Highlights ■ The clinico-functional characteristics of post-stroke patients changed in the pandemic. ■ The sociodemographic characteristics of post-stroke patients did not change in the pandemic. ■ Post-stroke patients had a greater stroke severity and disability at the beginning of the pandemic. ■ The occurrence of ischemic stroke increased with the advancement of the pandemic. ABSTRACT Objective To compare the sociodemographic and clinico-functional characteristics of patients admitted to a stroke unit immediately before and during two different COVID-19 pandemic phases. Methods […]

Highlights ■ Physical activity level is associated with responsiveness to hormones in women with breast cancer. ■ Sedentary behavior is significantly related to the histological tumor grade in women with breast cancer. ABSTRACT Objective A comparative analysis of the association between sedentary behavior versus physical activity levels and tumor staging in women with breast cancer. Methods The present research adopted a cross-sectional study design to recruit a total of 55 adult and elderly women newly diagnosed with breast cancer for […]

Highlights ■ AKT signaling sustains the immune evasion mechanisms in acute myeloid leukemia. ■ AKT inhibition increases the susceptibility of acute myeloid leukemia cells to natural Killer-mediated apoptosis. ■ Partial blockage of AKT signaling promotes the suppression of PDL1 and overexpression of pro-apoptotic genes. ABSTRACT Objective To determine the role of the AKT pathway in the regulating of natural Killer-induced apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia cells and to characterize the associated molecular mechanisms. Methods BALB/c nude mice were injected with […]

Highlights Neck circumference can be used in clinical evaluation for health monitoring. The prevalence of increased neck circumference is high and is associated with relative muscular strength in men and level of moderate and vigorous physical activity and relative muscular strength in women. Neck circumference is an important predictor of low moderate and vigorous physical activity and relative muscular strength in men, and the results are more pronounced in adult and older adult women. We suggest implementing exercise programs to […]

Highlights A novel in vitro experimental model was described for Rocio Flavivirus replication in a primary mouse neural cell culture. ROCV efficiently infects primary neural cell cultures, causing cytopathic changes and cell death from the 2nd and 7th days post infection, respectively. A higher viral titer was observed on the 2nd days post infection. The viral replication kinetics was compatible with the cell death kinetics of ROCV-infected cultures. ABSTRACT Objective This study verified the replication efficiency of the Rocio virus […]

Highlights Viral suppression improved after introducing a dolutegravir-based regimen. HIV viral loads <50 copies/mL were lower than expected (<90%). Higher viral suppression was found when antiretroviral therapy adherence/alterations were controlled (per-protocol analysis). Some baseline characteristics can influence the effectiveness of first-line antiretroviral therapy. ABSTRACT Objective To compare viral suppression in treatment-naïve adults starting antiretroviral therapy with dolutegravir (50mg)- and efavirenz (600mg)-based regimens. Methods We analyzed secondary data from Brazilian health information systems of people living with human immunodeficiency virus who […]

Highlights All kinds of personal protective equipment training decreased the odds of COVID-19 infection among healthcare professionals.۪ We found lower odds of infection in participants who underwent face-to-face simulation-based training.۪ Simulation-based personal protective equipment training is feasible, effective, and safe, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. ABSTRACT Objective To describe the personal protective equipment training strategies during the beginning of the pandemic and to investigate the association between training and COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers. Methods This cross-sectional study conducted between […]

Highlights Twenty-eight cases of bladder squamous cell carcinoma cases were evaluated for p16, p53, p63 immunohistochemistry, and HPV PCR. Neither direct HPV detection nor its indirect marker (p16) was identified in most cases. Decision trees constructed described the relationships of a variety of clinicopathological features with high classification accuracy.   ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the expression of human papillomavirus (HPV), p16, p53, and p63 in non-schistosomiasis-related squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder and to develop an accurate and automated tool […]

Highlights No drug related fetal malformations. No adverse effects on vital organ functions   ABSTRACT Objective To assess the effects of enfuvirtide on pregnancy in albino rats and their fetuses. Methods Forty pregnant EPM 1 Wistar rats were randomly allocated into four groups: control (E) (distilled water twice/day), G1 (4mg/kg/day enfuvirtide), G2 (12mg/kg/day enfuvirtide), and G3 (36mg/kg/day enfuvirtide) groups. On the 20th day of gestation, the rats were anesthetized and subjected to cesarean section. Their blood was collected for laboratory […]

Highlights Seventy-four (33.18%) municipalities in the state of Paraíba registered live births with microcephaly. The highest proportion of cases (23.03%) was concentrated in the capital, João Pessoa. Number of inhabitants, number of cases of Zika virus, water supply, and average household income were associated with a higher proportion of new cases. ABSTRACT Objective To analyze the relationship between microcephaly and social inequality indicators in the state of Paraíba during the biennium January 2015 and December 2016. Methods Ecological study with […]