The contributing factors of large wildfires : exploring the main structural factors driving large wildfire ignition and spread in central Portugal (2005-2015)

Dissertation presented as partial requirement for obtaining the Master’s degree in Statistics and Information Management, with a specialization in Information Analysis and ManagementLarge wildfires have devastating human, environmental and economic consequences and are responsible for the majority of total burned area in Mediterranean Europe, even though they account for only a marginal portion of all fire occurrences. Most predictions suggest a global intensification of fire danger, and among all European Mediterranean countries Portugal displays the highest fire incidence. The purpose of this work is to examine the main factors driving large wildfire ignition and spread in central Portugal between 2005 and 2015, contributing with empiric knowledge on their importance and variability throughout the study area. This research was successful at listing a comprehensive set of elements contributing to fire occurrence and at gathering data on these phenomena. Spatial cluster analysis was used to find homogeneous regions within the study area concerning the main factors influencing both fire ignition and burned area. Probit and two-part regression techniques were used to model the contribution of the different elements driving large fire occurrence and propagation. The main findings of this analysis confirm the presence of spatial variability in the contribution exerted by most structural factors driving large wildfire ignition and spread in central Portugal. Additionally, while vegetation characteristics appear much more relevant for fire propagation, socioeconomic elements seem to be connected to fire incidence. All in all, this research provides relevant input with implementation in different fields, from large fire awareness and prevention to the development of wildfire policies, as well as appropriate contributions to methodological concerns in fire danger and fire risk analyses.Os grandes incêndios rurais têm como consequência impactos socioeconómicos e ambientais devastadores e são responsáveis pela maior parte do total de área ardida na Europa mediterrânica, ainda que representem apenas uma fração pouco expressiva do total de ocorrências. A maioria dos estudos prevê uma intensificação do perigo de incêndio, sendo que, entre todos os países europeus da bacia mediterrânica, é Portugal quem apresenta a mais alta incidência deste fenómeno. O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar os fatores que mais contribuíram para a ignição e propagação de grandes incêndios rurais no centro de Portugal entre 2005 e 2015, concorrendo assim com conhecimento empírico relativamente à sua importância e variabilidade na área de estudo. Esta investigação conseguiu listar um conjunto abrangente de elementos que contribuem para a ocorrência de incêndios rurais, assim como reunir os dados necessários. Uma análise de clusters espacial foi aplicada para identificar regiões homogéneas dentro da área de estudo no que respeita aos principais fatores influenciando a ignição e o alastrar dos grandes incêndios. Modelos probit e em duas partes foram utilizados para analisar a contribuição dos diferentes elementos para a ocorrência e propagação dos fogos. Os resultados deste estudo confirmam a presença de variação espacial no impacto exercido pela maioria dos fatores estruturais que contribuem para a ocorrência e propagação dos grandes incêndios rurais. Por outro lado, enquanto as características da vegetação se revelam mais relevantes na perspetiva do alastrar dos incêndios, os fatores socioeconómicos parecem estar relacionados com a ignição destes fenómenos. Em suma, este estudo contribui com informação relevante, a implementar em diferentes âmbitos, desde a consciencialização das populações à prevenção e ao desenvolvimento de políticas na área dos fogos rurais. Este apresenta ainda contributos apropriados na área de metodologias de análise do perigo e risco de incêndio

A IMPORTÂNCIA DOS CUIDADOS À MULHER CLIMATÉRIA NA ATENÇÃO BÁSICA DE SAÚDE: UMA ABORDAGEM NUTRICIONAL E BIOPSICOSSOCIAL

Introduction: Menopause is the phase that corresponds to the last menstrual cycle, generally around 48 to 50 years of age. In some cases, women seek hormone replacement therapy (HRT) through medication, a treatment that helps alleviate symptoms. However, it is worth highlighting that nutrition deserves special attention, along with the monitoring of a multidisciplinary team in Basic Health Care, as it is a great ally at this stage of women's lives, favoring greater efficiency of the body and improving symptoms and discomforts. caused by the moment. Objective: To identify how multidisciplinary monitoring in primary care can qualitatively help the lives of women who are going through menopause. Methodology: An integrative literature review using keywords: Nutritional Monitoring; Menopause; Climacteric; Nutrition; Women's health; Basic Care. 114 articles were found using the Virtual Health Library (VHL), Public MEDLINE (PubMed), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS) databases, applying inclusion criteria and exclusion, 12 articles remained. Results: Studies have shown that a diet rich in grains, vegetables, fiber and fruits improves menopause symptoms and reduces the risk of heart disease and hormonal disorders. In addition to highlighting that, although there are protocols and recommendations for climacteric patients, which aim to guarantee access and comprehensive care by the multidisciplinary team, there is still weak coordination between Basic Health Care professionals and a lack of comprehensive care with these women. Conclusion: Basic Health Care plays a fundamental role in welcoming these women in the climacteric period, together with a multidisciplinary team, in which a healthy diet combined with functional therapy with a biopsychosocial focus, whether homeopathic or herbal, could help reduce the symptoms that cause discomfort of great proportions both in the pre- and post-menopausal period. However, it is important to invest in actions that can change these practices, with individual and collective activities, involving partners and the support network.Introdução: A menopausa é a fase que corresponde ao último ciclo menstrual, em geral por volta de 48 a 50 anos de idade. Em alguns casos, as mulheres buscam pela reposição hormonal (TRH) por meio de medicações, tratamento no qual é favorável em amenizar os sintomas. Entretanto, vale ressaltar que a alimentação merece uma atenção especial, junto com o acompanhamento de uma equipe multiprofissional na Atenção Básica de Saúde, pois é uma grande aliada nessa fase da vida das mulheres, favorecendo uma maior eficiência do organismo e melhorando os sintomas e desconfortos causados pelo momento. Objetivo: Identificar como o acompanhamento multiprofissional junto a atenção básica pode ajudar de forma qualitativa na vida de mulheres que estão no período da menopausa. Metodologia: Uma revisão de literatura integrativa por meio do uso de palavras-chaves: Acompanhamento Nutricional; Menopausa; Climatério; Nutrição; Saúde da mulher; Atenção Básica. Foram encontrados 114 artigos usando as bases de dados Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), Public MEDLINE (PubMed), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) e Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS), aplicando critérios de inclusão e exclusão restaram 12 artigos. Resultados: Os estudos apontaram que uma dieta rica em grãos, vegetais, fibras e frutas melhoram os sintomas da menopausa e reduz o risco de doenças cardíacas e distúrbios hormonais. Além de destacar que, apesar de existirem protocolos e recomendações para pacientes no climatério, que visam garantir o acesso e o acolhimento integral pela equipe multiprofissional, ainda há uma fraca articulação entre os profissionais da Assistência Básica de Saúde e uma falta de integralidade no cuidado com essas mulheres. Conclusão: A Atenção Básica a Saúde possui um papel fundamental no acolhimento dessas mulheres em periodo climaterio, junto a equipe multiprofissional, no qual uma alimentação saudável combinada a terapia funcional com foco biopsicossocial, seja de homeopáticos ou fitoterápicos poderiam  auxiliar na diminuição de  sintomas que causam desconforto de grandes proporções  tanto no período  pré quanto pós menopausa. No entanto, é importante investir em ações que possam mudar essas práticas, com atividades individuais e coletivas, envolvendo os parceiros e a rede de apoio

Produção de materiais de orientação para compras em formato delivery na região de Picos (Piauí) durante a pandemia de COVID-19

Introduction: The rapid spread of COVID-19 has prompted the proposition of likewise agile actions in order to contain the contagion of the disease, while the trade is under pressure to seek new sales strategies to reduce economic impacts. These actions must mainly observe scientific evidence in order to ensure the health of the population. Objective: To expose the process of formulating written protocols and educational graphic inserts, in order to reduce the viral transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through purchases in the delivery mode. Method: This is a descriptive work of the stages of development of an intervention technology for the city of Picos (Piauí, Brazil) during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the collection of information on scientific bases made available by renowned institutions. Results: Flexible protocols were obtained to the peculiarities of each customer and trader. The final result, in the form of illustrated leaflets, received a seal of approval by Oswaldo Cruz Foudation, in its complementary action to the “Se Liga no Corona” campaign. Conclusions: It is concluded that the protocols are presented as a possibility of promoting awareness in relation to the delivery shopping practices, resting necessary for the next studies to evaluate the applicability of the brochures, and to monitor their effectiveness and possible reformulation needs.Introdução: A rápida disseminação da COVID-19 tem solicitado a propositura de ações igualmente ágeis no sentido de contenção do contágio da doença, ao mesmo passo o comércio é pressionado a buscar novas estratégias de vendas para reduzir os impactos econômicos. Essas ações devem observar sobretudo evidências científicas a fim de zelar pela saúde da população. Objetivo: Expor o processo de formulação de protocolos escritos e encartes gráficos educativos, no sentido de diminuir a transmissão viral do SARSCoV- 2 por meio de compras na modalidade delivery. Método: Trata-se de um trabalho descritivo das etapas de elaboração de uma tecnologia de intervenção para a cidade de Picos (Piauí) durante a pandemia de COVID-19, a partir da coleta de informações em bases científicas e disponibilizadas por instituições renomadas. Resultados: Obteve-se protocolos adequados às peculiaridades de cada cliente e comerciante. O resultado final, em formato de folhetos ilustrados, recebeu selo de aprovação da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, na sua ação complementar à campanha “Se Liga no Corona”. Conclusões: Os protocolos se apresentam como uma possibilidade de promoção da conscientização em relação às práticas de compras delivery, sendo necessário nos próximos estudos avaliar a aplicabilidade dos folhetos, acompanhar sua eficácia e possíveis necessidades de reformulação

Panoramic snapshot of serum soluble mediator interplay in pregnant women with convalescent COVID-19: an exploratory study

IntroductionSARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy can induce changes in the maternal immune response, with effects on pregnancy outcome and offspring. This is a cross-sectional observational study designed to characterize the immunological status of pregnant women with convalescent COVID-19 at distinct pregnancy trimesters. The study focused on providing a clear snapshot of the interplay among serum soluble mediators.MethodsA sample of 141 pregnant women from all prenatal periods (1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters) comprised patients with convalescent SARS-CoV-2 infection at 3-20 weeks after symptoms onset (COVID, n=89) and a control group of pre-pandemic non-infected pregnant women (HC, n=52). Chemokine, pro-inflammatory/regulatory cytokine and growth factor levels were quantified by a high-throughput microbeads array.ResultsIn the HC group, most serum soluble mediators progressively decreased towards the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy, while higher chemokine, cytokine and growth factor levels were observed in the COVID patient group. Serum soluble mediator signatures and heatmap analysis pointed out that the major increase observed in the COVID group related to pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-12, IFN-γ and IL-17). A larger set of biomarkers displayed an increased COVID/HC ratio towards the 2nd (3x increase) and the 3rd (3x to 15x increase) trimesters. Integrative network analysis demonstrated that HC pregnancy evolves with decreasing connectivity between pairs of serum soluble mediators towards the 3rd trimester. Although the COVID group exhibited a similar profile, the number of connections was remarkably lower throughout the pregnancy. Meanwhile, IL-1Ra, IL-10 and GM-CSF presented a preserved number of correlations (≥5 strong correlations in HC and COVID), IL-17, FGF-basic and VEGF lost connectivity throughout the pregnancy. IL-6 and CXCL8 were included in a set of acquired attributes, named COVID-selective (≥5 strong correlations in COVID and <5 in HC) observed at the 3rd pregnancy trimester.Discussion and conclusionFrom an overall perspective, a pronounced increase in serum levels of soluble mediators with decreased network interplay between them demonstrated an imbalanced immune response in convalescent COVID-19 infection during pregnancy that may contribute to the management of, or indeed recovery from, late complications in the post-symptomatic phase of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women

Tuberculose pulmonar: perfil epidemiológico do sertão Pernambucano, Brasil / Pulmonary tuberculosis: epidemiological profile of sertão Pernambucano, Brazil

Atualmente, observa-se que a tuberculose pulmonar constitui um importante problema de Saúde Pública no mundo, uma vez que esse agravo apresentou, em 2015, 10,4 milhões de casos, dos quais, mais de um milhão de pessoas vieram a óbito. Sob essa perspectiva, o presente artigo tem como objetivo traçar um perfil epidemiológico dos casos de Tuberculose Pulmonar notificados no município de Serra Talhada, entre os anos de 2007 a 2017. Foi realizado um estudo de série histórica observacional do tipo transversal, no intervalo de tempo de 2007 a 2017.  No período investigado o número de casos de tuberculose pulmonar foi de 246 casos, o local que teve a maior prevalência foi Serra Talhada, 287 por 100 mil habitantes. Diante dos dados apresentados, é imprescindível concluir, portanto, que esse estudo corrobora o perfil epidemiológico brasileiro para a Tuberculose Pulmonar, o qual indica variabilidade nos índices de acometimento durante o período analisado

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Search for squarks and gluinos with the ATLAS detector in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using √s=8 TeV proton-proton collision data

A search for squarks and gluinos in final states containing high-p T jets, missing transverse momentum and no electrons or muons is presented. The data were recorded in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment in s√=8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, with a total integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Results are interpreted in a variety of simplified and specific supersymmetry-breaking models assuming that R-parity is conserved and that the lightest neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 1330 GeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino. For a simplified model involving the strong production of first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 850 GeV (440 GeV) are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino, assuming mass degenerate (single light-flavour) squarks. In mSUGRA/CMSSM models with tan β = 30, A 0 = −2m 0 and μ > 0, squarks and gluinos of equal mass are excluded for masses below 1700 GeV. Additional limits are set for non-universal Higgs mass models with gaugino mediation and for simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos, each decaying to a top squark and a top quark, with the top squark decaying to a charm quark and a neutralino. These limits extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded by previous searches with the ATLAS detector