Review of plants with hepatoprotective activity evaluated in Mexico

Liver diseases represent a major health problem around the world. in Mexico these are the 5th leading cause of death in the economically active population. in Mexico, it is estimated that about 60% of the population uses some medicine from plants to treat their illnesses. The purpose of this work was to search for medicinal plants in Mexico that have been evaluated for their hepatoprotective effect in different models. in this review we found only 13 plants evaluated for hepatoprotective activity: Amole tuber, Cochlospermum vitifolium, Heterotheca inuloides, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Leucophyllum frutescens, Prostechea michuacana, Psidium Guajava, Rosmarinus officinalis, Verbena Carolin, Centaurea americana, Juglans mollis, Krameria ramossisima and Turnera diffusa. This study describes the studies conducted in Mexico for each of them and the international literature reports of pharmacological and phytochemical studies.

A RBES for Generating Automatically Personalized Menus

Food bought at supermarkets in, for instance, North America or the European Union, give comprehensive information about ingredients and allergens. Meanwhile, the menus of restaurants are usually incomplete and cannot be normally completed by the waiter. This is specially important when traveling to countries with a di erent culture. A curious example is "calamares en su tinta" (squid in its own ink), a common dish in Spain. Its brief description would be "squid with boiled rice in its own (black) ink", but an ingredient of its sauce is flour, a fact very important for celiacs. There are constraints based on religious believes, due to food allergies or to illnesses, while others just derive from personal preferences. Another complicated situation arise in hospitals, where the doctors' nutritional recommendations have to be added to the patient's usual constraints. We have therefore designed and developed a Rule Based Expert System (RBES) that can address these problems. The rules derive directly from the recipes of the di fferent dishes and contain the information about the required ingredients and ways of cooking. In fact, we distinguish: ingredients and ways of cooking, intermediate products (like sauces, that aren't always made explicit) and final products (the dishes listed in the menu of the restaurant). For a certain restaurant, customer and instant, the input to the RBES are: actualized stock of ingredients and personal characteristics of that customer. The RBES then prepares a "personalized menu" using set operations and knowledge extraction (thanks to an algebraic inference engine [1]). The RBES has been implemented in the computer algebra system MapleTM2015. A rst version of this work was presented at "Applications of Computer Algebra 2015" (ACA'2015) conference. The corresponding abstract is available at [2].

Prevalencia del síndrome metabólico en el adulto mayor en las parroquias urbanas del cantón Cuenca, 2015

Introducción: En la actualidad existe un incremento de la población adulta mayor en el Ecuador, donde las tres principales causas de muerte son: diabetes, enfermedades hipertensivas, enfermedades cerebrovasculares. Las mismas que se relacionan etiopatológicamente con el síndrome metabólico. Objetivo: Determinar la prevalencia del síndrome metabólico (SM) en adultos mayores en el cantón Cuenca, 2015. Método y materiales: Se trata de un estudio descriptivo, que se realizó en 387 adultos de ambos sexos mayores de 65 años, en las parroquias urbanas del cantón Cuenca. Se excluyó a los adultos mayores con deficiencia mental, alteraciones del estado de conciencia, impedimento físico o con evidencia de diabetes. Para el levantamiento de los datos se utilizó una encuesta y se realizó pruebas de glicemia en ayunas, colesterol, triglicéridos, lípidos de alta densidad (HDL, high density lipids) y medidas antropométricas, los datos obtenidos fueron analizados estadísticamente mediante EpiInfo, Microsoft Excel 2010 y el software SPSS, y se presentó mediante tablas y gráficos de estadística descriptiva de porcentajes y frecuencias. Resultados: La media de edad fue de 73 años, el 63.57% fueron mujeres y el 36.43% hombres y la mayoría 35.4% tenía un nivel de instrucción de primaria completa. La prevalencia del síndrome metabólico fue del 54.01%, en las mujeres 61.38% y en los hombres 41.13%, la mayoría entre 65 y 74 años con un 53.2% y un 58.14% con estudios incompletos. Según el IMC la mayoría de adultos mayores con SM tenían sobrepeso 49.72% y obesidad. El criterio ATP III más encontrado fue la obesidad abdominal 78.81%, seguido por la disminución sérica de colesterol HDL, 74.42% y presión arterial elevada, 48.32%.

Prevalencia del síndrome metabólico en el adulto mayor en las parroquias urbanas del cantón Cuenca, 2015

Introducción: En la actualidad existe un incremento de la población adulta mayor en el Ecuador, donde las tres principales causas de muerte son: diabetes, enfermedades hipertensivas, enfermedades cerebrovasculares. Las mismas que se relacionan etiopatológicamente con el síndrome metabólico. Objetivo: Determinar la prevalencia del síndrome metabólico (SM) en adultos mayores en el cantón Cuenca, 2015. Método y materiales: Se trata de un estudio descriptivo, que se realizó en 387 adultos de ambos sexos mayores de 65 años, en las parroquias urbanas del cantón Cuenca. Se excluyó a los adultos mayores con deficiencia mental, alteraciones del estado de conciencia, impedimento físico o con evidencia de diabetes. Para el levantamiento de los datos se utilizó una encuesta y se realizó pruebas de glicemia en ayunas, colesterol, triglicéridos, lípidos de alta densidad (HDL, high density lipids) y medidas antropométricas, los datos obtenidos fueron analizados estadísticamente mediante EpiInfo, Microsoft Excel 2010 y el software SPSS, y se presentó mediante tablas y gráficos de estadística descriptiva de porcentajes y frecuencias. Resultados: La media de edad fue de 73 años, el 63.57% fueron mujeres y el 36.43% hombres y la mayoría 35.4% tenía un nivel de instrucción de primaria completa. La prevalencia del síndrome metabólico fue del 54.01%, en las mujeres 61.38% y en los hombres 41.13%, la mayoría entre 65 y 74 años con un 53.2% y un 58.14% con estudios incompletos. Según el IMC la mayoría de adultos mayores con SM tenían sobrepeso 49.72% y obesidad. El criterio ATP III más encontrado fue la obesidad abdominal 78.81%, seguido por la disminución sérica de colesterol HDL, 74.42% y presión arterial elevada, 48.32%.

Sensibilidad a la insulina mediante la prueba de tolerancia oral a la glucosa en adultos mayores en el cantón Cuenca, en el año 2015

INTRODUCCIÓN: Si se valora a tiempo la Sensibilidad a la insulina, se evitara padecer diabetes tipo 2; en los adultos mayores hay cambios como el aumento de tejido adiposo y sarcopenia, relacionados con disminución de la sensibilidad a la insulina. OBJETIVO: Determinar la sensibilidad a la insulina mediante la prueba de tolerancia oral a la glucosa en la población adulta mayor del cantón Cuenca, en el año 2015. METODOLOGÍA: Estudio descriptivo en 120 adultos mayores del cantón Cuenca; 60 casos con síndrome metabólico según el criterio ATP III y 60 casos sin síndrome metabólico. Se trata de una muestra no probabilística por conveniencia debido al costo de las pruebas de laboratorio. Se tomaron dos muestras de sangre una en ayunas y otra postprandial y se dosifico glucosa e insulina. Los datos fueron analizados en SPSS 22, Excel empleando frecuencias, porcentajes, medidas de tendencia central como mediana, promedio, medidas de dispersión, desvío stándar. RESULTADOS: El 39,2 % de adultos mayores presentó insulinemia postprandial alterada. Según el método HOMA-IR el 42 % presenta baja sensibilidad a la insulina y según el método QUICKI el 91,7 % presenta sensibilidad disminuida a la insulina. La baja sensibilidad a la insulina según género, edad y estado civil no fue significativa; en cambio con el IMC elevado se tiene más probabilidad de padecer insulinorresistencia (p=0,03) .Siendo más significativo los pacientes con síndrome metabólico aumenta dos veces la probabilidad de padecer insulinorresistencia (p=0.02, OR 2.3 IC 95% 1.09 – 4.85)

Galanin and galanin fragment 1-15 modulate antidepressant responses by targeting 5-HT1AR-GALR heteroreceptor complexes of the ascending midbrain serotonin pathways.

Mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, are among the most prevalent mental illnesses with high socioeconomic impact. Although the underlying mechanisms have not yet been clearly defined in the last decade the importance of the role of neuropeptides, including Galanin (GAL), and/or their receptors in the treatment of stress-related mood disorders is becoming increasingly apparent. GAL is involved in mood regulation, including depression-related and anxiety-like behaviors. Activation of GALR1 and GALR3 receptors results in a depression like behavior while stimulation of GALR2 receptor leads to anti-depressant-like effects. Moreover, GAL modulates 5-HT1A receptors (5-HT1AR), a key receptor in depression at autoreceptor and postsynaptic level in the brain. This interaction can in part be due to the existence of GALR1-5-HT1AR heteroreceptor complexes in discrete brain regions [1]. Not only GAL but also the N-terminal fragments like GAL(1-15) are active in the Central Nervous System [2, 3]. Recently, we described that GAL(1-15) induces strong depression-related and anxiogenic-like effects in rats, and these effects were significantly stronger than the ones induced by GAL [4]. The GALR1-GALR2 heteroreceptor complexes in the dorsal hippocampus and especially in the dorsal raphe (DR), areas rich in GAL(1-15) binding sites [5] were involved in these effects [4, 6] and demonstrated also in cellular models. In the present study, we have analyzed the ability of GAL(1-15) to modulate 5-HT1AR located at postjunctional sites and at the soma-dendritic level in rats. We have analyzed the effect of GAL(1-15) on the 5-HT1AR-mediated response in a behavioral test of depression and the involvement of the GALR2 in these effects. GAL(1-15) enhanced the antidepressant effects induced by the 5-HT1AR agonist 8-OH-DPAT in the forced swimming test [7]. These effects were stronger than the ones induced by GAL. The mechanism of this action involved interactions at the receptor level in the plasma membrane with changes also at the transcriptional level. Thus, GAL(1-15) affected the binding characteristics as well as the mRNA level of 5-HT1AR in the dorsal hippocampus and DR. GALR2 was involved in these effects, since the specific GALR2 antagonist M871 blocked GAL(1-15) mediated actions at the behavioral and receptor level [7]. Furthermore, the results on the proximity ligation assay (PLA) in this work suggest the existence of GALR1-GALR2-5-HT1AR heteroreceptor complexes since positive PLA were obtained for both GALR1-5-HT1AR and GALR2-5-HT1AR complexes in the DR and hippocampus. Moreover the studies on RN33B cells, where GALR1, GALR2 and 5-HT1AR exist [4], also showed PLA-positive clusters indicating the existence of GALR1-5-HT1AR and GALR2-5-HT1AR complexes in these cells [7]. In conclusion, our results indicate that GAL(1–15) enhances the antidepressant effects induced by the 5-HT1AR agonist 8-OH-DPAT probably acting on GALR1-GALR2-5-HT1AR heteroreceptor located at postjunctional sites and at the soma-dendritic level. The development of new drugs specifically targeting these heteroreceptor complexes may offer a novel strategy for treatment of depression. This work has been supported by Junta de Andalucia CVI646 1. Borroto-Escuela, D.O., et al., Galanin receptor-1 modulates 5-hydroxtryptamine-1A signaling via heterodimerization. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 2010. 393(4): p. 767-72. 2. Hedlund, P.B. and K. Fuxe, Galanin and 5-HT1A receptor interactions as an integrative mechanism in 5-HT neurotransmission in the brain. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1996. 780: p. 193-212. 3. Diaz-Cabiale, Z., et al., Neurochemical modulation of central cardiovascular control: the integrative role of galanin. EXS, 2010. 102: p. 113-31. 4. Millon, C., et al., A role for galanin N-terminal fragment (1-15) in anxiety- and depression-related behaviors in rats. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol, 2015. 18(3). 5. Hedlund, P.B., N. Yanaihara, and K. Fuxe, Evidence for specific N-terminal galanin fragment binding sites in the rat brain. Eur J Pharmacol, 1992. 224(2-3): p. 203-5. 6. Borroto-Escuela, D.O., et al., Preferential activation by galanin 1-15 fragment of the GalR1 protomer of a GalR1-GalR2 heteroreceptor complex. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 2014. 452(3): p. 347-53. 7. Millon, C., et al., Galanin (1-15) enhances the antidepressant effects of the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT: involvement of the raphe-hippocampal 5-HT neuron system. Brain Struct Funct, 2016.

Phytopharmacological and ethnomedicinal uses of the Genus Berberis (Berberidaceae): A review

Plants belonging to Berberis are reported in several folklore medicinal pharmacopeias and are used in traditional medicines in Asia and European countries. The plants have been used in the preparation of various traditional and synthetic medicines since pre-historic times for wound healing, fever, eye disease, jaundice, vomiting during pregnancy, rheumatism, kidney and gall balder stones, and several other illnesses. Their healing properties are appear to be due to the presence of secondary metabolites and important alkaloids with different pharmacological activities. Their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-diabetic, and anti-tumor activities as well as positive effects on the cardiovascular and body immune systems have been reported. Root extracts of some species of the plant genus contain quinine which acts as a powerful anti-malarial agent. The main chemical constituents of Berberis plants are alkaloids, steroids, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids and reducing sugars. Of these alkaloids, berberine is the most important. The present review focuses on recent advances in phytopharmacological and ethnomedicinal uses of plants belonging to Berberis genus.

Sensibilidad a la insulina mediante la prueba de tolerancia oral a la glucosa en adultos mayores en el cantón Cuenca, en el año 2015

INTRODUCCIÓN: Si se valora a tiempo la Sensibilidad a la insulina, se evitara padecer diabetes tipo 2; en los adultos mayores hay cambios como el aumento de tejido adiposo y sarcopenia, relacionados con disminución de la sensibilidad a la insulina. OBJETIVO: Determinar la sensibilidad a la insulina mediante la prueba de tolerancia oral a la glucosa en la población adulta mayor del cantón Cuenca, en el año 2015. METODOLOGÍA: Estudio descriptivo en 120 adultos mayores del cantón Cuenca; 60 casos con síndrome metabólico según el criterio ATP III y 60 casos sin síndrome metabólico. Se trata de una muestra no probabilística por conveniencia debido al costo de las pruebas de laboratorio. Se tomaron dos muestras de sangre una en ayunas y otra postprandial y se dosifico glucosa e insulina. Los datos fueron analizados en SPSS 22, Excel empleando frecuencias, porcentajes, medidas de tendencia central como mediana, promedio, medidas de dispersión, desvío stándar. RESULTADOS: El 39,2 % de adultos mayores presentó insulinemia postprandial alterada. Según el método HOMA-IR el 42 % presenta baja sensibilidad a la insulina y según el método QUICKI el 91,7 % presenta sensibilidad disminuida a la insulina. La baja sensibilidad a la insulina según género, edad y estado civil no fue significativa; en cambio con el IMC elevado se tiene más probabilidad de padecer insulinorresistencia (p=0,03) .Siendo más significativo los pacientes con síndrome metabólico aumenta dos veces la probabilidad de padecer insulinorresistencia (p=0.02, OR 2.3 IC 95% 1.09 – 4.85).

Potencial larvicida de extratos de plantas regionais no controle de larvas de Aedes Aegypti (Diptera:Culicidae)

Dengue, amongst the virus illnesses one can get by vectorial transmission, is the one that causes more impact in the morbidity and mortality of world s population. The resistance to the insecticides has caused difficulties to control of vector insect (Aedes aegypti) and has stimulated a search for vegetables with larvicidal activity. The biodiversity of Caatinga is barely known and it is potential of use even less. Some plants of this biome are commercialized in free fairs northeast of Brazil, because of its phytotherapics properties. The vegetables in this study had been selected by means of a questionnaire applied between grass salesmen and natives of the Serido region from Rio Grande do Norte state; culicids eggs had been acquired with traps and placed in container with water for the larva birth. Thirty larvae had been used in each group (a group control and five experimental groups), with four repetitions four times. The vegetables had been submitted to the processes of decoction, infusion and maceration in the standard concentration of 100g of the vegetable of study in 1l of H2O and analyzed after ½, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 hours for verification of the average lethal dose (LD50) from the groups with thirty larva. The LD50 was analyzed in different concentrations (50g/l, 100g/l, 150g/l, 200g/l e 300g/l) of Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart. 48 extracts of rind, leaf and stem of the seven vegetal species: Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart., Mimosa verrucosa Benth, Mimosa hostilis (Mart.) Benth., Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão, Ximenia americana L, Bumelia sartorum Mart Zizyphus joazeiro Mart, had been analyzed. The extracts proceeding from the three methods were submitted to the freezedrying, to evaluate and to quantify substances extracted in each process. The results had shown that Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart. and Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão are the species that are more distinguished as larvicidal after 24 hours of experiment, in all used processes of extraction in the assays. The Zizyphus joazeiro Mart species has not shown larvicidal activity in none of the assays. In relation to the extraction method, the decoction was the most efficient method in the mortality tax of the A. aegypti larvae

Atividade antimalárica de plantas medicinais da biorregião do Araripe-CE em modelo murino - Plasmodium berghei

Malaria, also popularly known as maleita , intermittent fever, paludism, impaludism, third fever or fourth fever, is an acute infectious febrile disease, which, in human beings, is caused by four species: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae and P. ovale. Malaria, one of the main infectious diseases in the world, is the most important parasitoses, with 250 million annual cases and more than 1 million deaths per year, mainly in children younger than live years of age. The prophylactic and therapeutic arsenal against malaria is quite restricted, since all the antimalarials currently in use have some limitation. Many plant species belonging to several families have been tested in vivo, using the murine experimental model Plasmodium berghei or in vitro against P. falciparum, and this search has been directed toward plants with antithermal, antimalarial or antiinflammatory properties used in popular Brazilian bolk medicine. Studies assessing the biological activity of medicinal plant essential oils have revealed activities of interest, such as insecticidal, spasmolytic and antiplasmodic action. It has also been scientifically established that around 60% of essential oils have antifungal properties and that 35% exhibit antibacterial properties. In our investigation, essential oils were obtained from the species Vanillosmopsis arborea, Lippia sidoides and Croton zethneri which are found in the bioregion of Araripe-Ceará. The chemical composition of these essential oils was partially characterized and the presence of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The acute toxicity of these oils was assessed in healthy mice at different doses applied on a single day and on four consecutive days, and in vitro cytotoxicity in HeLa and Raw cell lines was determined at different concentrations. The in vivo tests obtained lethal dose values of 7,1 mg/Kg (doses administered on a single day) and 1,8 mg/Kg (doses administered over four days) for 50% of the animals. In the in vitro tests, the inhibitory concentration for 50% of cell growth in Hela cell lines was 588 μg/mL (essential oil from C. zethneri after 48 h), from 340-555 μg/mL (essential oil from L. sidoides, after 24 and 48 h). The essential oil from V. arborea showed no cytotoxicity and none of the essential oils were cytotoxic in Raw cell lines. These data suggest a moderate toxicity in the essential XVIII oils under study, a finding that does not impede their testing in in vivo antimalarial assays. Was shown the antimalarial activity of the essential oils in mice infected with P. berghei was assessed. The three species showed antimalarial activity from 36%-57% for the essential oil from the stem of V. arborea; from 32%-82% for the essential oil from the leaves of L. sidoides and from 40%-70% of reduction for the essential oil from the leaves of C. zethneri. This is the first study showing evidence of antimalarial activity with these species from northeast Brazil. Further studies to isolate the active ingredients of these oils are needed to determine if a single active ingredient accounts for the antimalarial activity or if a complex integration of all the compounds present occurs, a situation reflected in their biological activity

Impact of genetic polymorphisms determining leukocyte/neutrophil count on chemotherapy toxicity

Nous avons investigué la relation entre les polymorphismes de nucléotides simples (SNPs) chez trois gènes/loci candidats : DARC, CXCL2 et le loci ORMDL3-GSDMA-CSF3 situés sur le chromosome 17q21 et les complications neutropéniques et infectieuses qui en résultent durant la chimiothérapie chez les patients atteints de la leucémie lymphoblastique aigue. Ces loci codent pour certaines composantes du système immunitaire altérant la concentration de chémokines et leur distribution (DARC), stimulant le relâchement et la migration des neutophiles de la moelle épinière (CXCL2) et régulant la prolifération et la survie des granulocytes (G-CSF). Il est possible que des polymorphismes dans ces loci lorsqu’associés à de la chimiothérapie puissent mettre des individus suceptibles à un risque plus élevé de complication reliées à la chimiothérapie. Une sélection des marqueurs SNPs dans ces gènes ont été génotypés chez des enfants traités au CHU Ste-Justine pour une ALL entre 1989 et 2005. Après correction pour tests multiples, un polymorphisme DARC rs3027012 situé dans le 5’UTR a été associé à un compte phagocytaire peu élevé (APC<500 et <1000 cellules/µL, p=0.001 and p=0.0005, respectivement) ainsi qu’une hospitalisation due à une neutropénie (p=0.007) ou due à une infection et/ou neutropénie (p=0.007). Un effet protecteur a été identifié pour la mutation non sense Gly42Asp variant rs12075 (p=0.006). Des polymorphismes sur le chromosome 17q2 étaient associés à une hospitalisation due à une infection (rs3859192, p= 0.004) et à une neutropénie (rs17609240, p=0.006) L’infection était aussi modulée par CXCL2 (rs16850408, p=0.008) Cette étude identifie pour la première fois que les loci modulant le décompte des leucocytes et des neutrophiles pourraient jouer un rôle dans de déclenchement de complications dues à la chimiothérapie et pourraient ainsi servir de marqueurs pour un ajustement et un suivi du traitement.

Impact of genetic polymorphisms determining leukocyte/neutrophil count on chemotherapy toxicity

Nous avons investigué la relation entre les polymorphismes de nucléotides simples (SNPs) chez trois gènes/loci candidats : DARC, CXCL2 et le loci ORMDL3-GSDMA-CSF3 situés sur le chromosome 17q21 et les complications neutropéniques et infectieuses qui en résultent durant la chimiothérapie chez les patients atteints de la leucémie lymphoblastique aigue. Ces loci codent pour certaines composantes du système immunitaire altérant la concentration de chémokines et leur distribution (DARC), stimulant le relâchement et la migration des neutophiles de la moelle épinière (CXCL2) et régulant la prolifération et la survie des granulocytes (G-CSF). Il est possible que des polymorphismes dans ces loci lorsqu’associés à de la chimiothérapie puissent mettre des individus suceptibles à un risque plus élevé de complication reliées à la chimiothérapie. Une sélection des marqueurs SNPs dans ces gènes ont été génotypés chez des enfants traités au CHU Ste-Justine pour une ALL entre 1989 et 2005. Après correction pour tests multiples, un polymorphisme DARC rs3027012 situé dans le 5’UTR a été associé à un compte phagocytaire peu élevé (APC<500 et <1000 cellules/µL, p=0.001 and p=0.0005, respectivement) ainsi qu’une hospitalisation due à une neutropénie (p=0.007) ou due à une infection et/ou neutropénie (p=0.007). Un effet protecteur a été identifié pour la mutation non sense Gly42Asp variant rs12075 (p=0.006). Des polymorphismes sur le chromosome 17q2 étaient associés à une hospitalisation due à une infection (rs3859192, p= 0.004) et à une neutropénie (rs17609240, p=0.006) L’infection était aussi modulée par CXCL2 (rs16850408, p=0.008) Cette étude identifie pour la première fois que les loci modulant le décompte des leucocytes et des neutrophiles pourraient jouer un rôle dans de déclenchement de complications dues à la chimiothérapie et pourraient ainsi servir de marqueurs pour un ajustement et un suivi du traitement.

NEIGHBORHOOD PERCEPTION OF SAFETY AND THE MOBILITY GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN OLD AGE

Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2016-10-02 21:02:07.735

Successful Aging with Illness

In twenty years almost one in four Canadians will be over the age of 65. How successfully these people age will influence their quality of life and contribute to their physical health. Illness and disease are frequent components of aging; however, ‘successful aging’ research normally excludes people with illness. Older people living with illness, even life threatening illness, often self-report a good quality of life and continue to experience psychological well-being and a significant engagement in social life. This dissertation uses a three manuscript approach to examine successful aging among people with illness. The first manuscript employed a scoping review to examine the models used in recent successful aging research, compiling the most frequently used constructs which included: engagement, optimism and/or positive attitude, resilience, spirituality and/or religiosity, self-efficacy and/or self-esteem, and gerotranscendence. The second manuscript utilized data gathered via interviews (online or in person) with people over the age of 65 years living with illness. The majority of these participants reported success in aging; only resilience was predictive in the binomial regression analysis. The third manuscript examined the role of social determinants of health on successful aging. The analysis revealed that disengagement from community-activities showed a significant association with higher self-reported successful aging. The best fitting model for predicting rate of successful aging with illness was a linear combination of participants’ ageism score and community activity score, while controlling for gender and age. When considered together, the results from these three manuscripts suggest that successful aging can be experienced by older adults aging with illness. And that, among these older adults, resilience, community interaction and ageism may all play a part in determining the extent to which aging is experienced as successful. Recommendations include the suggestion that we embrace the idea that people with illness can self-define as successful agers. Further, since some of the associated constructs (e.g. resilience) can be fostered, successful aging could be bolstered by education or programs to build skills along with the usual treatment modalities for the illnesses that co-exist.

Qualidade do sono e trabalho por turnos

O estilo de vida, atualmente, tem bastante influência na higiene do sono. São diversos os fatores que contribuem tanto para a sua manutenção como para a sua falha. O trabalho por turnos está frequentemente associado a elevadas cargas de stresse e fadiga devido a situações imprevisíveis e perigosas que possam advir da área profissional, da rotatividade do horário laboral, a um sono deficiente, à falta de atividades desportivas e de lazer, bem como à má alimentação. Estilo de vida, este, que reduz a qualidade de vida em geral e aumenta drasticamente a probabilidade de surgir doenças quer ao nível físico como mental. O sono, por sua vez, é um fenómeno universal de grande importância para o desenvolvimento humano. A qualidade do sono é determinada por vários fatores, entre eles as rotinas de sono. Torna-se, assim, importante estudar as rotinas de forma a incrementar o conhecimento sobre este determinante. A alternância do dia-noite –claro/escuro -, os horários de trabalho, os horários de lazer, as atividades familiares são todos fatores exógenos que sincronizam o ciclo sono-vigília. Estudar a qualidade de sono em profissionais que trabalham por turnos é de extrema relevância visto tratar-se de uma população cada vez mais em risco e em que se considera que o sono seja um dos fatores mais comprometidos. O presente estudo tem como objetivo caraterizar e avaliar a qualidade do sono em profissionais, em função dos horários de trabalho. A metodologia utilizada é quantitativa e centrou-se na aplicação do questionário IQSP – Índice de Qualidade do Sono de Buysse et al. (1989), adaptado e traduzido para português. O questionário foi aplicado a 50 indivíduos pertencentes à Polícia Marítima, na Zona Norte de Portugal Continental, na maioria (92%) homens com idades compreendidas entre os 36 e os 55 anos. Do total de participantes, 76% (n=38) encontra-se a trabalhar por turnos. A análise dos dados foi efetuada através do Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, versão 22, tendo sido realizadas análises descritivas, inferenciais e correlacionais. Com maior relevância, no presente estudo, conclui-se que não existem diferenças estatisticamente significativas na qualidade do sono entre aqueles que trabalham por turnos e os que têm horário fixo, bem como, que a qualidade do sono também não se diferencia em função da idade, do tempo de profissão e da existência de filhos pequenos. Conclui-se, ainda, que a qualidade do sono parece estar relacionada com a satisfação com o horário de trabalho.