Hypertension, the abnormal elevation of blood pressure, is one of the chronic diseases that usually comes with no symptom and signal. Hypertension is diagnosed if the systolic blood pressure (SBP) over 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) is over 90 mmHg. The purpose of this paper is to review methods of early diagnosis of hypertension by monitoring the SBP, DBP, and heart rate (HR) non-invasively. Although accurate measurement of BP and HR of a person can be obtained invasively, the measuring probe needs to place under patient's skin, which in turn would cause discomfort to the patients and not to mention the possibility of thrombosis to occur. External pressures are necessary to induce to the artery in order to measure BP and HR by using auscultatory and oscillometric methods, hence, a pressure cuff is used to measure BP. The pressure cuff will restrict the motion of the patient and it is rendered not suitable for continuous monitoring. On the other hand, pulse transit time (PTT) and photoplethysmography (PPG) methods are introduced to measure BP non-invasively without the use of a cuff. The limitation of PTT over PPG is PTT needs both PPG waveform and ECG waveform to estimate BP, and artificial phase lag might occur which will affect the reliability of the measured result. Therefore, for long-term hypertension monitoring, non-invasive mean using photoplethysmography method is preferred since it enables continuous monitoring without cuff and it requires only one waveform to estimate the BP as well as HR.

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Cardiovascular endurance is considered the most vital aspect of fitness due to its direct impact on human performance. For any uniform arm units to discharge their duties effectively, they need to meet up to the requirement of highest physical fitness level in respective of their body characteristics. This study aims to predict the relationship of physical characteristics and fitness variables on cardiovascular endurance performance among armed uniform package unit of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin. A total of 26 participants mean age and standard deviation of (±20.45 and 2.0) randomly selected from the three co-arm units of the university took part in this study. Standard physical characteristics measurement and fitness tests were conducted, and multiple linear regression was applied to predict their cardiovascular endurance performance as the dependent variables on their body characteristics and performance of physical fitness as the independent variable. A significant regression equation was obtained F (9, 16) = 4.97, p < 0.05, R² = 0.74 indicating that the model accounted for approximately 74% variability of the whole data set. Sensitivity prediction analysis of the contributions of each variable revealed that height, speed, agility, upper body strength and core body strength are factors to cardiovascular endurance p < 0.05 while, weight, waist circumference, neck circumference and flexibility were not predictors to cardiovascular endurance p > 0.05. To improve the cardiovascular performance of uniform arm units, certain physical and fitness variables have to be considered for an effective discharge of their duties.

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Background: The accurate transfer of information on the athletes' performance in any sport is essential in enhancing the performance and overall coaching process. The provision of such information is favourable only if it is reliable. A cost-effective golf putting monitoring device namely the Putt.It.In was developed for analysing a golfers' putting performance. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the reliability of the instrument in measuring the backswing distance, front swing distance, clubhead speed, ideal front swing distance and swing angle. Methods: A semiprofessional golfer (30 years of age ± 5.0 years' experience) executed four strokes repeatedly from a distance of 2 m and 1 m using a Ram Zebra Mallet putter on a PGM golf mat. The intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficient is employed to test the reliability of the device whilst the Kolmogorov/Smirnov test was utilised to further reaffirm the reliability of the application in measuring the aforementioned parameters over test re-test between first two strokes of 2 m distance and the last two strokes of 1 m distance. Results: The ICC reveals 0.98 and 0.96 for both test 1 and 2, as well as a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.99 and 0.96, respectively suggesting excellent consistencies in the overall observations. Moreover, the Kolmogorov/Smirnov test re-test indicates that there is no significant difference between the first two 2 m strokes p > 0.05, and subsequent two 1 m strokes p > 0.05 highlighting its ability to recognise the pattern of the strokes applied in the four successive strokes. Conclusion: The Putt.It.In monitoring device is found to be reliable in measuring the backswing distance, front swing distance, clubhead speed, ideal front swing distance and swing angle. Professional and semi-professional golfers as well coaches could consider Putt.It.In device in monitoring strokes related parameters to enhance their performance due to its effectiveness in providing information on putting performance.

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The ability to anticipate accurately and consistently plays a vital role to excel in sports performance. The present study was designed to determine the differences of visual anticipation time between athletes in open and closed skills sports. A total of 95 junior athletes, aged 13 to 16 years old (Mean age=14.84±1.04 years) from Bukit Jalil Sports School participated in the study. Participants were distributed to open skills (n=47) and closed skills (n=48) sports according to their sports environment. Visual anticipation time was tested using Bassin Anticipation Timer in response to stimuli at the speed of 5, 10, and 15 mph, measuring absolute and variable error. Absolute error measured the accuracy of responses while variable error focused on the consistency of responses. The results of this investigation showed that in general open skills sport are not superior over anticipation ability in relations to accuracy and consistency as compared to closed skills sports across all speeds (p < 0.05). The evidence from this study suggested more emphasis on training related to eye and hand coordination would be imperative for open skills sports athletes to enhance in on-field sports performance. This study could serve as a base for future studies focusing on visual and hand coordination related to speed as anticipation has been proven to be the key leading to superior performance and for talent identification purposes. Future research concentrating on elite athletes as well as focused sports group would provide further insights on anticipation ability of athletes.

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a physical activity intervention programme, named "Morning Blast", on elementary school students' math learning and daily physical activity. The Morning Blast intervention programme was a 16-week cardiovascular endurance emphasized physical activity program that students voluntarily participated in before the school day. Participants that volunteered, did so for the duration of the program. Methods: This mixed-methods study included seven educators and 83 students (n=90). The students were all children who were enrolled in Grades 3, 4, and 5 in a semi-rural elementary school in the United States. Data were collected through focus-group interviews, surveys, quantitative analysis of step counts, and from quasi-experimental research design. Results: Students in the experimental group were found to have: (1) increased scores on math standard score, (2) greater confidence in their academic ability, and (3) had more accumulated steps compared to students in the control group. Students in the experimental group also reported that they were more "ready to learn" after completing the physical activity intervention. This finding was also confirmed by their teachers. Conclusion: This study demonstrates how an increase in physical activity during the morning time has positive benefits for students throughout the school day.

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Background: In lower levels of play, the lateral ankle sprain is the most common injury, especially amongst male youth soccer players. Purpose: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of an injury prevention program on the incidence of ankle injuries in male youth amateur players. Study Design: Randomised controlled trial study. Methods: Fifty boys (mean ±SD: age 13.3±0.4 yr; body mass index of 20.9 ± 1.5 kg/m²; stature: 1.6 ± 0.1 m) from two-sport schools, with 4.4 ± 0.5 years playing experience, participated. Players were randomly assigned to either an experimental (EXP, n = 25) or a control (CON, n = 25) group. A physical exercise program designed exclusively for youth male soccer players to educate as well as increasing the awareness of the risk of injury of athletes and coaches. Over one year, all injuries were documented monthly by physiotherapists. Complete monthly injury reports were available for 50 players. Results: Nine ankle injuries occurred in the EXP group, and 20 injuries occurred in the CON group, corresponding to incidence rates of 0.96 and 2.16, respectively, per 1000 player hours, which equates to 55% fewer injuries in the EXP group. Conclusions: The incidence of ankle injuries among youth male soccer players can be reduced by the implementation of a multifaceted, soccer-specific physical exercise program. Coaches and players need better education regarding injury prevention strategies and should include such interventions as part of their regular training.

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