The Contribution of Physiotherapy to Emotional and Physical Well-Being in Times of Pandemics

It is known that the entire body is interconnected with the mind, and that the entire system, however small, is of great importance for the maintenance of life. The pandemic situation put all individuals to the test, and challenged all the body's systems to commit even more to a single goal: to maintain physical and emotional well-being working together. The limbic system is the neuronal circuit that links emotional responses to motivational impulses, known as the emotions system, the integration of its components generates in the Central Nervous System a network of different emotions. Social distancing can generate changes in behavior and emotions in isolated individuals, which encompasses mental and physical health, triggering feelings shown after the end of the pandemic. The aim of the study is to describe the contribution of Physiotherapy to emotional and physical well-being in times of a pandemic. Consultations of works published in electronic journals indexed in the Google Scholar database, SCIELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online), Virtual Health Library (VHL), Ciencia e Saude Coletiva, Rsd Journal, Revista Interfaces and books from the Library's collection were used. Julio Bordignon from the Faculty of Education and Environment-Faema. Literature Review was used as a method. Physiotherapy works in the execution of exercises that will benefit the individual, with regard to the importance of the motor response for the act of generating healthy emotions. With regard to emotions, given the current scenario of experienced uncertainties, such as the benefit of a health built based on respect for the emotions felt.

Inequality in mortality between Black and White Americans by age, place, and cause, and in comparison to Europe, 1990-2018

Although there is a large gap between Black and White American life expectancies, the gap fell 48.9% between 1990-2018, mainly due to mortality declines among Black Americans. We examine age-specific mortality trends and racial gaps in life expectancy in rich and poor U.S. areas and with reference to six European countries. Inequalities in life expectancy are starker in the U.S. than in Europe. In 1990 White Americans and Europeans in rich areas had similar overall life expectancy, while life expectancy for White Americans in poor areas was lower. But since then even rich White Americans have lost ground relative to Europeans. Meanwhile, the gap in life expectancy between Black Americans and Europeans decreased by 8.3%. Black life expectancy increased more than White life expectancy in all U.S. areas, but improvements in poorer areas had the greatest impact on the racial life expectancy gap. The causes that contributed the most to Black mortality reductions included: Cancer, homicide, HIV, and causes originating in the fetal or infant period. Life expectancy for both Black and White Americans plateaued or slightly declined after 2012, but this stalling was most evident among Black Americans even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. If improvements had continued at the 1990-2012 rate, the racial gap in life expectancy would have closed by 2036. European life expectancy also stalled after 2014. Still, the comparison with Europe suggests that mortality rates of both Black and White Americans could fall much further across all ages and in both rich and poor areas.

Consumer fear and healthy eating during COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose This study aims to contribute to the healthy eating literature by analyzing whether fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), ability to prepare food and the safety-seeking are antecedents of the intention to consume healthy foods during COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted two studies. The first study was done with a sample of 546 valid respondents. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze data. The second study was qualitative, in which 40 subjects took part. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings The main findings reveal that ability to prepare food and the safety-seeking are strong antecedents of the intention to consume healthy foods. In addition, safety-seeking mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and intention to consume healthy eating. However, high levels of fear did not influence the ability to prepare food and intention to consume healthy foods. Also, the ability to prepare food does not mediate the relation between fear of COVID-19 and intention to consume healthy food. Originality/value This study is among the first to consider terror management propositions to analyze the intention to consume healthy foods during COVID-19 pandemic. From a scientific point of view, it has several contributions to the literature. First, this study provides advances and innovation in the field by identifying new explanatory relations. Second, this study extends the scope of terror management health model (TMHM) by analyzing it in the pandemic context. Third, the findings seem to provide empirical support for recent criticism of TMHM assumptions. Moreover, practical implications are outlined to public health decision-makers and healthy food businesses on increasing consumers' intention to healthy eating.

Spatial inequalities of COVID-19 incidence and associated socioeconomic risk factors in Portugal

COVID-19 hit the world in a sudden and uneven way. Scientific community has provided strong evidence about socioeconomic characteristics of the territory associated with the geographical pattern of COVID-19 incidence. Still, the role played by these factors differs between study areas. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models were applied to explore the spatially varying association between age-standardized COVID-19 incidence rate in 2020 and socioeconomic conditions in Portugal, at the municipality level. The spatial context was defined as a function of the number of neighbours;the bandwidth was determined through AIC. Prior, the validity of the GWR was assessed through ordinary least squares models. Border proximity, proportion of overcrowded living quarters, persons employed in manufacturing establishments and persons employed in construction establishments were found to be significant predictors. It was possible to observe that municipalities are affected differently by the same factor, and that this varying influence has identifiable geographical patterns, the role of each analysed factor varies importantly across the country. This study provides useful insights for policymakers for targeted interventions and for proper identification of risk factors.

Artificial Corneal Transplantation and the Safe Recovery of Vision in the COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020 the WHO announced the pandemic due to the new coronavirus nCoV-19, which uses the ACE-2 enzyme, present in several body tissues, to infect the host. The presence of ACE-2 in the corneal limbus makes the eyeball an important route of infection for the virus, which is why corneal transplantation is precluded in cases of suspected COVID-19 donors. Also in 2020, The Global Alliance of Eye Bank Association (GAEBA) developed restrictive measures aimed at preventing the spread of the new coronavirus between eye tissue donors and recipient patients, consequently, there was a reduction in effective donors and a global increase in the waiting lines for corneal transplantation worldwide. On the other hand, artificial corneal implantation presents itself as a positive alternative for the current moment, since it makes it impossible for the donor and the recipient of the eye tissue to become infected. In this sense, the present study aims to describe the use of artificial corneas in keratoplasties, considering this a safe and effective method for restoring vision during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Potential bioactive compounds of medicinal plants against new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2): A review

Nowadays, COVID-19 cases are growing worldwide, and there is no evidence of an effective drug to combat the new SARS-CoV-2 virus. In this sense, medicinal plants as an alternative treatment are being used without control to handle the pandemic situation. Therefore, bioactive compounds against Coronavirus of medicinal plant species that grow in Ecuador are discussed. The plant species described in this review are Azadirachta indica, Cinchona pubescens, Coriandrum sativum, Cúrcuma longa, Eucalyptus spp, Morus alba, and Salvia rosmarinus[A3];and compunds are curcumin, coriandrin, deoxynojirimycin, kuwanon G, mulberroside A, oleanolic acid, rosmarinic acid, ursolic acid, quinine, eucalyptol, and jensenone. © the authors;licensee ecancermedicalscience. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.