Alergia alimentar em crianças em idade pré-escolar

RESUMO:Os dados acerca da prevalência de alergia alimentar (AA) em lactentes e crianças em idade pré-escolar e factores de risco associados são escassos. Neste estudo, 19 infantários de Lisboa e Porto foram seleccionados após estratificação e análise de clusters. Foi aplicado um questionário adaptado do estudo ISAAC a uma amostra de crianças que frequentavam esses infantários. Os outcomes avaliados foram AA reportada e anafilaxia. Foi utilizada uma análise de regressão logística para explorar quais os potenciais factores de risco para AA reportada. Dos 2228 questionários distribuídos, 1217 foram incluídos na análise (54,6%). A idade mediana das crianças foi de 3,5 anos e 10,8% foram descritas como alguma vez tendo tido AA. Em 5,7% das crianças foi reportada AA actualmente. Três (0,2%) das crianças tiveram quadros clínicos compatíveis com anafilaxia. História parental de AA reportada, história pessoal de dermatite atópica e parto pré-termo foram factores descritos como aumentando a possibilidade de AA actual reportada. Identificou-se uma elevada prevalência de AA percepcionada pelos pais em crianças de idade pré-escolar. A identificação de factores de risco pode contribuir para a melhoria da prevenção de AA

A narrative review

Funding Information: João Gaspar Marques has received research grants from AstraZeneca and honorarium as speaker/consultant from AstraZeneca, Novartis, Sanofi and TEVA. Mafalda van Zeller has received honorarium as speaker/consultant from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and TEVA. Pedro Carreiro Martins has received research grants from AstraZeneca and honorarium as speaker/consultant from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Sanofi. Cláudia Chaves Loureiro has received honorarium as speaker/consultant from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Sanofi and TEVA. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Introduction and objectives: Severe asthma management during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a challenge and will continue to be, at least in the next few months, as herd immunity is still a mirage. A lot has to be learned about how COVID-19 affects underlying diseases, and severe asthma is no exception. Methods: Narrative review of papers available until February 2021 in PubMed and Google Scholar, relating severe asthma and COVID-19. Four main research topics were reviewed: SARS-CoV-2 infection: immunology and respiratory pathology; interrelationship of severe asthma endotypes and COVID-19 disease mechanisms; severe asthma epidemiology and COVID-19; and biologics for severe asthma in the context of COVID-19. Results: COVID-19 disease mechanisms start with upper respiratory cell infection, and afterwards several immunological facets are activated, contributing to disease severity, namely cell-mediated immunity and antibody production. Although infrequent in the COVID-19 course some patients develop a cytokine storm that causes organ damage and may lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome or multiorgan failure. Regarding severe asthma endotypes, type2-high might have a protective role both in infection risk and disease course. There is conflicting data regarding the epidemiological relationship between COVID-19 among severe asthma patients, with some studies reporting increased risk of infection and disease course, whereas others the other way round. Biologics for severe asthma do not seem to increase the risk of infection and severe COVID-19, although further evidence is needed. Conclusions: Globally, in the era of COVID-19, major respiratory societies recommend continuing the biologic treatment, preferably in a self-home administration program.publishersversionpublishe

Ferramenta computacional de dimensionamento e avaliação do desempenho térmico e eficiência energética de câmaras de frio

Os sistemas de frio industrial destinados à conservação de produtos alimentares adquiriram tal importância para a sociedade atual, que se torna imprevisível antever as consequências que a sua inexistência representariam no setor agroalimentar e, consequentemente, na nossa alimentação. No entanto, estes sistemas de conservação de alimentos, por refrigeração ou congelação, consideram consumos de energia significantes para as empresas. Com o intuito de promover uma melhoria do desempenho energético das indústrias agroalimentares, desenvolveu-se uma ferramenta computacional que permite uma análise das cargas térmicas e elétricas de câmaras de frio, com base nas diferentes características destas, tais como, superfícies, produtos, iluminação, pessoal e empilhadores que entram nas câmaras, processo de descongelação, entre outros. Os resultados obtidos da aplicação prática desta ferramenta comprovam a sua fiabilidade na análise dos principais fatores que afetam o consumo de energia, provando ser uma ferramenta útil no sector agroindustrial.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ventilatory defects and treatable traits in very elderly patients

Funding: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by AstraZeneca – Projecto OLDER (CEDOC/2015/59) and Finnee Project (PTDC/CCI-BIO/29702/2017).Though the approach used to classify chronic respiratory diseases is changing to a treatable-traits (TT) approach, data regarding very elderly patients is lacking. The objectives of this study were to assess TT frequency in very elderly patients and to study the link between extrapulmonary TT and ventilatory defects. Individuals (≥75 years) residing in elderly care centres answered a standardised questionnaire, underwent spirometry, atopy and fractional exhaled nitric oxide assessments and had their blood pressure and peripheral pulse oximetry measured. Pulmonary, extrapulmonary and behavioural TT were evaluated. Outcome variables were an airflow limitation (post-bronchodilator z-score FEV1/FVC<-1.64) and a restrictive spirometry pattern (z-score FEV1/FVC ≥ +1.64 and z-score FVC<-1.64). Seventy-two percent of the individuals who took part in the study (n = 234) were women, and the median age of participants was 86 (IQR: 7.4). At least one pulmonary TT was identified in 105 (44.9%) individuals. The most frequent extrapulmonary TTs were: persistent systemic inflammation (47.0%), anaemia (34.4%), depression (32.5%) and obesity (27.4). Airflow limitation was exclusively associated with smoking (OR 5.03; 95% CI 1.56-16.22). A restrictive spirometry pattern was associated with cognitive impairment (OR: 3.89; 95% CI: 1.55-9.79). A high frequency of various TTs was found. The novel association between a restrictive spirometry pattern and cognitive impairment highlights the urgency of clinical research on this vulnerable age group.publishersversionpublishe

Correlates of active commuting to school among portuguese adolescents: an ecological model approach

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Active commuting to and from school can be an important contribution to improving health in adolescents. This study aimed to analyze the influence of multilevel variables of the ecological model in the active commuting of a representative sample of Portuguese adolescents. The 2018 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children questionnaire was applied to 5695 adolescents with an average age of 15.5 years old (SD ± 1.8), 53.9% of whom were girls. The associations were studied by applying chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression models. In this study, 36.5% of the participants reported walking or cycling to school. Active commuting to school was directly associated with age (OR = 1.2; p < 0.05), strong family support (OR = 1.2; p < 0.05), a moderate to low financial level of the family (OR = 1.3; p < 0.05) and living near the school (OR = 2.4; p < 0.05). The results revealed that an adolescent's choice to travel to and from school using an active mode of transportation increased with strong family support. As a result, promotion campaigns should consider the adolescent's family context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rainfall patterns and critical values associated with landslides in Povoação County (São Miguel Island, Azores): relationships with the North Atlantic Oscillation

São Miguel Island (Azores) has been affected by hundreds of destructive landslide episodes in the last five centuries, triggeredeither by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or rainfall episodes, which were responsible for many deaths and very importanteconomic losses.Among the instability causes, meteorological factors are of primary importance on Povoação County, namely the highrecurrence rate of calamitous rainfall triggering landslides. The most recent catastrophic episode took place on the 31st October 1997 when almost 1000 soil slips and debris flows were triggered, and 29 people died in the Ribeira Quente village.The role of rainfall on regional landslide activity was analysed applying cumulative rainfall methods. The method comprisesthe reconstruction of both absolute and calibrated antecedent rainfalls associated with each major landslide event. Thecritical rainfall combination (amount-duration) responsible for each landslide event was assessed and a rainfall criticalthreshold for landslide occurrence was calculated. Rainfall-triggered landslides in the study area are ruled by the functionID144Ð06D 0Ð5551, and they are related both to short duration precipitation events (1 – 3 days) with high average intensity(between 78 and 144 mm/day) and long-lasting rainfall episodes (1 – 5 months) with a lower intensity (between 9 and22 mm/day).The impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the regional precipitation regime was evaluated. It is shown thatthe monthly precipitation of S ̃ao Miguel is largely modulated by the NAO mode presenting a significant negative correlationwith the NAO index. This result arises from the NAO control on the travelling latitude of most storm tracks that cross theNorthern Atlantic Ocean.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Road Pavement Damage Detection using Computer Vision Techniques: Approaches, Challenges and Opportunities

The work presented in this paper is the result of a preliminary research aimed at using computer vision techniques for road pavement damage detection in the context of a smart city. It first introduces the related concepts. Then, it surveys the state of the art and existing solutions, presenting their main features, strengths and limitations. The most promising solutions are identified. Finally, it discusses open challenges and research directions in this area

Prevalence of physical activity among adolescents from 105 low, middle, and high-income countries

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open accessarticle distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Introduction: Physical activity (PA) is a beneficial health behaviour, however most adolescents worldwide are physically inactive. Updated information on the prevalence and trends of PA is important to inform national and international authorities and support countries’ public health policies and actions. This study aimed to present the worldwide, regional, and national prevalence of PA participation according to its frequency in adolescents. Methods: This study is based on cross-sectional surveys of adolescents’ populations from several countries and all regions worldwide. The sample comprised 520,533 adolescents (251,788 boys; 268,745 girls), from 105 countries and regions. Results: Most adolescents engaged in PA up to 3 days/week (57.1%; 95% CI: 56.9; 57.2). The prevalence of engaging in PA every day decreases over the age from 28.2% at age of 11–12 years (95% CI: 27.4; 29.0) to 21.2% at age of 16–17 years (95% CI: 20.3; 22.0) among boys; and from 19.4% (95% CI: 18.5; 20.2) to 11.1% (95% CI: 10.1; 12.0) among girls. For boys and girls who engaged in PA 5-6 days/week, the prevalence increases from countries with the lowest human development index to countries with the highest. Cambodia (7.3%, 95% CI: 3.8; 10.8), Philippines (7.7%, 95% CI: 5.6; 9.7), Sudan (8.8%, 95% CI: 4.7; 12.9), Timor-Leste (8.9%, 95% CI: 5.5; 12.3), and Afghanistan (10.1%, 95% CI: 6.1; 14.1) were the countries with the lowest prevalence of sufficient PA. Conclusions: National, regional, and worldwide data on the prevalence of physical activity in adolescents highlights the importance of improving the global levels of PA, especially in girls. Identifying the factors causing the age-related decrease in physical activity levels will permit public health entities to define priority actions and policies against physical inactivity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudos Anglísticos na Universidade de Lisboa: II. Dissertações de Mestrado (1985-2003)

Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

Mining for peaks in lc-hrms datasets using finnee - a case study with exhaled breath condensates from healthy, asthmatic, and copd patients

This work was financially supported by the projects: (i) UID/ EQU/00511/2019 - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy − LEPABE funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC); (ii) POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029702 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER031297 funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 − Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizaca̧ õ (POCI) and by national funds (PIDDAC) through FCT/ MCTES; (iii) AstraZeneca − Projecto OLDER (CEDOC/ 2015/59); (iv) iNOVA4Health - UID/Multi/04462/2013, financially supported by FCT/Ministerio da Educação e Ciência, and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement.Separation techniques hyphenated to high-resolution mass spectrometry are essential in untargeted metabolomic analyses. Due to the complexity and size of the resulting data, analysts rely on computer-assisted tools to mine for features that may represent a chromatographic signal. However, this step remains problematic, and a high number of false positives are often obtained. This work reports a novel approach where each step is carefully controlled to decrease the likelihood of errors. Datasets are first corrected for baseline drift and background noise before the MS scans are converted from profile to centroid. A new alignment strategy that includes purity control is introduced, and features are quantified using the original data with scans recorded as profile, not the extracted features. All the algorithms used in this work are part of the Finnee Matlab toolbox that is freely available. The approach was validated using metabolites in exhaled breath condensates to differentiate individuals diagnosed with asthma from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. With this new pipeline, twice as many markers were found with Finnee in comparison to XCMS-online, and nearly 50% more than with MS-Dial, two of the most popular freeware for untargeted metabolomics analysis.publishersversionpublishe