Browsing by Author "Pereira, T."
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- Circadian and Biological Rhythms in Shift Workers—A Firefighter’s StudyPublication . Duarte, I.F.; Pereira, J.; Lima, JPM.; Simões, H.; Pereira, T.; Conde, J.Shift Work contribute to dysregulation of the typical sleep and awake periods that cause circadian distortions, increasing the risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity and developing metabolic diseases. Firefighting is a career that demands much of individuals and has a great impact on their health, making it a high-risk job. Objectives: This study aims to characterize shift workers’ blood pressure profiles in an attempt to understand the repercussions of shift work on the circadian blood pressure rhythm in a sample of professional firefighters. Materials and methods: Participants were classified based on their dipping status: dipper drop of 10–20%; non-dipper 0–10%; invert-dipper when there is a rise in BP; extreme-dipper superior to 20%. Results: Abnormal dipping was found in 55.6% of the participants, and there was a marked difference in gender in percentage where dipping is concerned, with 66.7% of women having abnormal dipping against 50% of the men. It was proved that men had a slower heart rate than women (p-value = 0.029) and that dippers had a higher 24 h DBP compared with those of abnormal dipping (p-value = 0.049). Conclusions: Shift work is a high-risk module of labor, and its consequences require a more thorough examination. Abnormal dip- ping prevailed in firefighters, and the differences between genders need to be better characterized in future studies. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.
- Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Biomaterials Systems – Perspectives for Skeletal Muscle Tissue Repair and RegenerationPublication . Caseiro, A.R.; Pereira, T.; Bártolo, P. J.; Santos, J.D.; Luís, A.L.; Maurício, A.C.Skeletal muscle is essential in voluntary movement and other major vital functions. Muscle injuries are important in clinical practice and, despite skeletal muscle's good regenerative ability, severe tissue loss impairs complete myofibre regeneration, limiting structural and functional recovery of the affected muscle, eventually leading to the development of non-contractile fibrous scar. The intrinsic healing mechanisms rely in great extent on the residing progenitor population but significant drawbacks to their practical application in regenerative strategies boosted the search for alternative cell sources, such as extra-fetal mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs have demonstrated to positively influence the regeneration of different disease models. When severe volumetric muscle tissue loss occurs, the body is seldom capable of replacing the lost portions with fully functional tissue. A rational strategy to aid the healing of such situations is the application of biomaterial implants that provide a structural matrix for the ingrowth of regenerating muscle fibres. Both synthetic and natural biomaterials have been hypothesized for this purpose and some have reached as far clinical cases applications. Obvious improvements are observed in most cases, but reaction to some biomaterials and functional recovery are still a challenge. The addition of MSCs to the biomaterials seems to improve the systems' performance in the overall regenerative milieu. This strategies promote scaffold's vascularization and integration, as well as accelerated tissue ingrowth and reduces scar formation, resulting in improved recovery rates at both structural and functional levels.