Spinal cord injury (SCI) can cause significant motor, sensory, and autonomic dysfunction by disrupting neural connections. As a result, it is a global health challenge that requires innovative interventions to improve outcomes. This review assesses the wide-ranging impacts of SCI and focuses on the laparoscopic implantation of neuroprosthesis (LION) as an emerging and promising rehabilitation technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealthcare (Basel)
August 2024
Unlabelled: Falls are among the top 10 causes of years lived with disability in people aged 75 and over. Preventive programs like case management (CM) are crucial.
Objectives: To evaluate the effects of a multifactorial fall prevention program based on CM on physical performance, the presence of pain, and the risk of falls and fractures in older people who have suffered falls.
The present study aimed to determine whether a remotely delivered intervention, based on an individual case management, can reduce falls and their consequences in community-dwelling older people with a history of multiple falls. In this randomized controlled trial, 32 participants were randomized to the intervention group, which comprised a 16-week case management program involving a multidimensional assessment, targeted interventions according to the identified fall risk factors, and development of individualized care plans. The intervention was performed by trained gerontologists, under weekly supervision of professionals with experience in falls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMpox is a zoonotic disease historically reported in Africa. Since 2003, limited outbreaks have occurred outside Africa. In 2022, the global spread of cases with sustained interhuman transmission and unusual disease features raised public health concerns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial, leishmanicidal, and cytotoxic potential of metabolites produced by bacteria isolated from rhizosphere soil samples. The bacterium was identified by genome sequencing as . A preliminary screening was carried out for the antimicrobial activity of , demonstrating activity against ATCC 6538, ATCC 27010, ATCC 27012, and , with inhibition halos of sizes 25, 36, 29, and 33 mm, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Prevention of human hypertension is an important challenge and has been achieved in experimental models. Brief treatment with renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors permanently reduces the genetic hypertension of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). The kidney is involved in this fascinating phenomenon, but relevant changes in gene expression are unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a sleep staging classification model capable of accurately performing on different wearable devices.
Methods: Twenty-three healthy participants underwent a full-night type I polysomnography and used two device combinations: (A) flexible single-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) headband + actigraphy (n = 12) and (B) rigid single-channel EEG headband + actigraphy (n = 11). The signals were segmented into 30-second epochs according to polysomnographic stages (scored by a board-certified sleep technologist; model ground truth) and 18 frequency and time features were extracted.
Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in plasmids of Enterobacteriaceae from soil, sewage, and feces of food-producing animals and humans.
Methods And Results: The plasmid sequences were obtained from the NCBI database. For the identification of ARG, comprehensive antibiotic resistance database (CARD), and ResFinder were used.
Unlabelled: Understanding veterinary anatomy is an essential skill for the study of veterinary medicine as well as for diagnostic imaging and therapy. Dissection facilities are increasingly limited in some schools and its alternatives have often focussed on using two-dimensional images. However, the study of veterinary anatomy is mainly concerned with identifying structures and spatial relationships between them within a 3D space, and the use of 2D teaching approaches does not provide accurate information.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pre-Bötzinger complex (preBötC), a key primary generator of the inspiratory breathing rhythm, contains neurons that project directly to facial nucleus (7n) motoneurons to coordinate orofacial and nasofacial activity. To further understand the identity of 7n-projecting preBötC neurons, we used a combination of optogenetic viral transgenic approaches to demonstrate that selective photoinhibition of these neurons affects mystacial pad activity, with minimal effects on breathing. These effects are altered by the type of anesthetic employed and also between anesthetized and conscious states.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A growing body of evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays a role in the pathophysiology of hypertension. However, the involvement of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the commissural nucleus of the solitary tract (commNTS) in development the of hypertension remains unclear.
Method: We evaluated the hemodynamic and sympathetic responses to acute inhibition of NADPH oxidase in the commNTS in renovascular hypertensive rats.
Objective: This study aims to analyse patients' clinical profiles seen at an emergency unit of a public oncology reference hospital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional, observational, retrospective study, with data collection through patients' medical records seen between 2016 and 2018. The identification of patients was carried out through research on hospital admission authorization guides.
Anatomical tracing studies examining the vagal system can conflate details of sensory afferent and motor efferent neurons. Here, we used a serotype of adeno-associated virus that transports retrogradely and exhibits selective tropism for vagal afferents, to map their soma location and central termination sites within the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). We examined the vagal sensory afferents innervating the trachea, duodenum, stomach, or heart, and in some animals, from two organs concurrently.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterruption of the activity of neurons in the commissural portion of the nucleus of the solitary tract (cNTS) decreases blood pressure (BP) in experimental models of hypertension, such as the spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rat. To examine whether PHOX2B expressing cNTS neurons are involved in maintaining the elevated BP, we used replication-deficient viruses with a modified Phox2 binding site promoter to express the inhibitory chemogenetic allatostatin receptor or green fluorescent protein in the cNTS. Following administration of allatostatin, we observed a depressor and bradycardic response in anesthetized SH rats that expressed the allatostatin receptor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrinking behavior has been used in basic research to study metabolism, motivation, decision-making and different aspects of health problems, such as anhedonia and alcohol use disorders. In the majority of studies, liquid intake is measured by weighing the bottles before and after the experiment. This method does not tell much about the drinking microstructure, e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCentral Coherence Weakness has been defined as a tendency for local rather than global processing that may underlie core deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In social contexts it may be expressed in difficulties to integrate social cues arising from the recognition of emotions in faces or from the environment in order to understand people's interactions. A sample of 28 adults diagnosed with ASD Level 1 and 25 controls was submitted to a cartoon-like task with the instruction to describe social scenes and to Navon letter stimuli.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis is a critical essay on policies for primary healthcare (PHC) adopted by the Jair Bolsonaro government in the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS), particularly in the first year of implementation of its new model for allocation of budget funds. The first part addresses the measures and effects of the first year, revealing the on-going process of valorization of an "operational SUS" as opposed to the principle of universality. The second part analyzes some evolving scenarios in the implementation of the new model for "financing" PHC in terms of losses and gains in funding, especially in two state capitals, São Paulo and Manaus, bearing a direct relationship to the problematic situation a year since the novel coronavirus pandemic struck.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn response to the coronavirus pandemic, governments implemented social distancing, attempting to block the virus spread within territories. While it is well accepted that social isolation plays a role in epidemic control, the precise connections between mobility data indicators and epidemic dynamics are still a challenge. In this work, we investigate the dependency between a social isolation index and epidemiological metrics for several Brazilian cities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrim Care Companion CNS Disord
September 2021
Prim Care Companion CNS Disord
August 2021
Chemogenetics enables manipulation of neuronal activity in experimental animals. While providing information about the transduced neuron expressing a ligand-activated molecule, chemogenetics does not provide understanding about the antecedent circuit that drives that neuron's activity. For current approaches, this is not feasible, because the activating molecules are not genetically encoded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWaste cooking oil (WCO) is a valuable feedstock for the synthesis of biodiesel but the product exhibits poor oxidative stability. Techniques available for assessing this parameter are generally expensive and time-consuming, hence the purpose of this study was to develop and validate a rapid and reliable predictive system based on signals from the sensors of a commercial hand-held e-nose instrument. Biodiesels were synthesized from soybean oil and six samples of WCO, and their physicochemical characteristics and oxidative stabilities determined before and after storage in different types of containers for 30 or 60 days at room temperature or 43 °C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart rate and blood pressure oscillate in phase with respiratory activity. A component of these oscillations is generated centrally, with respiratory neurons entraining the activity of pre-sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular neurons. Using a combination of optogenetic inhibition and excitation in vivo and in situ in rats, as well as neuronal tracing, we demonstrate that preBötzinger Complex (preBötC) neurons, which form the kernel for inspiratory rhythm generation, directly modulate cardiovascular activity.
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