Cátia Silva

The presence of maladaptive eating behaviors after bariatric surgery in a cross sectional study: importance of picking or nibbling on weight regain.

BACKGROUND Maladaptive eating behaviors after bariatric surgery are thought to compromise weight outcomes, but little is known about their frequency over time. OBJECTIVE This study investigates the presence of subjective binge eating (SBE), objective binge eating (OBE) and picking and nibbling (P&N) before surgery and at different time periods postoperative, and their association with weight outcomes. METHODS This cross-sectional study assessed a group of patients before surgery (n=61), and three post-operative groups: 1) 90 patients (27 with laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB) and 63 with Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (LRYGB)) assessed during their 6month follow-up medical appointment; 2) 96 patients (34 LAGB and 62 LRYGB) assessed during their one year follow-up medical appointment; and 3) 127 patients (62 LAGB and 55 LRYGB) assessed during their second year follow-up medical appointment. Assessment included the Eating Disorders Examination and a set of self-report measures. RESULTS In the first ten months after surgery fewer participants reported maladaptive eating behaviors. No OBEs were reported at 6months. SBE episodes were present in all groups. P&N was the most frequently reported eating behavior. Eating behavior (P&N) was significantly associated with weight regain, and non-behavioral variables were associated with weight loss. CONCLUSIONS This study is cross-sectional study which greatly limits the interpretation of outcomes and no causal association can be made. However, a subgroup of postoperative patients report eating behaviors that are associated with greater weight regain. The early detection of these eating behaviors might be important in the prevention of problematic outcomes after bariatric surgery.

Promoting health behaviour in Portuguese children via Short Message Service: The efficacy of a text-messaging programme

A Short Message Service programme was adapted to monitor three health behaviours and provide supportive feedback. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme to increase fruit/vegetable consumption and physical activity and to decrease screen time. A total of 139 Portuguese children, aged 8–10 years, grouped by classroom, were randomly assigned to an intervention (8 weeks of monitoring/feedback) or a control condition. Participants had their key behaviours assessed at baseline, post-intervention and follow-up. A three-level hierarchical linear model was developed. Results showed that the monitoring and feedback programme significantly increased fruit and vegetable consumption over time.

Fabrication and characterization of polymeric three-axis thermal accelerometers

The concept, fabrication process, and characterization of a three-axis thermal accelerometer are presented in this paper. A combination of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology with microinjection molding enables the realization of functional, highly complex 3D geometries at the microscale, used here for the fabrication of a fully integrated three-axis accelerometer. While conventional thermal accelerometers are silicon based, using MEMS technologies only, the integration of polymeric materials and technologies into the fabrication process can greatly improve the realization of three-axis devices while diminishing the typical thermal losses. Three-axis thermal accelerometers were successfully fabricated by combining the proposed technologies proving the viability of the concept. Fabricated accelerometers show xy-axis sensitivity around 8 mV g−1, a z-axis sensitivity of 2.2 mV g−1 for a power of 45 mW and a 4 Hz bandwidth (bandwidth is based on simulations). Thermal tests performed showed that the heater can sustain up to 280 °C without overheating the remaining structures and damaging the device.

A fully integrated three-axis thermal accelerometer

A combined fabrication process using polymer and silicon planar microtechnologies is presented here and used for the fabrication of a fully-integrated three-axis thermal accelerometer. The use of polymers (polystyrene and polyimide) with low thermal conductivities improves the overall power consumption of the thermal accelerometer and enables a simple and low-cost fabrication process. The accelerometer is composed of 4 polystyrene microinjected structural microparts (two identical top parts and two identical central parts) and three polyimide membranes (two identical z-axis membranes and a central membrane). The microinjected parts provide the mechanical support for the active elements that are placed on the membranes (the heater and the temperature sensors). Fabricated microparts and membranes are presented and measurements performed on central membranes are used to characterize the heater. Experimental results reveal that a power of 58 mW is required to increase the temperature in the heater to 580K.

The Impact of Exposure to Cartoons Promoting Healthy Eating on Children's Food Preferences and Choices

Objective: This study explored whether a cartoon show with healthy eating messages positively affected childrens food choices and food preferences. Design: Experimental between‐subjects design. Setting: Four elementary schools in Portugal were investigated. Participants: Children (aged 4–8 years; n = 142) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: a comparison group (n = 73) was exposed to cartoons with no reference to food and an intervention group (n = 69) was exposed to cartoons with healthy eating messages. After viewing, each child was given the opportunity to eat ad libitum for 10 minutes from a small selection of snack foods. Main Outcome Measure: Number of healthy and unhealthy food items chosen. Food preferences were measured using an adapted version of the Leeds Food Preference Checklist. Analysis: Generalized linear models were used to test for differences between groups. Results were considered significant at P ≤ .05. Results: Children in the experimental group chose significantly more healthy food items than did those in the comparison group (B = –.600; SE = .19; P < .05). Conclusions and Implications: Future studies may address the effect of prolonged exposure to healthy eating cartoons. Cartoons can be used to promote healthy food choices and can be a part of health promotion campaigns.

New Concepts in Flexible Packaging

A new approach based in a flexible packaging is being analysed to replace a commercial package for the internal transport of variable electrostatic discharge sensitive devices at Bosch Car Multimedia facilities. During the design and fabrication process of a packaging, special attention is given to the handling, by the final consumer, in order to avoid an unusable or inefficient product. This paper presents an exploratory and comparative usability test performed to evaluate the satisfaction concerning several prototype handles, in real context of use. A quantitative evaluation was achieved by means of a specially developed questionnaire with a seven level Likert scale answer, and a qualitative analysis based in the feedback given by the company collaborators. The results indicate that the handle of the actual packaging is inefficient and inadequate for the tasks to be performed, and that two of the developed handle designs are more comfortable and ergonomic.