Advances in materials science and engineering assessment of gamma radiation hazards related to geologic materials: comparison of results by field gamma spectrometry and laboratory methods

Geologic materials are a potential source of external gamma radiation in buildings due to the presence of radioisotopes (K-40 and isotopes from U and Th decay families). The contents of these radioisotopes can be evaluated by laboratory analyses that require the extraction of samples, with associated financial and time constraints, and it is also difficult to perform on materials already applied in existing structures. In this work, portable gamma spectrometry results are compared with laboratory analyses in terms of radioisotopes estimations, and the activity concentration index is calculated from them (which assess the conjoint contribution of the different radioisotopes to the external gamma radiation). The studied objects are rocks and their "in situ" weathering products. The results obtained indicate that despite several problems posed by field measurements with portable gamma spectrometry, namely, in terms of the geometric characteristics of the objects measured, this technique has the potential to identify materials with different hazard levels related to external gamma radiation.The Lab2PT-Landscapes, Heritage and Territory laboratory-AUR/04509 is supported by the Portuguese "Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia" (Portuguese funds and where applicable the FEDER co-financing, in the aim of the new partnership agreement PT2020 and COMPETE2020-POCI 01 0145 FEDER 007528). The University Institute of Geology of the University of A Coruna (Spain) received support from Xunta de Galicia with funds from "Consolidacion y estructuracion de unidades de investigacion competitivas-Grupo de potencial de crecimiento" (GPC2015/024). The authors would like to thank A. Pinto, F. Dias, M. Cunha, and P. Pereira for help during the field work

Physical activity during pregnancy and its effects on fetal parameters in the second trimester

The physical activity (PA) during pregnancy still remains controversial due to the risk and protective effects on the fetal parameters (cephalic perimeter, abdominal perimeter, femur length and fetal weight). The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that pregnant women do, at least, 150 weekly minutes of moderate PA during a week (WK). This study aimed to (1) verify the relation between the accomplishment of ACSM guidelines PA and the maternal individual characteristics; (2) verify the relation between accomplishment of these guidelines and the fetal parameters in the second trimester. Prospective study was conducted at Hospital S. João, with a sample of 137 pregnant women. Socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors were assessed via questionnaire. PA was assessed by accelerometry (used for 7 consecutive days) in the second trimester (20–22 weeks). The fetal parameters were assessed by ultrasound between the 20th and 22nd gestational week, always by the same medical. No relation was found between the participants’ individual characteristics and the accomplishment of the ACSM’s recommendations, with p-value for all the variables being >0.05. There is no difference between the fetal parameters in the second trimester of the women who follow the recommendations (p>0.05). The pregnant women’s individual characteristics were not related with the accomplishment of the ACSM’s recommendations. Any relation between the recommendations accomplishment and the fetal parameters in the second trimester was not found and no negative influence was found in the same parameters.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Força dos músculos cérvico-escapulares e a severidade da disfunção temporomandibular em mulheres com cervicalgia mecânica

Introdução: modificações da função muscular cervical têm sido verificadas em pacientes com cervicalgia e DTM. Entretanto, ainda não é conhecida a relação entre a severidade da DTM e a força muscular cervical na presença/ausência de cervicalgia. Objetivo: verificar a prevalência de DTM em mulheres com e sem cervicalgia mecânica, avaliar a força dos músculos cérvico-escapulares e sua associação com a severidade da DTM. Métodos: participaram 15 voluntárias sem dor cervical (GC) e 14 mulheres com cervicalgia mecânica (GCM), selecionadas por meio do Índice de Disfunção Relacionada ao Pescoço. O diagnóstico e a gravidade da DTM foram determinados pelos Critérios diagnósticos para pesquisa em desordens temporomandibulares e Índice Temporomandibular (IT), respectivamente. A força dos músculos trapézio superior, flexores e extensores cervicais foi aferida por dinamometria digital manual. Resultados: 64,5% das mulheres com cervicalgia e 33,3% das sem dor cervical apresentaram diagnóstico de DTM (p = 0,095). O GCM apresentou menor força dos músculos flexores (p = 0,044) e extensores cervicais (p = 0,006) e maior IT (p = 0,038) que o GC. Também foi verificada correlação negativa moderada entre o IT e força dos músculos trapézio superior dominante (p = 0,046, r = -0,547), não dominante (p = 0,007, r = -0,695) e flexores cervicais (p = 0,023, r = -0,606) no GCM. Conclusão: não houve diferença na prevalência de DTM entre mulheres com e sem cervicalgia. Entretanto, mulheres com cervicalgia apresentaram menor força muscular cervical (comparadas às sem cervicalgia) que esteve associada a maior severidade da DTM. Assim, em mulheres com cervicalgia associada à DTM, é recomendável avaliar e abordar a severidade desta disfunção e o comprometimento dos músculos cérvico-escapulares.Introduction: changes in cervical muscle function have been observed in patients with neck pain (NP) and TMD. However, the relationship between TMD severity and neck muscle strength in the presence/absence of NP is unknown. Objective: to determine the prevalence of TMD in women with and without mechanical NP and assess the cervical-scapular muscle strength and its association with TMD severity. Methods: fifteen volunteers without neck pain (CG) and 14 women with mechanical neck pain (NPG) took part and were selected by the Neck Disability Index. The diagnosis and severity of TMD were determined by the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD and Temporomandibular Index (TI), respectively. The strength of the upper trapezius muscle, and cervical flexor and extensor muscles was measured by digital hand dynamometer. Results: 64.5% of women with NP and 33.3% without NP were diagnosed with TMD (p = 0.095). The NPG showed lower strength of the cervical flexor (p = 0.044) and extensor (p=0.006) muscles, and higher TI (p = 0.038) than in the CG. It was also verified moderate negative correlation between TI and the strength of dominant (p = 0.046, r = -0.547) and non-dominant (p = 0.007, r = -0.695) upper trapezius, and cervical flexors (p = 0.023, r = -0.606) in the NPG. Conclusion: there was no difference in the prevalence of TMD in women with and without NP. However, women with NP have lower cervical muscle strength - compared to those without NP - which was associated with greater severity of TMD. Thus, in women with NP associated with TMD, it is advisable to assess and address the severity of this dysfunction and identify the cervical-scapular muscles compromise

Dosagens de fósforo para cultivares de arroz em latossolo de campo cerrado de Roraima.

bitstream/item/60086/1/CPATU-PA63.pd

Exploring the causal effect of maternal pregnancy adiposity on offspring adiposity: Mendelian randomisation using polygenic risk scores.

BACKGROUND: Greater maternal adiposity before or during pregnancy is associated with greater offspring adiposity throughout childhood, but the extent to which this is due to causal intrauterine or periconceptional mechanisms remains unclear. Here, we use Mendelian randomisation (MR) with polygenic risk scores (PRS) to investigate whether associations between maternal pre-/early pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and offspring adiposity from birth to adolescence are causal. METHODS: We undertook confounder adjusted multivariable (MV) regression and MR using mother-offspring pairs from two UK cohorts: Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and Born in Bradford (BiB). In ALSPAC and BiB, the outcomes were birthweight (BW; N = 9339) and BMI at age 1 and 4 years (N = 8659 to 7575). In ALSPAC only we investigated BMI at 10 and 15 years (N = 4476 to 4112) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) determined fat mass index (FMI) from age 10-18 years (N = 2659 to 3855). We compared MR results from several PRS, calculated from maternal non-transmitted alleles at between 29 and 80,939 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). RESULTS: MV and MR consistently showed a positive association between maternal BMI and BW, supporting a moderate causal effect. For adiposity at most older ages, although MV estimates indicated a strong positive association, MR estimates did not support a causal effect. For the PRS with few SNPs, MR estimates were statistically consistent with the null, but had wide confidence intervals so were often also statistically consistent with the MV estimates. In contrast, the largest PRS yielded MR estimates with narrower confidence intervals, providing strong evidence that the true causal effect on adolescent adiposity is smaller than the MV estimates (Pdifference = 0.001 for 15-year BMI). This suggests that the MV estimates are affected by residual confounding, therefore do not provide an accurate indication of the causal effect size. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that higher maternal pre-/early-pregnancy BMI is not a key driver of higher adiposity in the next generation. Thus, they support interventions that target the whole population for reducing overweight and obesity, rather than a specific focus on women of reproductive age

Monitoring Adherence to Asthma Inhalers Using the InspirerMundi App: Analysis of Real-World, Medium-Term Feasibility Studies

Background: Poor medication adherence is a major challenge in asthma and objective assessment of inhaler adherence is needed. InspirerMundi app aims to monitor inhaler adherence while turning it into a positive experience through gamification and social support. Objective: We assessed the medium-term feasibility of the InspirerMundi app to monitor inhaler adherence in real-world patients with persistent asthma (treated with daily inhaled medication). In addition, we attempted to identify the characteristics of the patients related to higher app use. Methods: Two real-world multicenter observational studies, with one initial face-to-face visit and a 4-month telephone interview, were conducted in 29 secondary care centers from Portugal. During an initial face-to-face visit, patients were invited to use the app daily to register their asthma medication intakes. A scheduled intake was considered taken when patients took a photo of the medication (inhaler, blister, or others) using the image-based medication detection tool. Medication adherence was calculated as the number of doses taken as a percentage of the number scheduled. Interacting with the app ≥30 days was used as the cut-off for higher app use. Results: A total of 114 patients {median 20 [percentile 25 to percentile 75 (P25-P75) 16-36] years, 62% adults} were invited, 107 (94%) installed the app and 83 (73%) completed the 4-month interview. Patients interacted with the app for a median of 18 [3-45] days, translated on a median use rate of 15 [3-38]%. Median inhaler adherence assessed through the app was 34 [4-73]% when considering all scheduled inhalations for the study period. Inhaler adherence assessed was not significantly correlated with self-reported estimates. Median adherence for oral and other medication was 41 [6-83]% and 43 [3-73]%, respectively. Patients with higher app use were slightly older (p = 0.012), more frequently taking medication for other health conditions (p = 0.040), and more frequently prescribed long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA, p = 0.024). After 4 months, Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT) scores improved (p < 0.001), but no differences between patients interacting with the app for 30 days or less were seen. Conclusions: The InspirerMundi app was feasible to monitor inhaler adherence in patients with persistent asthma. The persistent use of this mHealth technology varies widely. A better understanding of characteristics related to higher app use is still needed before effectiveness studies are undertaken.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Asthma App Use and Interest Among Patients With Asthma: A Multicenter Study

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Validated HPLC-PDA method for rosmarinic acid quantification in Rosemary

A fast and simple HPLC-PDA method for rosmarinic acid quantification in Rosemary leaves powder was validated. The analyses were performed using a C18 column in isocratic conditions and detection at 254 nm. Performing the system suitability tests, the method showed to be capable of providing data of acceptable quality. Results showed that the method was selective, linear for concentration ranges between 2.5-50 μg.mL–1 , sensitive, precise, accurate and robust. The main advantages of the method were the simplicity and promptness of sample analysis, as well as equipment convenience. These results allowed us to conclude that it can be successfully applied on the routinely quality control of Rosemary phytopharmaceuticals inputs.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire