To estimate familial aggregation and quantify the genetic and environmental contribution to the phenotypic variation on sports participation (SP) among Portuguese families. The sample consisted of 2375 nuclear families (parents and two offspring each) from different regions of Portugal with a total of 9500 subjects. SP assessment was based on a psychometrically established questionnaire.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of this work was to collect construct and criterion-related evidence of validity for a reading comprehension test (TCL - Teste de Compreensão da Leitura) with three vertically scaled forms, designed to assess students from second, third and fourth grade.
Method: Two studies were conducted. In the first (n = 1,229), a confirmatory factor analysis was performed to analyse the test dimensionality.
Unlabelled: CONTEXT. Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt ex Bor (Poaceae), known as citronella grass, is an aromatic herbaceous plant and the essential oil extracted from this grass is used in cosmetics, perfumes, hygiene and cleanliness products worldwide.
Objective: This study investigated the composition and molluscicidal and larvicidal activities of the essential oil of C.
Background: Health benefits of physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) are reasonably well established, but tracking studies of PA and PF in childhood have not ordinarily considered the role of motor coordination.
Objectives: To compare the growth status, gross motor coordination (GMC), PA, and PF characteristics of children at 6 years of age relative to aerobic fitness (fit, unfit) and PA (active, sedentary) at 10 years.
Methods: 285 primary school children (142 girls, 143 boys) resident on the 4 main Azorean islands, Portugal, were measured annually (in the fall) from 6 to 10 years.
The chemical composition and biological potential of the essential oil extracted from Syzygium cumini leaves collected in Brazil were examined. GC/MS Analyses revealed a high abundance of monoterpenes (87.12%) in the oil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThyroid storm is a rare clinical emergency with a mortality rate between 20% and 30%. Cardiac arrhythmias associated with thyrotoxicosis are usually supraventricular. Ventricular arrhythmias are rarely associated with this entity and tend to occur in patients with intrinsic cardiac disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, 1-nitro-2-phenylethane was evaluated with respect to its effects in edema models of acute inflammation induced with carrageenan, dextran, and croton oil. 1-Nitro-2-phenylethane produced inhibition of rat paw edema induced by carrageenan and dextran at the doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg. The same doses caused an inhibition of croton oil-induced ear edema in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPiroplasmid protozoa Theileria equi and Babesia caballi and zoonotic rickettsial bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum are important agents of equine vector-borne diseases (EVBD). This study aimed at investigating the prevalence of infections with or exposure to these pathogens in horses from the north of Portugal. Blood was randomly collected from 162 horses, living in 72 different stables, to prepare Giemsa-stained slide smears.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvid Based Complement Alternat Med
March 2013
Eugenia uniflora L. is a member of the Myrtaceae family and is commonly known as Brazilian cherry tree. In this study, we evaluated the chemical composition of Eugenia uniflora L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovascular effects of the linalool-rich essential oil of Aniba rosaeodora (here named as EOAR) in normotensive rats were investigated. In anesthetized rats, intravenous (i.v.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Pharm Sci
March 2013
The present study investigated the mechanisms underlying the vasorelaxant effects of the essential oil of Aniba canelilla (EOAC) and its main constituent 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (NP) in isolated superior mesenteric artery from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). At 0.1-1000 μg/mL, EOAC and NP relaxed SMA preparations pre-contracted with 75 mMKCl with IC(50) (geometric mean [95% confidence interval]) values of 294.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF1-Nitro-2-phenylethane is the first organic NO₂-containing molecule isolated from plants. It possesses interesting hypotensive, bradycardic, and vasodilator properties, but the mode by which it induces vasorelaxation is still unknown. The underlying mechanism involved in the vasodilator effect of 1-nitro-2-phenylethane was investigated in rat aorta.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Bone quality has been associated with genetic factors and several environmental influences. This study suggests that although functional fitness should be considered in clinical assessments of bone health, body composition appears to have a higher relevance in the explanation of bone health/strength in older people.
Purpose: This study aims to describe the association between functional fitness (FF), other constitutive factors, and bone health/strength in a large community-dwelling sample of elderly active Portuguese.
Background: The Youth Physical Activity Promotion (YPAP) model provides an integrated approach to understanding the predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors influencing physical activity (PA) behavior. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an adapted version of the YPAP model for explaining PA among Portuguese schoolchildren.
Methods: A random cross-sectional sample of 683 children (8-10 years of age) attending elementary public schools in the north of Portugal completed a detailed survey assessing attraction to PA, perceived physical competence, parental influences and leisure time PA.
A very brief history of Portuguese twin research in sport and human movement sciences is presented. Recruitment procedures, zygosity determination, and phenotypes are given for twins and their parents from the mainland, and Azores and Madeira archipelagos. Preliminary findings are mostly related to physical activity, health-related physical fitness, gross motor coordination, neuromotor development, and metabolic syndrome traits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The main goal of this study was to verify the influence of low birth weight (LBW) on the physical fitness of children aged 7-10 years. The comparisons were subsequently adjusted for chronological age, gender, physical activity (PA), and body composition.
Methods: A total of 356 children of both genders born in Vitoria de Santo Antão (Northeast of Brazil) were divided into two groups according to their birth weight (LBW < 2.
Eur J Public Health
October 2013
Background: Understanding correlates of physical activity (PA) among children in different populations may contribute to fostering active lifestyles. This study considered gender differences in relationships between biologic (body mass index, BMI), demographic (socioeconomic sport status, SES) and psychosocial correlates of PA and level of PA in Portuguese primary school children.
Methods: 683 children, aged 8-10 years, from 20 different elementary schools in northern Portugal were surveyed.
Objectives: This study sought to assess differences in attraction to physical activity, perceived physical competence and parental socialization influences across gender, body mass index and socioeconomic status in Portuguese children.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Methods: 683 children, aged 8-10 years, from elementary schools were participants.
Background: Except for North America and Europe, few studies have reported the association among physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in youths, especially for rural African youth.
Aim: The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of PA levels, CRF, MetS and its indicators, and examine the association between these variables in a school-aged sample of youth from rural Mozambique.
Subjects And Methods: The sample included 209 children and adolescents aged 7-15 years old from Calanga, a rural community in Mozambique.
The main purpose of this study was to track the performance and health-related physical fitness of girls from Brazil's Cariri region. In the "Healthy Growth in Cariri Study", 294 girls from public and private schools were divided into four age cohorts--8, 10, 12, and 14 years--and followed for three consecutive years, with an assessment every 6 months. Shuttle run, hand grip, standing long jump, trunk lift, curl-up, 12-min run, and fatness were used to rate physical fitness performance and health-related components on each of six occasions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Construct percentile charts and physical fitness (PF) reference values stratified by age and sex of children and adolescents from Peru's central region.
Materials And Methods: The sample was comprised of 7,843 subjects (4,155 females and 3,688 males) between the ages of 6 to 17 years old. Physical fitness was assessed using six tests developed by EUROFIT, FITNESSGRAM and AAPHERD.
The purposes of this study were to generate functional-fitness norms for Portuguese older adults, to determine age and sex differences, and to analyze the physical activity-associated variation in functional fitness. The sample was composed of 802 older adults, 401 men and 401 women, age 60-79 yr. Functional fitness was assessed using the Senior Fitness Test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEthnopharmacological Relevance: From seeds of Carapa guianensis the Amazon native people extracts the andiroba oil, which is traditionally used as febrifuge, anti-malarial, insecticidal and repellant. The non-saponifiable fraction separated from the oil is rich in limonoids, which assigns its pharmacological effects.
Materials And Methods: The andiroba oil and its limonoid-rich fraction were submitted to in vitro antiplasmodial bioassay using W(2) and Dd(2) strains of Plasmodium falciparum.
Background: Secular trends in height and weight are reasonably well documented in Europe. Corresponding observations for skeletal maturation are lacking.
Aim: To assess secular trends in height, body mass and skeletal maturity of Portuguese children and adolescents and to provide updated reference values for skeletal maturity scores (SMSs).