Instruments used by physiotherapists to assess functional capacity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: An online survey.

Background: Assessing functional capacity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 may have been neglected due to a great demand for resources at the height of pandemic and the lack of specific assessment instruments for this population.

Objectives: To identify the instruments used to evaluate functional capacity in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in COVID-19 wards and ICUs and the associations between use of assessment instruments and physiotherapist characteristics METHODS: The survey was conducted using REDCap web-based application, following the Consensus-Based Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies guidelines. A non-probability recruitment approach aimed at physiotherapists who had treated hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Brazil.

Functional Dependence Prior to ICU Admission is Associated with Worse Clinical and Functional Outcomes in Individuals with COVID-19: A Prospective Observational Study.

To determine whether low functional capacity (FC) prior to intensive care unit (ICU) admission due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) might be associated with worse clinical outcomes. To monitor FC until discharge from the ICU. To identify associations between physical outcomes and decreased FC at discharge from the ICU.

Chest physiotherapy techniques administered by certified specialists to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Brazil: A look towards future practice.

Background: Chest physiotherapy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 has been poorly reported. Although recommendations were published to guide physiotherapists, practice might have differed depending on education and training.

Objective: To analyze the differences in chest physiotherapy applied for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 between certified specialists and non-certified specialists.

Upper limb function of individuals hospitalized in intensive care: A 6-month cohort study.

Background: Impaired physical function is a common complication in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. However, specific upper limb (UL) function is still poorly studied in this population.

Objective: To evaluate UL function at discharge and after a 6-month follow-up of individuals hospitalized in the ICU.

Functional Recovery Groups in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients and Their Associated Factors: From ICU to Hospital Discharge.

Objectives: To analyze functional recovery groups of critically ill COVID-19 survivors during their hospital stay and to identify the associated factors.

Design: Prospective observational multicenter study.

Setting: Demographic, clinical, and therapeutic variables were collected, and physical and functional status were evaluated.

Physiotherapy practice for hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Objective: To identify the indications for physiotherapy and to evaluate physiotherapy practices in patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU (on mechanical ventilation) or to the ward (spontaneously breathing).

Methods: An online, 50-item survey was completed by physiotherapists who had been treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Brazil.

Results: Of the 644 physiotherapists who initiated the survey, 488 (76%) completed it.

Architectural anatomy of the quadriceps and the relationship with muscle strength: An observational study utilising real-time ultrasound in healthy adults.

Quadriceps atrophy and morphological change is a known phenomenon that can impact significantly on strength and functional performance in patients with acute or chronic presentations conditions. Real-time ultrasound (RTUS) imaging is a noninvasive valid and reliable method of quantifying quadriceps muscle anatomy and architecture. To date, there is a paucity of normative data on the architectural properties of superficial and deep components of the quadriceps muscle group to inform assessment and evaluation of intervention programs.

Falls prevalence and risk factors in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review.

Background: Falls are frequent in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and related to increased morbidity, mortality, and health care costs in older adults. This systematic review aims to synthesise the falls outcomes and to examine risk factors for falls in the COPD literature.

Methods: The protocol was registered in the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO: CRD42015017257).

Correction to: Structural alterations and markers of endothelial activation in pulmonary and bronchial arteries in fatal asthma.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13223-019-0363-0.].

Immunohistological features related to functional impairment in lymphangioleiomyomatosis.

Background: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a low-grade neoplasm characterized by the pulmonary infiltration of smooth muscle-like cells (LAM cells) and cystic destruction. Patients usually present with airway obstruction in pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Previous studies have shown correlations among histological parameters, lung function abnormalities and prognosis in LAM.

Regulatory T-Cell Distribution within Lung Compartments in COPD.

The importance of the adaptive immune response, specifically the role of regulatory T (Treg) cells in controlling the obstruction progression in smokers, has been highlighted. To quantify the adaptive immune cells in different lung compartments, we used lung tissues from 21 never-smokers without lung disease, 22 current and/or ex-smokers without lung disease (NOS) and 13 current and/or ex-smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for histological analysis. We observed increased T, B, IL-17 and BAFF cells in small and large airways of COPD individuals; however, in the NOS, we only observed increase in T and IL-17 cells only in small airways.

Handcrafted cuff manometers do not accurately measure endotracheal tube cuff pressure.

Objective: To test the agreement between two handcrafted devices and a cuff-specific manometer.

Methods: The agreement between two handcrafted devices adapted to measure tracheal tube cuff pressure and a cuff-specific manometer was tested on 79 subjects. The cuff pressure was measured with a commercial manometer and with two handcrafted devices (HD) assembled with aneroid sphygmomanometers (HD1 and HD2).

Effects of long-term administration of omeprazole on bone mineral density and the mechanical properties of the bone.

Objectives: Epidemiological studies have shown a relationship between long-term use of proton pump inhibitors and bone metabolism. However, this relationship has not yet become established. The aim of the present study was to analyze the mechanical properties and bone mineral density (BMD) of rats that were subjected to long-term omeprazole use.

Ultrasonography in the intensive care setting can be used to detect changes in the quality and quantity of muscle and is related to muscle strength and function.

Purpose: This study aimed to (1) document patterns of quadriceps muscle wasting in the first 10 days of admission and (2) determine the relationship between muscle ultrasonography and volitional measures.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-two adults ventilated for more than 48 hours were included. Sequential quadriceps ultrasound images were obtained over the first 10 days and at awakening and intensive care unit (ICU) discharge.

Ineffectiveness of using the pressure relief valve technique during cuff inflation.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of using a cuff pressure relief valve technique to maintain cuff pressure levels within the normal in vitro range (Phase 1) in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (Phase 2) and to test the reproducibility of the technique using different syringes.

Methods: In Phase 1, a tracheal tube was inserted into a trachea model. Ten- and 20mL syringes were used to inflate the cuff through the tracheal tube.

Environmental tobacco smoke in the early postnatal period induces impairment in brain myelination.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is associated with high morbidity and mortality, mainly in children. However, few studies focus on the brain development effects of ETS exposure. Myelination mainly occurs in the early years of life in humans and the first three postnatal weeks in rodents and is sensitive to xenobiotics exposure.

Immune cell profile in infants' lung tissue.

Little is known about the normal immune cell profile in the lungs of infants without pulmonary disease. Normal lung samples obtained at autopsy of 10 infants that died either due to incidental or inflicted causes or non-pulmonary diseases were stained for antibodies against B and T lymphocytes, macrophages, NK cells, cytotoxic cells, dendritic cells and mast cells. Cells were quantified in the airway epithelial layer, inner layer (between the epithelium and the outer smooth muscle border), outer layer (between the outer smooth muscle border and the external limits of the airway) and alveolar septa.

Anacardic acids from cashew nuts ameliorate lung damage induced by exposure to diesel exhaust particles in mice.

Anacardic acids from cashew nut shell liquid, a Brazilian natural substance, have antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and modulate immune responses and angiogenesis. As inflammatory lung diseases have been correlated to environmental pollutants exposure and no reports addressing the effects of dietary supplementation with anacardic acids on lung inflammation in vivo have been evidenced, we investigated the effects of supplementation with anacardic acids in a model of diesel exhaust particle- (DEP-) induced lung inflammation. BALB/c mice received an intranasal instillation of 50  μ g of DEP for 20 days.

Submerged-arc welding slags: characterization and leaching strategies for the removal of aluminum and titanium.

In the present study, submerged-arc welding slags were characterized by applying a variety of methods, including X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, particle size, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The content of Al proved to be quite similar within neutral and acid slags (10-14%), while that of Ti proved to be much higher in acid slags (approximately 10%) than in neutral slags (<1%). The presence of spinel structures associated with Al species could also be identified in the analyzed samples.

Environmental tobacco smoke induces oxidative stress in distinct brain regions of infant mice.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) leads to the death of 600,000 nonsmokers annually and is associated with disturbances in antioxidant enzyme capacity in the adult rodent brain. However, little is known regarding the influence of ETS on brain development. The aim of this study was to determine levels of malonaldehyde (MDA) and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT), as well as enzymatic antioxidant activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), in distinct brain structures.

Extracellular matrix composition in COPD.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) composition has an important role in determining airway structure. We postulated that ECM lung composition of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients differs from that observed in smoking and nonsmoking subjects without airflow obstruction. We determined the fractional areas of elastic fibres, type-I, -III and -IV collagen, versican, decorin, biglycan, lumican, fibronectin and tenascin in different compartments of the large and small airways and lung parenchyma in 26 COPD patients, 26 smokers without COPD and 16 nonsmoking control subjects.

Acute, subacute toxicity and mutagenic effects of anacardic acids from cashew (Anacardium occidentale Linn.) in mice.

Aim Of The Study: Anacardium occidentale Linn. (cashew) is a Brazilian plant that is usually consumed in natura and is used in folk medicine. Anacardic acids (AAs) in the cashew nut shell liquid are biologically active as gastroprotectors, inhibitors of the activity of various deleterious enzymes, antitumor agents and antioxidants.

Impact of obesity on airway and lung parenchyma remodeling in experimental chronic allergic asthma.

The impact of obesity on the inflammatory process has been described in asthma, however little is known about the influence of diet-induced obesity on lung remodeling. For this purpose, 56 recently weaned A/J mice were randomly divided into 2 groups. In the C group, mice were fed a standard chow diet, while OB animals received isocaloric high-fat diet to reach 1.