Verbal instructions for attentional focus influence the results of tests for return to sport after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

This cross-sectional study investigated the influence of attentional focus verbal instructions on test results for return to sport (RTS) after ACL-R. Sixty subjects (53 male and 7 female, age 27.52 ± 7.

Development and Predictive Validation of the Brazilian Adductor Performance Test for Estimating the Chance of Hip Adductor Injuries in Elite Soccer Athletes.

Purpose: To develop and validate the Brazilian Adductor Performance Test (BAPT) for predicting hip adductor muscle injuries in elite soccer athletes.

Methods: A total of 108 soccer athletes were assessed, followed up for 3 months, and evaluated for a history of adductor injury 6 months before BAPT evaluation. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used as the normality test.

Heavy metal contents in bovine tissues (kidney, liver and muscle) from Central Gondar Zone, Ethiopia.

Environments prone to naturally non-biodegradable metal pollution have remained hot areas of research. Here, concentrations of Cu, Cr, Cd and Pb in 90 bovine tissue (kidney, liver and muscle) samples collected from Gondar City abattoir and Nara-Awudarda in Central Gondar Zone, Ethiopia, were investigated. The samples were dry-ashed at 550 °C for 3.

Antimycobacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of fractions and substances from Erythrina verna Vell focusing on dual severe TB treatment approach.

Tuberculosis remains a major health problem worldwide. Drug-resistant and hypervirulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains can lead to a hyperinflammatory response and necrotic pathology in hyper-reactive individuals that require adjunctive treatment. Plant-derived substances have been investigated for TB treatment, among which flavonoids stand out.

Biopsychosocial Model Domains in Clinical Practice Guidelines for Return to Sport After ACL Injury: Systematic Review Using the AGREE II Checklist.

Context: The current status of return-to-sport (RTS) criteria can be understood from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF), which emphasizes an individual-centered approach and inclusion of all domains of human functioning, and ensures the multifactorial and biopsychosocial nature of decision-making.

Objective: To analyze the inclusion of biopsychosocial model domains in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for RTS after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, as well as the quality of these CPGs.

Study Design: Systematic review of CPGs.

The Brazilian version of the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment - Hamstring (VISA-H) Questionnaire: Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties.

Study Design: Study of diagnostic accuracy/assessment scale.

Background: Proximal hamstring tendinopathy (PHT) usually causes disability, deep pain in the proximal insertion of the tendon, and limitations in daily life and sports practice. Scales that assess PHT pain and disability may assist practitioners in their clinical decision-making processes.

Simple verbal instructions are able to improve quality of movement during the lateral step-down test in healthy females.

Introduction: Altered movement patterns during weight-bearing activities have been associated with knee injuries and can be clinically assessed using the lateral step-down test (LSD). It is possible that verbal feedback can improve movement patterns, but it remains unknown whether verbal feedback can improve movement quality during the LSD.

Purpose: To investigate whether verbal feedback can immediately improve visual movement quality and trunk, pelvis and lower limb kinematics in healthy females during the LSD.

Steps to build a DIY low-cost fixed-wing drone for biodiversity conservation.

Despite the proved usefulness of drones in biodiversity studies, acquisition costs and difficulties in operating, maintaining and repairing these systems constrain their integration in conservation projects, particularly for low-income countries. Here we present the steps necessary to build a low-cost fixed-wing drone for environmental applications in large areas, along with instructions to increase the reliability of the system and testing its performance. Inspired by DIY (Do It Yourself) and open source models, this work prioritizes simplicity and accounts for cost-benefit for the researcher.

Lung ultrasound: an additional tool in COVID-19.

Lung ultrasound is a well-defined diagnostic modality in the point of care emergency medicine concept. In the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the lung ultrasound assumed an essential role in this disease, with a valid correlation of the imaging results with computed tomography. Recognize how the diagnostic possibilities of ultrasound in the approach of COVID-19 and its differential diagnoses are fundamental.

Process Monitoring of Moisture Content and Mass Transfer Rate in a Fluidised Bed with a Low Cost Inline MEMS NIR Sensor.

Purpose: The current trend for continuous drug product manufacturing requires new, affordable process analytical techniques (PAT) to ensure control of processing. This work evaluates whether property models based on spectral data from recent Fabry-Pérot Interferometer based NIR sensors can generate a high-resolution moisture signal suitable for process control.

Methods: Spectral data and offline moisture content were recorded for 14 fluid bed dryer batches of pharmaceutical granules.

Data fusion strategies to combine sensor and multivariate model outputs for multivariate statistical process control.

Process analytical technologies (PAT) applied to process monitoring and control generally provide multiple outputs that can come from different sensors or from different model outputs generated from a single multivariate sensor. This paper provides a contribution to current data fusion strategies for the combination of sensor and/or model outputs in the development of multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) models. Data fusion is explored through three real process examples combining output from multivariate models coming from the same sensor uniquely (in the near-infrared (NIR)-based end point detection of a two-stage polyester production process) or the combination of these outputs with other process variable sensors (using NIR-based model outputs and temperature values in the end point detection of a fluidized bed drying process and in the on-line control of a distillation process).

Assessment of quality of movement during a lateral step-down test: Narrative review.

Introduction: Altered lower limb movement patterns during weight-bearing activities have been described as risk factors for several injuries. The lateral step-down test (LSD) was developed to be a simple, clinician-friendly tool to facilitate the assessment of lower extremity quality of movement during a functional activity. However, there is still conflicting information across the literature regarding how the LSD should be performed.

Exercise therapy in the treatment of tendinopathies of the lower limbs: a protocol of a systematic review.

Background: Tendinopathies are specific degenerative conditions of the tendon characterized by pain and disability. The most common tendinopathies of the lower limbs are patellar, Achilles, gluteal, and proximal tendinopathy of the hamstring muscles. Exercise therapy has been studied for the treatment of these tendinopathies; however, different types of muscle contraction, exercise, dose, and intensity are found in the literature, which can make choosing the best treatment option difficult.

Cross-cultural Adaptation and Measurement Properties of the Brazilian Portuguese Version of the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) Questionnaire.

Background Achilles tendon disorders are very common among athletes. It is important to measure symptoms and functional limitations objectively related to Achilles tendinopathy using outcome measures that have been validated in the language of the target population. Objectives To perform a cross-cultural adaptation and to evaluate the measurement properties of the Brazilian version of the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) questionnaire.

Physiotherapy Questionnaires App to Deliver Main Musculoskeletal Assessment Questionnaires: Development and Validation Study.

Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) translate subjective outcomes into objective data that can be quantified and analyzed. Nevertheless, the use of PROs in their traditional paper format is not practical for clinical practice due to limitations associated with the analysis and management of the data. To address the need for a viable way to group and utilize the main functioning assessment tools in the field of musculoskeletal disorders, the Physiotherapy Questionnaires app was developed.

Evaluation of the isokinetic muscle function, postural control and plantar pressure distribution in capoeira players: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Capoeira is a cultural practice with Brazilian roots that combines several elements including dance, fighting and body rhythm. Because of the diverse elements involved in its practice, capoeira is excellent at developing the physical and social abilities of its players. The aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical profile of muscle strength, plantar pressure distribution, and postural balance between players and non-players of capoeira.

The association of ankle dorsiflexion and dynamic knee valgus: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the association between ankle dorsiflexion (ADF) and dynamic knee valgus (DKV).

Methods: Electronic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus. A modified Downs and Black checklist was used for quality assessment and meta-analysis was performed to compare standardised mean differences (SMD) of ADF.

THERE ARE NO BIOMECHANICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RUNNERS CLASSIFIED BY THE FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT SCREEN.

Background: Running has been one of the main choices of physical activity in people seeking an active lifestyle. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS™) is a screening tool that aims to discern movement competency.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to compare biomechanical characteristics between two groups rated using the composite FMS™ score, and to analyze the influence of specific individual tests.

Process modeling and control applied to real-time monitoring of distillation processes by near-infrared spectroscopy.

A distillation device that acquires continuous and synchronized measurements of temperature, percentage of distilled fraction and NIR spectra has been designed for real-time monitoring of distillation processes. As a process model, synthetic commercial gasoline batches produced in Brazil, which contain mixtures of pure gasoline blended with ethanol have been analyzed. The information provided by this device, i.

A new alkaloid and flavonoids isolated from Solanum cernuum leaves by high-performance countercurrent chromatography.

Solanum cernuum is a medicinal plant widely distributed in south-east regions of Brazil and popularly used to treat several disorders. Despite their utilisation as a medicine, few studies on its chemical composition are reported. An efficient separation method for the ethyl acetate fraction was developed by high-performance countercurrent chromatography using n-butanol/chloroform/methanol/water (3:7:3:4, v/v/v/v) as the solvent system, affording five compounds (1-5) in one-step separation.

BIOMECHANICAL DIFFERENCES IN BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU ATHLETES: THE ROLE OF COMBAT STYLE.

Background: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) athletes can be divided into two combat styles: pass fighters (PFs) and guard fighters (GFs). Flexibility of the posterior chain muscles is highly necessary in these athletes, especially in GFs. On the other hand, isometric strength of the trunk extensors is required in PFs.

Application of correlation constrained multivariate curve resolution alternating least-squares methods for determination of compounds of interest in biodiesel blends using NIR and UV-visible spectroscopic data.

This study describes two applications of a variant of the multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) method with a correlation constraint. The first application describes the use of MCR-ALS for the determination of biodiesel concentrations in biodiesel blends using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic data. In the second application, the proposed method allowed the determination of the synthetic antioxidant N,N'-Di-sec-butyl-p-phenylenediamine (PDA) present in biodiesel mixtures from different vegetable sources using UV-visible spectroscopy.

Experimental diabetes induces structural, inflammatory and vascular changes of Achilles tendons.

This study aims to demonstrate how the state of chronic hyperglycemia from experimental Diabetes Mellitus can influence the homeostatic imbalance of tendons and, consequently, lead to the characteristics of tendinopathy. Twenty animals were randomly divided into two experimental groups: control group, consisting of healthy rats and diabetic group constituted by rats induced to Diabetes Mellitus I. After twenty-four days of the induction of Diabetes type I, the Achilles tendon were removed for morphological evaluation, cellularity, number and cross-sectional area of blood vessel, immunohistochemistry for Collagen type I, VEGF and NF-κB nuclear localization sequence (NLS) and nitrate and nitrite level.

Aerobic physical training restores biomechanical properties of Achilles tendon in rats chemically induced to diabetes mellitus.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study is to evaluate if the application of a moderate aerobic exercise protocol reverses the damage caused by diabetes on the mechanical properties of the Achilles tendon.

Methods: Forty-four rats were divided randomly into four groups as follows: Sedentary Control Group-SCG, Sedentary Diabetic Group-SDG, Trained Control Group-TCG and Trained Diabetic Group-TDG, the trained groups were submitted to a protocol of moderate physical training on a continuous treadmill. For mechanical testing the tendons were fixed in a conventional mechanical testing machine and pulled to the point of failure of the specimen, the cell load of 500N.

Reproducibility of the pressure biofeedback unit in measuring transversus abdominis muscle activity in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain.

The Pressure Biofeedback Unit (PBU) is often used by clinicians and researchers to indirectly evaluate transversus abdominis (TrA) muscle activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the inter and intra-examiner reproducibility of the PBU in measuring TrA muscle activity in fifty patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain. This study was performed using a test-retest design with a seven day interval.