Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Neto.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of a 6-item measure to assess loneliness among 109 second-generation adolescent migrants. Analysis supported the validity and reliability of the scale with this sample of acculturating adolescents.
The Oxford Happiness Inventory and a battery of personality measures were completed by 171 subjects. The results showed predicted positive correlations for happiness with satisfaction with life, self-esteem, and sociability and negative correlations of happiness with embarrassability, loneliness, shyness, and social anxiety. Four predictors (satisfaction with life, shyness, loneliness, and sociability) accounted for 58% of the variance in happiness scores. These results support previous research as well as validate the Portuguese version of the happiness inventory.
This research is an examination of the relationship between loneliness and a number of psychosocial variables (e.g., affective state, cultural issues, gender, age) among adolescents and young adults from Cape Verde and Portugal. Two studies are presented. The participants in the first study were 285 adolescents from Cape Verde and 202 from Portugal, and in the second study there were 134 college students from Cape Verde and 112 from Portugal. The following instruments were administered to all the participants in both studies: The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (D. Russell, L. Peplau, & C. Cutrona, 1980), the Neuroticism Scale (J. Barros, 1999), the Optimism Scale (J. Barros, 1998), the Social Anxiety subscale (A. Fenigstein, M. Scheier, & A. Buss, 1975), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (E. Diener, R. Emmons, R. Larsen, & S. Griffin, 1985). No ethnic or gender differences were found for loneliness between the two groups. For both groups, the most prominent predictors of loneliness were neuroticism and dissatisfaction with life. However, as expected, the adolescent group recorded higher scores for loneliness than did the college students.
This study explores the association of perceived responsibility for loneliness and perceived control over loneliness on social adaptation and psychological adaptation among 109 second-generation Portuguese migrants to France. Analysis showed that rated perceived control was more highly associated with scores on social adaptation and psychological adaptation than perceived responsibility.
The study was done to examine sex differences in the importance attributed to romantic acts by adolescents. On a 15-item Romantic Acts questionnaire of Neto participants rated the importance of each act. Four factors of Offerings, Physical Intimacy, Altruistic Behavior, and Sexual Behavior were found. The 108 girls judged physical intimacy as more important than the 79 boys.
The leishmanin skin test was used to detect Leishmania-specific cellular immunity in asymptomatic dogs from an endemic region of visceral leishmaniosis. The test was safe since no clinical signs of intolerance to leishmanin were detected during 1 month, in 14 dogs after inoculations of 3 x 10(8) promastigotes/ml. In another group of four dogs no cross reactivity was found after inoculations of a PPD which demonstrated the specificity of the test. In the same group of animals, repeatability was assessed by repeated inoculations of leishmanin at 1-5-month intervals and the threshold of sensitivity was the concentration of 3 x 10(6) promastigotes/ml. Secondly, we applied the test in a dog population that live in an endemic region of visceral leishmaniosis and found a significant increase in Leishmania-infected dogs after the application of this test in the field.
A case-control study was undertaken to provide information about the role of some husbandry practices and farm characteristics in the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region. Twenty-seven breeding herds where a positive result to the single intradermal cervical tuberculin test was confirmed by post-mortem examination were compared with seventy-four herds which had been free of the disease for at least three years. Epidemiological information was collected on farms. The factors taken into account in the study were chosen on the basis of their epidemiological plausibility and of the local livestock characteristics. Multiple logistic regression was applied to analyse the data. Factors identified as possibly involved in increasing the risk of bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region were the presence of mixed (dairy and beef) enterprises (OR = 4.9, P = 0.001) and of cattle purchase (OR = 5.8; P = 0.003). Other factors (such as herd size, housing system, summer mountain pasture, possible contact with wild animals, and indirect contacts with other herds) did not appear to significantly contribute to tuberculosis presence in this area. The results of this case-control study support the hypothesis that in the Veneto Region bovine tuberculosis infection is still associated with classical risk factors both (directly or indirectly) related to cattle movements.
College students, 119 men and 116 women, from Cape Verde and Portugal ranked the importance of romantic acts. Comparisons between men and women and between Cape Verdean and Portuguese students showed no significant differences. An interesting finding was that "making love" was ranked the most important romantic act by men but only fifth by women in Portugal (behind cuddling, gazing, love letters, and kissing), whereas it was ranked third for both sexes in Cape Verde.
This study investigated the relationship between shyness and sociability among 194 Portuguese college students. A factor analysis of the intercorrelation matrix of shyness and sociability items gave two distinct factors indicating that shyness and sociability are distinct personality dispositions. Shyness scores showed only a moderate negative correlation with sociability. Further, the measures of shyness and sociability had different patterns of correlations with other personality scales. The Portuguese translation of shyness and sociability scales seems sufficiently reliable and valid to warrant further use with Portuguese individuals.
204 Portuguese adolescents responded to the Portuguese version of the Sexual Stereotypes Measure II and to the Portuguese version of the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire. Positive correlations were found between male sex stereotype and internal attribution of responsibility for successful outcomes and female sex stereotype and internal attribution of responsibility for failing outcomes.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Intraplantar injections of PAF-acether into the rat paw (0.025-16 micrograms/paw) were followed by a bell-shaped dose-response curve for oedema. In parallel to the ascending phase (0.25-2 micrograms/paw) a significant leukopenia was observed whereas thrombocytopenia, haemoconcentration and leukocytosis were seen during the descending phase (4-16 micrograms/paw) as was also observed after the i.v. injection of PAF-acether. I.v. injections of PAF-acether inhibited dose dependently the oedema induced by PAF-acether itself but were inactive against serotonin. Dexamethasone (0.1 mg/kg) inhibited the PAF-acether-induced thrombocytopenia and haemoconcentration but failed to modify the leukocytosis whereas aspirin (100 mg/kg) and indomethacin (1.0 mg/kg) inhibited only the haemoconcentration. The PAF-acether antagonist 48740 RP blocked the systemic haematological alterations and restored the auto-reduced oedema induced by a high dose of PAF-acether (16 micrograms/paw) but was unable to inhibit the paw oedema induced by PAF-acether. It is suggested that haemoconcentration, thrombocytopenia and leukocytosis are independent phenomena associated with the presence of PAF-acether in the bloodstream, these haematological changes and the local oedema induced by PAF-acether involve distinct mechanisms and the auto-inhibitory property of PAF-acether is not restricted to in vitro situations, but extends to local inflammation.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.