Low-cost optical fiber sensors for the portable detection of cortisol and .

Detection of biomarkers, as well as bacterial infection levels, plays an important role in clinical analysis. Development in research for fast, high-sensitivity, and selective sensors has a key role in decision-making during a health issue. Aligning to these features, low-cost biomarkers and bacteria population detection methods should be developed in order to make clinical trials more accessible to the whole of society.

Single-Benzene Fluorophore with Enhanced Emission: Insights into Photophysical Properties through Proton Transfer Mapping.

A comprehensive study of a single-benzene fluorophore, characterized by a low molecular weight and a significant Stokes' shift, is reported. The fluorophore exhibits crystallization-induced emission enhancement and pH-dependent luminescence, attributable to a conformational lock in the crystalline state and suppression of nonemissive forms upon deprotonation. Extensive photophysical analysis reveals a quantum yield increase from 1% in solution to 22% in the solid state, along with a consistent emission wavelength irrespective of the state.

Pharmacological interventions for preventing upper gastrointestinal bleeding in people admitted to intensive care units: a network meta-analysis.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions for preventing upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in people admitted to intensive care units (ICUs).

Design And Setting: Systematic review and frequentist network meta-analysis using standard methodological procedures as recommended by Cochrane for screening of records, data extraction and analysis. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to assess the certainty of evidence.

High certainty evidence is stable and trustworthy, whereas evidence of moderate or lower certainty may be equally prone to being unstable.

Objectives: To assess to what extent the overall quality of evidence indicates changes to observe intervention effect estimates when new data become available.

Methods: We conducted a meta-epidemiological study. We obtained evidence from meta-analyses of randomized trials of Cochrane reviews addressing the same health-care question that was updated with inclusion of additional data between January 2016 and May 2021.

Excited-State Proton Transfer in Luminescent Dyes: From Theoretical Insight to Experimental Evidence.

The effective utilization of luminescent dyes often relies on a comprehensive understanding of their excitation and relaxation pathways. One such pathway, Excited-State Proton Transfer (ESPT), involves the tautomerization of the dye in its excited state, resulting in a new structure that exhibits distinct emission properties, such as a very large Stokes' shift or dual-emission. Although the ESPT phenomenon is well-explained theoretically, its experimental demonstration can be challenging due to the presence of numerous other phenomena that can yield similar experimental observations.

Influence of the Intramolecular Hydrogen Bond on the Fluorescence of 2-ortho-Aminophenyl Pyridines.

The dynamic nature of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and its effect on emission spectra is an attractive strategy to create multi-emissive dyes. Here we describe the behavior of a series of hydrogen-bonded triphenylpyridines with a set of donor-acceptor combinations that allowed us to perceive the influence of each substitution on the photophysical properties of the dyes. The susceptibility of these ESIPT moieties to pH variations was also studied, elucidating that the level of protonation had a significant effect on the emission color.

High quality (certainty) evidence changes less often than low-quality evidence, but the magnitude of effect size does not systematically differ between studies with low versus high-quality evidence.

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: It is generally believed that evidence from low quality of evidence generate inaccurate estimates about treatment effects more often than evidence from high (certainty) quality evidence (CoE). As a result, we would expect that (a) estimates of effects of health interventions initially based on high CoE change less frequently than the effects estimated by lower CoE (b) the estimates of magnitude of effect size differ between high and low CoE. Empirical assessment of these foundational principles of evidence-based medicine has been lacking.

Archaeological and Chemical Investigation on Mortars and Bricks from a Necropolis in Braga, Northwest of Portugal.

This investigation intends to study and characterize the mortars and bricks from walls and floors used in the funerary nucleus of the archaeological site of Dr. Gonçalo Sampaio Street (Braga, Portugal), associated with the Via XVII necropolis of the Roman city. The diversity of the funeral structures and their exceptional state of conservation make this sector of the necropolis an unprecedented case and a reference site in the archaeology of Braga, a determinant for its conservation and musealization.

Non-invasive positive airway pressure therapy for improving erectile dysfunction in men with obstructive sleep apnoea.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with several chronic diseases, including erectile dysfunction (ED). The association of OSAS and ED is far more common than might be found by chance; the treatment of OSAS with non-invasive positive airway pressure therapy is associated with improvement of respiratory symptoms, and may contribute to the improvement of associated conditions, such as ED.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and acceptability of non-invasive positive airway pressure therapy for improving erectile dysfunction in OSAS.

General anaesthesia versus other types of anaesthesia in patients undergoing surgery for treatment of cutaneous melanoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

General and local anaesthetics alter tumour behaviour in experimental models. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between general anaesthesia and recurrence or survival in patients who received surgery for malignant melanoma. A meta-analysis was performed based on a comprehensive literature search.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the modulation of cortical and spinal cord excitability in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been applied for modulating cortical excitability and treating spasticity in neurological lesions. However, it is unclear which rTMS frequency is most effective in modulating cortical and spinal excitability in incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI).

Objective: To evaluate electrophysiological and clinical repercussions of rTMS compared to sham stimulation when applied to the primary motor cortex (M1) in individuals with incomplete SCI.

Adherence to conflicts of interest policy in Cochrane reviews where authors are also editorial board members: A cross-sectional analysis.

Cochrane devolves most editorial governance of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), including title prioritization, protocol registration, peer-review, editorial oversight and subsequent review deposition, to specific Cochrane Review Group (CRG) editorial boards. Current Cochrane policy stipulates authors of reviews who are also members of the supporting CRG declare this non-financial conflict of interest and confirm no involvement in the review editorial process. The aim of this cross-sectional analysis was to assess adherence to Cochrane's editorial conflict of interest policy.

The Prognostic Value of Brain Dysfunction in Critically Ill Patients with and without Sepsis: A Analysis of the ICON Audit.

Brain dysfunction is associated with poor outcome in critically ill patients. In a post hoc analysis of the Intensive Care over Nations (ICON) database, we investigated the effect of brain dysfunction on hospital mortality in critically ill patients. Brain failure was defined as a neurological sequential organ failure assessment (nSOFA) score of 3-4, based on the assumed Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score.

Temporal changes in the epidemiology, management, and outcome from acute respiratory distress syndrome in European intensive care units: a comparison of two large cohorts.

Background: Mortality rates for patients with ARDS remain high. We assessed temporal changes in the epidemiology and management of ARDS patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation in European ICUs. We also investigated the association between ventilatory settings and outcome in these patients.

The clinical relevance of oliguria in the critically ill patient: analysis of a large observational database.

Background: Urine output is widely used as one of the criteria for the diagnosis and staging of acute renal failure, but few studies have specifically assessed the role of oliguria as a marker of acute renal failure or outcomes in general intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Using a large multinational database, we therefore evaluated the occurrence of oliguria (defined as a urine output < 0.5 ml/kg/h) in acutely ill patients and its association with the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) and outcome.

Impact of general anaesthesia in overall and disease-free survival compared to other types of anaesthesia in patients undergoing surgery for cutaneous melanoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.

Introduction: Cutaneous melanoma is an aggressive type of skin cancer. Anaesthetic agents may have an impact on the immune response, postoperative neurohumoral response and tumour progression. This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of general anaesthesia on overall and disease-free survival compared with other types anaesthesia in patients undergoing surgery for cutaneous melanoma.

A worldwide perspective of sepsis epidemiology and survival according to age: Observational data from the ICON audit.

Purpose: To investigate age-related differences in outcomes of critically ill patients with sepsis around the world.

Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data from the prospective ICON audit, in which all adult (>16 years) patients admitted to participating ICUs between May 8 and 18, 2012, were included, except admissions for routine postoperative observation. For this sub-analysis, the 10,012 patients with completed age data were included.

N-acetylcysteine as an adjuvant therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) is one of the most common pathogens to establish and cause infection in human beings, affecting about 50% of the world's population. Prevalence may be as high as 83% in Latin American countries and as low as 17% in North America. Approximately 20% of infected people will manifest disease; people at high risk include those who live in low- and middle-income countries with poor sanitary conditions, since the mechanism of transmission seems to be oral-oral or faecal-oral (mostly during infancy).

Interventions for preventing upper gastrointestinal bleeding in people admitted to intensive care units.

Background: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding due to stress ulcers contributes to increased morbidity and mortality in people admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Stress ulceration refers to GI mucosal injury related to the stress of being critically ill. ICU patients with major bleeding as a result of stress ulceration might have mortality rates approaching 48.

Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and trans-spinal direct current stimulation associated with treadmill exercise in spinal cord and cortical excitability of healthy subjects: A triple-blind, randomized and sham-controlled study.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over motor cortex and trans-spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) modulate corticospinal circuits in healthy and injured subjects. However, their associated effects with physical exercise is still not defined. This study aimed to investigate the effect of three different settings of rTMS and tsDCS combined with treadmill exercise on spinal cord and cortical excitability of healthy subjects.