Gender, socio-economic status and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and old adults.

BACKGROUND: Studies that addressed social and economic determinants of cardiovascular diseases, consistently showed an increase prevalence of the individual features of metabolic syndrome in the lower socio-economic strata. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the association between social class and metabolic syndrome in a sample of urban middle-aged and old Portuguese adults. METHODS: We evaluated 1962 subjects (1207 women and 755 men) aged 40 or more years. Marital status, education, occupation, menarche age and height distribution were used as socioeconomic indicators. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the ATP III, by the presence of at least three of the following characteristics: waist circumference > 102 cm in men and > 88 cm in women; triglycerides > or = 150 mg/dl; HDL cholesterol or = 130/85 mm Hg; and fasting glucose > or = 110 mg/dl. Proportions were compared using the chi square test or Fisher's exact test. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were computed using unconditional logistic regression to estimate the magnitude of the associations. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was significantly more frequent in females (24.9 vs. 17.4, p < 0.001). In females, the odds favoring metabolic syndrome significantly increased with age and in unfavorable social class as described by occupation, and decreased with education level. In males, metabolic syndrome was significantly more frequent in the 60-69 years age class (OR = 1.82; 95%CI: 1.02-3.26) when compared to those in the 40-49 years age class. Concerning other socioeconomic indicators no significant associations were found. CONCLUSION: This study showed that gender influenced the association of socio-economic status indicators with metabolic syndrome. Females in lower social classes, as defined by education and occupational classification, more frequently presented metabolic syndrome, no such association was found in males

A Prática Profissional do Contabilista Certificado numa Empresa do Setor da Construção e Obras Públicas

Com o intuito de preencher os requisitos definidos no nº 1 do artigo 9º do Regulamento de Inscrição, Estágio e Exame Profissionais da Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados, com vista a obter o grau de Mestre em Gestão, especialização em Contabilidade, foi realizado um estágio profissionalizante na empresa “Luís Pais dos Santos, Lda.”, do setor da Construção e Obras Públicas. Como esta empresa contrata os serviços de contabilidade em regime de outsourcing, foi necessário o auxílio do gabinete de contabilidade “Mário Carvalho Afonso, Lda.”, para que o mesmo, enquanto contabilista certificado, supervisiona-se a realização do estágio. O presente relatório teve como metodologia duas abordagens, uma teórica, através da revisão de literatura, e uma prática, através da análise de um caso de estudo. A abordagem teórica consistiu, essencialmente, na pesquisa dos normativos legais contabilísticos e fiscais aplicáveis às entidades do setor da construção e obras públicas. A abordagem prática consistiu, inicialmente, no estudo da empresa “Luís Pais dos Santos, Lda.”, em termos da sua estrutura organizacional, recursos humanos, materiais e financeiros. Ao nível do estudo destes últimos, foi realizada uma análise da situação económica e financeira da empresa no período de 2010 a 2015, com vista a percecionar as políticas que têm vindo a ser seguidas pela mesma, em termos de investimento, financiamento e gestão corrente. Quanto às atividades desenvolvidas durante o período de estágio, as mesmas são explanadas ao longo do relatório, nomeadamente as relacionadas com a receção, organização, separação, classificação, registo e arquivo de documentos contabilísticos, as práticas de controlo interno, o processamento de remunerações, o apuramento de contribuições e impostos e preenchimento das respetivas declarações, o encerramento de contas e preparação das demonstrações financeiras e restantes documentos que compõem o “dossier fiscal”, entre outras, sempre na observância da conduta ética e deontológica associada à profissão de contabilista certificado

Bond behavior of self consolidating concrete

The new generation of innovative projects has led to the use of greater amounts of reinforcement and the development of concrete with specific characteristics. It is necessary to use a material that ensures the uniformity of the cross section, as well as the adherence of the existing reinforcement, and due to this, the self-consolidating concrete becomes an technique alternative has great potential to achieve these properties. The aim of this paper is to analyze the bond behavior of self-consolidating concrete that was obtained by means of the Beam Test performed within a large experimental campaign of characterization. Four types of SCC were studied with two strength levels (40 MPa and 60MPa) and two different types of granular skeletons, using two specimens at each age (3, 7, and 28 days). All specimens were tested with a corrugated steel bar 10 mm in diameter. The results show that the adhesion tension independently of resistance presents a rapidly evolving at 7 days reached 95% of the total adhesion by 28 days.Postprint (published version

Germ Cell Specification and Migration in Drosophila and beyond

AbstractThe passage of an individual's genome to future generations is essential for the maintenance of species and is mediated by highly specialized cells, the germ cells. Genetic studies in a number of model organisms have provided insight into the molecular mechanisms that control specification, migration and survival of early germ cells. Focusing on Drosophila, we will discuss the mechanisms by which germ cells initially form and remain transcriptionally silent while somatic cells are transcriptionally active. We will further discuss three separate attractive and repellent guidance pathways, mediated by a G-protein coupled receptor, two lipid phosphate phosphohydrolases, and isoprenylation. We will compare and contrast these findings with those obtained in other organisms, in particular zebrafish and mice. While aspects of germ cell specification are strikingly different between these species, germ cell specific gene functions have been conserved. In particular, mechanisms that sense directional cues during germ cell migration seem to be shared between invertebrates and vertebrates

Caso Clínico de una Niña con Algoneurodistrofia

A clinical case of a 12-year-old female child with anxiety symptoms and a diagnosis of Algoneurodystrophy in the left hand is presented. The psychological assessment was carried out using the following instruments: observation, psychological interview, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III), State/Trait Anxiety Questionnaire for children, and Conners Scales for parents and teachers. The intervention aimed to reduce anxiety levels, promote self-esteem, and alleviate the child's grief. For this purpose, a cognitive-behavioral intervention was carried out with the child and their parents. Through education, the child's parents were alerted to the need to express the feeling of loss, providing an environment for the resolution of the grieving process of all family members. Furthermore, they were also warned about the maintenance factors of the child's anxiety symptoms, such as the issue of high parental demand. As a result, it can be concluded that good therapeutic gains were seen, translating into the resolution of the child's problems and, consequently, increasing their psychological well-being.Se presenta el caso clínico de una niña de 12 años con síntomas de ansiedad y diagnóstico de algoneurodistrofia en la mano izquierda. La evaluación psicológica se realizó mediante los siguientes instrumentos: observación, entrevista psicológica, Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Niños (WISC-III), Cuestionario de Ansiedad Estado/Rasgo para niños y Escalas de Conners para padres y profesores. La intervención tuvo como objetivo reducir los niveles de ansiedad, promover la autoestima y aliviar los sentimientos de dolor. Para ello, se realizó una intervención cognitivo-conductual con la niña y los padres.&nbsp; A través de la educación, los padres de la niña fueron alertados sobre la necesidad de expresar el sentimiento de pérdida, brindando un entorno para la resolución del proceso de duelo de todos los miembros de la familia. Además, también se les advirtió sobre los factores de mantenimiento de los síntomas de ansiedad de la niña, como el tema de la alta demanda de los padres. Como resultado, se puede concluir que se apreciaron buenos avances terapéuticos, que se tradujeron en la resolución de los problemas de la niña y, en consecuencia, en un aumento de su bienestar psicológico

Immunohistochemistry in the diagnosis of membranous glomerulonephritis: a comparative study of chromogen + counterstaining combination

A glomerulonefrite membranosa faz parte das doenças glomerulares que provocam glomerulonefrite crônica, apresentando-se como uma das causas da doença renal terminal. As técnicas de imunofluorescência são o gold standard no estudo imunológico desta patologia em biópsia renal, através da deteção de imunocomplexos (e.g. IgG e C3) e do seu padrão de distribuição granular característico. No entanto, a imunofluorescência não permite uma contextualização histológica e os fluorocromos utilizados possuem um reduzido tempo de atividade, ao contrário das técnicas imunoenzimáticas que utilizam cromogénios coloridos precipitados que permitem a obtenção de uma marcação permanente e a sua contextualização histológica por via da utilização de eficientes colorações de contraste. Com a finalidade de contribuir para a qualidade do diagnóstico da glomerulonefrite membranosa, em biópsias renais, procurou-se, com esta pesquisa, identificar uma técnica imunoenzimática, através da conjugação entre diferentes cromogênios e colorações de contraste, que permita a deteção de depósitos de IgG e C3, com padrão granular. Foram constituídos diferentes binômios cromogênio + coloração, com os cromogênios 3,3›- Diaminobenzidine Tetrahydrochloride e 3-Amino-9-ethylcarbazole e as colorações Periodic Acid Schiff, Periodic Acid Methenamine Silver e Hematoxilina. Foram utilizadas 72 secções de tecido provenientes de seis de casos de biópsias renais com diagnóstico de glomerulonefrite membranosa, fixados em formalina a 10% e incluídos em parafina. A recolha de dados foi realizada por observação microscópica com preenchimento de uma grelha de classificação dos parâmetros: preservação da morfologia, intensidade da marcação específica, quantidade relativa de estruturas marcadas, marcação inespecífica/fundo, contraste e padrão da marcação, que permitiu a classificação dos binómios estudados num score quantitativo de 0-100 pontos. O binômio que apresentou melhores resultados foi 3-Amino-9-ethylcarbazole + Hematoxilina (score 71,81) e o binômio 3,3›- Diaminobenzidine Tetrahydrochloride+Periodic Acid Methenamine Silver (score 7,81), apresentou os piores resultados. O resultado do teste Kruskal-Wallis indica-nos a presença de diferenças estatísticas entre os binómios em estudo (p=0,000). A Hematoxilina pode ser considerada a coloração mais eficaz, pois cumpriu a sua função de auxiliar e facilitar a observação do tipo de padrão com os dois cromogênios utilizados. O cromogênio 3-Amino-9-ethylcarbazole apresentou resultados semelhantes aos produzidos pelo 3,3›-Diaminobenzidine Tetrahydrochloride, no entanto, permitiu identificar em todos os casos o padrão granular de imunomarcação, ao contrário do que aconteceu com este último.ABSTRACT - Membranous glomerulonephritis is one of the glomerular diseases that induce chronic glomerulonephritis and one of the causes of terminal renal disease. Immunofluorescence techniques are the gold standard in the immunologic study of this disease in renal biopsy by the detection of the immunocomplexs and their granular specific pattern. However, immunofluorescence does not allow a histological contextualization and the fluorochromes that are used have a reduced timeline, contrary to immunoenzimatic techniques that use colorful chromogens which permit to obtain a permanent stain and a histological contextualization, with the help of efficient counterstaining. In order to contribute to the quality of diagnosis of membranous glomeurlonephritis in renal biopsies, we tried with this research to identify a combination of different chromogens and counterstainings that allows the detection of IgG and C3 deposits with granular pattern. So we establish different chromogen + counterstaing combination, with 3,3’- Diaminobenzidine Tetrahydrochloride and 3-Amino-9-ethylcarbazole as chromogens and Periodic Acid Schiff, Periodic Acid Methenamine Silver and Hematoxilin as counterstainings. We used 72 sections of 6 renal biopsies with membranous glomerulonephritis, formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded. Data collection was performed by completing an assessment grid with parameters: preservation of morphology, intensity of specific staining, relative amount of labeled structures, nonspecific staining / background contrast and pattern of staining, which allowed the assignment of a 0-100 points quantitative score. 3-Amino-9-ethylcarbazole+Hematoxilin was the combination that accomplish the higher score (71.81) and 3,3’- Diaminobenzidine Tetrahydrochloride+ Periodic Acid Methenamine Silver the worst (7.81). Kruskal-Wallis test show us that exist statistical difference between the combinations in study (p=0.000). Hematoxilin was the most versatile counterstaining, because it help and facilitate the observation of the pattern produced by the two chromogen used. The chromogen 3-Amino-9-ethylcarbazole presented similar results to 3,3’-Diaminobenzidine Tetrahydrochloride, but, with the first one, all cases were evaluated as granular pattern unlike what happen with the last one

Evaluation of group work in the Chemistry and Biotechnology laboratory: Case study

Trabalho apresentado em CISPEE 2018, 27-29 de junho de 2018, Aveiro, PortugalN/

Conjugated linoleic acid reduces permeability and fluidity of adipose plasma membranes from obese Zucker rats

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. July 2010; 398 (2): 199-204.Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a dietary fatty acid frequently used as a body fat reducing agent whose effects upon cell membranes and cellular function remain unknown. Obese Zucker rats were fed atherogenic diets containing saturated fats of vegetable or animal origin with or without 1% CLA, as a mixture of cis(c)9,trans(t)11 and t10,c12 isomers. Plasma membrane vesicles obtained from visceral adi- pose tissue were used to assess the effectiveness of dietary fat and CLA membrane incorporation and its outcome on fluidity and permeability to water and glycerol. A significant decrease in adipose membrane fluidity was correlated with the changes observed in permeability, which seem to be caused by the incor- poration of the t10,c12 CLA isomer into membrane phospholipids. These results indicate that CLA supple- mentation in obese Zucker rats fed saturated and cholesterol rich diets reduces the fluidity and permeability of adipose membranes, therefore not supporting CLA as a body fat reducing agent through membrane fluidification in obese fat consumers

Community pharmacy services during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

Background: As a central part of the healthcare system, the community pharmacies are afflicted by the repercussions of the pandemic. Therefore, they have to adapt their services according to the needs of their communities. Objective: This article presents a systematic review with the aim to identify the additional services that community pharmacies are providing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases were searched systematically for relevant articles between December 2019 and April 2020, using “Community Pharmacy,” “Services,” “COVID-19,” “Coronavirus,” and “Pandemic” as the keywords. Fifty-nine articles in English, Portuguese, or Spanish were obtained and after applying the filtering criteria, nine of them were selected and included in the study. Results: Community pharmacies should provide pharmaceutical services that are according to the needs of the communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes of these services must be in line with the common goal of preventing the spread of the disease. In addition to the pre-existing services such as medication dispensing and personalized care, community pharmacists must promote other types of services, for example, informing, advising, and educating the community, maintaining a stable supply of pharmaceuticals and health products, and screening of suspected cases. Conclusion: While remaining engaged in the coordinated efforts, community pharmacists should apply innovations in their practices to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Organic salts based on isoniazid drug: Synthesis, bioavailability and cytotoxicity studies

UIDB/50006/2020 POCI-01-0145-FEDER?007265 PTDC/QUI-QOR/32406/2017 MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0042Tuberculosis is one of the ten causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Some of the anti-tuberculosis drugs used in clinic studies, despite being effective for the treatment of tuberculosis, present serious adverse effects as well as poor bioavailability, stability, and drug-resistance problems. Thus, it is important to develop approaches that could provide shorter drug regimens, preventing drug resistance, toxicity of the antibiotics, and improve their bioavailability. Herein, we reported the use of organic salts based on the isoniazid drug, which can act as an organic cation combined with suitable organic anions such as alkylsulfonate-based (mesylate, R or S-Camphorsulfonate), carboxylate-based (glycolate, vanylate) and sacharinate. The synthesis, characterization, and cytotoxicity studies comparing with the original isoniazid drug have been performed. The possibility to explore dicationic salts seems promising in order to improve original bioavailability, and promote the elimination of polymorphic forms as well as higher stability, which are relevant characteristics that the pharmaceutical industry pursues.publishersversionpublishe