Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2022-03-01"
Now showing 1 - 10 of 16
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Screening of novel bioactive peptides from goat casein: in silico to in vitro validationPublication . Coscueta, Ezequiel R.; Batista, Patrícia; Gomes, José Erick Galindo; Silva, Roberto da; Pintado, Maria ManuelaFood-derived bioactive peptides are of great interest to science and industry due to evolving drivers of food product innovation, including health and wellness. This study aims to draw attention through a critical study on how bioinformatics analysis is employed in the identification of bioactive peptides in the laboratory. An in silico analysis (PeptideRanker, BIOPEP, AHTpin, and mAHTPred) of a list of peptides from goat casein hydrolysate was performed to predict which sequences could potentially be bioactive. To validate the predictions, the in vitro antihypertensive potential of the five peptides with the highest potential was first measured. Then, for three of these, gastrointestinal digestion was simulated in vitro, followed by the analysis of the resulting ACE inhibitory activity as well as antioxidant capacity. We thus observed that the use of new computational biology technologies to predict peptide sequences is an important research tool, but they should not be used alone and complementarity with various in vitro and in vivo assays is essential.
- Positive youth development in adolescencePublication . Santos, Teresa
- Conspiracy mentality and political orientation across 26 countriesPublication . Imhoff, Roland; Zimmer, Felix; Klein, Olivier; António, João H.C.; Babinska, Maria; Bangerter, Adrian; Bilewicz, Michal; Blanuša, Nebojša; Bovan, Kosta; Bužarovska, Rumena; Cichocka, Aleksandra; Delouvée, Sylvain; Douglas, Karen M.; Dyrendal, Asbjørn; Etienne, Tom; Gjoneska, Biljana; Graf, Sylvie; Gualda, Estrella; Hirschberger, Gilad; Kende, Anna; Kutiyski, Yordan; Krekó, Peter; Krouwel, Andre; Mari, Silvia; Đorđević, Jasna Milošević; Panasiti, Maria Serena; Pantazi, Myrto; Petkovski, Ljupcho; Porciello, Giuseppina; Rabelo, André; Radu, Raluca Nicoleta; Sava, Florin A.; Schepisi, Michael; Sutton, Robbie M.; Swami, Viren; Thórisdóttir, Hulda; Turjačanin, Vladimir; Wagner-Egger, Pascal; Žeželj, Iris; Prooijen, Jan Willem vanPeople differ in their general tendency to endorse conspiracy theories (that is, conspiracy mentality). Previous research yielded inconsistent findings on the relationship between conspiracy mentality and political orientation, showing a greater conspiracy mentality either among the political right (a linear relation) or amongst both the left and right extremes (a curvilinear relation). We revisited this relationship across two studies spanning 26 countries (combined N = 104,253) and found overall evidence for both linear and quadratic relations, albeit small and heterogeneous across countries. We also observed stronger support for conspiracy mentality among voters of opposition parties (that is, those deprived of political control). Nonetheless, the quadratic effect of political orientation remained significant when adjusting for political control deprivation. We conclude that conspiracy mentality is associated with extreme left- and especially extreme right-wing beliefs, and that this non-linear relation may be strengthened by, but is not reducible to, deprivation of political control.
- Telework and mental health during COVID-19Publication . Mendonça, Inês; Coelho, Franz; Ferrajão, Paulo; Abreu, Ana MariaCOVID-19 has come to change societal organization. Due to lockdowns, work typologies have been rethought and telework has gained strength. However, the impact of the constant use of information and communication technologies on the mental health of workers needs to be considered. We aimed to investigate the impact of different work conditions on mental health, to which end we disseminated an online questionnaire during lockdowns to assess imagined surveillance, mobile maintenance expectation, communication overload, feelings of entrapment, depression, anxiety, stress, and flourishing in four groups (employed in telework, employed on-site, employed in layoff, and unemployed). We computed mean comparisons and serial mediations. We show that depression and anxiety were more prevalent in women; parents flourished more than people without children; and people with a higher level of education feel more entrapment. Crucially, we show that telework was associated with imagined surveillance and communication overload, which mediated the association with mobile maintenance expectations and entrapment (which was exacerbated by parenthood), impacting mental health and the quality of life. However, this was also partially observed in the remaining work conditions. Finally, flourishing worked as a protector against mental health issues in all work conditions. We discuss this given the massification of digital migration.
- Intra-industry trade, involuntary unemployment and macroeconomic stabilityPublication . Riche, Antoine Le; Lloyd-Braga, Teresa; Modesto, LeonorWe introduce taste for variety in a one-sector model of differentiated products with productive labor externalities, considering two OLG countries, one with wage rigidity and the other with full employment. After opening the borders to capital mobility and intra-industry trade, steady state output and real wages improve in the full employment country and the saddle path stability, characterizing this country under autarky, will prevail in the globalized world if this economy is big enough. Unemployment increases in the country with wage rigidity and, for intermediate plausible values of both the current propensity to consume and of the labor externality, indeterminacy, which emerges in the rigid wage economy in autarky, will be exported to the world if this country is relatively big. Finally, we show that globalization leads to the appearance of stable deterministic cycles in activity, employment and the trade account, both through flip and Hopf bifurcations, when the world steady state is locally determinate, for empirically plausible low degrees of labor externalities. This implies that trade cycles occur in the absence of shocks to fundamentals, and even without uncertainty in expectations.
- Social positioning and the pursuit of powerPublication . Martins, Nuno OrnelasTony Lawson has recently advanced a theory of social positioning, in terms of which various aspects of social reality are conceptualised. A central idea of the theory of social positioning is that social relations are ultimately power relationships, which structure how social phenomena are organised. This article further explores this idea, while also conceptualising various forms of power, such as coercion, manipulation, domination and subjectification, drawing on the theory of social positioning. In so doing, the theory of social positioning is also used to explain how institutionalisation influences the dynamics of empowerment and disempowerment, and its implications for human development and dehumanisation.
- Women, business and the law 2022Publication . The World Bank; Carvalho, Catarina de OliveiraWomen, Business and the Law 2022 is the eighth in a series of annual studies measuring progress toward gender equality in 190 economies by examining the laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunity. The project presents eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they move through their lives and careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. This year, the study also includes preliminary findings and analysis of pilot data collected on the provision of childcare and the operation of laws in practice. Examining the economic decisions women make throughout their working lives, as well as progress toward gender equality over the last 50 years, the study is meant to inform research and policy discussions about the state of women’s inclusion. By presenting powerful examples of change and highlighting the gaps still remaining, Women, Business and the Law 2022 is a vital tool in the work of ensuring economic empowerment for all. The data are current as of October 1, 2021.
- Self-reported practices by Portuguese consumers regarding eggs’ safety: an analysis based on critical consumer handling pointsPublication . Junqueira, Luís; Truninger, Mónica; Almli, Valérie L.; Ferreira, Vânia; Maia, Rui; Teixeira, PaulaIn Europe, salmonellosis has been ranked as the second leading cause of hospitalization and death due to the consumption of contaminated food. Information about consumers’ food safety perception, knowledge and practices in the domestic environment is lacking in order to define the main intervention opportunities to obtain a significant reduction in the occurrence of foodborne salmonellosis. We conducted an on-line survey of the Portuguese population on self-reported domestic egg handling and occurrence of illness from egg consumption, which were analysed in a Critical Consumer Handling (CCH) framework. Respondents (N = 927) reported behaviours associated with high risk of Salmonella infection, namely the frequent consumption of eggs from non-controlled sources (43%) and of dishes prepared with uncooked or lightly cooked eggs. Other risk related practices, from egg storage until consumption, were also found to be common. However, when buying eggs respondents value safety-related criteria above others – use-by date (highly valued by 72.8%), lack of cracks (72.2%) and cleanliness (48%). Association of eggs with Salmonella contamination was recognized by 65.8% of the respondents; 72.2% declared to have never been sick after eating eggs. In addition to global egg safety awareness messages, future campaigns should prioritize shifting consumers towards eggs with low probability of being contaminated and encouraging the use of pasteurized eggs, in particular when used in recipes that are not fully heat treated. The importance of storing backyards eggs at refrigeration temperature needs to be communicated.
- Reply to Nielsen et al. social mindfulness is associated with countries’ environmental performance and individual environmental concernPublication . Doesum, Niels J. van; Murphy, Ryan O.; Gallucci, Marcello; Aharonov-Majar, Efrat; Athenstaedt, Ursula; Au, Wing Tung; Bai, Liying; Böhm, Robert; Bovina, Inna; Buchan, Nancy R.; Chen, Xiao Ping; Dumont, Kitty B.; Engelmann, Jan B.; Eriksson, Kimmo; Euh, Hyun; Fiedler, Susann; Friesen, Justin; Friesen, Justin; Garcia, Camilo; González, Roberto; Graf, Sylvie; Growiec, Katarzyna; Guimond, Serge; Hřebíčková, Martina; Immer-Bernold, Elizabeth; Joireman, Jeff; Karagonlar, Gokhan; Kawakami, Kerry; Kiyonari, Toko; Kou, Yu; Kyrtsis, Alexandros Andreas; Lay, Siugmin; Leonardelli, Geoffrey J.; Li, Norman P.; Li, Yang; Maciejovsky, Boris; Manesi, Zoi; Mashuri, Ali; Moser, Karin S.; Moták, Ladislav; Netedu, Adrian; Platow, Michael J.; Raczka-Winkler, Karolina; Folmer, Christopher P. Reinders; Reyna, Cecilia; Romano, Angelo; Shalvi, Shaul; Simão, Cláudia; Stivers, Adam W.; Strimling, Pontus; Tsirbas, Yannis; Utz, Sonja; Meij, Leander van der; Waldzus, Sven; Wang, Yiwen; Weber, Bernd; Weisel, Ori; Wildschut, Tim; Winter, Fabian; Wu, Junhui; Yong, Jose C.; Lange, Paul A.M. van
- Sampling methods for outdoor sculptures: comparison of swabs and cryogels by flow cytometry as novel alternatives for assessment and quantification of microbial contaminationPublication . Silva, Nádia C.; Pintado, Manuela; Moreira, Patrícia R.Flow cytometry was evaluated for the first time for the microbiological characterisation of samples collected from the surfaces of stone and mortar sculptures. The study was carried out on outdoor sculptures located in the district of Porto (Portugal), from which samples were collected using swabs and poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) (poly(HEMA)) cryogels as non-invasive sampling methods. The use of poly(HEMA) cryogels was tested as an alternative to swabbing due to the difficulties often encountered in sampling stone surfaces and retrieving microorganisms from swab fibres. The quantification of the microorganisms collected by the two sampling methods and the determination of their cell viability were performed using a combination of the fluorochromes thiazole orange (TO) and propidium iodide (PI). Both methods were effective to collect samples for analysis by flow cytometry, which proved to be a technique of interest and potential use for biodeterioration studies of cultural heritage (CH). Data visualisation of viable and non-viable microbial cells was clearer with cryogels, although higher concentrations of total microorganisms were achieved with swabs. Our results show that swab sampling is a more adequate method, although poly(HEMA) cryogels can be an option to consider for specific microbial viability analyses for biodeterioration evaluation of stone artworks.