Shedding Light on the lifestyle and participation of portuguese adolescents with chronic conditions—Data from the HBSC 2018 Study

Variables associated with lifestyle can constitute either risk or protective factors for the development and progression of chronic conditions (CC). This study intends to explore the differences between adolescents with and without CC and between adolescents whose school participation is affected/not affected by the existing CC with regard to variables related to lifestyle (i.e., sleep, physical activity, BMI, and leisure). In addition, it also intends to analyze the influence of these variables (i.e., CC and lifestyle) regarding the adolescents’ quality of life (QoL). This work is part of the Portuguese HBSC 2018 study. A total of 8215 adolescents participated (52.7% female), with an average age of 14.36 years (SD = 2.28). The results showed that the adolescents with CC and whose school attendance and participation are affected by their CC exhibit more sleep difficulties (i.e., they experience lower sleep quality and have a higher degree of sleepiness), higher BMI levels (i.e., higher values of overweight and obesity), less participation in leisure activities, and a lower perception of QoL. A higher perception of QoL is associated with school participation unaffected by the existing CC, sleeping well, a low level of sleepiness, a more frequent practice of physical activity, a lower BMI, and a greater involvement in leisure activities. Adolescent health and well-being are a prominent issue in terms of public policies, with behavior and lifestyle playing a significant role in this domain. This message needs to be reinforced in regard to families, educators, healthcare professionals, and public sector policies, particularly concerning students with CC.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Physical fights involvement in school setting and adolescents’ behaviours : highlights from health behaviour in school-aged children (HBSC/WHO) - fights in school setting and adolescent’s behaviours

Copyright © 2019 Susana Gaspar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and work is properly cited.Aim: To analyse gender differences and associations regarding physical fights and their relationship with other health compromising behaviours. Methods: Participants consisted of 5,423 Portuguese adolescents in the context of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children/World Health Organization study. Independent Chi-Square, Independent Sample T-tests were used to analyse the relationship between physical fights involvement and health compromising behaviour. Binary logistic regressions were conducted to analyse the associations between physical fights involvement and variables with statistical significance for at least one gender in preliminary bivariate analysis. Regression analyses were stratified by gender adjusted by age. Result: 21.3% of the adolescents reported at least one fighting episode. 61.1% of fights occurred in school. Students from 6th grade had a higher involvement in fights than 10th grade students. For both genders, fighting occurrence is related to consumptions (alcohol, drugs use), violence (being bullied, being a bully, carrying weapons and safety perception at school). Boys from Alentejo region, 6th grade and who practice physical activity, reported more physical fights involvement. For boys, carrying weapons decreases the probability of fights occurrence in school. Conclusion: This study confirms the impact of physical fighting in Portuguese adolescents and emphasizes that specific strategies to address this physical fighting are important. Public policies must take gender and age specificities into consideration while designing and implementing preventive interventions with pupils and families, in the school and in the community, in order to promote a safer environment at school and an adolescents’ positive development. Active social support from peers, parents, teachers and school staff is needed so that weapons are not used as a way to secure schools’ environment. National strategies and interventions in school context must be prioritized with regional focus in order to address regional specificities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Youth have a voice : qualitative exploration of a participatory action-research program

© Under License of Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 LicenseAlthough the participatory action-research programs with young people are increasingly common around the world, their inclusion in the evaluation of intervention programs in the area of health promotion is still not a rule. This study presents youths’ assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Dream Teens project, along with its impact on their development as a person, the development of their individual action and their social support (family, school and community). Two studies are presented: study 1, referring to individual interviews, including a total of 12 young people, with a mean age of 18.5 years (± 1.62), mostly girls (83.3%) attending secondary school (41.67%), higher education (33.33%) and third grade (25%); and study 2, referring to a focus group that involved 8 young people, mostly girls (75%), age 18.5 years ( ± 2) attending higher education (37.5%), secondary school (37.5%) and third grade (25%). The NVivo software was used for the analysis and processing of data. Overall, young people identify the establishment of goals in the project, the relationships established, the acquired knowledge and face-to-face meetings as forces; their difficulty in dealing with empowerment, and weak participation of some young people as weaknesses; the availability of local authorities and some teachers to listen to young people as opportunities; and the necessary bureaucracy in order for a project to be implemented, the lack of support from the educational community and some teachers, along with the lack of support of political power as threats. In terms of impact on the participants, there is an increase in their capacity for the development of the person, in the promotion of their self-esteem, personal goals, a sense of community participation, communication skills and respect for themselves and for others; and their development of individual action, a greater political empowerment, development of skills and confidence for research-action, and relationships established. The opportunities created include the establishment of new contacts and the feeling of support from some political bodies at a social support level; promotion of active listening, capacity for argumentation and development of new interests at the family level; at school, these include better relationships with teachers and colleagues, better academic performance, easier coping with frustration, better acceptance of the other; and in the community, although they have not noticed significant changes, they believe that their work will have future repercussions. This work is expected to contribute to an increase in the number of research-action programs with the participation of young people, enhancing their effectiveness as a way to promote their health and wellbeing.Branquinho, C. receives a PhD grant from The University of Lisbon (UL) (Grant Number 800178), and Matos, M. G. receives a Sabbatical grant from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (SFRH / BSAB / 135160 / 2017).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effect of a social-emotional school-based intervention upon social and personal skills in children and adolescents

Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).In the middle of the 20th century, there was a shift from a skills deficit approach to a positive approach, focused on promoting assets and individual strengths. The role of social-emotional competences became salient. School is a privileged arena for universal and selective prevention interventions that can help pupils in raising their competence to cope with life challenges in a relaxed, non-violent and effective way. Personal and social-emotional skills play a key role in children and adolescents’ development, as well as their behavior towards risk factors and there is a need to evidence-based interventions. The scale “For me it’s Easy” is an evaluation tool for personal and socio-emotional skills and was used to assess the effect of a Social and Emotional Skills Promotion Program. Personal and social skills play a key role in children and adolescents’ development, as well as their behavior towards risk factors. The study includes an intervention group with 960 Portuguese children and adolescents with a mean age of 12.5 years (SD = 1.61) and included were 56.8% boys of different educational levels. The waiting-list group included 171 children and adolescents; 46.2% were boys. The mean age was 14.7 years and the SD was 3.3. The results reveal significant differences in the intervention group related to the competences before and after the intervention, namely in the interpersonal relationships and definition of goal related skills, while in the waiting list group there were no significant differences in the moment before and after the intervention, and the scale “For me it’s Easy” can be considered an instrument which contributes to the research and evaluation of intervention in children and adolescents, especially in the prevention and promotion of personal and social skills and healthy development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Integrated skills program : perception of teachers and psychologists

© Federação Brasileira de Terapias CognitivasThe aim is to study the impact of the implementation of a program to promote social and emotional competences in an education center, based on teachers and psychologist perception. This study included teachers’ perceptions of 755 students aged 9 to 21 years, 24.0% with 12 or less years, 26.0% from 13 to 15 years and 50.1% with 16 or more years of schooling. age. 59.5% are boys and 9.3% are under the Individual Educational Program (PEI). The study of the socio-emotional skills scale reveals good psychometric properties and reveals to be a good contribution to the evaluation of competences in childhood and adolescence. According to the perception of the teachers and psychologists who implemented the program, there is an increase in competences in most of the dimensions of the scale, namely global competences, advanced skills, skills in dealing with feelings, skills that are alternative to aggression and planning between the pre and post intervention moments. The study contributes to the research and evaluation of intervention in children and adolescents, especially in the prevention and promotion of personal and social skills and healthy development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

COVID-19, Wellness and life satisfaction in adolescence: Individual and contextual issues

During and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, several works reflected on young people’s physical and psychological health. The Dual Factor Model, which we refer to as the quadripartite model, is useful for understanding children’s and adolescents’ psychological health and differentiating them regarding their attitude toward the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this investigation, students from the fifth to twelfth year of schooling enrolled in the DGEEC study “Psychological Health and Wellbeing in Portuguese schools” were considered. Four groups were created based on life satisfaction (low or high) and psychological distress (with or without symptoms). The study included 4444 students (M = 13.39 years ± 2.41), of whom 47.8% were male. Of the participants, 27.2% were in the second cycle of primary education, and 72.8% were in lower and upper secondary education. Differences in gender and education level (as a proxy for age) were observed. Additionally, when considering students’ perceptions of changes in their lives following the COVID-19 pandemic (stayed the same, became worse, became better), these three groups were compared concerning personal and contextual variables, revealing significant differences at both the individual and contextual levels. Finally, the study discusses the influence of education and health professionals and the need for friendly public policiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Respiratory allergy to Blomia tropicalis: Immune response in four syngeneic mouse strains and assessment of a low allergen-dose, short-term experimental model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The dust mite <it>Blomia tropicalis </it>is an important source of aeroallergens in tropical areas. Although a mouse model for <it>B. tropicalis </it>extract (<it>Bt</it>E)-induced asthma has been described, no study comparing different mouse strains in this asthma model has been reported. The relevance and reproducibility of experimental animal models of allergy depends on the genetic background of the animal, the molecular composition of the allergen and the experimental protocol.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>This work had two objectives. The first was to study the anti-<it>B. tropicalis </it>allergic responses in different mouse strains using a short-term model of respiratory allergy to <it>Bt</it>E. This study included the comparison of the allergic responses elicited by <it>Bt</it>E with those elicited by ovalbumin in mice of the strain that responded better to <it>Bt</it>E sensitization. The second objective was to investigate whether the best responder mouse strain could be used in an experimental model of allergy employing relatively low <it>Bt</it>E doses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Groups of mice of four different syngeneic strains were sensitized subcutaneously with 100 μg of <it>Bt</it>E on days 0 and 7 and challenged four times intranasally, at days 8, 10, 12, and 14, with 10 μg of <it>Bt</it>E. A/J mice, that were the best responders to <it>Bt</it>E sensitization, were used to compare the <it>B. tropicalis</it>-specific asthma experimental model with the conventional experimental model of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific asthma. A/J mice were also sensitized with a lower dose of <it>Bt</it>E.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mice of all strains had lung inflammatory-cell infiltration and increased levels of anti-<it>Bt</it>E IgE antibodies, but these responses were significantly more intense in A/J mice than in CBA/J, BALB/c or C57BL/6J mice. Immunization of A/J mice with <it>Bt</it>E induced a more intense airway eosinophil influx, higher levels of total IgE, similar airway hyperreactivity to methacholine but less intense mucous production, and lower levels of specific IgE, IgG1 and IgG2 antibodies than sensitization with OVA. Finally, immunization with a relatively low <it>Bt</it>E dose (10 μg per subcutaneous injection per mouse) was able to sensitize A/J mice, which were the best responders to high-dose <it>Bt</it>E immunization, for the development of allergy-associated immune and lung inflammatory responses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The described short-term model of <it>Bt</it>E-induced allergic lung disease is reproducible in different syngeneic mouse strains, and mice of the A/J strain was the most responsive to it. In addition, it was shown that OVA and <it>Bt</it>E induce quantitatively different immune responses in A/J mice and that the experimental model can be set up with low amounts of <it>Bt</it>E.</p

Troponin release following endurance exercise: is inflammation the cause? a cardiovascular magnetic resonance study

Background: The aetiology and clinical significance of troponin release following endurance exercise is unclear but may be due to transient myocardial inflammation. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) affords us the opportunity to evaluate the presence of myocardial inflammation and focal fibrosis and is the ideal imaging modality to study this hypothesis. We sought to correlate the relationship between acute bouts of ultra endurance exercise leading to cardiac biomarkers elevation and the presence of myocardial inflammation and fibrosis using CMR.Methods: 17 recreation athletes (33.5 +/- 6.5 years) were studied before and after a marathon run with troponin, NTproBNP, and CMR. Specific imaging parameters to look for inflammation included T2 weighted images, and T1 weighted spin-echo images before and after an intravenous gadolinium-DTPA to detect myocardial hyperemia secondary to inflammation. Late gadolinium imaging was performed (LGE) to detect any focal regions of replacement fibrosis.Results: Eleven of the 17 participant had elevations of TnI above levels of cut off for myocardial infarction 6 hrs after the marathon (0.075 +/- 0.02, p = 0.007). Left ventricular volumes were reduced post marathon and a small increase in ejection fraction was noted (64 +/- 1% pre, 67 +/- 1.2% post, P = 0.014). Right ventricular volumes, stroke volume, and ejection fraction were unchanged post marathon. No athlete fulfilled criteria for myocardial inflammation based on current criteria. No regions of focal fibrosis were seen in any of the participants.Conclusion: Exercise induced cardiac biomarker release is not associated with any functional changes by CMR or any detectable myocardial inflammation or fibrosis

Physical characterisation of an alginate/lysozyme nano-laminate coating and its evaluation on ‘coalho’ cheese shelf life

This work aimed at the characterisation of a nanolaminate coating produced by the layer-by-layer methodology and its evaluation on the preservation of ‘Coalho’ cheese. Initially, five alternate layers of alginate and lysozyme were assembled in an aminolysed/charged polyethylene terephthalate (A/C PET) and physically characterised by UV/VIS spectroscopy, contact angle, water vapour (WVTR) and oxygen (OTR) transmission rates and scanning electron microscopy. Afterwards, the same methodology was used to apply the nano-laminate coating in ‘Coalho’ cheese and its shelf life was evaluated during 20 days in terms of mass loss, pH, lipid peroxidation, titratable acidity and microbial count. UV/VIS spectroscopy and contact angle analyses confirmed the layers’ deposition and the successful assembly of nano-laminate coating on A/C PET surface. The coating presented WVTR and OTR values of 1.03×10−3 and 1.28× 10−4 g m−2 s−1, respectively. After 20 days, coated cheese showed lower values of mass loss, pH, lipidic peroxidation, microorganisms’ proliferation and higher titratable acidity in comparison with uncoated cheese. These results suggest that gas barrier and antibacterial properties of alginate/lysozyme nanocoating can be used to extend the shelf life of ‘Coalho’ cheese.The author Bartolomeu G. de S. Medeiros is recipient of a scholarship from Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES-Brazil). The author Marthyna P. Souza is recipient of a scholarship from Fundacao de Amparo a Ciencia e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE, Brazil) and was recipient of a scholarship from Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES/PDEE-Brazil). The authors Ana C. Pinheiro, Ana I. Bourbon and Miguel A. Cerqueira are recipients of a fellowship (SFRH/BD/48120/2008, SFRH/BD/73178/2010 and SFRH/BPD/72753/2010, respectively), supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, POPH-QREN and FSE (FCT, Portugal). Maria G. Carneiro-da-Cunha express is gratitude to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) for research grant. The present work was supported by CAPES/PROCAD/NF/1415/2007. The support of EU Cost Action FA0904 is gratefully acknowledged

Enhancement of PLA-PVA surface adhesion in bilayer assemblies by PLA aminolisation

Data Availability: The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time due to legal or ethical reasons.Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) present complementary barrier properties, and their combination in multilayer assemblies (laminates) could provide materials with more effective barrier capacity for food packaging purposes. However, their low chemical affinity compromises adequate polymer adhesion. Surface free energy modification of thermo-processed PLA films through treatment with 1,6-hexanediamine was used to enhance adhesion with polar PVA aqueous solutions. Treatments of 1 and 3 min increased the polar component of the solid surface tension, while treatments above 10 min provoked a corrosive effect in the films structure. Extensibility analyses of PVA solutions loaded with carvacrol (15 wt.%) and different Tween 85 ratios on PLA-activated surfaces allowed the selection of the 1-min aminolysed surface for obtaining PLA-PVA bilayers, by casting PVA solutions on the PLA films. This study revealed that despite aminolisation enhancing the PLA surface affinity for aqueous PVA solutions, casting-obtained bilayers presented limited oxygen barrier effectiveness due to heterogeneous thickness of PVA layer in the laminates.The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain (project AGL2016-76699-R). The author A. Tampau thanks MINECO for the pre-doctoral research grant #BES-2014-068100.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio