A rat model of restrictive bariatric surgery with gastric banding

Obes Surg. 2006 Jan;16(1):48-51. A rat model of restrictive bariatric surgery with gastric banding. Monteiro MP, Monteiro JD, Aguas AP, Cardoso MH. Department of Anatomy of ICBAS (Abel Salazar Institute for the Biomedical Sciences), and Division of Endocrinology of Santo Antonio General Hospital, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract BACKGROUND: Gastric banding is a well established weight reduction operation that is effective in the treatment of severe obesity. Its metabolic and endocrine mechanisms of action, however, remain unclear. The aim of this study was to establish a rat model of gastric banding that would replicate the procedure performed in human obese patients. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were submitted either to gastric banding (n=5) or sham gastric banding (n=4), and were followed for 21 days. Detailed description on how to perform gastric banding in rats are herein described. RESULTS: The Wistar rats submitted to gastric banding showed a decrease in weight gain and food intake when compared to sham-operated rats. The cumulative weight gain during the 21 days after the surgical procedure was 143+/-2.58 g for the gastric banded rats and 162+/-2.48 g for the sham-operated animals (P=0.001). The cumulative food intake was 329+/-0.53 g for the gastric banded rats and 380+/-15.22 g for the sham-operated animals, also statistically significant (P=0.025). CONCLUSION: A rat model to study gastric banding is described. This model can now be used for experimental investigation of biochemical and molecular mechanisms of weight loss resulting from this type of surgery. PMID: 16417758 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Rats submitted to gastric banding are leaner and show distinctive feeding patterns

Obes Surg. 2006 May;16(5):597-602. Rats submitted to gastric banding are leaner and show distinctive feeding patterns. Monteiro MP, Monteiro JD, Aguas AP, Cardoso MH. Department of Anatomy, Unit for Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Abel Salazar Institute for the Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery is expanding to meet the global epidemic of morbid obesity, because this surgery is successful in achieving sustained weight loss. After having recently established a rat model of gastric banding, our aim now was to investigate the relative fat mass content and the feeding patterns of gastric banded rats. METHODS: Two groups of Wistar rats, submitted either to gastric banding or to sham surgery, were followed-up for 26 days regarding weight, daily food intake and feeding patterns both under resting conditions and when refed after fasting. Weight of the epididymal fat pad was used as a measure to evaluate changes in white adipose tissue in the rats. RESULTS: 10 days after surgery and thereafter, rats submitted to gastric banding showed the same daily food intake that was observed in sham-operated rats. Nevertheless, gastric banded rats kept lower body weights and were leaner than controls. These differences were associated with distinctive feeding patterns, both under resting conditions and when refed after fasting, suggesting that gastric banded rats present a significant increase in feeding frequency when compared with controls. CONCLUSION: This data is the first experimental evidence that an increase in feeding frequency is associated with weight loss after gastric banding, even if there is no decrease in total energy intake. Thus, medical advice on the advantages of fractionating daily caloric intake into multiple meals is further supported by the herein new information obtained in an animal model of gastric banding

Increase in ghrelin levels after weight loss in obese Zucker rats is prevented by gastric banding.

Obes Surg. 2007 Dec;17(12):1599-607. Epub 2007 Nov 30. Increase in ghrelin levels after weight loss in obese Zucker rats is prevented by gastric banding. Monteiro MP, Ribeiro AH, Nunes AF, Sousa MM, Monteiro JD, Aguas AP, Cardoso MH. Department of Anatomy and UMIB (Unit for Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research) of ICBAS (Abel Salazar Institute for the Biomedical Sciences), University of Porto, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract BACKGROUND: Gastric banding is thought to decrease appetite in addition to the mechanical effects of food restriction, although this has been difficult to demonstrate in human studies. Our aim was to investigate the changes in orexigenic signals in the obese Zucker rat after gastric banding. METHODS: Obese Zucker rats (fa/fa) were submitted to gastric banding (GBP), sham gastric banding fed ad libitum (sham), or sham operation with food restriction, pair-fed to the gastric banding group (sham-PF). Lean Zucker rats (fa/+) were used as additional controls. Body weight and food intake were daily recorded for 21 days after surgery when epididymal fat was weighed and fasting ghrelin and hypothalamic NPY mRNA expression were measured. RESULTS: Gastric banding in obese Zucker rats resulted in a significant decrease of cumulative body weight gain and food intake. Furthermore, gastric banded rats were leaner than Sham-PF, as expressed by a significantly lower epididymal fat weight. Ghrelin levels of gastric banded rats were not increased when compared to sham-operated animals fed ad libitum and were significantly lower than the levels of weight matched sham-PF rats (1116.9 +/- 103.3 g GBP vs 963.2 +/- 54.3 g sham, 3,079.5 +/- 221.6 sham-PF and 2,969.9 +/- 150.9 g lean rats, p < 0.001); hypothalamic NPY mRNA expression was not increased in GBP when compared to sham-operated rats. CONCLUSION: In obese Zucker rats, GBP prevents the increase in orexigenic signals that occur during caloric deprivation. Our data support the hypothesis that sustained weight loss observed after gastric banding does not depend solely on food restriction

Collembolan morphospecies (Hexapoda: Collembola) in serpentine soils: a case study in a natural ecosystem in northeastern Portugal

Serpentine soils represent challenging habitats for plants and soil dwelling organisms, such as collembolans, because they typically exhibit high levels of heavy metals (e.g. chromium, cobalt, and nickel). Serpentinized areas cover about 8000 ha in Northeastern Portugal. While the plant communities are well studied, the collembolans are virtually unknown. The data presented here represent the first effort to describe the structure of a collembolan community, using morphospecies as a surrogate of species, in a serpentinized area occupied by a natural forest of Quercus rotundifolia and Quercus faginea located nearby Bragança (Portugal). Sampling was performed during the last week of September of 2008 in a serpentinized area near Bragança (Portugal). At each of the 29 sampling points (distributed along two transects) collembolans were collected with a soil core (5 cm diameter x 10 cm depth). The collembolans were extracted from the soil (using a McFadyen apparatus), sorted, counted and finally identified to morphospecies level. The number of morphospecies observed was 37. The total abundance in the mineral horizon (1862 individuals) was not significantly different from the organic horizon (1883 individuals). The Simpson Diversity Index and Richness were higher in the organic horizon (21.7 and 35 species, respectively) than in the mineral horizon (9.9 and 30 species, respectively). The species accumulation curves showed that the estimated number of morphospecies for the mineral horizon is 36 while for the organic horizon is 38

Utilização sustentável de águas residuais e resíduos orgânicos

São objectivos deste trabalho estudar a utilização sustentada de águas residuais na rega e de resíduos orgânicos como fertilizantes, nas condições agro-climáticas da região da Beira Interior e, em culturas alternativas às tradicionais. Tenta-se assim contribuir para aumentar a viabilidade económicas das explorações agrícolas, não só pela introdução de tais culturas, mas também pela introdução de novos factores de produção e tecnologias mais económicas. Como culturas alternativas utilizar-se-á o triticale, cultura arvense especialmente vocacionada para explorações de grande dimensão, nomeadamente em substituição do tradicional centeio e flores de corte, produzidas em estufa. Para cumprir com os objectivos atrás mencionados, avaliou-se a viabilidade de utilização de água residual na rega, quer das flores de corte, quer do milho forrageiro. A água residual utilizada era proveniente do tratamento secundário pelo processo das lamas activadas, efectuado na ETAR Sul de Castelo Branco. Esta água residual foi sujeita a um processo de desinfecção por cloragem, testando-se também o efeito deste tratamento sobre algumas características do solo e das plantas. Estudou-se também, a viabilidade de utilização como fertilizantes de alguns resíduos orgânicos (lamas de depuração, lamas celulósicas e chorumes) numa rotação triticale-milho forrageiro. Testou-se a utilização de diferentes metodologias de aplicação de lamas de depuração líquidas e chorumes (tradicional, em banda e por injecção), bem como a utilização de diferentes técnicas de sementeira (tradicional e mobilização mínima).Projecto realizado no âmbito do Programa de Apoio à Modernização Agrícola e Florestal (PAMAF),Medida 4, Acção 1, IED-8064

Análise das dimensões do trabalho e o risco de adoecimento: um estudo na equipe de enfermagem das clínicas cirúrgicas de um hospital geral público

Dissertação apresentada ao Mestrado Profissional em Ensino em Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Federal de Rondônia-UNIR, como requisito final para a obtenção do título de Mestre em Ensino em Ciências da Saúde. Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Janne Cavalcante Monteiro.O presente estudo teve como objetivo geral investigar os fatores condicionantes da carga de trabalho e das condições ergonômicas do processo de trabalho que podem influenciar no adoecimento da equipe de enfermagem. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo com enfoque na abordagem quantitativa. Foi realizado com a equipe de enfermagem das clínicas cirúrgicas de um hospital geral público, com uma amostra de 71 sujeitos. A coleta de dados se deu através de questionário validado abordando as dimensões do trabalho cuja análise se fundamentou no referencial teórico da psicodinâmica do trabalho. Os dados sociodemográficos mostram que a equipe de enfermagem das clínicas cirúrgicas é predominantemente feminina, com média de idade de 40,8 anos, mais da metade da amostra é casada e o tempo médio de trabalho é de 5,4 anos. Apresentam renda salarial baixa e a grande maioria tem de dois a três dependentes financeiros, sendo os filhos os principais representantes dessa dependência e possuem mais de um vínculo empregatício. Os riscos de adoecimento foram investigados através do Inventário sobre o trabalho e riscos de adoecimento (ITRA), composto por quatro escalas interdependentes para avaliar quatro dimensões: contexto do trabalho, custo humano no trabalho, indicadores de prazer e sofrimento no trabalho e danos relacionados ao trabalho. Os resultados mostram que os profissionais apresentam uma avaliação negativa quanto a essas dimensões. Foram encontrados indicadores de adoecimento nesse estudo, evidenciados principalmente pela rigidez na organização do trabalho

Collembolan communities in a sustainable system for production of woody biomass for energy: abundance and diversity of morphospecies.

Woody biomass for energy obtained from short rotation woody crops (SRWC) needs to be managed in a sustainable way, thus allowing ecosystem conservation. However, there is a gap in our knowledge concerning the effects of these crops on soil organisms, of which collembolans represent a good indicator of soil quality. On the other hand, soil biological sciences are strongly affected by the taxonomic skill crisis, with many groups of soil animals suffering from a taxonomic impediment in terms of identification. This problem can be reduced by using a para-taxonomic approach where morphospecies can be used as surrogates of taxonomic species. The objective of this work was to study the structure of collembolan communities in a SRWC experimental field using morphospecies. Abundance, richness, evenness and diversity indexes were used to describe the structure of the collembolan community and species accumulation curves were computed to estimate species richness in the study area. Prior to the installation of the SRWC, 106 soil samples were collected at each defined sampling point (distributed along 14 transects) using a soil core (5 cm diameter x 10 cm depth). In the laboratory, collembolans were extracted from the soil (using a McFadyen apparatus), sorted, counted and finally identified to morphospecies level. The number of morphospecies observed was 34, representing a total abundance of 3221 collembolans. The Simpson Diversity Index and richness were 27and 34, respectively. The species accumulation curves showed that the estimated number of morphospecies was 38

Comparison of methodologies for assessing desert dust contribution to regional PM10 and PM2.5 levels: a one-year study over Portugal

Desert dust outbreaks may affect air quality. This study estimates the importance of African dust contribution to the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations observed in rural regional background sites in Portugal. Desert dust contribution is evaluated by two different approaches: A measurement-approach methodology based on the monthly moving 40th percentile, and a model-approach methodology based on WRF-CHIMERE simulations, whose performance is also assessed within this work. Several desert dust episodes affected atmospheric aerosols in the planetary boundary layer over Portugal during 2016. Their intensity was variable, with at least two events (21–22 February and 27–28 October) contributing to exceedances to the PM10 daily limit value defined in the European Air Quality Directive. African dust contributions obtained for the year 2016 with the measurement-approach methodology are higher than the ones simulated by WRF-CHIMERE. Contributions to PM10 and to PM2.5 concentrations range from 0 to 90 µg m-3 and from 0 to 30 µg m-3, respectively, in most of the regions and days. Caution must be employed when using measurement-approach methodologies to quantify dust contributions to PM levels when forest fires occur simultaneously with the long-range transport of desert dust, as happened in August 2016.This research was funded by FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and FEDER (within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020), grant numbers UID/AMB/50017 - POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-007638 (CESAM associated laboratory), MIT-EXPL/IRA/0023/2017 (ISY-AIR research project) and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029374 (ARTUR research project).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Consumers’ knowledge on protected designation of origin of food products – a cross cultural study

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Sustainable woody biomass production systems: a novel solution for energy, agriculture and the environment in Portugal

Bioenergy is a major current issue within the agriculture and energy sectors and the society in general. The environmental and social concerns raised by first generation biofuel crops increased the interest on woody biomass. Biomass production for direct conversion to heat and/or electricity is common in northern European countries, the USA, and, more recently, southern Europe, mainly based on short rotation woody crops (SRWC). These crops are renewable sources of energy, CO2 neutral, able to preserve biodiversity and water, and to contribute to socio-economic development. In Portugal, there is an increasing demand of renewable and sustainable sources of energy. Portugal also presents conditions to expand biomass production and use for energy, namely through SRWCs. There is, however, a lack of experience in this field. With the purpose of studying short rotation woody crops dedicated to energy production, we have launched in Bragança, Portugal, a research project aiming to develop technology for the sustainable production, processing, and use of woody biomass for energy. The goal is to analyse environmental and socio-economic aspects of these crops considering carbon cycle, conservation of water, soils, and biodiversity, as well as creation of wealth locally. It also aims to evaluate the potential of northeastern Portugal for biomass production and carbon sequestration. In this presentation we address the rational behind the project, the methodologies followed, and the results obtained during the first year of the study. We also present our perspectives on the role of woody biomass production at several scales and for several scenarios.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. (PTDC/AGR‐CFL/64500/2006