Do previous sports experiences influence the effect of an enrichment programme in basketball skills?

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of an enrichment programme in motor, technical and tactical basketball skills, when accounting for the age of youth sport specialisation. Seventy-six college students (age: M = 20.4, SD = 1.9) were allocated according to three different paths: (i) non-structured (n = 14), (ii) early specialisation (n = 34), and (iii) late specialisation (n = 28), according to information previously provided by the participants about the quantity and type of sporting activities performed throughout their sporting careers. Then, the participants of each path were randomly distributed across control and experimental groups. Variables under study included agility, technical skills circuit, as well as tactical actions performed in a 4-on-4 full-court basketball game. The results indicated improvements in the early and late specialisation paths namely in the experimental training groups. However, the late specialisation path revealed larger benefits, in contrast with the non-structured path, which showed less sensitivity to the enrichment programme, mostly sustained in physical literacy and differential learning. Higher improvements were observed in agility, and also in reducing the number of unsuccessful actions performed during the game. Overall, this study provided evidence of how early sports experiences affect basketball skill acquisition and contribute to adapt to new contexts with motor and technical-tactical challenges. In addition, a path supported by late specialisation might present several advantages in sport performance achievement.     

Cardiac autonomic and haemodynamic recovery after a single session of aerobic exercise with and without blood flow restriction in older adults

This study investigated the autonomic and haemodynamic responses to different aerobic exercise loads, with and without blood flow restriction (BFR). In a crossover study, 21 older adults (8 males and 13 females) completed different aerobic exercise sessions: low load without BFR (LL) (40% VO_2max), low load with BFR (LL-BFR) (40% VO_2max + 50% BFR) and high load without BFR (HL) (70% VO_2max). Heart rate variability and haemodynamic responses were recorded during rest and throughout 30 min of recovery. HL reduced R–R interval, the root mean square of successive difference of R–R intervals and high frequency during 30 min of recovery at a greater magnitude compared with LL and LL-BFR. Sympathetic–vagal balance increased the values for HL during 30 min of recovery at a greater magnitude when compared with LL and LL-BFR. Post-exercise haemodynamic showed reduced values of double product at 30 min of recovery compared to rest in LL-BFR, while HL showed higher values compared to rest, LL-BFR and LL. Reduced systolic blood pressure was observed for LL-BFR (30 min) compared to rest. Autonomic and haemodynamic responses indicate lower cardiovascular stress after LL-BFR compared to HL, being this method, besides the functional adaptations, a potential choice to attenuate the cardiovascular stress after exercise in older adults.     

Associations between urbanization and the home language environment: Evidence from a LENA study in rural and peri-urban China

In low- and middle-income countries, urbanization has spurred the expansion of peri-urban communities, or urban communities of formerly rural residents with low socioeconomic status. The growth of these communities offers researchers an opportunity to measure the associations between the level of urbanization and the home language environment (HLE) among otherwise similar populations. Data were collected in 2019 using Language Environment Analysis observational assessment technology from 158 peri-urban and rural households with Han Chinese children (92 males, 66 females) aged 18–24 months in China. Peri-urban children scored lower than rural children in measures of the HLE and language development. In both samples, child age, gender, maternal employment, and sibling number were positively correlated with the HLE, which was in turn correlated with language development.     

Predicting centre of mass horizontal speed in low to severe swimming intensities with linear and non-linear models

We aimed to compare multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks, radial basis function neural networks (RBF) and linear models (LM) accuracy to predict the centre of mass (CM) horizontal speed at low-moderate, heavy and severe swimming intensities using physiological and biomechanical dataset. Ten trained male swimmers completed a 7 × 200 m front crawl protocol (0.05 m.s^?1 increments and 30 s intervals) to assess expiratory gases and blood lactate concentrations. Two surface and four underwater cameras recorded independent images subsequently processed focusing a three-dimensional reconstruction of two upper limb cycles at 25 and 175 m laps. Eight physiological and 13 biomechanical variables were inputted to predict CM horizontal speed. MLP, RBF and LM were implemented with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm (feed forward with a six-neuron hidden layer), orthogonal least squares algorithm and decomposition of matrices. MLP revealed higher prediction error than LM at low-moderate intensity (2.43 ± 1.44 and 1.67 ± 0.60%), MLP and RBF depicted lower mean absolute percentage errors than LM at heavy intensity (2.45 ± 1.61, 1.82 ± 0.92 and 3.72 ± 1.67%) and RBF neural networks registered lower errors than MLP and LM at severe intensity (2.78 ± 0.96, 3.89 ± 1.78 and 4.47 ± 2.36%). Artificial neural networks are suitable for speed model-fit at heavy and severe swimming intensities when considering physiological and biomechanical background.     

ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME CHILD? PARENT–TEACHER RATINGS OF PRESCHOOLERS’ SOCIAL–EMOTIONAL BEHAVIORS

The parent‐teacher agreement has become an important issue of children's psychological assessment. However, the amount of research available for preschool children is small and mainly based on one index of agreement with samples of modest size/representativeness. This study examined parent‐teacher agreement (correlations) and discrepancies (t tests) on preschoolers' social skills and problem behaviors for the normative Portuguese sample (N = 1,000) of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – 2^nd Edition (PKBS‐2). Analyses were replicated according to the child's gender and mothers' educational level. Correlational analyses suggest weak to moderate informant agreement (mean correlation = .32). Parents' and teachers' ratings are significantly different for all PKBS‐2 scores, with parents assigning higher scores both on social skills and problem behaviors. Results highlight the importance of both parents' and teachers' perspectives to achieve a more comprehensive picture of preschoolers' social‐emotional behaviors, and reinforce the evidence of reliability of the PKBS‐2 Portuguese version.     

Tackling early school leaving: Principals’ insights into Portuguese upper secondary schools

This article addresses Early School Leaving (ESL) as a phenomenon that is identified in the EU and European countries such as Portugal as being the result of school disaffection that can be associated with social and educational problems. The relevance of this problem at the European level is highlighted by the large number of European guidelines on the matter and by the inclusion of ESL as one of the main questions to be addressed by the Horizon 2020. Based on interviews, this article questions possible relationships between how principals perceive both ESL and the measures to deal with it and the culture of the school as an identity of differentia specifica (ethos). It should be emphasised that the approaches of these principals to ESL and the school‐based practices addressing it are quite diverse and relate to the ethos of the schools; students’ trajectories and the complex relationship between education and the labour market. The principals manifest their investment and implication in the provision of adequate measures for their specific contexts and see teachers and external partners as key actors.     

Scale of spectators’ motivations at soccer events

There are motivation sports events attending measuring tools, although so far these instruments have only been able to provide a limited explanation for attendance, which means that more sophisticated, useful scales are required. The aim of this research is to provide more efficient tool to measure the motivations of soccer events attendance. With this aim, a 14-item scale has been developed to measure the motivations that have been identified in a comprehensive review of specialized marketing literature. This scale, was used during a soccer event, showed a good global adjustment, internal consistency and validity, and found the following four dimensions explained 67% of variance in attendance: excitement, aesthetics, escape and connections to the team and its environment.     

Benefits of achieving vigorous as well as moderate physical activity recommendations: evidence from heart rate complexity and cardiac vagal modulation

The aim of this study was to examine differences in traditional heart rate variability measurements and heart rate complexity (sample entropy) in young adults grouped by objectively measured achievement of either moderate or both moderate and vigorous physical activity recommendations. Of 168 young adults tested (86 females, 82 males; age 20.5 ± 1.2 years), 119 achieved only recommendations for moderate physical activity (moderate group) and 49 achieved recommendations for both moderate and vigorous physical activity (vigorous group). Analysis of covariance controlling for sex, weekly minutes of moderate physical activity, and percentage of body fat was used to assess between-group differences in heart rate variability and heart rate complexity. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the group characteristics that best predicted high heart rate complexity and vagal indices of heart rate variability. The majority of the autonomic measures were higher (P < 0.05) in the vigorous group, and regression analysis showed that vigorous physical activity was the only multivariate predictor of higher heart rate complexity and higher heart rate variability. Young adults engaged in regular vigorous physical activity were more than twice as likely to have high heart rate complexity than those involved in predominantly moderate exercise. These findings suggest that vigorous physical activity is more closely associated with high heart rate complexity than moderate physical activity in young adults.     

Popular press and forensic genetics in Portugal: expectations and disappointments regarding two cases of missing children

Two cases of missing children in Portugal (Joana and Maddie) have recently highlighted the dilemmas and contingencies associated with the technology of "genetic fingerprinting" for forensic purposes in the context of criminal investigations. The purpose of this article is to analyze the popular press's discourses and representations around forensic genetics in the context of those two highly mediatized criminal investigation cases. The symbolical construction and representation of forensic genetics by the media presents a form of public exposure to beliefs on forensic genetics' characteristics and potential. These are blended with popular cultural contexts that are constructed with reference to images of a super-science which may carry consequences in the public understanding of forensic science. The media coverage of both cases and their actual disclosure resembles the patterns ofa CSI effect, insofar as real science's capabilities and limitations are placed against fictionalized representations of forensic science.     

Correlation Between Organizational Culture and Compensation Strategies Using Charles Handy's Typology

Alignment between management strategies, policies, and practices with organizational cultures holds great potential to meet the challenges of retaining professionals and maintaining their commitment. In this article, authors consider that when it is aligned with company strategy, compensation acts as an incentive for developing common visions within organizational culture.