Beyond Risk Factors: Spinal Epidural Abscess in a Young, Healthy Patient.

Epidural abscess is a rare complication of neuraxial techniques, which, when left unnoticed, can lead to significant neurological deficits and poor outcomes. Identification of patients at high risk and the conduct of a strict aseptic technique are some of the measures that play an important role in epidural abscess prevention. Prompt recognition and treatment of epidural abscesses are essential.

Professional pharmacy Services' outcomes performance measurement: A narrative review.

Background: Professional pharmacy services are widely recognized for their role in promoting patient health and ensuring optimal medication therapy outcomes. Community pharmacies and pharmacists need to assess professional services' performance at patient level and demonstrate their value to stakeholders. To do so is important to understand which outcome performance indicators are currently being used and how added value is proven.

Beneficial Effect of Exogenously Applied Calcium Pyruvate in Alleviating Water Deficit in Sugarcane as Assessed by Chlorophyll a Fluorescence Technique.

The growing demand for food production has led to an increase in agricultural areas, including many with low and irregular rainfall, stressing the importance of studies aimed at mitigating the harmful effects of water stress. From this perspective, the objective of this study was to evaluate calcium pyruvate as an attenuator of water deficit on chlorophyll fluorescence of five sugarcane genotypes. The experiment was conducted in a plant nursery where three management strategies (E1-full irrigation, E2-water deficit with the application of 30 mM calcium pyruvate, and E3-water deficit without the application of calcium pyruvate) and five sugarcane genotypes (RB863129, RB92579, RB962962, RB021754, and RB041443) were tested, distributed in randomized blocks, in a 3 × 5 factorial design with three replications.

Pool of items to measure Primary Health Care workers' knowledge on healthy eating.

Objective: To develop and validate a self-applicable instrument for measuring primary health care (PHC) workers' knowledge on healthy eating.

Methods: A six-step methodological study to develop and validate a measurement instrument: item development based on the Brazilian Dietary Guidelines' chapters; content validation with a panel of experts; face validation with potential instrument users; online instrument reevaluation by participants of the content and face validation panels; online application of the instrument with PHC workers; confirmatory factor analysis for construct validation.

Results: A first version with 25 items underwent content and semantic changes in the content and face validation panels, being reorganized into a second version with 22 items.

Assessing the Bacterial Community Composition of Bivalve Mollusks Collected in Aquaculture Farms and Respective Susceptibility to Antibiotics.

Aquaculture is a growing sector, providing several products for human consumption, and it is therefore important to guarantee its quality and safety. This study aimed to contribute to the knowledge of bacterial composition of , spp. and , and the antibiotic resistances/resistance genes present in aquaculture environments.

The role of Design Science Research Methodology in developing pharmacy eHealth services.

The increasing focus on efficiency of care has prompted health systems to look for innovative solutions that yield maximum value for care. Integration of care and eHealth are seen as the most promising solutions in the high technological environment of the coming decades. Pharmacy services have been developed to a point where the face of community pharmacy has changed dramatically.

Antimicrobial Resistance and Genetic Lineages of from Wild Rodents: First Report of C-Positive Methicillin-Resistant (MRSA) in Portugal.

The frequent carriage of , including methicillin-resistant (MRSA), by wild animals along with its zoonotic potential poses a public health problem. Furthermore, the repeated detection of the A gene homologue, C, in wildlife raises the question whether these animals may be a reservoir for C-MRSA. Thus, we aimed to isolate and MRSA from wild rodents living in port areas and to characterize their antimicrobial resistance and genetic lineages.

Pharmacy Electronic Records and Patient Clustering: Exploring New Ways to Increase the Provision of Tailored Pharmaceutical Services.

Patients' electronic records in community pharmacy are an untapped resource to uncover new ways of providing healthcare services. In this paper, we present a preliminary work, where we explore this resource, aiming to identify patients' clusters that will help to define a future algorithm. This algorithm will then enable community pharmacists to provide tailored pharmaceutical interventions according to patient's risk assessment and needs.

Efficacy of a glucose meter connected to a mobile app on glycemic control and adherence to self-care tasks in patients with T1DM and LADA: a parallel-group, open-label, clinical treatment trial.

Objective: The main aim of the study was to evaluate the patients' glycemic control and adherence to self-care tasks.

Methods: Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) or latent autoimmune diabetes of the adult (LADA) using a multiple daily injection (MDI) regimen with carbohydrate counting (n = 25, Subgroup B) or fixed insulin dose (n = 25, Subgroup C) were allocated to use the application (app) for 12 weeks. Both subgroups were compared with each other and against a control group (n = 25, Group A) comprising patients with T1DM or LADA treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) in a parallel-group, open-label, clinical treatment trial.

Measuring professional self and collective efficacy for dietary advice in Primary Health Care.

Background: There is a lack of instruments to measure the ability of health professionals to promote dietary advice according to dietary guidelines.

Aim: To develop and validate a web-based and self-applied scale for measuring primary health care (PHC) professionals' self-efficacy and collective efficacy to apply the Brazilian Dietary Guidelines for dietary advice.

Methods: Methodological procedures comprised six steps: development of the items; content validation with panel of experts; face validation through focus group conducted with PHC professionals; online reevaluation by the participants of content and face validation panels; online application with PHC professionals working all over Brazil's macro-regions; confirmatory factorial analysis to test construct validity.

Bacterial Diversity and Antibiotic Susceptibility of from Aquaculture.

In a world where the population continues to increase and the volume of fishing catches stagnates or even falls, the aquaculture sector has great growth potential. This study aimed to contribute to the depth of knowledge of the diversity of bacterial species found in collected from a fish farm and to understand which profiles of diminished susceptibility to antibiotics would be found in these bacteria that might be disseminated in the environment. One hundred thirty-six bacterial strains were recovered from the samples.

Prevalence and Determinants of Painful and Painless Neuropathy in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

To evaluate (1) the prevalence of diabetic distal symmetrical sensory-motor polyneuropathy (DSPN) and painful DSPN among patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) aged over 18 years and (2) the determinant factors of neuropathy and pain in those patients. An epidemiological, cross-sectional, observational study was performed; 330,386 people were included, and a total of 444 people were diagnosed with DM1. After exclusion of possible confounders, 360 patients were assessed for painless and painful DSPNs using neurological examination and questionnaires for neuropathy and pain.

Anthropometry and body composition of vertically HIV-infected children and adolescents under therapy with and without protease inhibitors.

Objective: Although the benefits of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have been documented, it is thought to be associated to disturbances in nutritional status. These disturbances may occur early in life and are poorly understood. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between anthropometric parameters and body composition of perinatally HIV-infected children and adolescents under HAART, according to use and non-use of protease inhibitors.

Stages of changes for fruit and vegetable intake and their relation to the nutritional status of undergraduate students.

Objective: To assess the nutritional and dietetic profile of freshman Nutrition undergraduate students, and its association with stages of changes (Transtheoretical Model) for fruit and vegetable intake.

Methods: Demographic (age and gender), anthropometric (body mass index and waist circumference) and nutritional (pattern of fruit and vegetable intake) data were obtained. The Transtheoretical Model was used to identify the stages of change for fruit and vegetable intake.

Dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance in vertically HIV-infected children and adolescents.

This cross-sectional study determined the influence of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the lipid profile and insulin sensitivity of 119 perinatally HIV-infected Brazilian patients aged 6-19 years. Inadequate high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) concentrations were observed in 81.4% of patients.

The nutritional status of children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy.

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess the nutritional status of children and adolescents with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). One hundred and eighteen subjects aged 6-19 years attending an outpatient clinic in São Paulo city were involved in the study. The following anthropometric measurements were assessed: weight, height, waist circumference and triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness.