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- Early childhood education professionals’ beliefs and attitudes about children's right to participation: A quantitative study in PortugalPublication . Correia, Nadine; Machado, Monique; Daniel, João; Aguiar, CecíliaChildren’s participation is recommended from the earliest age,namely in early childhood education (ECE). This quantitativestudy aimed to investigate ECE professionals’ beliefs and attitudestowards this child right. Participants were 247 ECE professionalsfrom ECE settings in Portugal, namely 186 teachers, 31 assistants,and 30 coordinators, with ages ranging from 21 to 65 years old(M = 45.47, SD = 10.33). Exploratory findings suggested positiveassociations between ECE professionals’ beliefs and attitudes,their participation practices, and their modernity beliefs, as wellas with professionals’ age and years of experience. Differenceswere found between ECE professionals’ beliefs and attitudes, as afunction of their professional role. Main findings and implications,particularly the relevance of professional development initiatives,focusing on professionals’ beliefs and attitudes, are discussed
- Intergenerational pathways from maternal childhood maltreatment to offspring adjustment: Mediating roles of attachment, sensitivity, and maternal psychopathologyPublication . Bravo, Patricia; Cárcamo, Rodrigo; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian; IJzendoorn, Marinus H. van; Jansen, Pauline W.Background: Maternal childhood maltreatment might have long-lasting consequences, not only at the individual level but also within the family system. Yet few studies have used longitudinal observational measures of mother-child interaction to explain the consequences. Objective: This study examined the longitudinal links between maternal childhood maltreatment and offspring's emotional and behavioral problems in late childhood, and explored maternal psychopathology, infant attachment, and maternal sensitivity as potential mediators. Participants and setting: Using data from a large study in the Netherlands, we included 832 mothers followed from pregnancy until their children were 10 years old. Methods: Mothers reported on their childhood maltreatment experiences (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), and mental health problems during pregnancy and at child age 10 years (Brief Symptom Inventory). Observational measures for attachment (Strange Situation Procedure) at 1 year and maternal sensitivity at 1, 3, 4, and 10 years (Ainsworth and Erickson scales). Maternal reports of child internalizing and externalizing problems at 10 years (Child Behavior Checklist) were obtained. Structural equation modeling was used to test the direct and indirect effects. Results: A direct association between mothers' experiences of maltreatment and greater behavioral and emotional problems in offspring, and an indirect association via maternal psychopathology during pregnancy and at 10 years was found. Findings did not support mediation by infant attachment or maternal sensitivity. Conclusions: Mothers with a history of maltreatment experienced more mental health problems over the years. Underscoring the need for mental health support may help alleviate the lifelong consequences of maltreatment experiences, ultimately reducing the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology
- From fascination to fear and disgust: Cross-cultural assessment of emotional and aesthetic responses to snake imageryPublication . Biondi, Luiz; Silva, Fábio; Gomes, Nuno; Maior, Rafael S.; Silva, Samuel; Soares, Sandra C.; Gomes, Nuno; Soares, SandraThe primate visual system is thought to have evolved under selective pressures favouring rapid detection of snakes, ancestral predators that shaped perceptual and attentional mechanisms. Yet, the transition from visual detection to subjective fear remains poorly understood and may depend on specific morphological cues. Here, we examined how snake morphology modulates human emotional and aesthetic responses across ecological and cultural contexts. A total of 377 participants from Portugal (low snake biodiversity) and Brazil (high snake biodiversity) rated images of 92 snake species on fear, disgust, beauty, valence, arousal and perceived size. Cluster analyses revealed three consistent emotional profiles across populations: a High-Fear cluster (mainly viperids, boids and mimics with threatening traits), a High-Valence cluster (mostly harmless colubrids and dipsadids), and a smaller High-Disgust cluster (fossorial or limbless reptiles). Cluster membership was unaffected by country, indicating cross-cultural consistency in emotional evaluations of snake morphology. Species in the High-Fear cluster exhibited higher edge density. By contrast, greater exposure to snakes, particularly in natural environments, was associated with lower Snake Fear Questionnaire scores. These results support the view that humans rely on evolutionarily conserved morphological heuristics (e.g. triangular heads, keeled scales and disruptive patterns) to assess potential threats, while individual predispositions and experience modulate response intensity.
- Intersections among attachment, empathy and emotion regulation in middle childhoodPublication . Pires, Eva; Fernandes, Marilia; Fernandes, Carla; Santos, António; Vaughn, Brian E.; Verissimo, ManuelaWithin secure attachment relationships, caregivers function as primary sources of self‐regulation and foster empathy. Affective empathy refers to the direct sharing of others' emotional states, whereas cognitive empathy involves understanding the meaning of others' affective displays. Although robust evidence links secure attachment to empathy, research examining the mediating role of emotion regulation (ER) during middle childhood remains limited. Participants were 214 children (108 girls) aged 8–12 years (M = 9.28 ± 1.09) and their parents (86.3% mothers). Children completed the Security Scale (SS), assessing Safe Haven (SH) and Secure Base (SB), as well the Questionnaire to Assess Affective and Cognitive Empathy in Children (QACE). Primary caregivers completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist assessing children's ER and lability/negativity. Results indicated that global ER was positively associated with cognitive but not affective empathy. Mediation analyses revealed that attachment was significantly associated with children's empathy ( however, ER did not mediate this association. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that maternal SH and paternal SB were strongly associated with cognitive and global empathy, whereas only maternal SH was strongly associated with affective empathy. These results underscore the robustness of attachment theory as an organising framework for socioemotional development regarding the processes during middle childhood.
- Health risk behaviors among university students: A latent class cnalysis and its association with mental healthPublication . Pais Brandão, Tânia Raquel; Gouveia, Maria Joao; Dias Neto, David Manuel; Queirós, Francisco; Loureiro, Filipe; Rocha, Teresa Almeida; Almeida Rocha, Teresa; Martins, Ana Cristina; Belo, Sara; Rodrigues, Soraia; Vargas-Moniz, MariaHealth behaviors (HB) are critical for university students, as they are closely associated with academic and overall well-being. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore health behaviors in a sample of university students, identify patterns of HB, and examine the association between these patterns and mental health outcomes. The sample consisted of 1085 university students enrolled at a private higher-education institution. Participants were predominantly female (83.4%), with a mean age of 22.74 years (= 7.03). Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was employed to identify distinct classes of HB. Three classes were identified: Class 1, labelled as the Unhealthy habits - high-stress profile (15.7%); Class 2, labelled as the Healthy/Low-risk group (68%); and Class 3, labelled as the Unhealthy habits - substance-use profile (16.3%). Significant differences in mental health outcomes were observed, with the Unhealthy habits - high stress profile displaying significantly worse mental health compared to the Healthy/Unhealthy habits - substance use profile. These findings reinforce the idea that HB do not operate in isolation but are interdependent components of a broader lifestyle pattern. The findings may inform the development of targeted interventions to promote healthier lifestyle patterns and support mental health among university students, particularly for the Unhealthy habits - high stress profile in the student population.
- Ecological context modulates the visual detection advantage for snakesPublication . Biondi, Luiz; Gomes, Nuno; Maior, Rafael S.; Silva, Fábio; Silva, Samuel; Soares, SandraResearch indicates that the human visual system is highly efficient at detecting snakes, yet less is known about how ecological visual contexts modulate this advantage. We conducted two experiments with university students (N = 58 each) to test whether background complexity influences snake-detection efficiency using a dual-task paradigm. In Experiment 1, stimuli were presented on a uniform grey background. Here, snakes were detected and visually fixated significantly faster than non-snake control animals, consistent with previous findings. Crucially, this advantage was not influenced by participants’ self-reported fear of snakes or anxiety levels. In Experiment 2, the same stimuli were embedded in a complex leaf-litter background. Under these conditions, non-snake stimuli were detected earlier than snakes, and overall accuracy declined. This indicates that the snake detection advantage is sensitive to changes in perceptual and contextual conditions, which may attenuate or reverse the pattern observed under simplified settings. Subjective fear scores again showed no moderating effect. Overall, these findings are consistent with an evolved sensitivity to snake-related visual features, but show that this advantage is context-dependent and can be attenuated or even reversed under ecologically complex visual conditions, independently of selfreported fear. They underscore the necessity of incorporating ecological variables into threat-detection research.
- Emotion regulation, fear of hypoglycemia, and diabetes distress in parents of children with type 1 diabetesPublication . Vieira, Anabela; Costa, Vasco; Pais Brandão, Tânia RaquelParents of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are responsible for intensive daily disease management and often experience high levels of emotional distress. This study examined whether fear of hypoglycemia mediates the association between parents’ emotion regulation strategies and diabetes-related distress. Participants were recruited through Facebook and WhatsApp groups for parents of children and adolescents with T1D, and data was collected via self-report online questionnaires. A total of 102 parents, 92.2% mothers (aged 32–58 years) of children with T1D aged 8–17 years, completed measures of fear of hypoglycemia (Hypoglycemia Fear Survey—Parent Version), diabetes distress (Problem Areas in Diabetes-Parent Revised) and emotion regulation strategies (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire), along with a sociodemographic questionnaire. Four mediation models were tested using PROCESS, including cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression as predictors and the worry and behavior subscales of fear of hypoglycemia as mediators. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of worry on the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and diabetes distress (indirect effect = −0.15, 95% CI [−0.35, −0.02]), highlighting worry as a potential mediator between these variables, while the direct effect was negative but non-significant. No significant indirect effects were found for expressive suppression on the behavior subscale (indirect effect = 0.12; 95% IC [−0.07; 0.36]) or on the worry subscale (indirect effect = 0.07; 95% IC [−0.08; 0.24]). These findings suggest that cognitive reappraisal may be associated with lower diabetes-related distress through lower levels of excessive worry about hypoglycemia. Clinically, the results highlight fear-related cognition can be a relevant intervention target, alongside emotion regulation skills, in psychosocial support programs for parents of youth with T1D.
- Solution-phase ITC validation of literature-reported Glyphosate DNA Aptamers: Affinity ranking and an operational selectivity boundaryPublication . Sun, Jingchun; Zhang, Linbing; Goncalves, David; Kuang, Shaoping; Yang, HongshengGlyphosate is a highly polar herbicide, the reliable molecular recognition of which is complicated by co-occurring structural analogues, metabolites, and derivatives in real-world samples. Rather than reporting new aptamer discovery, this study establishes a standardized, solution-phase isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) workflow to thermodynamically reassess two literature-reported glyphosate DNA aptamers, Seq03 and Seq05, under matched buffer composition and instrument settings. After verification of baseline stability and evaluation of heat-of-dilution contributions, ligand-to-aptamer titrations yielded apparent dissociation constants of approximately 8.14 μM for Seq03 and 40.2 μM for Seq05, enabling affinity-based prioritization of these reported candidates within the tested concentration window. To define an application-relevant selectivity boundary, we further constructed a counter-screen panel restricted to glyphosate-related chemicals, including structural analogues, metabolites, and derivatives, and evaluated all candidates using an identical ITC protocol with explicit background handling. None of the counter-screen compounds produced binding-consistent, saturable isotherms after integration and control-based interpretation; instead, their responses remained close to background heat and were therefore operationally classified as having no detectable binding under the tested conditions, including a reverse-titration format check with Glufosinate-N-acetyl. Collectively, these results position ITC as a label-free, platform-independent validation step for small-molecule aptamer benchmarking prior to analytical translation, while also highlighting that the present conclusions are bounded by the tested PBS-based conditions and the sensitivity window of the current ITC configuration.
- Correction to: Ethical principles and frameworks in dementia care: A Scoping ReviewPublication . Serrat, Rodrigo; Lauridsen, Sigurd; Bobrowicz‑Campos, Elzbieta; Brandao, Tânia; BritesRute; Cannella, Valentina; Celdrán, Montserrat; Chacur‑Kiss, Karima; Cin, Aynur; Faba, Josep; Jarašiūnaitė‑Fedosejeva, Gabija; Korkmaz‑Yaylagul, Nilufer; Pons‑Vila, Joan; Porras, Yoselyn; Radenkovic, Miroslav; Thoft, Diana Schack; Silva, Rosa; Stončikaitė, Ieva; Szcześniak, Dorota; Jensen, Rasmus Thybo; Yokus, Sidika Ece; Schou‑Juul, FrederikWith the support of BLINDED FOR REVIEW, a professional librarian at the University of BLINDED FOR REVIEW, we developed and refined our search strategy through an iterative process involving the selection of both keywords and databases
- Comparative materials-level evaluation of 3′- and 5′-Thiol DNA aptamer conjugation on gold nanospheres and nanoflowers: Apparent DNA loading output, morphology retention, and qualitative salt-challenge responsePublication . Sun, Jingchun; Zhang, Linbing; Gonçalves, David; Kuang, Shaoping; Yang, HongshengGold nanospheres (AuNPs) and gold nanoflowers (AuNFs) are widely used as platforms for DNA aptamer functionalization, while conjugation behavior and colloidal tolerance remain important factors affecting subsequent sensing-oriented optimization. In this study, 82-nt thiolated DNA aptamer constructs bearing either 3′-SH or 5′-SH terminal modification were immobilized onto citrate-stabilized AuNPs and AuNFs under matched stepwise salt-aging conditions. Apparent nanoparticle-associated DNA output was estimated by Qubit-based measurement of unbound ssDNA in the supernatant and expressed as mass-based loading output (ng). Under the tested stock-dispersion conditions, AuNP samples showed higher apparent conjugation output than AuNF samples. Specifically, the apparent conjugation yields for AuNPs were 80.65 ± 1.64% (3′-SH) and 84.76 ± 1.98% (5′-SH), whereas those for AuNFs were 66.64 ± 3.36% (3′-SH) and 73.65 ± 1.36% (5′-SH). The corresponding apparent DNA loading outputs were 2329.7 ± 47.4 ng and 2448.7 ± 57.1 ng for AuNPs, and 1925.1 ± 97.0 ng and 2127.4 ± 39.3 ng for AuNFs. DLS size increases and zeta potential shifts toward more negative values were consistent with the formation of a DNA-associated interfacial layer, while TEM images supported morphology retention after conjugation. A qualitative visual salt-challenge assessment indicated that aptamer-functionalized nanoparticles displayed improved resistance to salt-induced aggregation relative to bare particles under the tested conditions. Because the commercially supplied AuNP and AuNF dispersions were not normalized to identical particle number or accessible surface area, the reported values should be interpreted as comparative apparent outputs rather than intrinsic loading capacities. Within this scope, the present study provides a convenient preliminary materials-level evaluation of thiolated aptamer conjugation behavior and may support future glyphosate aptasensor optimization.