Rosa dos Ventos Multicenter Cohort Study of Patients with Reduced or Mildly Reduced Ejection Fraction Heart Failure in Brazil: Rationale and Design.

Background: Brazil is a country with different biomes and social disparities. There are limited data available on regional differences and prognosis of heart failure (HF) in the country.

Objective: The Rosa dos Ventos study aims to investigate regional differences and the current prognosis of HF outpatients with reduced or mildly reduced ejection fraction in Brazil.

New morpholine-containing pyrimidinones act on α-adrenoceptors.

Drugs that act on α-adrenoceptors may contain morpholine and pyrimidinone heterocycles. The aim of this study was to synthesize a series of pyrimidinones (S6a-e and S8) and characterize their α-adrenoceptor activity. Cytotoxicity assays (MTT and LDH) were performed in A7r5 and HUVECs.

Chagas disease stroke and associated risk factors: A case-control study.

Introduction: The intricate relationship between Chagas disease and ischemic stroke remains unclear. Limited evidence exists concerning secondary prophylaxis, etiological diagnosis, and stroke-related determinants. This study aims to discern factors linked to stroke in Chagas disease by contrasting patients with and without a history of ischemic stroke.

Spatial analysis of the natural infection index for Triatomines and the risk of Chagas disease transmission in Northeastern Brazil.

This study aimed to analyze the spatial pattern of natural infection index (NII) for triatomines and the risk of Chagas disease transmission in an endemic area of Northeastern Brazil. An ecological study was conducted, based on 184 municipalities in five mesoregions. The NII for triatomines was evaluated in the Pernambuco State, Brazil, from 2016 to 2018.

Falls and Preventive Practices among Institutionalized Older People.

The present study about falls among the older adult population essentially explores bio-physiological factors. In light of the complexity of the factors that cause these accidents, it is important to identify the safety and self-care practices of institutionalized older adults and their relationship with falls in order to introduce prevention measures and personalized cognitive-behavioral strategies. The objective of this study was to: (a) determine the frequency of falls and their recurrence among institutionalized older adults, and (b) to associate the occurrence of falls among institutionalized adults with or without cognitive impairment to communication and safety practices.

Mapping the morbidity and mortality of Chagas disease in an endemic area in Brazil.

Chagas disease is among the 21 neglected diseases according to the World Health Organization. This study aimed to investigate the morbidity and mortality distribution of Chagas disease for identifying areas with greater prevalences and deaths of the disease in Northeast Brazil. A population-based ecological study was performed from 2016 to 2018 using data on acute Chagas disease patients from the Disease Notification Information System, chronic cases from the Chagas Disease and the referral Heart Failure Outpatient Clinic in Pernambuco, and Chagas disease-related mortality from the Mortality Information System.

Gait Ability and Muscle Strength in Institutionalized Older Persons with and without Cognitive Decline and Association with Falls.

Falls are a complex problem, given their multifactorial nature, the comorbidities involved, and due to the dependency of older persons living in nursing homes. Risk, fear of falling, falls themselves, and their recurrence are the main factors behind fragility fractures, lack of independence, and increases in pain prevalence, and other comorbidities in older populations. The objectives of the present quantitative and longitudinal study were: (a) to characterize the cognitive state and fall frequency of older persons living in nursing homes; (b) to analyze the relationship between cognitive status and some fall risk factors; and (c) to associate cognitive decline, gait ability, and muscle strength of the examined institutionalized older persons with fall occurrence and recurrence over 12 months.

Emerging Topics in Heart Failure: New Paradigms in Cardiac Amyloidosis.

Recent evidence suggests cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is a mostly underdiagnosed condition, particularly in the transthyretin-mediated form, and is a frequent cause of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in the elderly. New paradigms about CA also involve the development of disease-modifying specific therapies. This article summarizes these new concepts.

Influence of Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Insertion/Deletion Gene Polymorphism in Progression of Chagas Heart Disease.

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.

Interobserver analysis of safety practices and behaviors adopted by elderly people to prevent falls.

Objective: determine the psychometric properties of the safety practices and behaviors dimension of the Scale of Practices and Behaviors of Institutionalized Elderly People to Prevent Falls in a sample of elderly people with cognitive decline.

Method: methodological study, with a quantitative approach, to assess the psychometric properties of the mentioned scale in a sample with 102 elderly people with cognitive decline who lived in two long-term care institutions for the public in this age group. Internal consistency evaluation was carried out by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient; interobserver reliability was expressed by Cohen's kappa coefficient; and temporal stability, by obtaining Spearman correlation.

Falls in institutionalized elderly with and without cognitive decline A study of some factors.

Unlabelled: Falls in long-stay institutions for elderly people have a high prevalence, contributing to the physical and mental deterioration of institutionalized elderly.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of falls among institutionalized elderly with and without cognitive decline, and to characterize the practices and behaviors of those with and without cognitive decline in managing fall risks, and relate them to some factors.

Methods: The present correlational study was carried out with a sample of 204 institutionalized elderly, 50% of whom had cognitive decline.

The use of the international classification of functioning, disability and health in an interactive perspective: the assessment and intervention of students' additional support needs in Portugal.

Evaluating the influence of person-environment interactions on students' performance is a fundamental requirement for planning individualized educational interventions. Such understanding grounded the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a reference framework to support special needs assessment in the Portuguese educational system. This study sought to investigate the extent to which special education teams reported relationships between Body Functions, Activities and Participation, and Environmental Factors in Individualized Education Programmes for students with additional support needs and what types of relations were mostly described.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms of cytokine-related genes and association with clinical outcome in a Chagas disease case-control study from Brazil.

Background: The severity of chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC), the most frequent clinical outcome of Chagas disease (CD), has been associated with cytokine-enriched heart tissue inflammation, and high serum levels of transforming growth factor (TGFβ), interferon-gamma (IFNγ), and tumour necrosis factor (TNF). Conversely, increased interleukin (IL)-10 serum concentrations have been associated with asymptomatic CD. Cytokines and cytokine-related gene polymorphisms may control cytokine expression and have been proposed to contribute to CCC outcomes.

Genetic Polymorphism at Is Associated With Protection in Chagas' Heart Disease: Antagonistic Participation of CCR1 and CCR5 Cells in Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathy.

Chronic cardiomyopathy is the main clinical manifestation of Chagas disease (CD), a disease caused by infection. A hallmark of chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) is a fibrogenic inflammation mainly composed of CD8 and CD4 T cells and macrophages. CC-chemokine ligands and receptors have been proposed to drive cell migration toward the heart tissue of CD patients.

Anatomical and physiological changes in the venous system of lower limbs in pregnant women and findings associated with the symptomatology.

Purpose: Quantify the volume and diameter of veins in the lower limbs of primigravidae and associate the presence of venous signs and symptoms with the vascular measurements.

Methods: A cross-sectional study assessed 64 lower limbs of 32 healthy women of whom 16 were primigravidae between 22 and 36 weeks pregnant, and 16 nulligravidae. The women were submitted to physical assessment, air plethysmography and vascular ultrasound.

Portugal's special education law: implementing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in policy and practice.

Purpose: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) was introduced in Portuguese education law as the compulsory system to guide eligibility policy and practice in special education. This paper describes the implementation of the ICF and its utility in the assessment process and eligibility determination of students for special education.

Methods: A study to evaluate the utility of the ICF was commissioned by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and carried out by an external evaluation team.

Immune parameters, symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, and training-load indicators in volleyball athletes.

Background: The control of immunological alterations becomes important during in-season training, as a result of increased incidence of infectious diseases, and may assist in avoiding interruptions to training due to illness.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate 28 weeks of chronic immune modulations in female volleyball athletes.

Methods: The sample was composed of twelve athletes aged 19.