Publications by authors named "Pacheco A"

Objective: To evaluate the performance of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation retrieval team at a high-volume extracorporeal membrane oxygenation center during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Design: Observational study including all adult patients with confirmed infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 cannulated at other centers and transported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to the ICU of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital between 15 March and 10 June 2020.

Setting: The ICU (capacity expanded to 200 during the pandemic) of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (a 1,100-bed public university hospital in Barcelona), the referral center for extracorporeal respiratory support in Catalonia (7.

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Endocannabinoids are host-derived lipid hormones that fundamentally impact gastrointestinal (GI) biology. The use of cannabis and other exocannabinoids as anecdotal treatments for various GI disorders inspired the search for mechanisms by which these compounds mediate their effects, which led to the discovery of the mammalian endocannabinoid system. Dysregulated endocannabinoid signaling was linked to inflammation and the gut microbiota.

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Background: Etiologies for Bell's palsy include herpes viruses and Lyme disease, with highest incidence in the colder and warmer months, respectively. In New Jersey, a Lyme-endemic area, the months with the most Lyme disease (80% of cases) are May through October ("Lyme months").

Objective: Our aim was to determine whether positive tests for Lyme disease and visits are greater in the Lyme months than the rest of the year for patients with Bell's palsy in New Jersey emergency departments (EDs).

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Status epilepticus (SE) can lead to serious neuronal damage and act as an initial trigger for epileptogenic processes that may lead to temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Besides promoting neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, and abnormal neurogenesis, SE can generate an extensive hypometabolism in several brain areas and, consequently, reduce intracellular energy supply, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules. Although some antiepileptic drugs show efficiency to terminate or reduce epileptic seizures, approximately 30% of TLE patients are refractory to regular antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).

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Over the past few years, different Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems have been proposed to tackle skin lesion analysis. Most of these systems work only for dermoscopy images since there is a strong lack of public clinical images archive available to evaluate the aforementioned CAD systems. To fill this gap, we release a skin lesion benchmark composed of clinical images collected from smartphone devices and a set of patient clinical data containing up to 21 features.

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Introduction: Triatomine bugs are hematophagous insects that are extremely important in public health because they are natural vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. In this study, we aimed to assess the occurrence of triatomine species and the natural T. cruzi infection in the Guaribas Valley territory, an endemic region for Chagas disease in northeastern Brazil.

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Article Synopsis
  • Nine Gram-stain-positive bacterial strains were isolated from various clinical sources and one environmental source in Canada, including blood and spinal fluid.
  • Through advanced sequencing methods, these strains were grouped into three distinct clusters and identified as new genera within their family, showing high G+C content and specific biochemical characteristics.
  • The study proposes several new species and genera names for these bacteria, correcting misidentifications from previous research.
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented a wide range of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Monitoring and documenting government strategies during the COVID-19 crisis is crucial to understand the progression of the epidemic. Following a content analysis strategy of existing public information sources, we developed a specific hierarchical coding scheme for NPIs.

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Mitochondria are known to play a key role in the regulation of reproductive capacity. Senescence is known to impair mitochondrial function and, ultimately, cellular energetic metabolism. Therefore, as women age, a deficient energy supply is likely to affect oocyte quality.

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Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation remains one of the main infectious complications following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In this study, we explored the role of anti-CMV antibody titers in HSCT from alternative donors and to compare the risk of CMV reactivation between posttransplant cyclophosphamide-based haploidentical HSCT and antithymocyte globulin-based unrelated donor (URD) HSCT. We included 98 CMV-positive patients, 30 undergoing haploidentical HSCT and 68 undergoing URD HSCT.

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The study aims to describe patients hospitalized for severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) due to COVID-19 (SARI-COVID) in Brazil according to demographic characteristics and comorbidities up to the 21st Epidemiological Week of 2020. The study aimed to compare these characteristics with those of patients hospitalized for SARI due to influenza in 2019/2020 (SARI-FLU) and with the Brazilian general population. The proportions of demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and pregnant and postpartum women among patients hospitalized for SARI-COVID and SARI-FLU were obtained from the SIVEP-Gripe database, and the estimates for the Brazilian population were obtained from the population projections performed by Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, Information System on Live Birth data, and nationwide surveys.

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Introduction: Chagas disease (CD) is a neglected disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. One-third of infected patients will develop the cardiac form, which may progress to heart failure (HF). However, the factors that determine disease progression remain unclear.

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We describe a strain of isolated from a bronchoalveolar lavage specimen from an 83-year-old patient in the province of Québec. Identification was done using 16S rRNA sequencing. The strain could replicate efficiently in human THP-1 macrophages and maintained a low level of cytotoxicity.

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Objective: To evaluate the socioeconomic impact of motorcycle accidents of a metropolis with one million inhabitants treated by a university hospital in 2017. To study hospital cost and time of victims, evaluate definite and incapacitating sequelae, and analyze patient's insertion in the labor market six months after the accident.

Methods: Retrospective study of 62 victims of motorcycle accidents treated in the emergency room and referred for surgical procedure in a university hospital.

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"Sparse testing" refers to reduced multi-environment breeding trials in which not all genotypes of interest are grown in each environment. Using genomic-enabled prediction and a model embracing genotype × environment interaction (GE), the non-observed genotype-in-environment combinations can be predicted. Consequently, the overall costs can be reduced and the testing capacities can be increased.

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Objective: To evaluate the epidemiological profile of motorcycle accident victims in a metropolis with more than one million inhabitants attended in a university hospital of reference in 2017.

Methods: a retrospective study through the analysis of medical records of 105 motorcycle accident victims in Campinas (SP) attended in a university hospital of reference and who needed surgical procedure in 2017.

Results: 87 patients (82.

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Seven strains of an unidentifiable species recovered from blood cultures, urine or cerebrospinal fluid over 26 years, closest to but differentiated from by 16S rRNA gene and partial gene sequencing, were studied. In November 2017, Atasayar described a blood culture isolate as sp. nov.

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Importance: There is no specific antiviral therapy recommended for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In vitro studies indicate that the antiviral effect of chloroquine diphosphate (CQ) requires a high concentration of the drug.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of 2 CQ dosages in patients with severe COVID-19.

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Astrocytes and microglia are the most abundant glial cells. They are responsible for physiological support and homeostasis maintenance in the central nervous system (CNS). The increasing evidences of their involvement in the control of infectious diseases justify the emerging interest in the improvement of methodologies to isolate primary astrocytes and microglia in order to evaluate their responses to infections that affect the CNS.

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Introduction: The trend toward stabilization regarding the AIDS epidemic in Brazil over the past decade hides a very complex scenario, where two-thirds of the Brazilian federative units exhibit AIDS standardized mortality rates (ASMR) significantly above the national average and/or in upward tendency. ASMR in Rio de Janeiro State remains virtually unchanged over the years; the state currently occupies the second position in the national ranking of this indicator.

Objective: To assess temporal trends in causes of death searching for differential profiles that could be useful for understanding mortality among patients with HIV in the state.

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Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are increasingly common in aquatic environments. This can lead to higher concentrations of cyanotoxins, such as microcystins (MCs), posing a great risk to diverse organisms, including humans. MCs are among the most commonly reported cyanotoxins in freshwater environments worldwide, where they may have different fates.

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Small bowel obstruction is one of the most common causes for acute abdominal pain leading to surgical admissions, occurring most frequently due to postoperative adhesions. Although less common, internal hernia is also a possible etiology, in which a delay on its therapy may lead to a not so dismal morbidity and mortality. Here, we report the case of a 24 year old Caucasian man that was admitted in our emergency department with an inaugural episode of sudden-onset epigastric pain associated with vomiting.

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Article Synopsis
  • A new case of treponemal disease was identified in a pre-Columbian hunter-gatherer from the coastal desert of South America, based on the analysis of a well-preserved skeleton from Northern Chile.
  • The skeleton was radiocarbon dated to around 1830 years ago and showed signs of both a marine diet and coastal living, alongside various lesions indicative of treponemal disease.
  • The findings suggest this individual may have had venereal syphilis, highlighting the need for further molecular studies to confirm the disease's presence in pre-Columbian South America before European contact.
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Introduction: Lumbar epidural anaesthesia is a commonly used technique for analgesia during labour. One of the rare complications of this technique is pneumocephalus.

Case Description: We report the case of a 35-year-old female admitted to the Emergency Department with severe headache associated with fast head movements.

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