Motivação e adesão ao exercício físico : um estudo sobre o papel dos treinadores pessoais

Introdução: Procuramos analisar a associação entre a frequência/adesão ao exercício físico (FAEF) em contexto de ginásios e health clubs (GHC) e os constructos previstos pela Teoria da Auto Determinação (TAD) em indivíduos que treinam com Treinador Pessoal (TP)e indivíduos que não treinam com TP. Método: Efetuámos uma revisão sistemática da literatura (RSL), seguida de um estudo observacional onde aplicámos questionários psicométricos para avaliar o clima da sessão de treino, resposta psicológica global, regulação motivacional, satisfação das necessidades psicológicas (NPB), escolha percebida sobre o desempenho em exercício. Foi controlada a FAEF durante 3 meses. A amostra consistiu em 88 clientes (Midade = 41.35, SD = 12.22, MIMC = 25.10, SD = 14.52) Resultados: Na RSL encontrámos 10 estudos, nenhum em contexto de TP. No nosso estudo não se registaram diferenças na FAEF, nem nas regulações motivacionais entre os grupos. No grupo com TP a competência associou-se à FAEF (p=.017) e a autonomia associou-se a menores níveis de mau estar psicológico e de fadiga (p=.032). O Clima de Tratamento do Programa não influenciou nenhum dos outcomes estudados. No grupo sem TP, quanto mais Autonomia (p=.038) e Motivação Intrínseca (p=.001) maior a FAEF. Regulações mais autodeterminadas estão associados a maiores valores de FAEF (p=.009). A motivação intrínseca associou-se positivamente (p=.014) com a FAEF em toda a amostra. Discussão: O suporte das NBP origina uma motivação mais auto regulada o que se reflete numa maior FAEF e bem estar psicológico. No grupo com TP a competência teve um maior contributo para a FAEF, no grupo sem TP a autonomia registou o valor mais elevado. Não se observaram diferenças entre os grupos na regulação motivacional e na FAEF. O suporte de autonomia dado pelo TP não apresentou resultados significativos na FAEF, o que contraria o esperado pela TAD. Estes dados são, por si só reveladores da importância de se aprofundar conhecimentos que auxiliem os TP’s a a motivarem com mais qualidade os seus alunos.

A qualidade de vida na população idosa do concelho da Sertã : estudo exploratório

O presente estudo debruçou-se sobre a Qualidade de Vida na População Idosa do Concelho da Sertã, em diferentes contextos habitacionais: em regime de instituição (lar ou centro de dia) e em regime de residência própria sem estarem associados a qualquer instituição. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório, com dois objectivos principais: 1) conhecer e comparar a qualidade de vida dos idosos do concelho da Sertã em diferentes regimes habitacionais; 2) construir um questionário de avaliação da qualidade de vida no idosos, que englobe as 8 grandes dimensões da qualidade de vida no idoso: 1) Bem Estar Emocional, 2) Relações Interpessoais, 3) Bem Estar Material 4) Desenvolvimento Pessoal, 5) Bem Estar Físico, 6) Auto-determinação 7) Inclusão Social, 8) Direitos e, a avaliação global da qualidade de vida. Foi utilizada uma amostra de 60 idosos do concelho da Sertã, escolhidos aleatoriamente, com idade superior a 65 anos. Foram entrevistados, através do questionário construído pela investigadora, 30 idosos institucionalizados (idade média: 82; 40% mulheres) e 30 idosos sem estarem associados a qualquer instituição (idade média: 75,23; 33,3% mulheres). Os primeiros revelam maior percepção de boa qualidade de vida, atribuindo à Instituição um contributo positivo e fundamental no seu “bem-estar físico” e nas “relações interpessoais”. Os idosos que se encontram sem qualquer apoio institucional, revelam menor satisfação na sua qualidade de vida, principalmente no âmbito do “bem-estar físico”, do “bem-estar emocional”, da “inclusão social” e das “relações interpessoais”.

Museologial process : exclusion criteria

In the last few years, reflections around knowledge building in the museology area have increased considerably, allowing us to cast many gazes over our actions, and, consequently, enabling us to a wider debate around our professional action field, decreasing our exclusion from the academic environment – museologists reproducing the knowledge produced in other areas. In the present work, we shall approach some issues related to the museological process, taking as a reference several studies about the subject, which, due to the time given to us in this round table, could not be re-presented here for discussion. Besides, we have dedicated a chapter to such approach in our publication titled “Museological Process and Education: building a didactic-community museum”. So we have opted instead to carry out a reflection about exclusion, looking into the museum institution and into the application of museological processes; in other words, we shall carry out a self-criticism, in which I include myself, affecting an analysis that will be debated here, considering, additionally, that the museums and museological practices are in relation to the other social global practices, therefore, they are the result of human relations at each historical moment. Finally, based on our lived experience, we shall give continuity to our reflection process, highlighting the importance of knowledge production for the area of museology and the relevance of the theory-practice relation, punctuating some aspects we think that may contribute to the construction of a museological action that may serve as a historical elaboration in securing a space for self- determination.

Self-Fulfilling Crises in the Eurozone: An Empirical Test. CEPS Working Document No. 366, 22 June 2012

This paper tests the hypothesis that government bond markets in the eurozone are more fragile and more susceptible to self-fulfilling liquidity crises than in stand-alone countries. We find evidence that a significant part of the surge in the spreads of the PIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) in the eurozone during 2010-11 was disconnected from underlying increases in the debt-to-GDP ratios and fiscal space variables, and was the result of negative self-fulfilling market sentiments that became very strong since the end of 2010. We argue that this can drive member countries of the eurozone into bad equilibria. We also find evidence that after years of neglecting high government debt, investors became increasingly worried about this in the eurozone, and reacted by raising the spreads. No such worries developed in stand-alone countries despite the fact that debt-to-GDP ratios and fiscal space variables were equally high and increasing in these countries.

Feature-point detection using distance transforms: Application to tracking tropical convective complexes

The identification, tracking, and statistical analysis of tropical convective complexes using satellite imagery is explored in the context of identifying feature points suitable for tracking. The feature points are determined based on the shape of complexes using the distance transform technique. This approach has been applied to the determination feature points for tropical convective complexes identified in a time series of global cloud imagery. The feature points are used to track the complexes, and from the tracks statistical diagnostic fields are computed. This approach allows the nature and distribution of organized deep convection in the Tropics to be explored.

Atypical neural self-representation in autism

The 'self' is a complex multidimensional construct deeply embedded and in many ways defined by our relations with the social world. Individuals with autism are impaired in both self-referential and other-referential social cognitive processing. Atypical neural representation of the self may be a key to understanding the nature of such impairments. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we scanned adult males with an autism spectrum condition and age and IQ-matched neurotypical males while they made reflective mentalizing or physical judgements about themselves or the British Queen. Neurotypical individuals preferentially recruit the middle cingulate cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to self compared with other-referential processing. In autism, ventromedial prefrontal cortex responded equally to self and other, while middle cingulate cortex responded more to other-mentalizing than self-mentalizing. These atypical responses occur only in areas where self-information is preferentially processed and does not affect areas that preferentially respond to other-referential information. In autism, atypical neural self-representation was also apparent via reduced functional connectivity between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and areas associated with lower level embodied representations, such as ventral premotor and somatosensory cortex. Furthermore, the magnitude of neural self-other distinction in ventromedial prefrontal cortex was strongly related to the magnitude of early childhood social impairments in autism. Individuals whose ventromedial prefrontal cortex made the largest distinction between mentalizing about self and other were least socially impaired in early childhood, while those whose ventromedial prefrontal cortex made little to no distinction between mentalizing about self and other were the most socially impaired in early childhood. These observations reveal that the atypical organization of neural circuitry preferentially coding for self-information is a key mechanism at the heart of both self-referential and social impairments in autism.

Self-activation and out-group contrast

It has been suggested that higher in-group identifiers primed with an out-group stereotype show contrastive behavioral responses because they activate the in-group, social-self. However, priming the personal-self can lead to contrastive judgments. We investigated whether personal self-activation was also evident for higher identifiers primed with an out-group. An experiment demonstrated that higher identifiers primed with an out-group showed faster responses to self-words than higher identifiers primed with the in-group. This findings suggest that the personal-self is also activated for higher identifiers primed with an out-group, and this self-activation may underlie their contrastive responding.

Self-organisation in the assembly of gels from mixtures of different dendritic peptide building blocks

This paper investigates dendritic peptides capable of assembling into nanostructured gels, and explores the effect on self-assembly of mixing different molecular building blocks. Thermal measurements, small angle Xray scattering (SAXS) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy are used to probe these materials on macroscopic, nanoscopic and molecular length scales. The results from these investigations demonstrate that in this case, systems with different "size" and "chirality" factors can self-organise, whilst systems with different "shape" factors cannot. The "size" and "chirality" factors are directly connected with the molecular information programmed into the dendritic peptides, whilst the shape factor depends on the group linking these peptides together-this is consistent with molecular recognition hydrogen bond pathways between the peptidic building blocks controlling the ability of these systems to self-recognise. These results demonstrate that mixtures of relatively complex peptides, with only subtle differences on the molecular scale, can self-organise into nanoscale structures, an important step in the spontaneous assembly of ordered systems from complex mixtures.

Theoretical and experimental approaches towards the determination of solute effective diffusivities in foods

The aim of this review paper is to present experimental methodologies and the mathematical approaches used to determine effective diffusivities of solutes in food materials. The paper commences by describing the diffusion phenomena related to solute mass transfer in foods and effective diffusivities. It then focuses on the mathematical formulation for the calculation of effective diffusivities considering different diffusion models based on Fick's second law of diffusion. Finally, experimental considerations for effective diffusivity determination are elucidated primarily based on the acquirement of a series of solute content versus time curves appropriate to the equation model chosen. Different factors contributing to the determination of the effective diffusivities such as the structure of food material, temperature, diffusion solvent, agitation, sampling, concentration and different techniques used are considered. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Drivers' ratings of different components of their own driving skill: a greater illusion of superiority for skills that relate to accident involvement

Different components of driving skill relate to accident involvement in different ways. For instance, while hazard-perception skill has been found to predict accident involvement, vehicle-control skill has not. We found that drivers rated themselves superior to both their peers and the average driver on 18 components of driving skill (N = 181 respondents). These biases were greater for hazard-perception skills than for either vehicle-control skills or driving skill in general. Also, ratings of hazard-perception skill related to self-perceived safety after overall skill was controlled for. We suggest that although drivers appear to appreciate the role of hazard perception in safe driving, any safety benefit to be derived from this appreciation may be undermined by drivers' inflated opinions of their own hazard-perception skill. We also tested the relationship between illusory beliefs about driving skill and risk taking and looked at ways of manipulating drivers' illusory beliefs.

Land administration in a micro-state: the role of land use planning

Land policy in micro-states and the land administration that underpins it is often devised within a legacy framework inherited from a colonial past. Independence has allowed self-determination of the future political direction yet the range, legal framework, institutional structure and administration systems tend to mirror those of ex-colonial powers. Do land policies, administration systems and processes developed to serve large heavily populated countries scale down to serve the requirements of micro-states? The evidence suggests not: many land administration systems in the Caribbean face difficulties due to poor records, unclear title, exploitation of state lands, incomplete or ongoing land reform programmes, irregular or illegal settlement and non-enforced planning regulations. Land matters are typically the responsibility of several government departments and agencies responsible for land titling and registration, cadastral surveying of property interests, physical planning, taxation and financial regulation. Although planning is regarded as a land administration function, organisational responsibility usually rests with local rather than central government in large countries, but in microstates local government may be politically weak, under-resourced or even non-existent. Using a case study approach this paper explores how planning functions are organised in the Caribbean state of St Vincent & the Grenadines in relation to land administration as a whole and compares the arrangement with other independent micro-states in the region.

Health-related quality of life in Huntington’s Disease patients: a comparison of proxy assessment and patient self-rating using the disease-specific Huntington’s Disease health-related quality of life questionnaire (HDQoL)

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease for which there is no known cure. Proxy evaluation is relevant for HD as its manifestation might limit the ability of persons to report their health-related quality of life (HrQoL). This study explored patient–proxy ratings of HrQoL of persons at different stages of HD, and examined factors that may affect proxy ratings. A total of 105 patient–proxy pairs completed the Huntington’s disease health-related quality of life questionnaire (HDQoL) and other established HrQoL measures (EQ-5D and SF-12v2). Proxy–patient agreement was assessed in terms of absolute level (mean ratings) and intraclass correlation. Proxies’ ratings were at a similar level to patients’ self-ratings on an overall Summary Score and on most of the six Specific Scales of the HDQoL. On the Specific Hopes and Worries Scale, proxies on average rated HrQoL as better than patients’ self-ratings, while on both the Specific Cognitive Scale and Specific Physical and Functional Scale proxies tended to rate HrQoL more poorly than patients themselves. The patient’s disease stage and mental wellbeing (SF-12 Mental Component scale) were the two factors that primarily affected proxy assessment. Proxy scores were strongly correlated with patients’ self-ratings of HrQoL, on the Summary Scale and all Specific Scales. The patient–proxy correlation was lower for patients at moderate stages of HD compared to patients at early and advanced stages. The proxy report version of the HDQoL is a useful complementary tool to self-assessment, and a promising alternative when individual patients with advanced HD are unable to self-report.

Access to the countryside of England and Wales: popular leisure; commodified culture

Risk and uncertainty are, to say the least, poorly considered by most individuals involved in real estate analysis - in both development and investment appraisal. Surveyors continue to express 'uncertainty' about the value (risk) of using relatively objective methods of analysis to account for these factors. These methods attempt to identify the risk elements more explicitly. Conventionally this is done by deriving probability distributions for the uncontrolled variables in the system. A suggested 'new' way of "being able to express our uncertainty or slight vagueness about some of the qualitative judgements and not From its modern origins, associated with the urbanising effect of industrialisation, walking has remained a popular form of outdoor recreation. It has, furthermore, remained an important site of class struggle, with the 'landless' seeking to establish their moral 'citizen' right to roam over open country in contradistinction to the 'landed', who have successfully limited this right to legally-defined public rights of way. In the face of declining farm incomes, however, farmers and landowners have, apparently, modified their attitudes towards public access, but only in return for compensation and management payments under grant schemes such as Countryside Stewardship and the Countryside Premium Scheme. With the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food now seeking to extend paid access arrangements to other grant schemes, as part of its response to the European Union's Agri-Environment Regulations, access 'rights' are assuming an increasingly commodified form, thereby questioning, if not undermining, the former citizen claims. For rather than being a benefit of citizenship, the existence of limited, often poorly maintained and inadequately signposted, public rights of way has tied inextricably the extension of legally-enforceable access to the needs of the landowners and farmers. At a time of falling prosperity in agriculture, therefore, they have now exercised their discretion by annexing the populism of consumer culture to reproduce the bourgeois liberal values of the market as a principal determinant of the extension of citizen rights of access to the countryside.

The challenge of self-regulation in commercial property leasing: a study of lease codes in the UK.

Purpose – UK Government policy to address perceived market failure in commercial property leasing has largely been pursued through industry self-regulation. Yet, it is proving difficult to assess whether self-regulation on leasing has been a “success”, or even to determine how to evaluate this. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for this and a clearer understanding of self-regulation in commercial leasing. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review suggests key criteria to explain the (in)effectiveness of self-regulation. UK lease codes are analysed in the light of this literature, drawing on previous research carried out by the authors on the operation of these codes. Findings – Lease codes appear to be failing as an effective system of self-regulation. While there are influential market actors championing them, the fragmentation of the leasing process lessens this influence. The structures are not there to ensure implementation, monitor compliance and record views of affected stakeholders. Research limitations/implications – This work adds to the literature on self-regulation in general, and provides an insight into its operation in a previously unexplored industry. Research is needed into the experience of other countries in regulating the property industry by voluntary means. Social implications – There are institutional limitations to self-regulation within the property industry. This has implications for policy makers in considering the advantages and limitation of using a voluntary solution to achieve policy aims within the commercial leasing market. Originality/value – This paper provides a first step in considering the lease codes in the wider context of industry self-regulation and is relevant to policy makers and industry bodies.

Influence of a non-ionic amphiphilic copolymer on the self-assembly of a peptide amphiphile that forms nanotapes

The influence of a non-ionic polymeric surfactant on the self-assembly of a peptide amphiphile (PA) that forms nanotapes is investigated using a combination of microscopic, scattering and spectroscopic techniques. Mixtures of Pluronic copolymer P123 with the PA C16-KTTKS in aqueous solution were studied at a fixed concentration of the PA at which it is known to self-assemble into extended nanotapes, but varying P123 concentration. We find that P123 can disrupt the formation of C16- KTTKS nanotapes, leading instead to cylindrical nanofibril structures. The spherical micelles formed by P123 at room temperature are disrupted in the presence of the PA. There is a loss of cloudiness in the solutions as the large nanotape aggregates formed by C16-KTTKS are broken up, by P123 solubilization. At least locally, b-sheet structure is retained, as confirmed by XRD and FTIR spectroscopy, even for solutions containing 20 wt% P123. This indicates, unexpectedly, that peptide secondary structure can be retained in solutions with high concentration of non-ionic surfactant. Selfassembly in this system exhibits slow kinetics towards equilibrium, the initial self-assembly being dependent on the order of mixing. Heating above the lipid chain melting temperature assists in disrupting trapped non-equilibrium states.