Publications by authors named "Rui Almeida"

Propolis, also known as bee glue, is a natural resinous mixture produced by Western honeybees and has long been recognized for its potential therapeutic properties. Recent research has focused on its diverse bioactivities, particularly its antimicrobial effects against a broad spectrum of microorganisms, including human but also animal pathogens. However, further investigation is required to fully elucidate the pharmacological properties and potential toxicity of propolis to support its broader application.

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Introduction: Suboptimal clinical responses to metabolic and bariatric surgery include insufficient weight loss (WL), weight regain (WR), and/or comorbidity remission failure or relapse. Gut hormones' role in WR and Type 2 diabetes (T2D) relapse is not fully established. So, our aim was to evaluate the hormone profiles of patients with long-term optimal and suboptimal response after gastric bypass (RYGB).

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Objective: Indications for TAVI have been widened, although long-term device efficacy is still unclear. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) vs. surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) on a composite of death from any cause or stroke at 5-year follow-up according to risk profiles.

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Importance: The successful implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care depends on its acceptance by key stakeholders, particularly patients, who are the primary beneficiaries of AI-driven outcomes.

Objectives: To survey hospital patients to investigate their trust, concerns, and preferences toward the use of AI in health care and diagnostics and to assess the sociodemographic factors associated with patient attitudes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study developed and implemented an anonymous quantitative survey between February 1 and November 1, 2023, using a nonprobability sample at 74 hospitals in 43 countries.

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Introduction: Screening ultrasound proves to be remarkably beneficial in pre-hospital settings, particularly in geographically remote areas with technological constraints and no medical specialties. Urological pathology has a high frequency of occurrence in the emergency department and is part of the wide range of occurrences that can benefit from this ultrasound screening as a clinical guide for patients.

Case Presentation: In this case, a patient experiencing lower abdominal pain and symptoms of renal colic sought assistance at a basic emergency service facility.

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Background & Aims: Diet is an important environmental factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) onset and disease course, but analyses are hindered by its complexity. We aim to explore the Sparse Grouped Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (Sparse Grouped LASSO or SGL) method to study whether different food categorizations, representing different dietary patterns, can predict flares in IBD.

Methods: Baseline data on habitual dietary intake and longitudinal data on disease course were collected over a 24 month-period in two distinct cohorts.

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We present a compelling case of a female infant with axillary intertrigo, presumptively caused by a streptococcal infection, successfully treated with topical antibiotics. This case highlights distinctive clinical features that aid in differentiating streptococcal intertrigo from other skin fold infections, emphasising its diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Of particular importance, this report underscores the potential for negative skin smear cultures despite an underlying streptococcal aetiology, advocating for the critical role of clinical assessment in guiding timely and effective management.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cardiovascular diseases are a big problem around the world, and clinical trials help find better treatments for them.
  • Conflicts of interest (COIs), which can happen when companies have a say in research, can affect how trials are carried out and the results they show.
  • It's important to be careful about COIs in studies because they can change guidelines that doctors follow, and sharing rules and being open about research can help keep everyone’s trust in the science.
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Background: Brain metastasis (BrM) is a devastating end-stage neurological complication that occurs in up to 50% of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer (BC) patients. Understanding how disseminating tumor cells manage to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential for developing effective preventive strategies. We identified the ecto-nucleotidase ENPP1 (ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1) as specifically enriched in the secretome of HER2+ brain metastatic cells, prompting us to explore its impact on BBB dysfunction and BrM formation.

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The pursuit of harnessing data for knowledge creation has been an enduring quest, with the advent of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) marking significant milestones in this journey. ML, a subset of AI, emerged as the practice of employing mathematical models to enable computers to learn and improve autonomously based on their experiences. In the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors, a significant portion of manufacturing data remains untapped or insufficient for practical use.

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 Embolization to multiple arterial beds associated with primary aortic mural thrombus (PAMT) could result in high morbidity and mortality. There are no recommendations to dictate the best management. This study aims to describe our experience in managing this rare disease.

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Introduction: This study intends to compare the accuracy and pertinence of sonographic findings obtained by a sonographer in a Basic Emergency Service (BES) with the imaging findings at the Referral Hospital (RH).

Methods: Thirty-one patients suspected of having renal pathology underwent initial renal sonography screening with sonographer reporting at the BES and were subsequently referred to the RH for additional imaging examinations. The results of both examinations were compared to verify whether the findings from the BES were confirmed by the radiologist in the RH and to ensure that the patient referrals from BES to RH were appropriate.

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Introduction: Single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy (SADI-S) is a restrictive/hypoabsorptive procedure recommended for patients with obesity class 3. For safety reasons, SADI-S can be split into a two-step procedure by performing a sleeve gastrectomy (SG) first. This stepwise approach also provides an unprecedented opportunity to disentangle the weight loss mechanisms triggered by each component.

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Leiomyomas are rare, benign tumors composed of smooth muscle cells. When found in the colon, they account for only about 3% of gastrointestinal leiomyomas. Typically asymptomatic, they are often incidentally discovered during endoscopic evaluations.

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