Comportamentos sexuais e bem-estar no envelhecimento: Estudo exploratório numa amostra de mulheres

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Clínica.

Récits du vieillir « actif » et de la citoyenneté au quotidien : l’expérience des femmes aînées au Québec

Taken as a policy framework, active aging ranks high on most supranational bodies’ agenda. The new political economy of aging portrays “active” citizenship amongst seniors as a key challenge for the years to come. Our research focuses on, first, elderly women’s everyday ‘active’ practices, their meaning and purpose, in the context of Quebec’s active aging policy framework; and second, their day-to-day practical citizenship experiences. Informed by discourse analysis and a narrative approach, the life stories of women 60 to 70 years of age allowed for the identification of a plethora of distinctive old age activity figures. More specifically, four activity figures were identified by which respondents materialize their routine active practices, namely: (1) paid work; (2) voluntary and civic engagement; (3) physical activity; and (4) caregiving. Set against Quebec’s active aging policy framework, these patterns and set of practices that underpin them are clearly in tune with government’s dominant perspectives. Respondents’ narratives also show that active aging connotes a range of ‘ordinary’ activities of daily living, accomplished within people’s private worlds and places of proximity. Despite nuances, tensions and opposition found in dominant public discourse, as well as in active aging practices, a form of counter-discourse does not emerge from respondents’ narratives. To be active is normally the antithesis of immobility and dependence. Thus, to see oneself as active in old age draws on normative, positive assumptions about old age quite difficult to refute; nevertheless, discourses also raise identity and relational issues. In this respect, social inclusion issues cut across all active aging practices described by respondents. Moreover, a range of individual aims and quests underpin activity pattern. Such quests express respondents’ subjective interactions with their social environment; including their actions’ meaning and sense of social inclusiveness in old age. A first quest relates to personal identity and social integration to the world; a second one concerns giving; a third centers on the search for authenticity; whereas the fourth one is connected to a desire for freedom. It is through the objectivising of active practices and related existential pursuits that elderly woman recognize themselves as active citizens, rooted in the community, and variously contributing to society. Accordingly, ‘active’ citizenship experiences are articulated in a dialogic manner between the dimensions of ‘doing’, ‘active’ social practices, and ‘being’ in relation to others, within a context of interdependence. A proposed typology allows for the modeling of four ‘active’ citizenship figures. Overall, despite the role played by power relations and social inequality in structuring aging experiences, in everyday life ‘old age citizenship’ appears as a relational process, embedded in a set of social relations and practices involving individuals, families and communities, whereby elderly women are able to express a sense of agency within their social world.

Hábitos saudáveis na velhice : efeitos de uma intervenção psicoeducativa com homens idosos

O presente estudo teve por objetivo investigar os efeitos de uma intervenção psicoeducativa em grupo que foi planejada para fortalecer o autocuidado em idosos do sexo masculino. Participaram treze homens recrutados em um Centro de Convivência para Idosos em funcionamento em uma universidade privada localizada em Brasília, Brasil, com idades entre 62 e 78 anos (M= 69,5), todos eles casados, alfabetizados, aposentados e com doenças crónicas. Dados referentes aos hábitos de vida dos idosos foram obtidos mediante entrevistas individuais conduzidas antes e após o engajamento destes em nove encontros temáticos em grupo embasados no modelo cognitivo-comportamental. Os resultados evidenciaram o fortalecimento, no repertório comportamental dos participantes, da prática de exercícios físicos, de um padrão de alimentação saudável e de comportamentos assertivos, além da maior ênfase em crenças quanto aos benefícios de condutas promotoras de saúde. A intervenção mostrou-se vantajosa para maximizar hábitos de vida saudáveis, embora tenha evidenciado efeitos maiores para sensibilização e manutenção do que para modificação de comportamentos. _______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT

Sensory and consumer research update : Umami to better balance emotional satisfaction from food

Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate or MSG, is the sodium salt of glutamic-acid or glutamate, the most abundant naturally occurring non-essential amino-acids and can be found in many protein-rich food products such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products and other plant sources. Glutamic-acid was discovered and isolated from wheat gluten and identified in the year 1866, by the German chemist Karl Heinrich Leopold Ritthausen.

Do envelhecimento ao bem-estar na velhice

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Clínica.

An examination of the associations among multiple memory systems, past tense, and vocabulary in typically developing 5 year old children

Purpose: Considerable research has investigated the role of verbal working memory in language development in children with and without language problems. Much less is currently known about the relationship between language and the declarative and procedural memory systems. This study examined whether these 2 memory systems were related to typically developing children's past tense and lexical knowledge.

Method: Fifty-eight typically developing children approximately 5 years of age completed a battery of linguistic and nonlinguistic tasks, including tests of vocabulary, past tense production, and procedural and declarative memory.

Results: The results showed that declarative and procedural memory were not correlated with either regular or irregular past tense use. A significant correlation was observed between declarative memory and vocabulary.

Conclusions: The results of the study were not consistent with the view that the declarative and procedural memory systems support children's use of the regular and irregular past tense. However, evidence was found suggesting that declarative memory supports vocabulary in this age group.

Working Memory and Postural Control: Adult Age Differences in Potential for Improvement, Task Priority, and Dual Tasking

We investigate dynamic posture control and working memory (NBack) retest practice in young and older adults, focusing on older adults' potential for improvement in the component tasks but more importantly in dual-task performance. Participants performed the 2 tasks in 11 sessions under single- and dual-task conditions. Posture improvement was observed with retest practice for both groups. Increase in cognitive load after initial practice led to greater dual-task costs in both tasks in older adults and higher costs in memory in young adults. With continued practice, costs were reduced by both groups; however, the 2 groups focused improvement on different tasks: Older adults focused on posture but young adults on cognition. These results emphasize older adults' potential for improvement in dual-task performance and their flexibility to utilize the practice gains in posture to optimize cognitive performance.

Clinicopathologic correlates in the oldest-old: Commentary on "No disease in the brain of a 115-year-old woman".

den Dunnen et al. [den Dunnen, W.F.A., Brouwer, W.H., Bijlard, E., Kamphuis, J., van Linschoten, K., Eggens-Meijer, E., Holstege, G., 2008. No disease in the brain of a 115-year-old woman. Neurobiol. Aging] had the opportunity to follow up the cognitive functioning of one of the world's oldest woman during the last 3 years of her life. They performed two neuropsychological evaluations at age 112 and 115 that revealed a striking preservation of immediate recall abilities and orientation. In contrast, working memory, retrieval from semantic memory and mental arithmetic performances declined after age 112. Overall, only a one-point decrease of MMSE score occurred (from 27 to 26) reflecting the remarkable preservation of cognitive abilities. The neuropathological assessment showed few neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in the hippocampal formation compatible with Braak staging II, absence of amyloid deposits and other types of neurodegenerative lesions as well as preservation of neuron numbers in locus coeruleus. This finding was related to a striking paucity of Alzheimer disease (AD)-related lesions in the hippocampal formation. The present report parallels the early descriptions of rare "supernormal" centenarians supporting the dissociation between brain aging and AD processes. In conjunction with recent stereological analyses in cases aged from 90 to 102 years, it also points to the marked resistance of the hippocampal formation to the degenerative process in this age group and possible dissociation between the occurrence of slight cognitive deficits and development of AD-related pathologic changes in neocortical areas. This work is discussed in the context of current efforts to identify the biological and genetic parameters of human longevity.

Muscarinic M1 and M3 Receptors,IP3 and cGMP Functional Regulation in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats: Insulin and Somatotropin Induced Rejuvenation as a Function of Age

The present study describes that acetylcholine through muscarinic Ml and M3 receptors play an important role in the brain function during diabetes as a function of age. Cholinergic activity as indicated by acetylcholine esterase, a marker for cholinergic function, decreased in the brain regions - the cerebral cortex, brainstem and corpus striatum of old rats compared to young rats. in diabetic condition, it was increased in both young and old rats in cerebral cortex, and corpus striatum while in brainstem it was decreased. The functional changes in the muscarinic receptors were studied in the brain regions and it showed that muscarinic M I receptors of old rats were down regulated in cerebral cortex while in corpus striatum and brainstem it was up regulated. Muscarinic M3 receptors of old rats showed no significant change in cerebral cortex while in corpus striatum and brainstem muscarinic receptors were down regulated. During diabetes, muscarinic M I receptors were down regulated in cerebral cortex and brainstem of young rats while in corpus striatum they were up regulated. In old rats, M I receptors were up regulated in cerebral cortex, corpus striatum and in brainstem they were down regulated. Muscarinic M3 receptors were up regulated in cerebral cortex and brainstem of young rats while in corpus striatum they were down regulated. In old rats, muscarinic M l receptors were up regulated in cerebral cortex, corpus striatum and brainstem. In insulin treated diabetic rats the activity of the receptors were reversed to near control. Pancreatic muscarinic M3 receptor activity increased in the pancreas of both young and old rats during diabetes. In vitro studies using carbachol and antagonists for muscarinic Ml and M3 receptor subtypes confirmed the specific receptor mediated neurotransmitter changes during diabetes. Calcium imaging studies revealed muscarinic M I mediated Ca2 + release from the pancreatic islet cells of young and old rats. Electrophysiological studies using EEG recording in young and old rats showed a brain activity difference during diabetes. Long term low dose STH and INS treated rat brain tissues were used for gene expression of muscarinic Ml, M3, glutamate NMDARl, mGlu-5,alpha2A, beta2, GABAAa1 and GABAB, DAD2 and 5-HT 2C receptors to observe the neurotransmitter receptor functional interrelationship for integrating memory, cognition and rejuvenating brain functions in young and old. Studies on neurotransmitter receptor interaction pathways and gene expression regulation by second messengers like IP3 and cGMP in turn will lead to the development of therapeutic agents to manage diabetes and brain activity.From this study it is suggested that functional improvement of muscarinic Ml, M3, glutamate NMDAR1, mGlu-5, alpha2A, beta2, GABAAa1 and GABAB, DAD2 and 5-HT 2C receptors mediated through IP3 and cGMP will lead to therapeutic applications in the management of diabetes. Also, our results from long term low dose STH and INS treatment showed rejuvenation of the brain function which has clinical significance in maintaining healthy period of life as a function of age.

Memory systems analyses of mnemonic disorders in aging and age-related diseases

The effects upon memory of normal aging and two age-related neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer disease (AD) and Parkinson disease, are analyzed in terms of memory systems, specific neural networks that mediate specific mnemonic processes. An occipital memory system mediating implicit visual-perceptual memory appears to be unaffected by aging or AD. A frontal system that may mediate implicit conceptual memory is affected by AD but not by normal aging. Another frontal system that mediates aspects of working and strategic memory is affected by Parkinson disease and, to a lesser extent, by aging. The aging effect appears to occur during all ages of the adult life-span. Finally, a medial-temporal system that mediates declarative memory is affected by the late onset of AD. Studies of intact and impaired memory in age-related diseases suggest that normal aging has markedly different effects upon different memory systems.

Preserving the past in digital memory

The process of researching children’s literature from the past is a growing challenge as resources age and are increasingly treated as rare items, stored away within libraries and other research centres. In Australia, researchers and librarians have collaborated with the bibliographic database AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource to produce the Australian Children’s Literature Digital Resources Project (CLDR). This Project aims to address the growing demand for online access to rare children’s literature resources, and demonstrates the research potential of early Australian children’s literature by supplementing the collection with relevant critical articles. The CLDR project is designed with a specific focus and provides access to full text Australian children’s literature from European settlement to 1945. The collection demonstrates a need and desire to preserve literature treasures to prevent losing such collections in a digital age. The collection covers many themes relevant to the conference including, trauma, survival, memory, survival, hauntings, and histories. The resource provides new and exciting ways with which to research children’s literature from the past and offers a fascinating repository to scholars and professionals of ranging disciplines who are in interested in Australian children’s literature.

Obesity and hypertension have differing oxidant handling molecular pathways in age-related chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in ageing is a burden on health systems worldwide. Rat models of age-related CKD linked with obesity and hypertension were used to investigate alterations in oxidant handling and energy metabolism to identify gene targets or markers for age-related CKD. Young adult (3 months) and old (21–24 months) spontaneously-hypertensive (SHR), normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Wistar rats (normotensive, obese in ageing) were compared for renal functional and physiological parameters, renal fibrosis and inflammation, oxidative stress (hemeoxygenase-1/HO-1), apoptosis and cell injury (including Bax:Bcl-2), phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms of oxidant and energy sensing proteins (p66Shc, AMPK), signal transduction proteins (ERK1/2, PKB), and transcription factors (NF-κB, FoxO1). All old rats were normoglycemic. Renal fibrosis, tubular epithelial apoptosis, interstitial macrophages and myofibroblasts (all p < 0.05), p66Shc/phospho-p66 (p < 0.05), Bax/Bcl-2 ratio (p < 0.05) and NF-κB expression (p < 0.01) were highest in old obese Wistars. Expression of phospho-FoxO/FoxO was elevated in old Wistars (p < 0.001) and WKYs (p < 0.01). SHRs had high levels in young and old rats. Expression of PKB, phospho-PKB, ERK1/2 and phospho-ERK1/2 were significantly elevated in all aged animals. These results suggest that obesity and hypertension have differing oxidant handling and signalling pathways that act in the pathogenesis of age-related CKD

Age related differences in the validity of the OMNI perceived exertion scale during lifestyle activities

PURPOSE The OMNI Perceived Exertion Scale was developed for children to report perceived effort while performing physical activity; however no studies have formally examined age-related differences in validity. This study evaluated the validity of the OMNI-RPE in four age groups performing a range of lifestyle activities. METHODS 206 participants were stratified into four age groups: 6-8 years (n = 42), 9-10 years (n = 46), 11-12 years (n = 47), and 13-15 years (n = 71). Heart rate and VO2 were measured during 11 activity trials ranging in intensity from sedentary to vigorous. After each trial, participants reported effort from the OMNI walk/run scale. Concurrent validity was assessed by calculating within-subject correlations between OMNI ratings and the two physiological indices. RESULTS The average correlation between OMNI ratings and VO2 was 0.67, 0.77, 0.85 and 0.87 for the 6-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-15 y age groups, respectively. CONCLUSION The OMNI RPE scale demonstrated fair to good evidence of validity across a range of lifestyle activities among 6-15 year old children. The validity of the scale appears to be developmentally related with RPE reports closely reflecting physiological responses among children older than 8 years.

Super DNAging - New insights into DNA integrity, genome stability and telomeres in the oldest old

Reductions in DNA integrity, genome stability, and telomere length are strongly associated with the aging process, age-related diseases as well as the age-related loss of muscle mass. However, in people reaching an age far beyond their statistical life expectancy the prevalence of diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or dementia, is much lower compared to “averagely” aged humans. These inverse observations in nonagenarians (90–99 years), centenarians (100–109 years) and super-centenarians (110 years and older) require a closer look into dynamics underlying DNA damage within the oldest old of our society. Available data indicate improved DNA repair and antioxidant defense mechanisms in “super old” humans, which are comparable with much younger cohorts. Partly as a result of these enhanced endogenous repair and protective mechanisms, the oldest old humans appear to cope better with risk factors for DNA damage over their lifetime compared to subjects whose lifespan coincides with the statistical life expectancy. This model is supported by study results demonstrating superior chromosomal stability, telomere dynamics and DNA integrity in “successful agers”. There is also compelling evidence suggesting that life-style related factors including regular physical activity, a well-balanced diet and minimized psycho-social stress can reduce DNA damage and improve chromosomal stability. The most conclusive picture that emerges from reviewing the literature is that reaching “super old” age appears to be primarily determined by hereditary/genetic factors, while a healthy lifestyle additionally contributes to achieving the individual maximum lifespan in humans. More research is required in this rapidly growing population of super old people. In particular, there is need for more comprehensive investigations including short- and long-term lifestyle interventions as well as investigations focusing on the mechanisms causing DNA damage, mutations, and telomere shortening.

Distribution of ocular biometry in 7- and 14-year-old Chinese children

Purpose: To describe distributions of ocular biometry and their associations with refraction in 7- and 14-year-old children in urban areas of Anyang, central China. Methods: A total of 2271 grade 1 students aged 7.1 ± 0.4 years and 1786 grade 8 students aged 13.7 ± 0.5 years were measured with ocular biometry and cycloplegic refraction. A parental myopia questionnaire was administered to parents. Results: Mean axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, central corneal thickness, corneal diameter, corneal radius of curvature, axial length/corneal radius of curvature ratio, and spherical equivalent refraction were 22.72 ± 0.76 mm, 2.89 ± 0.24 mm, 3.61 ± 0.19 mm, 540.5 ± 31 μm, 12.06 ± 0.44 mm, 7.80 ± 0.25 mm, 2.91 ± 0.08, and +0.95 ± 1.05 diopters (D), respectively, in 7-year-old children. They were 24.39 ± 1.13 mm, 3.42 ± 0.41 mm, 3.18 ± 0.24 mm, 548.9 ± 33 μm, 12.03 ± 0.43 mm, 7.80 ± 0.26 mm, 3.13 ± 0.14, and −2.06 ± 2.20 D, respectively, in 14-year-old children. Compared with 7-year-old children, the older group had significantly more myopia (−3.0 D), longer axial length (1.7 mm), deeper anterior chamber depth (0.3 mm), thinner lens thickness (−0.2 mm), thicker central corneal thickness (10 μm), and greater axial length/corneal radius of curvature ratio (0.22) (all p < 0.001), as well as smaller corneal diameter (−0.03 mm, p = 0.02) and similar corneal radius of curvature. Sex differences were similar in both age groups, with boys having longer axial length (0.5 mm), deeper anterior chamber depth (0.1 mm), shorter lens thickness (0.03 mm), greater central corneal thickness (5 μm), greater corneal diameter (0.15 mm), and greater corneal radius of curvature (0.14 mm) than girls (all p < 0.01). The most important variables related to spherical equivalent refraction were vitreous length, corneal radius of curvature, and lens thickness. Conclusions: The 14-year-old group had larger parameter dimensions than the 7-year-old group except for corneal radius of curvature (unchanged) and lens thickness and corneal diameter (both smaller). Boys had large parameter dimensions than girls except for lens thickness (smaller). Axial length, corneal radius of curvature, and lens thickness were the most important determinants of refraction.