Background — Mental well-being is widely accepted as a fundamental part of mental health, and conceptualized as distinct from mental illness. However, mental health literacy (MHL) has overwhelmingly focused on mental illness, and less on mental well-being. Methods — In this position paper, we argue that MHL, as an evolving concept, would benefit from including literacy on mental well-being. Results — Though it is suggested that MHL is an important factor for mental illness prevention and mental health promotion, there is still room for improvement in MHL research and practice. It is argued that the actual definitions of MHL, so as its measures and interventions leave out mental well-being, ignoring an important dimension of mental health. Conclusions — A new concept, positive mental health literacy is proposed in order to achieve a complete mental health literacy approach. Integrating mental illness and positive mental health literacy may reflect different yet complementary aspects of mental health, facilitate help-seeking and mental health de-stigmatization. Expanding MHL by including both mental illness and positive mental health literacy may result in improved mental health indicators, such as less psychological symptoms and more mental well-being.

Introduction: The evolution of out-of-hospital care (OHC) and the increase in activations of these teams highlight the importance of exploring their intervention in the outcome of People in Critical Situations (PCS). Objective: To identify the intervention of the emergency team (EE) in the OHC context, given the outcome of PCS, upor admission to health institution. Methodology: Integrative literature review using the population structure, intervention and results to formulate the question: “What are the observable outcomes in PCS, the target of the EE intervention: in the OHC context?”. The research was carried out in March and April 2024 in the databases PubMed®, CINAHL®, MEDLINE®, considering full texts, languade, date of publication and the age of the population. Results: The EH emergency system allows early and li-saving interventions, raising the level of care. However, this context receives less attention compared to the in-hospital context. Studies highlight the importance of EE, but lack indicators that correlate benefits with factors such as criticality and time. Delays impact mortality, and professionals experience is vital for safe and quality care. Conclusion: EE intervention may improve the victim’s outcome, but the complexity of the factors involved makes it difficult to reach a consensus on their relationship with victims' survival.

This study aimed to analyze the effects of beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate supplementation on attenuating muscle fatigue induced by high-intensity exercise. This narrative literature review was conducted through searches of the PubMed and Scopus databases, with Google Scholar used as a complementary search tool. Studies published between 2000 and 2025 in English and Portuguese were included if they investigated the effects of these supplements on muscle fatigue, exercise performance, and buffering mechanisms. Muscle fatigue is directly associated with a reduction in intracellular pH caused by the accumulation of hydrogen ions during high-intensity exercise, impairing contractile function and the activity of key enzymes involved in energy production. In this context, buffering agents have been investigated as ergogenic strategies to delay fatigue and improve exercise performance. Beta-alanine acts intracellularly by increasing muscle carnosine concentrations, whereas sodium bicarbonate exerts its buffering effect extracellularly by facilitating hydrogen ion removal and helping maintain acid-base balance. The studies analyzed indicate that supplementation with these compounds, either alone or in combination, may improve performance during high-intensity anaerobic exercise when appropriate supplementation protocols are followed. It is concluded that beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate supplementation represents a promising ergogenic strategy to delay muscle fatigue and optimize exercise performance, provided that its use is guided by appropriate professional supervision.

Microbiota is a very important ecosystem of our body and it is directly affected by our nutritional habits. The distribution of macronutrients is one important element that might be helpful or harmful to performance and quality of life of professional and amateur athletes. Athletes are always looking for ways to improve performance although their choices are not always based on science or professional advice. Carbohydrates are the main energy source of our muscles and central nervous system, to warrant the fuel supply, especially for the brain, in cases of low glucose availability, the organism uses a metabolic process that can transform amino acids in glucose, the gluconeogenesis. Carbohydrate low availability comes from the voluntary carbohydrate ingestion reduction, which is believed by the athlete to be a valid strategy to reduce body weight and to improve performance. Associated with carbohydrate reduction there is an automatic increase in protein ingestion that might, indirectly, be the cause of dysbiosis. Dysbiosis is an imbalance in the gut microbiota that negatively affects performance and health and it might be related to the urea concentration in the intestine. Urea concentration might increase due to augmented gluconeogenesis and consequent metabolization of amino acids residues. Dysbiosis is an important and harmful condition that could be avoided by maintaining a proper balance between carbohydrates and protein and the athlete population needs to be warned about that.

Background: Scoliosis is characterized by a lateral deviation of the spine, which can be structural or non-structural. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a structural deformity whose cause is not yet clearly identified. Objective: To investigate the specific effects of different training methods on the Cobb angle in adolescents with AIS. Methodology: Articles published from 2000 onwards, written in English, were included, and those that used samples with a history of spinal surgery or use of orthoses were excluded. Results: Of the six studies selected, two showed significant reductions in the Cobb angle, while four did not observe significant reductions. Conclusion: The discrepancies may be related to variables such as stage of bone maturation, frequency, intervention time, session duration, and type of training method. It is concluded that the effects of training methods on AIS are still inconclusive, and more standardized studies with greater methodological control are needed.

Introduction: Infrared thermography has been used as a non-invasive tool to analyze inflammatory responses in musculoskeletal injuries. However, no study has followed thermal behavior from pre injury to post surgery recovery in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. Therefore, the objective of this case study was to analyze the use of thermography as a form of pre- and post-ACL injury monitoring in a professional soccer player, tracking thermal changes from the period before the trauma to the first months of post-surgical recovery. Case Presentation: A professional Brazilian first-division soccer player suffered a total ACL rupture of the right knee. Thermographic assessments were conducted before injury (BI), after injury (AI), and during the first (AS1), second (AS2), and third (AS3) postoperative months. Mean temperature asymmetry (MTA) between knees was calculated. Management and Outcome: The athlete underwent ACL reconstruction with autologous patellar tendon graft and standard postoperative medication. Descriptive comparison of the 95% confidence intervals indicated a marked increase in MTA from BI to AS1, followed by a progressive reduction during the postoperative follow-up. By AS3, the partial overlap with the baseline 95% confidence interval suggested a gradual return toward baseline MTA. Discussion: Thermography allowed monitoring of inflammatory progression and postoperative recovery. This case suggests that temperature asymmetry may be useful to assist monitoring of rehabilitation in elite athletes.

Background: Although military personnel typically present lower BMI than civilians, significant body fat accumulation may still occur despite high levels of physical activity. The availability of tools for genome mapping has opened new perspectives on the study of body composition and polymorphisms. It has been shown that phenotypes studied for their differences, such as mesomorphy and endomorphy, share commonalities. This study investigated the relationship between body fat accumulation and the phenotypes defined by Heath-Carter somatotyping in active military personnel, aiming to understand the mechanisms driving the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in this workforce. Methods: 130 military personnel who volunteered for this cross-sectional observational study were assessed for anthropometric measurements. The correlation between anthropometric variables and physical performance was analyzed using Principal Component Analysis. Statistical tests were performed using RStudio. Results: The most common somatotype encountered was the endomorphic mesomorph (53.8%). Two distinct groups with different physical characteristics were identified. In the endomesomorphic group, body mass, body mass index, and % body fat values were 19%, 15%, and 83% higher than in the ectomesomorphic group. The ectomesomorphic group achieved 12% better V̇O2peak results and 7% better results in the 100m swimming tests. Principal Component 1 accounted for 69% of the variance in the data, with body mass index, endomorphy, mesomorphy, and % body fat showing strong positive correlations within this component. Conclusion: The main finding was that mesomorphy, endomorphy, and body fat percentage were strongly correlated, despite these classic phenotypes being opposites. Observing individuals with extreme somatotype components, i.e., above 5.5 units for mesomorphy, may be an indicator of fat accumulation, even in groups undergoing constant training and high physical activity demands in their occupational activities.

Introdução: O envelhecimento é um processo dinâmico e irreversível, no qual ocorrem modificações morfológicas e fisiológicas do organismo. Essas modificações podem comprometer a autonomia funcional do idoso, tornando-o dependente na prática da atividades de vida diária (AVDs). O treinamento resistido parece exercer efeito na recuperação da capacidade de realização das AVDs. Objetivo: avaliar o efeito de 8 semanas de treinamento resistido na autonomia funcional dos idosos. Materiais e métodos: A amostra foi constituída por 12 idosos, divididos em dois grupos: Grupo Força (GF) com média de idade de 74,5 anos (±4,13) e Grupo Controle (GC) com média de idade de 64,3 anos (±4,50). O treino proposto para o GF foi: cadeira flexora, cadeira extensora e leg press, supino articulado, puxada na polia alta e abdução lateral, três vezes por semana e para cada exercício, 3 séries com carga de 8 a 12 repetições máximas. Na avaliação da automia funcional foi utilizado o protocolo do Grupo de Desenvolvimento Latino Americano para a Maturidade (GDLAM), sendo realizada duas avaliações-testes (T1 e T2) em ambos os grupos com intervalo de 8 semanas. A análise estatística foi feita por meio do teste t de Student para amostras não pareadas, utilizando o programa Prisma 5.0. Resultados: a média do tempo de execução dos testes para o GF diminuiu após 8 semanas de treinamento apresentando diferenças significativas (*p<0,05). O GC apresentou aumento no tempo de execução dos testes LCLC, C10m e LPS. Conclusão: o treinamento resistido promove melhora da autonomia funcional em idosos.

O exercício físico tem se mostrado uma importante terapia no tratamento de doenças cardíacas, diabetes e obesidade. O objetivo desta revisão foi descrever o efeito cardioprotetor do exercício aeróbio. As principais adaptações do treinamento aeróbio são aumento do débito cardíaco máximo, permitindo maior preenchimento dos ventrículos e consequente maior volume sistólico; a capacidade de perfusão do músculo é aumentada, permitindo maior liberação de oxigênio; as artérias, arteríolas e os capilares se adaptam em estrutura e número; os diâmetros das artérias aumentam, minimizando a resistência ao fluxo. Todas essas adaptações levam a diminuição do risco de morte por doenças cardiovasculares, que são a principal causa de morte no mundo, o exercício físico pode ser utilizado como coadjuvante no tratamento não medicamentoso e na prevenção de doenças do sistema cardiovascular. Palavras-chave: exercício; doença cardiovascular; exercício aeróbio; remodelamento vascular. Abstract Physical exercise has proven to be an important therapy in the treatment of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The purpose of this review was to describe the cardioprotective effect of aerobic exercise. The main adaptations of aerobic training are increased maximum cardiac output, allowing greater filling of the ventricles and a consequent greater stroke volume; the muscle's perfusion capacity is increased, allowing greater oxygen release; the arteries, arterioles and capillaries adapt in structure and number; artery diameters increase, minimizing flow resistance. All of these adaptations lead to a decrease in the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, which are the main cause of death in the world, physical exercise can be used as an adjunct in non-drug treatment and in the prevention of diseases of the cardiovascular system. Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; Exercise/physiology; Physical Conditioning, Vascular Remodeling; Aerobic exercise