Residential swimming pools maintenance under an environmental perspective.

Swimming pools provides various benefits for users, but their owners need to carry out constant maintenance to ensure water quality and user safety. This paper goal was to assess the maintenance process of residential swimming pools, through Life Cycle Assessment based on NBR ISO 14040:2014 and NBR 14044:2014. The standard steps were followed and primary data on materials and quantities for the treatments were collected during 2022. The purchase costs of the treatment process were obtained, which based the cost analysis. The Impact Assessment Method used was the ReCiPe Endpoint (H) 2016, which assesses damage across three categories. The water, electricity and hypochlorite production processes were the most impactful in the categories of damage to human health, ecosystems and resources availability. These inputs production have an intense natural resources consumption and causes emissions into the environment. The highest expenses in pool maintenance were associated to human resources (worker) and chlorine purchase, followed by electricity. Scenarios were created to identify feasible changes to reduce the impacts. The waiver of water for replacement in the rainy season had greater potential for reducing impacts than the consumption changes in electricity and chlorine.

The Quality of Toothbrushing in Children with Intellectual Disabilities Enrolled in an Oral Health Promotion Programme: A Paired Study.

PURPOSE: To assess the quality of toothbrushing of children with intellectual disability (ID). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred thirty-six children, 68 with ID (SG = study group) and 68 non-ID (CG = control group), were paired. Their caregivers completed a questionnaire about socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and another about oral hygiene habits. The toothbrushing technique and position adopted were documented and the duration of the procedure was measured. A modification of the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (SM-OHI) was used to classify the quality of brushing as: adequate, when all the teeth had SM-OHI 0 or 1; or inadequate, when at least one tooth had SM-OHI 2 or 3. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to assess the normality of data distribution for age, duration of brushing and SM-OHI. Fisher's exact test and the chi-squared test were applied to assess the association between ID and oral hygiene habits or characteristics of toothbrushing. To compare the duration of brushing groups, the Mann-Whitney test was applied. Student's t-test for independent samples was applied to compare mean MS-OHI. RESULTS: Mothers were the main persons performing children's toothbrushing in SG. They reported a higher daily brushing frequency, longer toothbrushing duration of children in the SG, SG children had lower SM-OHI scores and were thus rated as having adequate toothbrushing, in contrast to the CG (p < 0.001, p < 0.001; p = 0.012; p < 0.001; p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Toothbrushing provided by caregivers for ID children was more effective than toothbrushing carried out by non-ID children of the same age and gender.

Mineral status and superoxide dismutase enzyme activity in Alzheimer's disease.

The study evaluated the dietary intake of zinc and copper, as measured by plasma and erythrocyte concentrations, the Cu/Zn ratio and measure the erythrocyte superoxide dismutase enzyme (eSOD) activity and the relationship between these markers and the degree of dementia in elderly individuals with and without Alzheimer's Disease (AD). A total of 93 elderly people aged 60-94 years were divided into two groups: with AD (n=44) and without AD (n=49). The NINCDS-ADRDA criteria were used for diagnosing AD, and dementia staging was determined using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale. The dietary intake of Zn and Cu was obtained from a standard 3-day food record. Plasma and erythrocyte concentrations of the minerals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry and by measuring eSOD activity in an automatic biochemical analyzer. The results showed dietary intake of Zn and Cu above the reference values with no differences observed between the two groups (p>0.05). Plasma and erythrocyte normocupremia as well as alteration in the Zn pool, with its reduced plasma concentrations and high in the erythrocytes, were observed in both groups (p>0.05). The plasma Cu/Zn ratio were not significantly different in patients with and without AD (p>0.05). The eSOD activity was high in both patient groups (p>0.05). However, among elderly patients with AD there was a positive correlation between this marker and dementia severity. According to our study results, we conclude that plasma and erythrocyte concentrations of Cu and Zn, as well as Cu/Zn ratio among elderly individuals is not related to Alzheimer's Disease. However, antioxidant activity of eSOD is associated with dementia severity.

Correlation of cephalometric and anthropometric measures with obstructive sleep apnea severity.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) often have associated changes in craniofacial morphology and distribution of body fat, either alone or in combination. AIM: To correlate cephalometric and anthropometric measures with OSAHS severity by using the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). METHOD: A retrospective cephalometry study of 93 patients with OSAHS was conducted from July 2010 to July 2012. The following measurements were evaluated: body mass index (BMI), neck circumference (NC), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), the angles formed by the cranial base and the maxilla (SNA) and the mandible (SNB), the difference between SNA and SNB (ANB), the distance from the mandibular plane to the hyoid bone (MP-H), the space between the base of the tongue and the posterior pharyngeal wall (PAS), and the distance between the posterior nasal spine and the tip of the uvula (PNS-P). Means, standard deviations, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated and analyzed. RESULTS: AHI correlated significantly with BMI (r = 0.207, p = 0.047), NC (r = 0.365, p = 0.000), WC (r = 0.337, p = 0.001), PNS-P (r = 0.282, p = 0.006), and MP-H (r = 0.235, p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Anthropometric measurements (BMI, NC, and WC) and cephalometric measurements (MP-H and PNS-P) can be used as predictors of OSAHS severity.

Expression of the zinc transporters genes and metallothionein in obese women.

Research has investigated the participation of zinc transport proteins and metallothionein in the metabolism of this mineral. However, studies about the genetic expression of these proteins in obese patients are scarce. The study determined the expression of zinc transporter protein codifying genes (ZnT-1, Zip-1 and Zip-3) and of metallothionein in 55 obese women, aged between 20 and 56 years. The assessment of body composition was carried out using anthropometric measurements and bioelectrical impedance. Zinc intake was obtained by recording diet over a 3-day period, and the nutritional analysis was carried out using NutWin software version 1.5. The plasmatic and erythrocytary zinc were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (λ=213. 9 nm). The determination of mRNA expression of the zinc transporter proteins and metallothionein was carried out using blood, using the RT-PCR method. The mean values of body mass index were 37.9±5.5 kg/m2. The average intake of zinc was 9.4±2.3 mg/day. The analysis of the zinc plasma concentrations showed values of 58.4±10.9 µg/dL. The mean values of zinc in the erythroytes were 38.7±9.1 µg/g Hb. The metallothionein gene had a higher expression in the blood, when compared to zinc transporters ZnT-1, Zip-1, and Zip-3 (p=0.01). The study shows that there are alterations in the biochemical parameters of zinc in obese patients assessed, as well as higher expression of the codifying gene metallothionein, when compared to the investigated zinc transporters.

Erythrocytary zinc and the infant growth profile in northeast Brazil.

This study evaluated nutritional status linked to zinc levels in 239 randomly selected children at crèches in Teresina, Brazil, aged 3 to 6. Blood samples were collected after fasting of 10 h. Erythrocytary zinc levels were determined through flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Zinc deficiency was determined as below 40 microg Zn/g Hb. Infant linear growth was evaluated measuring weight and height, and nutritional status by height/age, weight/height, and weight/age indices, expressed as Z scores, in line with the National Center for Health Statistics. The mean zinc concentration was 35.50 +/- 10.95 microg Zn/g Hb. Zinc distribution in the 10, 50, 75, and 90 percentiles was 24.73 microg Zn/g Hb, 35.45 microg Zn/g Hb, 40.73 microg Zn/g Hb and 52.77 microg Zn/g Hb, respectively. Based on this distribution, normal values were found only from the 75th percentile and above. Since the cutoff point adopted was 40 microg Zn/g Hb, the prevalence of zinc deficiency was 74.3%. As for growth profile, 8.4% were chronically malnourished, although the statistical association between linear impairment and nutritional status regarding zinc was insignificant. The study revealed that an important segment of the infant population was mineral deficient; however, the degree of deficiency did not influence growth profiles.