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- Abdominal muscle activity and pelvic motion according to active straight leg raising test results in adults with and without chronic low back painPublication . Castro, Carlos; Mesquita Montes, António; Carvalho, Paulo; Cancela Carral, JM.Active Straight Leg Raise (ASLR) is a clinical test that challenges lumbopelvic stability and have been used in low back pain patients. There are reports of positive tests in asymptomatic individuals, however, it is not clear if they are false positives or a consequence of performing the test differently.
- Abdominal muscle activity during breathing in different postural sets in healthy subjectsPublication . Mesquita Montes, António; Gouveia, Sara; Crasto, Carlos; Melo, Cristina; Carvalho, Paulo; Santos, Rita; Vilas-Boas, João PauloThis study aims to evaluate the effect of different postural sets on abdominal muscle activity during breathing in healthy subjects. Twenty-nine higher education students (20.86 ± 1.48 years; 9 males) breathed at the same rhythm (inspiration: 2 s; expiration: 4 s) in supine, standing, tripod and 4-point-kneeling positions. Surface electromyography was performed to assess the activation intensity of rectus abdominis, external oblique and transversus abdominis/internal oblique muscles during inspiration and expiration. During both breathing phases, the activation intensity of external oblique and transversus abdominis/internal oblique was significantly higher in standing when compared to supine (p ≤ 0.001). No significant differences were found between tripod position and 4-point-kneeling positions. Transversus abdominis/internal oblique activation intensity in these positions was higher than in supine and lower than in standing. Postural load and gravitational stretch are factors that should be considered in relation to the specific recruitment of abdominal muscles for breathing mechanics.
- Abdominal muscle activity during breathing in different postures in COPD “Stage 0” and healthy subjectsPublication . Mesquita Montes, António; Maia, Joana; Crasto, Carlos; Melo, Cristina; Carvalho, Paulo; Santos, Rita; Pereira, Susana; Vilas-Boas, João PauloThis study aims to evaluate the effect of different postures on the abdominal muscle activity during breathing in subjects "at risk" for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy. Twenty-nine volunteers, divided in "At Risk" for COPD (n=16; 47.38±5.08years) and Healthy (n=13; 47.54±6.65years) groups, breathed at the same rhythm in supine, standing, tripod and 4-point-kneeling positions. Surface electromyography was performed to assess the activation intensity of rectus abdominis, external oblique and transversus abdominis/internal oblique (TrA/IO) muscles, during inspiration and expiration. From supine to standing, an increased activation of all abdominal muscles was observed in "At Risk" for COPD group; however, in Healthy group, TrA/IO muscle showed an increased activation. In both groups, the TrA/IO muscle activation in tripod and 4-point kneeling positions was higher than in supine and lower than in standing. Subjects "at risk" for the development of COPD seemed to have a specific recruitment of the superficial layer of ventrolateral abdominal wall for the synchronization of postural function and mechanics of breathing.
- Abdominal muscle activity during breathing with and without inspiratory and expiratory loads in healthy subjectsPublication . Mesquita Montes, António; Baptista, João; Crasto, Carlos; Melo, Cristina; Santos, Rita; Vilas-Boas, João PauloCentral Nervous System modulates the motor activities of all trunk muscles to concurrently regulate the intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic pressures. The study aims to evaluate the effect of inspiratory and expiratory loads on abdominal muscle activity during breathing in healthy subjects. Twenty-three higher education students (21.09±1.56years; 8males) breathed at a same rhythm (inspiration: two seconds; expiration: four seconds) without load and with 10% of the maximal inspiratory or expiratory pressures, in standing. Surface electromyography was performed to assess the activation intensity of rectus abdominis, external oblique and transversus abdominis/internal oblique muscles, during inspiration and expiration. During inspiration, transversus abdominis/internal oblique activation intensity was significantly lower with inspiratory load when compared to without load (p=0.009) and expiratory load (p=0.002). During expiration, the activation intensity of all abdominal muscles was significantly higher with expiratory load when compared to without load (p<0.05). The activation intensity of external oblique (p=0.036) and transversus abdominis/internal oblique (p=0.022) was significantly higher with inspiratory load when compared to without load. Transversus abdominis/internal oblique activation intensity was significantly higher with expiratory load when compared to inspiratory load (p<0.001). Transversus abdominis/internal oblique seems to be the most relevant muscle to modulate the intra-abdominal pressure for the breathing mechanics.
- Ability of different measures of adiposity to identify high metabolic risk in adolescentsPublication . Carla Moreira, Carla; Santos, Rute; Vale, Susana; Santos, Paula Clara; Abreu, Sandra; Marques, Ana I.; Soares-Miranda, Luısa; Mota, JorgeThis study aimed to evaluate the screening performance of different measures of adiposity: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) for high metabolic risk in a sample of adolescents. A cross sectional school-based study was conducted on 517 adolescents aged 15–18, from the Azorean Islands, Portugal. We measured fasting glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and systolic blood pressure. HOMA and TC/HDL C 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. Receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) were used. Linear regression analyses showed that, after adjusting for age and pubertal stage, all different measures of adiposity are positively and significantly associated with MRS in both sexes, with exception of WHtR for boys. BMI, WC, and WHtR performed well in detecting high MRS, indicated by areas under the curve (AUC), with slightly greater AUC for BMI than for WC and WHtR in both sexes. All measures of adiposity were significantly associated with metabolic risk factors in a sample of Portuguese adolescents
- Accuracy and repeatability of the gait analysis by the WalkinSense systemPublication . P. de Castro, Marcelo; Meucci, Marco; Soares, Denise P.; Fonseca, Pedro; Borgonovo-Santos, Márcio; Sousa, Filipa; Machado, Leandro; Villas-Boas, João PauloWalkinSense is a new device designed to monitor walking. The aim of this study was to measure the accuracy and repeatability of the gait analysis performed by the WalkinSense system. Descriptions of values recorded by WalkinSense depicting typical gait in adults are also presented. A bench experiment using the Trublu calibration device was conducted to statically test the WalkinSense. Following this, a dynamic test was carried out overlapping the WalkinSense and the Pedar insoles in 40 healthy participants during walking. Pressure peak, pressure peak time, pressure-time integral, and mean pressure at eight-foot regions were calculated. In the bench experiments, the repeatability (i) among the WalkinSense sensors (within), (ii) between two WalkinSense devices, and (iii) between the WalkinSense and the Trublu devices was excellent. In the dynamic tests, the repeatability of the WalkinSense (i) between stances in the same trial (within-trial) and (ii) between trials was also excellent (ICC > 0.90). When the eight-foot regions were analyzed separately, the within-trial and between-trials repeatability was good-to-excellent in 88% (ICC > 0.80) of the data and fair in 11%. In short, the data suggest that the WalkinSense has good-to-excellent levels of accuracy and repeatability for plantar pressure variables.
- Activation timing of soleus and tibialis anterior muscles during sit-to-stand and stand to sit in post-stroke vs healthy subjectsPublication . Augusta Silva; Santos, Rubim; Pinheiro De Sousa, Andreia Sofia; Pinheiro, Ana Rita; Ferraz, Joana; Tavares, João Manuel; Sousa, FilipaSit-to-stand (SitTS) and stand-to-sit (StandTS) are very important functional tasks that become compromised in stroke patients. As in other voluntary movements, they require an adequate postural control (PC) involving the generation of anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). In order to give clues for more efficient and directed rehabilitation programs, a deeper knowledge about APAs during challenging and daily life movements is essential. To analyze the activation timing of tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL) muscles during SitTS and StandTS in healthy subjects and in post-stroke patients. Methods: Two groups participated in this study: one composed by ten healthy subjects and the other by ten subjects with history of stroke and increased H-reflex. Electromyographic activity (EMGa) of SOL and TA was analyzed during SitTS and StandTS in the ipsilateral (IPSI) and the contralateral (CONTRA) limb to the side lesion in stroke subjects, and in one limb in the healthy subjects. A force plate was used to identify the movement onset. In both sequences, in the stroke group SOL activation timing occurred prior to movement onset, contrary to the pattern observed in the healthy subjects. Statistical significant differences were found in SOL activation timings between each lower limbs of the stroke and healthy groups, but no significant differences were found between the IPSI and the CONTRA limb. The TA activation timing seems to be delayed in the CONTRA limb when compared to the healthy subjects and showed also a better organization of TA timing activation in StandTS when compared to SitTS. Compared to healthy subjects, APAs seems to be altered in both limbs of the post-stroke subjects, with the SOL activation timing being anticipated in both SitTS and StandTS.
- Activity Monitoring of Islamic Prayer (Salat) Postures using Deep LearningPublication . Koubaa, Anis; Ammar, Adel; Benjdira, Bilel; Al Hadid, Abdullatif; Kawaf, Belal; Al Yahri, Saleh Ali; Babiker, Abdelrahman; Assaf, Koutaiba; Ba Ras, MohannadIn the Muslim community, the prayer (i.e. Salat) is the second pillar of Islam, and it is the most essential and fundamental worshiping activity that believers have to perform five times a day. From a gestures' perspective, there are predefined human postures that must be performed in a precise manner. However, for several people, these postures are not correctly performed, due to being new to Salat or even having learned prayers in an incorrect manner. Furthermore, the time spent in each posture has to be balanced. To address these issues, we propose to develop an artificial intelligence assistive framework that guides worshippers to evaluate the correctness of the postures of their prayers. This paper represents the first step to achieve this objective and addresses the problem of the recognition of the basic gestures of Islamic prayer using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). The contribution of this paper lies in building a dataset for the basic Salat positions, and train a YOLOv3 neural network for the recognition of the gestures. Experimental results demonstrate that the mean average precision attains 85% for a training dataset of 764 images of the different postures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that addresses human activity recognition of Salat using deep learning.
- Acute effects of physical exercise with microcurrent in the adipose tissue of the abdominal region: A randomized controlled trialPublication . Noites, Andreia; Moreira, Anabela; Melo, Cristina; Faria, Miriam; Vilarinho, Rui; Freitas, Carla; Monteiro, Pedro; Carvalho, Paulo; Adubeiro, Nuno; Sousa, Maria; Santos, Rubim; Nogueira, LuisaIncreased abdominal fat and sedentary lifestyles contribute to cardiovascular disease risk. Low-intensity electrical current (microcurrent) on the abdominal region, associated with physical exercise, appears to be an innovative method to increase the lipolytic rate of abdominal adipocytes, in order to reduce abdominal fat. This study aimed to analyze the acute effects of microcurrent associated with an aerobic exercise program in healthy subjects in lipolysis. A double-blinded, randomized controlled trial was developed and conducted in a higher education school. Eighty-three healthy subjects, aged between 18 and 30 years old and with a 18.5 to 29.9 kg/m2 body mass index were randomly assigned either to an experimental or to a placebo group. Subjects received a trans-abdominal microcurrent stimulation for 40 min with (experimental group) or without (placebo group) electrical current, followed by a single aerobic exercise session (60 min at 45–55% VO2max intensity). Lipolytic activity (serum glycerol), abdominal fat (waist circumference, abdominal skinfold, ultrasonography), and serum lipid profile (serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) were evaluated in all subjects. Physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) and dietary intake (food-frequency questionnaire) questionnaires were applied. After the intervention, lipolytic rate was significantly higher (p = 0.003) in the experimental group (mean = 0.15) than in the placebo group (mean = 0.09). Glycerol results showed a statistically significant increase between baseline and after the intervention for both experimental group (p = 0.001) and the placebo group (p = 0.001). Combined use of microcurrent and physical aerobic exercise had an acute effect enhancing lipolytic rate comparing to exercise alone, in young healthy subjects.
- Ambulatory chest physiotherapy in mild-to-moderate acute bronchiolitis in children under two years of age — A randomized control trialPublication . Pinto, Frederico Ramos; Alexandrino, Ana Silva; Azevedo, InêsThe aim of this study was to compare the role of a chest physiotherapy (CP) intervention to no intervention on the respiratory status of children under two years of age, with mild-to-moderate bronchiolitis. Out of 80 eligible children observed in the Emergency Room, 45 children completed the study with 28 randomized to the intervention group and 17 to the control group. The intervention protocol, applied in an ambulatory setting, consisted of combined techniques of passive prolonged slow expiration, rhinopharyngeal clearance and provoked cough. The control group was assessed with no chest physiotherapy intervention. The efficacy of chest physiotherapy was assessed using the Kristjansson Respiratory Score at the admission and discharge of the visit to the Emergency Room and during clinical visits at day 7 and day 15. There was a significant improvement in the Kristjansson Respiratory Score in the intervention group compared to the control group at day 15 [1.2 (1.5) versus 0.3 (0.5); p-value=0.005, in the control and intervention groups, respectively], with a mean difference (95% CI) of −0.9 (−1.6 to −0.3). Chest physiotherapy had a positive impact on the respiratory status of children with mild-to-moderate bronchiolitis.