Publications by authors named "Lucas Alves"

Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates how perceived neighborhood characteristics affect blood pressure in older adults, focusing on the role of walking as a mediator.
  • Data from the EpiFloripa Aging Cohort Study revealed that older adults with better infrastructure, safety, and overall neighborhood perceptions are less likely to report hypertension.
  • Results indicate that promoting safe environments for physical activity could be crucial for preventing and managing hypertension among older adults.
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  • University students saw changes in their daily habits during the Covid-19 pandemic, including more time spent being sedentary and an increase in eating ultra-processed foods, which likely affected their body weight.
  • The study aimed to determine how variations in sedentary behavior and food consumption related to changes in body mass index (BMI) among university students before and during the pandemic.
  • Results from 3,390 students indicated that both sedentary behavior and ultra-processed food consumption increased significantly during the pandemic, with both factors positively correlating to a rise in BMI.
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Understanding the changes in running mechanics caused by fatigue is essential to assess its impact on athletic performance. Changes in running biomechanics after constant speed conditions are well documented, but the adaptive responses after a maximal incremental test are unknown. We compared the spatiotemporal, joint kinematics, elastic mechanism, and external work parameters before and after a maximal incremental treadmill test.

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Sustainable agriculture involves adopting best practices in food production to promote environmental and economic sustainability. Its implementation primarily aims to utilise organic residues to increase yield, diversify production, and reduce costs. In this context, the objective of this study was to investigate different substrates for Hypsizygus ulmarius production and, from its residual substrate, to develop formulations for lettuce seedling growth and subsequent greenhouse cultivation.

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Background: The use of artificial cardiac pacemakers has grown steadily in line with the aging population.

Objectives: To determine the rates of hospital readmissions and complications after pacemaker implantation or pulse generator replacement and to assess the impact of these events on annual treatment costs from the perspective of the Unified Health System (SUS).

Methods: A prospective registry, with data derived from clinical practice, collected during index hospitalization and during the first 12 months after the surgical procedure.

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  • Coccidioidomycosis, a fungal disease prioritized by the WHO, is frequently underreported in Central and South America, despite being endemic in the U.S. and Mexico.
  • A study in Brazil's Piauí and Maranhão states discovered 292 cases and 42 outbreaks from 1978-2021, predominantly affecting male armadillo hunters, with common symptoms including cough and fever.
  • The analysis indicates that lower rainfall increases disease incidence, and unique genetic strains of the fungus in Brazil suggest potential differences in how the disease behaves compared to other regions.
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The recreational use of cannabis products has risen considerably worldwide over the past decade. As the cannabis legal market grows, a critical challenge has been to make substantiated claims about the benefits and adverse health problems triggered by cannabis exposure. Despite accumulating evidence from animal studies demonstrating the role of cannabinoids on bone metabolism, there are conflicting results in clinical literature regarding their effects on bone health outcomes.

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Objective: To evaluate the screening of blood samples for infectious disease markers at laboratories and blood banks in Latin America per the findings of an External Quality Assessment Program (EQAP).

Methods: This qualitative analysis used data from the EQAP coordinated by the with the support of the Pan American Health Organization to assess the performance of blood screening for infectious diseases from 2014 to 2018 in Latin America. Each participating laboratory or blood bank received an identical blind panel with 24 blood samples with variable reactivity for all the screening parameters.

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Purpose: To evaluate refractive results, corneal higher order aberrations (HOAs), and epithelial remodeling in the preoperative and postoperative period of regular corneas that had topography-guided femtosecond laser-assisted laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) (Contoura WaveLight; Alcon Laboratories, Inc) and compare them with the contralateral eye that underwent ablation customized by asphericity (Custom-Q WaveLight; Alcon Laboratories, Inc) in myopic eyes with or without astigmatism.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, and double-blind study was conducted. Patients underwent preoperative and postoperative epithelial mapping and corneal tomography to assess the epithelial thickness map, HOAs of the corneal anterior surface, visual acuity, and refractive evaluation.

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Objectives: To verify the association between early-life nutrition and chronic adult diseases.

Data Sources: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Database, and Lilacs.

Summary Of Finds: The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis postulates that a mismatch between early-life circumstances and later-life situations may have an impact on chronic diseases.

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Currently, analysis of interim PET (iPET) according to the Deauville score (DS) is the most important predictive factor in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL); however, there is room for improvement in its prognostic power. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of quantitative PET analysis (maximum standard uptake value [SUV], total metabolic tumor volume [TMTV] and total lesion glicolysis [TLG]) at baseline (PET0) and iPET in a retrospective cohort of newly diagnosed classical HL. For positive iPET (+ iPET), the reduction of quantitative parameters in relation to PET0 (ΔSUV, ΔTMTV and ΔTLG) was calculated.

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Background: COVID-19 progression is associated with an increased risk of arterial and venous thrombosis. Randomised trials have demonstrated that anticoagulants reduce the risk of thromboembolism in hospitalised patients with COVID-19, but a benefit of routine anticoagulation has not been demonstrated in the outpatient setting.

Methods: We conducted a randomised, open-label, controlled, multicentre study, evaluating the use of rivaroxaban in mild or moderate COVID-19 patients.

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Objective: Long term behavioural disturbances and interventions in healthy habits (mainly eating and physical activity) are the primary cause of childhood obesity. Current approaches for obesity prevention based on health information extraction lack the integration of multi-modal datasets and the provision of a dedicated Decision Support System (DSS) for health behaviour assessment and coaching of children.

Methods: Continuous co-creation process has been applied in the frame of the Design Thinking Methodology, involving children, educators and healthcare professional in the whole process.

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Background: Previous studies have demonstrated a high risk of arterial and venous thromboembolic events as a consequence of direct viral damage to endothelial cells by SARS-CoV-2 and a procoagulant milieu due to increased biomarkers, such as D-dimer, fibrinogen, and factor VIII. Although randomized controlled trials of antithrombotic therapies have been conducted in hospitalized patients, few have evaluated the role of thromboprophylaxis in an outpatient setting.

Objective: To assess whether antithrombotic prophylaxis with rivaroxaban reduces the risk of venous or arterial thrombotic events, invasive ventilatory support, and death in COVID-19 outpatients.

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Background: The specific factors that may influence burnout levels in police officers are not yet clear. Our aim was to systematically identify the psychosocial risk and protective factors associated with burnout among police officers.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA).

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Background: The role of consolidation mediastinal radiotherapy (RT) for mediastinal bulky disease in advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is controversial in the positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT) era.

Materials And Methods: We reviewed the medical charts of patients with advanced-stage (clinical stage IIX-IVX) cHL and mediastinal bulky that achieved a complete response after first line chemotherapy treatment between August 2010 and December 2020 and compared the results of those who received with those who did not receive consolidation mediastinal RT. Inclusion criteria required PET-CT imaging for staging and response assessment.

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It is well-known that bacteria and fungi play important roles in the relationships between mycelium growth and the formation of fruiting bodies. The sun mushroom, , was discovered in Brazil ca. 1960 and it has become known worldwide due to its medicinal and nutritional properties.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a highly pathogenic infection responsible for the world pandemic in 2020. COVID-19 is characterized by an increased number of critically ill patients with a high risk of health care system collapse. Therefore, the search for severity biomarkers and potential therapies is crucial.

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Unlabelled: Because the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, reports of neurologic manifestations and neuroimaging associated with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported in children and in neonates, although very few when compared with adults.

Objectives: To describe a 3-day-old neonate presenting afebrile seizures with a persistent positive nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 and neuroimaging demonstrating extensive cerebral white matter injury.

Methods: Consent was obtained to report this case.

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Background: Wavefront-optimized laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) ablation is the most commonly performed procedure in refractive surgery, but new technologies have become available. Our goal was to compare topography-guided (Contoura) and asphericity-guided (Custom-Q) customized ablation treatments for the correction of myopia with or without astigmatism.

Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind, contralateral eye study included 60 eyes of 30 patients with myopia or myopic astigmatism requiring femtosecond LASIK (FemtoLASIK) treatment.

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Background: Previous Randomised controlled trials (RCT) evaluating chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients have found no significant difference in hospitalisation rates. However, low statistical power precluded definitive answers.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter, double-blind, RCT in 56 Brazilian sites.

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