Suchergebnisse

Este artigo apresenta algumas reflexões sobre as possibilidades da extensão universitária e educação ambiental no Brasil, a partir da discussão sobre áreas contaminadas e sua relação com o cotidiano. Para tanto, baseia-se na análise de dados e informações diversas, principalmente da Relação de Áreas Contaminadas (RAC) da Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (Cetesb), em um manual de gestão ambiental e nos materiais disponibilizados por órgãos públicos, institutos e associações. Nesse sentido, discute-se a adoção de um método cartográfico como tecnologia de informação e comunicação (TIC) para a apresentação do fenômeno, utilizando o Google Earth. Os resultados apontaram que os Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) possibilitam o processamento dos dados, de forma a oferecer diferentes representações para o fenômeno e, por consequência, diversas abordagens. Dentre as principais considerações finais, aponta-se a tecnologia como caminho promissor no processo de informação e conscientização ambiental, auxiliando o despertar do senso de reivindicação política. Finalmente, são considerados alguns caminhos a ser seguidos na continuidade e aprimoramento desse trabalho.

Abstract Background In Portugal, there are several physical activity (PA) programmes for elderly people developed by the local government. The importance of these programmes has been increasing since the evidence has shown that this type of health promotion interventions may reduce the deleterious effects of the ageing process. However, no study has already identified the general characteristics of these programmes nor if they use any scheme to assess the quality of the service provided. A widely-used scheme is the EFQM Excellence Model, which will be in the core of our present work. Thus, the main aims of this preliminary study were 1) to identify the general characteristics of the PA programmes developed by the Portuguese Local Public Administration 2) to determine the extent of implementation of quality initiatives in these programmes. Methods Data were collected by an on-line questionnaire sent to all Continental Municipalities (n = 278). Categorical data were expressed as absolute counts and percentages. Continuous data were expressed as the mean and SD. An open-ended question was analysed using qualitative content analysis with QSR NVivo software. Associations between categorical variables were tested by the use of contingency tables and the calculation of chi-square tests. Significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results Results showed: i) a total of 125 PA programmes were identified in the 18 districts of the Portugal mainland; ii) the main goal of the majority (95.2%) was the participants' health promotion; iii) different characteristics of the programmes were found according to different regions of the country; iv) certain characteristics of the programmes were associated to the existence of other features; v) only one PA programme developed quality initiatives. Conclusions In conclusion, although there are many PA programmes for elderly people spread throughout the country, aiming at improving the health of participants, the overwhelming majority does not adopt quality control initiatives. Considering that the quality of a service increases customer satisfaction, the continuous quality improvement of the PA programmes for elderly people should therefore be implemented since they can be useful and critical for elderly satisfaction and adherence.

This study aimed to investigate the association between dairy product consumption and metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in Portuguese adolescents, and whether the association differed by weight status. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the school year 2011/2012 with 412 Portuguese adolescents (52.4% girls) in 7th and 10th grade (aged 12 to 18 years old). The World Health Organization cutoffs were used to categorize adolescents as non-overweight (NW) or overweight (OW). Blood samples were collected to analyze C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), leptin, and adiponectin. Dairy product intake was evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire. Participants were divided by tertiles according to the amount of dairy product consumed. The associations between dairy product consumption with metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers were evaluated using generalized linear regression models with logarithmic link and gamma distribution and adjusted for potential confounders. The majority of adolescents were NW (67.2%). NW adolescents had lower IL-6, CRP, and leptin concentration than their counterparts ( p < 0.05, for all comparisons). Higher levels of total dairy product and milk intake were inversely associated with IL-6 (P for trend <0.05, for all) in NW adolescents, but not in OW adolescents. NW adolescents in the second tertile of yogurt consumption had lower level of IL-6 compared to those in the first tertile ( p = 0.004). Our results suggest an inverse association between total dairy product and milk intake and serum concentrations of IL-6 only among NW adolescents. ; This study was supported by the Research Centre on Physical Activity Health and Leisure (CIAFEL) of the Faculty of Sport, University of Porto and by FCT grant BD88984/ 2012 (J. Oliveira-Santos); The Research Centre on Physical Activity Health and Leisure (CIAFEL) is supported by FCT/UID/DTP/00617/2019; the author C. Agostinis-Sobrinho was given Doctoral scholarship from the Brazilian government by CAPES (Coordination of ...

To examine the combined association of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness (MF), and adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MeDiet) on cardiovascular risk in adolescents, a pooled study, including cross-sectional data from two projects [2477 adolescents (1320 girls) aged 12–18 years], was completed. A shuttle run test was used to assess CRF. MF was assessed by the standing-long jump and handgrip tests. Adherence to a MeDiet was assessed by the Kidmed questionnaire. A cardiovascular risk score was computed from the following components: Age and sex, waist circumference, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and glucose. Analysis of covariance showed that participants classified as having optimal (High) adherence to a MeDiet/HighMF/HighCRF, as well those classified as low adherence to a MeDiet/HighMF/HighCRF, had, on average, the lowest cardiovascular risk score (F = 15.6; p < 0.001). In addition, the high adherence to a MeDiet/LowMF/LowCRF group had the highest odds of having a high cardiovascular risk (OR = 7.1; 95% CI: 3.4–15.1; p < 0.001), followed by the low adherence to a MeDiet/LowMF/LowCRF group (OR = 3.7; 95% CI: 2.2–6.3; p < 0.001), high adherence to a MeDiet/HighMF/LowCRF group (OR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.4–7.0; p = 0.006), and low adherence to a MeDiet/LowMF/HighCRF group (OR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.5–4.4; p = 0.002) when compared to those with high adherence to a MeDiet/HighMF/HighCRF, after adjustments for potential confounders. In conclusion, our findings showed that, regardless of the MeDiet status, adolescents with low MF and low CRF cumulatively, presented the highest cardiovascular disease risk. Therefore, these findings suggest that the combination of these two fitness components may be beneficial to adolescents' cardiometabolic profile, independent of MeDiet behaviour. ; CYTED - CYTED Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo(9588-13-2) ; The doctoral research grant to C.A.-S. from Brazilian government by CAPES (Coordination of Improvement of ...

DNA extraction enables the isolation and purification of genetic material by physical-chemical methods. There are specific protocols for different types of samples as animal and plant tissue. However, there are variations and particularities according to the nature of the fabric, such as the high presence of keratin. Thus, the present work aimed to develop and optimize a DNA extraction protocol from feather based on the Phenol-Chloroform method. Feather samples werw collected from 9 birds native to the Amazon region for the genetic material extraction. The DNA was precipitated with isopropanol and washed with 70% ethanol. Subsequently, the pellet was disolved in the TE buffer. The results indicated satisfactory concentrations for post-extraction molecular biology techniques such as PCR. The protocol showed a significant reduction in the incubation time to 1 hour compared to other protocols aimed at feather samples. Addition proteinase K to the lysis solution was the main factor that led to the optimization of the extraction time. The A260/230 and A260/280 absorbance ratios indicated the quality of the extracted DNA being close to what expected. Therefore, the results demonstrate the potential protocol use for molecular biology studies in birds from feather samples. However volume of phenol-chloroform and 70% ethanol can still be adjusted to suit the type sample.