Brazilian practice guidelines for stroke rehabilitation: Part II

The Brazilian Practice Guidelines for Stroke Rehabilitation – Part II, developed by the Scientific Department of Neurological Rehabilitation of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology (Academia Brasileira de Neurologia, in Portuguese), focuses on specific rehabilitation techniques to aid recovery from impairment and disability after stroke. As in Part I, Part II is also based on recently available evidence from randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and other guidelines. Part II covers disorders of communication, dysphagia, postural control and balance, ataxias, spasticity, upper limb rehabilitation, gait, cognition, unilateral spatial neglect, sensory impairments, home rehabilitation, medication adherence, palliative care, cerebrovascular events related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the future of stroke rehabilitation, and stroke websites to support patients and caregivers. Our goal is to provide health professionals with more recent knowledge and recommendations for better rehabilitation care after stroke

Phytoplankton responses to marine climate change – an introduction

Phytoplankton are one of the key players in the ocean and contribute approximately 50% to global primary production. They serve as the basis for marine food webs, drive chemical composition of the global atmosphere and thereby climate. Seasonal environmental changes and nutrient availability naturally influence phytoplankton species composition. Since the industrial era, anthropogenic climatic influences have increased noticeably – also within the ocean. Our changing climate, however, affects the composition of phytoplankton species composition on a long-term basis and requires the organisms to adapt to this changing environment, influencing micronutrient bioavailability and other biogeochemical parameters. At the same time, phytoplankton themselves can influence the climate with their responses to environmental changes. Due to its key role, phytoplankton has been of interest in marine sciences for quite some time and there are several methodical approaches implemented in oceanographic sciences. There are ongoing attempts to improve predictions and to close gaps in the understanding of this sensitive ecological system and its responses

Is dynamometry able to infer the risk of muscle mass loss in patients with COPD?

Dionei Ramos,1 Giovana Navarro Bertolini,1 Marceli Rocha Leite,1 Luiz Carlos Soares Carvalho Junior,1 Paula Roberta da Silva Pestana,1 Vanessa Ribeiro dos Santos,2 Ana Claudia de Souza Fortaleza,2 Fernanda Maria Machado Rodrigues,1 Ercy Mara Cipulo Ramos1 1Department of Physiotherapy, São Paulo State University, Presidente Prudente, Brazil; 2Department of Motricity Sciences, São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, Brazil Introduction: Sarcopenia is characterized by a progressive and generalized decrease of strength and muscle mass. Muscle mass loss is prevalent in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a result of both the disease and aging. Some methods have been proposed to assess body composition (and therefore identify muscle mass loss) in this population. Despite the high accuracy of some methods, they require sophisticated and costly equipment.Aim: The purpose of this study was to infer the occurrence of muscle mass loss measured by a sophisticated method (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry [DEXA]) using a more simple and affordable equipment (dynamometer).Methods: Fifty-seven stable subjects with COPD were evaluated for anthropometric characteristics, lung function, functional exercise capacity, body composition, and peripheral muscle strength. A binary logistic regression model verified whether knee-extension strength (measured by dynamometry) could infer muscle mass loss (from DEXA).Results: Patients with decreased knee-extension strength were 5.93 times more likely to have muscle mass loss, regardless of sex, disease stage, and functional exercise capacity (P=0.045).Conclusion: Knee-extension dynamometry was able to infer muscle mass loss in patients with COPD. Keywords: COPD, sarcopenia, peripheral muscle strength &nbsp