The impact of exposure to cartoons promoting healthy eating on children's food preferences and choices

Objective: This study explored whether a cartoon show with healthy eating messages positively affected children's food choices and food preferences.Design: Experimental between-subjects design.Setting: Four elementary schools in Portugal were investigated.Participants: Children (aged 4-8 years; n = 142) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: a comparison group (n = 73) was exposed to cartoons with no reference to food and an intervention group (n = 69) was exposed to cartoons with healthy eating messages. After viewing, each child was given the opportunity to eat ad libitum for 10 minutes from a small selection of snack foods.Main Outcome Measure: Number of healthy and unhealthy food items chosen. Food preferences were measured using an adapted version of the Leeds Food Preference Checklist.Analysis: Generalized linear models were used to test for differences between groups. Results were considered significant at P <= .05.Results: Children in the experimental group chose significantly more healthy food items than did those in the comparison group (B = -.600; SE = .19; P < .05).Conclusions and Implications: Future studies may address the effect of prolonged exposure to healthy eating cartoons. Cartoons can be used to promote healthy food choices and can be a part of health promotion campaigns.This research was partially supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia through a European Union COMPETE program grant to Eva Conceicao (IF/01219/2014), and a postdoctoral scholarship (SFRH/BPD/94490/2013) to Ana Rita Vaz, cofinanced by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (UID/PSI/01662/2013) and the project PTDC/MHC-PCL/4974/2012. This research was supported, in part, by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education through national funds and cofinanced by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653). The authors would like to thank Nutri Ventures for adapting the episodes for the research purposes. They would also like to thank Ana Rito for her suggestions regarding the study protocol

Assessment of penetration of Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate into biological membranes by molecular dynamics

The present work, involves the simulation of the transport of a vitamin C derivative, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate (ATI), through human skin by molecular dynamics. Percutaneous absorption of the ATI molecule through the infundibulum, an important route of absorption into the hair follicle of the human skin, has been modeled and compared with the stratum corneum membrane. The comparative study was done, using molecular dynamics with Martini force field. In infundibulum, a single ATI molecule require more time to penetrate, and the data obtained suggested that a high concentration of ATI molecule accelerated the process of penetration. In conclusion, the ATI molecule was found to have more affinity towards the stratum corneum as compared towards the infundibulum and it followed a straight pathway to penetrate (until 600 ns of simulation). In infundibulum, it showed less affinity, more mobility and followed a lateral pathway. Thus, this work contributes to a better understanding of the different molecular interactions during percutaneous absorption of active molecules in these two different types of biological membranes.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Brazilian agencies CAPES, Finep and Fapesp (Project FINEP 01.10.0661-00, FAPESP 2011/13250-0, FAPESP 2013/17247-9, FAPESP 2014/05975-2, CAPES 88887068264/2014-00), of Institute of Research and Development, University of Vale Paraíba

Reconocimiento emocional en psicoterapia

There is a growing consensus about the importance of emotions in psychotherapy and the process of human experience and change. Although different psychotherapeutic approaches ascribe different roles to emotional processes, all of them emphazise their relative importance. The ability of clinicians to accurately identify the emotional states of their clients is conceptualized as an imoprtant clinical skill. However, little is know today about the way that the training as a therapist influences this skill. This paper reviews the relevant literature on emotion recognition and discusses some of its implications to the field of psychotherapy and clinical psychology.Existe un consenso creciente respecto a la importancia de las emociones en psicoterapia y en los procesos de experiencia y cambio humanos. Aunque los diferentes enfoques psicoterapéuticos adscriben roles diferentes a los procesos emocionales, todos enfatizan su importancia relativa. La capacidad de los terapeutas para identificar acertadamente los estados emocionales de sus clientes se concibe como una habilidad clínica importante. Sin embargo, poco sabemos de cómo afecta la formación terapéutica a esa habilidad. Este artículo revisa la literatura relevante sobre el reconocimiento emocional y discute algunas de sus implicaciones para el área de la psicoterapia y la psicología clínica

Time to improve and recover from depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems in a clinical trial

Results from an earlier clinical trial comparing narrative therapy with cognitive–behavioural therapy (Lopes et al., 2013) suggested that narrative therapy is efficacious for depression. However, there were significant differences in symptom reduction on the Beck Depression Inventory-II, favouring cognitive–behavioural therapy, if dropouts were included in the analysis, suggesting that time to recovery or improvement would differ in both treatments. Contrarily, results showed that treatment assignment was not a predictor for differential effect. Using a survival analytic approach, it was found that four sessions were necessary for 50% improvement and 16 sessions for 50% recovery. Additionally, depressive symptoms changes occurred significantly faster than interpersonal changes, again regardless of treatment assignment. These results support previous findings of the dose–response literature and of the phase model of change, with the advantage of being specific to psychotherapy with depressive clients.\ud \ud Key Practitioner Message\ud \ud • For 50% of clients with major depressive disorder, it takes four sessions to improve and 16 sessions to recover, regardless of whether they were treated with narrative therapy or cognitive–behavioural therapy. For those clients who recover, they do so by session 11.\ud \ud • Clients change depressive symptoms more consistently and much faster than they change interpersonal problems. For clients who will not recover during brief interventions and especially for clients who present strong interpersonal problems at onset, long-term treatment plans should be considered.\ud \ud • More emphasis should be laid on symptomatic relief in the early stages of treatment and on interpersonal issues at later stages

Weight loss trajectories and psychobehavioral predictors of outcome of primary and reoperative bariatric surgery: a 2-year longitudinal study

Background: Long-term behavioral and psychological aspects associated with weight outcomes after reoperative bariatric surgery have rarely been investigated.Objectives: This study sought (1) to identify differences in weight loss trajectories during the first 24 months in reoperative bariatric surgery (R group) and primary bariatric surgery (P group) and (2) to investigate pre- and postsurgery psychobehavioral predictors of weight loss and weight regain for both groups.Setting: Hospital center and university, Portugal.Methods: This longitudinal study compared an R group (n = 157) and a P group (n = 216). Patients were assessed at presurgery and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postsurgery. Assessment included the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and Repetitive Eating Questionnaire diagnostic interviews and a set of self-report measures assessing eating disorder symptomatology, grazing, depression, anxiety, and impulsive behavior.Results: The P and R groups presented a similar trajectory for the percentage of total weight loss (% TWL) (beta = 1.46, standard error = 1.96; Wald chi(2) = .55, P = .457) and weight regain (beta = 1.66, standard error = 2.72; Wald chi(2) = .24, P = .622). No significant presurgery predictors of weight loss and weight regain were found for the P and R groups. Regarding postsurgery predictors, higher Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire scores (Wald chi(2)((1)) = 6.88, P = .009) and grazing behavior (Wald chi(2)((1)) = 8.30, P = .004) were associated with less %TWL for both groups. Belonging to the P group emerged as a significant predictor of more weight loss (Wald chi(2)((1)) = 7.25, P = .007). Post surgery anxiety predicted less %TWL in R group (Wald chi(2)((1)) = 3.89, P = .043). Considering weight regain, higher postoperative disordered eating (global Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire; Wald chi(2)((1)) = 4.66, P = .031) was associated with increased weight regain for the P and R groups.Conclusions: Problematic eating behaviors and psychological distress are significaThis study was partially conducted at Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), University of Minho, and supported by the 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), by grants to Eva Conceicao (IF/01219/2014 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028209) and doctoral scholarship to Ana Pinto-Bastos (SFRH/BD/104159/2014)

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora

Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil

Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora