Browsing by Author "Moreira, Pedro"
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- Alteração no consumo de fruta e sopa durante a gravidez e a sua associação com o índice de massa corporal pré-gestacionalPublication . Abreu, Sandra; Santos, Paula Clara; Moreira, Carla; Vale, Susana; Santos, Rute; Soares-Miranda, Luísa; Mota, Jorge; Moreira, PedroEncontra-se descrito que durante a gravidez, em benefício da saúde do feto, a mulher altera alguns dos seus hábitos alimentares. O objectivo deste estudo foi determinar as alterações no consumo de fruta e sopa na gravidez de acordo com o IMC pré-gestacional.
- Association between milk intake, leisure-time physical activity and abdominal obesity in girls 2012Publication . Abreu, Sandra; Santos, Rute; Moreira, Carla; Santos, Paula Clara; Vale, Susana; Soares-Miranda, Luísa; Mota, Jorge; Moreira, PedroDiet and physical activity are recognized as important factors to prevent abdominal obesity (AO), which is strongly associated with chronic disease (type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc.).
- Atividade física na gravidez e a sua influência nos ganhos ponderaisPublication . Santos, Paula Clara; Couto, Miriam; Soares, Luísa; Abreu, Sandra; Moreira, Carla; Silva, Pedro; Ferreira, Margarida; Santos, Rute; Moreira, Pedro; Montenegro, Nuno; Mota, JorgeComparativamente às grávidas com um peso saudável, as grávidas com excesso de peso ou obesidade têm um aumentado de diabetes gestacional, pré-eclâmpsia, parto induzido, cesariana, prematuridade e macrossomia. Existem várias recomendações quanto à prática de atividade física. Vários estudos revelam que esta prática tem efeitos positivos no que diz respeito ao cumprimento das recomendações do ganho ponderal na gravidez. No entanto, alguns estudos revelaram não haver diferenças no ganho ponderal materno entre grávidas que praticam e as que não praticam exercício.
- Automatic Classification and Segmentation of Low-Grade Gliomas in Magnetic Resonance ImagingPublication . Barbosa, Marta; Moreira, Pedro; Ribeiro, Rogério; Coelho, LuisIn this article a new methodology is proposed to tackle the problem of automatic segmentation of low-grade gliomas. The possibility of knowing the limits of this type of tumor is crucial for effectively characterizing the neoplasm, enabling, in certain cases, to obtain useful information about how to treat the patient in a more effective way. Using a database of magnetic resonance images, containing several occurrences of this type of tumors, and through a carefully designed image processing pipeline, the purpose of this work is to accurately locate, isolate and thus facilitate the classification of the pathology. The proposed methodology, described in detail, was able to achieve an accuracy of 87.5% for a binary classification task. The quality of the identified regions had an accuracy of 81.6%. These are promising results that may point the effectiveness of the approach. The low contrast of the images, as a result of the acquisition process, and the detection of very small tumors are still challenges that bring motivation to further pursue additional results.
- Cardiorespiratory fitness is negatively associated with metabolic risk factors independently of the adherence to a healthy dietary patternPublication . Moreira, Carla; Santos, Rute; Moreira, Pedro; Lobelo, F.; Ruiz, J. R.; Vale, Susana; Santos, Paula Clara; Abreu, Sandra; Mota, JorgeCardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and diet have been involved as significant factors towards the prevention of cardio-metabolic diseases. This study aimed to assess the impact of the combined associations of CRF and adherence to the Southern European Atlantic Diet (SEADiet) on the clustering of metabolic risk factors in adolescents. A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 468 adolescents aged 15-18, from the Azorean Islands, Portugal. We measured fasting glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, waits circumference and height. HOMA, TC/HDL-C ratio and waist-to-height ratio were calculated. For each of these variables, a Z-score was computed by age and sex. A metabolic risk score (MRS) was constructed by summing the Z scores of all individual risk factors. High risk was considered when the individual had 1SD of this score. CRF was measured with the 20 m-Shuttle-Run- Test. Adherence to SEADiet was assessed with a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression showed that, after adjusting for potential confounders, unfit adolescents with low adherence to SEADiet had the highest odds of having MRS (OR Z 9.4; 95%CI:2.6e33.3) followed by the unfit ones with high adherence to the SEADiet (OR Z 6.6; 95% CI: 1.9e22.5) when compared to those who were fit and had higher adherence to SEADiet.
- Effect of a specific exercise program on the strength and resistance levels of lumbar muscles in warehouse workersPublication . Mesquita, Cristina; Ribeiro, José; Moreira, PedroThe aim of this study was to verify the influence of a specific exercise program on the strength and resistance levels of lumbar flexors and extensors in warehouse workers. The population used in this randomized controlled trial included 557 warehouse male workers from a food distribution company in Oporto/Portugal. Upon the application of the selection criteria, 98 workers deemed eligible were randomized in two groups: 57 were assigned to the intervention group and 41 to the control group. The intervention included 9 easily-executed exercises to promote stretching and strengthening of the lumbar region, to be executed daily, at the beginning of the working time, at the company facilities and lasting 8’. Trunk muscles’ voluntary strength and resistance were measured using an isometric electronic dynamometer (Globus Ergometer, Globus, Codigné, Italy) at baseline and eleven months after implementing the exercise program. The data was analyzed using SPSS®, version 17.0. After implementation of the exercise program, in the intervention group, all variables increased, significant differences were observed as for the muscle strength and resistance values (p = 0.014 and p = 0.006, respectively), as well as in the ratio extensors/flexors (p = 0.037). In the control group, all variables decreased, with a statistically significant decrease of the trunk flexors strength level (p = 0.009). The results of this study suggest that a specific exercise intervention program can increase trunk extensors strength and resistance.
- Food consumption, physical activity and socio-economic status related to BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio in adolescentsPublication . Abreu, Sandra; Santos, Rute; Moreira, Carla; Santos, Paula Clara; Mota, Jorge; Moreira, PedroTo examine the association between obesity and food group intakes, physical activity and socio-economic status in adolescents. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2008. Cole's cut-off points were used to categorize BMI. Abdominal obesity was defined by a waist circumference at or above the 90th percentile, as well as a waist-to-height ratio at or above 0·500. Diet was evaluated using an FFQ, and the food group consumption was categorized using sex-specific tertiles of each food group amount. Physical activity was assessed via a self-report questionnaire. Socio-economic status was assessed referring to parental education and employment status. Data were analysed separately for girls and boys and the associations among food consumption, physical activity, socio-economic status and BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio were evaluated using logistic regression analysis, adjusting the results for potential confounders. Public schools in the Azorean Archipelago, Portugal. Adolescents (n 1209) aged 15–18 years. After adjustment, in boys, higher intake of ready-to-eat cereals was a negative predictor while vegetables were a positive predictor of overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity. Active boys had lower odds of abdominal obesity compared with inactive boys. Boys whose mother showed a low education level had higher odds of abdominal obesity compared with boys whose mother presented a high education level. Concerning girls, higher intake of sweets and pastries was a negative predictor of overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity. Girls in tertile 2 of milk intake had lower odds of abdominal obesity than those in tertile 1. Girls whose father had no relationship with employment displayed higher odds of abdominal obesity compared with girls whose father had high employment status. We have found that different measures of obesity have distinct associations with food group intakes, physical activity and socio-economic status.
- Ganho ponderal na gravidez e sua infuência no peso do bebé à nascençaPublication . Santos, Paula Clara Ribeiro; Abreu, Sandra; Moreira, Carla; Vale, Susana; Santos, Rute; Ferreira, Margarida; Marques, Ana; Moreira, Pedro; Mota, JorgeEstudos referem que o ganho excessivo de peso durante a gravidez parece afectar o ambiente uterino. Mulheres com ganhos ponderais superiores ao recomendado durante a gravidez dão à luz bebés mais gordos, os quais apresentam maior risco de se tornarem adultos obesos. O objectivo deste estudo foi determinar a in uência da obesidade materna e o do ganho ponderal durante a gravidez no peso do bebé à nascença.
- Intake of milk, but not total dairy, yogurt, or cheese, is negatively associated with the clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescentsPublication . Abreu, Sandra; Moreira, Pedro; Moreira, Carla; Moreira-Silva, Isabel; Mota, Jorge; Santos, Paula Clara; Santos, RuteEpidemiologic studies have reported an inverse association between dairy product consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults, but this relation is relatively unexplored in adolescents. We hypothesized that a higher dairy product intake is associated with lower cardiometabolic risk factor clustering in adolescents. To test this hypothesis, a cross-sectional study was conducted with 494 adolescents aged 15 to 18 years from the Azorean Archipelago, Portugal. We measured fasting glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, body fat, and cardiorespiratory fitness. We also calculated homeostatic model assessment and total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio. For each one of these variables, a z score was computed using age and sex. A cardiometabolic risk score (CMRS) was constructed by summing up the z scores of all individual risk factors. High risk was considered to exist when an individual had at least 1 SD from this score. Diet was evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire, and the intake of total dairy (included milk, yogurt, and cheese), milk, yogurt, and cheese was categorized as low (equal to or below the median of the total sample) or “appropriate” (above the median of the total sample).The association between dairy product intake and CMRS was evaluated using separate logistic regression, and the results were adjusted for confounders. Adolescents with high milk intake had lower CMRS, compared with those with low intake (10.6% vs 18.1%, P = .018). Adolescents with appropriate milk intake were less likely to have high CMRS than those with low milk intake (odds ratio, 0.531; 95% confidence interval, 0.302-0.931). No association was found between CMRS and total dairy, yogurt, and cheese intake. Only milk intake seems to be inversely related to CMRS in adolescents.
- Mismatch negativity in childhood temporal lobe epilepsy: a proposed paradigm for testing central auditory processingPublication . Tomé, David; Moreira, Pedro; Marques-Teixeira, João; Barbosa, Fernando; Jääskeläinen, SatuBackground: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a neurological disorder that directly affects cortical areas responsible for auditory processing. The resulting abnormalities can be assessed using event-related potentials (ERP), which have high temporal resolution. However, little is known about TLE in terms of dysfunction of early sensory memory encoding or possible correlations between EEGs, linguistic deficits, and seizures. Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an ERP component – elicited by introducing a deviant stimulus while the subject is attending to a repetitive behavioural task – which reflects pre-attentive sensory memory function and reflects neuronal auditory discrimination and perceptional accuracy. Hypothesis: We propose an MMN protocol for future clinical application and research based on the hypothesis that children with TLE may have abnormal MMN for speech and non-speech stimuli. The MMN can be elicited with a passive auditory oddball paradigm, and the abnormalities might be associated with the location and frequency of epileptic seizures. Significance: The suggested protocol might contribute to a better understanding of the neuropsychophysiological basis of MMN. We suggest that in TLE central sound representation may be decreased for speech and non-speech stimuli. Discussion: MMN arises from a difference to speech and non-speech stimuli across electrode sites. TLE in childhood might be a good model for studying topographic and functional auditory processing and its neurodevelopment, pointing to MMN as a possible clinical tool for prognosis, evaluation, follow-up, and rehabilitation for TLE.