Mapping the characteristics, concepts and methodologies of matching-adjusted indirect comparison studies assessing pharmacological therapies in oncology: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Matching-adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC) studies are a subtype of indirect comparison, which uses propensity score weighting to enhance comparability. This method adjusts aggregated data based on covariables from individual patient data from studies to produce population-adjusted indirect comparisons. Some national Health Technology Assessment agencies have recently received submissions containing MAIC models.

Acute effects of foam roller or stick massage on indirect markers from exercise-induced muscle damage in healthy individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effects of foam roller or stick massage performed after exercise-induced muscle damage protocols on indirect markers of muscle damage compared to a non-intervention control group in healthy individuals.

Methods: PubMed, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library database were searched in August 2, 2020, with last update on February 21, 2021. Were included clinical trials involving healthy adult individuals who received foam roller/stick massage versus a non-intervention group and evaluated indirect markers of muscle damage.

Recurrence of an Episode of Low Back Pain: An Inception Cohort Study in Emergency Departments.

Objectives: To (1) determine the 1-year estimate of recurrence of low back pain (LBP) in a cohort of people presenting to emergency departments who have recently recovered from an episode of acute LBP in a middle-income country, (2) estimate a recurrence of LBP stratified by the STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST), and (3) determine prognostic factors for the recurrence of LBP.

Design: Prospective inception cohort study.

Methods: We included 238 patients who presented to emergency departments with recent-onset nonspecific LBP in São Paulo, Brazil.

Management of acute low back pain in emergency departments in São Paulo, Brazil: a descriptive, cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To describe management strategies used in public emergency departments in a middle-income country for patients with acute non-specific low back pain.

Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a prospective cohort study.

Setting And Participants: A study with 600 patients with low back pain presenting in four public emergency departments from São Paulo, Brazil was conducted.

Effects of myofascial release of the ankle plantar flexors on static postural balance of young men: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: Myofascial release (MR) has been widely used in sports and clinical environment. There are studies that have already evaluated the effect of MR on postural control, however, the data found are inconclusive.

Objectives: Investigate the effect of MR on ankle plantar flexor muscles over static postural balance.

Multivariate optimization approach applied to natural polymers from L. and Lam as coagulating/flocculating agents.

In this study, a multivariate experimental design was applied to optimize the operational conditions (seed mass, salt concentration, and pH) to employ L. (carob) and Lam (moringa) as coagulating/flocculating agents for water treatment. Currently, the coagulation stage in water treatment uses aluminium compounds, due to the characteristic reaction to natural alkalinity in raw water, and for its low market value.

The Long-Term Prognosis in People With Recent Onset Low Back Pain From Emergency Departments: An Inception Cohort Study.

Most studies investigating the course of recent-onset low back pain (LBP) included patients from primary care. We aimed to describe the prognosis in people with recent-onset LBP presenting to emergency departments (EDs) and to identify prognostic factors for nonrecovery. This inception cohort study with a 1-year follow-up recruited 600 consecutive acute LBP patients presenting to 4 EDs.

Photocatalytic Ozonation Performance In Landfill Leachate Treatment.

This work aims to identify the best treatment condition for removal of chemical oxigen demand (COD) and increase of biodegradability in an advanced oxidative process of photocatalytic ozonation with titanium dioxide (TiO2), applied to the remediation of the leachate produced at the municipal landfill of Campo Mourão, Paraná. The experiment was carried out using a photocatalytic chamber and an ozonation system based on the corona effect. A statistical model of the central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was elaborated and three variables (pH, TiO2 dose and airflow) were analyzed, to define the optimum condition that allows the highest perfomance of the treatment.

Photobiomodulation therapy is not better than placebo in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) has been used in several musculoskeletal disorders to reduce pain, inflammation, and promoting tissue regeneration. The current evidence about the effects of PBMT on low back pain (LBP) is still conflicting. We aimed to evaluate the effects of PBMT against placebo on pain intensity and disability in patients with chronic nonspecific LBP.

Use of the STarT Back Screening Tool in patients with chronic low back pain receiving physical therapy interventions.

Background: The STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST) is used to stratify care. It is unclear if the SBST approach works as well for patients in low- and medium-income countries as for patients from high-income countries.

Objectives: (1) To investigate whether patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) stratified by the SBST are different at baseline; (2) to describe the clinical course for each SBST subgroup; (3) to investigate the SBST utility to predict clinical outcomes; and (4) to determine which SBST subgroup show greater clinical improvement.

Zinc adsorption from aqueous solution on biosorbent from urban pruning waste.

In this study, urban pruning waste biosorbent after thermal activation process was used to remove zinc ion from aqueous solution. The zinc adsorption was fast, with values above 98.0% removal after 5 min.

Guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of COVID-19. The task-force/consensus guideline of the Brazilian Association of Intensive Care Medicine, the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases and the Brazilian Society of Pulmonology and Tisiology.

Introduction: Different therapies are currently used, considered, or proposed for the treatment of COVID-19; for many of those therapies, no appropriate assessment of effectiveness and safety was performed. This document aims to provide scientifically available evidence-based information in a transparent interpretation, to subsidize decisions related to the pharmacological therapy of COVID-19 in Brazil.

Methods: A group of 27 experts and methodologists integrated a task-force formed by professionals from the Brazilian Association of Intensive Care Medicine (Associação de Medicina Intensiva Brasileira - AMIB), the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases (Sociedad Brasileira de Infectologia - SBI) and the Brazilian Society of Pulmonology and Tisiology (Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia - SBPT).

The effects of one session of roller massage on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage: A randomized controlled trial.

Background/objective: Roller massage has become a popular intervention in sports settings in order to treat muscle soreness and stiffness, as well as improving post-exercise recovery, although there is limited evidence for these assumptions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a single session of roller massage, applied with a controlled force after an exercise-induced muscle damage protocol, on muscle recovery.

Methods: A randomized controlled study was performed using a repeated-measures design.

Profile of Patients With Acute Low Back Pain Who Sought Emergency Departments: A Cross-sectional Study.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the profile of patients with acute low back pain (LBP) who sought emergency departments (EDs) in Brazilian public hospitals. We also described the profile of these patients according to the STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST).

Formulation, Development and Scale-Up of Fixed-Dose Combination Tablets Containing Zidovudine, Lamivudine and Nevirapine.

Background: The development of antiretroviral associations in a single dosage form aims to ensure improved efficacy, low costs and better adherence to treatment.

Objective: This work performed the pharmacotechnical development, coating, and stability studies of fixed-dose combination tablets of zidovudine, lamivudine and nevirapine (300 + 200 + 150 mg, respectively).

Methods: Qualitative and quantitative planning of diluents (101 and 250 microcrystalline cellulose, spray-dried monohydrate lactose and corn starch) and coating polymers (Opadry white II HP® and Instacoat Aqua Moistshield II®) were analyzed, and direct compression (DC) and wet granulation (WG) methods were tested aiming the development of the pharmaceutical form.

A Responsiveness Analysis of the Subgroups for Targeted Treatment (STarT) Back Screening Tool in Patients With Nonspecific Low Back Pain.

Background: The Subgroups for Targeted Treatment (STarT) Back Screening Tool (SBST) screens patients with low back pain and directs them to different levels of physical therapy treatment. The SBST is also used to monitor changes in a range of modifiable prognostic factors. However, the current evidence on the responsiveness of the SBST is limited.

The use of STarT BACK Screening Tool in emergency departments for patients with acute low back pain: a prospective inception cohort study.

Purpose: (1) To analyse the clinical utility of the STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST) in emergency departments by describing changes in classification over time and; (2) to identify what would be the best time to use the SBST to predict long-term clinical outcomes in patients with acute nonspecific low back pain (LBP) seeking emergency care.

Methods: A 6 months prospective inception cohort study was conducted. 200 participants with LBP seeking emergency medical treatment were included.

Hypnosis Enhances the Effects of Pain Education in Patients With Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Unlabelled: The potential benefits of combining pain education (PE) with clinical hypnosis (CH) has not yet been investigated in individuals with chronic pain. A total of 100 patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain were randomized to receive either: 1) PE alone, or 2) PE with CH. Outcomes were collected by a blinded assessor at 2 weeks and 3 months after randomization.

Longitudinal Monitoring of Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain During Physical Therapy Treatment Using the STarT Back Screening Tool.

Study Design Preplanned secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial. Background The STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST) was developed to screen and to classify patients with low back pain into subgroups for the risk of having a poor prognosis. However, this classification at baseline does not take into account variables that can influence the prognosis during treatment or over time.

Kilohertz and Low-Frequency Electrical Stimulation With the Same Pulse Duration Have Similar Efficiency for Inducing Isometric Knee Extension Torque and Discomfort.

Objective: To test the hypotheses that, as compared with pulsed current with the same pulse duration, kilohertz frequency alternating current would not differ in terms of evoked-torque production and perceived discomfort, and as a result, it would show the same current efficiency.

Design: A repeated-measures design with 4 stimuli presented in random order was used to test 25 women: (1) 500-microsecond pulse duration, (2) 250-microsecond pulse duration, (3) 500-microsecond pulse duration and low carrier frequency (1 kHz), (4) 250-microsecond pulse duration and high carrier frequency (4 kHz). Isometric peak torque of quadriceps muscle was measured using an isokinetic dynamometer.

Kinesio Taping Does Not Provide Additional Benefits in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain Who Receive Exercise and Manual Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Study Design Randomized controlled trial. Background Many clinical practice guidelines endorse both manual therapy and exercise as effective treatment options for patients with low back pain. To optimize the effects of the treatments recommended by the guidelines, a new intervention known as Kinesio Taping is being widely used in these patients.

Skinfold thickness affects the isometric knee extension torque evoked by Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation.

Background: Subcutaneous adipose tissue may influence the transmission of electrical stimuli through to the skin, thus affecting both evoked torque and comfort perception associated with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). This could seriously affect the effectiveness of NMES for either rehabilitation or sports purposes.

Objective: To investigate the effects of skinfold thickness (SFT) on maximal NMES current intensity, NMES-evoked torque, and NMES-induced discomfort.

[Out of natural order: nature in discourses about cloning and stem cell research in Brazilian newspapers].

Different conceptions of nature influence media coverage and public opinion about biotechnology. This study reports on a discourse analysis of the ideas about nature and what is natural expressed in Brazilian media coverage of cloning and stem cell research. In the discourse against this research, the biotechnologies in question are placed outside the natural order of things and deemed immoral.

Electrocardiographic findings in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality among patients on dialysis. When considering all causes of death, about 30% are classified as cardiac arrest, death of unknown cause or cardiac arrhythmia. The increasing time of ventricular depolarization and repolarization, measured non-invasively by measuring the QT interval on the electrocardiogram at rest, has emerged as a predictor of complex ventricular arrhythmias, a major cause of sudden cardiac death.