The pectoralis minor muscle and shoulder movement-related impairments and pain: Rationale, assessment and management

The adaptive shortening or tightness of the pectoralis minor muscle (PMm) is one of the potential biomechanical mechanisms associated with altered scapular alignment at rest and scapular motion during arm elevation (scapular dyskinesis) in patients with shoulder complaints. This masterclass briefly reviews the role of the PMm in shoulder movement-related impairments and provides a critical overview of the assessment of PMm tightness and the conventional approaches to increase its resting length and extensibility. A rehabilitation approach focused on PMm stretching and simultaneous optimization of the kinematic chain of arm elevation is also discussed, hoping to improve the management of shoulder movement-related impairments and pain.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Intrarater Agreement of Elbow Extension Range of Motion in the Upper Limb Neurodynamic Test 1 Using a Smartphone Application

To estimate the intrarater agreement of the Compass application of a smartphone in the assessment of elbow extension range of motion (EE-ROM) at pain onset and maximum tolerable point during the Upper Limb Neurodynamic Test 1 (ULNT1).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Annual dynamics of nutrients in a temporary stream in Southern Portugal: contributions of the primary producers and the drainage basin

Under the Mediterranean climatic conditions, the annual precipitation distribution determines that many streams are temporary with surface flow interruption during the summer dry period in contrast to the high discharges during floods, observed from late autumn to early spring. As water flows through the drainage basin it can pick up nutrients, sediments and pollutions. These can affect the ecological processes causing eutrophication where primary producers’ growth is accelerated. In this study, the nutrient (N and P) concentrations were determined in water and river sediments, over a 3 years period in a 3rd order temporary stream reach of 500 m (Pardiela stream in Guadiana basin). The nutrients concentration in the water and in the sediment shows a decrease during the flood events due to the high discharge, followed by a rapid increase, although the nutrients concentrations in the sediments were smaller than in the water. The primary producers were studied during the same 3 years period, in terms of biomass of macrophytes, periphyton, and leaves fall in order to describe the annual patters. Complementary, a rapid assessment of N, P and C concentration in macrophytes was analyzed with the objective to determine their nutrients contribution to the system in summer (1047.35 g/m2) although with low contents of P, N and C. Periphyton represents a basal contribution of biomass to the system, with high levels along the year, decreasing immediately after flood events and increasing subsequently. Contrary to what is described for the north hemisphere, in this study the leaves start to fall at the end of spring as surface flow decreases. The maximum leaves fall coincides with the maximum stream contraction at the end of summer, contributing to a high stream bed detritus biomass accumulation (143 g/m2). The highest nutrient input to the system comes from the drainage basin, especially after the flood events which also lead 3 weeks later to an increase in macrophyte biomass. The global results obtained in this study give a contribution to understanding the underlying processes in a temporay Mediterranean system which is a key issue to determine flexible and adaptive ecological management, promoting the conservation of natural ecosystems under global changes conditions

Colaboração terapêutica e expressão verbal de necessidades do cliente: um estudo comparativo de um caso de sucesso e um caso de insucesso

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia (área de especialização em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde)O presente estudo pretende analisar a associação entre a expressão verbal de necessidades dos clientes nos episódios de interação entre o terapeuta e o cliente referentes à colaboração terapêutica. Isto foi conseguido analisando dois casos (18 sessões) seguidos em psicoterapia de acordo com a abordagem cognitivo comportamental com diferentes resultados, um sucesso e um insucesso, considerando três fases do tratamento, inicial, intermédia e final. Para a codificação da expressão verbal de necessidades recorreu-se ao Marcador de Responsividade Terapêutica do Sistema Observacional da Responsividade Terapêutica – Expressão Verbal de Necessidades (EVN) – e ao Sistema de Codificação da Colaboração Terapêutica que permite codificar de forma sequencial os episódios interativos como de colaboração, não colaboração e de ambivalência. Ambos os sistemas se baseiam na análise do momento a momento da sessão psicoterapêutica. As análises realizadas permitiram concluir que existem associações entre os tipos de episódios interativos e a presença de EVN, entre os tipos de episódios interativos e os eixos de EVN, entre os episódios interativos, os eixos de EVN e o resultado do tratamento e entre os episódios interativos, os eixos de EVN e as fases do tratamento.The present study objective is to analyze the association between the verbal expression of needs of clients in interaction episodes between the therapist and the client linked to therapeutic collaboration. This was obtained by analyzing two psychotherapeutic cases (18 sessions) followed according an cognitive behavioral approach with different results, one with a poor outcome and one with a good outcome, taking into account three treatment stages, initial, intermediary and final. To code the verbal expression of needs it was used the Therapeutic Responsiveness Marker of the Therapeutic Responsiveness Observational System – Verbal Expression of Needs (VEN) – and the Therapeutic Collaboration Coding System that allows the sequential coding of interaction episode – collaborative, non-collaborative and ambivalent. Both systems are based on a moment by moment analysis of the therapeutic session. The analysis allowed the conclusion that there are associations between the types of interactive episodes and the presence of VEN, between the types of interactive episodes and the axis of VEN, between the types of interactive episodes, the axis of VEN and the cases outcome and between types of interactive episodes, the axis of VEN and treatment stages

Biotic and abiotic interactions in temporary summer pools of southern Portugal

In the south of Portugal, the summer season is characterized by reduced precipitation and high air temperatures, which causes the disruption of surface flow and subsequent formation of disconnect pools that may dry out entirely. During this dry period, there is a natural decrease of water quality standards due to the lack of water, leaving temporary rivers very vulnerable. Nevertheless, the remaining pools and surroundings become important in the survival of biological communities. Aquatic macroinvertebrates were sampled in several pools during the summer period (in the beginning and before the ending), in temporary tributaries of the Degebe River (Guadiana catchment), to quantify the response of macroinvertebrates communities to seasonal desiccation and habitat fragmentation. It we collected thousands individuals, representing 27 families of macroinvertebrates. Changes in the composition and abundance were affected by temporal variability in pool volume and location in the watershed. Smaller, upstream pools showed less diversity and abundance than downstream pools. Higher biological interactions and higher level of relationships with terrestrial ecosystems were perceptible for smaller summer pools. Pools were typically dominated by tolerant taxa such as midge larvae (Chironomidae), lesser boatman (Corixidae) and Oligochaeta, resulting in low diversity of communities over time. The results indicated the importance and impact of changes in habitat quality, size and connectivity in aquatic macroinvertebrates communities. They also revealed the importance of preservation and conservation of temporary ecosystems, particularly during the dry season, when the anthropogenic interference in ecosystems is more evident and can jeopardize the biodiversity maintenance of these systems

Political Marketing: Impact of social media on voting behavior

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceSocial media has become part of our daily routine. We scroll from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, and we are overloaded with information on the most diverse subjects. Political parties are aware and are building election campaigns on political propaganda on every social media. Given the fact that we are exposed to massive amounts of information on our social media accounts every day, it becomes important to discover if this new type of advertisement is helping political candidates, by filling citizens’ feeds with news, quotes and marketing interventions, to gather more votes. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media on voting behavior, especially if people feel more engaged with political parties who are more present on social media. In order to reach better conclusions, an experimental research was conducted with 101 social media users, with age above 18. For the analysis, we used SPSS 27.0. The results showed a significant positive relationship between social media and voting behavior, demonstrating that citizens’ who vote regularly are in some way influenced not only by the things candidates posts online, but also by the millions of opinions spread every day on influencers’ accounts. Given this, we can say that political parties can benefit from a good political propaganda on social media - people are getting more and more interested in politics, when it’s appealing

The role of Di-iron proteins in pathogen resistance

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D. degree in BiochemistryReactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) are produced by phagocytic cells of the human immune system to attack invading pathogens due to their ability to damage DNA and the metal centres of proteins. In order to survive inside the host, bacteria activate genes that encode detoxifier enzymes, like the Escherichia coli nitric oxide-reductase flavodiiron protein, also known as flavorubredoxin (FlRd), and repairing proteins, such as the E. coli YtfE di-iron protein involved in the recovery of damaged Fe-S centres. Using E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the work presented in this thesis aimed at unravelling: i) the role of E. coli FlRd in bacteria exposed to a combination of oxidative and nitrosative stresses, ii) the identification and characterisation of S. aureus YtfE homologue, iii) the study of E. coli YtfE mechanisms that allow the repair of damaged Fe-S clusters, and iv) the identification of proteins that interact with E. coli YtfE. To analyse the role of E. coli FlRd in cells submitted to both hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide, the transcription and expression of norV was explored by means of β-galactosidase and immunoblotting assays, respectively. Under these conditions, it was observed that the norV transcription and expression were hindered. To identify if the lack of norV expression was related to its regulator, the NorR transcription factor, the gene was cloned and expressed, and the protein was purified and the binding of nitric oxide to NorR in the presence of hydrogen peroxide was studied. EPR experiments revealed that upon incubation of NorR with nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide the oxidation promoted by H2O2 of the monoiron centre of NorR impairs the ligation of nitric oxide.(...

Posture, mobility and pulmonary function in COPD: an exploratory study

Altered postural alignment, joint mobility and muscle length of the upper quadrant have been associated with impaired pulmonary function in chronic respiratory diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. However, this has been scarcely studied in COPD. This study aimed to investigate whether postural alignment and mobility of the upper quadrant are related to pulmonary function in patients with COPD.publishe

Shoulder and thoracic spine mobility are impaired in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) often complain about difficulties in performing activities above shoulders height. These difficulties have been associated with altered lung mechanics; however, musculoskeletal mechanisms may also contribute to restrict the biomechanics of the upper body quadrant, increasing the effort. The purpose of this research was to explore the capacity of this population to fully elevate the arms in the standing upright position and the contribution of the thoracic spine posture and mobility to such task. Fifteen patients with COPD and nineteen age-matched healthy controls volunteered to participate in this study. Sagittal alignment and range of motion (ROM) of the thoracic spine and shoulder joint were measured, using a computer software, in digital lateral photographs obtained in 3 different testing positions: arms at rest, arms parallel to the ground (90º of shoulder flexion) and full arm elevation. Patients with COPD showed significantly less shoulder flexion (~11º) and thoracic spine extension (~5º) ROM than their healthy counterparts in full arm elevation position. These findings suggest that this population may show mobility impairments of the upper body quadrant that possibly contribute for further deteriorating functionality in their daily living.publishe