Diogo Costa

Permanent Genetic Resources added to Molecular Ecology Resources Database 1 April 2010-31 May 2010

This article documents the addition of 396 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Anthocidaris crassispina, Aphis glycines, Argyrosomus regius, Astrocaryum sciophilum, Dasypus novemcinctus, Delomys sublineatus, Dermatemys mawii, Fundulus heteroclitus, Homalaspis plana, Jumellea rossii, Khaya senegalensis, Mugil cephalus, Neoceratitis cyanescens, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Phytophthora infestans, Piper cordulatum, Pterocarpus indicus, Rana dalmatina, Rosa pulverulenta, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Scomber colias, Semecarpus kathalekanensis, Stichopus monotuberculatus, Striga hermonthica, Tarentola boettgeri and Thermophis baileyi. These loci were cross‐tested on the following species: Aphis gossypii, Sooretamys angouya, Euryoryzomys russatus, Fundulus notatus, Fundulus olivaceus, Fundulus catenatus, Fundulus majalis, Jumellea fragrans, Jumellea triquetra Jumellea recta, Jumellea stenophylla, Liza richardsonii, Piper marginatum, Piper aequale, Piper darienensis, Piper dilatatum, Rana temporaria, Rana iberica, Rana pyrenaica, Semecarpus anacardium, Semecarpus auriculata, Semecarpus travancorica, Spondias acuminata, Holigarna grahamii, Holigarna beddomii, Mangifera indica, Anacardium occidentale, Tarentola delalandii, Tarentola caboverdianus and Thermophis zhaoermii.

Association between neighborhood deprivation and fruits and vegetables consumption and leisure-time physical activity: a cross-sectional multilevel analysis

BackgroundMost studies of the association between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and individual lifestyles leading to cardiovascular disease focused on a single cardiovascular risk factor. The concomitant assessment of more than one risk factor may provide clues to specific mechanisms linking neighborhood disadvantage to individual lifestyles. We investigated the association of neighborhood deprivation with fruits and vegetables consumption and leisure-time physical activity in adults living in an urban center in Portugal.MethodsIn 1999–2003, we assembled a random sample of 2081 adult residents in the city of Porto. Data on sociodemographic characteristics were collected by trained interviewers using structured questionnaires. Fruits and vegetables consumption was estimated using a validated 82-item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire covering the previous year and expressed in portions per day. Physical activity was evaluated using a questionnaire exploring leisure-time activities over the previous year and expressed in metabolic equivalents (MET).minute/day. Self-reported address was used to place individuals in neighborhoods. Neighborhoods’ socioeconomic characterization was based on aggregated data at the census block level provided by the 2001 National Census. Latent class analysis models were used to identify three discrete socioeconomic classes of neighborhoods. Random effects models with random intercepts at the neighborhood level were used to explore clustering and contextual effects of neighborhood deprivation on each of the outcomes.ResultsWe found evidence of neighborhood clustering of fruits and vegetables consumption and leisure-time physical activity that persisted after adjustment for neighborhood deprivation only among women. Women living in the most deprived neighborhoods presented a consumption increase of 0.43 (95% CI: -0.033 to 0.89) portions of fruits and vegetables per day and a decrease in leisure-time physical activity of 47.8 (95% CI: -91.8 to 1.41) MET.minute/day, when compared to those living in the most affluent neighborhoods. Among men, no contextual neighborhood deprivation effects were observed.ConclusionOverall, neighborhood deprivation had a small effect on the consumption of fruits and vegetables and leisure-time physical activity. Neighborhood factors other than socioeconomic deprivation may still impact on the studied outcomes among women. This study provides relevant information for the design of interventions directed to neighborhood characteristics in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Mini-Cog and Mini-Mental State Examination: Agreement in a Cross-Sectional Study with an Elderly Sample

Background/Aims: We aimed to compare the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) with the Mini-Cog, measuring agreement in participants’ classification, using a general population sample. Methods: Cross-sectional evaluation of 609 community dwellers aged ≥60 years was performed by trained interviewers. Cohen’s kappa and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to assess overall agreement, and Cronbach alphas computed to assess reliability. Two-parameter Item Response Theory models (difficulty and discrimination parameters) were used to assess discrimination. Results: Considering MMSE cut-point for scores <24, 3.1% of the participants would be ‘cognitive impaired’ and 6.2% considering cut-point scores <25. Following Mini-Cog’s cut-point score <3, 11.3% would be impaired. For MMSE cut-point <24 and Mini-Cog <3, we observed a Cohen’s kappa of 0.116 (95% CI: –0.073 to 0.305), and of 0.258 (95% CI: 0.101–0.415) for cut-point <25. The highest kappa was obtained for cut-point <26 on the MMSE and Mini-Cog <3 (kappa = 0.413). MMSE Cronbach alpha was 0.6108 and Mini-Cog’s alpha was 0.2776. Cocalibration according to inherent ability is graphically presented. Conclusions: Agreement between scales seems fragile in our sample. The discriminative and reliability analysis suggests a better performance for subsets of the MMSE compared with the Mini-Cog. Usefulness of calibrated scores is discussed.

Instruments to Assess Intimate Partner Violence: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

A scoping review was conducted to map existing evidence on strategies to measure male and female intimate partner violence (IPV). PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Scopus databases were searched from inception to 2014. There were 1,098 studies analyzed. To assess IPV, the most commonly followed strategy was the creation of study-specific questions (30.3%). The Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) were the most frequent choice among generic instruments, whereas for clinical samples, the preferred tool was the Abuse Assessment Screen. Prevalence estimates were generally higher when the original versions of the CTS were used. This review provides a guiding frame of what exists in the IPV measurement literature, showing trends in the choice for a particular instrument according to administration methods and settings.

Does interview setting influence disclosure of violence? A study in elderly.

BACKGROUND Violence is a very sensitive research topic and interviews setting might influence the participation rate and response accuracy. We aimed to evaluate such effect when assessing the prevalence of different types of violence in a sample of urban elderly by comparing those interviewed at home with those assessed at the research office. METHODS Study subjects were members of a cohort of urban dwellers previously assembled using random digit dialling. The initial 450 individuals aged 60-84 years old were invited to participate in the present study, after being randomly allocated into two groups: 150 for being scheduled to research office interview and 300 to home interview. Both groups allocated were similar regarding gender, age, education, marital status and behavioural characteristics such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Information was obtained by face-to-face standardised interviews. RESULTS We obtained a participation rate of 67.0% in the group allocated to home interview and 70.7% in the other group (P = 0.431). No statistically significant differences were found when prevalence of violence during the previous year was compared according to the interview setting (physical 2.5 versus 1.0%, psychological 19.7 versus 19.0%, financial mistreatment 8.6 versus 9.5%, sexual 1.0 versus 1.0% and neglect 5.1 versus 3.8% in home and research office, respectively). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that the interview setting has no influence both in participation rate and in the prevalence estimates of different types of violence in the elderly.

Interviewer effects when investigating abuse were not compatible with effect modification but instead with confounding

OBJECTIVES To describe interviewer-related variability in abuse estimates and assess the nature of the interviewer effects on the associations between elder abuse and covariates. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING After intensive training, six interviewers administered structured questionnaires through face-to-face interviews to assess abuse in a population-based sample of 641 Portuguese individuals aged 60-84 years. RESULTS The overall prevalence of abuse victimization during the previous year was 28.1%, but it differed significantly according to the interviewer, ranging from 16.9% to 36.8%. There was no statistical effect modification introduced by the interviewer on the association of abuse and its determinants. Additionally, interviewer-level variables (empathy and violence beliefs) showed no significant contribution to explain the variance attributable to potential interviewer effects. Adjusting for the interviewer had little or no effect on the odds ratio of abuse for gender, age, education, and quality of life. However, the interviewer introduced relevant confounding of the associations between abuse and other sensitive topics, such as somatic complaints. CONCLUSION Although no relevant effect modification was observed, this study emphasizes the importance of the interviewer as a relevant confounder when estimating associations between sensitive variables, as it is the case of elder abuse.

Prenatal care and pregnancy outcomes: A cross-sectional study in Luanda, Angola

To describe prenatal care in Angolan women delivered at a large tertiary care unit, and to explore the association between prenatal care and selected perinatal outcomes.

Factors associated with quality of services for marginalized groups with mental health problems in 14 European countries

BackgroundDifferent service characteristics are known to influence mental health care delivery. Much less is known about the impact of contextual factors, such as the socioeconomic circumstances, on the provision of care to socially marginalized groups.The objectives of this work were to assess the organisational characteristics of services providing mental health care for marginalized groups in 14 European capital cities and to explore the associations between organisational quality, service features and country-level characteristics.Methods617 services were assessed in two highly deprived areas in 14 European capital cities. A Quality Index of Service Organisation (QISO) was developed and applied across all sites. Service characteristics and country level socioeconomic indicators were tested and related with the Index using linear regressions and random intercept linear models.ResultsThe mean (standard deviation) of the QISO score (minimum = 0; maximum = 15) varied from 8.63 (2.23) in Ireland to 12.40 (2.07) in Hungary. The number of different programmes provided was the only service characteristic significantly correlated with the QISO (p < 0.05). The national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was inversely associated with the QISO. Nearly 15% of the variance of the QISO was attributed to country-level variables, with GDP explaining 12% of this variance.ConclusionsSocioeconomic contextual factors, in particular the national GDP are likely to influence the organisational quality of services providing mental health care for marginalized groups. Such factors should be considered in international comparative studies. Their significance for different types of services should be explored in further research.

Twenty-one new sequence markers for population genetics, species delimitation and phylogenetics in wall lizards (Podarcis spp.)

BackgroundWall lizards of genus Podarcis are abundant and conspicuous reptiles inhabiting Europe and North Africa. In recent years, they have become a popular lizard model for phylogeographical and evolutionary ecology studies. However a lack of suitable nuclear markers currently presents a limitation on analyses of molecular evolution within this genus. We address this limitation by developing twenty-one new primer pairs for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing of anonymous sequence markers in Podarcis vaucheri and performed an assay of their cross-amplification and polymorphism levels in two closely- (P. bocagei and P. liolepis) and two distantly-related (P. muralis and P. tiliguerta) congeners.FindingsCross-amplification and sequencing was straightforward among members of the Iberian and North-African group within genus Podarcis (which includes P. vaucheri), and somewhat less successful in species belonging to other groups (one and four loci out of 21 failed to amplify in P. muralis and P. tiliguerta, respectively, and overall success rates were lower). Nucleotide diversity for the five species examined ranged from 0.35% to 3.5%, with an average of 1.5% across all loci. Insertion and deletion polymorphisms were found in all but three loci.ConclusionsGiven the high cross-amplification rates, these markers constitute a valuable addition to set of genomic resources available for Podarcis, especially in studies dealing with phylogenetics, species delimitation, population genetics and phylogeography.

Social support and the intimate partner violence victimization among adults from six European countries

BACKGROUND Social support may buffer the negative effects of violence on physical and mental health. Family medicine providers play an essential role in identifying the available social support and intervening in intimate partner violence (IPV). OBJECTIVE This study aimed at assessing the association between social support and the IPV victimization among adults from six European countries. METHODS This is a cross-sectional multi-centre study that included individuals from Athens (Greece), Budapest (Hungary), London (UK), Östersund (Sweden), Porto (Portugal) and Stuttgart (Germany). Data collection was carried out between September 2010 and May 2011. The sample consisted of 3496 adults aged 18-64 years randomly selected from the general population in each city. The revised Conflict Tactics Scales was used to assess IPV victimization. Social support was assessed with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. RESULTS Participants reporting physical assault victimization experienced lower social support (mean ± SD) than their counterparts, 66.1 ± 13.96 versus 71.7 ± 12.90, P < 0.001, for women; and 67.1 ± 13.69 versus 69.5 ± 13.52, P = 0.002 for men. Similar results were found regarding sexual coercion victimization, 69.1 ± 14.03 versus 71.3 ± 12.97, P = 0.005 for women and 68.0 ± 13.29 versus 69.3 ± 13.62, P = 0.021 for men. This study revealed lower levels of social support among participants reporting lifetime and past year victimization, independent of demographic, social and health-related factors. CONCLUSION Results showed a statistically significant association between low social support and IPV victimization. Although the specific mechanisms linking social support with experiences of violence need further investigation, it seems that both informal and formal networks may be associated with lower levels of abusive situations.