António Marques

Effect of Season on the Chemical Composition and Nutritional Quality of the Edible Crab Cancer pagurus

Cancer pagurus is most appreciated in southern Europe for its muscle and brown meat content. In Portugal, consumption occurs mostly in summer and at Christmas. In this study the seasonal nutritional quality of edible tissues of female and male C. pagurus was determined. Tissue composition was affected by season and sex. All tissues had a well-balanced essential amino acid composition. Muscle and gonads of females had n-3/n-6 ratios in the range of the usual recommended values, and all tissues had PUFA/SFA above the recommended level. Autumn was the season with the highest brown meat yield, total essential amino acids (muscle), taurine (all tissues), EPA (male gonads), and n-3/n-6 ratio (gonads). However, it was also the season with the highest fat content and cholesterol concentration in ovaries. Therefore, people with restricted diets should moderate the consumption of ovaries in autumn. The remaining tissues pose no risks with respect to their proximate chemical composition.

Nutritional quality of the edible tissues of European lobster Homarus gammarus and American lobster Homarus americanus.

The clawed lobsters Homarus gammarus and Homarus americanus are high-priced and appreciated food items in southern Europe. From a nutritional point of view there is still limited information on the chemical composition of edible tissues (muscle, hepatopancreas, and gonads) of both species. Therefore, the aims of the present work were to study the proximate chemical composition, energy, fatty acid and amino acid profiles, and cholesterol content in each edible tissue of both species and to evaluate their nutritional quality. Differences were observed between tissues, sexes, and species. Muscle and gonads were rich in protein, whereas hepatopancreas had high fat, cholesterol, and energy contents. All edible tissues were valuable sources of essential amino acids. Contrary to the common belief that shellfish consumption should be reduced in a low-fat and -cholesterol diet, all edible tissues of clawed lobsters have a nutritious value perfectly compatible with nutritious and healthy diets.

Influence of Season and Sex on the Contents of Minerals and Trace Elements in Brown Crab (Cancer pagurus, Linnaeus, 1758)

Cancer pagurus is much appreciated in Southern Europe, where the muscle, hepatopancreas, and gonads are consumed regularly with peaks in summer and December. The elemental contents of C. pagurus edible tissues were analyzed in this study during the four seasons. Results indicate that the content varied with tissue, season, and sex. The hepatopancreas had more S, Cl, Ca, Br, Sr, Fe, Cu, Cd, and Pb, the gonads had a higher concentration of Na, and the muscle was richer in Zn. Autumn and winter corresponded to a high Mg, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe, and Zn content in both the muscle and hepatopancreas. Female gonads had more Fe, Zn, As, and Se than males but less Ca, Cl, Br, and Sr. Regarding toxic elements for human consumption, the levels of As, Hg, and Pb found in all edible tissues pose minimal risks to consumers. However, Cd concentration in the hepatopancreas was always above the action limit. Therefore, we recommend moderate hepatopancreas consumption.

Proposição e validação de um instrumento para avaliação do treino técnico-desportivo de jovens tenistas

Este trabalho teve por objetivo propor e validar um instrumento para avaliacao do treino tecnico-desportivo de tenistas: o Inventario do Treino Tecnico-desportivo do Tenista (ITTT). O ITTT foi elaborado atraves de tres amostras independentes de jovens tenistas de 13 a 16 anos de idade, de ambos os sexos, todos participantes de competicoes oficiais da Confederacao Brasileira de Tenis (CBT). O ITTT consiste de 12 afirmacoes que contemplam 12 jogadas especificas entendidas como basicas para o treino tecnicodesportivo do tenista. Os resultados (Alpha de Cronbach = 0,81) garantiram a consistencia interna do ITTT. Da mesma forma, apresentaram-se os que garantiram a validade de construto, demonstrando satura coes fatoriais entre 0,84 e 0,52 para o fator 1 (Golpes de Definicao - GD) e entre 0,81 e 0,58 para o fator 2 (Golpes de Preparacao - GP). Finalmente, os resultados concernentes a validade de conteudo apresentaram indices claramente favoraveis (r pertinencia = 0,68; r clareza = 0,41). Resultados pormenorizados ainda serao encontrados no texto. Concluiu-se que o ITTT apresenta qualidades psicometricas satisfatorias, confiaveis e validas, permitindo uma avaliacao rigorosa do treino tecnico-desportivo do jovem tenista brasileiro. Novas pesquisas sao ainda recomendadas para os fins de prosseguir o estudo com o ITTT.

Estudo fatorial confirmatório e da consistência interna do inventário do treino técnico-desportivo do tenista (ITTT-12)

This study is intended to test the bi-dimensional model - Preparations Strokes (GP) and Winners Strokes (GD) - evaluated through the tennis player technical inventory (ITTT-12), set up strokes (GP) and put away strokes (GD), through demanding metric principles of the confirmatory factorial analysis. Participated on this study 432 young Brazilian tennis players of both sexes and ages between 13 to 16 years old. The results of the confirmatory factorial analyses (GFI = 0.882; AGFI= 0.865; X2 /gl = 1.44; RMS = 0.061) had allowed to conclude that the tested model confirmed the existence of two dimensions (GP and GD). The results of the study of the internal consistency, for the bias of the calculation Alpha de Cronbach (the 0.81 for both dimensions), had assured the precision of the tested model. New studies must verify other metric properties of this instrument (predictive validity, test-retest reliability, among others), as well as to test the evolution of technical training of tennis players.