Quality of life and well-being of adolescents in portuguese schools

The quality of the school environment is associated with greater school involvement and academic success and improved levels of well-being/quality of life. In this sense, this study intends to explore the relationship between the quality of life of Portuguese adolescents and school. 8215 adolescents participated in this study, 52.7% of which were female, aged between 10 and 22 years and an average age of 14.36 years (SD=2.28). The sample was collected as part of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The results show that girls like school, teachers, school breaks (between classes) and classes more than boys and present less concerns/difficulties with school. Compared to boys, they report more pressure with the schoolwork and a better perception of safety at school. On the other hand, boys have a better relationship with their peers and teachers, miss more classes on purpose and report a higher perception of quality of life. An above-average QoL is statistically and significantly related with liking school, peers, teachers, school breaks (between classes) and classes. It is also related with feeling less pressure with the schoolwork, a better perception of school success and of safety in the school environment. Additionally, having an above-average QoL is statistically significantly associated with having a better relationship with peers and teachers and less concerns/difficulties with school. This is an important message for the reorganization of schools in terms of their practices and curricula. The need to develop strategies to promote greater identification of students with school is reinforced.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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

Shifting gear in antimicrobial and anticancer peptides biophysical studies : from vesicles to cells

© 2015 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Despite the intensive study on the mechanism of action of membrane-activemolecules such as antimicrobial and anticancer peptides, most of the biophysical work has been performed using artificial model systems, mainly lipid vesicles. The use of these systems allows full control of the experimental parameters, and to obtain molecular-level detail on the action of peptides, the correlation with biological action is intangible. Recently, several biophysicalmethodologies have been translated to studies using bacterial and cancer cells. Here, we review biophysical studies on the mechanism of action of antimicrobial and anticancer peptides performed directly on cells. The data in these studies allow to correlate vesicle-based and cell-based studies and fill the vesicle-cell interdisciplinary gap.Projects Ciência Sem Fronteiras PVE 171/2012 (CAPES, Brazil) and MSCA-RISE-2014-Nr644167 are acknowledged. D. Gaspar and J. Freire are recipients of fellowships SFRH/BPD/73500/2010 and SFRH/BD/70423/2010 from FCT, Portugal, respectively. A.S. Veiga acknowledges FCT, Portugal, for funding within the FCT Investigator Programme (IF/00803/2012)

Ecotoxicity and Hemolytic Activity of Fluorinated Ionic Liquids

The task-specific design of ionic liquids (ILs) has emerged in several industrial and pharmaceutical applications. The family of ILs with fluorine tags equal to or longer than four carbon atoms, the fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs), combine the best properties of ILs with the ones of perfluorinated compounds, and are being designed for several specific purposes. In the pharmaceutical field, there is an urgency to search for novel antibacterial agents to overcome problems associated to antimicrobial resistances. Then, the main purpose of this work is to evaluate the environmental impact and the ability of FILs to be used as antibacterial agents against Pseudomonas stutzeri bacteria. Beyond its rare pathogenicity, these bacteria are also used as a bioremediation agent to treat several contamination sites. Then, it is important to determine which FILs have antibacterial properties, and which do not impact the bacterial growth. The biocompatibility of FILs was also evaluated through their hemolytic activity and represent a step forward the application of FILs in pharmaceutical applications. The results proved that high concentrations of FILs can have a reduced ecotoxicity and a high biocompatibility. [C8C1Im][CF3SO3] was identified as the most promising compound to be used as an antibacterial agent since it prevents the growth of bacteria at concentrations compatible with the red blood cells’ viability.publishersversionpublishe

Analysis of Daily Visual Habits in a Presbyopic Population

Purpose. To evaluate and report the visual habits and requirements of a sample of presbyopic patients using an advanced sensor. Methods. Transversal study collecting clinical data from 40 presbyopes candidates for presbyopia-correction intraocular lens (IOL) implantation with mean age of 61.0 years (43–80 years). A complete ophthalmological examination was performed in all patients including visual, refractive, an ocular biometric analysis. Furthermore, patients were instructed about the use of the Vivior Monitor system (Vivior AG, Zürich, Switzerland), which consists of a series of sensors attached to the rim of the patient’s glasses that capture information about the visual behavior of the patient. This device was worn for a period of 36 hours or more. The data collected were transferred to a database and analyzed. Results. Mean percentages of time dedicated to distance, intermediate, and near vision were 27.25 ± 11.93% (5–65%), 30.23 ± 9.36% (12–50%), and 42.53 ± 14.96% (13–78%), respectively. Mean percentages of time performing activities under photopic, mesopic, and scotopic conditions were 37.08 ± 23.20% (5–87%), 33.65 ± 13.84% (6–67%), and 29.28 ± 17.03% (4–65%). The percentage of time with digital screens ranged from 2% to 48%. Age was significantly correlated with the percentage of time dedicated to distance vision (r = 0.317, p = 0.047) and to activities performed under photopic conditions (r = −0.344, p = 0.030). Conclusions. Distance and illumination conditions used to perform different daily life visual activities vary significantly among presbyopes, with a trend to the dedication of more time to intermediate and near visual activities performed under photopic and mesopic conditions. Data interpretation should be done with care until a proper validation of the device used.This study was partially funded by an unrestricted grant from Johnson and Johnson Vision. The author David P Piñero has been supported by the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness of Spain within the program Ramón y Cajal, RYC-2016-20471

Extraction of Biocompatible Collagen From Blue Shark Skins Through the Conventional Extraction Process Intensification Using Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents

ERC-2016-CoG 725034The disposal of large amounts of skin waste resulting from the blue shark fishing industry presents several industrial and environmental waste management concerns. In addition, these marine subproducts are interesting sources of collagen, a fibrous protein that shows high social and economic interest in a broad range of biomedical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications. However, blue shark wasted skins are a poorly explored matrix for this purpose, and conventional collagen recovery methodologies involve several pre-treatment steps, long extraction times and low temperatures. This work presents a new green and sustainable collagen extraction approach using a natural deep eutectic solvent composed of citric acid:xylitol:water at a 1:1:10 molar ratio, and the chemical characterization of the extracted collagen by discontinuous electrophoresis, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and circular dichroism. The extracted material was a pure type I collagen, and the novel approach presented an extraction yield 2.5 times higher than the conventional one, without pre-treatment of raw material and reducing the procedure time from 96 to 1 h. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation, performed with a mouse fibroblasts cell line, has proven the biocompatibility of the extracted material. Overall, the obtained results demonstrate a simple, quick, cheap and environmentally sustainable process to obtain marine collagen with promising properties for biomedical and cosmetic applications.publishersversionpublishe

Family environment and portuguese adolescents: Impact on quality of life and well-being

Background: A healthy and supportive family environment leads to more positive results regarding adolescents’ development. The main objective of this study was to explore and analyze the relationship between adolescents’ quality of life (QoL) and their family environment/relationship. Method: The sample was collected as part of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children 2018 study, which included 8215 adolescents, 52.7% female, with a mean age of 14.36 years (SD = 2.28). Results: Girls are more involved in family activities (such as family meals), report being treated with fairness by their parents and feel less parental pressure to get good grades. Boys have a higher perception regarding their family affluence, better family relationships and support and better QoL. Having an above-average QoL is significantly related to high family affluence, better communication with both parents, greater involvement in family activities, greater perception of help from parents regarding decision-making, greater perception of being treated with fairness by parents and less pressure from parents to get good grades, as well as a better family relationship/support. Conclusion: It is important to determine the impact that parental divorce/separation or a weak parent–child relationship can have on adolescents. It is also necessary to consider the family relationship and structure when devising strategies and public policies related to the promotion of adolescents’ health and well-being.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessment of habitat suitability for common cockles in the Ria the Aveiro Lagoon under average and projected environmental conditions

The common cockle Cerastoderma edule is a widespread bivalve species inhabiting estuarine systems across the North East Atlantic, where it provides several ecosystem services, and represents a valuable fishery resource for local economies. However, anthropogenic pressure and more frequent extreme weather events threaten the resilience of the species. Spatially explicit information on species distribution is critical for the implementation of management and conservation practices. This study assessed the potential distribution of C. edule in the Ria de Aveiro by estimating the habitat suitability using an ensemble approach based on ecological niche modeling and recently developed hydrodynamic and water quality models to forecast both average and projected estuarine conditions. The models were developed for the summer of 2013 and spring of 2019 and potential range shifts in the species distribution were forecasted under projected environmental conditions: high and low estimates of freshwater discharge, a 2 °C increase in water temperature, and the combined effect of low freshwater discharge and increased water temperature. The results suggest that salinity, time of submersion, and current velocity play an important role in the distribution of cockles, and large areas were consistently classified with high habitat suitability. Increased freshwater discharge (both seasons) and low discharge coupled to increased temperature (spring) resulted in large decreases in suitable habitat. Conversely, low freshwater discharges and average (unchanged) temperatures increased the suitable habitat in the outermost regions of the Ria. The spatially explicit information provided contributes to a better understanding of the vulnerability of C. edule in the Ria de Aveiro to extreme weather events (e.g., droughts, river floods) and may support adaptive management strategies of the cockle fishery during these conditions. Moreover, this approach can be transferred to other estuarine ecosystems for which data describing the environmental conditions (e.g., derived from numerical models), and information about species presence are available (including data-poor species).publishe

Cooperative thermal and optical switching of spin states in a new two-dimensional coordination polymer

{Fe(pmd)2[Cu(CN)2]2} (pmd = pyrimidine) displays a rigid two-dimensional structure and undergoes thermal- and optical-driven spin crossover behaviour; cooperative elastic coupling between iron(II) ions in the framework induces thermal hysteresis in the HS↔LS conversion and sigmoidal HS→LS relaxation of the photo-induced HS state at low temperatures.Niel, Virginie, [email protected] ; Galet Domingo, Ana Guadalupe, [email protected] ; Gaspar Pedros, Ana Belen, [email protected] ; Real Cabezos, Jose Antonio, [email protected]

Pressure effect investigations on spin-crossover coordination compounds

The piezochromic properties of spin-crossover complexes have been recognized for a long time, with increasing pressure favouring the low spin state due to its smaller volume and therefore shifting the spin equilibrium towards higher temperatures and accelerating the relaxation at a given temperature. However, the interpretation and quantification of pressure-induced changes have been several times compromised by the relatively poor and incomplete spectral and structural information provided by the detection methods or due to the experimental difficulties related to the need for hydrostatic conditions at low temperatures. The present review is therefore primarily focused on these experimental aspects of high-pressure spin crossover research providing an overview of methods of pressure generation and associated detection methods as well as on selected recent result