The complexity of neuropsychiatric manifestations of COVID-19 in South Africa

SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in Wuhan City, China, in 2019. Initially it was associated with the development of pulmonary disease, but research over the past 2 years has identified effects on multiple systems. Neuropsychiatric manifestations of COVID-19 have been reported in countries around the world, including new-onset psychosis in patients with no personal or family psychiatric history. We present the first case series describing neuropsychiatric manifestations of patients in Johannesburg, South Africa (SA). All four patients presented with their index-episode psychosis, and evidence of COVID-19 infection. The patients had varied psychiatric presentations, from delirium and psychosis to mania, and all responded well to low doses of antipsychotics. One patient had newly diagnosed HIV in addition to COVID-19. Further research is needed to determine the prevalence of neuropsychiatric manifestations in acute SARS-CoV-2 infections in SA

Sensitivity analysis of soils parameters and their influences on streamflow simulation in a small watershed, Northwest RJ, Brazil.

The physical and hydraulic properties of soils in the watershed vary temporally and spatially, having a direct relationship with the amount of water that infiltrates, flows and reaches to the river channel, influencing stream flow responses. The knowledge of input parameters in a hydrological model and its sensitivity is beneficial to understand how hydrological processes are estimated. The soils parameters adjustments in the SWAT model aims to improve the performance of processes simulations, reducing uncertainty and leading to a better representation of hydrological processes in reality. A simple approach to assess how and what parameters influence the response of the flow was proposed and applied in a small watershed (6km²), with a predominance of Ultisols and hilly relief, in the northwest of Rio de Janeiro state. The methodology was divided into three stages: at first, the parameters have been listed in order of sensitivity; subsequently, the most sensitive parameters had their values changed individually while the less sensitivity parameters values were maintained. Finally, we assessed the influence of each parameter in flow simulation by SWAT model. The sensitivity analysis showed that parameters related to soil water content and hydraulic conductivity affect the generation of overland flow, consequently, the maximum flows in the main channel. The capacity of available soil water (SOL_AWC) had their values increased in 30%, and were adjusted according to land use. The Curve Number parameter (CN2) had their values reduced in 10%. The value of hydraulic conductivity of the soil (SOL_K) had their value increased 50%. Those changes increased the infiltration and water storage in soil, decreasing overland flow. With calibration values of NS = 0.75, PBIAS = 12.7% and R² = 0.51 and validation values of NS = 0.5, PBIAS = 13.02% and R² = 0.73, the good results obtained with the soil parameter values adjusted could be observed through graphical and statistical analysis

Can Memory Assessment Services (MAS) in England be categorized? A national survey.

: The effectiveness and efficiency of memory assessment services (MASs) is unknown. Our aim was to determine if a typology can be constructed, based on shared structural and process characteristics, as a basis for a non-randomized evaluation of their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. : Survey of random sample of 73 MASs in 2015; comparison of characteristics and investigation of inter-correlation. : It was not possible to group characteristics to form the basis of a typology of MASs. However, there was considerable variation in staff numbers (20-fold), new patients per whole-time equivalent (WTE) staff (20-fold), skill mix and the nurse:doctor ratio (1-10). The operational performance also varied: first appointments (50-120 minutes); time for first follow-up (2-12 weeks); frequency of follow-up in first year (1-5). These differences were not associated with the number of new patients per WTE staff or the accreditation status of the MAS. Post diagnosis, all MASs provided pharmacological treatment but the availability of non-pharmacological support varied, with half providing none or only one intervention while others providing four or more. : In the absence of any clear typology, evaluation of MASs will need to focus on the impact of individual structural and process characteristics on outcomes.<br/

Redesenho de agroecossistemas como inovação social para a construção da sustentabilidade local.

Resumo: A construção de uma nova perspectiva para o semiárido rural nordestino deverá estar amparada em abordagens com enfoque multidisciplinar, em que o contexto seja a referência e que promova o rompimento com o padrão convencional da modernização agrícola. Este estudo objetivou demonstrar aportes metodológicos de abordagem no meio rural, com a finalidade de construir elementos de resistência ao modelo tradicional por meio da mediação social para o redesenho de agroecossistemas. A metodologia foi orientada pela abordagem teórica da Perspectiva Orientada aos Atores. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida na comunidade Sítio Areias, Sobral, CE, local onde foi realizado o redesenho de um agroecossistema. A utilização da metodologia possibilitou a interface entre saberes, com o surgimento de novas práticas, com os agricultores familiares exercendo sua condição de agência na utilização de novos domínios para a produção de novidades referentes à construção de uma agricultura sustentável no semiárido. Tais inovações sociais poderão constituir elementos basilares para um novo processo de desenvolvimento rural sustentável e solidário, com novas formas de inovações no meio rural. Abstract: Building a new perspective to the rural northeastern semiarid should be supported by approaches with a multidisciplinary focus, that has the context as a reference and promotes rupture with the conventional pattern of agricultural modernization. This study aimed to demonstrate methodological contributions of approach in rural areas, with the aim of constructing elements of resistance to the traditional model through social mediation for the redesign of agroecosystems. The methodology was guided by the theoretical approach of the Oriented Perspective by Actors. The research was conducted in the community Sítio Areias, Sobral, CE, where was conducted the redesign of one agroecosystem. Using the methodology enabled the interface between knowledges, with the emergence of new practices, with family farmers exerting their agency conditions on the use of new domains for the novelty production relative the construction of sustainable agriculture in semiarid. These social innovations may constitute basic elements for a new process of sustainable rural development and solidarity, with new forms of innovation in rural areas

Factors influencing charter flight departure delay

This study aims to identify the main factors leading to charter flight departure delay through data mining. The data sample analysed consists of 5,484 flights operated by a European airline between 2014 and 2017. The tuned dataset of 33 features was used for modelling departure delay (e.g., if the flight delayed more than 15 minutes). The results proved the value of the proposed approach by an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.831 and supported knowledge extraction through the data-based sensitivity analysis. The features related to previous flight delay information were considered as being the most influential toward current flight being delayed or not, which is consistent with the propagating effect of flight delays. However, it is not the reason for the previous delay nor the delay duration that accounted for the most relevance. Instead, a computed feature indicating if there were two or more registered reasons accounted for 33% of relevance. The contributions include also using a broader data mining approach supported by an extensive data understanding and preparation stage using both proprietary and open access data sources to build a comprehensive dataset.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

An accretion disc model for quasar optical variability

Some different correlations between optical-UV variability and other quasar properties, such as luminosity, black hole mass and rest-frame wavelength, were discovered. The positive correlation between optical-UV variability amplitude and black hole mass was first found by Wold et al., and this was confirmed by Wilhite et al. We suggest that the accretion disk model can explain these correlations, provided the optical-UV variability is triggered by the change of accretion rate. The disk temperature of accretion discs decreases with increasing black hole mass, which leads to systematical spectral shape difference with black hole mass even if the black hole is accreting at the same rate m_dot (m_dot = M_dot / M_dotEdd). The observed positive correlation between optical-UV variability and black hole mass can be well reproduced by our model calculations, if the mean accretion rate m_dot0 ~ 0.1 with variation of m_delta ~ 0.4 - 0.5 m_dot0. We also found that the observed correlations of optical-UV variability amplitude with luminosity or rest-frame wavelength can be qualitatively explained by this accretion disc model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

An overview of COST Action TU1406, quality specifications for roadway bridges (BridgeSpec)

Publicado em "Life-cycle of engineering systems: emphasis on sustainable civil infrastructure: proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE 2016), ISBN 978-1-138-02847-0"Life-cycle analyses are used in condition assessment of new and existing bridges as well as for evaluation of maintenance strategies. During the implementation of asset management strategies, maintenance actions are required to keep assets at desired performance levels. In case of roadway bridges, performance indicators, which can be obtained by inspections, non-destructive tests or monitoring systems, are established for components. These indicators, along with the definition of standardized performance goals, allow to assess the accomplishment of quality control plans. In Europe there is a large disparity regarding the way performance indicators are quantified and goals specified. Therefore, a discussion at a European networking level, seeking to achieve a standardized approach in this subject, will bring significant benefits. COST Action TU1406 aims to bring together research and practicing communities in order to establish a European guideline in this issue, based on the existing practices across the involved European countries.COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology

Awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms and risk factors in a young ethnically diverse British population

Background: Ovarian cancer does not cause many symptoms in the early stages, which is why the majority of cases are of advanced disease. Increasing awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms may lead to earlier diagnosis and improved outcomes. Methods: Participants in Britain completed the Ovarian Cancer Awareness Measure by online survey (n = 459). Results: Our participants were 75% female, 25% male and a young (27.89 ± 11.44 years) ethnically diverse population (40.3% White, 29.3% Asian and 18.0% Black). Individuals recalled 1.24 ± 1.30 symptoms, and recognised 5.96 ± 2.4 symptoms. We found higher levels of recall and recognition compared to previous research possibly due to using an online survey. Recognition was lowest for difficulty eating (39.4%) and persistently feeling full (38.7%). Males had slightly lower symptom recall and recognition than females. Participants incorrectly recalled an irregular menstrual cycle (22.4%) as an ovarian cancer symptom and 67% answered the age of incidence question incorrectly. Suggesting that participants incorrectly associate ovarian cancer as a disease of pre‐menopausal women. Individuals recalled 1.47 ± 1.20 risk factors, and recognised 6.1 ± 2.4 risk factors. Family history of ovarian cancer was recalled by 59% of participants. Recognition was lowest for in vitro fertilisation treatment (23.0%) and talcum powder in the genital area (23.0%). The generic cancer risk factors of alcohol (9.3%) and poor diet (8.8%) were recalled as specific ovarian cancer risk factors. 57.9% of participants incorrectly answered that there is an ovarian cancer screening programme. Suggesting confusion between ovarian and cervical cancer as participants also recalled cervical cancer risk factors of sexually transmitted diseases (6.3%) and human papillomavirus (1.5%). 29.7% of female participants would seek help for an ovarian cancer symptom within 1–2 days. Help seeking was higher in the Black and Asian ethnicities (44.4% and 45.0%; p = 0.018). Conclusion: Awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms is low. Ovarian cancer awareness campaigns should include common misconceptions identified in this research

New and updated stellar parameters for 90 transit hosts. The effect of the surface gravity

Context. Precise stellar parameters are crucial in exoplanet research for correctly determining of the planetary parameters. For stars hosting a transiting planet, determining of the planetary mass and radius depends on the stellar mass and radius, which in turn depend on the atmospheric stellar parameters. Different methods can provide different results, which leads to different planet characteristics.}%Spectroscopic surface gravities have shown to be poorly constrained, but the photometry of the transiting planet can provide an independent measurement of the surface gravity. Aims. In this paper, we use a uniform method to spectroscopically derive stellar atmospheric parameters, chemical abundances, stellar masses, and stellar radii for a sample of 90 transit hosts. Surface gravities are also derived photometrically using the stellar density as derived from the light curve. We study the effect of using these different surface gravities on the determination of the chemical abundances and the stellar mass and radius. Methods. A spectroscopic analysis based on Kurucz models in LTE was performed through the MOOG code to derive the atmospheric parameters and the chemical abundances. The photometric surface gravity was determined through isochrone fitting and the use of the stellar density, directly determined from the light curve. Stellar masses and radii are determined through calibration formulae. Results. Spectroscopic and photometric surface gravities differ, but this has very little effect on the precise determination of the stellar mass in our spectroscopic analysis. The stellar radius, and hence the planetary radius, is most affected by the surface gravity discrepancies. For the chemical abundances, the difference is, as expected, only noticable for the abundances derived from analyzing of lines of ionized species.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, accepted to A&

Recent advances in the manipulation of circularly polarised light with cellulose nanocrystal films

This work is funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Program, National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and POR Lisboa2020 , under the projects with references POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-007688 (Reference UID/CTM/50025), UID/BIA/00329/2013, PTDC/CTM-BIO/6178/2014, M-ERA-NET2/0007/2016 (CellColor) and PTDC/CTM-REF/30529/2017. S.N. Fernandes and L.F. Lopes acknowledge the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education for National Funds , European Social Funds and FCT for fellowships number SFRH/BDP/78430/2011 and SFRH/BPD/84478/2012 , respectively. This work was supported by the Histology and Comparative Pathology laboratory [Electron Microscopy service] of the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, specifically Andreia Pinto for her kind support. We would like to thank Carlos Silva for providing the C. chrysina specimen. The C. aurata specimen observed was provided by the Insect Collection of the National Museum of Natural History and Science, University of LisboSignificant advances have been made to control the iridescence and the selective reflection of left circularly polarised (LCP) light, and transmission of right circularly polarised (RCP) light of solid films prepared from cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). However the manipulation of the photonic properties of the CNCs films, which reflect both RCP and LCP light is less investigated. Solid films prepare from natural sources as CNCs have advantageous characteristics that are absent in other synthetic structures, such as wide availability and renewability. Here we review and compare recent research activity involving the production and characterization of photonic band gap structures resulting from an anisotropic layer inserted between two cholesteric layers with different helical pitches but the same handedness. We make connections between systems existing in Nature and synthetic ones with the hope of advancing in the production and manipulation of CNCs-based photonic structures.authorsversionpublishe