Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and climacteric symptoms often coexist in middle-aged women, increasing cardiovascular risk and reducing quality of life. Yoga shows promise for improving both metabolic and psychological outcomes, but its long-term effects in this population remain understudied. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of a structured Shivam Yoga training program over 6, 12, and 24 months on metabolic syndrome (MetS) and menopausal symptoms in climacteric women. A total of 102 women with MetS were assigned to a yoga intervention or control group, with assessments at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months. Primary outcomes included climacteric symptoms, anthropometric data, and biochemical and clinical parameters. The Yoga group showed a significant reduction in MetS frequency at 6 months (-20.8 %; p = 0.028) and 24 months (-46.0 %; p = 0.007) compared to controls. Fasting glucose decreased significantly at all time points (up to -21.54 mg/dL; p = 0.001), and HDL cholesterol increased at 24 months (+20 mg/dL; p = 0.001). At 24 months, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure also declined significantly. Climacteric symptoms improved consistently in the Yoga group, with lower Kupperman Index scores and reductions in nervousness at every follow-up (p < 0.05). Additional improvements included insomnia, depressive symptoms, and palpitations at 6 months, with sustained reductions in palpitations (-32.2 %; p = 0.043) and arthralgia/myalgia (-46.0 %; p = 0.007) at 24 months. These findings suggest that Shivam Yoga may offer sustained benefits for both metabolic health and menopausal symptom relief in women with MetS.

There is growing interest in using MXene-based materials for electronic and energy storage applications by integrating advanced microfabrication techniques. In this work, we investigate the femtosecond laser micromachining of Ti₃C₂T _x MXene films to enable the direct fabrication of microsupercapacitor (MSC) electrodes with high precision and minimal thermal damage. The influence of pulse energy and number of pulses on the resulting microstructures was systematically analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Irradiation with low pulse counts (1-5 pulses at 1010 nJ) produced localized features with depths of 0.5-1.0 μm and minimal redeposition, whereas higher pulse numbers (up to 20,000) yielded features of ∼1.2 μm with partial material removal and resolidified regions. Incubation analysis revealed a progressive reduction in ablation threshold with increasing pulse number. Elemental mapping and Raman spectra confirmed efficient material removal and exposure of the underlying substrate. Using optimized parameters, interdigitated electrodes were fabricated and integrated into planar MSCs, which exhibited an areal capacitance of 19 mF/cm² at 5 mV/s, as well as energy and power densities of 0.45 μWh/cm² and 0.3 mW/cm² at 1 mA/cm², respectively. These results demonstrate that femtosecond laser processing provides a versatile and high-resolution approach for MXene patterning, with strong potential for scalable microdevice fabrication in energy-related technologies.