Growth, functional capacities and motivation for achievement and competitiveness in youth basketball: An interdisciplinary approach

The interaction of multiple influences on the path to sport success is not yet fully understood by sport scientists. In this study, we examined variation in body size, functional capacities and motivation for achievement, competitiveness and deliberate practice of youth basketball players associated with differences in biological maturity status and chronological age. Reflecting the importance of interactive effects, we examined the relationships between the psychological variables and functional capacities. Fifty-eight male basketball players aged 9.5 to 15.5 years were considered. Variables included chronological age, estimated age at PHV, stature, body mass and sitting height by anthropometry; the Work and Family Orientation and Deliberate Practice Motivation Questionnaires were also used. Finally, the Line Drill test and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) tests were used as functional capacities indicators for basketball. Variance components models derived from series of multilevel linear regression models revealed a significant variation by maturity status for body size, functional capacities indicators, mastery and will to excel. The influence of estimated maturity status on mastery and will to excel was independent of chronological age. Furthermore, after controlling for age, an influence of estimated maturity on competitiveness was apparent. In contrast, no relationships were observed between psychological variables and functional capacities indicators. We conclude that growth-related changes are relevant to understanding players´ motivations for achievement, competitiveness and deliberate practice. This should be of interest to those involved in the selection and development of youth basketball players

Caracterização morfobiológica, morfométrica e ultraestrutural de isolados silvestres de Trypanosoma cruzi do estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Triatoma vitticeps is a triatomine with geographic distribution restrict to Brazil, which exhibits high prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi natural infection. Of special epidemiologic concern, this species often invades households in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. The objective of this study was to evaluate morphological and ultrastructural parameters on three T. cruzi isolates obtained from wild T. vitticeps specimens. The growth and cell differentiation of the parasite was evaluated through epimastigote and trypomastigote forms obtained in the growth curves for three distinct isolates. The maximum growth showed differences at the 20th day of the curve. Our in vitro results show a heterogeneity, regarding these features for samples cultivated under the same conditions. Morphometric analyzes based on the shape of epimastigotes and trypomastigotes corroborated such differentiation. These results highlight the need of better understanding the meaning of this diversity under an eco-epidemiological perspective.Fil: Da Silva, C. Santos. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil. Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Carbajal de la Fuente, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Almeida, C.E.. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Gonçalves, T.C.M.. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Dos Santos Mallet, J. Reis. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz; Brasi

Variabilidade Do Desempenho No Line-drill Test Em Adolescentes Jogadores De Basquetebol

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)The practice of basketball during adolescence increases the body size and functional performance. Basketball involves short-time maximum effort for changes of direction, which use anaerobic metabolism and agility. Objective: To examine the variation in performance in the Line-drill Test in adolescent basketball players (n=59, age 9-15 years) in relation to the stage of somatic maturity (estimated age of peak growth velocity [PGV]) and the variation in body size. Methods: We considered chronological age, estimated time for the age of PGV by the maturity offset protocol, height and body mass measured by anthropometry, and performance in the Line Drill Test. Proportional allometric models were used to control the variation associated with the body size, chronological age, and maturity of inter-individual variation in the Line-drill Test. Results: We found a high negative linear relationship between performance in the Line-drill Test and chronological age (r=-0.64, 95% IC -0.77 - -0.46, p<0.01). The relationship between performance on the Line-drill Test and the time until the age of PGV proved to be non-linear, indicating slowdown in performance variation, approximately from the age of PGV and one year after the predicted PGV. The allometric models showed a negative relationship between body size and performance in the Line-drill Test. The amplitude of variance explained in the proportional allometric models ranged from 0.28 to 0.48. Negative exponents of small magnitude were observed for chronological age and the indicator of maturity being, however, significant and with reduced amplitude (-0.05 to -0.06) Conclusion: The use of allometric models to control the influence of body size can potentially help to understand the development of agility performances in adolescent basketball players. © 2016, Redprint Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.226445449PNPD/CAPES/2013, CAPES, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorFAPESP, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density, affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level together with a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and precision of shower reconstructions.Comment: 53 pages. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section

The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius $A$. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio