2,632 research outputs found
Evaluation of Food Waste at a Portuguese Geriatric Institution
Care institutions attending to older adults are responsible for their food supply, which influences their health and quality of life. Food waste at care institutions has been reported to be a matter of great concern, that requires regular monitoring. In this study, we aim to quantify food waste in the food service of an elderly institution, both as leftovers and plate waste. Data collection was performed over 15 consecutive days, at lunch and dinner served to older adults. The aggregate weighing of food was performed before and after distribution, as well as after consumption. Leftovers and plate waste were calculated by the differences in weight. During the study period, 2987 meals were evaluated, corresponding to 1830 kg of food produced, of which only 67% was consumed. For each meal, approximately 610 g of food was produced per older adult, and only about 410 g were consumed, corresponding to 150 g of leftovers and 50 g of plate waste. Food waste represented 36.1% of meals served, composed of 24.1% leftovers and 12.0% plate waste. The wasted meals would be enough to feed 1486 older adults and would correspond to annual losses of approximately euro107,112. Leftovers and plate waste were above the limits of acceptability (below 6% and 10%, respectively), indicating excessive food waste. High values of leftovers are related to the food service system and staff, pointing to the need for improvements during the planning and processing of meals. On the other hand, high plate waste values are associated with consumers, indicating the low adequacy of the menu regarding to older adults' habits and preferences
A comparison of three dual drainage models: Shallow Water vs Local Inertial vs Diffusive Wave
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IWA Publishing via the DOI in this record.In this study we compared three overland flow models, a full dynamic model (SWE), a local
inertial equations model (GWM), and a diffusive wave model (PDWAVE). The three models are
coupled with the same full dynamic sewer network model (SIPSON). We adopted the volume
exchange between sewer and overland flow models, and the hydraulic head and discharge
rates at the linked manholes to evaluate differences between the models. For that purpose we
developed a novel methodology based on RGB scale. The test results of a real case study show
a close agreement between coupled models in terms of the extents of flooding, depth and
volume exchanged, despite highly complex flows and geometries. The diffusive wave model
gives slightly higher maximum flood depths and a slower propagation of the flood front when
compared to the other two models. The Local inertial model shows to slight extent higher
depths downstream as the wave front is slower than the one in the fully dynamic model.
Overall, the simplified overland models can produce comparable results to fully dynamic
models with less computational costThis research is partially funded by the FCT
(Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) through the Doctoral Grant
SFRH/BD/81869/2011 financed through the POPH/FSE program (Programa Operacional
Potencial Humano/Fundo Social Europeu). This study had the support of the Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Project UID/MAR/04292/2013 and the UK’s
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Project Susceptibility of catchments to INTense
RAinfall and flooding (SINATRA, NE/K008765/1)
Management of Intra-Abdominal Desmoid Tumours associated with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)
Nutritional intake and food sources in an adult urban Kenyan population
Urbanisation is hastening the transition from traditional food habits to less healthy diets, which are becoming more common among Kenyans. No up-to-date studies on usual dietary intake and the main food sources of adult Kenyans are available. The aim of the present study was to identify the main food sources of nutrients in the diet of urban adult Kenyans and explore potential associations with demographic variables including age, sex, level of education, occupation and body mass index. The study adopted a cross-sectional design. The dietary intake of 486 adult Kenyans from Nairobi was assessed using a validated, culture-sensitive, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Binary logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between food sources and demographic variables. Macronutrient intakes as a proportion of total energy intake (TEI) were within international dietary guidelines. Cereals and grain products (34.0%), sugar, syrups, sweets and snacks (9.8%), fruits (9.7%) and meat and eggs (8.8%) were the major contributors to TEI. Cereals and grain products contributed 42.5% to carbohydrates, followed by fruits (12.4%) and sugar, syrups, sweets and snacks (10.6%). The most important sources of protein and total fat were cereals and grain products (23.3% and 19.7%, respectively) and meat and eggs (22.0% and 18.7%, respectively). Sex, age and level of education were associated with the choice of food groups. Although macronutrient intakes were within guidelines, the Kenyan diet was revealed to be high in sugars, salt and fibre, with differences in food sources according to demographic variables. These results can act as an incentive to national authorities to implement nutritional strategies aiming to raise awareness of healthier dietary patterns among Kenyans. © 2022 The Authors. Nutrition Bulletin published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Nutrition Foundation.This work was supported by National Funds from FCT – ‘Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia’ through project ‘Optimization of fermentation processes for the development of fibre‐rich cereals‐based products: promotion of fibre intake in Africa and Europe’ (ERA‐AFR/0002/2013 BI_I), the doctoral grant ‘Dietary fibre intake and tailored fermentation toward the development of functional cereal fibre‐rich food products: bridge between Africa and Europe’ (SFRH/BD/133084/2017), and also through project UIDB/50016/2020
Silicon-based spin and charge quantum computation
Silicon-based quantum-computer architectures have attracted attention because
of their promise for scalability and their potential for synergetically
utilizing the available resources associated with the existing Si technology
infrastructure. Electronic and nuclear spins of shallow donors (e.g.
phosphorus) in Si are ideal candidates for qubits in such proposals due to the
relatively long spin coherence times. For these spin qubits, donor electron
charge manipulation by external gates is a key ingredient for control and
read-out of single-qubit operations, while shallow donor exchange gates are
frequently invoked to perform two-qubit operations. More recently, charge
qubits based on tunnel coupling in P substitutional molecular ions in Si
have also been proposed. We discuss the feasibility of the building blocks
involved in shallow donor quantum computation in silicon, taking into account
the peculiarities of silicon electronic structure, in particular the six
degenerate states at the conduction band edge. We show that quantum
interference among these states does not significantly affect operations
involving a single donor, but leads to fast oscillations in electron exchange
coupling and on tunnel-coupling strength when the donor pair relative position
is changed on a lattice-parameter scale. These studies illustrate the
considerable potential as well as the tremendous challenges posed by donor spin
and charge as candidates for qubits in silicon.Comment: Review paper (invited) - to appear in Annals of the Brazilian Academy
of Science
Perfil da fluência: comparação entre falantes do Português Brasileiro e do Português Europeu
The purpose of the study was to compare the speech fluency of Brazilian Portuguese speakers with that of
European Portuguese speakers. The study participants were 76 individuals of any ethnicity or skin color aged
18–29 years. Of the participants, 38 lived in Brazil and 38 in Portugal. Speech samples from all participants
were obtained and analyzed according to the variables of typology and frequency of speech disruptions and
speech rate. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed to assess the association between
the fluency profile and linguistic variant variables. We found that the speech rate of European Portuguese
speakers was higher than the speech rate of Brazilian Portuguese speakers in words per minute (p=0.004).
The qualitative distribution of the typology of common dysfluencies (p<0.001) also discriminated between the
linguistic variants. While a speech fluency profile of European Portuguese speakers is not available, speech
therapists in Portugal can use the same speech fluency assessment as has been used in Brazil to establish
a diagnosis of stuttering, especially in regard to typical and stuttering dysfluencies, with care taken when
evaluating the speech rate.O objetivo do estudo foi comparar a fluência de fala de falantes do Português Brasileiro com a de falantes do
Português Europeu. Participaram deste estudo 76 indivíduos, sem distinção de raça e cor, com idades entre
18 e 29 anos, sendo 38 residentes no Brasil e 38 em Portugal. Foram obtidas amostras de fala de todos os
participantes e analisadas segundo as variáveis de tipologia e frequência das disfluências e velocidade de fala.
Foi realizada análise estatística descritiva e inferencial para verificar a associação entre as variáveis do perfil
da fluência e da variante linguística. Foi observado que a velocidade de fala dos falantes do Português Europeu
em palavras por minuto (p=0,004) é maior que a dos falantes do Português Brasileiro. A distribuição qualitativa
das tipologias das disfluências comuns (p<0,001) também diferencia as variantes linguísticas. Enquanto não
há um perfil de fluência de fala dos falantes do Português Europeu, para se estabelecer um diagnóstico de
gagueira, os fonoaudiólogos podem utilizar em Portugal a mesma avaliação de fluência de fala utilizada no
Brasil, principalmente no que se refere às disfluências comuns e gagas, tendo cuidado apenas no que se refere
à velocidade de falaFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (CDS – APQ – 02141-11)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Host Plant Record for the Fruit Flies, Anastrepha fumipennis and A. nascimentoi (Diptera, Tephritidae)
The first host plant record for Anastrepha fumipennis Lima (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Geissospermum laeve (Vell.) Baill (Apocynaceae) and for A. nascimentoi Zucchi found in Cathedra bahiensis Sleumer (Olacaceae) was determined in a host plant survey of fruit flies undertaken at the “Reserva Natural da Companhia Vale do Rio Doce”. This reserve is located in an Atlantic Rain Forest remnant area, in Linhares county, state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The phylogenetic relationships of Anastrepha species and their hosts are discussed. The occurrence of these fruit fly species in relation to the distribution range of their host plants is also discussed
Trichodina colisae (Ciliophora: Trichodinidae): new parasite records for two freshwater fish species farmed in Brazil
CO2 Concentration in Day Care Centres is Related to Wheezing in Attending Children
Poor ventilation at day care centres (DCCs) was already reported, although its effects on attending children are not clear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between wheezing in children and indoor CO2 (a ventilation surrogate marker) in DCC and to identify behaviours and building
characteristics potentially related to CO2. In phase I, 45 DCCs from Lisbon and Oporto (Portugal) were selected through a
proportional stratified random sampling. In phase II, 3 months later, 19 DCCs were further reassessed after cluster analysis
for the greatest difference comparison. In both phases, children’s respiratory health was assessed by ISAAC-derived
questionnaires. Indoor CO2 concentrations and building characteristics of the DCC were evaluated in both phases, using complementary methods. Mixed effect models were used to analyze the data. In phase I, which included 3,186 children (mean age 3.1±1.5 years), indoor CO2 concentration
in the DCC rooms was associated with reported wheezing in the past 12months (27.5 %) (adjusted odds ratio (OR) for each
increase of 200 ppm 1.04, 95 % CI 1:01 to 1:07). In phase II, the association in the subsample of 1,196 children seen in 19
out of the initial 45 DCCs was not significant (adjusted OR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.96 to 1.08). Indoor CO2 concentration was
inversely associated with the practices of opening Windows and internal doors and with higher wind velocity. A positive trend was observed between CO2 and prevalence of reported asthma (4.7 %). Conclusion: Improved ventilation is needed to achieve a healthier indoor environment in DCC
The Influence of Thermal Comfort on the Quality of Life of Nursing Home Residents
Thermal comfort (TC) parameters were measured in 130 rooms from nursing homes (NH), following ISO 7730:2005 in order to evaluate the influence of winter season TC indices on quality of life (QoL) in older individuals. Mean radiant temperature (mrT), predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percent of dissatisfied people (PPD) indices, and the respective measurement uncertainties were calculated using Monte Carlo Method. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was conducted from September 2012 to April 2013, during the winter season TC sampling campaign. Winter PMV and PPD indices showed significant differences between seasons in median values for comfort. There were also significant differences between seasons for air temperature, air velocity, mrT, and relative humidity. The winter PMV index displayed a “slightly cool” [≤−1] to “cool” [≤−2] in thermal sensation scale [−3 to 3]. PPD index reflected this discomfort as evidenced by a high rate of predicted dissatisfied occupants (64%). The influence of winter season TC on older individual QoL results demonstrated that values of PMV above −0.7 had higher mean score of QoL (coefficient estimate: 11.13 units) compared with values of PMV below −0.7. These findings are of relevance to public health and may be useful for understanding NH indoor environment variables thus implementing preventive policies in terms of standards and guidelines for these susceptible populations.This work was supported by GERIA Project (www.geria.webnode.com): PTDC/SAU-SAP/116563/2010 and a PhD Grant (SFRH/BD/72399/2010) from Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCT) through Operational Competitiveness Programme (COMPETE) as part of the National Strategic Reference Framework. SB work was supported by a grant funded by AIRC (Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro)
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