Physical activity and affect of the elderly: Contribution to the validation of the Positive and Negative Affect Shedule (PANAS) in the Portuguese population

The concept of affect corresponds to the emotional dimension of subjective well-being (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). It is represented by two dimensions (negative affect and positive affect), which were the basis of the development of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - PANAS (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). It was translated and validated for the Portuguese population by Galinha and Pais-Ribeiro (2005b). Nevertheless, because the Portuguese version was not validated in a sample of Portuguese elderly, the goals of this study consisted in the translation of the scale (PANAS) from the original version of 20 items and the validation of its measurement model (including a shortened version) for a sample of Portuguese elderly (n = 311), aged 60 years or older (M = 68.53; DP = 6.69); it was then tested by a confirmatory factorial analysis. The results demonstrated that the measurement model (two factors and 10 items) of the shortened Portuguese version of the PANAS presented acceptable psychometric qualities, which adjusted to the data in a satisfactory way (factorial weights ranging between .57 and .70 in positive affect and between .52 and .68 in negative affect). We also concluded that older adults who practice more physical activity perceive higher levels of positive affect F(2, 297) = 3,78, p < .05; η2 = .025, and lower levels of negative affect F (2, 297) = 6,24, p < .001; η2 = .040).This project was supported by the National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (UID/DTP/04045/2019) - and the European Fund for regional development (FEDER) allocated by European Union through the COMPETE 2020 Programme (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006969).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Goal Content for the practice of physical activity and the impact on subjective well-being in older adults

The main goal of this study consisted in an analysis of the impact that the goal content that leads to the practice of physical activity in the elderly population can play on the variables that constitute subjective well-being, as well as to analyze the differences in these variables’ levels according to the amount of physical activity practiced. A total of 300 individuals participated in this study (n=300), including 238 females and 62 males, aged between 60 and 90 years old (M = 68.59; DP = 6.54), who practice differing levels of physical activity. The results enable us to conclude that the goal content for the practice of physical activity has positive effects on the perception of satisfaction with life and on affect. To the same extent, they verify that health is the motivation that has the greatest weight on the practice of physical activity. We also concluded that elderly people who practice more physical activity perceive higher levels of satisfaction with life and positive affect, and lower levels of negative affectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reasons for dropout in swimmers, differences between gender and age and intentions to return to competition

BACKGROUND: This study’s main purpose was to analyze reasons for dropout in competitive swimmers and differences between gender and age groups. The influence of dropout on swimmers intentions to return to competition, invariance across gender and validation of Questionnaire of Reasons for Attrition were also analyzed. METHODS: Study 1 – 366 athletes participated (N.=366; mean age 15.96, SD 5.99) and the data gathered was used for the exploratory analysis, and data gathered on 1008 athletes were used for the confirmatory analysis and the structural equations (N.=1008; mean age 16.26, SD 6.12); Study 2: 1008 athletes participated (N.=1008; mean age 16.26, SD 6.12) on the descriptive and inferential analysis of the reasons behind the practice dropout. The Questionnaire of Reasons Attrition was used in both studies to assess the reasons associated with the practice dropout. RESULTS: In study 1, the results showed an acceptable fit of the measurement model and invariance across gender and also predictive validity regarding swimmers intentions to return to competition (e.g., demands/pressure” negatively predict intentions). In study 2, the main results showed that the most significant reason for dropout in both genders and all age groups was “dissatisfaction/other priorities”; the study also showed there to be differences between gender and age groups (e.g., female and younger athletes valued “demands/ pressure “more). CONCLUSIONS: This study offers useful guidelines for the training process and to support decisions on sports politics to be implemented to overcome the dropout rate. However, it is important to broaden the evidence to other sports and implement programs on identified priority areas based on longitudinal perspectives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biogas from sugarcane vinasse: environmental, energy and regulatory issues for a political agenda in Braszil

XX Encontro Nacional de Economia Política: desenvolvimento Latino-Americano, Integração e Inserção Internacional - UNILA, Foz do Iguaçu, 26 a 29 de maio de 2015Brazil is the largest sugarcane producer in the world, an important input to ethanol production, which puts the country in a privileged position in biofuel world market. Besides the importance of sugar production in the sugarcane chain, this work focuses on ethanol production (ethanol industry), particularly its main waste, vinasse. Vinasse presents several environmental risks due to its bio composition and, if dumped in rivers or lakes, causes the phenomenon of eutrophication, which promotes a high growth of aquatic plant species and spread environmental problems. In this scenario, the anaerobic digestion of vinasse (the most abundant effl uent from a sugarcane biorefi nery) arises as an interesting alternative because, in addition to promoting the stabilization of organic matter, it also enables energy generation from biogas (biomethane). Anaerobic digestion generates biomethane and biofertilizer from vinasse. The objective of this article is to study the biogas potential generation from sugarcane vinasse in Brazil using anaerobic digestion technology also presenting the challenges and the governmental agenda required to develop biogas systems to sugarcane sector in Brazil. This work presented a huge biogas production potential from sugarcane vinasse. It can be used in multiple ways, and this work emphasized two important energy uses: to substitute natural gas and to generate electricity in a distributed generation concept. Besides the huge potential, there is an extensive agenda to solve and overcome the multiple barriers for biogas systems implementation in Brazil. According to international experience the strong governmental involvement is necessary and suffi cient condition to develop renewable energy sources. In that sense, biogas systems need to be inserted in Brazil’s policy agendaBanco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES); Usina Hidrelétrica de Itaipu (ITAIPU); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) e Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA

A Systematic Review

The use of smart technology, specifically inertial sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers), to analyze swimming kinematics is being reported in the literature. However, little is known about the usage/application of such sensors in other human aquatic exercises. As the sensors are getting smaller, less expensive, and simple to deal with (regarding data acquisition), one might consider that its application to a broader range of exercises should be a reality. The aim of this systematic review was to update the state of the art about the framework related to the use of sensors assessing human movement in an aquatic environment, besides swimming. The following databases were used: IEEE Xplore, Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science. Five articles published in indexed journals, aiming to assess human exercises/movements in the aquatic environment were reviewed. The data from the five articles was categorized and summarized based on the aim, purpose, participants, sensor's specifications, body area and variables analyzed, and data analysis and statistics. The analyzed studies aimed to compare the movement/exercise kinematics between environments (i.e., dry land versus aquatic), and in some cases compared healthy to pathological participants. The use of sensors in a rehabilitation/hydrotherapy perspective may provide major advantages for therapists.Bolsa BIPD/ICIFCSH-Santander Universidades—UBI/2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Proposal of a deterministic model to explain swimming performance.

Swimming is one of the most challenging sports to investigate. Since long, swimming practitioners base their decisions in scientific evidences. It is known that several scientific domains have a significant role in the swimming performance, such as the “Biomechanics”, “Physiology”, “Anthropometrics”, “Motor Control” and “Muscle strength and conditioning”. The nowadays trend in swimming research is the “Interdisciplinary assessment”, which is related to the “holistic approach”. In Sport Sciences, and especially in Biomechanics, a re-new interest also emerged in the last few years for the design and development of deterministic models. Merging both concepts (i.e., “holistic thinking” and “deterministic models”) there is a chance to expand a deterministic model for competitive swimming, including several other scientific domains besides the Biomechanics. With this it is possible to have a deeper understanding of the variables that determine swimming and how they interplay to enhance performance. The aim of this paper was two-folds: (i) to make a revision and an update of the state of the art about the relationships between swimming biomechanics with performance, energetics, anthropometrics, motor control, muscle strength and conditioning; (ii) to design the deterministic model of such relationships