Life Design Counseling outcome and process: a case study with an adolescent

This article aims to explore the relationship between clients' narrative transformation and the promotion of vocational decidedness and career maturity in a mid-adolescent case of Life Design Counseling (LDC). To assess LDC outcomes the Vocational Certainty Scale and the Career Maturity Inventory — Form C were used before and after the intervention. To intensively analyze the process of LDC change two measures of narrative change were used: the Innovative Moments Coding System (IMCS), as a measure of innovation emergence, and the Return to the Problem Coding System (RPCS), as a measure of ambivalence towards change. The results show that the three LDC sessions produced a significant change in vocational certainty but not in career maturity. Findings confirm that the process of change, according to the IMCS, is similar to the one observed in previous studies with adults. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds and when applicable co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (UID/PSI/01662/2013)University of Lisbon. CICPS

Adaptation and Validation of the Individual Lifestyle Profile Scale of Portuguese Older Adults Living at Home

Abstract: (1) Background: Unadjusted lifestyles have been the main cause of risk for the loss of years of healthy life. However, currently valid and reliable instruments to assess the lifestyles of the elderly are quite long and difficult to interpret. For this reason, the objective of this study was to adapt and validate the ‘Individual Lifestyle Profile’ (ILP) scale in a sample of elderly people; (2) Methods: A methodological study was carried out and a sample of 300 older adults enrolled in a Health Unit located in the North of Portugal was used, who responded to the scale. We examined internal consistency, predictive validity, and discriminative ability; (3) Results: After the Exploratory Factorial analysis, a solution was found with four factors that explain a variance of 67.8%. The designation of the factors was changed from the original scale, with the exception of one dimension, and they were called Health Self-management, Social Participation and Group Interaction, Citizenship and Physical Activity. The total internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) was 0.858, ranging from 0.666 to 0.860 in the mentioned factors; (4) Conclusions: The ILP scale proved to be easy to apply and presented a good reliability and validity index, based on internal consistency, AFE and AFC. The scale allows evaluating the lifestyle of older adults, and its use will be aimed at modifying behaviors associated with negative lifestyles of older adults and their individual needs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Variabilidade espacial da resistência mecânica à penetração de um solo cultivado com cana-de-açúcar

The continued soil use and mechanized traffic during the cultivation of sugar cane can promote alterations in the physical properties of soil, causing a fall in production. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the spatial variability of the penetration resistance of the soil, the mechanized harvesting system of sugar cane. The experiment was conducted at the farm model, located in Lambari D'Oeste-MT, on an area approximately 15 ha in dystrophic Red Latosol, in layers of 0-5cm; 5-10cm; 10-15cm; 15-20cm; 20-25cm; 25-30cm; 30-35cm; 35-40cm; 40-45cm. The experimental parcel consisted of an experimental mesh of 110 points. To determine the soil penetration resistance was used a penetrometer impact. The samples were removed for determination of water content in soil. The values were analyzed using statistical analysis exploratory and geostatistics for identification space variability and spacialization of penetration resistance in the study area. The results expressed spatial dependence in the variable on all evaluated layers. Concludes that the spatial dependence was found for the penetration soil resistance in all analyzed layers, except the surface layer (0-10 cm) the increase of the penetration resistance has identified a compaction in depth.O uso contínuo do solo e o tráfego sem controle de máquinas durante o cultivo da cana-de-açúcar podem promover alterações nas propriedades físicas do solo, provocando queda na produção. Objetivou-se com o presente trabalho avaliar a variabilidade espacial da resistência mecânica à penetração de um solo, no sistema de colheita mecanizada da cana-de-açúcar. O experimento foi conduzido na fazenda Modelo, localizada em Lambari D’Oeste (MT), em uma área de aproximadamente 15 ha, em LATOSSOLO VERMELHO Distrófico. A parcela experimental foi formada por uma malha experimental com 110 pontos, na linha de cultivo, sem medição de tráfego de máquinas, os pontos de amostragem foram georreferenciados com GPS, no sistema de projeção em UTM. Para determinação da resistência do solo à penetração utilizou-se um penetrômetro de impacto. Foram retiradas amostras das camadas nas profundidades de 0 - 15 cm, 15 - 30 cm e 30 - 45 cm, e foram também realizadas amostragem para determinação do conteúdo de água no solo. Os valores foram analisados utilizando-se estatística como analise exploratória e por geoestatística para identificação da variabilidade espacial e espacialização da resistência à penetração na área de estudo. Os resultados expressaram dependência espacial na variável em todas as camadas avaliadas. Conclui-se que a dependência espacial foi encontrada para a resistência do solo à penetração em todas as camadas analisadas na cultura da cana-de-açúcar colhida mecanicamente. Na camada de 10 - 45 cm ocorreu um aumento da resistência à penetração

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PELLETS OF Pinus sp. TORREFIED IN A SCREW TYPE REACTOR

The combination of pelletization and torrefaction allows for obtaining pellets with higher energetic density. Thus, biomass becomes more attractive and usable for energetic purposes, and therefore, knowing the chemical properties becomes important to guarantee the quality of the torrefied pellets for fuel. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of torrefaction of Pinus sp. pellets on their chemical properties. The wood was previously transformed into particles and dried to 16% moisture content for further pelleting. For the torrefaction, the pellets were dried to 0% moisture content and subjected to heat treatment in a screw type reactor at the temperatures of 210, 250, and 290 °C and the times of 10, 20, and 30 minutes. In order to determine the chemical properties, the structural chemical composition, immediate chemical composition, elemental composition, and thermogravimetric analysis were performed. The torrefaction promoted significant changes in the chemical properties of Pinus sp. pellets, especially regarding the proportional increase of carbon content in detriment to oxygen reduction, increase of the thermal stability, and proportional increase of the lignin content by the reduction of the hemicelluloses. This improves the energetic quality of the biomass and turns it into a more competitive fuel when compared to fossil fuels.The combination of pelletization and torrefaction allows for obtaining pellets with higher energetic density. Thus, biomass becomes more attractive and usable for energetic purposes, and therefore, knowing the chemical properties becomes important to guarantee the quality of the torrefied pellets for fuel. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of torrefaction of Pinus sp. pellets on their chemical properties. The wood was previously transformed into particles and dried to 16% moisture content for further pelleting. For the torrefaction, the pellets were dried to 0% moisture content and subjected to heat treatment in a screw type reactor at the temperatures of 210, 250, and 290 °C and the times of 10, 20, and 30 minutes. In order to determine the chemical properties, the structural chemical composition, immediate chemical composition, elemental composition, and thermogravimetric analysis were performed. The torrefaction promoted significant changes in the chemical properties of Pinus sp. pellets, especially regarding the proportional increase of carbon content in detriment to oxygen reduction, increase of the thermal stability, and proportional increase of the lignin content by the reduction of the hemicelluloses. This improves the energetic quality of the biomass and turns it into a more competitive fuel when compared to fossil fuels

Integrating factors associated with complex wound healing into a mobile application: findings from a cohort study

Complex, chronic or hard-to-heal wounds are a prevalent health problem worldwide, with significant physical, psychological and social consequences. This study aims to identify factors associated with the healing process of these wounds and develop a mobile application for wound care that incorporates these factors. A prospective multicentre cohort study was conducted in nine health units in Portugal, involving data collection through a mobile application by nurses from April to October 2022. The study followed 46 patients with 57 wounds for up to 5 weeks, conducting six evaluations. Healing time was the main outcome measure, analysed using the Mann–Whitney test and three Cox regression models to calculate risk ratios. The study sample comprised various wound types, with pressure ulcers being the most common (61.4%), followed by venous leg ulcers (17.5%) and diabetic foot ulcers (8.8%). Factors that were found to impair the wound healing process included chronic kidney disease (U = 13.50; p = 0.046), obesity (U = 18.0; p = 0.021), non-adherence to treatment (U = 1.0; p = 0.029) and interference of the wound with daily routines (U = 11.0; p = 0.028). Risk factors for delayed healing over time were identified as bone involvement (RR 3.91; p < 0.001), presence of odour (RR 3.36; p = 0.007), presence of neuropathy (RR 2.49; p = 0.002), use of anti-inflammatory drugs (RR 2.45; p = 0.011), stalled wound (RR 2.26; p = 0.022), greater width (RR 2.03; p = 0.002), greater depth (RR 1.72; p = 0.036) and a high score on the healing scale (RR 1.21; p = 0.001). Integrating the identified risk factors for delayed healing into the assessment of patients and incorporating them into a mobile application can enhance decision-making in wound care.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of therapeutic and aerobic exercise programs on pain, neuromuscular activation, and bite force in patients with temporomandibular disorders

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Pain in masticatory muscles is one of the most frequent symptoms in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and can lead to changes in the patterns of neuromuscular activity of masticatory muscles and decrease in bite force. This study assesses the effects of three eight-week exercise programs on pain intensity, neuromuscular activation, and bite force of masticatory muscles in patients with TMD. Forty-five patients were divided into three groups: a therapeutic exercise program (G1), a therapeutic and aerobic exercise program (G2), and an aerobic exercise program (G3). The masticatory muscles’ pain was evaluated using the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS), surface electromyographic (sEMG) activity of the masseter was recorded during maximum voluntary contraction and at rest, and bite force was evaluated using a dynamometer. These parameters were evaluated twice at baseline (A01/A02), at the end of the eight-week intervention period (A1), and 8–12 weeks after the end of the intervention (A2). After intervention, G2 showed the best results, with a significantly decrease in masticatory muscles’ pain and increase in bite force. These results suggest that interventions to reduce pain in patients with TMD should be multimodal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multidimensional Frailty and Lifestyles of Community-Dwelling Older Portuguese Adults

Abstract: (1) Background: Lifestyles are referred to as conditioning factors for the frailty of older adults. However, there are few studies that explore its association. The objective of the present study is to analyze the association between sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors of older adults people with multidimensional frailty. (2) Methods: Descriptive and correlational study carried out with older adults people registered in a Health Unit in Portugal. Data were collected through a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire and application of the Individual Lifestyle Profile and Tilburg Frailty Index to assess the lifestyles and multidimensional frailty of older adults, respectively. This last instrument, being of a multidimensional nature, assesses not only physical, but also psychological and social frailty, with a cut-off point of 6. (3) Results: Of the 300 older adults who participated, most were female (60.3%) and had a mean age of 81.34 6.75 years. Moreover, 60.3% of the sample were frail older adults. Gender, marital status, number of household members, number of chronic diseases, number of daily medications, self-perception of health status and lifestyle and use of a walking device were associated with multidimensional frailty (p 0.001). Healthy eating habits, physical activity, relational behaviour, preventive behaviour, and stress management were significantly associated with lower physical, psychological, and social frailty (p 0.001). (4) Conclusions: When community health workers are aware of multidimensional frailty predictors and their components, they can intervene early and, consequently, delay the onset and progression of frailty in older adults.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio