Cognitive stimulation through physical activity in older women : examining an intervention proposal

OBJETIVO: verificar os efeitos da conjugação de estimulação cognitiva e atividades físicas sobre a memória de idosas. METODOLOGIA: a amostra foi constituída por 55 mulheres ativas, com idade média de 68,4±5,6 anos, residentes no Distrito Federal, as quais foram aleatoriamente divididas em três possíveis grupos: 1) Estimulação Cognitiva Tradicional (ECT; n=17); 2) Estimulação Cognitiva e Movimentos Corporais (ECM; n=19); 3) Grupo Controle (GC; n=19). As intervenções foram realizadas em 12 sessões de 90 minutos, com frequência semanal de três vezes. No grupo ECT foram aplicados oficinas de memória tradicionais, e no ECM, oficinas de memória conjugadas com atividades físicas. Para verificação dos critérios de inclusão e caracterização da amostra, foram aplicados o Mini-Exame do Estado Mental e Escala de Depressão Geriátrica, e uma anamnese. Para avaliar a memória, foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: Memória de Lista de Palavras (MLP); Teste de Fluência Verbal (FV); e Escala de Queixas de Memória (EQM). RESULTADOS: observou-se diferença significativa entre pré e pós-intervenções nos grupos ECM e ECT para todas variáveis avaliadas, enquanto que nenhuma alteração significativa foi notada no GC. Reforçando esses achados, houve interação significativa tempo*grupo nas variáveis EQM e FV. Ainda, o valor da EQM na pós-intervenção foi significativamente maior no GC em comparação ao ECM e ao ECT. CONCLUSÃO: a estimulação cognitiva aliada a atividades físicas produziu efeitos semelhantes aos promovidos pelas oficinas de memória tradicionais, sugerindo a possibilidade de realizar intervenções com essas duas vertentes, favorecendo a saúde física e mental concomitantemente.OBJECTIVE: verify the effects of the conjugation of cognitive stimulation and physical activities on the memory of older women. METHODS: the sample was composed by 55 active women, with mean age of 68,4±5,6 years, living in the Federal District, who were randomly assigned to three possible groups: 1) Traditional Cognitive Stimulation (ECT; n=17); 2) Cognitive Stimulation and Corporal Movements (ECM; n=19); and 3) Control Group (GC; n=19). The interventions were performed over 12 sessions of approximately 90 minutes, in a frequency of three times per week. The ECT group performed traditional memory exercises while the ECM group underwent memory exercises conjugated with physical activities. For exclusion criteria examination and participants' characterization the Mini Mental State Examination and the Geriatric Depression Scale were applied, as well as a structured anamnesis. To evaluate the memory indexes the following tests were performed before and after the intervention: Word List Recall (MLP); Verbal Fluency (FV); and the Memory Complaints Scale (EQM). RESULTS: all the evaluated memory indexes significantly improved in the ECM and ECT groups, while no significant alterations were noted in the GC. Reinforcing these findings, a significant time*group interaction was noted for EQM and FV. In addition, the EQM scores were significantly greater in the GC at the end of the intervention when compared to the ECM and ECT groups. CONCLUSIONS: cognitive stimulation along with physical activities produced similar improvements to those promoted by traditional cognitive stimulation, thus suggesting practical application of the combination which will favor physical and mental health

Força, qualidade muscular e marcadores de risco cardiometabólico em mulheres idosas

O processo de envelhecimento está associado a um declínio nas funções fisiológicas, refletindo em reduções na qualidade muscular, bem como em alterações de marcadores de risco cardiometabólico. Nesse sentido, o objetivo do estudo foi verificar a associação entre qualidade muscular e marcadores de risco cardiometabólico em mulheres idosas. Trinta mulheres idosas (66,13±5,26 anos, 67,33±12,45 kg, 1,54±0,07 m, 28,20±4,72 IMC) foram submetidas à avaliação da espessura e força musculares do quadríceps, e à análise sanguínea de marcadores de risco cardiometabólico (glicemia, insulina basal, proteína C-reativa, colesterol total, HDL-colesterol, LDL-colesterol, VLDL-colesterol, triglicerídeos, e índice HOMA-IR). Não foram encontradas correlações significativas entre os fenótipos musculares e os marcadores de risco cardiometabólico estudados, mesmo com controle para fatores de confusão. A presente pesquisa indica não haver correlação entre força e qualidade muscular com os marcadores de risco cardiometabólico estudados.The aging process is associated with a decline in physiological functions, including a reduction in muscle quality, as well as changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. Thus, the aim of this study was to verify if a correlation exists between muscle strength and quality and cardiometabolic risk markers in older women. Thirty older women (66.13±5.26 years, 67.33±12.45 kg, 1.54±0.07 m, body mass index: 28.20±4.72) were submitted to the evaluation of muscle thickness and strength and blood analysis of cardiometabolic risk markers (glucose, basal insulin, C-reactive protein, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and HOMA-IR). No significant correlations were found between muscle phenotypes and markers of cardiometabolic risk, even after adjustment for confounding factors. The present study indicates that muscle strength or quality is not correlated with markers of cardiometabolic risk

Agent Based Models and Opinion Dynamics as Markov Chains

This paper introduces a Markov chain approach that allows a rigorous analysis of agent based opinion dynamics as well as other related agent based models (ABM). By viewing the ABM dynamics as a micro description of the process, we show how the corresponding macro description is obtained by a projection construction. Then, well known conditions for lumpability make it possible to establish the cases where the macro model is still Markov. In this case we obtain a complete picture of the dynamics including the transient stage, the most interesting phase in applications. For such a purpose a crucial role is played by the type of probability distribution used to implement the stochastic part of the model which defines the updating rule and governs the dynamics. In addition, we show how restrictions in communication leading to the co-existence of different opinions follow from the emergence of new absorbing states. We describe our analysis in detail with some specific models of opinion dynamics. Generalizations concerning different opinion representations as well as opinion models with other interaction mechanisms are also discussed. We find that our method may be an attractive alternative to mean-field approaches and that this approach provides new perspectives on the modeling of opinion exchange dynamics, and more generally of other ABM.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figure

Isokinetic muscle strength of knee extensors in individuals with Parkinson's disease

INTRODUÇÃO: Apesar do tremor, bradicinesia e rigidez serem os sintomas motores clássicos da doença de Parkinson (DP), a fraqueza muscular também tem sido apontada como um dos mais importantes sintomas motores associados a essa doença, porém, essa condição ainda é pouco estudada e os resultados são inconsistentes. OBJETIVOS: O presente estudo teve o propósito de comparar a força muscular do quadríceps entre indivíduos portadores de DP e indivíduos neurologicamente saudáveis pareados por idade e gênero. Foi comparada também a força muscular do membro mais acometido e menos acometido pela doença. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Participaram deste estudo 26 voluntários, 13 do grupo Parkinson (GP: 64,08 ± 6,87 anos; 73,82 ± 13,03 Kg; 1,66 ± 0,07m;) e 13 do grupo controle (GC: 62,73 ± 6,42 anos; 79,46 ± 11,40 kg; 1,71 ± 0,07 m). Foi mensurado o pico de torque (PT) dos extensores do joelho por meio da dinamometria isocinética, na velocidade de 90º.s-1. Foi utilizado o teste t para comparar as médias intra e entre os grupos (p < 0,05). RESULTADOS: O PT absoluto foi significativamente menor no GP (119,29 ± 40,06 N.m) quando comparado ao GC (145,15 ± 20,05 N.m). Entre os indivíduos com DP, foram encontrados valores significativamente inferiores de força muscular do membro mais acometido quando comparado com o menos acometido (119,29± 40,06 N.m vs. 128,86 ± 35,56 N.m; p < 0,05). CONCLUSÃO: Com base nos resultados, conclui-se que portadores da DP apresentam reduzido PT isocinético dos extensores do joelho, sendo esses achados exacerbados no membro mais acometido pela doença.INTRODUCTION: Despite the tremor, bradykinesia and rigidity are the classic motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), muscle weakness has also been pointed out as an important motor symptom associated to this disease, however this condition is still poorly studied and results are inconsistent. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare quadriceps muscle strength between individuals with PD and neurologically healthy individuals matched for age and gender. We also compared muscle strength in the limb more and less affected by the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study had the participation of 26 volunteers: 13 from the Parkinson Group (64.08 ± 6.87 years, 73.82 ± 13.03 kg, 1.66 ± 0.07 m;) and 13 from the control group (62.73 ± 6.42 years, 79.46 ± 11.40 kg, 1.71 ± 0.07 m). Peak Torque (PT) was measured in knee extensors using an isokinetic dynamometer at a velocity of 90º.s -1. Student's t-test was used to compare average values intraand inter-groups (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Absolute PT was significantly lower in the Parkinson group (119.29 ± 40.06) when compared to the control group (145.15 ± 20.05 Nm). Among individuals with PD, we found significantly lower values of muscle strength in the more affected limb when compared to the less affected limb (119.29 ± 40.06 N.m vs 128.86 ± 35.56 N.m, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the results, we concluded that patients with PD showed a decreased isokinetic PT in knee extensors, and these findings are exacerbated in the limb more affected by the disease

Efeitos da natação e caminhada nos aspectos relacionados à saúde de policiais

The present study aimed to compare the effects of swimming and walking after 24 weeks of training on anthropometric indicators of obesity, physical activity, coronary risk and health-related quality of life among military police officers of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The sample included 51 military police officers (male) whose ages ranged from 22 to 49 years, with a mean age of 35.53 ± 7.63 years, and who fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the study, which was conducted between the months of June and December 2012. The subjects were interviewed to collect demographic and occupational data as well as anthropometry, physical activity level and health. The volunteers were divided into the following three groups according to their preference: swimming experimental group (n = 24), walking experimental group (n = 24), and control group (n = 24). Statistical analyses were performed using descriptive analysis, oneway and two-way ANOVAs followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test, Student’s t-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney U test followed by Bonferroni’s correction, the Wilcoxon test and Cohen’s d test. After 24 weeks of training, the waist circumference, conicity index, waist-to-height ratio, physical activity at work, vigorous activities and coronary risk were significantly different in the swimming group, and the percentages of fat, lean mass and fat mass were significantly different in the walking group. The swimming exercise program contributed to significant reductions in waist circumference, conicity index, the waist-to-height ratio and coronary risk and to increased levels of physical activity at work and vigorous activities. In addition, the walking exercise program contributed to significant reductions in relative body fat and fat mass and increased lean mass among military police officers.O presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar os efeitos da natação e caminhada após 24 semanas de treinamento sobre os indicadores antropométricos de obesidade, atividade física, risco coronariano e com qualidade de vida relacionada á saúde entre os policiais militares do estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil. A amostra incluiu 51 policiais militares (sexo masculino) que tinham média de idade de 35,53 ± 7,63 anos, com amplitude de 22 a 49 anos, e que preencheram os critérios de inclusão do estudo realizado entre os meses de junho-dezembro de 2012. Os sujeitos foram entrevistados e coletados os dados demográficos e ocupacionais, antropometria, nível de atividade física e saúde. Os voluntários foram divididos em três grupos de acordo com a sua preferência: Grupo Experimental de Natação (n = 24); Grupo Experimental de Caminhada (n = 24); e Grupo Controle (n = 24). As análises estatísticas foram realizadas utilizando análise descritiva e Anova One-Way e Anova Two-Way seguido pelo post hoc de Bonferroni, teste t de Student, teste de Kruskal-Wallis e o teste U de Mann-Whitney seguido pela correção de Bonferroni, o teste de Wilcoxon, e teste d de Cohen. Houve uma diferença significativa na perimetria da cintura, índice de conicidade e relação cintura-estatura, atividade física no trabalho, atividades vigorosas e risco coronariano no grupo natação e no grupo de caminhada, houve uma diferença significativa no percentual de gordura, massa magra e massa gorda após 24 semanas de treinamento. O programa de natação contribuiu para reduções significativas na circunferência da perimetria da cintura, índice de conicidade e relação cintura-estatura e risco coronariano e no aumento dos níveis de atividade física no trabalho e atividades vigorosas. Além disso, um programa de caminhada contribuiu para reduções significativas na gordura corporal relativa e massa gorda e no aumento da massa magra entre os policiais militares

The Use of Specific Serological Biomarkers to Detect CaniLeish Vaccination in Dogs

Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) prevention in the Mediterranean basin is considered essential to stop human zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis. In this context, vaccination of dogs is expected to have a significant impact in disease control. CaniLeish® (Virbac Animal Health) is one of a few CanL vaccines that are at this moment licensed in Europe. This vaccine contains purified excreted-secreted proteins of Leishmania having several antigens/immunogens with potential to influence serological response. Therefore, it is important to know if CaniLeish vaccination increased the diagnostic challenges associated with conventional serology, limiting the value of some antigens. To address this 20 dogs from a cohort of 35 healthy dogs that were vaccinated, maintained indoor for 1 month and then returned to their natural domiciles for 2 years. After this period, they were re-called to evaluate their clinical/parasitological condition and assess the evolution of seroreactivity against different antigens: soluble promastigote Leishmania antigens (SPLA), recombinant protein Leishmania infantum cytosolic peroxiredoxin, recombinant protein K39 (rK39), recombinant protein K28 and recombinant kinesin degenerated derived repeat using ELISA. Two years after vaccination all vaccinated non-infected animals were seropositive for SPLA. For the other antigens the serological profile was indistinguishable from non-infected animals. Moreover, vaccinated animals presented a characteristic relative serological profile, with higher normalized serological response to SPLA than rK39. This fact enabled to distinguish with sensitivity 92.3% and specificity 95.4%, vaccinated non-infected dogs from infected and non-infected dogs. Ultimately, relative serological profile enabled the detection of healthy vaccinated animals enabling more accurate serological surveys.This work was financed by: FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior in the framework of the project Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274) and project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). EC was supported by a research contract funded via the VII PN I+D+I 2013-2016 programme and FEDER Funds (RICET RD12/0018/0003)S

Association between sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, muscle strength and quality of life variables in elderly women

OBJETIVO: Verificar a associação entre sarcopenia, obesidade sarcopênica e força muscular com variáveis relacionadas à qualidade de vida em idosas. MÉTODO: A amostra foi composta por 56 voluntárias do sexo feminino que se submeteram à análise de composição corporal (IMC e absortometria de raios-x de dupla energia DXA). A força de preensão palmar (FPP) foi mensurada pelo dinamômetro Jamar. Para análise de qualidade de vida, usou-se o questionário SF-36; para análise estatística, os dados foram apresentados por meio da estatística descritiva e Coeficiente de Correlação de Pearson. O software SPSS, versão 15,0, foi utilizado para realização de todas as análises. RESULTADOS: As idosas apresentaram média de idade de 64,92±5,74 anos. Das 56 voluntárias avaliadas, 19,64% (n=11) foram classificadas com obesidade sarcopênica. Treze voluntárias (23,21%) foram classificadas como sarcopênicas. Os principais achados do presente estudo demonstraram que, embora não fosse encontrada significância estatística entre os parâmetros estudados em idosas classificadas com sarcopenia e obesidade sarcopênica e as dimensões de qualidade de vida, os valores médios foram inferiores nas acometidas. De forma interessante, a variável FPP correlacionou-se positiva e significativamente com todos os domínios do SF-36, com exceção de VIT (p=0,08) e SM (p=0,25). CONCLUSÕES: A FPP é um fator determinante nos aspectos relacionados à qualidade de vida na população estudada. O rastreamento e a identificação de pequenas alterações funcionais por meio de medidas clínicas simples, como a FPP, podem favorecer a intervenção precoce e prevenir incapacidades. Em contraste, sarcopenia e obesidade sarcopênica não foram associadas à qualidade de vida.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity and muscle strength and variables related to quality of life in elderly women. METHOD: The sample consisted of 56 female volunteers who underwent body composition analysis (BMI and x-ray absorptiometry dual-energy DXA). Handgrip strength was measured using a Jamar dynamometer. We used the SF-36 health questionnaire to analyze quality of life. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation coefficient; SPSS 15.0 was used to perform the statistical analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 64.92±5.74 years; of the 56 volunteers evaluated, 19.64% (n=11) were classified as sarcopenic obese and 45 (80.36%) were not. Thirteen volunteers (23.21%) were classified as sarcopenic while 43 (76.78%) were not. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the studied parameters and quality of life among those with sarcopenia or sarcopenic obesity, the values were lower in affected individuals. Interestingly, handgrip strength correlated positively and significantly with all of the SF-36 dimensions except VIT (p=0.08) and SM (p=0.25). Conclusions: Seeing that handgrip strength is a determining factor in quality of life aspects in this population, the screening and identification of small functional changes using simple clinical measures may facilitate early intervention and help prevent disability. In contrast, neither sarcopenia nor sarcopenic obesity were found to be associated with quality of life

Combined exercise circuit session acutely attenuates stress-induced blood pressure reactivity in healthy adults

Objective: To investigate the blood pressure (BP) responses to cardiovascular stress test after a combined exercise circuit session at moderate intensity. Method: Twenty individuals (10 male/10 fem; 33.4± 6.9 years; 70.2± 15.8 kg; 170.4± 11.5 cm; 22.3± 6.8% body fat) were randomized in a different days to control session with no exercise or exercise session consisting of 3 laps of the following circuit: knee extension, bench press, knee flexion, rowing in the prone position, squats, shoulder press, and 5 min of aerobic exercise at 75-85% of age-predicted maximum heart rate and/or 13 on the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion [scale of 6 to 20]. The sets of resistance exercise consisted of 15 repetitions at ~50% of the estimated 1 repetition maximum test. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured at rest and during 1h of recovery in both experimental sessions. After that, blood pressure reactivity (BPR) was evaluated using the Cold Pressor Test. Results: During 1h of exercise recovery, there was a reduction in SBP (3-6 mmHg) and DBP (2-5 mmHg) in relation to pre-session rest (p<0.01), while this reduction was not observed in the control session. A decline in BPR (4-7 mmHg; p<0.01) was observed 1h post-exercise session, but not in the control session. Post-exercise reductions in SBP and DBP were significantly correlated with BPR reductions (r=0.50-0.45; p<0.05). Conclusion: A combined exercise circuit session at moderate intensity promoted subsequent post-exercise hypotension and acutely attenuated BPR in response to a cardiovascular stress test. In addition, the post-exercise BP reduction was correlated with BPR attenuation in healthy adults of both genders

Greater volumes are required to reduce muscle performance in well-trained individuals

A specific drop jumps (DJs) protocol (using 100 jumps) has been largely used to induce muscle damage. However, it failed to show relevant drop in performance in well-trained individuals. Trained subjects may require a protocol with greater volume to induce decrease of muscle performance. The aim of this study was to assess muscle performance after two DJs damaging protocols with different volumes in well-trained individuals. Eighteen strength and/or power-trained males (4.92 ± 2.78 years of training experience) were randomly assigned into one of two groups: DJ100 (five sets of 20 DJs) or DJ140 (seven sets of 20 DJs), with 2-min of rest interval. DJs were performed from a 60-cm box. After landing, the volunteers performed a maximal vertical rebound jump. Muscle swelling increased significantly on both DJ100 and DJ140 (p < 0.001). Maximal isometric torque (MIT) decreased significantly on both DJ100 (p = 0.005) and DJ140 (p < 0.001). MIT showed no between-group difference on pre-assessment (p = 0.815). However, on post-assessment, MIT was significantly lower on DJ140 than DJ100 (p = 0.043). Countermovement jump (CMJ) decreased significantly on DJ140 (p = 0.001), but not on DJ100 (p = 0.802). There was no between-group difference on pre-assessment (p = 0.978). However, on post-assessment, CMJ was significantly lower on DJ140 than DJ100 (p = 0.038). DJ140 induced greater drop in isometric strength than DJ100 and only DJ140 significantly reduced jump performance. These results demonstrated that well-trained individuals require a great volume of DJs to reduce substantially muscle performance