Publications by authors named "Rebelo P"

Article Synopsis
  • Cervical spine surgery in myelopathy patients presents anesthetic challenges due to the potential for secondary spinal cord injury (SCI), which requires careful management beyond just intubation concerns.
  • Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring, such as SSEPs and MEPs, is crucial for assessing spinal cord integrity during surgery, especially for patients with conditions like cervical spondylotic myelopathy.
  • A case study involving a 73-year-old male with significant cervical deformation underwent successful anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, using advanced monitoring techniques and awake intubation to minimize risks, resulting in a smooth recovery with no new neurological deficits.
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Objective: The primary goal of this article is to analyze whether there is still room for ovarian stimulation in poor responders prescribed the long protocol.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed the medical charts of patients seen at the Vida Centro de Fertilidade, a private fertility clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from January 2018 to June 2023. It included poor responders described based on the Bologna criteria who were first prescribed conventional treatment with an antagonist protocol, without success, and then the long agonist protocol.

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Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a marine biotoxin whose biosynthesis is associated with the pufferfish. Its distribution is primarily focused in Asian and tropical marine areas. Currently, this group of toxins is classified as emerging in Europe, and its presence could be related to climate change.

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Background: Functional capacity impairment is a crucial consequence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although it can be identified with simple tests, such as the sit-to-stand tests, its prevalence, relation with disease severity, and the characteristics of people presenting this impairment remain unknown.

Objective: To explore the functional capacity of people with COPD.

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Introduction And Objectives: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a fundamental intervention to manage COPD, however, maintaining its benefits is challenging. Engaging in physical activity might help to prolong PR benefits. This study assessed the efficacy and effectiveness of a personalised community-based physical activity programme to sustain physical activity and other health-related PR benefits, in people with COPD.

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Background: Validating walking trails is essential to promote physical activity (PA) safely and confidently in people with COPD.

Objectives: We aimed to validate predetermined light, moderate, and vigorous intensities of walking trails in people with COPD.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included individuals with COPD walking in predetermined light, moderate and vigorous intensity trails.

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The flexibility and versatility associated with autonomous mobile robots (AMR) have facilitated their integration into different types of industries and tasks. However, as the main objective of their implementation on the factory floor is to optimize processes and, consequently, the time associated with them, it is necessary to take into account the environment and congestion to which they are subjected. Localization, on the shop floor and in real time, is an important requirement to optimize the AMRs' trajectory management, thus avoiding livelocks and deadlocks during their movements in partnership with manual forklift operators and logistic trains.

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The widespread presence of pharmaceuticals in wastewater effluents after treatment stands as a significant challenge faced in the field of wastewater management and public health. Governments and the scientific community have worked to meet this urgent need for effective solutions. Nevertheless, the development of detection strategies for pharmaceutical monitorization capable of delivering rapid, on-site, and sensitive responses remains an ongoing necessity.

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The influence of the ActiGraph® processing criteria on estimating step counts in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains uncertain. This study aimed to assess the influence of filters, epoch lengths and non-wearing time (NWT) algorithms on steps/day in people with COPD. ActiGraph GT3X+ was worn on the waist for seven days.

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ActiGraph is a valid, frequently used, accelerometer to quantify moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA) in people with COPD. The impact of ActiGraph processing techniques on this population is unknown. This study aimed to explore the effect of data reduction techniques on MVPA in people with COPD.

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A novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) has been developed based on a simple and sustainable strategy for the selective determination of citalopram (CTL) using screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs). The MIP layer was prepared by electrochemical in situ polymerization of the 3-amino-4 hydroxybenzoic acid (AHBA) functional monomer and CTL as a template molecule. To simulate the polymerization mixture and predict the most suitable ratio between the template and functional monomer, computational studies, namely molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, were carried out.

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In recent years, analytical chemistry has been facing new challenges, particularly in developing low-cost, green, and easy-to-reproduce methods. In this work, a simple, reproducible, and low-cost electrochemical (voltammetric) molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor was designed specifically for the detection of trazodone (TZD). Trazodone (TZD) is an antidepressant drug consumed worldwide since the 1970s.

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Atorvastatin (ATV) is a statin member consumed in high quantities worldwide. In response to that, the occurrence of ATV in environmental waters has become a reality, highlighting the need of rapid and sensitive analytical devices for its monitoring. In this work, the first electrochemical molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor for the detection of ATV in water samples is presented.

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Background: Measuring intensity of physical activity (PA) is important to ensure safety and the effectiveness of PA interventions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Objective: This systematic review identified which outcomes, outcome measures and instruments have been used to assess single free-living PA-related intensity in people with COPD and compared the intensity level (light, moderate, vigorous) obtained by different outcome measures.

Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and EBSCO were searched for original studies of COPD and assessing single free-living PA-related intensity were included.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers developed a whey fermentation method that produced peptides with antibacterial properties and the ability to inhibit specific enzymes (MMP-2 and MMP-9).
  • After 6 days of fermentation with a specific lactic acid bacteria (LAB) consortium, 11 polypeptides were identified, including one with strong antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
  • The identified whey-derived polypeptide shows promise for functional foods or nutraceuticals, potentially aiding in gut health, inflammation reduction, and cancer prevention, especially with further in vivo research.
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Objective: he Brief-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Brief-BESTest) is a comprehensive, reliable, and valid balance test that provides valuable information to guide balance training in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Its clinical interpretability is, however, currently limited, because cutoff points to identify clinically relevant changes in people with COPD after pulmonary rehabilitation are still lacking. This study aimed to establish the responsiveness and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the Brief-BESTest in people with COPD after pulmonary rehabilitation (PR).

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Quadriceps strength training is a key component of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Clinical interpretability of changes in muscle strength following PR is however limited due to the lack of cut-off values to define clinical improvement. This study estimated the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the isotonic and isometric quadriceps muscle strength assessed with the one-repetition maximum (1RM) and hand-held dynamometry (HHD) in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) following PR.

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Introduction: Low physical activity (PA) levels are associated with poor health-related outcomes in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Thus, PA should be routinely assessed in clinical practice.

Objectives: This study assessed the construct validity of the Brief Physical Activity Assessment Tool (BPAAT) for clinical use in COPD and explored differences in age, sex and COPD grades.

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Background: Aloe's reported bioactivities (anticancer, anti-inflammatory and wound healing) suggest they might inhibit a subgroup of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) called gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9). The goal of the present study was to compare the MMP inhibitory potential of two Aloe species, A. vera and A.

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The ever-increasing presence of contaminants in environmental waters is an alarming issue, not only because of their harmful effects in the environment but also because of their risk to human health. Pharmaceuticals and pesticides, among other compounds of daily use, such as personal care products or plasticisers, are being released into water bodies. This release mainly occurs through wastewater since the treatments applied in many wastewater treatment plants are not able to completely remove these substances.

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Background: Fatigue is a burdensome and prevailing symptom in patients with COPD. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) improves fatigue; however, interpreting when such improvement is clinically relevant is challenging. Minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) for instruments assessing fatigue are warranted to better tailor PR and guide clinical decisions.

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Objective: To establish normative values and reference equations of the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) and unsupported upper limb exercise test (UULEX) for Portuguese adults.

Design: Cross-sectional study. Descriptive statistics and differences between age decades and genders were explored using univariate general linear models to compute reference values.

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