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In order to understand the reasons that lead individuals to practice physical activity, researchers developed the Motives for Physical Activity Measure-Revised (MPAM-R) scale. In 2010, a translation of MPAM-R to Portuguese and its validation was performed. However, psychometric measures were not acceptable. In addition, factor scores in some sports psychology scales are calculated by the mean of scores by items of the factor. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate that items with higher factor loadings, extracted by Factor Analysis, have greater weight in the factor score, as items with lower factor loadings have less weight in the factor score. The aims of the present study are to translate, validate the MPAM-R for Portuguese versions, and investigate agreement between two methods used to calculate factor scores. Three hundred volunteers who were involved in physical activity programs for at least 6 months were collected. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the 30 items indicated that the version did not fit the model. After excluding four items, the final model with 26 items showed acceptable model fit measures by Exploratory Factor Analysis, as well as it conceptually supports the five factors as the original proposal. When two methods are compared to calculate factors scores, our results showed that only “Enjoyment” and “Appearance” factors showed agreement between methods to calculate factor scores. So, the Portuguese version of the MPAM-R can be used in a Brazilian context, and a new proposal for the calculation of the factor score seems to be promising.

RESUMOO Efeito da Idade Relativa (EIR) e o Efeito do Ano Constituinte (EAC) parecem influenciar o processo de formação de jovens tenistas. O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar a presença desses efeitos no ranking de tenistas juniores da International Tennis Federation (ITF) e sua influência na pontuação obtida pelos tenistas. Os resultados encontrados demonstram a presença do EIR e do EAC (p ≤ 0,05). O modelo de regressão identificou que as variáveis "ano" e "mês" de nascimento predizem a pontuação dos atletas no ranking da ITF com uma variância explicada de 19%. Em conclusão, o ranking formado por várias faixas etárias não tem se mostrado uma estratégia de classificação sensível o bastante para prevenir o EIR e o EAC entre os tenistas juniores. Palavras-chave: Efeito da Idade Relativa. Efeito do Ano Constituinte. Tênis. ABSTRACTRelative Age Effect (RAE) and Constituent Year Effect (CYE) seem to influence the process of training young tennis players. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of these effects in the ranking of junior tennis players of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and its influence on the score obtained by such tennis players. The results show the presence of the RAE and the CYE (p ≤ 0.05). The regression model identified that the variables "year" and "month" of birth predict the scores of athletes in the ITF ranking with an explained variance of 19%. In conclusion, the ranking composed of various age groups does not seem to be a classification strategy sensitive enough to prevent the RAE and the CYE among junior tennis players. Keywords: Relative Age Effect. Constituent Year Effect. Tennis. IntroduçãoNo Tênis, como em outras modalidades esportivas, o processo de seleção e formação de atletas é bastante complexo. Atingir a excelência e tornar-se um tenista profissional é uma tarefa difícil e que poucos conseguem alcançar. Para obter sucesso em um esporte tão seletivo, crianças são selecionadas para participar de programas de treinamentos e competições 1 , visando atingir o alto rendimento já no início da idade adulta. O desenvolvimento de jovens atletas requer procedimentos multivariados 2 , já que além da preocupação com as características físicas e sócio-afetivas, é necessário que sejam trabalhados também os aspectos cognitivos e sensório-motores 3 . Entretanto, outras variáveis poderão interferir ao longo das etapas do desenvolvimento, entre elas as características genéticas 4 , o ambiente no qual se desenvolve 5 e os aspectos sociais envolvidos 6 nesse processo.Dentre os diversos fatores que parecem influenciar o processo de seleção e formação de atletas, o Efeito da Idade Relativa (EIR) têm recebido muita atenção nos últimos anos e vem sendo descrito em diversas modalidades esportivas coletivas, como o futebol 7,8 e o handebol 9 , em modalidades de luta, como o taekwondo 10 e o judô 11 e também em esportes

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This study aimed to investigate the birthplace effect in Brazilian basketball athletes of both sexes according their states and geographical regions. Our hypothesis is that the São Paulo (SP) state is the leading player in the Southeastern region and stands out from the other regions. The birthplace of Brazilian athletes participating in the FIBA World Cup and in two national leagues were collected from open-access websites. Three hundred and fifteen athletes’ birthplaces were included. The absolute and relative frequencies of athletes’ birthplaces per state and geographical region were calculated. Chi-Square tests were used to compare the expected and the observed frequencies of birthplaces among regions and states. Odds Ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to indicate the probability of a high-level athlete to be born in a certain region or state. The results completely confirmed our hypothesis, showing higher frequencies of athletes born in the Southeastern region, especially in the SP state. We concluded that the uneven participation in basketball in Brazil is caused by the continental dimensions of the country and the modality historical context. Concentrating basketball clubs on a single region or state (SP) leads to an underuse of the sporting potential in the country.

A doença de Alzheimer representa o tipo mais freqüente de demência senil. Uma vez que os medicamentos não se mostram totalmente eficazes no tratamento dos sintomas comportamentais, abordagens não-farmacológicas vêm ganhando cada vez mais a atenção de pesquisadores e clínicos da área geriátrica. A proposta deste artigo é difundir métodos de tratamento não-farmacológico que visam abordar o paciente em seus aspectos globais. O presente trabalho consiste em revisão de literatura atual através de busca à base de dados Medline, entre os anos 1998 a2008. Foram selecionadas alternativas de tratamento a fim de diminuir o declínio cognitivo e funcional dos pacientes e o estresse dos cuidadores. São citados o uso da estimulação elétrica nervosa transcutânea (TENS), estimulação multi-sensorial, toque terapêutico, musicoterapia, aromaterapia, terapia assistida por animais domésticos e atividades cinesioterapêuticas e cognitivas. Todas as intervenções têm como objetivo comum melhorar a qualidade de vida dos pacientes. Porém, há escassez de pesquisas científicas documentadas, o que sugere a realização de mais estudos em torno do assunto. Palavras-chave: tratamento não-farmacológico, fisioterapia, doença de Alzheimer.

BackgroundNitric oxide synthase (NOS) is essential for the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO), a non-conventional neurotransmitter with an important role in synaptic plasticity underlying processes of hippocampus-dependent memory and in the regulation of biological clocks and circadian rhythms. Many studies have shown that both the NOS cytosolic protein content and its enzymatic activity present a circadian variation in different regions of the rodent brain, including the hippocampus. The present study investigated the daily variation of NOS enzymatic activity and the cytosolic content of nNOS in the hippocampus of pigeons.ResultsAdult pigeons kept under a skeleton photoperiod were assigned to six different groups. Homogenates of the hippocampus obtained at six different times-of-day were used for NOS analyses. Both iNOS activity and nNOS cytosolic protein concentrations were highest during the subjective light phase and lowest in the subjective dark phase of the circadian period. ANOVA showed significant time differences for iNOS enzymatic activity (p < 0.05) and for nNOS protein content (p < 0.05) in the hippocampus. A significant daily rhythm for both iNOS and nNOS was confirmed by analysis with the Cosinor method (p < 0.05). The present findings indicate that the enzymatic activity of iNOS and content of nNOS protein in the hippocampus of pigeons exhibit a daily rhythm, with acrophase values occurring during the behavioral activity phase.ConclusionsThe data corroborate the reports on circadian variation of NOS in the mammalian hippocampus and can be considered indicative of a dynamic interaction between hippocampus-dependent processes and circadian clock mechanisms.

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