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"Sousa, P."
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Essential Oils: Chemistry and Pharmacological Activities
In this review, we provide an overview of the current understanding of the main mechanisms of pharmacological action of essential oils and their components in various biological systems. A brief introduction on essential oil chemistry is presented to better understand the relationship of chemical aspects with the bioactivity of these products. Next, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antimicrobial activities are discussed. The mechanisms of action against various types of viruses are also addressed. The data show that the multiplicity of pharmacological properties of essential oils occurs due to the chemical diversity in their composition and their ability to interfere with biological processes at cellular and multicellular levels via interaction with various biological targets. Therefore, these natural products can be a promising source for the development of new drugs.
Journal Article
Home-Based Rehabilitation of the Shoulder Using Auxiliary Systems and Artificial Intelligence: An Overview
Advancements in modern medicine have bolstered the usage of home-based rehabilitation services for patients, particularly those recovering from diseases or conditions that necessitate a structured rehabilitation process. Understanding the technological factors that can influence the efficacy of home-based rehabilitation is crucial for optimizing patient outcomes. As technologies continue to evolve rapidly, it is imperative to document the current state of the art and elucidate the key features of the hardware and software employed in these rehabilitation systems. This narrative review aims to provide a summary of the modern technological trends and advancements in home-based shoulder rehabilitation scenarios. It specifically focuses on wearable devices, robots, exoskeletons, machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, and serious games. Through an in-depth analysis of existing literature and research, this review presents the state of the art in home-based rehabilitation systems, highlighting their strengths and limitations. Furthermore, this review proposes hypotheses and potential directions for future upgrades and enhancements in these technologies. By exploring the integration of these technologies into home-based rehabilitation, this review aims to shed light on the current landscape and offer insights into the future possibilities for improving patient outcomes and optimizing the effectiveness of home-based rehabilitation programs.
Journal Article
Resolution of Inflammation: What Controls Its Onset?
An effective resolution program may be able to prevent the progression from non-resolving acute inflammation to persistent chronic inflammation. It has now become evident that coordinated resolution programs initiate shortly after inflammatory responses begin. In this context, several mechanisms provide the fine-tuning of inflammation and create a favorable environment for the resolution phase to take place and for homeostasis to return. In this review, we focus on the events required for an effective transition from the proinflammatory phase to the onset and establishment of resolution. We suggest that several mediators that promote the inflammatory phase of inflammation can simultaneously initiate a program for active resolution. Indeed, several events enact a decrease in the local chemokine concentration, a reduction which is essential to inhibit further infiltration of neutrophils into the tissue. Interestingly, although neutrophils are cells that characteristically participate in the active phase of inflammation, they also contribute to the onset of resolution. Further understanding of the molecular mechanisms that initiate resolution may be instrumental to develop pro-resolution strategies to treat complex chronic inflammatory diseases, in humans. The efforts to develop strategies based on resolution of inflammation have shaped a new area of pharmacology referred to as \"resolution pharmacology.\"
Journal Article
Redox Flow Batteries: Materials, Design and Prospects
The implementation of renewable energy sources is rapidly growing in the electrical sector. This is a major step for civilization since it will reduce the carbon footprint and ensure a sustainable future. Nevertheless, these sources of energy are far from perfect and require complementary technologies to ensure dispatchable energy and this requires storage. In the last few decades, redox flow batteries (RFB) have been revealed to be an interesting alternative for this application, mainly due to their versatility and scalability. This technology has been the focus of intense research and great advances in the last decade. This review aims to summarize the most relevant advances achieved in the last few years, i.e., from 2015 until the middle of 2021. A synopsis of the different types of RFB technology will be conducted. Particular attention will be given to vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), the most mature RFB technology, but also to the emerging most promising chemistries. An in-depth review will be performed regarding the main innovations, materials, and designs. The main drawbacks and future perspectives for this technology will also be addressed.
Journal Article
Systematic Review on the Applicability of Principal Component Analysis for the Study of Movement in the Older Adult Population
Principal component analysis (PCA) is a dimensionality reduction method that has identified significant differences in older adults’ motion analysis previously not detected by the discrete exploration of biomechanical variables. This systematic review aims to synthesize the current evidence regarding PCA use in the study of movement in older adults (kinematics and kinetics), summarizing the tasks and biomechanical variables studied. From the search results, 1685 studies were retrieved, and 19 studies were included for review. Most of the included studies evaluated gait or quiet standing. The main variables considered included spatiotemporal parameters, range of motion, and ground reaction forces. A limited number of studies analyzed other tasks. Further research should focus on the PCA application in tasks other than gait to understand older adults’ movement characteristics that have not been identified by discrete analysis.
Journal Article
Phytol, a Diterpene Alcohol from Chlorophyll, as a Drug against Neglected Tropical Disease Schistosomiasis Mansoni
Schistosomiasis is a major endemic disease that affects hundreds of millions worldwide. Since the treatment and control of this parasitic disease rely on a single drug, praziquantel, it is imperative that new effective drugs are developed. Here, we report that phytol, a diterpene alcohol from chlorophyll widely used as a food additive and in medicinal fields, possesses promising antischistosomal properties in vitro and in a mouse model of schistosomiasis mansoni.
In vitro, phytol reduced the motor activity of worms, caused their death and confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis showed extensive tegumental alterations in a concentration-dependent manner (50 to 100 µg/mL). Additionally, phytol at sublethal doses (25 µg/mL) reduced the number of Schistosoma mansoni eggs. In vivo, a single dose of phytol (40 mg/kg) administered orally to mice infected with adult S. mansoni resulted in total and female worm burden reductions of 51.2% and 70.3%, respectively. Moreover, phytol reduced the number of eggs in faeces (76.6%) and the frequency of immature eggs (oogram pattern) was significantly reduced. The oogram also showed increases in the proportion of dead eggs. Confocal microcopy studies revealed tegumental damage in adult S. mansoni recovered from mice, especially in female worms.
The significant reduction in parasite burden by this chlorophyll molecule validates phytol as a promising drug and offers the potential of a new direction for chemotherapy of human schistosomiasis. Phytol is a common food additive and nonmutagenic, with satisfactory safety. Thus, phytol has potential as a safe and cost-effective addition to antischistosomal therapy.
Journal Article
Electromyographic Assessment of the Extrinsic Laryngeal Muscles: Pilot and Descriptive Study of a Vocal Function Assessment Protocol
Aim: The aim of this study was to develop and test a surface electromyography (sEMG) assessment protocol to characterise the activity of the extrinsic laryngeal muscles (suprahyoid and infrahyoid) during phonatory tasks and vocal techniques. Methodology: The protocol of assessment was based on electromyographic assessment guidelines and on clinical voice evaluation needs and was tested in six healthy adults with no vocal disorders. Surface electromyographic activity of suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles was acquired during different reference tasks (rest, reading, maximum contractions) and six vocal tasks, including nasal sounds, fricatives, and semi-occluded vocal tract exercises. A laryngeal accelerometer was used for detecting the beginning and end of each exercise. The average activity during each task was normalised by the signal obtained in the incomplete swallowing task for the SHM and by the sniff technique for the IHM. Results: The range of activation values varied across tasks, with higher percentages observed in plosive production and in the “spaghetti” technique, while nasal and fricative sounds tended to show lower activation values within the group. A consistent pattern of simultaneous activation of suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles was observed during phonation. Conclusions: The protocol proved potential for clinical application in speech–language pathology as it enabled the characterisation of muscle activity in determinant muscles for vocal function. Larger samples and further validation of the time-marking system are needed. This study provides a foundation for integrating sEMG measures into functional voice assessment.
Journal Article
Rational Engineering of (S)-Norcoclaurine Synthase for Efficient Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids Biosynthesis
(S)-Norcoclaurine is synthesized in vivo through a metabolic pathway that ends with (S)-norcoclaurine synthase (NCS). The former constitutes the scaffold for the biosynthesis of all benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs), including many drugs such as the opiates morphine and codeine and the semi-synthetic opioids oxycodone, hydrocodone, and hydromorphone. Unfortunately, the only source of complex BIAs is the opium poppy, leaving the drug supply dependent on poppy crops. Therefore, the bioproduction of (S)-norcoclaurine in heterologous hosts, such as bacteria or yeast, is an intense area of research nowadays. The efficiency of (S)-norcoclaurine biosynthesis is strongly dependent on the catalytic efficiency of NCS. Therefore, we identified vital NCS rate-enhancing mutations through the rational transition-state macrodipole stabilization method at the Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) level. The results are a step forward for obtaining NCS variants able to biosynthesize (S)-norcoclaurine on a large scale.
Journal Article
A Machine Learning App for Monitoring Physical Therapy at Home
Shoulder rehabilitation is a process that requires physical therapy sessions to recover the mobility of the affected limbs. However, these sessions are often limited by the availability and cost of specialized technicians, as well as the patient’s travel to the session locations. This paper presents a novel smartphone-based approach using a pose estimation algorithm to evaluate the quality of the movements and provide feedback, allowing patients to perform autonomous recovery sessions. This paper reviews the state of the art in wearable devices and camera-based systems for human body detection and rehabilitation support and describes the system developed, which uses MediaPipe to extract the coordinates of 33 key points on the patient’s body and compares them with reference videos made by professional physiotherapists using cosine similarity and dynamic time warping. This paper also presents a clinical study that uses QTM, an optoelectronic system for motion capture, to validate the methods used by the smartphone application. The results show that there are statistically significant differences between the three methods for different exercises, highlighting the importance of selecting an appropriate method for specific exercises. This paper discusses the implications and limitations of the findings and suggests directions for future research.
Journal Article