Orientação nutricional e alimentar dentro da escola: formação de conceitos e mudanças de comportamento

Pós-graduação em Alimentos e Nutrição - FCFAR

Soil-liming effects on the development and nutritional status of the carambola tree and its fruit-yielding capacity

Soil acidity is one of the most important factors limiting agricultural production in the tropics. For this reason, the objective of this research work was to evaluate the effects of soil liming on the performance of carambola (Averrhoa carambola) trees. The experiment took place at the Citrus Experimental Station in Bebedouro, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The soil was a Typic Haplustox (V = 26% at the 0- to 20-cm layer) between August 1999 and July 2003. The following doses of limestone were employed: 0, 1.85, 3.71, 5.56, and 7.41 t ha(-1). During 40 months after the experiment was set up, soil chemical attributes were periodically examined. For a period of 2 years, the trees had their leaves analyzed for micro-and macronutrients; their trunk diameter, height, and crown volume measured; and the production of fruits determined. Liming improved in evaluated chemical attributes of the soil: pH, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), BS, V, and hydrogen and aluminium (H + At) from the upper 60 cm of soil when the samples were taken from both the line and between the lines of plants. In the leaves, the levels of Ca and Mg also increased. The highest fruit yields were observed when soil base saturations reached 45% on the lines and 50% between the lines, as well as when foliar levels of 8.0 g of Ca and 4.7 a of Mg per kilogram of leaves were attained.

A snapshot of management practices and nutritional recommendations used by feedlot nutritionists in Brazil

Feedlot consulting nutritionists were invited to participate in a survey of feedlot nutritional and management practices in Brazil. Thirty-one nutritionists completed the survey on a Web site that was designed for collection of survey data. The survey consisted of 94 questions that included general information (n = 10); commodity information (n = 12); and questions about the use of coproducts (n = 5), roughage source and levels (n = 5), finishing diet adaptation methods (n = 7), supplements and micronutrients (n = 8), feed mixers (n = 6), feeding management (n = 3), cattle management and type of cattle fed (n = 16), formulation practices (n = 17), information resources used for nutritional recommendations (n = 2), and 2 additional questions. One final question addressed the primary challenges associated with applying nutritional recommendations in practice. The number of animals serviced yearly by each nutritionist averaged 121,682 (minimum = 2,000; maximum = 1,500,000; mode = 120,000; total = 3,163,750). Twenty-two respondents (71%) worked with feedlots that feed less than 5,000 animals/yr. Labor, along with availability and precision of equipment, seemed to be the main challenges for the nutritionists surveyed. Most of the nutritionists surveyed used TDN as the primary energy unit for formulation. More than 50% of the clients serviced by the 31 nutritionists did not manage feed bunks to control the quantity of feed offered per pen, and 36.6% fed cattle more than 4 times daily. The NRC (1996) and Journal of Animal Science were the most used sources of information by these nutritionists. Overall, general practices and nutritional recommendations provided by the 31 nutritionists surveyed were fairly consistent. Present data should aid in development of new research, future National Research Council models, and recommendations for Brazilian feeding systems in which Bos indicus cattle predominate.

Cholesterol levels and nutritional composition of commercial layers eggs fed diets with different vegetable oils

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effects of intravenous glucose infusion and nutritional balance on serum concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids, glucose, insulin, and progesterone in nonlactating dairy cows

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Grade of esophageal cancer and nutritional status impact on postsurgery outcomes

CONTEXTO: A desnutrição protéico-energética constitui causa previsível para o desenvolvimento de complicações pós-operatórias e pior prognóstico de pacientes cirúrgicos. OBJETIVO: Estudar a associação de indicadores de estado nutricional com estádio da doença e as principais complicações e mortalidade pós-operatória de pacientes com câncer de esôfago. MÉTODO: Foram avaliados retrospectivamente 100 prontuários de pacientes com câncer de esôfago (38-81 anos) de ambos os sexos (85% masculino e 15% feminino) submetidos a esofagectomia (n = 25) e gastrojejunostomia (n = 75), no período de 1995 a 2004. Os dados coletados foram: história clínica, exame endoscópico, estádio (TNM-UICC), estado nutricional (índice de massa corporal, percentual de perda de peso - %PP, albuminemia e contagem de linfócitos total) e evolução clínica pós-operatória. Houve composição dos grupos de acordo com o porte da cirurgia (grande x pequeno). Foi realizada a associação entre as complicações pós-operatórias e a mortalidade (após pós-operatório de 30 dias). As comparações entre médias dos dois grupos foram feitas pelo teste t de Student e a existência de associações entre variáveis testadas pelos testes de χ2 ou exato de Fisher com P = 0,05. RESULTADOS: Houve predomínio dos tumores avançados (estádio III e IV), com a presença de disfagia em 95% dos pacientes e perda ponderal >10%, anterior ao diagnóstico, em 78%. A obstrução esofágica, presente em 77 pacientes, foi associada (P = 0,0021) com o baixo índice de massa corporal (desnutrição protéico-energética). A %PP e a hipoalbuminemia associaram-se estatisticamente (P<0,05) com o estádio avançado da doença. As complicações pós-operatórias precoces ocorreram em 69,2% e 30,7% dos pacientes submetidos a esofagectomia e ostomias, respectivamente, com predomínio das infecciosas nas ostomias (80%) e as pleuropulmonares nas esofagectomias (61%). A albuminemia foi menor nos pacientes submetidos as ostomias, tendo sido a hipoalbuminemia associada (P<0,05) com a ocorrência de complicações pós-operatórias e mortalidade. A %PP e a contagem de linfócitos total associaram-se com as complicações pós-operatórias precoces e infeccionas nas ostomias e a contagem de linfócitos total, com a mortalidade operatória nas esofagectomias. CONCLUSÕES: O estado de DPE esteve associado às complicações pós-operatórias apenas nos pacientes submetidos a ostomias, sem presença destas associações nas esofagectomias.

Effects of irrigation and nitrogen levels on qualitative and nutritional aspects of fig-trees (Ficus carica L.)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Human development and distance education: how are interactivity and interaction articulated?

Currently the achievements of technology have not been enough to overcome the misery, in which are numerous human groups. Relegated to its background, the human being sees those scenarios, which brings out discussions about its formation, in which values are regarded as the scientific and technological aspects. The educational research inspired by this framework involving the theme of human development, update and re-frame concepts related to the linkage between interactivity and interaction, two important features presented in the process of Distance Education (DE). The research inquired about how these features have been articulated. It conducted a field study in which two professors were interviewed. The results showed that the integration between interactivity and interaction, involving aspects such as autonomy, critical awareness, relationships among students, the sharing of values and worldviews, is at the base of the educational processes of the DE. They also showed that, on these processes, there are shortcomings regarding the development of values and having to be thought the tutor training strategies from an interdisciplinary view.

Protein deficiency and nutritional recovery modulate insulin secretion and the early steps of insulin action in rats

Maternal malnutrition was shown to affect early growth and leads to permanent alterations in insulin secretion and sensitivity of offspring. In addition, epidemiological studies showed an association between low birth weight and glucose intolerance in adult life. To understand these interactions better, we investigated the insulin secretion by isolated islets and the early events related to insulin action in the hind-limb muscle of adult rats fed a diet of 17% protein (control) or 6% protein [low (LP) protein] during fetal life, suckling and after weaning, and in rats receiving 6% protein during fetal life and suckling followed by a 17% protein diet after weaning (recovered). The basal and maximal insulin secretion by islets from rats fed LP diet and the basal release by islets from recovered rats were significantly lower than that of control rats. The dose-response curves to glucose of islets from LP and recovered groups were shifted to the right compared to control islets, with the half-maximal response (EC 50) occurring at 16.9 ± 1.3, 12.4 ± 0.5 and 8.4 ± 0.1 mmol/L, respectively. The levels of insulin receptor, as well as insulin receptor substrate-1 and phosphorylation and the association between insulin receptor substrate-1 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase were greater in rats fed a LP diet than in control rats. In recovered rats, these variables were not significantly different from those of the other two groups. These results suggest that glucose homeostasis is maintained in LP and recovered rats by an increased sensitivity to insulin as a result of alterations in the early steps of the insulin signal transduction pathway.

Clinical and nutritional profile of individuals with Chagas disease

Chagas disease (CD), caused by the protozoan Trypanossoma cruzi, affects approximately 18 million individuals in the Americas, 5 million of which five in Brazil. Most chronic sufferers have either the indeterminate form of the disease, without organic compromise, or the cardiac or digestive forms. Despite the importance of this disease, there is no information on the effect of nutrition on CD evolution. We evaluated the clinical-nutritional profile of individuals with CD treated at the Tropical Diseases Nutrition Out-Patient Clinic of the Botucatu School of Medicine, UNESP.A retrospective cohort study was performed between 2002 and 2006, on 66 patients with serum and parasitological diagnosis of CD. Epidemiological, clinical, nutritional, and biochemical data were collected, including gender, age, skin color, smoking, alcoholism, physical activity, weight, stature, body mass index, abdominal circumference, glycemia, and lipid profile. Fifty-three percent were mate and 47% female; 96% were white skinned. Mean age was 49.6±6.36 years. The predominant form was indeterminate in 71 %; smoking and drinking were recorded in 23% and 17%, respectively. Sedentariness predominated in 83%, and 55% presented increased abdominal circumference. Most, 94%, were overweight or obese. The biochemical exam revealed hyperglycemia in 12% and dyslipidemia in 74%. These findings suggest that the Chagas population presents co-morbidities and risk factors for developing chronic non-transmissible diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, making CD evolution even worse. © 2007 by The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Contexto Publishing. All rights reserved.