Clinics
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Evaluate the cognitive function and its relationship with balance, history of falls, and fear of falling in the elderly. ⋯ Elderly persons with cognitive decline have lower balance, greater fear of falling, and greater recurrence of falls.
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Progressive renal disease is characterized by histological changes in the kidney and fibrosis is a common outcome. Renal biopsy is the only diagnostic tool to evaluate these histopathological changes. Pentraxin-2 (PTX-2) is an anti-inflammatory constitutive plasma protein associated with the innate immune system. Recently, as a biomarker, the circulating level of PTX-2 is shown to be decreased in chronic fibrotic diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between renal fibrosis severity and serum PTX-2 levels in patients undergoing renal biopsy. ⋯ The results indicated that PTX-2 levels are significantly lower in patients with renal fibrosis than HIs, and declining further in patients with severe fibrosis.
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To assess the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity and its association with functionality, lifestyle, biomarkers, and morbidities in older adults. ⋯ The study showed a high prevalence of sarcopenic obesity in non-institutionalized older adults in Brazil. The finding that this condition was associated with modifiable risk factors may provide insights into measures directed at prevention and reduction of the risk of sarcopenic obesity in this population subgroup.
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Observational Study
Quality of life among total laryngectomized patients undergoing speech rehabilitation: correlation between several instruments.
The aim of this study was to correlate several instruments currently used for the assessment of the quality of life of patients who underwent total laryngectomy and speech rehabilitation. ⋯ The EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQ-H&N35 and UW-QOL were the instruments that most correlated with the remaining instruments, indicating that any of the three can be used to assess the quality of life of the target population regardless of oesophageal voice development.
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Many studies indicate that microRNAs (miRNAs) could be potential biomarkers for various diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical value of serum exosomal miRNAs in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). ⋯ These findings suggested that exosomal miR-21 and miR-155 expression levels may serve as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of SLE and LN.