nutrition and performance in football

Nutrition is an undeniable part of promoting health and performance among football (soccer) players. Nevertheless, nutritional strategies adopted in elite football can vary significantly depending on culture, habit and practical constraints and might not always be supported by scientific evidence. Therefore, a group of 28 Portuguese experts on sports nutrition, sports science and sports medicine sought to discuss current practices in the elite football landscape and review the existing evidence on nutritional strategies to be applied when supporting football players. Starting from understanding football?s physical and physiological demands, five different moments were identified: preparing to play, match-day, recovery after matches, between matches and during injury or rehabilitation periods. When applicable, specificities of nutritional support to young athletes and female players were also addressed. The result is a set of practical recommendations that gathered consensus among involved experts, highlighting carbohydrates periodisation, hydration and conscious use of dietary supplements.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

A list of land plants of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Brazil, highlights the presence of sampling gaps within this protected area

Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of “Parque Nacional do Caparaó” (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states

Physiological and ionic changes in dwarf coconut seedlings irrigated with saline water

ABSTRACT Salt-tolerant plants are important to cope with salinity and/or sodicity problems in semiarid regions. The dwarf coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) has emerged as a salt-tolerant crop once established. However, little is known about the mechanisms that contribute to the survival of coconut seedlings under salinity stress. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of saline water on morpho-physiological and biochemical responses of dwarf coconut seedlings. Treatments were composed of five levels of water salinity, expressed by its electrical conductivity (ECw), as follows: 0.9 (control); 5.2; 10.1; 15.3 and 19.3 dS m-1 in a completely randomized design with four replications. The high levels of organic solutes (carbohydrates and soluble amino-N) and Na+ in roots, that contribute to the low values of Na+/K+ ratio in the leaves, suggest that roots play an important role in the mechanism of salt tolerance of coconut seedlings. The use of brackish water with ECw of 5.2 dS m-1 allows seedling production, with no loss of quality. Based on total dry matter accumulation, seedlings were classified as moderately tolerant to the salinity of 10.1 dS m-1

Organic solutes in coconut palm seedlings under water and salt stresses

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to investigate the biochemical mechanisms associated with isolated and/or concurrent actions of drought and soil salinity in seedlings of coconut tree, through the accumulation of organic solutes (soluble carbohydrates, soluble amino N and free proline) in leaves and roots. The experiment, conducted in a protected environment, in Fortaleza, Brazil, in a randomized block design, in a split-plot arrangement, evaluated the effects of different levels of water stress (plots) by imposing distinct percentages of replacement of water losses through crop potential evapotranspiration - ETpc (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%), associated with subplots consisting of increasing levels of soil salinity in saturation extract (1.72, 6.25, 25.80 and 40.70 dS m-1) provided by the soils collected in the Irrigated Perimeter of Morada Nova. Salinity did not change the concentration of organic solutes; however, there were increases in leaf and root levels of free proline in response to water stress, which contributes to the osmoregulation and/or osmoprotection of the species under adverse conditions of water supply