Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Reduces Competitive Anxiety and Modulates Heart Rate Variability in an eSports Player

Previous research has recently shown that high cognitive and somatic anxiety and low self-confidence, before and during sport competitions have a significant correlation with heart rate variability (HRV) changes and can reduce overall athletic performance. Therefore, interventions, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), can be a potential tool to reduce psychophysiological anxiety-related and enhance athletic performance. We present a case of a male professional athlete of eSports. We explored the effects of a single session of anodal tDCS (a-tDCS) at 2mA over the dosrsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on competitive anxiety and HRV assessed in baseline (BL), pre-tDCS, post-tDCS and postgame moments and compared between moments. Here, we found a decrease in somatic and cognitive anxiety, as well as an increase in self-confidence and in SDNN index in the post-tDCS moment compared with BL, pre-tDCS and post-game moments. These findings can be a result of an acute change in the attentional state, influencing the processing of threatening information essential for cognitive anxiety and of a self-regulatory process, which can regulate physiological arousal response, such as HRV.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Type of diet modulates the metabolic response to sleep deprivation in rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence suggests that sleep loss is associated with an increased risk of obesity and diabetes; however, animal models have failed to produce weight gain under sleep deprivation (SD). Previous studies have suggested that this discrepancy could be due to more extreme SD conditions in experimental animals, their higher resting metabolic rate than that of humans, and the decreased opportunity for animals to ingest high-calorie foods. Thus, our objective was to determine whether diets with different textures/compositions could modify feeding behavior and affect the metabolic repercussions in SD in rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three groups of male rats were used: one was designated as control, one was sleep deprived for 96 h by the platform technique (SD-96h) and one was SD-96h followed by a 24-h recovery (rebound). In the first experiment, the animals were fed chow pellets (CPs); in the second, they received high-fat diet and in the third, they were fed a liquid diet (LD).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed that SD induces energy deficits that were related to changes in feeding behavior and affected by the type of diet consumed. Regardless of the diet consumed, SD consistently increased animals' glucagon levels and decreased their leptin and triacylglycerol levels and liver glycogen stores. However, such changes were mostly avoided in the rats on the liquid diet. SD induces a wide range of metabolic and hormonal changes that are strongly linked to the severity of weight loss.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The LD, but not the CP or high-fat diets, favored energy intake, consequently lessening the energy deficit induced by SD.</p

MÁQUINA DE TURING GENERICA PARA DISPOSITIVOS MÓVEIS COM SISTEMA OPERACIONAL ANDROID

A teoria de Turing &eacute; um modelo matem&aacute;tico que reduz qualquer l&oacute;gica computacional a sua forma mais &ldquo;primitiva&rdquo;. A m&aacute;quina de Turing como &eacute; chama, &eacute; formada pelas t&eacute;cnicas e as regras

Impact of victory and defeat on the perceived stress and autonomic regulation of professional eSports athletes

Competitive sports involve physiological, technical and psychological skills, which influence directly on individuals’ performance. This study aims to investigate the levels of perceived stress and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) before and after matches with victory and defeat in professional eSports athletes. Our hypothesis was that the winners would have better autonomic and stress responses after match, thus corroborating the literature on neurocardiac connections. Fifty male eSport players were selected players from 10 different Brazilian teams. The experiment was carried out in 2 sessions. Firstly, after signing the informed consent form, 24 h before the game, anthropometric, physical activity levels and time of expertise data were recorded only for sample characterization and the players were familiarized with the perceived stress scale—10 (PSS-10) and the HRV measurements. Secondly, players performed the PSS-10 and HRV recording at rest by 10 min 60 and 30 min before the game (i.e., baseline time) and 10 min after the end of the game. Overall, concerning PSS-10 our findings show that VG had significant reduced scores in post-game time compared to baseline (BL) and pre-game times, while DG had significant increased scores in post-game time compared to BL and pre-game times. Regarding HRV, our results demonstrate that VG had significant increase in RR, SDNN, rMSSD, pNN50 and HF, and significant decrease in LF and LF/HF, while DG had a significant decrease in RR, SDNN, rMSSD and HF, and significant increase in LF and LF/HF. It was observed that VG had better HRV responses (greater parasympathetic activation) as well as lower levels of perceived stress, while DG had worst HRV responses (greater sympathetic activation) and higher levels of perceived stress.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Globular clusters in the inner Galaxy classified from dynamical orbital criteria

Globular clusters (GCs) are the most ancient stellar systems in the Milky Way. Therefore, they play a key role in the understanding of the early chemical and dynamical evolution of our Galaxy. Around 40 per cent of them are placed within ∼4 kpc from the Galactic centre. In that region, all Galactic components overlap, making their disentanglement a challenging task. With GaiaData Release 2, we have accurate absolute proper motions for the entire sample of known GCs that have been associated with the bulge/bar region. Combining them with distances, from RR Lyrae when available, as well as radial velocities from spectroscopy, we can perform an orbital analysis of the sample, employing a steady Galactic potential with a bar. We applied a clustering algorithm to the orbital parameters apogalactic distance and the maximum vertical excursion from the plane, in order to identify the clusters that have high probability to belong to the bulge/bar, thick disc, inner halo, or outer halo component. We found that ∼30 per cent of the clusters classified as bulge GCs based on their location are just passing by the inner Galaxy, they appear to belong to the inner halo or thick disc component, instead. Most GCs that are confirmed to be bulge GCs are not following the bar structure and are older than the epoch of the bar formation

Physical Exercise for Elderly Against Covid-19

Physical exercise is seen as the main ally for health promotion, preventing and protecting the organism from several diseases. According to WHO, there is a tendency of constant growth in the elderly population in the coming years. The regular practice of exercises by the elderly becomes relevant to minimize the deleterious effects of the aging process and to increase the fitness index. Recently, the world population started a confrontation against Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), which is the most significant public health challenge globally. Although social isolation is a reasonable measure in an attempt to stop contamination by COVID-19, this measure has limited the ability of individuals to exercise outdoors or in gyms and health clubs, which increased the risk of developing chronic illnesses related to a sedentary lifestyle. The critical point is that the recent recommendations on exercise prescription to combat the potentially harmful effects of COVID-19 failure to adequately address resistance exercise interventions as home-based exercise strategy. Thus, in this paper, we discussed the physical exercise as medicine if the training status is enough to protect the elderly against COVID-19 infection, about the role of physical activity on immunosuppression. Possible risks for COVID-19 infection, and the old training methods, such as no-load resistance training as possible resistance exercise strategies and high-intensity interval training, as new proposals of home-based exercise interventions, could perform during the current COVID-19 pandemic

Ages of the bulge globular clusters NGC 6522 and NGC 6626 (M28) from HST proper-motion-cleaned color–magnitude diagrams

Bulge globular clusters (GCs) with metallicities [Fe/H]−1.0 and blue horizontal branches are candidates to harbor the oldest populations in the Galaxy. Based on the analysis of HST proper-motion-cleaned color–magnitude diagrams in filters F435W and F625W, we determine physical parameters for the old bulge GCs NGC 6522 and NGC 6626 (M28), both with well-defined blue horizontal branches. We compare these results with similar data for the inner halo cluster NGC 6362. These clusters have similar metallicities (−1.3[Fe/H]−1.0) obtained from high-resolution spectroscopy. We derive ages, distance moduli, and reddening values by means of statistical comparisons between observed and synthetic fiducial lines employing likelihood statistics and the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The synthetic fiducial lines were generated using α-enhanced BaSTI and Dartmouth stellar evolutionary models, adopting both canonical (Y∼0.25) and enhanced (Y∼0.30–0.33) helium abundances. RR Lyrae stars were employed to determine the HB magnitude level, providing an independent indicator to constrain the apparent distance modulus and the helium enhancement. The shape of the observed fiducial line could be compatible with some helium enhancement for NGC 6522 and NGC 6626, but the average magnitudes of RR Lyrae stars tend to rule out this hypothesis. Assuming canonical helium abundances, BaSTI and Dartmouth models indicate that all three clusters are coeval, with ages between ∼12.5 and 13.0 Gyr. The present study also reveals that NGC 6522 has at least two stellar populations, since its CMD shows a significantly wide subgiant branch compatible with 14%±2% and 86%±5% for first and second generations, respectively

Agronomic Characteristics of Common Bean Genotypes Influenced by the Use of Boron

Boron is an indispensable micronutrient for common bean culture, requiring careful studies in relation to the need and time of application since it presents a narrow range between deficiency and toxicity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of boron application at different times in common bean culture. An experiment was carried out in Gurupi-Tocantins, with four replicates in a factorial scheme 7 x 4, with seven cultivars (Aporé, Diplomata, IPR-Corujinha, IPR-Chopim, IPR-Gralha, CNFC 10467 and Sapphire) and four application times (T1- absence of boron application, T2- application of boron at 15 DAE -days after emergence-, T3- application of boron at 25 DAE, T4- Application of boron at 35 DAE). There was a significant interaction between the time of application of boron and genotypes for the characteristics of one hundred grains and grain yield. There is a difference between genotypes regarding the efficiency and use of boron. The most appropriate times for boron application, taking into account productivity, are 15 DAE for cultivars CNFC 10467 and Diplomata, and 25 DAE for Aporé and IPR-Chopim. Boron fertilization at 35 DAE is not recommended due to the non-responsiveness of the crop