Want to do exercise and do exercise: the role of personal and psychological factors

A maioria da população mundial é fisicamente inativa ou ativa de forma insuficiente, não beneficiando da prática de exercício físico-EF. Este estudo analisou as diferenças psicológicas em função da regularidade de EF e os preditores da prática de EF. Foram incluídos 454 praticantes de Musculação, Cardio-Fitness e Atividades de Ritmo de uma academia desportiva em Portugal. Avaliaram-se variáveis pessoais e psicológicas dos praticantes. Os resultados indicaram: (a) praticantes mais regulares de EF apresentaram maior perceção de comportamento anterior de EF, maior gosto pelo EF e maior bem-estar no EF; (b) os preditores da prática de EF (e.g., intenção de prática de EF, comportamento anterior de EF e comportamento efetivo de EF) foram ser do sexo masculino, maior gosto pelo EF, maior perceção de esforço, maior bem-estar e menor fadiga no EF. Concluindo, os praticantes regulares beneficiam mais do EF e os fatores pessoais e psicológicos explicam a prática de EF.La mayoría de la población mundial es físicamente inactiva o no lo suficientemente activa para obtener beneficios del Ejercicio Físico-EF. Esto estúdio analizó las diferencias psicológicas en función de la práctica de EF y los predictores de EF. Participaron 454 practicantes de Musculación, Cardio-Fitness y Actividades de Ritmo de una academia deportiva en Portugal. Fueron evaluadas variables personales y psicológicas. Los resultados fueron: (a) practicantes más regulares de EF presentaron mayor percepción de práctica anterior de EF, mayor gusto por el mismo y mejores experiencias de bienestar; (b) los predictores de la práctica de EF (e.g., intención de hacer EF, comportamiento anterior de EF y comportamiento efectivo de EF) fueron ser varón, tener mayor gusto por el EF, mayor percepción de esfuerzo, mayor bienestar y menor fatiga en el EF. En conclusión, los practicantes regulares benefician más del EF y los factores personales y psicológicos explicaran la práctica de EF.The majority of the world population is physically inactive or insufficiently active to benefit from exercise practice. This study analyzed the psychological differences according the frequency of exercise practice and the predictors of exercise practice. The study included 454 exercisers of Bodybuilding, Cardio-Fitness, and Rhythm Activities, from a fitness center in Portugal. It was evaluated personal and psychological variables of participants. Results showed that (a) regular exercisers demonstrated higher perceptions of past exercise behavior, higher attraction toward exercise, and more positive experiences of well-being in exercise; (b) the predictors of exercise practice (e.g., intention of doing exercise, past exercise behavior, and exercise behavior) were being male, attraction toward exercise, higher perceived effort, higher well-being, and less fatigue in exercise. In conclusion, regular exercisers benefit more from exercise and personal and psychological factors explain the experience of participants in exercise practice

Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma: a case study in gynecologic cytopathology

O presente estudo reporta o caso de uma mulher de 63 anos da qual a única informação clínica era a suspeita de um sarcoma da cérvix. Simultaneamente à colpocitologia, foram enviadas biópsias do colo e do endométrio para diagnóstico. A visualização da amostra citológica revelou vários agregados de número variável de células monótonas, com tamanho pequeno, formato redondo e citoplasma escasso, num fundo com diátese. Os núcleos apresentavam moldagem, hipercromasia, cromatina “sal-e-pimenta” e ausência de nucléolos. O aspeto microscópico das biópsias foi concordante com os achados citológicos, tendo sido igualmente identificados focos glanduliformes com características atípicas. A neoplasia mostrou expressão imunohistoquímica dos antigénios enolase neurónio-específica (neuron specific enolase, NSE), sinaptofisina e citoqueratina (clones AE1/AE3), e uma elevada atividade proliferativa demonstrada pela imunorreactividade para o marcador nuclear Ki67/Mib1. Os achados citológicos, histológicos e imunohistoquímicos foram consistentes com o diagnóstico de carcinoma neuroendócrino de pequenas células. Dos tumores cervicais, esta neoplasia maligna é das mais raras, mostrando um comportamento muito agressivo, com prognóstico muito pobre, em que as terapêuticas existentes são pouco consensuais quanto à sua eficácia. A sua etiologia ainda é estudada, podendo estar relacionada com a infeção pelo Vírus do Papiloma Humano.ABSTRACT - The present study shows the case of a 62 years old woman, whose only clinical data was a suspected cervical sarcoma. A liquid-based cytology and biopsies from the cervix and the endometrium were done and sent for diagnostic laboratory. The cytology showed numerous groups of a variable number of monotonous, small and round cells, having scarce cytoplasm in a diathesis background. The nuclei featured molding, hyperchromasia, “salt-and-pepper” chromatin and no nucleoli. Similar observations could be found with the biopsies, where atypical gland-like groups were also detected. This neoplasia showed positive immunostaining for neuron specific enolase, synaptophysin and cytokeratin (AE1/AE3 clone antibodies), and a proliferative activity demonstrated by the nuclear marker Ki67/Mib1 immunorreactivity. The cytological, histological and imunohistochemical findings were consistent with the diagnosis of a small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Of all the cervical tumors, this sort of malignancy is one of the rarest and has a very aggressive behavior, with poor prognosis and without effective treatment. Its cause may be related to the Human Papillomavirus infection, but this still remains in study

Predictors of exercise practice: from intention to exercise behavior

This study analyzed the predictor variables of participants’ intentions to exercise, subjective perception of exercise, and objective exercise behavior. For that it was adopted a cross-sectional design with follow-up measures of exercise behavior that was evaluated for a period of three months. The study included 304 participants (female = 198, 65%) aged between 14 to 73 years (M = 36.11; SD = 13.17) exercising in private fitness centers. We evaluated three sets of variables: personal (age and gender), physical activity (past exercise behavior), and psychological characteristics of participants (including variables from the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Transtheoretical Model, Self-determination Theory, and Emotional and Affective States Theory). The combination of independent variables most strongly predicted intention to exercise (71% of the variance), followed by subjective perceptions of exercise (38%), and last, by exercise behavior (16%). Results implicate the need to accommodate new variables and theoretical approaches to explain exercise behavior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Long-term memory in financial prices: evidence from the Dutch stock market returns

Prepared for presentation at the Portuguese Finance Network International Conference 2014, Vilamoura, Portugal, June 18-20The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion of long-term memory, focusing on the behavior of the main Dutch stock index.The analysis of the general characteristics of temporal frequency reveals that daily returns are non-ergodic, non-stationary and non-independent. Consequently, we have employed the rescaled-range analysis (R/S) and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA), under the fractional Brownian motion approach, and found slight evidence of long-term persistence. This suggests that this market is more prone to predictability ("Joseph effect"), but also trends that may be unexpectedly disrupted by discontinuities ("Noah effect"). Although the evidence of fractal dynamics has weak support, refutes the hypothesis of random walk with i.i.d. increments. This implies that the use of statistical limit arguments to determine conventional financial statistics, as used in the Capital Asset Pricing Model and option valuation models, is scientifically incorrect. Furthermore, a more localized (in time) study to identify the evolution of the degree of long-term memory over time showed a change in the characteristic index from persistent to anti-persistent, more evident after 2010. This suggests that the AEX market does not correspond to Efficient Market Hypotheis in strictly sense of Fama (1970), although it has progressed closer to this theoretical ideal during the worsening of the current international financial crisis

Degenerative Lumbosacral Syndrome in Dogs – surgical management strategies and new insights on outcome

Degenerative Lumbosacral Stenosis (DLSS) is a common debilitating condition affecting dogs, describing a multifactorial syndrome arising from the compression of the cauda equina and its associated nerve roots. Typically, cases present following a protracted history of suspected lumbar pain, persistent or episodic, made evident in activities where more force is loaded at the lumbosacral joint and its associated neuroforamina. Active, working, military or agility dogs are thought to be at risk of developing DLSS. Diagnosis of DLSS relies on a compatible clinical history, exclusion of conditions with similar presentation and evidence of cauda equina compromise on diagnostic imaging. Cross-sectional imaging and particularly MRI are necessary to reach a DLSS diagnosis. A protracted, persistent or episodic history of lumbar pain, difficulties jumping and pelvic limb lameness, in the absence of overt orthopaedic disease, should alert the clinician that DLSS is possible. Foraminal stenosis has been increasingly recognised as part of the DLSS syndrome, however previous to this thesis, decompressive surgery in clinically affected dogs had only been reported in a single study. Furthermore, alternative treatments to surgery in canine degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (DLSS) remain limited and reliable predictors of outcome are lacking. This considered, this thesis aimed to: (1) review retrospectively the short and long-term outcome in a cohort of canine patients who underwent lateral foraminotomy in the treatment of lumbosacral foraminal stenosis, (2) assess the usefulness of a single epidural steroid injection (ESI) in the management of DLSS, (3) evaluate ESI as a predictor of outcome following decompressive surgery and (4) compare the outcomes of ESI and decompressive surgery. A set of hypotheses were proposed: (1) lateral foraminotomy would be a safe and useful treatment in cases of lumbosacral foraminal stenosis, (2) ESI can be effective in DLSS cases, leading to transient alleviation of clinical signs, (3) ESI can be a reliable predictor of surgical outcome, e.g. a positive response to ESI can indicate a positive response to surgical decompression, (4) surgical decompression can lead to a more favourable outcome than a single ESI. In order to address these questions two studies, one retrospective and one prospective were developed. For the first study, clinical records were reviewed retrospectively from 45 dogs which had undergone lateral foraminotomy at the lumbosacral junction either alone or in combination with decompressive midline dorsal laminectomy. For the second study, dogs diagnosed with DLSS were prospectively recruited and administered an epidural steroid injection (ESI). If clinical signs persisted or relapsed, decompressive surgery was recommended. Follow-up was obtained. Forty-five dogs were included in the retrospective study shown that short-term outcome at six weeks was assessed by the surgeon to be good (11.1 per cent) or excellent (88.9 per cent) in all 45 cases. Long-term outcome beyond six months for lumbosacral syndrome was assessed by the owner as excellent in all 34 cases for which follow-up was available despite recurrence in five cases. Recurrence of clinical signs was not related to re-establishment of foraminal compression at the surgical site when assessed on repeat MRI and was managed by either contralateral foraminotomy in one case or conservative management with excellent response. Thirty-two dogs were recruited for the prospective study that underwent ESI, with seventeen having subsequent surgery. Improvement after ESI was seen in 27/32 dogs (84.4%), with 17/22 (77.2%) relapsing within 6 months. Five dogs failed to respond to ESI and another five dogs (15.6%) presented a persistent post-ESI favourable response (mean follow-up time, 9.4 months). Post-surgical improvement was identified in all dogs. Outcome was favourable following surgical decompression, with a statistically significant difference towards reduced pain, increased mobility, and a greater quality of life score. This study was not able to demonstrate that ESI could predict surgical outcome. Concluding, the retrospective study confirmed lateral foraminotomy as an effective procedure in the management of DLSS-affected dogs suffering from foraminal stenosis and demonstrates that initial good short-term results are maintained long term despite some treatable recurrences. Lateral foraminotomy is an effective procedure when used appropriately in DLSS with foraminal stenosis either alone or in combination with midline dorsal laminectomy. The prospective study confirmed ESI as an effective treatment in most but not all cases, leading to transient alleviation of clinical signs for longer than previously reported. ESI also provided a complete and apparently long-term sustained resolution of clinical signs in a subset of dogs. Despite this, there was indication that surgical decompression could lead to a more favourable outcome. Epidural steroid injection has a role in the management of DLSS dogs, particularly when surgery is not an option. DLSS remains a field of study in clinical veterinary neurology that requires extensive work in order to stablish a more definitive classification, treatment options and outcome measures. However, the results of this thesis appear to be clinically relevant, by means of confirming the efficacy of the lateral foraminotomy procedure in cases with foraminal stenosis, as well as demonstrating that ESI has a role in the management of DLSS

Development and Characterization of Quercetin-Loaded Delivery Systems for Increasing Its Bioavailability in Cervical Cancer Cells

Funding Information: This work was developed within the scope of the CICS-UBI projects UIDB/00709/2020 and UIDP/00709/2020, financed by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology/MCTES. This work was also supported by national funds from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences—UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy—i4HB. Diana Gomes also acknowledges the doctoral fellowship from FCT ref: 2020.06792.BD. Diana Costa acknowledges FCT her Assistant Researcher Contract 2021.03946.CEECIND. The microscopy facility used in the development of this work is part of the PPBI-Portuguese Platform of BioImaging and is partially supported by the Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Quercetin is a natural flavonoid with high anticancer activity, especially for related-HPV cancers such as cervical cancer. However, quercetin exhibits a reduced aqueous solubility and stability, resulting in a low bioavailability that limits its therapeutic use. In this study, chitosan/sulfonyl-ether-β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD)-conjugated delivery systems have been explored in order to increase quercetin loading capacity, carriage, solubility and consequently bioavailability in cervical cancer cells. SBE-β-CD/quercetin inclusion complexes were tested as well as chitosan/SBE-β-CD/quercetin-conjugated delivery systems, using two types of chitosan differing in molecular weight. Regarding characterization studies, HMW chitosan/SBE-β-CD/quercetin formulations have demonstrated the best results, which are obtaining nanoparticle sizes of 272.07 ± 2.87 nm, a polydispersity index (PdI) of 0.287 ± 0.011, a zeta potential of +38.0 ± 1.34 mV and an encapsulation efficiency of approximately 99.9%. In vitro release studies were also performed for 5 kDa chitosan formulations, indicating a quercetin release of 9.6% and 57.53% at pH 7.4 and 5.8, respectively. IC50 values on HeLa cells indicated an increased cytotoxic effect with HMW chitosan/SBE-β-CD/quercetin delivery systems (43.55 μM), suggesting a remarkable improvement of quercetin bioavailability.publishersversionpublishe

Utilização de bender elements na determinação do módulo de distorção

Este trabalho apresenta a utilização de bender elements na determinação do módulo de distorção de uma areia. A amostra foi preparada para um determinado índice de vazios e ensaiada à compressão isotrópica até 400 kPa. Baseada na medição e interpretação de velocidades de ondas sísmicas, a técnica dos bender elements foi utilizada para a determinação do módulo de distorção no âmbito das muito pequenas deformações. Para melhorar a consistência dos resultados, foram utilizadas em simultâneo análises no domínio do tempo e da frequência na determinação do módulo de distorção. São feitas recomendações relativas à redução da subjetividade na determinação da velocidade de propagação das ondas sísmicas. A relação do módulo de distorção com a tensão normal média efetiva é avaliada e comparada com expressões empíricas.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), projeto de investigação WaveSoil (PTDC/ECM/122751/2010) do projeto FCOMOP-01-0124-FEDER-02036

Small strain stiffness of a sand by means of bender elements and accelerometers: measuring principles and applications

Ao longo dos anos têm-se assistido ao desenvolvimento de novas técnicas para a determinação da rigidez dos solos em laboratório, baseadas na determinação direta da velocidade de propagação de ondas sísmicas. Neste contexto, este trabalho apresenta a medição e interpretação de velocidades de ondas sísmicas em ensaios realizados numa areia através do uso combinado de bender elements e acelerómetros. A interpretação das medições do tempo de propagação e da aceleração foi realizada no domínio do tempo e no domínio da frequência. No final, são tecidas considerações relativas aos valores de rigidez obtidos e a uma potencial expansão do setup apresentado para aplicações a uma vasta gama de geomateriais.In the last decades, the development of new laboratory techniques to assess soil stiffness throughout the use of seismic wave-based techniques, have received significant attention. In this context, this paper presents measurements and interpretation of seismic wave velocities from tests performed on a sand and based on the combined use of bender elements with accelerometers. The interpretation of the travel time measurements were performed using time and frequency-domain methods. Finally, considerations concerning stiffness results and an enlarged application of the presented setup to a wide range of geomaterials are made.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), projeto de investigação WaveSoil (PTDC/ECM/122751/2010) do projeto FCOMOP-01-0124-FEDER-02036