Efeito do treino combinado na citocina IL-17 em idosos institucionalizados

Dissertação de mestrado em Biocinética (Biocinética em Ciências do Desporto) apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências do Desporto e Educação Física da Universidade de CoimbraIntrodução: O envelhecimento está diretamente associado ao aumento da inflamação sistémica, um processo denominado como "inflammaging". Uma das citocinas inflamatórias que tem merecido especial atenção é a IL-17, a qual possui concentração aumentada em diversos processos de doenças crônicas. O exercício físico já é considerado como um potente agente anti-inflamatório e, mesmo em idosos, parecem existir inúmeros benefícios físicos, imunitários e psicológicos oriundos da prática de exercício. Todavia, os efeitos de um programa de treino combinado sobre os parâmetros da citocina IL-17 ainda não foram investigados na população idosa. O objetivo deste trabalho é verificar os efeitos do treino combinado sobre os níveis de IL-17 em mulheres idosas institucionalizadas. Método: Um total de 25 idosas foram selecionadas e alocadas em dois grupos: treino combinado (n=13) e grupo controlo (n=12). Todas as participantes foram avaliadas antes e após 14 semanas de treino combinado. O treinamento consistia em 2 sessões semanais, e cada sessão foi composta por exercícios aeróbios, de treino de força e flexibilidade. Amostras de sangue foram recolhidas antes e após o período de intervenção para análise de hemograma e das concentrações plasmáticas de IL-17, bem como foram recolhidos dados referentes à teste de aptidão física funcional. Resultados: não existiram alterações significativas nos níveis de IL-17 em ambos grupos, e as variáveis do hemograma também foram inalteradas após o período de intervenção (p>0.05). Apesar de não significativas, o treino combinado promoveu um leve efeito sobre a melhoria dos níveis de aptidão física nas idosas submetidas ao exercício, o que não ocorreu no grupo controlo. Conclusão: apesar do treino combinado não promover alterações significativas nos níveis de IL-17 de idosas institucionalizadas, este tipo de exercício parece promover benefícios na capacidade física dessa população. Introduction: Aging is directly associated with the increase of systemic inflammation, a process known as “Inflammaging”.One of the pro inflammatory cytokines who has been broadly studied is the IL-17, which is widely present in several chronic diseases. Physical exercise is recognized as one powerful anti-inflammatory agent, and even in the elderly population it looks like there are many immune and psychologic benefits form the practice of regular physical activity. However, the effects of a multi-modal training program in the IL-17 parameters of an elderly population are still to be studied. The goal of this thesis is to examine the effects of multi-modal training in the levels of IL-17 of institutionalized elderly women. Methods: A total of 25 old women were selected and divided in two groups: multi modal training (n=13) and control group (n=12). All the participants were evaluated before and after 14 weeks of multi modal training. The training consisted in 2 weekly sessions, each one had aerobic, strength and flexibility exercises. Blood samples were collected before and after the intervention phase in order to perform hemogram and IL-17 plasmatic concentration analysis. It was also assessed the data of functional fitness. Results: there weren’t significant changes in IL-17 levels in both groups and the hemogram components were also inalterable after the intervention period (p>0.05). Although changes weren’t significant, multi modal training promoted a small effect in the improvement of functional fitness levels in the elderly women who participated in exercise sessions, something that didn’t happen in the control group. Conclusion: Despite the unchangeable levels of IL-17 in institutionalized elderly women submitted to multi modal training, this kind of exercise seems to promote benefits in the physical capacity of that population

Filtragem adaptativa para a estimação da freqüência em sistemas elétricos de potência

Esta pesquisa apresenta um método para a estimação da freqüência em sistemas elétricos de potência utilizando filtros adaptativos baseados no método dos mínimos quadrados (MMQ). A análise do sistema de potência é realizada através da conversão das tensões trifásicas em um sinal complexo pela aplicação da transformada α β, sendo este direcionado ao algoritmo de filtragem adaptativa. As simulações computacionais, assim como a modelagem dos equipamentos, foram realizadas utilizando-se do software ATP (Alternative Transients Program). Este teve por objetivo, gerar dados das mais diversas e distintas situações para a verificação e análise da metodologia proposta, em comparação a resultados obtidos de um determinado relé comercial, habilitado à supervisão da freqüência do sistema.This research presents a method for frequency estimation in power system using adaptive filter based on the Least Mean Square algorithm (LMS). In power system analysis, the three-phase voltages are converted to a complex signal with the application of α β-transform whose complex form was submitted to the algorithm of adaptive filtering. The computational simulations were accomplished using the software ATP. This utilization had as objective to generate data for the most severe and different situations for the verification and analysis of the proposed methodology. The results were to those of a commercial relay for validation, showing the advantages of the new method.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Análise da elasticidade de transmissão de preços no mercado brasileiro de algodão [Analysis of price transmission elasticity in the Brazilian cotton market]

The article analyzes the elasticity of price transmission in the Brazilian cotton market from January, 1985, to December, 2000. For this purpose, the Dickey-Fuller Augmented (ADF) unit root test, the Johansen cointegration test, the Vector Error Correction model (VEC), and the exogenicity test are applied. The results show that the One Price Law does not apply to the Brazilian cotton market, because variations in cotton international prices are not fully transmitted to domestic prices in Brazil in the long run. The exogenicity test shows that domestic cotton prices in Brazil do not react to changes in the long run equilibrium relationship. Possibly, these results are directly associated with government intervention in the sector (1985 to 1988) as well as to the credit conditions available for cotton acquisition in the international market between 1990 and 1997.cotton, the one price law, cointegration, international trade, price transmission

La representación de la variación fonética en lenguas pluricéntricas. una aproximación integral

Adaptive speech technologies offer a vehicle for representing pluricentric language variation and the description of both dominant and non-dominant speech varieties. In this article, the work of the LUPo project is described for modeling phonetic variation across national and sub-national varieties of the Portuguese language. While the motivation for this research is based around the development of highquality pronunciation lexica for a Portuguese text-to-speech system – a goal which, itself, is aimed at facilitating the entry of lesser or undocumented variants into the digital domain – the repercussions for pluricentricity are far reaching. We describe how systems such as LUPo can be used to model variation across phonetically similar and disparate national, sub-national, and sociolectal varieties, as well as presenting linguists with a means of testing and observing notions of linguistic distance in terms of shared or innovative rules and phonetic features, and for evaluating the pulling effect of different linguistic centers.Las tecnologías de adaptación del habla ofrecen un vehículo para representar la variación lingüística pluricéntrica y la descripción de variedades de habla dominantes y no dominantes. En este artículo, se describe el trabajo que lleva a cabo el proyecto LUPo para la representación de la variación fonética en las variedades nacionales y subnacionales del portugués. Mientras que la motivación para esta investigación se basa en el desarrollo de léxicos de pronunciación de alta calidad para un sistema de texto a voz del portugués − un objetivo que, en sí mismo, tiene por objeto facilitar la entrada en el dominio digital de las variantes menores o indocumentadas − las repercusiones para pluricentricidad son de largo alcance. Describimos cómo una sistema como LUPo pueden representar la variación a través variedades nacionales, subnacionales y sociolectales fonéticamente similares y diferentes, de la misma manera que los lingüistas pueden utilizarlo con un medio de prueba y observación de las nociones de distancia lingüística en términos de reglas compartidas o innovadoras y de rasgos fonéticos, y para evaluar el efecto de extracción de los diferentes centros de lingüística

Composition and antibacterial activity of the lipophilic fraction of honeybee pollen from native species of Montesinho Natural Park

The lipophilic composition of honeybee pollen from Cistus ladanifer, Castanea sativa and Rubus sp. was analysed by GC-MS. The extracts are mainly composed by saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, sterols, long chain aliphatic alcohols, alkanes and alkenes. The profiles of chemical composition allow the chemical differentiation of pollen species. The biological activity of the lipophilic fractions against several Gram positive bacteria was demonstrated and related to the resistance of beehives to certain diseases when feed with such pollens

Favourable areas for co-occurrence of parapatric species: niche conservatism and niche divergence in Iberian tree frogs and midwife toads

Aim Predicting species responses to global change is one of the most pressing issues in conservation biogeography. A key part of the problem is understanding how organisms have reacted to climatic changes in the past. Here we use species distribution modelling to infer the effects of climate changes since the Last Interglacial (LIG, about 130,000 ybp) on patterns of genetic structure and diversity in the Western Spadefoot toad (Pelobates cultripes) in combination with spatially-explicit phylogeographic analyses. Location Iberian Peninsula and mainland France. Methods 524 individuals from 54 populations across the species range were sampled to document patterns of genetic diversity and infer their evolutionary history based on data from mtDNA and fourteen polymorphic microsatellites. Generalized linear models based on distribution data were used to infer climatic favourability for the species in the present and in paleoclimatic simulations for the LIG, the Mid Holocene and the last glacial maximum (LGM). Results Estimates of genetic diversity show a decreasing trend from south to north, suggesting persistence of high historical population sizes in the southern Iberian Peninsula. Species distribution models show differences in climatic favourability through time, with significant correlations between historically stable favourable areas and current patterns of genetic diversity. These results are corroborated by Bayesian Skyline Plots and continuous diffusion phylogeographic analyses. Main conclusions The results indicate the presence of southern refugia, with moderate recent expansions at the northern end of the species’ range. Toads at the northern range margin exhibit the lowest genetic diversity and occupy areas of high past climate variability, classified as marginal in terms of favourability, rendering these populations most vulnerable to climate-mediated changes in the long term

An Unusual Case of Tricuspid Stenosis

Tricuspid stenosis is an uncommon valvular abnormality commonly associated with other valvular lesions. Ebstein's anomaly is a rare congenital heart malformation characterized primarily by abnormalities of the tricuspid valve and right ventricle. Endomyocardial fibrosis is a restrictive cardiomyopathy observed in tropical and subtropical regions. It may cause right ventricular distortion with apparent apical displacement of the tricuspid valve, mimicking Ebstein’s anomaly. Eosinophilia is the most commonly cited aetiological link in endomyocardial fibrosis. Here we report the case of 42-year-old male patient who presented with heart failure and severe tricuspid stenosis where a diagnosis of hypereosinophilic syndrome was also established. This case represented a diagnostic challenge in the search for the definitive cause of the tricuspid stenosis

Autonomous RPCs for a Cosmic Ray ground array

We report on the behaviour of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) developed for muon detection in ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) experiments. The RPCs were developed for the MARTA project and were tested on field conditions. These RPCs cover an area of $1.5 \times 1.2\,{m^2}$ and are instrumented with 64 pickup electrodes providing a segmentation better than $20\,$cm. By shielding the detector units with enough slant mass to absorb the electromagnetic component in the air showers, a clean measurement of the muon content is allowed, a concept to be implemented in a next generation of UHECR experiments. The operation of a ground array detector poses challenging demands, as the RPC must operate remotely under extreme environmental conditions, with limited budgets for power and minimal maintenance. The RPC, DAQ, High Voltage and monitoring systems are enclosed in an aluminium-sealed case, providing a compact and robust unit suited for outdoor environments, which can be easily deployed and connected. The RPCs developed at LIP-Coimbra are able to operate using a very low gas flux, which allows running them for few years with a small gas reservoir. Several prototypes have already been built and tested both in the laboratory and outdoors. We report on the most recent tests done in the field that show that the developed RPCs have operated in a stable way for more than 2 years in field conditions.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2017), Busan, South Korea. Presented by R. Concei\c{c}\~{a}o. 8 page