Barreiras ao cumprimento de um plano alimentar: O que mudou

[resumo][abstract

Catches in ghost-fishing octopus and fish traps in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean (Algarve, Portugal)

Ghost fishing is the term used to describe the continued capture of fish and other living organisms after a fisherman has lost all control over the gear. Traps may be lost for a variety of reasons including theft, vandalism, abandonment, interactions with other gear, fouling on the bottom (i.e., traps and ropes are caught on rocky substrate), bad weather, and human error (Laist, 1995). Annual trap loss can be as high as 20% to 50% of fished traps in some fisheries (Al-Masroori et al., 2004). Because lost traps can continue to fish for long periods, albeit with decreasing efficiency over time (e.g., Smolowitz, 1978; Breen, 1987, 1990; Guillory, 1993), ghost fishing is a concern in fisheries worldwide

Assessment of reliability in isokinetic testing among adolescent basketball players

Background. The reproducibility of day-to-day testing of isokinetic concentric and eccentric muscular actions among adolescent basketball players aged 14 to 16 years and relationships of mean within-subject variation in two isokinetic testing sessions with chronological age, biological maturation (estimated age at peak height velocity), training experience, body size, lower-body morphology, and initial strength performance were evaluated. Material and Methods. The sample included 27 basketball players who completed replicate test sessions of 5 repetitions of reciprocal concentric and eccentric knee extensions and flexions at 60 degrees s(-1). A randomly selected subsample of 8 players completed a third testing session to confirm reliability estimates. Results. Coefficients of variation (CV) between sessions 1 and 2 ranged from 8.1% to 17.4%, and intraclass coefficients (ICCs) ranged from 0.72 to 0.89. For sessions 1 and 3, CVs ranged from 3.9% to 6.0%, and ICCs ranged from 0.95 to 0.99. The initial level of strength of eccentric knee flexion (r=-0.43) and eccentric knee extension (r=-0.42) were correlated (P<0.05) with eccentric knee extension within-variation between two sessions. Training experience (r=-0.37, P<0.05) and initial values of concentric knee flexion (r=-0.62, P<0.01) were correlated with concentric knee flexion within-subject differences. Within-subject variation of eccentric knee extension was correlated (P<0.05) with chronologic age (r=0.41), estimated age at peak height velocity (r=-0.38), body size (r=0.41 to 0.47), and leg volume (r=0.39). Conclusions. Familiarization sessions may improve the reliability of concentric and eccentric knee isokinetic strength testing at 60 s(-1) in adolescent basketball players. Age, maturity status, and training experience of young athletes should be considered when testing knee isokinetic strength at 60 degrees s(-1)

On the predictability of postoperative complications for cancer patients: a Portuguese cohort study

Funding Information: This work was supported by the FCT, through IDMEC, under LAETA project (UIDB/50022/2020), IPOscore project with reference DSAIPA/DS/0042/2018, and Data2Help (DSAIPA/DS/0044/2018). This work was further supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry – LAQV which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020), INESC-ID pluriannual (UIDB/50021/2020), and the contract CEECIND/01399/2017. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Postoperative complications are still hard to predict despite the efforts towards the creation of clinical risk scores. The published scores contribute for the creation of specialized tools, but with limited predictive performance and reusability for implementation in the oncological context. This work aims to predict postoperative complications risk for cancer patients, offering two major contributions. First, to develop and evaluate a machine learning-based risk score, specific for the Portuguese population using a retrospective cohort of 847 cancer patients undergoing surgery between 2016 and 2018, for 4 outcomes of interest: (1) existence of postoperative complications, (2) severity level of complications, (3) number of days in the Intermediate Care Unit (ICU), and (4) postoperative mortality within 1 year. An additional cohort of 137 cancer patients from the same center was used for validation. Second, to improve the interpretability of the predictive models. In order to achieve these objectives, we propose an approach for the learning of risk predictors, offering new perspectives and insights into the clinical decision process. For postoperative complications the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC) was 0.69, for complications’ severity AUC was 0.65, for the days in the ICU the mean absolute error was 1.07 days, and for 1-year postoperative mortality the AUC was 0.74, calculated on the development cohort. In this study, predictive models which could help to guide physicians at organizational and clinical decision making were developed. Additionally, a web-based decision support tool is further provided to this end.publishersversionpublishe

Measuring evidence-based practice in physical therapy: a mix-methods study

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is considered the “holy grail” to manage patients by health practitioners (such as physical therapists). However, sometimes, patients are not treated with the best interventions for their condition. Although studies already explored the facilitators and barriers for this issue, they increase in the level of importance if the information gathered are context appropriated. As the profession is relatively new in Portugal, currently little is known about the implementation of EBP in Portuguese physical therapists context. So, the aim of this study is to know if the Portuguese physical therapists use an EBP, and collect and deeper understand the factors, barriers and facilitators associated with EBP. Methods: This study incorporated a mixed-methods design (quantitative and qualitative). In an attempt to ensure the correct population sample, a national professional association e-mail database and the e-mails of past students from national schools were requested. For the quantitative data it was choose an e-survey, adapted from the EBP: Beliefs, Attitudes, Knowledge, and Behaviors of Physical Therapists Portuguese version questionnaire, consisted of 55 close-ended questions. It was analyzed response frequencies and associations between variables with logistic regression analyses. For the qualitative data, it was choose to perform semi-structured interviews in purposefully selected physical therapists to include different sociodemographic factors (especially those found to be statistically significant in the logistic regression) and survey responses regarding the physical therapists’ beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors. The interviews were performed in an online software, where only audio contact was performed. The audios were anonymized and verbatim transcribed, and the texts explored by the thematic approach. Results: From the 277 physical therapists that shown interest in participating in the study, 193 fully completed the questionnaire and, from those, 10 participated in the interviews. The Portuguese physical therapists reported positive beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors regarding EBP. Among the physical therapists characteristics it seems that age (younger therapists), education (participating in continuing education courses; belonging to practice-orientated organizations; having a doctorate degree; pursuing a higher academic degree; and being a clinical instructor), and workplace (working for someone else account; and academic sector) are the main factors in the Portuguese EBP implementation. The Portuguese physical therapists, beyond the physical therapists individual characteristics and workplace, also stated that evidence, patients, clinical experience, schools, country and physical therapy characteristics, may behave as facilitators or barriers when performing an EBP.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Improving hospital operations management to reduce ineffective medical appointments

The main objective of this study is to meet management aspirations by promoting waste reduction and consequently improving patients` experience in a Portuguese public hospital. These aspirations include increasing hospital service quality in a continuous and efficient way. This management mindset uncovered divergences between medical appointment and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam scheduling that were generating waste for both the hospital and patients. The main aspects considered in this study were the patients’ medical expectations, the quality, and cost of service provided. One-year retroactive encrypted data from medical appointments and MRI requisitions were provided for the algorithm development. Outcomes obtained from the algorithm revealed a high percentage of medical appointments occurring without the respective MRI exam results. These outcomes exposed waste existence that was hitherto unknown by the administration. Thus, the main algorithm function is to analyze future data to previously alert ineffective medical appointments. This progress contributes to reducing wasted medical and patient time. In summary, the main contribution of this article is to allow hospital managers to cross-check data from different sectors to identify divergences in future medical consultations that require exams or results of clinical analysis.This work was supported by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030299]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [UIDB/00319/2020]

Physical therapists’ choices, views and agreements regarding non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions for knee osteoarthritis patients: a mixed-methods study

The aims of this study are to collect the most common non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions used by the Portuguese physical therapists in their knee osteoarthritis patients, and to deeper understand the factors associated to their intervention choices. Methods: This study incorporated a mixed-methods design. For the quantitative data it was choose an e-survey (with 25 close-end questions, plus general information of the study and a clinical vignette), retrieving sociodemographic and self-reported practice on knee osteoarthritis information. It was analysed response frequencies and associations between variables with logistic regression analyses. For the qualitative data, it was chosen to perform semi-structured interviews in purposefully selected physical therapists to include different sociodemographic factors and survey responses regarding the physical therapists’ interventions chosen. After the interviews, the audios were collected, anonymised, transcribed verbatim, and the texts explored by the thematic approach. Results: From the 277 PTs that shown interest in participating in the study, 120 fully completed the questionnaire and, from those, 10 participated in the interviews. The most chosen interventions included Resistance Exercise, Manual Therapy, Nutrition/Weight Loss, Self-care/Education, Stretching and Aquatic Exercise. Furthermore, it seems that PTs’ individual characteristics (age, experience, and clinical reasoning), patient’s characteristics (clinical findings and preferences), and work-related factors (facility type, work environment and available resources) are the main actors responsible for an intervention chosen. Conclusions: In the Portuguese PTs context the most important interventions are Exercise, Manual Therapy, Nutrition/Weight Loss, and Self-care/Education; these interventions chosen may be influenced by PT, patient and work-related factors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) factor structure in male perpetrators of intimate partner violence

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is the gold standard for assessing psychopathy. However, its factorial structure has been subject of debate, and different factor models have been proposed. Furthermore, research has not focused on the PCL-R factorial structure among intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators. We analyzed and compared the fit of nine alternative models of PCL-R among a sample of 242 IPV perpetrators. Results revealed PCL-R has adequate factor validity. The three-factor model without testlets provided the best fit to the current data. The three-factor model also showed good reliability, and the factors established differential associations to penal and personal variables thus revealing discriminant validity. In the current study, psychopathy was thus best conceptualized as a clinical construct comprising a particular affective functioning (e.g., shallow affect, lack of empathy), and a specific interpersonal (e.g., egocentricity, deception) and behavioral style (e.g., irresponsibility, impulsivity) among IPV perpetrators.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653). The study was also supported by Grant SFRH/ BD/66110/200

Revision of the morphology, phylogenetic relationships, behaviour and diversity of the Iberian and Italian ant-like Tachydromia Meigen, 1803 (Diptera: Hybotidae)

Phylogenetic inference, based on five molecular markers (COI, 28S, AATS, 12S, PGD), corroborates the synonymy of the flightless genera Pieltainia Arias, 1919 and Ariasella Gil, 1923 with Tachydromia Meigen, 1803. The secondary structure of the 28S rRNA gene is used for the first time in this family to align the multiple sequences. Molecular and morphological data are largely congruent for all known species of flightless Tachydromia. This paper treats ten western Mediterranean species (nine Iberian and one Italian) in detail, including the description of four new species: T. ebejeri Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov., T. stenoptera Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov., T. cantabrica Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. and T. nigrohirta Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. The male of Tachydromia pieltaini (Gil Collado, 1936) and the female of Tachydromia apterygon Plant & Deeming, 2006 are described for the first time, while a lectotype is assigned to Tachydromia pandellei (Séguy, 1941). A key to all non-macropterous Tachydromia is supplied. Knowledge on the geographic distribution of most species is considerably enhanced. The mating behaviour of Tachydromia semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923) and Tachydromia iberica (Arias, 1919) is documented for the first time, and we propose a change in the definition of terms apterous and micropterous to properly accommodate the diversity of wing states in this cluster of species.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Macrofauna assemblages in a XVIIth century shipwreck: comparison with those on natural reefs and sandy bottoms

The macrofauna assemblages of a XVIIth century shipwreck off southern Portugal were studied and compared with those of nearby natural reefs and sandy bottoms, by underwater visual census. A total of 11 173 specimens of 224 different fauna taxa and 12 phyla were recorded. Natural reefs had the highest density of specimens (35 122 / 1000 m2) followed by the shipwreck (21 392 / 1000 m2) and the sandy bottoms (3771 / 1000 m2). Three biodiversity indices were estimated (Margalef, Shannon- Wiener and Pielou), with the natural reefs showing the highest values. However, the shipwreck presented values relatively similar to those of the natural reefs for the Shannon-Wiener and Pielou indices. The three habitats were clearly distinguishable by multivariate statistical analysis, with the average dissimilarity between sand and shipwreck, and between sand and natural reefs being much higher than that between the shipwreck and the natural reefs. The shipwreck had higher abundances of some commercially important species, such as the pouting Trisopterus luscus, European conger Conger conger, and common spider crab Maja squinado, as well as some vulnerable and threatened species such as the pink seafan Eunicella verrucosa. The results presented emphasize the importance of this habitat on the southern Portuguese coast.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio