Publications by authors named "Antonio M Fonseca"

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived mother- and father-initiated motivational climates and players' fear of failure in youth male team sports. A sample of 336 youth male players from five team sports (basketball, football, handball, volleyball, and water polo) completed the Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate Questionnaire-2 and the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory. The results showed that perceived mother- and father-initiated motivational climates were related to fear of failure predispositions.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study characterized the optical transmittance of various porcine tissues and developed agarose-based phantoms using materials like titanium dioxide, India ink, and nanoparticles, assessing both their optical and mechanical properties.
  • * Results revealed that higher titanium dioxide concentrations decreased transmittance, and while some phantom materials closely resembled the optical behavior of biological tissues, further research is needed to improve the accuracy of these models.
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Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one of the main environmental problems associated with mining activity, whether the mine is operational or abandoned. In this work, several precipitates from this mine drainage generated by the oxidation of sulfide minerals, when exposed to weathering, were used as adsorbents. Such AMD precipitates from abandoned Portuguese mines (AGO, AGO-1, CF, and V9) were compared with two raw materials from Morocco (ClayMA and pyrophyllite) in terms of their efficiency in wastewater treatment.

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Two independent artificial neural network (ANN) models were used to determine the optimal drug combination of zeolite-based delivery systems (ZDS) for cancer therapy. The systems were based on the NaY zeolite using silver (Ag) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as antimicrobial and antineoplastic agents. Different ZDS samples were prepared, and their characterization indicates the successful incorporation of both pharmacologically active species without any relevant changes to the zeolite structure.

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Optimization of iron zeolitic imidazole framework-8 (FeZIF-8) nanoparticles, as heterogeneous catalysts, were synthesized and evaluated by the Fenton-like reaction for to degrade tartrazine (Tar) in aqueous environment. To achieve this, ZIF-8 nanoparticles were modified with different iron species (Fe or FeO), and subsequently assessed through the Fenton-like oxidation. The effect of different parameters such as the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the mass of catalyst and the contact time of reaction on the degradation of Tar by Fenton-like oxidation was studied by using the Box-Behnken design (BBD).

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This study characterised the sport participation patterns of 546 male youth team sport players. A retrospective questionnaire was used to identify the sport starting age (general sports and main sport) and the quantity and type of sports undertaken during the early years of development. A mixed-ANOVA and Chi-square tests were implemented.

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Background: Despite the actual demographic trends and the global burden of cardiovascular diseases, there is little knowledge concerning the effects of retirement on this health outcome.

Objective: We aimed to quantify the associations between retirement, and retirement age, with cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) in the Portuguese population.

Methods: We used data from the first Portuguese wave of the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe.

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The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of highly skilled and less skilled volleyball players about the influences that parents, coaches, and peers had on their sport development and performance achievement. Highly skilled ( = 30) and less skilled ( = 30) volleyball players participated in semi-structured retrospective interviews to explain how parents, coaches and peers may have influenced their sport participation. Data was analyzed through a process of content analysis.

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Zeolites have attractive features making them suitable carriers for drug delivery systems (DDS). As such, we loaded the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), into two different zeolite structures, faujasite (NaY) and Linde Type L (LTL), to obtain different DDS. The prepared DDS were tested in vitro using breast cancer, colorectal carcinoma, and melanoma cell lines and in vivo using the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane model (CAM).

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The aging population has an impact on health, social, and economic issues in regard to individuals, communities, and organizations. The challenge for local policies in response to aging is to create sufficient resources to meet the population's needs, wishes, and rights as people age. Active aging constitutes one of the guiding perspectives on policies.

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Zeolites are crystalline porous materials with a regular framework which have non-toxic effects on a variety of human cell lines and have been explored for cell imaging and drug delivery. Understanding the interaction between zeolite nanoparticles and cells is imperative for improving their potentialities, since the process of internalization of these particles is still poorly understood. In this study, the intracellular trafficking and internalization kinetics of zeolite L into breast cancer cells and normal epithelial mammary cells were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

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Objective: Analyzing the frequency patterns of practicing sports, the stages of change phases and the pros and cons of decision-making balance in nursing students related to gender and which year of study they are in.

Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive and exploratory study.

Results: 535 students of both genders participated in the study.

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This study presents a systematic review of psychological studies applied to futsal. A total of 23 studies were analyzed within five sections: a year overview and the name of journals, research designs, data collection, sample characteristics, and a focus category. This study found that the first psychological articles that were applied to futsal were published in 2008, and the number of publications gradually increased since then.

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A randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effects of exercise plus pharmacotherapy on monoamine neurotransmitters (dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, serotonin) and cortisol levels. A total of 26 women with clinical depression were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: aerobic exercise plus pharmacotherapy or only pharmacotherapy. The exercise program consisted of aerobic exercise, 45-50 min/session, three times/week, for 16 weeks.

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Background: The Satisfaction with Life Scale is one of the most widely used scales to measure the global cognitive judgment of satisfaction with one’s life.

Method: This study assesses the equivalence of the SWLS across Spanish and Portuguese adolescents, using multi-sample Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Participants were Spanish (N = 2183) and Portuguese (N = 4082) junior high school.

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Different loadings of silver exchanged on bimetallic Zn/Ag-NaY zeolite materials were studied for antimicrobial properties against four reference microorganisms. The sensitive indicator strains used were two bacteria (Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis) and two yeast species (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans). The bimetallic materials were compared with the monometallic materials prepared with the same concentrations of silver.

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Background: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a catabolic enzyme involved in the degradation of bioactive molecules including the neurotransmitters epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Higher COMT activity in depressive patients in comparison to non-depressed individuals has been reported. The effect of aerobic exercise on depressive patients has been studied and a number of researchers and clinicians believe it to be effective in the treatment of depression and to be involved in several molecular underlying mechanisms.

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Objective: Physical exercise has been consistently documented as a complementary therapy in the treatment of depressive disorders. However, despite a higher prevalence among women compared to men, the trials developed in women are scarce. In addition, the optimal dosage of exercise capable of producing benefits that reduce depressive symptoms remains unclear.

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Based on the importance of behavior and life satisfaction for the health of young people and the considerable regional differences that exist in mainland Portugal, an investigation was conducted. It sought to verify differences in levels of the practice of sport, tobacco and alcohol consumption and life satisfaction among students of the 3rd cycle of basic education living in different inland/coastal and rural/urban areas. The sample consisted of 5624 adolescents, aged between 12 and 17 years.

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Although some prospective studies have shown that many successful young athletes do not maintain the same level of success when they reach adulthood, there is still a lack of information regarding athletes who started their international involvement at early ages. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the international pathway of male and female athletes in different sports from the moment of their competitive debut, in order to determine how many international athletes at early ages competed or did not compete internationally as juniors and/or seniors. The sample included 395 athletes (soccer, volleyball, swimming and judo), born between 1974 and 1981, who could have competed in their national squads between 1988 and 2008.

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Background: The provision of Intensive Care (IC) can lead to a health care provider's physical, psychological and emotional exhaustion, which may develop into burnout. We notice the absence of specific studies regarding this syndrome in Portuguese Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Our main objective is to study the incidence and risk factors of burnout in Portuguese ICUs.

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The studies of potentiation of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a traditional drug used in the treatment of several cancers, including colorectal (CRC), were carried out with zeolites Faujasite in the sodium form, with different particle sizes (NaY, 700nm and nanoNaY, 150nm) and Linde type L in the potassium form (LTL) with a particle size of 80nm. 5-FU was loaded into zeolites by liquid-phase adsorption. Characterization by spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, (1)H NMR and (13)C and (27)Al solid-state MAS NMR), chemical analysis, thermal analysis (TGA), nitrogen adsorption isotherms and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), demonstrated the successful loading of 5-FU into the zeolite hosts.

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The Children's Attraction to Physical Activity (CAPA) scale assesses interest in and attraction to the physical activity (PA) of children of elementary school age. The original (25 items) and shorter versions (15 items) of the scale were developed and validated with American children. The purpose of this study was to cross-validate the shorter version of the CAPA scale for use with Portuguese schoolchildren and to examine the invariance of the multidimensional factor structure of the scale in two samples.

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