Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the essential oils from Thymbra capitata and Thymus Species grown in Portugal

The antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the essential oils from Thymbra capitata and Thymus species grown in Portugal were evaluated. Thymbra and Thymus essential oils were grouped into two clusters: Cluster I in which carvacrol, thymol, p-cymene, alpha-terpineol, and gamma-terpinene dominated and Cluster II in which thymol and carvacrol were absent and the main constituent was linalool. The ability for scavenging ABTS(center dot+) and peroxyl free radicals as well as for preventing the growth of THP-1 leukemia cells was better in essential oils with the highest contents of thymol and carvacrol. These results show the importance of these two terpene-phenolic compounds as antioxidants and cytotoxic agents against THP-1 cells.Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) [Pest-OE/EQB/LA0023/2011

Stress, évaluation cognitive et épuisement professionnel chez les travailleurs sociaux des maisons d’hébergement

Stress and burnout are global epidemics that may cause negative consequences for workers and organizations. Social workers of Residential Child Care are especially at risk, due to the inherent characteristics of their work. Subsequently, this study aimed to analyse these professional’s stress, cognitive appraisal, and burnout. The sample included 92 social workers (90.2% female and 9.8% male) with ages between 25 and 64 years old (M = 38.08; SD = 7.91). The evaluation protocol included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Stress Questionnaire for Health Professionals, the Primary and Secondary Cognitive Appraisal Scale, and the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results indicated that 58% of professionals assumed high levels of general stress, and that physical fatigue and cognitive weariness were the burnout dimensions with higher values. The combination of sociodemographic variables, stress factors and cognitive appraisal were important to explain the burnout experience, and can contribute to design interventions directed to these professionals.Le stress et l’épuisement professionnel sont des épidémies mondiales qui peuvent avoir des conséquences négatives pour les travailleurs et les organisations. Les travailleurs du domaine social des Maisons d’accueil résidentiel sont à risque en raison des caractéristiques inhérentes à leur travail. Par la suite, cette étude visait à analyser le stress, l’évaluation cognitive et l’épuisement professionnel chez ces professionnels. L’échantillon comprenait 92 travailleurs sociaux (90,2% de femmes et 9,8% d’hommes) du nord du Portugal, âgés de 25 à 64 ans (M = 38,08 ; SD = 7,91). Le protocole d’évaluation comprenait un questionnaire sociodémographique, le Health Professional Stress Questionnaire, l’échelle d’évaluation cognitive et la Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Les résultats ont indiqué que 58% des participants avaient un niveau global de stress élevé, les dimensions de la fatigue physique et de la fatigue cognitive étant les plus élevées dans l’épuisement professionnel. La combinaison de facteurs sociodémographiques, de stress et de processus d’évaluation cognitive était importante pour expliquer l’épuisement professionnel et peut contribuer à la formulation d’interventions destinées à ces professionnels

Chemical characterization and biological properties of royal jelly samples from the mediterranean area

Royal jelly (RJ) is a bee product that has high nutritional value and is beneficial for the human health, earning importance as a functional food. Thus, the characterization of its main biological properties is with high importance. In this work, 6 RJ samples obtained in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain were evaluated in terms of total phenol and flavone/flavonol contents; total protein; 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA); volatiles composition; antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties; and inhibition of tyrosinase, xanthine oxidase (XO), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities. Total phenolic content ranged from 3 to 9 mg gallic acid equivalent/g RJ, and flavone/flavonol content from 0.1 to 0.5 mg quercetin equivalent/g RJ. 10-Hydroxy-2-decenoic acid content varied from 0.9% to 1.2% and total protein from 5.5% to 29.7%. Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed RJ volatiles dominated by linolenic acid, 2-decenoic acid, and octanoic acid in variable amounts. The antioxidant activity was monitored through nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging capacity, where the IC50 ranged from 2.3 to 3.4 and 0.2 to 1.5 mg/mL, respectively. Anti-AChE activity IC50 ranged from 0.7 to 4.6 mg/mL, while XO inhibition IC50 ranged from 3.3 to 11.9 mg/mL. The results showed that phenols and flavonoids highly contributed to the RJ biological properties in contrast to 10-HDA and proteins.UID/AMB/50017/2019 UIDB/05183/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Life skills training: a theoretical proposal and future challenges

Life skills are personal resources that can be trained and applied in a specific situation and transferred to other contexts. The growing body of research has shown that intervention programs produce positive results in learning and transferring life skills. Nonetheless, there is a need to clarify the efficacy of life skills training, namely the theoretical background of life skills interventions and how to organize the intervention programs. This paper attempts to overcome these gaps of literature by providing a conceptualization of life skills into two axes: typology (cognitive to physical continuum) and function (personal and interpersonal). Also, it is presented a theoretical model of life skills training that establishes the stages and principles of life skills acquisition, the variables that influence training, and the measures and hypotheses that can be used to evaluate the efficacy of life skills training. In sum, we clarify the actual challenges of life skills training and provide indications on how to apply and evaluate the efficacy of the intervention.This work was done at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi/UM) School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (UIDB/01662/2020)

Correcção de uma má-oclusão de Classe II divisão 1 em duas fases de tratamento

A influência dos aparelhos funcionais no crescimento craniofacial assim como a filosofia dos tratamentos ortodônticos que envolvem duas fases são assuntos controversos. O tratamento das más-oclusões de Classe II Divisão 1 executado em duas fases visa, na primeira fase diminuir a discrepância sagital. A segunda fase pretende obter uma oclusão de acordo com os padrões de oclusão funcional. O objectivo deste artigo consiste em apresentar a sequência de tratamento de um caso clínico de má-oclusão de Classe II Divisão 1, tratado em duas fases, em que foi utilizado um activador do tipo Teuscher, na primeira fase.The influence of functional appliances on craniofacial growth as well as the two-phase orthodontic treatment philosophy are still controversial subjects. The main purpose of the two-phase treatment involving activators is to promote dento-alveolar changes. The goal of the second phase is creating an occlusion according to functional occlusion patterns. The aim of this article is to present the sequence of a Class II Division 1 treatment case in two phases, in which a Teuscher activator is used in the first phase

Postharvest changes of fresh cilantro

IX Simpósio Ibérico de Maturação e Pós Colheita. Sessões PosterCilantro (Coriandrum sativum L.) has become one of the most widely used fresh herbs worldwide. In addition to its flavorful culinary attributes, cilantro has been promoted by public health authorities as partial replacement of dietary salt intake. The objective of this study was to characterize the postharvest behavior of fresh cilantro to provide recommendations for proper postharvest handling. Freshly harvested cilantro leaves were bunched into 50 g bunches held by a rubber band, wrapped in plastic, cooled to ca. 5 ºC and transported to the laboratory within 2 h after harvest. The leaf bunches were placed at 0º, 10º, and 20 ºC, and assessed for mass loss, ethylene production rate, respiration rate, color, and chlorophyll content. Hedonic assessment of appearance and odor were also performed. Under these experimental conditions, fresh mass declined at a rate of 1.1; 1.5; and 6.3% per day, at 0º, 10º and 20 ºC, respectively. Ethylene production rate remained stable during storage at 0º or 10 ºC, at 0.26 and 1.61 μL kg-1 h-1, respectively. At 20 ºC, the initial ethylene production rate of 4.04 μL kg-1 h-1 increased sharply after 4 days to reach 25.64 μL kg-1 h-1 at day 7 due to fungal development. The initial respiration rate, expressed in mL CO2 kg-1 h-1, was 7.7 at 0 ºC, 27.8 at 10 ºC and 114.1 at 20 ºC, and remained relatively stable during storage at 0 and 10 ºC. However, respiration rate double during 7 days at 20 ºC due to decay. The initial hue angle of cilantro leaflets was 124.7º, a value that remained relatively constant during 30 days at 0 ºC, but decreased slightly (2 to 3%) after 15 days at 10 ºC or 4 days at 20 ºC. The initial SPAD index of 42.2 decreased to 37.7 after 4 days at 20 ºC, to 35.6 after 15 days at 10 ºC and to 39.6 after 30 days at 0 ºC. Total chlorophyll content at harvest was 1.92 mg g-1 with a ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b of 3.2. Chlorophyll content decreased slightly at 10º and 20 ºC, mainly due to the reduction in chlorophyll b but remained unaltered during 30 days at 0 ºC. The duration of postharvest life based on appearance was 1.6; 7.3, and 11 days at 20º, 10º and 0 ºC, respectively. However, odor was judged at the sales limit after 1.0; 2.0; and 9.0 days at 20º, 10º, and 0 ºC, respectively. In conclusion, the main causes of shelf-life termination are odor suppression and fungal development. Wilting can be reduced by packaging and senescence-related chlorophyll loss and yellowing are slower than odor suppression. Freshness is best preserved at 0 ºCinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Elemental composition, total fatty acids, soluble sugar content and essential oils of flowers and leaves of Moringa oleifera cultivated in Southern Portugal

LA/P/0094/2020. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The AuthorsThe evaluation of the elemental content of moringa leaves and flowers by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry revealed that the leaves are a good source of some macro (Ca and K) and micronutrients (Mn) beyond the presence of important polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), essential in human nutrition. Total soluble sugars prevail in the flowers which may be linked to insect attraction and the pollination process. M. oleifera leaves, flowers and seeds essential oils (EOs) were isolated by hydrodistillation. Gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (GC-MS) showed EOs dominated by alkanes and fatty acids in diverse ratios in the analyzed plant parts. The nutritional characterization of M. oleifera cultivated in Portugal showed some important nutrients to human physiology. Further studies will allow determining if its consumption may overcome the nutritional imbalances of daily modern households, preventing the emergence of hypertension and diabetes.publishersversionpublishe

Avaliação nutricional e sensorial de variedades regionais de pomóideas.

Os resultados obtidos evidenciam, para determinados parâmetros químicos e/ou nutricionais e de textura, diferenças entre algumas das variedades regionais estudadas. Por comparação com variedades comercializadas verifica-se que as variedades regionais estudadas apresentam valores mais elevados, particularmente do teor em fibra dietética e em compostos fenólicos totais. A análise sensorial efectuada permite inferir a existência de algumas variedades regionais nitidamente mais apreciadas do que outras. Por outro lado, as determinações efectuadas a partir de frutos colhidos em dois anos consecutivos, não revelam variações expressivas para algumas propriedades químicas

Fluoxetine Removal from Aqueous Solutions Using a Lignocellulosic Substrate Colonized by the White-Rot Fungus Pleurotus ostreatus

One of the main challenges in both the design of new wastewater treatment plants and the expansion and improvement of existing ones is the removal of emerging pollutants. Therefore, the search for economic and sustainable treatments is needed to enhance the removal of pharmaceuticals. The potential of a lignocellulosic substrate colonized by Pleurotus ostreatus, a waste from mushroom production, to remove fluoxetine from aqueous solutions was studied. Batch assays were performed to remove 600 µg∙L−1 fluoxetine from aqueous solutions using the colonized mushroom substrate (CMS) and crude enzyme extracts. The removal efficiencies achieved were, respectively, ≥83.1% and 19.6% in 10 min. Batch assays with sterilized CMS and 1-aminobenzotriazole (to inhibit cytochrome P450 enzymes) showed that the higher removal efficiencies achieved in the CMS assays may be attributed to the synergistic contribution of biosorption onto the CMS and lignin modifying enzymes activity, namely laccase activity. A column assay was performed with the CMS, fed with 750 µg∙L−1 fluoxetine aqueous solution. The removal efficiency was 100% during 30 min, decreasing to a final value of 70% after 8 h of operation. The results suggested that CMS can be a promising eco-friendly alternative to remove fluoxetine from aqueous solutions