Remote sensing image-based analysis of the urban heat island effect in Bragança, Portugal

Urban Heat Islands increase surface temperatures which impact the health and well-being of urban populations. Radiative forcing is impacted by changes to the land surface associated with urbanization that are particularly significant immediately after sunset. This paper aimed to analyze the behavior of UHI in different Local Climate Zones (LCZ) in Bragança city (Portugal), using Air Temperature (Ta), satellite images (Landsat 8), and on-site data. The methodology included a seasonal approach, integrating data with different scales (spatial, radiometric, and spectral) and qualitative and quantitative analyses. Google Earth Engine (GEE) optimized the processing time and computation requirement to generate the Land Surface Temperature (LST) maps. The integration of data with different scales corroborated the complementation of information/analysis and detected the correlation between the Ta and LST. However, the identification of the UHI was compromised due to the time of the passage of Landsat 8, and it was identified as the Urban Cool Island (UCI), a complementary effect of UHI, supporting the results of previous studies and for the use of Remote Sensing (RS) for thermal effects analysis.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER for financial support through national funds under the projects UIDB/04683/2020, FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection: a dreaded but still missed diagnosis

Strongyloides stercoralis (S. stercoralis), an intestinal nematode, is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions, being less prevalent in temperate climates. The number of infected persons worldwide ranges between 10 million and 100 million people. In Brazil the reported prevalence is 13%. Chronic infection may be asymptomatic or accompanied by gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms. Under immunosuppressive conditions, the infection assumes serious proportions frequently accompanied by septic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and respiratory distress syndrome. The authors report a case of a 50-year-old female patient who was a chronic user of glucocorticoids and had been seeking medical attention for two months because of continuous gastrointestinal symptoms. She was admitted to the emergency room with clinical signs of septic shock and died after four days despite an adequate antibiotic regimen, vasopressor drugs, and ventilatory support. The autopsy revealed the unsuspected finding of  S. stercoralishyperinfection and septicemia

Transforming the invisible into the visible: disparities in the access to health in LGBT+ older people

Objectives: To compare variables of access to healthcare between the LGBT+ population aged 50 and over and those non-LGBT+. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Brazil through a confidential online questionnaire. The use of the health system was characterized by the number of preventive tests performed and measured by the PCATool-Brasil scale (a 10-point scale in which higher scores were associated with better assistance in healthcare). The association between being LGBT+ and access to health was analyzed in Poisson regression models. Results: 6693 participants (1332 LGBT+ and 5361 non-LGBT+) with a median age of 60 years were included. In the univariate analysis, it was observed not only lower scores on the PCATool scale (5.13 against 5.82, p < 0.001), but a greater proportion of individuals among those classified with the worst quintile of access to healthcare (< 4 points), 31% against 18% (p < 0.001). Being LGBT+ was an independent factor associated with worse access to health (PR = 2.5, 95% CI 2.04‒3.06). The rate of screening cancer, for breast, colon, and cervical cancer was also found to be lower in the LGBT+ population. Conclusion: Healthcare access and health service experiences were worse in the LGBT+ group than in their non-LGBT peers. Inclusive and effective healthcare public policies are essential to promote healthy aging for all

The PWN torus of PSR J0538+2817 and the Origin of Pulsar Velocities

We find evidence for a faint wind nebula surrounding PSR J0538+2817 in CXO-ACIS imaging. This object is particularly interesting, as the pulsar spindown age is largest for any such X-ray PWN. If interpreted as an equatorial torus, the PWN supports the claimed association with the S147 supernova remnant and implies good alignment between the pulsar spin and space velocity. Comparison of the SNR age, X-ray cooling age and characteristic age suggests a birth spin period of >130ms. In turn, if we accept as causal the alignment of the linear and angular momenta, this places strong constraints on the origin of the `kick' at the neutron star birth.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

Mucinous adenocarcinona of the appendix

Diagnosis of malignancy in the vermiform appendix is quite rare. The most common histological malignant neoplasia found in this tiny portion of the gastrointestinal tract is represented by the mucinous adenocarcinoma. This entity predominates in males around 50 years of age, and clinical presentation usually mimics or occurs along with an acute appendicitis. Early diagnosis is outside the rule since most cases at this stage are symptomless. The authors present the case of a 59-year-old female patient who looked for medical attention complaining of abdominal pain. Physical examination and laboratory workup were poor in diagnostic findings. The computed tomography images were compatible with the diagnosis of appendicitis and/or appendiceal neoplasia. The patient underwent a laparotomy and right hemicolectomy. The histological examination disclosed a moderately differentiated mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix stage T4a, N0, M0. The patient outcome was uneventful and was referred to an oncological center

Tocilizumab Prevents Progression of Early Systemic Sclerosis Associated Interstitial Lung Disease

OBJECTIVE: Tocilizumab has demonstrated lung function preservation in two randomized controlled trials in early systemic sclerosis (SSc). This effect has yet to be characterized in terms of quantitative radiographic lung involvement. In this post-hoc analysis, we assess tocilizumab's impact on lung function preservation, stratifying treatment arms by the degree of radiographic lung involvement. METHODS: The focuSSced trial was a phase 3, randomized placebo-controlled trial of tocilizumab in patients with SSc and progressive skin disease. Participants had baseline and serial spirometry along with high resolution chest CT at baseline and week 48. Quantitative interstitial lung disease and fibrosis were derived using computer software. We divided quantitative interstitial lung disease in mild (5-10%), moderate (>10-20%), or severe (>20%) categories. RESULTS: Of 210 participants recruited in the trial, 136 [65%] had interstitial lung disease. The majority of these participants had moderate-to-severe involvement defined by >10% lung involvement (77%). The tocilizumab arm demonstrated preservation of forced vital capacity over 48 weeks (least squared mean change in %predicted = -0.1) compared to placebo (-6.3%). For mild, moderate, and severe QILD, the mean decline in the %pFVC in the tocilizumab arm at 48 weeks were -4.1, 0.7, and 2.1, and in the placebo group were -10.0, -5.7, and -6.7, respectively. Similar treatment-related preservation findings were seen independent of fibrosis severity. CONCLUSION: Tocilizumab in early SSc- associated interstitial lung disease with progressive skin disease stabilized forced vital capacity over 48 weeks, independent of the extent of quantitative radiographic interstitial lung disease or fibrosis

Magnetic field directed assembly of two-dimensional fractal colloidal aggregates

The anisotropy of dipolar interactions can sometimes be a hindrance when assembling colloids, as it limits the diversity of structures that can be manufactured. Here we demonstrate that a mixture of paramagnetic and diamagnetic colloids in a ferrofluid can be used to create a variety of fractal aggregates in the presence of a field. These aggregates exhibit growth both parallel and perpendicular to the field, a distinct departure from the linear chains that are typical of dipolar assembly. The fractal dimension of these aggregates displays a parabolic character as the ferrofluid concentration is increased and varies between 0.94 0.03 and 1.54 0.03—a wider range than that which is seen when colloids are assembled using shortrange forces. This behavior is explained by examining how the ferrofluid concentration affects the relative strength of the dipolar interactions between each type of particle. These dipolar fractal aggregates may find use in the study of gelation via long-range forces or the preparation of gels that can be activated using an external field

High-resolution radio imaging of the two particle-accelerating colliding-wind binaries HD167971 and HD168112

peer reviewedThe colliding-wind region in binary systems made of massive stars allows us to investigate various aspects of shock physics, including particle acceleration. Particle accelerators of this kind are tagged as Particle-Accelerating Colliding-Wind Binaries, and are mainly identified thanks to their synchrotron radio emission. Our objective is first to validate the idea that obtaining snapshot high-resolution radio images of massive binaries constitutes a relevant approach to unambiguously identify particle accelerators. Second, we intend to exploit these images to characterize the synchrotron emission of two specific targets, HD167971 and HD168112, known as particle accelerators. We traced the radio emission from the two targets at 1.6 GHz with the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network, with an angular resolution of a few milli-arcseconds. Our measurements allowed us to obtain images for both targets. For HD167971, our observation occurs close to apastron, at an orbital phase where the synchrotron emission is minimum. For HD168112, we resolved for the very first time the synchrotron emission region. The emission region appears slightly elongated, in agreement with expectation for a colliding-wind region. In both cases the measured emission is significantly stronger than the expected thermal emission from the stellar winds, lending strong support for a non-thermal nature. Our study brings a significant contribution to the still poorly addressed question of high angular resolution radio imaging of colliding-wind binaries. We show that snapshot Very Long Baseline Interferometry measurements constitute an efficient approach to investigate these objects, with promising results in terms of identification of additional particle accelerators, on top of being promising as well to reveal long period binaries

ESTUDO DA USABILIDADE NAS INTERFACES HOMEM-MÁQUINA

Este artigo documenta e analisa o processo de evolução das principais interfaces homem-máquina, com enfoque na usabilidade, e as diferenças tecnológicas entre elas. A pesquisa desempenhada para elaboração deste documento procura, também, experimentar o desempenho das interfaces CLI (Command Line Interface), GUI (Graphical User Interface) e NUI (Natural User Interface) por meio de um experimento de usabilidade que aborde as três interfaces em um único objetivo e permita o recolhimento de dados para avaliação.AbstractThis article documents and analyzes the evolution of the main man-machine interfaces, with a focus on usability and technological differences between them. The research carried out for the preparation of this document also seeks to experience the performance of interfaces CLI (Command Line Interface) GUI (Graphical User Interface) and NUI (Natural User Interface) through an experiment that addresses the usability of three interfaces on a single goal and allow the collection of data for evaluation

Radio Continuum and Recombination Line Study of UC HII Regions with Extended Envelopes

We have carried out 21 cm radio continuum observations of 16 UC HII regions using the VLA (D-array) in search of associated extended emission. We have also observed H76$_\alpha$ recombination line towards all the sources and He76$_\alpha$ line at the positions with strong H76$_\alpha$ line emission. The UC HII regions have simple morphologies and large (>10) ratios of single-dish to VLA fluxes. Extended emission was detected towards all the sources. The extended emission consists of one to several compact components and a diffuse extended envelope. All the UC HII regions but two are located in the compact components, where the UC HII regions always correspond to their peaks. The compact components with UC HII regions are usually smaller and denser than those without UC HII regions. Our recombination line observations indicate that the ultracompact, compact, and extended components are physically associated. The UC HII regions and their associated compact components are likely to be ionized by the same sources on the basis of the morphological relations mentioned above. This suggests that almost all of the observed UC HII regions are not `real' UC HII regions and that their actual ages are much greater than their dynamical age (<10000 yr). We find that most of simple UC HII regions previously known have large ratios of single-dish to VLA fluxes, similar to our sources. Therefore, the `age problem' of UC HII regions does not seem to be as serious as earlier studies argued. We present a simple model that explains extended emission around UC HII regions. Some individual sources are discussed.Comment: 29 pages, 28 postscript figures, Accepted for publication in Ap