Comportamento alimentar restritivo e excesso de peso em jovens portugueses

Dar atenção às dimensões emocionais do comportamento alimentar, incluindo a restrição, é fundamental na compreensão do excesso de peso/obesidade. Neste estudo, procurouse analisar a relação entre comportamentos alimentares restritivos e o Índice de Massa Corporal (IMC) numa amostra de 128 jovens e adultos portugueses. Para a recolha de dados foi utilizado o Three Factor Eating Questionary (TFEQ), tendo sido analisada apenas a subescala da restrição alimentar. As análises estatísticas (Rho de Spearman) foram realizadas com recurso ao SPSS IBM 22. Constatou-se que os valores mais elevados de restrição alimentar se registaram nos sujeitos com excesso de peso, mais velhos e do género feminino. Entre o IMC e a restrição alimentar verificou-se uma correlação positiva, moderada e altamente significativa (rho=.304, p=.001), apontando os resultados para a necessidade de se ter em consideração as dimensões emocionais (restrição) no planeamento de intervenções, por exemplo, no âmbito da perda de peso.Abstract: Attention to emotional dimensions of eating behavior, including restriction, is critical to the study of overweight/obesity. This study sought to examine the relationship between restrictive eating behavior and Body Mass Index (BMI) in a sample of 128 Portuguese young adults. For data collection was used the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) – but only the subscale of restriction was analyzed. IBM SPSS 22 was used specifically to perform the Spearman Rho test. Overweight individuals, older and females had higher levels of restriction. The correlation between BMI and restriction was positive, moderate and statistically significant (rho = .304, p = .001). The results indicate the need to take into account emotional dimensions in planning interventions, for example, in the context of weight loss

Photonic-structured TCO front contacts yielding optical and electrically enhanced thin-film solar cells

COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) under the projects UID/CTM/50025/2019. ALTALUZ ( PTDC/CTM-ENE/5125/2014 ). SuperSolar (PTDC/NAN-OPT/28430/2017). TACIT (PTDC/NAN-OPT/28837/2017). LocalEnergy (PTDC/EAM-PEC/29905/2017). grant SFRH/BPD/114833/2016 .Wavelength-structured transparent conductive oxide (TCO) electrodes are highly promising to improve both the optical and electrical performance of photovoltaic (PV) devices, due to wave-optical light-trapping (LT) effects and higher TCO volume without increasing optical losses. Herein we present a complete study of the benefits of microstructured IZO contacts applied on amorphous-silicon (a-Si) thin film solar cells. The IZO LT structures were integrated by an innovative colloidal lithography process on the front contact of the cells, resulting in enhancements of 26.7% in photocurrent, with respect to planar reference cells, when using an ultra-thin (30 nm) flat IZO layer between the LT structures and the a-Si absorber. However, the best efficiency enhancement (23.1%) was attained with an optimized thickness of 190 nm for this layer, due to a more favorable combination of optical and electrical gains. In view of the application of this LT strategy in flexible PV devices operating under bending, the angular response of the cells was studied for 0-90° incidence angles. This showed that the LT enhancements are generally higher at oblique incidence, reaching 53.2% and 52%, respectively in photocurrent and efficiency, at ± 70° angles with the optimized flat IZO thickness of 190 nm; and 52.2% in efficiency at ± 40° with the ultra-thin thickness of 30 nm. These results are among the highest gains reported thus far for LT-enhanced thin film solar cells.authorsversionpublishe

High-performance wide bandgap perovskite solar cells fabricated in ambient high-humidity conditions

Funding Information: This work was funded by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P.) under the projects UIDB/50025/2020, SuperSolar (PTDC/NAN-OPT/28430/2017) and TACIT (PTDC/NAN-OPT/28837/2017). We also acknowledge the support of SYNERGY, H2020-WIDESPREAD-2020-5, CSA, proposal n1 952169. U. D. Menda and G. Ribeiro acknowledge funding from FCT through the grants UIDP/50025/2020 and SFRH/BD/ 151095/2021, respectively.Lead-halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are currently the most promising emergent thin-film photovoltaic technology, having already reached power conversion efficiency (PCE) levels of state-of-the-art wafer-based silicon cells. The class of wide bandgap PSCs has also demonstrated high PCE values, thus becoming highly attractive for top sub-cells in tandem devices constructed with silicon or other types of bottom sub-cells. In this study, wide bandgap double-halide (Cs0.17FA0.83PbI3-xBrx) perovskite absorbers were developed with different bromine content, aiming to obtain bandgap values between 1.66 to 1.74 eV, by a glovebox-free (ambient) procedure. Low-cost inorganic materials, i.e. TiO2 and CuSCN, were used for the electron and hole transport layers, respectively. The 1.70 eV bandgap perovskite resulted in the highest reproducibility and stability (>80% initial PCE after 3500 hours) properties of the PSCs, remarkably attaining 16.4% PCE even with ambient and high humidity (∼70%) fabrication conditions. This journal ispublishersversionpublishe

Unveiling the path to resilience: prioritizing mental health, sleep, and nutrition in the Post-COVID Era

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily life, impacting relationships, work, and education. This has led to increased stress, anxiety, and depression, along with altered sleep patterns and eating behaviors. Quarantine and isolation have worsened mental health, especially in children and the elderly, due to the loss of activities and physical contact. Sleep disorders and negative dreams perpetuate poor sleep quality, increasing the risk of health issues. Sedentary lifestyles and emotional effects contribute to unhealthy eating patterns and obesity, exacerbated by disrupted routines and limited outdoor activities. Addressing these challenges requires prioritizing mental health, promoting healthy sleep habits, and addressing obesity factors. The pandemic has profoundly affected human well-being, but resilience, mental health, sleep, and nutrition can enhance overall well-being and adaptability in the post-COVID era. This comprehensive opinion aims to raise awareness of the wide-ranging impacts of this pandemic on various aspects of human well-being and to emphasize the importance of implementing strategies that prioritize mental health, improve sleep habits, address eating behaviors, and foster resilience to navigate and thrive in the face of future challenges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aspectos do desenvolvimento motor e da qualidade de vida no contexto da obesidade infantil

Introduction: Child development is a period of progressive and complex transformations related to growth, maturation, learning, motor skills, and psychosocial issues. Objective: Analyze the influence of obesity on the aspects of motor development and quality of life of children aged three to eight years, and and their mothers’ levels of anxiety and depression. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive and quantitative approach study with children enrolled and attended at a pediatric endocrinology in Fortaleza, CE, in the period between June and November 2017. The study sample consisted of 24 children from three to eight years of age. We used the anthropometric quantification, the Motor Development Scale, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) for children. We applied the Beck anxiety and depression questionnaires for mothers. Results: 16 were female, and 17 were severely obese. Most of the sample showed motor development changes 42,85% classified as “inferior” in the obesity category, and 41.17% in the severely obese category. Both groups revealed”complete right-handed” and “undefined” laterality in around 40% of the individuals. The quality of life had a low mean score. The majority of mothers from both groups presented minimal anxiety and depression. Conclusions: Obesity interferes negatively with the overall motor development, determination of laterality, and quality of life of children, perceiving more severe levels of anxiety and depression in mothers of children severely obesity.Introdução: O desenvolvimento infantil é um período de progressivas e complexas transformações relacionadas ao crescimento, maturação, aprendizagem, habilidades motoras e questões psicossociais. Objetivo: Analisar o desempenho das habilidades motoras em crianças obesas, analisar a qualidade de vida das mesmas e os níveis de ansiedade e depressão de suas mães. Método: Pesquisa transversal, descritiva, comparativa e de abordagem quantitativa com crianças atendidas em um ambulatório de endocrinologia pediátrica localizada no município de Fortaleza – CE, entre junho e novembro de 2017. A amostra foi composta por 24 crianças, de 3 a 8 anos de idade. Foi realizada a quantificação antropométrica, aplicação da Escala de Desenvolvimento Motor, do Questionário Pediátrico sobre Qualidade de Vida das crianças (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory – PedsQL™) e dos questionários de ansiedade e depressão de Beck com as mães. Resultados: 16 eram do sexo feminino e 17 obesos graves. Obteve-se alteração no desenvolvimento motor em quase 100% da amostra, com uma classificação quanto ao nível motor como “inferior” em 42,85% no grupo de obesos e 41,17% no grupo de obesos graves. Houve um predomínio da lateralidade “destro completo” e “indefinida” em ambos os grupos com pouco mais de 40% da amostra. Quanto a qualidade de vida foi observada uma baixa média de escores; estando as mães classificadas, em sua maioria, nos dois grupos, com presença de ansiedade e depressão mínimas. Conclusão: A obesidade interfere negativamente no desenvolvimento motor global, determinação da lateralidade e qualidade de vida das crianças, percebendo-se níveis mais graves de ansiedade e depressão nas mães de crianças com obesidade grave

Enhanced 3T3-L1 differentiation into adipocytes by pioglitazone pharmacological activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma)

Despite the primary function of pioglitazone in antidiabetic treatment, this drug is a potent inducer of PPAR-γ, a crucial receptor that is involved in adipocyte differentiation. In this work, we propose an optimized methodology to enhance the differentiation of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts into adipocytes. This process is crucial for adipocyte secretome release, which is fundamental for understanding the molecular mechanisms that are involved in obesity for in vitro studies. To achieve this, a pioglitazone dose-response assay was determined over a range varying from 0 to 10 µM. Lipid accumulation was evaluated using Oil-Red-O. The results showed that 10 µM pioglitazone enhanced differentiation and increased secretome production. This secretome was then added into two cell lines: PC3 and RAW264.7. In the PC3 cells, an increase of aggressiveness was observed in terms of viability and proliferation, with the increase of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Conversely, in RAW264.7 cells, a reduction of viability and proliferation was observed, with a decrease in the overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Overall, the present work constitutes an improved method for adipocyte secretome production that is suitable for experimental biology studies and that could help with our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying adiposity influence in other cells.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Thermal-Carrier-Escape Mitigation in a Quantum-Dot-In-Perovskite Intermediate Band Solar Cell via Bandgap Engineering

By harvesting a wider range of the solar spectrum, intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs) can achieve efficiencies 50% higher than conventional single-junction solar cells. For this, additional requirements are imposed to the light-absorbing semiconductor, which must contain a collection of in-gap levels, called intermediate band (IB), optically coupled to but thermally decoupled from the valence and conduction bands (VB and CB). Quantum-dot-in-perovskite (QDiP) solids, where inorganic quantum dots (QDs) are embedded in a halide perovskite matrix, have been recently suggested as a promising material platform for developing IBSCs. In this work, QDiP solids with excellent morphological and structural quality and strong absorption and emission related to the presence of in-gap QD levels are synthesized. With them, QDiP-based IBSCs are fabricated and, by means of temperature-dependent photocurrent measurements, it is shown that the IB is strongly thermally decoupled from the valence and conduction bands. The activation energy of the IB$\rightarrow$CB thermal escape of electrons is measured to be 204 meV, resulting in the mitigation of this detrimental process even under room-temperature operation, thus fulfilling the first mandatory requisite to enable high-efficiency IBSCs

Myosteatosis in a systemic inflammation-dependent manner predicts favorable survival outcomes in locally advanced esophageal cancer

Increased adiposity and its attendant metabolic features as well as systemic inflammation have been associated with prognosis in locally advanced esophageal cancer (LAEC). However, whether myosteatosis and its combination with systemic inflammatory markers are associated with prognosis of esophageal cancer is unknown. Our study aimed to investigate the influence of myosteatosis and its association with systemic inflammation on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in LAEC patients treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT). We retrospectively gathered information on 123 patients with LAEC submitted to dCRT at the University of Campinas Hospital. Computed tomography (CT) images at the level of L3 were analyzed to assess muscularity and adiposity. Systemic inflammation was mainly measured by calculating the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Median PFS for patients with myosteatosis (n = 72) was 11.0 months vs 4.0 months for patients without myosteatosis (n = 51) (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34-0.83; P = .005). Myosteatosis was also independently associated with a favorable OS. Systemic inflammation (NLR > 2.8) was associated with a worse prognosis. The combination of myosteatosis with systemic inflammation revealed that the subgroup of patients with myosteatosis and without inflammation presented less than half the risk of disease progression (HR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.26-0.85; P = .013) and death (HR: 0.39; 95% CI, 0.21-0.72; P = .003) compared with patients with inflammation. This study demonstrated that myosteatosis without systemic inflammation was independently associated with favorable PFS and OS in LAEC patients treated with dCRT81669676976FAPESP – Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa Do Estado De São Paulo2018/23428-