiologic techniques, provides more accurate hearing threshold estimation at an early age in children.