A Systematic Review of the Impact of COVID-19 on Global Sporting Events in 2020: The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics

The Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), like no other pandemic has taken the world by storm, affecting all and any spheres of life. This effect has also impacted global sporting events such as the 2020 Summer Olympics that were scheduled for the 24th of July 2020 to the 9th of July 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Historically, the Summer Olympics have been cancelled 3 times due to war but the postponement that occurred in 2020 is unprecedented. The socio-economic implications are still yet to be fully explored and realised. The purpose of this research is to therefore examine the impact of COVID-19 on the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. The study will adopt a systematic literature review of material on the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to sporting events and statistical inferences will be conducted based on publicly accessible secondary data sources. Considering that the pandemic is still an ongoing phenomenon the findings and analysis cannot be conclusive, a snapshot based on current data and scientific predictions will be provided on what COVID-19 meant to global sporting events. A broad analysis of the pandemic’s impact on sport will be provided despite the focus being on the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Last, this study serves as a template for further research on COVID-19’s impact on sporting events in general, preferably studies conducted post the pandemic for reflection purposes based on more conclusive data.

An Analysis Safe Protocols Employed in Professional Male Soccer and the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the 2020 Brazilian Championship

The COVID-19 pandemic directly reached and impacted upon elite sports and caused the postponement of sporting events globally. In order to enable the return of activities, protocols were created with recommendations to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. The objective of this work is to analyze and compare the safe return protocols of major football leagues and associations to those of the Brazilian Championship, as well as to survey the numbers of COVID-19 outbreaks in clubs that competed in the 2020 Brazilian Championship Series A. The documentary research was carried out through the analysis of articles published on open-source football league and federation websites. National and international return protocols were verified, as well as the documenting of isolated cases and outbreaks of COVID-19 in the Brazilian Championship. In the Brazilian Championship, the return to play occurred at a time when COVID-19 case numbers were rising, a fact that, together with the decentralization of the match cities, was likely linked to the number of positive cases. A total of 302 positive cases of COVID-19 were identified in 14 outbreaks during the competition. Therefore, this work identifies good practice and underscores the need to reassess and refine the protocols to minimize the impacts of COVID-19 going forward.

Stages and actions for an administrative-territorial reorganization reform

This article addresses the process of implementing a territorial reform, as well as its importance for the reorganization of the territorial-administrative structure of the state. Regardless of the administrative-territorial organization of the state, this process involves planning, carrying out and monitoring the reform of territorial reorganization. Each step of the reform is the subject of a successive order, which will be set out in a chronological order, according to the recommendation of the committee of Ministers of the Member States of the Council of Europe Rec (2004) 12. According to the experience of other states, the postponement of territorial-administrative reform is influenced by a lack of political will, insufficient communication between CPA with LPA, inaction of civil society and others.

MycoNews 2021: President’s message, IMA statutes, news, reports, awards, personalia, and book news

This third annual edition of MycoNews starts with a message from IMA President Wieland Meyer regarding the adoption of new statutes for the IMA, the postponement of IMC12 to 2024, and announcing Marc Stadler as President-elect. The new statutes are included in full. News is provided on the launch of a World Fungus Day, acceptance of the term Funga as an equivalent to Fauna and Flora by the IUCN Species Survival Commission, new arrangements and dates for IMC12 now to be held in Maastricht in July 2024, and revised arrangements for the publication of proposals to change any rules governing the nomenclature of fungi. Reports are provided for IAL9, the symposium of the International Association for Lichenology in Brazil mainly conducted virtually, MycoRise Up! in Poland, and the centenary of the German Mycological Society (DGFM). Birthday greetings from IMA go to David Farr, Marie-Agnés Letrouit-Galinou, Maria Olech, Angela Restrepo, Carol Shearer, James Trappe, and Shun-ichi Udagawa. Tributes are also paid to the passing of the distinguished mycologists Heinz Butin, Karl Esser, Grégoire Hennebert, Jack Rogers, Kálman Vánky, and Bodo Wanke. The contribution concludes with news of seven new mycological books published in 2020–2021, and another forthcoming in 2022.

Planting dates and seedling age of red cabbage during the spring season in Uzbekistan

The importance of red cabbage for expanding the range of vegetable crops in Uzbekistan is highlighted in this paper. The results of three-year (2018-2020) studies on the comparative assessment of the effectiveness of three spring planting dates (March 5-9, 13-16 and 25-27) at three seedling ages (70, 60 and 50 days) at each planting date were presented. It was revealed that the later the seeds are sown to obtain seedlings for spring culture, the faster the seedlings appear and the more the seedlings form leaves. With the postponement of the timing of planting seedlings, the survival rate of seedlings increases. It has been established that the later the seedlings are planted, the higher the temperatures are the growth of plants and the formation of heads. The most unfavorable temperature conditions are formed when the seedlings are planted on March 25-27, which causes a delay at the beginning of the formation of heads of cabbage, an increase in the number of leaves of a root rosette, a decrease in the setting and average weight of heads of cabbage and their marketability. The best indicators of head set-up, their average weight and marketability, yield per unit area are provided when planting on March 14-16, 70 and 60-day old seedlings. Planting seedlings on March 25-27, seedlings of any age, due to the formation of heads of cabbage at excessively high temperatures, delays the flow of products, reduces the setting, average weight and marketability of heads of cabbage and significantly reduces the yield per unit area. It is recommended for a spring culture to plant on March 14-16 with 70 and 60-day old seedlings and not allow planting at the end of March.

Home training recommendations for soccer players during the COVID-19 pandemic

This pandemic of COVID-19 has a major impact on people's lives, and several governments ordered extended quarantine and requested social isolation to contain the spread of COVID-19 and flatten its contagion curve. Soccer practice was also severely affected by these pandemic effects, including the postponement of several championships, which involve large audiences. In Brazil, the professional leagues restart the official matches (e.g., Brazilian National Fourth, Third, Second, and First Divisions Leagues). However, some youth academies have not yet restarted their professional activities. Therefore, home-based training can be a good option in these cases. Here, we outline the benefits of home workouts using a multidimensional approach. First, we provide practical recommendations for physical, psychological, and tactical training. Next, we propose an example of a home training program spanning one weekly microcycle for soccer players, using load control based on the rating of perceived exertion. We highlighted that is crucial to make all these exercises fun and entertaining during the self-isolation period. The home training recommendations discussed and proposed in this research can and should be adjusted by the coaches according to their own ideas and athletes' access to equipment (e.g., treadmills, flywheel training, virtual reality).

Prediction of the Delay in the Portfolio Construction Using Naïve Bayesian Classification Algorithms

Projects suspensions are between the most insistent tasks confronted by the construction field accredited to the sector’s difficulty and its essential delay risk foundations’ interdependence. Machine learning provides a perfect group of techniques, which can attack those complex systems. The study aimed to recognize and progress a wellorganized predictive data tool to examine and learn from delay sources depend on preceding data of construction projects by using decision trees and naïve Bayesian classification algorithms. An intensive review of available data has been conducted to explore the real reasons and causes of construction project delays. The results show that the postponement of delay of interim payments is at the forefront of delay factors caused by the employer’s decision. Even the least one is to leave the job site caused by the contractor’s second part of the contract, the repeated unjustified stopping of the work at the site, without permission or notice from the client’s representatives. The developed model was applied to about 97 projects and used as a prediction model. The decision tree model shows higher accuracy in the prediction.

Examining Stakeholder Outlooks on Football Policing and Security: The Case of Euro 2020

In the case of the 2020 Union of European Football Associations European Championship in men's football (‘Euro 2020’), this article investigates stakeholder perceptions on the ‘policing’ of fans. On a European-wide scale, the policing of fans is a contested topic. Meanwhile, the policing and security efforts required for sport mega-events like Euro 2020, uniquely planned to be staged in 12 different countries, require years of planning and enormous resources. Adding to this, the Championship's timeline was prolonged following the coronavirus disease-2019-related event postponement. Drawing from original insights from documentary research and qualitative interviews conducted before the postponement, this article argues that stakeholders strongly advocated for a communication and dialogue-based approach to fans. More specifically for Euro 2020, consistency in the policing approaches across all 12 countries was highlighted by stakeholders as being of paramount importance for fans’ security perceptions. The study thus extends existing insights into football policing and the wider understanding of security and policing in the present-day world.

The Oath as an Element of Juridical Culture in Early-Seventeenth-Century Courts of Samogitia

The work is focused on the use of the oath in Samogitian land and castle court books at the beginning of seventeenth century. The oath was administered quite often and it was the fastest way to resolve one instance of litigation or another. According to the submitted examples of seventeenth-century court books, oaths were incriminating or exculpatory. Incriminating oaths (those of the plaintiff party) were more frequent. Administering an oath did not necessarily mean it would be fulfilled as they often ended in a reconciliation or postponement. Reconciliation under oath did not always mean that the defendant would be exempt from financial sanctions, which courts often imposed even after a formal conciliation. Partial oaths were also practiced: the oath would be divided into several segments and a person would swear to one segment of a charge and not to another. The postponement or withholding of oaths resulted not only from formal reasons but also from the desire not to err in hasty administration of justice.