Relative sparing of dopaminergic terminals in the caudate nucleus is a feature of rest tremor in Parkinson's disease.

Resting tremor (RT) is a Parkinson's disease (PD) symptom with an unclear relationship to the dopaminergic system. We analysed data from 432 subjects from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, 57 additional PD patients and controls and 86 subjects referred for dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography (DaT-SPECT). Caudate binding ratio (CBR), but not putamen binding ratio, was higher in RT patients.

Missing appointments in Parkinson´s Disease: A longitudinal study on the pattern of attendance and its effects on motor and non-motor symptoms, quality of life and disability progression.

Background And Purpose: Parkinson's Disease (PD) requires regular therapeutic adjustments and ongoing outpatient clinic follow-up. Nevertheless, the impact of appointment non-attendance on PD patients concerning the different symptomatic dimensions of the condition remains uncertain. We compared the level of attendance of PD and Essential Tremor (ET) patients and assessed the value of attendance variables as predictors of progression in cognition, motor dysfunction, affect, disability and health-related quality of life in PD.

Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 27B (SCA27B): A Hereditary Ataxia in Portugal.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 27B (SCA27B) is a recently discovered hereditary disease caused by (GAA)≥250 repeat expansion in the fibroblast growth factor 14 (FGF14) gene, and multiple studies have recognized it as one of the most common causes of autosomal dominant ataxia in the European population. We present the case of a 62-year-old Portuguese patient who developed a slowly progressive gait impairment associated with wide-base ataxic gait, dysarthria, left upper limb dysmetria, and dysdiadochokinesia. This pure cerebellar phenotype had an episodic worsening induced by intense physical activity and alcohol intake.

Next-generation pediatric care: nanotechnology-based and AI-driven solutions for cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Background: Global pediatric healthcare reveals significant morbidity and mortality rates linked to respiratory, cardiac, and gastrointestinal disorders in children and newborns, mostly due to the complexity of therapeutic management in pediatrics and neonatology, owing to the lack of suitable dosage forms for these patients, often rendering them "therapeutic orphans". The development and application of pediatric drug formulations encounter numerous challenges, including physiological heterogeneity within age groups, limited profitability for the pharmaceutical industry, and ethical and clinical constraints. Many drugs are used unlicensed or off-label, posing a high risk of toxicity and reduced efficacy.

Comparison of Synthetic Pathways for Obtaining Fluorescent Nanomaterials Based on Halloysite and Carbon Dots for Potential Biological Sensing.

Recently, fluorescent sensors have gained considerable attention due to their high sensitivity, low cost and noninvasiveness. Among the different materials that can be used for this purpose, carbon dots (CDs) represent valuable candidates for applications in sensing. These, indeed, are easily synthesized, show high quantum yield and are highly biocompatible.

3D Kinematics Quantifies Gait Response to Levodopa earlier and to a more Comprehensive Extent than the MDS-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale in Patients with Motor Complications.

Background: Quantitative 3D movement analysis using inertial measurement units (IMUs) allows for a more detailed characterization of motor patterns than clinical assessment alone. It is essential to discriminate between gait features that are responsive or unresponsive to current therapies to better understand the underlying pathophysiological basis and identify potential therapeutic strategies.

Objectives: This study aims to characterize the responsiveness and temporal evolution of different gait subcomponents in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in their OFF and various ON states following levodopa administration, utilizing both wearable sensors and the gold-standard MDS-UPDRS motor part III.

The impact of subthalamic deep-brain stimulation in restoring motor symmetry in Parkinson's disease patients: a prospective study.

Background And Objectives: The impact of subthalamic deep-brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on motor asymmetry and its influence on both motor and non-motor outcomes remain unclear. The present study aims at assessing the role of STN-DBS on motor asymmetry and how its modulation translates into benefits in motor function, activities of daily living (ADLs) and quality of life (QoL).

Methods: Postoperative motor asymmetry has been assessed on the multicentric, prospective Predictive Factors and Subthalamic Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease cohort.

Long-term follow-up of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson's disease: An analysis of survival and disability milestones.

Background: Data on the long-term survival and incidence of disability milestones after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is limited.

Objectives: To estimate mortality and assess the frequency/time-to-development of disability milestones (falls, freezing, hallucinations, dementia, and institutionalization) among PD patients post STN-DBS.

Methods: A longitudinal retrospective study of patients undergoing STN-DBS.

Human red blood cells release microvesicles with distinct sizes and protein composition that alter neutrophil phagocytosis.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound structures released by cells and tissues into biofluids, involved in cell-cell communication. In humans, circulating red blood cells (RBCs), represent the most common cell-type in the body, generating daily large numbers of microvesicles. RBC vesiculation can be mimicked by stimulating RBCs with calcium ionophores, such as ionomycin and A23187.

Effectiveness of Snoezelen in older adults with neurocognitive and other pathologies: A systematic review of the literature.

Snoezelen Multisensory Stimulation (SMSS) is a non-pharmacological intervention that provides controlled multisensorial environments to stimulate the primary senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, proprioceptive and vestibular. Even though the use and potential of SMSS have been widespread in the literature regarding certain target populations (autism, developmental disabilities) and settings (e.g.

Case report: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of the foot: What steps can we take?

Introduction And Importance: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare soft tissue sarcoma affects mainly the trunk and proximal limbs. Clinically, it typically presents as an asymptomatic plaque or nodular-like lesion that progresses slowly before entering a rapid growth phase. DFSP exhibits a low potential for metastasis, mainly in cases where fibrosarcomatous transformation occurs, but it has a high rate of local recurrence.

Environmentally Friendly Strategies for Formulating Vegetable Oil-Based Nanoparticles for Anticancer Medicine.

The development of green synthesized polymeric nanoparticles with anticancer studies has been an emerging field in academia and the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Vegetable oils are potential substitutes for petroleum derivatives, as they present a clean and environmentally friendly alternative and are available in abundance at relatively low prices. Biomass-derived chemicals can be converted into monomers with a unique structure, generating materials with new properties for the synthesis of sustainable monomers and polymers.

Investigation into Brazilian Palygorskite for Its Potential Use as Pharmaceutical Excipient: Perspectives and Applications.

Palygorskite is an aluminum and magnesium silicate characterized by its fibrous morphology, providing it with great versatility in industrial applications, including pharmaceuticals. Although most of the reserves are in the United States, in recent years occurrences of commercially exploited deposits in Brazil have been recorded, mainly in the country's northeast region. This has motivated this study, which analyzes raw Brazilian palygorskite compared to a commercial sample (Pharmasorb colloidal) to demonstrate its pharmaceutical potential.

Engagement with life and psychological well-being in late adulthood: Findings from community-based programs in Portugal.

Objectives: Human aging is a multidirectional, multidimensional, and multicausal process that reflects biological, psychological, and sociocultural influences, which act in distinct combinations throughout the life-span. Proactivity towards avoiding the usual aging process is needed. This study analyses the long-term effects of participation in Community-Based Programs on psychological well-being.

New proposal of viral genome representation applied in the classification of SARS-CoV-2 with deep learning.

Background: In December 2019, the first case of COVID-19 was described in Wuhan, China, and by July 2022, there were already 540 million confirmed cases. Due to the rapid spread of the virus, the scientific community has made efforts to develop techniques for the viral classification of SARS-CoV-2.

Results: In this context, we developed a new proposal for gene sequence representation with Genomic Signal Processing techniques for the work presented in this paper.

Conventional and PEGylated Liposomes as Vehicles of .

Traditional medicine uses resin oils extracted from plants of the genus for several purposes. Resin oils are being studied to understand and profile their pharmacological properties. The aim of this work was to prepare and to characterize conventional and pegylated liposomes incorporating resin oils or the hexanic extract obtained from (copaiba) leaves.

Montmorillonite-Rifampicin Nanohybrid for pH-Responsive Release of the Tuberculostatic.

The present work describes the development of a hybrid and pH-responsive system for rifampicin using the clay mineral 'montmorillonite' as a nanocarrier. The influence of operational variables on the drug incorporation process was evaluated using 2 factorial designs. Under optimized conditions, the experiment allowed an incorporated drug dose equivalent to 98.

Off-time Treatment Options for Parkinson's Disease.

Motor fluctuations (MF) are deemed by patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) as the most troublesome disease feature resulting from the increasing impairment in responsiveness to dopaminergic drug treatments. MF are characterized by the loss of a stable response to levodopa over the nychthemeron with the reappearance of motor (and non-motor) parkinsonian clinical signs at various moments during the day and night. They normally appear after a few years of levodopa treatment and with a variable, though overall increasing severity, over the disease course.

Clay-Based Hydrogels as Drug Delivery Vehicles of Curcumin Nanocrystals for Topical Application.

The poor water solubility of a significant number of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) remains one of the main challenges in the drug development process, causing low bioavailability and therapeutic failure of drug candidates. Curcumin is a well-known Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) class IV drug, characterized by lipophilicity and low permeability, which hampers topical bioavailability. Given these premises, the aim of this work was the design and the development of curcumin nanocrystals and their incorporation into natural inorganic hydrogels for topical application.

SARS-CoV-2 virus classification based on stacked sparse autoencoder.

Since December 2019, the world has been intensely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2. In the case of a novel virus identification, the early elucidation of taxonomic classification and origin of the virus genomic sequence is essential for strategic planning, containment, and treatments. Deep learning techniques have been successfully used in many viral classification problems associated with viral infection diagnosis, metagenomics, phylogenetics, and analysis.