What are the motives underlying Brazilians' food choices? An analysis of the Food Choice Questionnaire and its relationship with different sample characteristics

ABSTRACT: The first aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ)—using the original model—in a sample of 1480 Brazilian adults (69.5% female). The second aim was to rank the reasons underlying the participants' food choices using average FCQ scores and 95% confidence interval. The third aim was to evaluate the relationship between food choice motives and sample characteristics using multiple logistic regression and odds ratios. The validity, the invariance across different groups, and the reliability of the FCQ were confirmed for the sample. Sensory appeal and price emerged as the most important reasons, while ethical concern was the least valued. The factors associated with greater odds of choosing food for specific reasons were being older, female, and a student; practicing physical activity; dieting frequently; self-rating eating quality as good; having a higher body mass index; and having low income. Practical Applications Assessing food choice is a complex task, as it encompasses several factors, such as sensory characteristics, health status, income, culture, lifestyle, and cognitive-affective issues; therefore, the use of appropriate tools should be encouraged. The set analyses followed confirmed that the FCQ was an adequate instrument to evaluate the reasons for food choice of the participants who valued strongly the sensory aspects of the foods and presented specific characteristics (e.g., diet practice) that may influence their decisions. These findings may guide future research and clinical interventions aimed at producing food choices that are more oriented to health and well-being.FAPESPinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Transcriptome changes in newborn goats' skeletal muscle as a result of maternal feed restriction at different stages of gestation

We investigated how feed restriction at 50% of maintenance requirements during different stages of gestation affects the transcriptome of newborn goats' skeletal muscle. Fourteen pregnant dams were randomly assigned into one of the following dietary treatments: animals fed at 50% of maintenance requirement from 8-84 d of gestation and then fed at 100% of maintenance requirement from day 85 of gestation to parturition (RM, n = 6), and animals fed at 100% of maintenance requirement from 8-84 d of gestation and then fed at 50% of maintenance requirement from day 85 of gestation to parturition (MR, n = 8). At birth, samples of offspring's Longissimus muscle were collected for total RNA extraction and sequencing. Our data showed 66 differentially expressed (DE) genes (FDR < 0.05). A total of 6 genes were upregulated and 60 downregulated (FDR < 0.05) in the skeletal muscle of the newborns resulting from treatment RM compared with MR. Our results suggest that the DE genes upregulated in newborn goats' skeletal muscle from the RM group compared to MR, included genes related to satellite cells, and genes that indicates impaired insulin sensitivity and changes in the composition of intramuscular fat. The DE genes upregulated in newborn goats' skeletal muscle from the MR group compared to RM, are also related to impaired insulin sensitivity, as well as a predominantly oxidative metabolism and cellular oxidative stress. However, protective mechanisms against insulin sensitivity and oxidative stress may have been augmented in the skeletal muscle of offspring from MR treatment compared to RM, in order to maintain cellular homeostasis

Development of policies and practices of social responsibility in Portuguese companies: implications of the SA8000 standard

Series: Management and Industrial EngineeringThis study aims to explore the implications of the SA8000 standard in the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies and practices in Portuguese companies. Although this is not a recent issue, it is a subject that has motivated a growing interest on the part of the business and academic community. CSR should be seen as a new business management model, which includes universal human values as well as ethical decisions that ensure the satisfaction of the interests and needs of all stakeholders and the community in general. Regarding the empirical aspect of this research, a qualitative approach was followed through the application of a semi-structured interview to certified and not certified companies by SA8000 standard, in order to understand possible disparities with regard to the implementation of CSR policies and practices. Although the certification is the guarantee of the commitment of the companies with the CSR, the truth is that this is seen by the companies as a form of differentiation in the market. In general terms, it can be concluded that the policies and practices of CSR do not differ in relation to certification, which means that all companies have the possibility of making a difference by being socially responsible.Delfina Gomes acknowledges that this study was conducted at the Research Center in Political Science (UID/CPO/0758/2019), University of Minho/University of Évora, and was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds

Supercritical phase inversion of starch-poly(e-caprolactone) for tissue engineering applications

In this work, a starch-based polymer, namely a blend of starch-poly(ε-caprolactone) was processed by supercritical assisted phase inversion process. This processing technique has been proposed for the development of 3D structures with potential applications in tissue engineering applications, as scaffolds. The use of carbon dioxide as non-solvent in the phase inversion process leads to the formation of a porous and interconnected structure, dry and free of any residual solvent. Different processing conditions such as pressure (from 80 up to 150 bar) and temperature (45 and 55°C) were studied and the effect on the morphological features of the scaffolds was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography. The mechanical properties of the SPCL scaffolds prepared were also studied. Additionally, in this work, the in vitro biological performance of the scaffolds was studied. Cell adhesion and morphology, viability and proliferation was assessed and the results suggest that the materials prepared are allow cell attachment and promote cell proliferation having thus potential to be used in some for biomedical applications.Ana Rita C. Duarte is grateful for financial support from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia through the grant SFRH/BPD/34994/2007

Helminth infections and gut microbiota - a feline perspective

$\textbf{BACKGROUND}$: Investigations of the relationships between the gut microbiota and gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes are attracting growing interest by the scientific community, driven by the need to better understand the contribution of parasite-associated changes in the composition of the gut flora to both host malnutrition and immune modulation. These studies have however been carried out mainly in humans and experimental animals, while knowledge of the make-up of the gut commensal flora in presence or absence of infection by parasitic nematodes in domestic animals is limited. In this study, we investigate the qualitative and quantitative impact that infections by a widespread parasite of cats (i.e. $\textit{Toxocara cati}$) exert on the gut microbiota of feline hosts. $\textbf{METHODS}$: The faecal microbiota of cats with patent infection by $\textit{T. cati}$ (= $\textit{Tc+}$), as well as that of negative controls (= $\textit{Tc-}$) was examined via high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, followed by bioinformatics and biostatistical analyses of sequence data. $\textbf{RESULTS}$: A total of 2,325,366 useable high-quality sequences were generated from the faecal samples analysed in this study and subjected to further bioinformatics analyses, which led to the identification of 128 OTUs and nine bacterial phyla, respectively. The phylum Firmicutes was predominant in all samples analysed (mean of 53.0%), followed by the phyla Proteobacteria (13.8%), Actinobacteria (13.7%) and Bacteroidetes (10.1%). Among others, bacteria of the order Lactobacillales, the family $\textit{Enterococcaceae}$ and genera $\textit{Enterococcus}$ and $\textit{Dorea}$ showed a trend towards increased abundance in $\textit{Tc+}$ compared with $\textit{Tc-}$ samples, while no significant differences in OTU richness and diversity were recorded between $\textit{Tc+}$ and $\textit{Tc-}$ samples ($\textit{P}$=0.485 and $\textit{P}$=0.581, respectively). However, Canonical Correlation and Redundancy Analyses were able to separate samples by infection status ($\textit{P}$=0.030 and $\textit{P}$=0.015, respectively), which suggests a correlation between the latter and the composition of the feline faecal microbiota. $\textbf{CONCLUSIONS}$: In spite of the relatively small number of samples analysed, subtle differences in the composition of the gut microbiota of $\textit{Tc+}$ vs $\textit{Tc-}$ cats could be identified, some of which in accordance with current data from humans and laboratory animal hosts. Nevertheless, the findings from this study contribute valuable knowledge to the yet little explored area of parasite-microbiota interactions in domestic animals.This work was supported by Merial Pty Ltd (CC, AG, DO) and ESCCAP UK & Ireland (CC). CC is supported by grants from the Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome Trust ISSF/University of Cambridge and the Royal Society. TPJ is supported by scholarships from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Doctoral Training Partnerships program

Caffeine Consumption Prevents Diabetes-Induced Memory Impairment and Synaptotoxicity in the Hippocampus of NONcZNO10/LTJ Mice

Diabetic conditions are associated with modified brain function, namely with cognitive deficits, through largely undetermined processes. More than understanding the underlying mechanism, it is important to devise novel strategies to alleviate diabetes-induced cognitive deficits. Caffeine (a mixed antagonist of adenosine A1 and A2A receptors) emerges as a promising candidate since caffeine consumption reduces the risk of diabetes and effectively prevents memory deficits caused by different noxious stimuli. Thus, we took advantage of a novel animal model of type 2 diabetes to investigate the behavioural, neurochemical and morphological modifications present in the hippocampus and tested if caffeine consumption might prevent these changes. We used a model closely mimicking the human type 2 diabetes condition, NONcNZO10/LtJ mice, which become diabetic at 7–11 months when kept under an 11% fat diet. Caffeine (1 g/l) was applied in the drinking water from 7 months onwards. Diabetic mice displayed a decreased spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze accompanied by a decreased density of nerve terminal markers (synaptophysin, SNAP25), mainly glutamatergic (vesicular glutamate transporters), and increased astrogliosis (GFAP immunoreactivity) compared to their wild type littermates kept under the same diet. Furthermore, diabetic mice displayed up-regulated A2A receptors and down-regulated A1 receptors in the hippocampus. Caffeine consumption restored memory performance and abrogated the diabetes-induced loss of nerve terminals and astrogliosis. These results provide the first evidence that type 2 diabetic mice display a loss of nerve terminal markers and astrogliosis, which is associated with memory impairment; furthermore, caffeine consumption prevents synaptic dysfunction and astrogliosis as well as memory impairment in type 2 diabetes