Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-02-28"
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- Extracurricular music activities in school and school engagement: students’ and teachers’ perspectivesPublication . Costa, Marisa; Cruz, Isabel; Martins, Filipe; Veríssimo, Lurdes; Castro, IsabelMusic and the arts are of growing interest in promoting success in school and psychological development of young people in general. However, there are few studies focused on the relationship between music and, more specifically on school engagement of vulnerable students. Thus, this exploratory study aims to understand the perceived impact of student participation in a school percussion group on school engagement. The research followed a qualitative methodology through individual semi-structured interviews. Six pupils aged between eleven and fifteen, two teachers of these pupils and two of the percussion group facilitators took part in the study. The results reveal a positive impact perceived by the participants arising from participation in the percussion group, with emphasis on the behavioural dimension of school engagement. Considering the relation between school engagement and learning processes, promoting school engagement through musical activities could be an innovative strategy to promote school success.
- Does the nature of added bioactive lipids affect the biological properties of yogurts? — case study coconut and avocado oilsPublication . Machado, Manuela; Rodríguez-Alcalá, Luís M.; Gomes, Ana Maria; Pintado, ManuelaBioactive lipids play an important role in human health and their benefits are linked to their chemical nature; for example, medium-chain fatty acids can have an important contribution to body weight management. This work aimed to test a strategy to enhance the quality profile and gastrointestinal tract resistance of previously developed vegetable oil-functionalized yogurts and further probe the biological potential of functionalized yogurts. Fortification with coconut and avocado vegetable oils led to increased nutritional value through an increase in essential fatty acids content, particularly in yogurts with vegetable oil bigels. One of the main problems with bioactive fatty acids fortification is their poor stability during in vitro digestion and consequently poor bioavailability. Despite this, the digested samples decreased lipid accumulation in Hep G2 and 3T3-L1 cells Functionalized yogurts were also responsible for high improvements in adiponectin secretion (35% for COY, 46% for CBY, 53% for AOY, and 48% ABY) compared with control yogurt. Moreover, in the inflammatory model, a reduction between 30% (for control yogurt) and 70% (for CBY) was observed for IL-6 secretion in LPS-stimulated cells. Considering these results, yogurt’s fortification with vegetable oils can be a viable alternative strategy to be scaled up for obesity management.