A Multifunctional Bread Rich in Beta Glucans and Low in Starch Improves Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetes: A Controlled Trial

Abstract: Design: Functional foods may be useful for people with diabetes. The soluble fibers beta glucans can modify starch digestion and improve postprandial glucose response. We analyzed the metabolic effects of a specifically designed \u2018functional\u2019 bread, low in starch, rich in fibers (7 g/100 g), with a beta glucan/starch ratio of (7.6:100, g/g), in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: Clinical and metabolic data from two groups of age-, sex- and glycated hemoglobin-matched diabetic subjects, taking either the functional bread or regular white bread, over a roughly six-month observation period, were retrieved. Results: Bread intake did not change during the trial. The functional bread reduced glycated hemoglobin by ~0.5% (absolute units) vs. pre-treatment values (p = 0.028), and by ~0.6% vs. the control group (p = 0.027). Post-prandial and mean plasma glucose was decreased in the treatment group too. Body weight, blood pressure and plasma lipids did not change. The acceptance of the functional bread was good in the majority of subjects, except for taste. Conclusions: A starch-restricted, fiber-rich functional bread, with an increased beta glucan/starch ratio, improved long term metabolic control, and may be indicated in the dietary treatment of type 2 diabetes

Essential amino acids: master regulators of nutrition and environmental footprint?

The environmental footprint of animal food production is considered several-fold greater than that of crops cultivation. Therefore, the choice between animal and vegetarian diets may have a relevant environmental impact. In such comparisons however, an often neglected issue is the nutritional value of foods. Previous estimates of nutrients\u2019 environmental footprint had predominantly been based on either food raw weight or caloric content, not in respect to human requirements. Essential amino acids (EAAs) are key parameters in food quality assessment. We re-evaluated here the environmental footprint (expressed both as land use for production and as Green House Gas Emission (GHGE), of some animal and vegetal foods, titrated to provide EAAs amounts in respect to human requirements. Production of high-quality animal proteins, in amounts sufficient to match the Recommended Daily Allowances of all the EAAs, would require a land use and a GHGE approximately equal, greater o smaller (by only \ub11-fold), than that necessary to produce vegetal proteins, except for soybeans, that exhibited the smallest footprint. This new analysis downsizes the common concept of a large advantage, in respect to environmental footprint, of crops vs. animal foods production, when human requirements of EAAs are used for reference

The admission experience survey italian version (I-AES). a factor analytic study on a sample of 156 acute psychiatric in-patients

Coercive treatments are often regarded as an inevitable and yet highly debated feature of psychiatric care. Perceived coercion is often reported by patients involuntarily committed as well as their voluntary counterparts. The Admission Experience Survey (AES) is a reliable tool for measuring perceived coercion in mental hospital admission. We developed the Italian AES (I-AES) through translation back-translation and administered it to 156 acutely hospitalized patients (48% women, 69% voluntarily committed) in two university hospitals in Rome (Policlinico Umberto I, Sant'Andrea Hospital). A principal component analysis (PCA) with equamax rotation was conducted. The I-AES showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90); Guttmann split-half relia- bility coefficient was 0.90. AES total score significantly differed between voluntary and involuntary committed patients (5.08 ± 4.1 vs. 8.1 ± 4.9, p < .05). PCA disclosed a three-factor solution explaining 59.3 of the variance. Some discrepancies were found between the factor structure of the I-AES and the original version. I- AES total score was positively associated with numbers of previous involuntarily hospitalization (r = 0.20, p < .05) and psychiatric symptoms' severity (r = 0.22, p < .02). I-AES and its proposed new factor structure proved to be reliable to assess perceived coercion in mental hospital admission. Consequently, it may represent a helpful instrument for the study and reduction of patients' levels of perceived coercion

The standard of workforce demand in agriculture in São Paulo and the native worker: neither idleness nor shortage nor instability (1890-1915)

The article examines the relationship between the demand for manpower in agriculture in the São Paulo state between 1890 and 1915, and the forms of worker involvement in productive activity. It defends the idea that it was these forms of worker involvement that formed the stereotypes about a national worker, such as the shortage of these workers, and their instability and idleness. In the most general interpretations about the economic and social formation in Brazil, a predominant factor prevails: the almost exclusion of the poor Brazilian in the production process, as a marginal and accessory element in the productive structure of the export economy. This article analyzes the demand for labor in the tillage industry in São Paulo, showing that it was seasonal and uncertain. It shows that this pattern of intermittent work explains in part the contradiction of a society that had, according to the discourse of the time: either a lack of workers, or an abundance; and at times hard workers, and at other times idle workers.Este artigo analisa a relação entre o padrão de demanda por mão de obra na agricultura paulista entre 1890 e 1915 e as formas de engajamento do trabalhador na atividade produtiva defendendo a ideia de que estas últimas propiciavam a formação de estereótipos sobre o chamado trabalhador nacional, tais como os da sua escassez e sua instabilidade e ociosidade. Nas interpretações mais gerais sobre a formação econômica e social brasileira, um dado prepondera: a quase exclusão do brasileiro pobre do processo de produção, sendo elemento marginal e acessório na estrutura produtiva central brasileira e paulista. Mostramos que a demanda por trabalho era marcadamente sazonal e incerta gerando, com isso, necessidade de oferta elástica de trabalhadores temporários e explicando, em parte, a contradição de uma sociedade que tinha, segundo o discurso da época, ora falta de trabalhadores, ora abundância; ora trabalho, ora ociosidade.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Política, Economia e NegóciosUNIFESP, Escola Paulista de Política, Economia e NegóciosSciEL

Il sistema di allenamento analogico/simbolico nello sport della pallavolo: Una valutazione delle componenti mnesitico/attentive

I benefici che l’attività motoria opera sia nell’età adulta che durante l’infanzia sono molteplici. Tra questi, si annoverano i miglioramenti delle abilità percettive, attentive e mnestiche. Lo scopo del presente lavoro è verificare se le capacità mnestiche ed attentive possano essere incrementate dalla messa in opera di un’offerta formativa specifica. Due gruppi di bambini, di età compresa tra i sei e i dieci anni sono stati avviati al gioco della pallavolo. Un gruppo è stato allenato con un metodo che carica di significati i movimenti corporei dell’allenatore e dei compagni al fine di associare tali movimenti allo svolgimento di future indicazioni da eseguire (Pittera, Pedata e Ligas, 2008). L’altro gruppo ha svolto esercizi propedeutici alla pallavolo attraverso la focalizzazione sull’apprendimento dei gesti tecnici. La differenza tra i dati raccolti all’inizio e alla fine del periodo di allenamento preso in esame evidenziarono un miglioramento della capacità di ricordare azioni motorie; nessun miglioramento apparve però per quanto ha riguardato il numero di posizioni spaziali o il numero di componenti verbali da ricordare. Sorprendentemente, poi, nessun miglioramento emerse nelle misure di attenzione sostenuta. I risultati suggeriscono come, focalizzando l’attenzione dei discenti sugli aspetti motori dell’esercizio, e facendo in modo che questi aumentino di significato al fine della successiva realizzazione di nuovi compiti, si possa aumentare una capacità basilare di ogni apprendimento sportivo, ovvero la capacità di ricordare nuove azioni

Passando do limite no ambiente de trabalho

Fernanda é servidora pública. Após ter feito doutorado no exterior, retornou ao Brasil ávida por aplicar seus novos conhecimentos em ações desenvolvidas pelo ministério de origem. Contudo, seu novo superior imediato mostrou-se refratário à servidora, demonstrando oposição sistemática e injustificada às suas ideias e ridicularizando-a em diversas oportunidades diante de seus pares e subordinados. As atribuições de Fernanda foram paulatinamente retiradas, culminando na perda de seu cargo comissionado. A servidora tentou reagir, acionou o Departamento de Recursos Humanos do ministério e outros órgãos, mas nada adiantou. Fernanda, ao final, tomou uma atitude desesperada. O caso trata de assédio moral e de como tal situação se desenvolve dentro de um órgão público, sem que outros servidores e as unidades do órgão se envolvam na questão. Ao final da narrativa, há questões para discussão que focam o assédio moral e seus desdobramentosNúmero de páginas: 3 p.ÉticaComunicação InterpessoalO caso foi inicialmente desenvolvido durante a 3ª Oficina sobre Metodologia de Estudos de Caso, realizada pela Escola Nacional de Administração Pública (ENAP), em outubro de 2011. É baseado em uma situação verídicaTânia Fontenele é autora da ideia original do estudo de caso. Ela é especialista em gênero e diversidade nas organizações, pesquisadora de mulheres e mercado de trabalho - Instituto de Pesquisa Aplicada da Mulher (IPAM). [email protected]. Amarílis Busch é especialista em políticas públicas e gestão governamental (EPPGG). Bacharel em Relações Internacionais pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC-MG). Mestre em Direito Internacional Humanitário pela Academia de Direito Internacional Humanitário e Direitos Humanos, Universidade de Genebra, Suíça. Gustavo Tessari é graduado em Ciências Sociais e mestre em sociologia pela Universidade Estadual Paulista; atualmente ocupa o cargo de técnico em assuntos educacionais na Escola Nacional de Administração Pública. Lilian Rodrigues é graduada em Licenciatura Plena de Matemática , pós graduada em docência universitária e mestre em economia do meio ambiente pela Universidade de Brasília. Atualmente é assessora técnica na ENAP e leciona na faculdade ICESP no curso de administraçãoComo material complementar, incluímos referência ao trabalho de Adriane Reis de Araújo, no link: e notícia do jornal francês Le Monde sobre assédio moral, disponível em: <http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2010/06/29/france-telecom-verse-400-000-euros-pour-harcelement-moral_1380782_3224.html

Lumican is overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma pleural effusions.

Adenocarcinoma (AdC) is the most common lung cancer subtype and is often associated with pleural effusion (PE). Its poor prognosis is attributable to diagnostic delay and lack of effective treatments and there is a pressing need in discovering new biomarkers for early diagnosis or targeted therapies. To date, little is known about lung AdC proteome. We investigated protein expression of lung AdC in PE using the isobaric Tags for Relative and Absolute Quantification (iTRAQ) approach to identify possible novel diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers. This provided the identification of 109 of lung AdC-related proteins. We further analyzed lumican, one of the overexpressed proteins, in 88 resected lung AdCs and in 23 malignant PE cell-blocks (13 lung AdCs and 10 non-lung cancers) using immunohistochemistry. In AdC surgical samples, lumican expression was low in cancer cells, whereas it was strong and diffuse in the stroma surrounding the tumor. However, lumican expression was not associated with tumor grade, stage, and vascular/pleural invasion. None of the lung cancer cell-blocks showed lumican immunoreaction, whereas those of all the other tumors were strongly positive. Finally, immunoblotting analysis showed lumican expression in both cell lysate and conditioned medium of a fibroblast culture but not in those of A549 lung cancer cell line. PE is a valid source of information for proteomic analysis without many of the restrictions of plasma. The high lumican levels characterizing AdC PEs are probably due to its release by the fibroblasts surrounding the tumor. Despite the role of lumican in lung AdC is still elusive, it could be of diagnostic value

An observational study of implicit motor imagery using laterality recognition of the hand after stroke

none4siObjective: To explore the relationship between laterality recognition after stroke and impairments in attention, 3D object rotation and functional ability. Design: Observational cross-sectional study. Setting: Acute care teaching hospital. Participants: Thirty-two acute and sub-acute people with stroke and 36 healthy, age-matched controls. Main outcome measures: Laterality recognition, attention and mental rotation of objects. Within the stroke group, the relationship between laterality recognition and functional ability, neglect, hemianopia and dyspraxia were further explored. Results: People with stroke were significantly less accurate (69% vs 80%) and showed delayed reaction times (3.0 vs 1.9 seconds) when determining the laterality of a pictured hand. Deficits either in accuracy or reaction times were seen in 53% of people with stroke. The accuracy of laterality recognition was associated with reduced functional ability (R2 = 0.21), less accurate mental rotation of objects (R2 = 0.20) and dyspraxia (p = 0.03). Conclusion: Implicit motor imagery is affected in a significant number of patients after stroke with these deficits related to lesions to the motor networks as well as other deficits seen after stroke. This research provides new insights into how laterality recognition is related to a number of other deficits after stroke, including the mental rotation of 3D objects, attention and dyspraxia. Further research is required to determine if treatment programmes can improve deficits in laterality recognition and impact functional outcomes after stroke.openAmesz, Sarah; Tessari, Alessia; Ottoboni, Giovanni; Marsden, JonAmesz, Sarah; Tessari, Alessia; Ottoboni, Giovanni; Marsden, Jo

Espectro de luz solar: do infravermelho ao ultravioleta

Desde as primeiras civilizações, a humanidade observa o céu e estuda os fenômenos procurando entender a origem e a evolução do Universo. A Astronomia como conteúdo integrante das Ciências Naturais e seu caráter multidisciplinar, permite desenvolver o processo de aprendizagem, propiciando a assimilação de conceitos no dia a dia. Segundo Ferreira et al. (2014, p.103) os conteúdos de Astronomia são importantes e prazerosos e podem auxiliar na construção do conhecimento e do mundo. Dá-se então a importância de trabalhar a Astronomia dentro das diversas disciplinas escolares, objetivando-se um conhecimento do cosm

A kinematic examination of dual-route processing for action imitation

The dual-route model of imitation suggests that meaningful and meaningless actions are processed through either an indirect or direct route, respectively. Evidence indicates that the direct route is more cognitively demanding, since it relies on mapping visuospatial properties of the observed action on to a performed one. These cognitive demands might negatively influence reaction time and accuracy for actions performed following a meaningless action under time constraints. However, how meaningful and meaningless action imitation processing is reflected in movement kinematics is not yet clear. We wanted to confirm whether meaningless action performance incurs a reaction time cost, whether the cost is reflected in kinematics, and, more generally, to examine kinematic markers of emblematic meaningful and meaningless action imitation. We examined participants’ reaction time and wrist movements when they imitated emblematic meaningful or matched meaningless gestures in either blocks of the same action type, or mixed blocks. Meaningless actions were associated with a greater correction period at the end of the movement, possibly reflecting a strategy designed to ensure accurate completion for less familiar actions under time constraints. Furthermore, in mixed blocks, trials following meaningless actions had a significantly increased reaction time, supporting previous claims that route selection for action imitation may be stimulus-driven. However, there was only convincing evidence for this effect with an interval of ~2948ms, but not ~3573ms or ~2553ms, between movements. Future work motion-tracking the entire hand to assess imitation accuracy, and more closely examining the influence of duration between movements, may help to explain these effects