Phytoplankton composition in shallow water ecosystems: influence of environmental gradients and nutrient availability

Environmental gradients caused by hydrological changes, whether natural or maninduced, affect the planktonic taxonomic and functional composition in shallow water ecosystems. In this sense, our aim was to find out the main variables or variable ratios that are the driving forces of the major phytoplankton taxonomic groups in Mediterranean coastal lagoons. For this purpose, 11 waterbodies were choosen, 6 of them in Empordà wetlands and 5 in the Doñana National Park, looking for representative conditions along a gradient of salinity and nutrient content. Two surveys were conducted in each waterbody (January and May 2007), after that the phytoplankton composition (chemotaxonomic composition) and also several physical and chemical environmental variables were analyzed. Two methodological approaches were used and compared: a first approach with a log (x+1) variable transformation and a second one where variables were transformed using the compositional data analysis (CoDa) techniques introduced by Aitchison (1986). When the raw data approach and the CoDa approach analysis (RDA) were compared, the results obtained were similar with regard to explained variance and also interpretation. The CoDa approach was characterized by the introduction of a new environmental driving factor, the bacterial biomass, whose ratio with the peptidase enzyme activity became significant. In this sense, the CoDa approach contributed to improving the biological interpretation of the phytoplankton distribution based on the raw analysis

A perceção da imagem corporal na população idosa

Body image perception can be defined as the individual representation of body appearance that undergoes through changes throughout life involving biopsychosocial factors. Body satisfaction refers to the assessment of each individual body as well as its attitudes and thoughts. With the stereotype of aging associated with disease, sexual impotence, mental illness, uselessness and loneliness among other factors, the elderly population is often negatively influenced with their body perception. Thus, with increasing age, morphological changes become more evident leading to a dissatisfaction with elderly’s body image. Physical activity represents an important factor to improve physical and physiological well-being, health, autonomy of elderly and as a consequence the positive body image increase. Despite the recognition of the importance of physical activity benefits, inactivity is prevalent in people over 65 years of age. To counteract this inactivity, professionals who deal with the elderly population must promote physical activities in elderly care institutions and make this a regular practice to give this population quality of life and to improve body perception and satisfaction.A perceção da imagem corporal pode ser definida como a representação individual da aparência do corpo que sofre alterações ao longo da vida envolvendo fatores biopsicossociais. A satisfação corporal remete para a avaliação do corpo assim como atitudes e pensamentos em relação ao mesmo. Com o envelhecimento e o estereótipo associado à doença, impotência sexual, declínio mental, inutilidade, solidão, entre outros, a população idosa é muitas vezes influenciada negativamente com a sua perceção corporal e com o aumento da idade as alterações morfológicas são mais evidentes levando ao aumento da insatisfação com a imagem corporal. A prática de atividade física representa um fator importante na melhoria do bem-estar físico e psicológico, saúde, autonomia dos idosos e, por consequência, no aumento da satisfação com a imagem corporal positiva. Apesar do reconhecimento dos benefícios da atividade física a inatividade prevalece em pessoas com mais de 65 anos. Para contrariar esta inatividade os profissionais que trabalham com a população idosa devem promover as atividades físicas desportivas nas instituições de acolhimento dos idosos e tornar esta prática cada vez mais regular para aumentar a qualidade de vida nesta população e para melhorar a perceção e satisfação corporal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A perceção da satisfação com a imagem corporal em adolescentes da Escola Secundária de Paredes

Body image is part of the mechanism of personal identity that can be given as a mental representation of the body itself, reflecting the way individuals think, feel, and behaves in relation to their physical appearance. The perception of an individual’s body image changes due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors and, in adolescence, due to the formation of their identity, the influence of social media and network can be very determinant in their body image perception that have beauty and aesthetics standards difficult to achieve. Sports physical activity (SPA) proves to be a way to maintain or achieve the ideal physical shape, thus it increases the body satisfaction and the perception of body image (PSIC). The main objective of the current study is to evaluate the relationship between the practice of AFD and PSIC in adolescence, Paredes high school. It was concluded that the perception and satisfaction of body image varied according to the practice of physical sports activity in male students. In females, the practice of sports physical activity did not influence the perception and satisfaction of their body image.A imagem corporal faz parte do mecanismo da identidade pessoal que pode ser dada como uma representação mental do corpo, refletindo a forma como o indivíduo pensa, sente e se comporta em relação à sua aparência física. A perceção da imagem corporal de um indivíduo vai alterando devido a fatores intrínsecos e extrínsecos e, na fase da adolescência, devido à formação da identidade de cada um, a perceção da imagem corporal é adulterada por influências como redes sociais, meios de comunicação social que transmitem padrões de beleza e estética difíceis de alcançar. A atividade física desportiva (AFD) demonstra ser uma forma de se manter ou alcançar a forma física desejada aumentando assim a satisfação corporal e a perceção da imagem corporal (PSIC) dos indivíduos. O objetivo principal deste estudo avaliar a relação entre a prática da AFD e a PSIC em adolescentes na região de Paredes. Concluiu-se que a perceção da satisfação com a imagem corporal variou em função da prática da aticidade física desportiva nos alunos do sexo masculino. No sexo feminino a prática da atividade física desportiva não influenciou a perceção da satisfação com a imagem corporal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digital methods and education: A research proposal

A tecnologia confere potencial no âmbito educacional seja como meio, constituindo um veículo para a aprendizagem, ou como ferramenta, através da qual são disponibilizados conteúdos. É assim natural que, com a presença e o acesso mais amplo à tecnologia, o contexto educacional e as suas dimensões se vão transformando. Numa sociedade onde um conjunto de atividades diárias são realizadas com recurso à tecnologia e à internet, aquelas que estão relacionadas com a educação não serão exceção, não sendo também exceção que expressões destas transformações sejam partilhadas nos media sociais. As plataformas digitais, nomeadamente os media sociais, têm constituído uma camada comunicacional através da qual reflexos de transformações e de dinâmicas são escutados, lidos, visualizados e passíveis de serem medidos. A tecnologia no contexto educacional é encarada como um possível objeto de estudo. Mais, o recurso à tecnologia para o investigar, surge como uma oportunidade para compreender o potencial e o alcance de novas soluções metodológicas. Neste capítulo, tomámos como objeto empírico o programa do Ministério da Educação português #EstudoEmCasa, lançado em 2020 como resposta à condição pandémica e à suspensão das aulas presenciais. Para compreender de que forma o #EstudoEmCasa é discutido e apropriado nas plataformas sociais, reunimos um conjunto de dados extraídos do Instagram, Twitter e YouTube. Os principais resultados apontam para uma resposta em paralelo às aulas televisionadas, numa espécie de segundo ecrã que gera debate em torno das temáticas, qualidade das aulas, descontextualização, humor e “memetização” do conteúdo do programa, mas também onde se partilham ambientes de estudo e os seus constituintes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kinetics and thermodynamics of adsorption of red dye 40 from acidic aqueous solutions onto a novel chitosan sulfate

The kinetic and thermodynamics of adsorption of Red Dye 40 from acidic aqueous solutions onto a partially sulfated chitosan (ChS) was studied. The partially sulfated ChS was water insoluble in the pH range of 2-12. Experiments were carried out batch wise to determine the effect of pH, dye concentration, and temperature on the adsorption capacity of ChStowards Red Dye 40. It was found that the equilibrium dye-binding capacity of ChS (qe) increased with increasing initial dye concentration; however, the percentage of dye removal decreased. Dye adsorption capacity of ChS increased when the solution pH was reduced. The Langmuir model was better fitted the experimental adsorption equilibrium data, and therate of dye adsorption onto ChS follows the pseudosecond order kinetic model. The adsorption capacity of ChS was enhanced by increasing the temperature.The thermodynamic adsorption parameters, enthalpy(ΔH°), entropy (ΔS°), and Gibbs energy (ΔG°) were evaluated. The adsorption process was endothermic, and the Gibbs energy negative indicating that it occurred spontaneously

Breakfast characteristics and its association with daily micronutrients intake in children and adolescents–a systematic review and meta-analysis

Breakfast is an important source of key nutrients in the diet. For this reason, the aim of this review was to investigate the associations between breakfast consumption and daily micronutrients intake in both children and adolescents (aged 2–18 years). A peer-reviewed systematic search was conducted in three datasets (PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library) in February 2020 in English and Spanish. Two independent reviewers evaluated 3188 studies considering the AXIS critical appraisal and PRISMA methodologies. Meta-analysis was carried out comparing results according to type of breakfast consumed (Ready to eat cereals (RTEC) breakfast or other types of breakfast) and breakfast skipping. Thirty-three articles were included in the systematic review (SR) and 7 in the meta-analysis. In the SR, we observed that those children and adolescents who usually consume RTEC at breakfast had a higher consumption of B-vitamins than those not consuming RTEC at breakfast. Breakfast consumers had a higher mineral intake (iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and iodine) than breakfast skippers. In the Meta-Analysis, RTEC consumers had significantly higher vitamin C intake than breakfast skippers (SMD, -4.12; 95% confidence intervals (CI): -5.09, -3.16). Furthermore, those children who usually consume breakfast had significantly higher daily intake of calcium than breakfast skippers (SMD, -7.03; 95%CI: -9.02, -5.04). Our review proposes that breakfast consumption seems to be associated with higher daily micronutrients intake than breakfast skippers

Associative study between handgrip strength, body composition and functional fitness in healthy elderlies

Poor handgrip strength is associated with [1,2]. As far as our understanding goes, [1] elderly’s disability independent elderlies trend to have high levels of quality of life . Even more, body composition and functional fitness presents [2] association with quality of life . OBJECTIVE: Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the associations between body composition, functional fitness and handgrip strength. METHODS: It was hypothesized that handgrip strength is associated with elderly’s body composition and functional fitness. Forty-eight elderly subjects (10 males and 38 females) with 69.61 (± 4.21) years old volunteered for this study. All the procedures were in accord to the Helsinki’s declaration regarding human research. The handgrip strength was measured with a digital mechanical dynamometer (CAMRY, New York, USA). The functional fitness was assessed by the functional fitness [3] test . The body composition was evaluated by a bioimpedance balance (Tanita, BC-601, Illinois, USA). The spearmen’s test allowed to assess the significant associations between the handgrip strength, functional fitness and body composition.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The causal boundary of wave-type spacetimes

A complete and systematic approach to compute the causal boundary of wave-type spacetimes is carried out. The case of a 1-dimensional boundary is specially analyzed and its critical appearance in pp-wave type spacetimes is emphasized. In particular, the corresponding results obtained in the framework of the AdS/CFT correspondence for holography on the boundary, are reinterpreted and very widely generalized. Technically, a recent new definition of causal boundary is used and stressed. Moreover, a set of mathematical tools is introduced (analytical functional approach, Sturm-Liouville theory, Fermat-type arrival time, Busemann-type functions).Comment: 41 pages, 1 table. Included 4 new figures, and some small modifications. To appear in JHE

The necessity of a reduced version of the psychomotor battery to screen for learning difficulties in preschool children

Psychomotor development is important for effective learning. Therefore, psychomotor observation is essential beginning in preschool education; however, observational instruments require practice, experience and time-consuming procedures. Psychomotor Battery (PBM) is useful to observe children’s psychomotor profile but needs 30 to 40 min per child to be applied. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to justify the need of a reduced version of the PBM to enable more frequent psychomotor observations at this level of education. A total of 70 preschool students with typical development were observed over 4 months in a school context, among which 31 were males and 39 were females (4- and 5-year-old). PBM is composed by seven psychomotor factors (PMF) distributed across three neuropsychological functional units. The total average of points for psychomotor observations was obtained using multiple linear regression (MLR) with a Stepwise method. For associations, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was used. The results of this study showed that it is possible to reduce the average time of psychomotor observation by 43.7% (13 min and 31 s), maintaining a very strong association with the total average of points obtained. This reduction in observation time may contribute to the increase in psychomotor observations of preschool children using PMB.This research is supported by Higher Institute of Educational Sciences of the Douro and by national funding through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the project UID04045/2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio