Os efeitos do programa musical nos estádios moderados e graves de demência

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar qual o efeito de um programa musical de 12 semanas, na sintomatologia neuropsiquiátrica e depressiva, e nas expressões emocionais em doentes com Doença de Alzheimer (DA). Participaram 13 sujeitos com diagnóstico de DA em fase moderada-grave da doença: 8 dos participantes integraram o programa musical e, os restantes 5, o grupo de controlo. Para identificar os estádios de demência foi utilizada a Escala de Deterioração Global e para a avaliação dos sintomas foram aplicadas, antes e depois do tratamento, o Inventário Neuropsiquiátrico, a Escala de Cornell para a Depressão na Demência e a Escala de Observação Emocional. Sem resultados significativos, a participação no programa musical melhorou as pontuações das provas utilizadas, revelando efeitos positivos nos sintomas psicológicos e comportamentais em estádios moderados-graves da Doença de Alzheimer, embora o grupo de controlo também beneficiasse da atividade a que foi sujeito. / ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to analyse the effects that a musical program held for 12 weeks had in neuropsychiatric and depressive symptoms and emotional expressions in participants with Alzheimer's disease (AD). There were 13 participants with Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in a moderate to severe stadium of the disease, 8 of them were integrated in a musical program and 5 of them constituted the control group. ln order to identify the dementia stadiums, the Global Deterioration Scale was used. ln order to evaluate the symptoms, before and after, the Neuropsychiatric lnventory, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia and Observed Emotion Rating Scale were used. Without significant results, the participation in the musical program improved the scores in the performed tasks, becoming a program with positive effects regarding behaviour and psychological symptoms in moderate to severe stadiums of Alzheimer's disease, although the control group also profited from doing the task that they were exposed to.

Adaptive strategies of two Portuguese grapevines varieties (Aragonês. syn. Tempranillo and Trincadeira) face drought: physiological and structural responses.

At Mediterranean regions and particularly in southern Portugal, it is imperative to identify grape varieties more adapted to warm and dry climates in order to overcome future climatic changes. Two Vitis vinifera genotypes, Aragonez (syn. Tempranillo) and Trincadeira, were selected to assess their physiological responses to soil water stress. Vines were subjected to four irrigation regimes: irrigated during all phenological cycle, non-irrigated during all phenological cycle, non irrigated until veraison, irrigated after veraison. Predawn leaf water potential was much higher in Trincadeira than Aragonez in non- irrigated plants. This result is in accordance with its higher stomatal control efficiency in this variety (Trincadeira). Photosynthetic capacity (Amax at saturating light intensity) decreased due to stomatal and biochemical limitations under water stress. However, recovery capacity of leaf water status after irrigation was faster in Trincadeira. Yield and yield x Brix increased when irrigation occurred after veraison, particularly in Trincadeira. These results show that Trincadeira presents a drought adaptation than Aragonez. Ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence Fv/Fm and total leaf chlorophyll related with leaf water potential for both species. Reflectance Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI705), Red Edge Inflexion Point Index and Photochemical Reflectance Index were related with irrigation treatment. Relative water content and specific leaf area were similar between varieties. In conclusion, we suggested that there is variation among the genotypes and the main physiological parameters for variety selection, for drought, were leaf water potential, stomatal conductance and reflectance indexes.

Calibration of Grassmaster II to estimate green and dry matter yield in Mediterranean pastures: effects of pasture moisture content

Accurate assessment of standing pasture biomass in livestock production systems is a major factor for improving feed planning. Several tools are available to achieve this, including the GrassMaster II capacitance meter. This tool relies on an electrical signal, which is modified by the surrounding pasture. There is limited knowledge on how this capacitance meter performs in Mediterranean pastures. Therefore, we evaluated the GrassMaster II under Mediterranean conditions to determine (i) the effect of pasture moisture content (PMC) on the meter’s ability to estimate pasture green matter (GM) and dry matter (DM) yields, and (ii) the spatial variability and temporal stability of corrected meter readings (CMR) and DM in a bio-diverse pasture. Field tests were carried out with typical pastures of the southern region of Portugal (grasses, legumes, mixture and volunteer annual species) and at different phenological stages (and different PMC). There were significant positive linear relations between CMR and GM (r2 = 0.60, P < 0.01) and CMR and DM (r2 = 0.35, P < 0.05) for all locations (n = 347). Weak relationships were found for PMC (%) v. slope and coefficient of determination for both GM and DM. A significant linear relation existed for CMR v. GM and DM for PMC >80% (r2= 0.57, P < 0.01, RMSE = 2856.7 kg ha–1, CVRMSE=17.1% to GM; and r2= 0.51, P < 0.01,RMSE = 353.7 kg ha–1, CVRMSE = 14.3% to DM). Therefore, under the conditions of this current study there exists an optimum PMC (%) for estimating both GM and DM with the GrassMaster II. Repeated-measurements taken at the same location on different dates and conditions in a bio-diverse pasture showed similar and stable patterns between CMR and DM (r2= 0.67, P < 0.01, RMSE = 136.1 kg ha–1, CVRMSE = 6.5%). The results indicate that the GrassMaster II in-situ technique could play a crucial role in assessing pasture mass to improve feed planning under Mediterranean conditions.