Impact of taxes on competition: the legal status quo in the European Union

Dissertação de mestrado em Direito dos Negócios, Europeu e Transnacional

Nutritional status and food intake at workplace as health indicators for industrial workers

This study aimed to verify the correlation among the nutritional composition of the food consumed in the work environment, the energy expenditure and the nutritional status of workers from different sectors (administration and production) in different industries. The anthropometric data, in addition to the energy expenditure and food intake at lunch were evaluated for 292 workers, all of them included in the Brazilian Worker Food Program (also called PAT). The food consumption was assessed from the direct observation of the meal, for five consecutive days. The obtained data were analyzed by Pearson correlation test and by a Principal Components Analysis. Prevalence of overweight was detected in the studied population, according to the Body Mass Index (BMI). A statistically significant difference was found in terms of the energy expenditure of physical activity and daily energy expenditure in relation to gender and the working sector. The obtained results indicate that there is significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) between the following variables: body weight and BMI (r = 0.84), weight and daily energy expenditure (DEE) (r = 0.52), BMI and DEE (r = 0.27), DEE and energy (r = 0.38), and energy and lipid intake (r = 0.50). These findings seems to indicate the importance of ensuring an adequate balance of nutrients at meals, due to the heterogeneity of workers, in particular in the case of those workers who perform tasks or functions requiring less energy expenditure.

Análise do desempenho motor e sua relação com status social em crianças de uma escola

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino de Educação Física nos Ensinos Básico e Secundário

Effect of short chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS) on immunological status and gut microbiota of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) reared at two temperatures

The effects of dietary short chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS) incorporation on hematology, fish immune status, gut microbiota composition, digestive enzymes activities, and gut morphology, was evaluated in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) juveniles reared at 18 °C and 25 °C. For that purpose, fish with 32 g were fed diets including 0, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5% scFOS during 8 weeks. Overall, scFOS had only minor effects on gilthead sea bream immune status. Lymphocytes decreased in fish fed the 0.1% scFOS diet. Fish fed the 0.5% scFOS diet presented increased nitric oxide (NO) production, while total immunoglobulins (Ig) dropped in those fish, but only in the ones reared at 25 °C. Red blood cells, hemoglobin, bactericidal activity and NO were higher at 25 °C, whereas total white blood cells, circulating thrombocytes, monocytes and neutrophils were higher at 18 °C. In fish fed scFOS, lymphocytes were higher at 18 °C. Total Ig were also higher at 18 °C but only in fish fed 0.1% and 0.5% scFOS diets. No differences in gut bacterial profiles were detected by PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) between dietary treatments. However, group's similarity was higher at 25 °C. Digestive enzymes activities were higher at 25 °C but were unaffected by prebiotics incorporation. Gut morphology was also unaffected by dietary prebiotic incorporation. Overall, gut microbiota composition, digestive enzymes activities and immunity parameters were affected by rearing temperature whereas dietary scFOS incorporation had only minor effects on these parameters. In conclusion, at the tested levels scFOS does not seem worthy of including it in gilthead sea bream juveniles diets.

Ex situ collection of Limonium spp.: cytogenetic and reproductive characterization for the conservation of rare species

Dissertação mestrado em Biologia Molecular, Biotecnologia e Bioempreendedorismo em Plantas

HPV DNA testing with cytology triage in cervical cancer screening: Influence of revealing HPV infection status

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) status might influence a cytotechnician's assessment of cellular abnormalities. The authors compared original cytotechnicians' Papanicolaou (Pap) readings for which HPV status was concealed with Pap rereads for which HPV status was revealed separately for 3 screening populations. METHODS: Previously collected cervical Pap smears and clinical data were obtained from the Canadian Cervical Cancer Screening Trial (study A), the Democratic Republic of Congo Community-Based Screening Study (study B), and the Brazilian Investigation into Nutrition and Cervical Cancer Prevention (study C). Smears were reread with knowledge of HPV status for all HPV-positive women as well as a sample of HPV-negative women. Diagnostic performance of Pap cytology was compared between original readings and rereads. RESULTS: A total of 1767 Pap tests were reread. Among 915 rereads for HPV-positive women, the contrast between "revealed" and "concealed" Pap readings demonstrated revisions from negative to positive results for 109 women (cutoff was atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or worse) and 124 women (cutoff was low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions [LSIL] or worse). For a disease threshold of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or worse, specificity significantly declined at the atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance cutoff for studies A (86.6% to 75.3%) and C (42.5% to 15.5%), and at the LSIL cutoff for study C (61.9% to 37.6%). Sensitivity remained nearly unchanged between readings, except in study C, in which reread performance was superior (91.3% vs 71.9% for the LSIL cutoff). CONCLUSIONS: A reduction in the diagnostic accuracy of Pap cytology was observed when revealing patients' cervical HPV status, possibly due to a heightened awareness of potential abnormalities, which led to more false-positive results. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2015. (c) 2015 American Cancer Society.

Factors associated with the donation and non-donation of embryos for research: a systematic review

Background: Systematic knowledge on the factors that influence the decisions of IVF users regarding embryo donation for research is a core need for patient-centred policies and ethics in clinical practice. However, no systematic review has been provided on the motivations of patients who must decide embryo disposition. This paper fills this gap, presenting a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies, which synthesizes the current body of knowledge on the factors and reasons associated with IVF patients’ decisions to donate or not to donate embryos for research. Methods: A systematic search of studies indexed in PubMed, ISIWoK and PsycINFO, published before November 2013, was conducted. Only empirical, peer-reviewed, full-length, original studies reporting data on factors and reasons associated with the decision concerning donation or non-donation of embryos for research were included. Eligibility and data extraction were performed by two independent researchers and disagreements were resolved by discussion or a third reviewer, if required. The main quantitative findings were extracted and synthesized and qualitative data were assessed by thematic content analysis. Results: A total of 39 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. More than half of the studies (n ¼ 21) used a quantitative methodology, and the remaining were qualitative (n ¼ 15) or mixed-methods (n ¼ 3) studies. The studies were derived mainly from European countries (n ¼ 18) and the USA(n ¼ 11). The proportion of IVF users who donated embryos for research varied from 7% in a study in France to 73% in a Swiss study. Those who donate embryos for research reported feelings of reciprocity towards science and medicine, positive views of research and high levels of trust in the medical system. They described their decision as better than the destruction of embryos and as an opportunity to help others or to improve health and IVF treatments. The perception of risks, the lack of information concerning research projects and the medical system and the conceptualization of embryos in terms of personhood were the most relevant motives for not donating embryos for research. Results relating to the influence of sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive and gynaecological history were mostly inconclusive. Conclusions: Three iterative and dynamic dimensions of the IVF patients’ decision to donate or not to donate embryos for research emerged from this review: the hierarquization of the possible options regarding embryo disposition, according to the moral, social and instrumental status attributed to embryos; patients’ understanding of expectations and risks of the research on human embryos; and patients’ experiences of information exchange and levels of trust in the medical-scientific institutions.