Supplemental vibrissal extensions as an alternative to improve the tactile sensitivity of blind dogs - a preliminary approach investigation.

Objective: This preliminary study suggests a way to artificially extend vibrissae of blind dogs to assist ambulation and avoiding facial contact with obstacles.

Procedures: Fourteen irreversibly blind dogs had 5-6 mystacial vibrissae on each side of the face supplementally extended by attaching carefully chosen adult pig hairs to them and were subjected to a maze test before and after the procedure. In three of these dogs the test was repeated one more time after all the extensions had fallen off.

The Relationship Between Different Bench Test Methodologies and Accuracy of Insulin Infusion Pumps: A Systematic Literature Review.

Diabetes technology has rapidly evolved, and insulin infusion pumps (IIPs) have gained worldwide acceptance in diabetes care. The safety of medical equipment is highly discussed, imposing complex challenges in its use. The accuracy of IIPs can be determined through laboratory tests, generally following the IEC 60601-2-24 protocol.

Trend in the incidence rates of accidents with venomous animals in children and adolescents in Brazil (2007-2019).

Objective: To estimate the temporal trend of the incidence rates of accidents with venomous animals in children and adolescents in Brazil.

Methods: An ecological time-series study was carried out between 2007 and 2019. Data were obtained from the Brazilian Information System on Diseases of Compulsory Declaration (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação - SINAN).

Baseline factors associated with death in a COVID-19 hospital cohort, Sao Paulo, 2020.

This study aimed to verify socio-demographic and baseline clinical factors associated with death in a hospital cohort of patients with COVID-19. A retrospective cohort study was conducted between February and December 2020 in a university hospital in the city of São Paulo, using Hospital Epidemiology Center data. RT-PCR-positive patients were selected to compose the sample (n = 1,034).

Development of an Instrument to Assess Spirituality: Reliability and Validation of the Attitudes Related to Spirituality Scale (ARES).

Several instruments that measure spirituality present overlaps with positive emotions, impacting the interpretation of their findings. In order to minimize these problems, we aimed to develop, assess the reliability and validate a new scale to evaluate spirituality. The instrument was designed using a theoretical framework minimizing tautological issues (i.

Hypofractionated radiotherapy for newly diagnosed elderly glioblastoma patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Objective: To evaluate different hypofractionated radiotherapy (HRT) regimens for newly diagnosed elderly glioblastoma (GBM) patients.

Methods: We performed a systematic review with network meta-analysis (NMA), including searches on CENTRAL, Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, clinical trial databases and manual search. Only randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were included.

Assessing Sustainable Development Goal Target Indicator 3.5.2: Trends in alcohol per capita consumption in the Americas 1990-2016.

The objective of this study was to estimate trends in alcohol per capita consumption from 1990 to 2016 in the Region of the Americas, covering 35 Member States. Data from the WHO Global Information System on Alcohol and Health were used to calculate the annual percent change of alcohol per capita consumption in each of the 35 countries of the Americas. The Americas as a whole showed no change in the total period, with a slight decrease in the period 2010-2016.

Muscle-strengthening activities and cancer incidence and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

Background: Physical activity has been associated with reduced risk of seven types of cancer. It remains unclear, however, whether muscle-strengthening activities also reduce cancer incidence and mortality.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus were searched from inception to March 2020.

Rtabnetsp: an R package for retrieving São Paulo State health status indicators, Brazil.

Health status indicators are an important tool for monitoring the performance of public health actions, identifying trends and priority regions for resource allocation. An R package was developed in order to increase the feasibility of handling and analyzing health status indicator data. The rtabnetsp package requests data from TabNet servers on the São Paulo State Department of Health website, retrieving and preprocessing the data for user manipulation.

Efficacy of biostimulatory ozone therapy: Case report and literature review.

Background: The search for ever more lasting and safe aesthetic modalities is a constant. For this reason, biostimulation is finding more and more space in clinics; relatively simple, effective, and safe procedures, a procedure that delivers what it promises. Biostimulation is nothing more than an increase in collagen production, primarily type I, with the aim of facial or body rejuvenation.

Mnemonic strategy training modulates functional connectivity at rest in mild cognitive impairment: Results from a randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Mnemonic strategy training (MST) has been shown to improve cognitive performance and increase brain activation in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, little is known regarding the effects of MST on functional connectivity (FC) at rest. The aim of the present study was to investigate the MST focused on face-name associations effect on resting-state FC in those with MCI.

Safety and immunogenicity of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in patients with juvenile dermatomyositis: a real-world multicentre study.

Background: Concerns about the safety and efficacy of vaccines in patients with autoimmune diseases (AID) have led to contradictions and low vaccination coverage in this population, who are at a higher risk of infections, including by human papillomavirus (HPV). Although HPV vaccines have been recommended for immunocompromised patients, there is still a lack of data to support its use for AID patients, such as juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) patients. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the quadrivalent HPV (qHPV) vaccine in a cohort of JDM patients.

Lyophilised tilapia skin as a xenograft for superficial partial thickness burns: a novel preparation and storage technique.

Despite a considerable decrease in its incidence worldwide, burns remain the fourth most common type of trauma. The majority of burns are small, with 75% of injuries treated on an outpatient basis. Tilapia skin, as a biological material, has been suggested as an option for the management of burn wounds.

Forecast UTI: application for predicting intensive care unit beds in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In view of the need to manage and forecast the number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds for critically ill COVID-19 patients, the Forecast UTI open access application was developed to enable hospital indicator monitoring based on past health data and the temporal dynamics of the Coronavirus epidemic. Forecast UTI also enables short-term forecasts of the number of beds occupied daily by COVID-19 patients and possible care scenarios to be established. This article presents the functions, mode of access and examples of uses of Forecast UTI, a computational tool intended to assist managers of public and private hospitals within the Brazilian National Health System by supporting quick, strategic and efficient decision-making.

Heavy episodic drinking trends in the Brazilian state capitals and Federal District, 2006-2018: an ecological time series analysis.

Objective: To assess heavy episodic drinking trends in the 26 Brazilian state capitals and Federal District, overall and according to sex.

Methods: This was an ecological time series study of heavy episodic drinking patterns among adults, from 2006 to 2018. The data were obtained from VIGITEL Survey time series.

A Randomized Comparison Study of Lyophilized Nile Tilapia Skin and Silver-Impregnated Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose for the Treatment of Superficial Partial-Thickness Burns.

Glycerolized Nile tilapia skin (NTS) showed promising results when used for burn treatment in phases II and III randomized controlled trials. This pilot study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of lyophilized NTS (LNTS) as a temporary skin substitute for superficial partial-thickness burns by comparing it with silver-impregnated sodium carboxymethylcellulose dressing. This was a randomized, prospective, open-label, and controlled pilot study conducted in Fortaleza, Brazil, from April 2019 to December 2019.

Innovative Burn Treatment Using Tilapia Skin as a Xenograft: A Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial.

Skin substitutes are considered a useful alternative for occlusive dressings in the treatment of superficial burns as they reduce the frequency of dressing replacement. This phase II randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) skin as an occlusive xenograft dressing for the treatment of burn wounds in humans. In order to assess the use of tilapia skin, the following variables were evaluated: number of days for wound healing, the number of times the occlusive dressing was changed, use of anesthetics or analgesics, pain assessment using the Visual Analogue Scale, and evaluation of burn improvement on the day of dressing removal.

Transition from nonuse to use of alcohol or binge drinking among adolescents: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the predictors of the transition from nonuse of alcohol to the first use of alcohol and the first episode of binge drinking.

Methods: Data were drawn from a randomized controlled trial conducted with seventh- and eighth-grade students from 72 public schools over a 21-month period in six cities in Brazil. A total of 3298 students who reported that they had never consumed alcoholic beverages and had never engaged in binge drinking at baseline were included in this study.

Pediatric Burn Treatment Using Tilapia Skin as a Xenograft for Superficial Partial-Thickness Wounds: A Pilot Study.

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of Nile tilapia skin as a xenograft for the treatment of partial-thickness burn wounds in children. This is an open-label, monocentric, randomized phase II pilot study conducted in Fortaleza, Brazil. The study population consisted of 30 children between the ages of 2 and 12 years with superficial "partial-thickness" burns admitted less than 72 hours from the thermal injury.

Pneumostomy: an operative proposal for the treatment of severe diffuse pulmonary emphysema.

Objective: to evaluate a new operative technique for the treatment of advanced pulmonary emphysema.

Methods: we conducted a prospective analysis of nine patients with severe pulmonary emphysema submitted to pneumostomy. The procedure was performed under local anesthesia, in the anterior thoracic wall, hemiclavicular line, in the second intercostal space, through an anterior thoracotomy of 5cm for access to the upper lobe, whose anterior segment was pinched and fixed to the parietal pleura.

Training gains and transfer effects after mnemonic strategy training in mild cognitive impairment: A fMRI study.

Prior work has revealed that mnemonic strategy training (MST) can enhance memory for specific content and engages regions in the frontoparietal cognitive control network. Evidence of transfer to novel content is less clear. Here, we provide secondary analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired during a randomized controlled trial that compared MST to an active education control condition in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI).

Cognitive and Brain Activity Changes After Mnemonic Strategy Training in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Mnemonic strategy training (MST) has been shown to improve cognitive performance in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI), however, several questions remain unresolved. The goal of the present study was to replicate earlier pilot study findings using a randomized controlled design and to evaluate transfer effects and changes in brain activation. Thirty patients with a-MCI were randomized into MST or education program.

Binge drinking and frequent or heavy drinking among adolescents: prevalence and associated factors.

Objective: To analyze the sociodemographic, school, and family factors associated with the patterns of binge drinking and frequent or heavy drinking among adolescents.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, nested in a randomized controlled trial, of 6285 seventh and eighth grade adolescent students from Brazilian public schools. The associations between binge drinking (consumption of five or more doses of alcohol on a single occasion) in the last 12 months and frequent or heavy drinking (alcohol consumption on six or more days) in the last month and the several factors were analyzed through weighted logistic regression.