Optimizing Content Caching and Recommendations with Context Information in Multi-Access Edge Computing

Recently, the coupling between content caching at the wireless network edge and video recommendation systems has shown promising results to optimize the cache hit and improve the user experience. However, the quality of the UE wireless link and the resource capabilities of the UE are aspects that impact user experience and that have been neglected in the literature. In this work, we present a resource-aware optimization model for the joint task of caching and recommending videos to mobile users that maximizes the cache hit ratio and the user QoE (concerning content preferences and video representations) under the constraints of UE capabilities and the availability of network resources by the time of the recommendation. We evaluate our proposed model using a video catalog derived from a real-world video content dataset and real-world video representations and compare the performance with a state-of-the-art caching and recommendation method unaware of computing and network resources. Results show that our approach increases user QoE by at least 68% and effective cache hit ratio by at least 14% in comparison with the other method

Metodologias participativas em pesquisa com crianças: abordagens criativas e inovadoras

Objetivo: Relatar a experiência da utilização de metodologias participativas em pesquisa com crianças.Métodos: Relato de experiência com abordagem qualitativa, realizado com crianças entre seis e onze anos de uma escola municipal, em Pelotas, e do Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Infantojuvenil, em São Lourenço do Sul, ambos municípios do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. A coleta de dados foi baseada em registros feitos em diários de campo e observação, realizada de abril a julho de 2016.Resultados: O relato apontou que o Photovoice promoveu a motivação entre o grupo e elevou a autoestima e a autoconfiança das crianças. O Mapa dos Cinco Campos possibilitou às crianças expressar sentimentos por intermédio do jogo.Conclusão: Compreende-se que o Photovoice e o Mapa dos Cinco Campos são instrumentos que viabilizam novas abordagens metodológicas nas pesquisas com crianças, facilitando a construção das propostas de atividades que visam processos inovadores e criativos de pesquisa em saúde/enfermagem.Palavras-chave: Saúde da criança. Enfermagem pediátrica. Pesquisa em enfermagem

Subacute and Reproductive Oral Toxicity Assessment of the Hydroethanolic Extract of Jacaranda decurrens

Jacaranda decurrens subsp. symmetrifoliolata Farias & Proença (Bignoniaceae) is a species traditionally used for the treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases. Previous findings from our group reported scientifically that J. decurrens has anti-inflammatory efficacy. However, more toxicological studies are needed to support and ensure its safe use. The present study was carried out to evaluate the toxic effects of a prolonged treatment with hydroethanolic root extract of J. decurrens (EJD) on hematological, biochemical, and reproductive parameters in adult male rats. The animals received by oral gavage 0; 250; 500; or 1000 mg/kg body weight of EJD for 28 days. After the treatment, biochemical, hematological, histopathological, and reproductive parameters were analyzed. The EJD treatment did not cause adverse effects on body weight gain, feed and water consumption, hematological and biochemical profiles, or histopathological analysis of liver and kidney. Similarly, there were no statistically significant differences in reproductive parameters, such as sperm production, number of sperm in the epididymis, and sperm morphology. These results demonstrate the absence of subacute toxicity as a result of the oral treatment with EJD for 28 days in adult male rats. However, other studies should be performed to evaluate the total safety of this plant

Bovine Leukosis Virus and Antibodies against Bovine Herpesvirus Type-1 and Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus and in Buffaloes of the State of Pará, Brazil

Background: Viral diseases affecting reproduction cause economic losses in cattle, as reproductive failure interrupts the production cycle, thus reducing herd productivity. Buffaloes are susceptible to most of the diseases that affect cattle. Some of the viral diseases of reproductive importance are infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), and bovine leukosis (BL). The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of IBR virus (bovine herpes virus-1, BoHV-1), BVD virus (BVDV), and BL virus (BLV) in female buffaloes living in wetland areas or plains in the state of Pará, as well as the seroprevalence of BoHV-1, BVDV, and BLV in females of different age groups.Materials, Methods & Results: It were used 225 crossbred buffaloes from 4 buffalo exclusive farms. The buffaloes reared on farms A (n = 50) and B (n = 89) were kept in wetland areas on Marajó Island (n = 139), Pará. On farms C (n = 30) and D (n = 56) buffaloes were kept in plains (n = 86) in a northeastern mesoregion of Para. Animals were categorized into age groups: I: 0-3 years (n = 34), II: 3-6 years (n = 58), III: 7-9 years (n = 55), and IV: over 9 years (n = 78). Blood samples were collected and sera were sent for processing at the Bovine Virus Laboratory, Biological Institute of São Paulo, Brazil. The presence of IBRV and BVDV was determined by neutralization and BLV antibodies by immunodiffusion in agar gel. Statistical analysis was performed using the Ȥ2 test at a significance level of 5%. Among the seroprevalences of IBRV, BVDV and BLV antibodies, the difference in prevalence for BVD [P < 0.01] was observed between wetland areas and plains of Para, varying from 12.4% to 96.0% and 0.0% to 13.3%, respectively. While levels of IBRV remained high on farms A (79.6%), B (86.5%), C (83.3%) and D (89.1%) [P = 0.60] and BLV was negative in all the animals. BVDV was similar for all the age groups [P = 0.60], while IBRV was more prevalent in animals over 6 years of age with group I: (76.5%), II (74.5%), III (92.3%) and IV (91.3%) [P = 0.01]. It was not possible verify the influence of age in prevalence for BL.Discussion: The prevalence obtained for the BoHV-1 on farms was high, with little variation between 79.6% and 89.1%. The high prevalence of BoHV-1 suggests the free circulation of the virus in the state of Para. Notably, the animals in this study had not been vaccinated, so the determined viral antibody titers were independent of vaccination. BVDV results showed high variation between 0.0% and 96.0%. The highest prevalence in wetland areas may be related to the breeding environment, because of a possible horizontal contamination. The lack of BLV antibodies prevalence can be attributed to the fact that all the evaluated animals were kept in an extensive breeding system where they had little direct contact. The prevalence of IBR was higher in the older animals. Variation in prevalence with age was not observed for BVD. It was concluded that the prevalence for IBR and BVD were high indicating that the etiological agents are circulating in Para, with IBR having a higher prevalence in older animals. Breeding buffalo in wetland areas may favor horizontal transmission of BVDV because facilitate contact of healthy animals with water contaminated by virus carriers animal secretion and the absence of seropositive animals at the BLV does not necessarily indicate that buffaloes are resistant to the virus

Serological screening for Chagas disease in an endemic region of Northern Minas Gerais, Brazil: the SaMi-Trop project

Chagas disease (CD) is still a neglected disease. Infected individuals are diagnosed late, being treated in worse clinical conditions. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the prevalence and the factors associated with new confirmed cases of CD identified by serological screening in an endemic region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. This is an analytical cross-sectional study with data from a project of the Research Center in Tropical Medicine of Sao Paulo- Minas Gerais (SaMi-Trop) conducted in two municipalities. Data collection included a questionnaire with closed questions, a venous blood collection and an ELISA serological test for CD. A total of 2,038 individuals with no previous diagnosis of CD participated in the study. The result of the serological test for CD was adopted as the dependent variable. The independent variables addressed personal issues, health conditions and lifetime housing. A descriptive analysis of individual variables was performed. Subsequently, a bivariate analysis was performed using the Pearson’s chi-square test. Households sheltering individuals positive for CD were georeferenced, and the analysis of spatial distribution was performed using the quartic function to estimate the density of the nucleus. Among the participants, 188 (9.2 %) were positive for CD. The profile of participants with CD was associated with place of residence, age, relative/family member with CD and living conditions. It is noteworthy that there are still patients with CD who are unaware of their diagnosis in both, rural and urban areas

Eu, robô? o trânsito do ser humano ao pós-humano em Stelarc

O artigo aborda a poética do artista australiano Stelarc a partir da perspectiva teórica da influência paradigmática das imagens técnicas sobre o campo ampliado da arte contemporânea. Analisa também, de uma perspectiva fenomenológica, o modo como certas proposições conceituais audaciosas podem gerar resultados práticos indesejáveis a partir da percepção do corpo como objeto passível de manipulação no horizonteoperacional das novas tecnologias

Implicações cardiovasculares da infecção por COVID-19: uma revisão sistemática

COVID-19 infection is known for its respiratory implications, however multisystem complications, such as cardiovascular problems, must be considered. So far, there is a lack of understanding of the implications of COVID-19 infection on the cardiovascular system, and the objective of the present study is to carry out a systematic literature review to analyze this topic. The study followed the PRISMA guidelines, being searched in the Cochrane Library and PubMed databases for articles published up to 2022 and using descriptors such as “COVID”, “Coronavirus”, “Cardiovascular disease”, “long COVID”. Of the total of 4,538 articles initially found, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 9 studies were included in the review. Evidence indicates cardiovascular implications in patients post-COVID-19 infection, requiring adequate and effective strategies to recognize the acute and chronic nature of these implications and to deal with chronicity and morbidity.A infecção por COVID-19 é conhecida pelas implicações respiratórias, contudo as complicações multissistêmicas, como problemas cardiovasculares, devem ser consideradas. Até o momento, há uma escassez na compreensão das implicações da infecção por COVID-19 no sistema cardiovascular, sendo, o objetivo do presente estudo realizar uma revisão sistemática de literatura para analisar esta temática. O estudo seguiu as diretrizes PRISMA, sendo pesquisado nos bancos de dados Cochrane Library e PubMed artigos publicados até 2022 e utilizando descritores como “COVID”, “Coronavírus”, “Doença cardiovascular”, “COVID longo”.  Do total de 4.538 artigos encontrados inicialmente, após aplicação dos critérios de inclusão e exclusão, 9 estudos foram incluídos na revisão. As evidências indicam implicações cardiovasculares em pacientes pós-infecção por COVID-19, sendo necessárias estratégias adequadas e eficazes para reconhecer a natureza aguda e crônica dessas implicações e para lidar com a cronicidade e a morbidade

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio