Effect of the coaches' leadership style perceived by athletes on team cohesion among elite Brazilian futsal players

This study investigated the effect of the coach leadership style as perceived by athletes on team cohesion among elite futsal athletes. Participants were 120 athletes from the top-8 teams participating in the Paraná’s state Professional League 2013. Instruments used were the Leadership in Sport Scale and the Group Environment Questionnaire. For data analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling were conducted, as well as Latent Profile Analysis. Results showed significant relationships between leadership style and both social (10%) and task cohesion (31%); in addition, the coach leadership style perceived by athletes characterized as democratic and based on social support, reinforcement and training-instruction influenced positively task cohesion (FL=0.55) and moderately social cohesion (FL=0.31). It is concluded that, for the futsal from the state of Parana, the coach’s leadership style based on democratic, reinforcement, social support and training-instruction behaviours is determinant to the development of task cohesion, however, does not have the same strong influence in social cohesion

A idade e o tempo de prática prevêem o desenvolvimento de habilidades para a vida entre jovens praticantes de futsal?

The practice of sports has been considered one of the main tools for the life skills development among youth sport participants. This cross-sectional study investigated the predicting role of age and time of practice in the development of life skills among 207 male futsal practitioners, aged between 12 and 17 years, from the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The instruments used were the Life Skills Scale for Sports and a semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted through Multivariate Analysis of Variance, Spearman’s correlation and Multiple Regression (p<.05). The results showed significant difference (p<.05; η2 range .036-.142) in all life skills according to age group, evidencing higher scores for older adolescents. Further, more experienced adolescents showed higher scores at goal seating (p=.001, η2=.074); problems solving (p=.013, η2=.042), communication (p=.003, η2=.054) and total life skills (p=.002, η2=.057). There was significant (p<.05) and positive correlation between age and almost all life skills subscales. Multiple regression revealed only age presented positive prediction toward life skills. It can be concluded that age is a predictor of life skills development among youth futsal practitioners.La práctica del deporte ha sido considerada una de las principales herramientas para el desarrollo de habilidades para la vida entre los jóvenes participantes en el deporte. Este estudio transversal investigó el papel predictivo de la edad y el tiempo de práctica en el desarrollo de habilidades para la vida entre 207 practicantes de futsal masculinos, con edades comprendidas entre 12 y 17 años, del estado de Pernambuco, Brasil. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron la Escala de habilidades para la vida deportiva y un cuestionario semiestructurado. El análisis de los datos se realizó a través del Análisis de varianza multivariante, la correlación de Spearman y la Regresión múltiple (p <.05). Los resultados mostraron una diferencia significativa (p <.05; rango η2 .036-.142) en todas las habilidades para la vida según el grupo de edad, evidenciando puntuaciones más altas para los adolescentes mayores. Además, los adolescentes más experimentados mostraron puntajes más altos en la meta sentada (p = .001, η2 = .074); resolución de problemas (p = .013, η2 = .042), comunicación (p = .003, η2 = .054) y habilidades para la vida total (p = .002, η2 = .057). Hubo una correlación significativa (p <.05) y positiva entre la edad y casi todas las subescalas de habilidades para la vida. La regresión múltiple reveló que solo la edad presentaba predicciones positivas hacia las habilidades para la vida. Se puede concluir que la edad es un predictor del desarrollo de habilidades para la vida entre los jóvenes practicantes de fútbol sala.A prática esportiva tem sido considerada uma das principais ferramentas para o desenvolvimento de habilidades para a vida entre jovens praticantes de esportes. Este estudo transversal investigou o papel preditivo da idade e do tempo de prática no desenvolvimento de habilidades para a vida em 207 praticantes de futsal do sexo masculino, com idades entre 12 e 17 anos, do estado de Pernambuco, Brasil. Os instrumentos utilizados foram a Escala de Habilidades para a Vida Esportiva e um questionário semiestruturado. A análise dos dados foi realizada por meio da Análise Multivariada de Variância, correlação de Spearman e Regressão Múltipla (p <0,05). Os resultados mostraram diferença significativa (p <0,05; η2 variando de 0,036 a 0,142) em todas as habilidades para a vida de acordo com a faixa etária, evidenciando escores mais altos nos adolescentes mais velhos. Além disso, os adolescentes mais experientes apresentaram pontuações mais altas nos assentos para as metas (p = 0,001; η2 = 0,074); resolução de problemas (p = 0,013, η2 = 0,042), comunicação (p = 0,003, η2 = 0,054) e habilidades totais para a vida (p = 0,002, η2 = 0,057). Houve correlação significativa (p <0,05) e positiva entre idade e quase todas as subescalas de habilidades para a vida. A regressão múltipla revelou que apenas a idade apresentou predição positiva em relação às habilidades para a vida. Pode-se concluir que a idade é um preditor do desenvolvimento de habilidades para a vida entre jovens praticantes de futsal

Impacto dos traços de perfeccionismo na percepção de coesão de grupo de jogadores de futsal

El objetivo de este estudio transversal fue investigar la relación entre los rasgos de perfeccionismo y la percepción de cohesión grupal en deportistas de fútbol sala. Participaron 301 deportistas de la Liga Nacional de Fútsal 2013 con una edad media de 25,48 ± 4,90 años. Los instrumentos fueron: Escala de Perfeccionismo Multidimensional para el Deporte-2 y Cuestionario de Ambiente Grupal. Para el análisis se realizó con las pruebas de Kolmogorov-Smirnov, MANOVA, Correlación de Pearson y Regresión Múltiple (p <0,05). Los resultados mostraron que los rasgos del perfeccionismo adaptativo predijeron positivamente la cohesión social para los atletas no clasificados. Mientras tanto, el perfeccionista se preocupa por los rasgos de perfeccionismo poco adaptativo que pueden predecir negativamente la cohesión social y de tareas, con la excepción de la "presión parental percibida", que presentó una predicción positiva en todos los grupos de atletas para la cohesión social y de tareas. Los deportistas no clasificados tenían una mayor percepción de cohesión para la tarea, mientras que los reservas tenían una mayor percepción de los aspectos sociales. Así, podemos concluir que existe una relación positiva entre el perfeccionismo adaptativo y la percepción de cohesión social en deportistas no clasificados, además de una relación negativa entre las dimensiones del perfeccionismo pobremente adaptativo y la cohesión grupal.This cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between the traits of perfectionism and the perception of group cohesion in futsal athletes. 301 athletes from the 2013 National Futsal League participated with an average age of 25.48 ± 4.90 years. The instruments were: Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale for Sport-2 and the Group Environment Questionnaire. For analysis, it was conducted using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, MANOVA, Pearson correlation and Multiple Regression tests (p<0,05). The results showed that the traits of adaptive perfectionism positively predicted social cohesion for unclassified athletes. Meanwhile, the perfectionist concerns traits of poorly adaptive perfectionism can negatively predict social and task cohesion, with the exception of “perceived parental pressure” which showed a positive prediction in all groups of athletes for social and task cohesion. Unclassified athletes had a higher perception of cohesion for the task, while reserves had a higher perception of social aspects. Thus, we can conclude that there is a positive relationship between adaptive perfectionism and the perception of social cohesion in unclassified athletes, in addition to a negative relationship between the dimensions of poorly adaptive perfectionism and group cohesion.O objetivo desse estudo transversal foi investigar a relação entre os traços de perfeccionismo e a percepção de coesão de grupo em atletas de futsal. Participaram 301 atletas da Liga Nacional de Futsal 2013 com média de idade de 25,48±4,90 anos. Os instrumentos foram: Escala Multidimensional de Perfeccionismo para o Esporte-2 e o Questionário de Ambiente de Grupo. Para análise foi conduzida por meio dos testes de Kolmogorov-Smirnov, MANOVA, Correlação de Pearson e Regressão Múltipla (p<0,05). Os resultados evidenciaram que os traços de perfeccionismo adaptativo se associaram positivamente com a coesão social dos atletas das equipes não classificadas para a fase final da competição. Os traços de perfeccionismo mal adaptativo se associaram negativamente com a coesão social e para tarefa, com exceção da “pressão parental percebida” que apresentou uma predição positiva em todos os grupos de atletas na coesão social e para tarefa. Os atletas não classificados apresentaram maior escore de coesão para tarefa, e os reservas apresentaram maior coesão social. Concluiu-se que existe uma relação positiva entre o perfeccionismo adaptativo e a percepção de coesão social em atletas não classificados, além de uma relação negativa entre as dimensões de perfeccionismo mal adaptativo e a coesão de grupo

GERONTECNOLOGIA: O QUE MOSTRA A PRODUÇÃO CIENTÍFICA NOS ÚLTIMOS 20 ANOS?.

RESUMO Este estudo teve como objetivo explorar na literatura científica mundial, publicações sobre gerontecnologia e realizar uma análise destas publicações, buscando evidenciar a evolução temporal, bem como, os eixos temáticos. Foi realizado uma revisão cenciométrica por meio de uma análise da produção científica veiculada em periódicos indexados nas bases de dados SciELO, PubMed, Science Direct e Lilacs. Foi utilizado o descritor gerontecnologia e seu correspondente em inglês e espanhol. Foram identificados e coletados ano de publicação e eixo temático central. Os dados foram tabulados, organizados em planilhas do programa Microsoft Excel 2010 e empregada análise descritiva. Descartando-se as publicações duplicadas, obteve-se um total de 111 artigos científicos eleitos para este estudo. Com relação à evolução temporal foi evidenciado que a primeira publicação sobre o tema gerontologia datou de 1997 e, houve um aumento brusco em 1998, um declínio a zero em 1999, e nos anos seguintes, as publicações apresentam uma tendência a comportamento crescente constante. Já os eixos temáticos foram evidenciados em maior relevância: Mobilidade e Motricidade (16,2%); Cuidados Comunitários e Ambiente, ambos com (15,3%); Capacidades Sensoriais e Cognitivas (10,8%) e Design e Ergonomia (9,9%). Conclui-se que existe uma tendência a implantação da gerontecnologia nos estudos e são distintos os eixos abordados por esta temática, além disso a tecnologia é uma nova abordagem de promover saúde e qualidade de vida aos idosos no contexto da interdisciplinaridade. Palavras-chave: Envelhecimento; Tecnologia; Promoção da Saúde. GERONTECNOLOGY: WHAT SHOWS A SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION IN THE LAST 20 YEARS? ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore in the scientific literature worldwide, publications on gerontecnologia and to carry out an analysis of these publications, seeking to evidence the temporal evolution, as well as, the thematic axes. A centimeter revision was carried out through an analysis of the scientific production published in journals indexed in the SciELO, PubMed, Science Direct and Lilacs databases. The descriptor gerontecnologia and its correspondent in English and Spanish were used. The year of publication and central theme were identified and collected. The data were tabulated, organized into spreadsheets of the program Microsoft Excel 2010 and employed descriptive analysis. Discarding duplicate publications, we obtained a total of 111 scientific articles chosen for this study. Regarding historical evolution, it was evidenced that the first publication on gerontology dates back to 1997, and there was an abrupt increase in 1998, a decline to zero in 1999, and in the following years, publications show a trend towards steadily increasing behavior. The thematic axes were evidenced in greater relevance: Mobility and Mobility (16.2%); Community Care and Environment, both with (15.3%); Sensory and Cognitive Capabilities (10.8%) and Design and Ergonomics (9.9%). It is concluded that there is a trend towards the implantation of gerontecnologia in the studies and the axes addressed by this theme are distinct, in addition technology is a new approach to promote health and quality of life for the elderly in the context of interdisciplinarity. KEY WORDS: Aging; Technology; Health promotion

Osteocalcin modulates parathyroid cell function in human parathyroid tumors

IntroductionThe bone matrix protein osteocalcin (OC), secreted by osteoblasts, displays endocrine effects. We tested the hypothesis that OC modulates parathyroid tumor cell function.MethodsPrimary cell cultures derived from parathyroid adenomas (PAds) and HEK293 cells transiently transfected with the putative OC receptor GPRC6A or the calcium sensing receptor (CASR) were used as experimental models to investigate γ-carboxylated OC (GlaOC) or uncarboxylated OC (GluOC) modulation of intracellular signaling.ResultsIn primary cell cultures derived from PAds, incubation with GlaOC or GluOC modulated intracellular signaling, inhibiting pERK/ERK and increasing active β-catenin levels. GlaOC increased the expression of PTH, CCND1 and CASR, and reduced CDKN1B/p27 and TP73. GluOC stimulated transcription of PTH, and inhibited MEN1 expression. Moreover, GlaOC and GluOC reduced staurosporin-induced caspase 3/7 activity. The putative OC receptor GPRC6A was detected in normal and tumor parathyroids at membrane or cytoplasmic level in cells scattered throughout the parenchyma. In PAds, the membrane expression levels of GPRC6A and its closest homolog CASR positively correlated; GPRC6A protein levels positively correlated with circulating ionized and total calcium, and PTH levels of the patients harboring the analyzed PAds. Using HEK293A transiently transfected with either GPRC6A or CASR, and PAds-derived cells silenced for CASR, we showed that GlaOC and GluOC modulated pERK/ERK and active β-catenin mainly through CASR activation.ConclusionParathyroid gland emerges as a novel target of the bone secreted hormone osteocalcin, which may modulate tumor parathyroid CASR sensitivity and parathyroid cell apoptosis

Analysis of the PEBP gene family and identification of a novel FLOWERING LOCUS T orthologue in sugarcane

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an important economic crop for both sugar and biomass, the yields of which are negatively affected by flowering. The molecular mechanisms controlling flowering in sugarcane are nevertheless poorly understood. RNA-seq data analysis and database searches have enabled a comprehensive description of the PEBP gene family in sugarcane. It is shown to consist of at least 13 FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT)-like genes, two MOTHER OF FT AND TFL (MFT)-like genes, and four TERMINAL FLOWER (TFL)-like genes. As expected, these genes all show very high homology to their corresponding genes in Sorghum, and also to FT-like, MFT-like, and TFL-like genes in maize, rice, and Arabidopsis. Functional analysis in Arabidopsis showed that the sugarcane ScFT3 gene can rescue the late flowering phenotype of the Arabidopsis ft-10 mutant, whereas ScFT5 cannot. High expression levels of ScFT3 in leaves of short day-induced sugarcane plants coincided with initial stages of floral induction in the shoot apical meristem as shown by histological analysis of meristem dissections. This suggests that ScFT3 is likely to play a role in floral induction in sugarcane; however, other sugarcane FT-like genes may also be involved in the flowering process

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Aim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution