Situational analysis of malaria in Cabo Verde: From endemic control to elimination, history, cases data and challenges ahead.

On 12 January 2024, Cabo Verde was officially certified by the WHO as a malaria-free country after six consecutive years without local transmission. This study analysed the malaria history of Cabo Verde from 1953 to certification in 2024, highlighted the valuable lessons learned, and discussed challenges for prevention reintroduction. Malaria data from the last 35 years (1988-2022) were analysed using descriptive analyses, and cases were mapped using the USGS National Map Viewer.

Relative Abundance of Spermadhesin-1 in the Seminal Plasma of Young Nellore Bulls Is in Agreement with Reproductive Parameters.

This study aimed to evaluate the proteomic profile of seminal plasma from young Nellore bulls. We used 20 bulls aged between 19.8 and 22.

Untreated dental caries and visible plaque of mothers are not determinant for the incidence of caries in dentin among children: evidence from a 3-year prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To evaluate whether characteristics related to mother's oral health, trajectory of family income, and maternal education are associated with the incidence of caries in dentin in preschool children.

Materials And Methods: One hundred fifty-eight mothers and their children were evaluated at baseline and re-evaluated after 3 years. Sociodemographic variables, dental caries, and biofilm of the mothers and children and daily sugar intake of the children were evaluated.

Whey Protein Supplementation Enhances Body Fat and Weight Loss in Women Long After Bariatric Surgery: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The ideal nutritional approach for weight regain after bariatric surgery remains unclear.

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the effect of whey protein supplementation on weight loss and body composition of women who regained weight 24 or more months after bariatric surgery.

Methods: This is a 16-week open-label, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial of women who regained at least 5 % of their lowest postoperative weight after a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB).

Fucan-coated silver nanoparticles synthesized by a green method induce human renal adenocarcinoma cell death.

Polysaccharides containing sulfated L-fucose are often called fucans. The seaweed Spatoglossum schröederi synthesizes three fucans, among which fucan A is the most abundant. This polymer is not cytotoxic against various normal cell lines and is non-toxic to rats when administered at high doses.

Cardiac rehabilitation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary disease: a comparative study.

Introduction And Aims: Diabetic patients have a 2-4 times higher risk of cardiovascular disease than non-diabetic individuals. The aims of this study are to evaluate the effects of a cardiac rehabilitation program (phase II) in patients with diabetes and coronary disease and to compare the results with regard to control of cardiovascular risk factors and improvement in functional capacity with coronary patients without diabetes.

Methods: This was a prospective study of patients diagnosed with ischemic heart disease referred for a cardiac rehabilitation program between January 2009 and June 2013.

The benefits of cardiac rehabilitation in coronary heart disease: a gender issue?

Introduction And Objectives: Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in women worldwide and several studies have shown that they are under-represented in cardiac rehabilitation therapy. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of women in a cardiac rehabilitation program and to assess their response to this intervention.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of 858 patients who attended an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program after an acute coronary syndrome or elective percutaneous coronary intervention, between January 2008 and December 2012.

Relevant aspects of radiation protection in oil and gas well logging.

Radiation sources have being widely used in industrial applications, but their inappropriate use presents a large potential for hazards to human health and the environment. These hazards can be minimised by development of specific radiation protection rules and adequate procedures for the handling, use and storage of radiation sources, which should be established in a national normative framework. Recently, due to discovery of new oil and gas reservoirs on the Brazilian continental shelf, especially in deep water and the pre-salt layer, there has been a large and rapid increase in the use of radiation sources for well logging.

[Long-term effects of a cardiac rehabilitation program in the control of cardiovascular risk factors].

Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation programs are designed to improve patients' functional capacity, as well as to educate them and to monitor their cardiovascular risk factors.

Aim: The study aims to evaluate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation programs in patients with coronary disease over a 12-month follow-up period with regard to control of cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: This was a prospective study of patients diagnosed with coronary disease who completed an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program between January 2008 and December 2009 and who were not lost to follow-up.

Antiproliferative activity of fucan nanogel.

Sulfated fucans comprise families of polydisperse natural polysaccharides based on sulfated L-fucose. Our aim was to investigate whether fucan nanogel induces cell-specific responses. To that end, a non toxic fucan extracted from Spatoglossum schröederi was chemically modified by grafting hexadecylamine to the polymer hydrophilic backbone.

Rating organ failure via adverse events using data mining in the intensive care unit.

Objective: The main intensive care unit (ICU) goal is to avoid or reverse the organ failure process by adopting a timely intervention. Within this context, early identification of organ impairment is a key issue. The sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) is an expert-driven score that is widely used in European ICUs to quantify organ disorder.

Cardiac involveent in type 1 myotonic dystrophy.

Myotonic dystrophy is a multisystem disorder in which cardiac involvement is common, particularly in conduction tissue. Its severity and symptoms vary, and so careful monitoring is required and a permanent pacemaker may need to be implanted. The aim of the study was to evaluate cardiac alterations and to correlate them with genetic (CTG expansion) and neurological data.

Ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in type 1 myotonic dystrophy.

Myotonic dystrophy is a multisystemic disease, in which cardiac involvement is the second most common cause of death. Cardiac conduction tissue involvement is the most frequent, characteristically in a variably progressive and asymptomatic form. Careful surveillance through ambulatory monitoring is therefore needed, but with unknown periodicity.

Myxoma in the right ventricular outlow tract.

We present a patient with dyspnea, cyanosis and presyncope during exercise related to intermittent obstruction of the right outflow tract by a myxoma of the right ventricle attached to the membranous interventricular septum by its pedicle. We also review the specific medical and surgical features of such tumors. Right ventricular myxomas are rare benign tumors and clinical manifestations depend mainly on size and site of attachment.

Isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Isolated endocarditis of the native pulmonary valve is a rare clinical condition. It usually appears in association with certain predisposing factors, particularly intravenous drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sepsis, endovascular infections or congenital heart disease. The authors describe the case of isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa of possible nosocomial origin in the absence of the predisposing factors mentioned above.

Familial apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with aneurysmal evolution--an unusual form.

The authors present the case of a 76-year-old patient with multiple vascular risk factors, admitted with acute coronary syndrome. The initial electrocardiogram was compatible with evolving anterior wall myocardial infarction and the echocardiogram showed an image interpreted in this context as left apical pseudoaneurysm. Complementary echocardiographic findings of atypical apical hypertrophy and echocardiographic screening performed on close relatives suggested apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as the most likely diagnosis, later confirmed by genetic study.

Constrictive pericarditis of tuberculous etiology in the HIV-positive patient: case report and review of the literature.

Pericardial inflammation secondary to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is a rare condition, but its incidence is increasing in parallel with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Recrudescence of various types of tuberculosis should alert the clinician to the possibility of tuberculous pericarditis. The authors present the case of a 27-year-old white male, seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus, presenting with large volume pericardial effusion and unusual echocardiographic features, global heart failure and clinical suspicion of tuberculosis.

Noncompaction of ventricular myocardium.

Noncompaction of ventricular myocardium is a rare cardiomyopathy thought to be caused by arrest of normal embryogenesis of the endocardium and myocardium; its true prevalence is still uncertain. A strong association between noncompaction and neuromuscular disorders has been described. Its major clinical manifestations are heart failure, arrhythmias and systemic embolic events.

Right coronary artery aneurysm.

Coronary artery aneurysms, characterized by abnormal dilatations of a localized portion of the coronary artery, are an uncommon finding during angiography. We present a case where a giant right coronary aneurysm was detected during angiography, in a patient admitted with a inferior wall myocardial infarction.

Papillary fibroelastoma located deep in the left ventricle: case study and literature review.

The authors report a case of a 68-year-old male, with no known cardiac disease until he suffered a cerebral embolic event related to the presence of a papillary fibroelastoma located in the mid third of the inferior left ventricular wall. They also perform a literature review, particularly of the specific characteristics of the tumor and the surgical approach. They point out that the location of the fibroelastoma described is very unusual; its clinical and echocardiographic characteristics are similar to those described for fibroelastomas with this location and the surgical approach should be decided for each individual patient.

Myocardial bridging: retrospective analysis and scintigraphic testing of patients with no angiographically significant atherosclerotic coronary disease.

Introduction And Objective: The clinical relevance of myocardial bridging (MB) is a matter of debate. The objective of this work was to examine its prevalence, clinical presentation, prognosis, and functional features on scintigraphy in a group of patients with no significant atherosclerotic coronary disease.

Methods: We retrospectively examined 7039 consecutive cardiac angiograms performed between January 1994 and December 2004, selecting cases in which MB was not accompanied by significant coronary disease (defined as luminal stenosis > 50%), valvular heart disease or cardiomyopathy.

Mortality assessment in intensive care units via adverse events using artificial neural networks.

Objective: This work presents a novel approach for the prediction of mortality in intensive care units (ICUs) based on the use of adverse events, which are defined from four bedside alarms, and artificial neural networks (ANNs). This approach is compared with two logistic regression (LR) models: the prognostic model used in most of the European ICUs, based on the simplified acute physiology score (SAPS II), and a LR that uses the same input variables of the ANN model.

Materials And Methods: A large dataset was considered, encompassing forty two ICUs of nine European countries.

Deaths from ischemic disease, anthropometry and cardiac biometry.

Introduction: The relation between body mass index (BMI)/obesity and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in ischemic heart disease (IHD) has not been completely established, based on postmortem studies.

Objective: To study necropsy data of deaths from cardiac ischemia and its relation to macroscopic data of the heart and anthropometry.

Method: Retrospective study of necropsies conducted by the medical legal services of Porto in 2002-03, with a final diagnosis of "myocardial infarction" or "chronic ischemic heart disease" or with more than 50% obstructive coronary disease.