Evaluating weaknesses of "perceptual-cognitive training" and "brain training" methods in sport: An ecological dynamics critique

The recent upsurge in "brain training and perceptual-cognitive training," proposing to improve isolated processes, such as brain function, visual perception, and decision-making, has created significant interest in elite sports practitioners, seeking to create an "edge" for athletes. The claims of these related "performance-enhancing industries" can be considered together as part of a process training approach proposing enhanced cognitive and perceptual skills and brain capacity to support performance in everyday life activities, including sport. For example, the "process training industry" promotes the idea that playing games not only makes you a better player but also makes you smarter, more alert, and a faster learner. In this position paper, we critically evaluate the effectiveness of both types of process training programmes in generalizing transfer to sport performance. These issues are addressed in three stages. First, we evaluate empirical evidence in support of perceptual-cognitive process training and its application to enhancing sport performance. Second, we critically review putative modularized mechanisms underpinning this kind of training, addressing limitations and subsequent problems. Specifically, we consider merits of this highly specific form of training, which focuses on training of isolated processes such as cognitive processes (attention, memory, thinking) and visual perception processes, separately from performance behaviors and actions. We conclude that these approaches may, at best, provide some "general transfer" of underlying processes to specific sport environments, but lack "specificity of transfer" to contextualize actual performance behaviors. A major weakness of process training methods is their focus on enhancing the performance in body "modules" (e.g., eye, brain, memory, anticipatory sub-systems). What is lacking is evidence on how these isolated components are modified and subsequently interact with other process "modules," which are considered to underlie sport performance. Finally, we propose how an ecological dynamics approach, aligned with an embodied framework of cognition undermines the rationale that modularized processes can enhance performance in competitive sport. An ecological dynamics perspective proposes that the body is a complex adaptive system, interacting with performance environments in a functionally integrated manner, emphasizing that the inter-relation between motor processes, cognitive and perceptual functions, and the constraints of a sport task is best understood at the performer-environment scale of analysis

Enterobius vermicularis: Ancient DNA from North and South American Coprolites

A molecular paleoparasitological diagnostic approach was developed for Enterobius vermicularis. Ancient DNA was extracted from 27 coprolites from archaeological sites in Chile and USA. Enzymatic amplification of human mtDNA sequences confirmed the human origin. We designed primers specific to the E. vermicularis 5S ribosomal RNA spacer region and they allowed reproducible polymerase chain reaction identification of ancient material. We suggested that the paleoparasitological microscopic identification could accompany molecular diagnosis, which also opens the possibility of sequence analysis to understand parasite-host evolution

Cathepsin L of Triatoma brasiliensis (Reduviidae, Triatominae): Sequence characterization, expression pattern and zymography

AbstractTriatoma brasiliensis is considered one of the main vectors of Chagas disease commonly found in semi-arid areas of northeastern Brazil. These insects use proteases, such as carboxypeptidase B, aminopeptidases and different cathepsins for blood digestion. In the present study, two genes encoding cathepsin L from the midgut of T. brasiliensis were identified and characterized. Mature T. brasiliensis cathepsin L-like proteinases (TBCATL-1, TBCATL-2) showed a high level of identity to the cathepsin L-like proteinases of other insects, with highest similarity to Rhodnius prolixus. Both cathepsin L transcripts were highly abundant in the posterior midgut region, the main region of the blood digestion. Determination of the pH in the whole intestine of unfed T. brasiliensis revealed alkaline conditions in the anterior midgut region (stomach) and acidic conditions in the posterior midgut region (small intestine). Gelatine in-gel zymography showed the activity of at least four distinct proteinases in the small intestine and the cysteine proteinase inhibitors transepoxysuccinyl-l-leucylamido-(4-guanidino)butane (E-64) and cathepsin B inhibitor and N-(l-3-trans-propylcarbamoyl-oxirane-2-carbonyl)-l-isoleucyl-l-proline (CA-074) were employed to characterize enzymatic activity. E-64 fully inhibited cysteine proteinase activity, whereas in the samples treated with CA-074 residual proteinase activity was detectable. Thus, proteolytic activity could at least partially be ascribed to cathepsin L. Western blot analysis using specific anti cathepsin L antibodies confirmed the presence of cathepsin L in the lumen of the small intestine of the insects

Per-Fide: projeto de compilação de um corpus multilingue

[Excerto] O projeto que aqui apresentamos resulta da colaboração entre o Departamento de Informática e o Instituto de Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade do Minho e tem por principal objetivo a compilação de corpora paralelos multilingues. Pretende-se, com este tipo de recurso, construir uma plataforma de investigação vocacionada para diferentes áreas, nomeadamente a linguística contrastiva, o ensino e o estudo de línguas e da tradução (Berber Sardinha, 2003), da lexicografi a bilingue, entre outras. [...]O Per-Fide, Português em paralelo com seis línguas (Português, Español, Russian, Français, Italiano, Deutsch, English), é parcialmente financiado pelo projeto PTDC/CLE-LLI/108948/2008 da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia

Using artificial intelligence for pattern recognition in a sports context

Optimizing athlete’s performance is one of the most important and challenging aspects of coaching. Physiological and positional data, often acquired using wearable devices, have been useful to identify patterns, thus leading to a better understanding of the game and, consequently, providing the opportunity to improve the athletic performance. Even though there is a panoply of research in pattern recognition, there is a gap when it comes to non-controlled environments, as during sports training and competition. This research paper combines the use of physiological and positional data as sequential features of different artificial intelligence approaches for action recognition in a real match context, adopting futsal as its case study. The traditional artificial neural networks (ANN) is compared with a deep learning method, Long Short-Term Memory Network, and also with the Dynamic Bayesian Mixture Model, which is an ensemble classification method. The methods were used to process all data sequences, which allowed to determine, based on the balance between precision and recall, that Dynamic Bayesian Mixture Model presents a superior performance, with an F1 score of 80.54% against the 33.31% achieved by the Long Short-Term Memory Network and 14.74% achieved by ANN.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tailor-made fluorinated ionic liquids for protein delivery

PTDC/QEQEPR/5841/2014 PTDC/QEQ-FTT/3289/2014 IF/00210/2014/CP1244/CT0003 UIDB/50006/2020Nowadays, pharmaceutical companies are facing several challenges with the development and approval of new biological products. The unique properties of several fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs), such as their high surfactant power in aqueous solutions, their chemical and biological stability, and low toxicity, favor their application in the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, the numerous combinations between cations and anions, in the FILs design, enlarge the possibilities to construct a successful delivery system. Several FILs also proved to not affect the activity, stability, and secondary structure of the therapeutic protein lysozyme. This work aims to study the aggregation behavior of distinct FILs in the protein suitable medium, in the presence or absence of lysozyme. Besides, different incubation conditions were tested to guarantee the optimal enzymatic activity of the protein at more stable delivery systems. Following the optimization of the incubation conditions, the quantification of the encapsulated lysozyme was performed to evaluate the encapsulation efficiency of each FIL-based system. The release of the protein was tested applying variables such as time, temperature, and ultrasound frequency. The experimental results suggest that the aggregation behavior of FILs is not significantly influenced by the protein and/or protein buffer and supports their application for the design of delivery systems with high encapsulation efficiencies, maintaining the biological activity of either encapsulated and released protein.publishersversionpublishe

Development of nickel-based magnetoliposomes

Liposomes entrapping nickel-based magnetic nanoparticles (magnetoliposomes) were prepared and characterized.This work was supported by FEDER through the COMPETE Program and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Project of CFUM [PEst-C/FIS/UI0607/2011 (F-COMP-01-0124-FEDER-022711)]. FCT is also acknowledged for the PhD grant of A.R.O. Rodrigues (SFRH/BD/90949/2012)

Multi-organ NMR metabolomics to assess in vivo overall metabolic impact of cisplatin in mice

This work describes, to our knowledge, the first NMR metabolomics analysis of mice kidney, liver, and breast tissue in response to cisplatin exposure, in search of early metabolic signatures of cisplatin biotoxicity. Balb/c mice were exposed to a single 3.5 mg/kg dose of cisplatin and then euthanized; organs (kidney, liver, breast tissue) were collected at 1, 12, and 48 h. Polar tissue extracts were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy, and the resulting spectra were studied by multivariate and univariate analyses. The results enabled the identification of the most significant deviant metabolite levels at each time point, and for each tissue type, and showed that the largest metabolic impact occurs for kidney, as early as 1 h post-injection. Kidney tissue showed a marked depletion in several amino acids, comprised in an overall 13-metabolites signature. The highest number of changes in all tissues was noted at 12 h, although many of those recovered to control levels at 48 h, with the exception of some persistently deviant tissue-specific metabolites, thus enabling the identification of relatively longer-term effects of cDDP. This work reports, for the first time, early (1-48 h) concomitant effects of cDDP in kidney, liver, and breast tissue metabolism, thus contributing to the understanding of multi-organ cDDP biotoxicity.publishe