Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2022-01-01"
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- Impact of bioactive lipids on gut microbiotaPublication . Salsinha, Ana Sofia; Pintado, ManuelaDifferent bacteria cohabit different sites of the human body, with special relevance on the mutualistic collaboration responsible for the maintenance of the gastrointestinal tract’s homeostasis. Diversification and composition of the microbiota are influenced by several factors, including diet. Several beneficial effects have been linked with microbiota modulation and its dysregulation have been associated with several pathologies. Lipids are essential elements in gut permeability, being important in the modulation of the gut microbiome. Bioactive lipids like endocannabinoids, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and omega-3 fatty acids have been associated with microbiota modulation. The endocannabinoid system is involved in the modulation of gastric emptying, gastrointestinal motility, and inflammation. SCFAs are a source of energy to the colonic epithelium and maintain the integrity of the epithelial barrier. SCFAs also interact with the blood–brain barrier being able to modulate brain function. Omega-3 potentially restores the gut dysbiosis that is encountered in several pathologies. Thus, all these bioactive lipids have important functions in gut dysbiosis observed in pathologies like inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease.
- The European Green Deal: more than an exit strategy to the pandemic crisis, a building block of a sustainable European economic modelPublication . Bongardt, Annette; Torres, FranciscoThis article puts forward that the European Green Deal (EGD) is more than just another initiative for green growth. Instead, it adds a building block to the European economic model, alongside the single market and economic and monetary union. The pandemic crisis would therefore need to be addressed also through the EGD framework. We find that the Covid-19 crisis provided a missing link between the EGD's long-term objectives and conducive short-term policies. We discuss to what extent economic governance changes reinforce the role of the EGD as a pillar of the European Union economic model, contributing also to creating strong (political, institutional and society) dynamics in favour of sustainability and promoting integration.
- Metaphorical representation of Coronavirus in Spanish and Brazilian cartoonsPublication . Asenjo, Roberto; Gil, MaitêThe worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 epidemic has been profusely covered by the mass media in 2020. This research focuses on the metaphorical content of cartoons from prominent Spanish and Brazilian newspapers published online in March and April 2020. In these satirical drawings the virus is portrayed through two main modes of representation: i) pictorial and ii) verbal. The conceptual metaphors conveyed in each cartoon were identified, analysed, and classified into four source domain scenarios: i) arts and literature, ii) conflicts, iii) sports, and iv) games, and other. Mainly, two theories coming from Cognitive Linguistics, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, and the Multimodal Metaphor Theory, have been used to approach this contrastive study in which the metaphorical representation of Covid-19 serves to offer a humorous and persuasive point of view about the impact of the pandemic in the Spanish and Brazilian society and the way the most important politicians of each country dealt with the sanitary crisis.
- Challenges in functional foods development based on bioactive lipidsPublication . Machado, Manuela; Freitas, Ana C.; Pintado, Manuela; Gomes, Ana MariaLipids have an important role in human health. Their health benefits include the reduction of cardiovascular diseases, the improvement of cognitive function, and they act as antiinflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Despite these benefits, the consumption of these compounds is very low, due to the actual lifestyles and lack of knowledge by the general consumer. On the other hand, during food production and storage, the total amount of lipids decreases due to the oxidative processes. For this reason, many strategies have been developed to control the oxidation processes and their consequences and enhancing the amount of these bioactive compounds in foods. In this chapter, the principal challenges in functional foods developed are reviewed focusing on the oxidation processes. The encapsulation techniques and the addition of antioxidants are also addressed as the main strategies to solve the oxidation consequences.
- Impact of simulated human gastrointestinal digestion on the bioactive fraction of upcycled pineapple by-productsPublication . Gómez-García, Ricardo; Vilas-Boas, Ana A.; Oliveira, Ana; Amorim, Manuela; Teixeira, José A.; Pastrana, Lorenzo; Pintado, Maria Manuela; Campos, Débora A.Pineapple by-products (peels and stems) from fruit processing industries were evaluated to understand its potential application as a functional food. Therefore, the bioactive compounds of pineapple by-products were characterized for prebiotic and antioxidant activities. A total characterization of soluble carbohydrates profile (simples and complex carbohydrates), as well as polyphenols was performed, after removal of enzymatic fraction from pineapple crude juice, allowing the decrease of proteolytic activity and improving the other biological activities. Results showed that pineapple liquid fraction, from stem and peels, can be applied as a prebiotic enhancer, promoting the growth of five probiotic microorganisms (two strains of Lactobacillus sp. and three strains of Bifidobacterium sp.), as a single carbohydrate source. Moreover, through HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) analysis, 10 polyphenols were identified in pineapple liquid fractions, with some expected differences between both evaluated by-products. Gastrointestinal tract was simulated, in a continuous mode to understand the impact of pH changes and gastrointestinal enzymes into pineapple liquid fractions. Results showed a digestion of high molecular weight polysaccharides into small molecular weight tri-, di-, and monosaccharides. There was an increase of samples antioxidant activity through the gastrointestinal stage, followed by the release of specific polyphenols, such as chlorogenic, coumaric, and ferulic acids. The prebiotic activity did not improve throughout the simulation, in fact, the prebiotic potential decreased throughout the different stages.
- Covid-19 misinformation in Portuguese-speaking countries: agreement with content and associated factorsPublication . Sousa, Álvaro Francisco Lopes de; Schneider, Guilherme; Carvalho, Herica Emilia Félix de; Oliveira, Layze Braz de; Lima, Shirley Verônica Melo Almeida; Sousa, Anderson Reis de; Araújo, Telma Maria Evangelista de; Camargo, Emerson Lucas Silva; Oriá, Mônica Oliveira Batista; Ramos, Carmen Viana; Oliveira, Rodrigo Mota de; Almeida, Camila Aparecida Pinheiro Landim; Ferreira, Andrêa Jacqueline Fortes; Teixeira, Jules Ramon Brito; Lua, Iracema; Souza, Fernanda de Oliveira; Araújo, Tânia Maria de; Fronteira, Inês; Mendes, Isabel Amélia CostaIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a complex phenomenon called the “infodemic” has emerged, compromising coping with the pandemic. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of agreement with misinformation about COVID-19 and to identify associated factors. A web survey was carried out in Portuguese-speaking countries in two stages: 1. the identification of misinformation circulating in the included countries; 2. a multicentric online survey with residents of the included countries. The outcome of the study was agreement or disagreement with misinformation about COVID-19. Multivariate analyzes were conducted using the Poisson regression model with robust variance, a logarithmic link function, and 95% confidence intervals. The prevalence of agreement with misinformation about COVID-19 was 63.9%. The following factors increased the prevalence of this outcome: having a religious affiliation (aPR: 1454, 95% CI: 1393–1517), having restrictions on leisure (aPR: 1230, 95% CI: 1127–1342), practicing social isolation (aPR: 1073, 95% CI: 1030–1118), not avoiding agglomeration (aPR: 1060, 95% CI: 1005–1117), not seeking/receiving news from scientific sources (aPR: 1153, 95% CI: 1068–1245), seeking/receiving news from three or more non-scientific sources (aPR: 1114, 95% CI: 1049–1182), and giving credibility to news carried by people from social networks (aPR: 1175, 95% CI: 1104–1251). There was a high prevalence of agreement with misinformation about COVID-19. The quality, similarity, uniformity, and acceptance of the contents indicate a concentration of themes that reflect “homemade”, simple, and easy methods to avoid infection by SARS-CoV-2, compromising decision-making and ability to cope with the disease.
- Sequential injection spectrophotometric method for screening bromate produced as an ozonation water disinfection by-productPublication . Mesquita, Raquel B. R.; Ferreira, Francisca T. S. M.; Cerqueira, Ana; Rangel, António O. S. S.The aim of this work was the development of an automatic sequential injection analysis method to monitor the ozonation process for water disinfection. The determination was based on the reaction between bromate and o-dianisidine in the presence of bromide in acidic medium. The determination parameters were studied and adjusted to enable bromate quantification in the range 0.35-4.0 mg BrO3-/L with a limit of detection of 20 μg BrO3-/L. The choice of a sequential injection procedure enabled a minimal consumption of reagents and no need for sample pre-treatment. The developed sequential injection proved to be accurate with < 5% relative deviation when compared to ICP-MS and an average of 101% in recovery percentages studies. It was effectively applied to monitor an ozonation process enabling the follow-up of the process with real-time quantification of the bromate content.
- Mental health and psychological impact during COVID-19 pandemic: an online survey of Portuguese higher education studentsPublication . Laranjeira, Carlos; Dixe, Maria Anjos; Valentim, Olga; Charepe, Zaida; Querido, AnaThe COVID-19 pandemic has had significant psychological impact on vulnerable groups, particularly students. The present study aims to investigate the mental and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated factors in a sample of Portuguese higher education students. An online cross-sectional study was conducted among 1522 higher education students selected by convenience sampling. The survey assessed mental health symptoms as well as sociodemographic variables, health-related perceptions, and psychological factors. Results were fitted to binary and multivariable logistic regression models. The overall prevalences of stress, anxiety, and depression were 35.7%, 36.2%, and 28.5%, respectively. Poor mental health outcomes were related with being female, having no children, living with someone with chronic disease, facing hopelessness, and lacking resilient coping. Future studies focusing on better ways to promote mental health and wellbeing among students are warranted. It is necessary to gather more evidence on the post-pandemic mental health using robust study designs and standardized assessment tools.
- The challenge of FinTech from the perspective of german incumbent banks : an exploratory study investigating industry trends and considering the future of bankingPublication . Wendlinger, Benedikt; Rajsingh, PeterThe financial industry is undergoing a surge of investment in start-ups, mostly triggered by innovations in technologies. Incumbent banks are being put to the test to assess whether they can keep up with the speed of FinTech companies. New business models seek to disrupt the market while traditional banks try to secure their position. The aim of this study is to forecast how the German financial market will innovate, based on interviews conducted with experts as well as through analyses of industry data. In addition, an outline was created to assess the development of the industry and thus provide stakeholders with a better understanding of their future positioning. Different aspects including current challenges, core competencies, innovation, FinTech, and decentralized finance were considered and examined. This study fills a gap in existing research by comparing industry constraints with technology opportunities to provide a realistic assessment concerning market velocity for a long-term outlook.
- Avaliação da qualidade microbiológica de gelados comestíveis comercializados por ambulantes em refeitórios de um campus universitário da cidade de Teresina-PiauíPublication . Cruz, Andreson Félix da; Mendes, Ana Victória da Silva; Santos, Andressa Amorim dos; Barros, Izabel Costa; Ribeiro, Alessandra Braga; Albuquerque, Waleska Ferreira deO dindin é um alimento gelado e refrescante, que pode ser classificado quanto a origem da matéria-prima utilizada na produção como natural ou artificial e de acordo com a RDC nº 12, de 02 de janeiro de 2001, a qual estabelece parâmetros microbiológicos para o controle sanitário na área de alimentos, este alimento é classificado como gelado comestível. Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a qualidade microbiológica de gelados comestíveis comercializados em refeitórios de um campus universitário da cidade de Teresina-Piauí. Para tanto, foram coletadas 23 amostras adquiridas de 05 ambulantes, no período de outubro de 2019 a março de 2020. Após a coleta, as amostras foram preparadas para análise pelo método de diluição decimal seriada e forma submetidas em seguida a testes presuntivos e confirmatórios para enumeração de coliformes a 35 °C, de coliformes a 45 °C e pesquisa de Escherichia coli; realizou-se a pesquisa de estafilococos coagulase positiva e teste de presença ou ausência de Salmonella sp. Os resultados sugerem que 56,50% das amostras indicaram contaminação por coliformes a 35 °C e que 43,50% das amostras encontravam-se com contagem de coliformes a 45 °C superior ao estabelecido pela legislação e que não houve indicativo da presença de E. coli em 100% das amostras analisadas. A pesquisa de estafilococos coagulase positiva e Salmonella sp, apresentaram resultados em conformidade com a legislação. Parte das amostras apresentam qualidade microbiológica insatisfatória, sendo necessária a revisão das etapas de produção e armazenamento do produto final quanto ao aspecto sanitário.