Factors associated with self-perceived health status in Portugal: Results from the National Health Survey 2014

Background: Self-perceived health is an important indicator of illness and mortality. This study aims at identifying a wide range of factors that can influence self-perceived health status among a representative sample in Portugal. Methods: We used the 2014 National Health Survey (n = 17,057), whereby participants were required to assess their health status from “Very good,” “Good,” “Fair,” “Poor” to “Very poor.” We grouped the answers “Very good” and “Good,” and “Poor” and “Very poor,” respectively. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare participants' characteristics across groups by computing odds ratio and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Models included Socioeconomic/demographic characteristics, objective health status, healthcare use, functional disability, barriers to healthcare services utilization, lifestyle variables, mental health status, social support, and satisfaction with life as potential factors that can affect self-perceived health. Models were adjusted for sex, age, educational level, degree of urbanization, and presence of chronic diseases. Results: About 45% of participants reported good/very good, 39% reported fair, while ~16% reported poor/very poor health perception. Poor/very poor health was more reported by women when compared to men (19.1 vs. 11.4%, respectively, p < 0.001). A higher prevalence of poor/very poor health status was reported by participants living in thinly populated areas or among older populations. Lower educational levels, lower income, as well as unemployment, were found to increase the risk of reporting poor/very poor health status. Utilizing healthcare services more frequently, experiencing barriers to access healthcare services, having depressive symptoms or activity limitations, or lacking social support were found to be significantly associated with poor/very poor self-perceived health. Conclusion: Subjects living in Portugal tend to report less good/very good health status and more poor/very poor health when compared to the rest of Europe. This study stresses the importance of socioeconomic factors, chronic illness, barriers to access healthcare services, social isolation, and mental health status in influencing self-perceived health and highlights the urgent need for social-informed policies, strategies, and interventions to reduce health inequalities in Portugal. Copyright © 2022 Shaaban, Martins and Peleteiro.Funding text 1: This study was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology—FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) under the Department of Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM)—The Portuguese Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (IHMT)—NOVA University of Lisbon (UNL); the Ph.D. Grants PD/BD/128066/2016 (AS) co-funded by FCT, the IHMT, FCT, and the POCH/FSE Program, FEDER through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology—FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) under the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-006862; Ref. UID/DTP/04750/2013). ; Funding text 2: The authors thank the Instituto Nacional de Estat ística (INE) for providing the data. The Inquérito Nacional de Saúde 2014 was conducted under the supervision of the Departamento de Estat ísticas Demográficas e Sociais/Serviço de Estat ísticas das Condições de Vida from INE, with the collaboration of the Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge and Unit F5 Education, health and social protection of Eurostat

A Convolutional Neural Network Model based on Multiscale Structural Similarity for the Prediction of Flow Fields

We have seen the emerging applications of deep neural networks for flow field predictions in the past few years. Most of the efforts rely on the increased complexity of the model itself or take advantage of novel network architectures, such as convolutional neural networks (CNN). However, reaching low prediction error cannot guarantee the quality of the predicted flow fields in terms of the perceived visual quality. This work introduces the multi-scale structural similarity (MS-SSIM) index method for flow field prediction. First, we train CNN models using the commonly used root mean squared error (RMSE) loss function as the reference. Then we introduce the SSIM loss function to capture the high-level features. Furthermore, we investigate the effects of the MS-SSIM weights on the predictive performance. Our results show that while the pixel-wise prediction error of RMSE-based models is as low as 1.3141 x 10−2, the perceived visual quality of the predicted flow fields, such as contour-line smoothness, is poorly represented. In contrast, the MS-SSIM models significantly improve the perceived visual quality with an SSIM loss value as low as 7.370 x 10−3, although having a slightly higher prediction error of 1.3912x10−2 . These values are 41.7% lower in the SSIM loss and 5.9% higher in the RMSE than the best RMSE model. In particular, we report that a weight combination of 0.3 and 0.7 for the MS-SSIM loss function provides the best predictive performance in our case. Our study has pointed out a possible future endeavor to invent a quality metric based on structural similarity, which should excel in flow-field-related approximations

Variable accretion and emission from the stellar winds in the Galactic centre

We present numerical simulations of stellar wind dynamics in the central parsec of the Galactic centre, studying in particular the accretion of gas on to Sgr A*, the super-massive black hole. Unlike our previous work, here we use state-of-the-art observational data on orbits and wind properties of individual wind-producing stars. Since wind velocities were revised upwards and non-zero eccentricities were considered, our new simulations show fewer clumps of cold gas and no conspicuous disc-like structure. The accretion rate is dominated by a few close `slow wind stars' v_w < 750 km/s, and is consistent with the Bondi estimate, but variable on time-scales of tens to hundreds of years. This variability is due to the stochastic in-fall of cold clumps of gas, as in earlier simulations, and to the eccentric orbits of stars. The present models fail to explain the high luminosity of Sgr A* a few hundred years ago implied by Integral observations, but we argue that the accretion of a cold clump with a small impact parameter could have caused it. Finally, we show the possibility of constraining the total mass-loss rate of the `slow wind stars' using near infra-red observations of gas in the central few arcseconds.Comment: MNRAS, accepted. 10 pages, 11 figures. PS version is better (Fig 11 gets blurred in PDF

NMR study of organic ligands at the AZO nanoparticle surface

Ligands provide physicochemical functionality to colloidal nanoparticles (NPs). Used during synthesis to control nucleation and growth, they end up as a monolayer covering the NP surface and stabilizing the NP colloidal suspension [1]. After synthesis, they can be exchanged by others to change the properties of the suspension or to improve certain characteristics [2]. In the last few years NMR techniques have been developed that can give a molecular view on the NPs from the ligands’ point of view, both in a qualitative and quantitative way. Using this ‘NMR toolbox’ different NPs and ligands have already been investigated [2-5]. In current research, two new types of NP materials are being investigated: Aluminium-Zinc-Oxide NPs (AZO-NPs) surrounded with oleic acid ligands, and Cupper-Indium-Gallium-Sulfide NPs (CIGS) surrounded by non-hydrogen containing tin-sulfide ligands. Preliminary results of these studies will be presented

A randomized, controlled, crossover study in patients with mild and moderate asthma undergoing treatment with traditional Chinese acupuncture

OBJECTIVES:This study sought to verify the effects of acupuncture as an adjuvant treatment for the control of asthma.METHODS:This was a randomized, controlled, crossover trial conducted at the Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. A total of 74 patients with mild/moderate, persistent asthma were randomized into two therapeutic groups: Group A - 31 patients underwent 10 real weekly acupuncture sessions, followed by a 3-week washout period and 10 sham weekly acupuncture sessions; and Group B - 43 patients underwent 10 sham weekly acupuncture sessions, followed by a 3-week washout period and 10 real weekly acupuncture sessions. Patients used short- and long-acting β-2 agonists and inhaled corticosteroids when necessary. Prior to treatment and after each period of 10 treatment sessions, the patients were evaluated for spirometry, induced sputum cell count, exhaled nitric oxide (NO) and with the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Questionnaire on Quality of Life-Asthma (QQLA) questionnaires. Daily peak flow and symptom diaries were registered. The level of significance adopted was 5% (α=0.05).RESULTS:In Group B, after real acupuncture, there was a decrease in eosinophils (p=0.035) and neutrophils (p=0.047), an increase in macrophages (p=0.001) and an improvement in peak flow (p=0.01). After sham acupuncture treatment, patients experienced less coughing (p=0.037), wheezing (p=0.013) and dyspnea (p=0.014); similarly, after real acupuncture, patients reported less coughing (p=0.040), wheezing (p=0.012), dyspnea (

YEAST SUCCESSION IN THE AMAZON FRUIT PARAHANCORNIA-AMAPA AS RESOURCE PARTITIONING AMONG DROSOPHILA SPP

The succession of yeasts colonizing the fallen ripe amapa fruit, from Parahancornia. amapa, aas examined. The occupation of the substrate depended on both the competitive interactions of yeast species, such as the production of killer toxins, and the selective dispersion by the drosophilid guild of the amapa fruit. The yeast community associated with this Amazon fruit differed from those isolated from other fruits in the same forest. The physiological profile of these yeasts was mostly restricted to the assimilation of a few simple carbon sources, mainly L-sorbose, D-glycerol, DL-lactate, cellobiose, and salicin. Common fruit-associated yeasts of the genera Kloeckera and Hanseniaspora, Candida guilliermondii, and Candida krusei colonized fruits during the first three days after the fruit fell. These yeasts were dispersed and served as food for the invader Drosophila malerkotliana. The resident flies of the Drosophila willistoni group fed selectively on patches of yeasts colonizing fruits 3 to 10 days after the fruit fell. The killer toxin-producing yeasts Pichia kluyveri var. kluyveri and Candida fructus were probably involved in the exclusion of some species during the intermediate stages of fruit deterioration. An increase in pH, inhibiting toxin activity and the depletion of simple sugars, may have promoted an increase in yeast diversity in the later stages of decomposition. The yeast succession provided a patchy environment for the drosophilids sharing this ephemeral substrate.61124251425

Chitosan – poly(butylene succinate) scaffolds and human bone marrow stromal cells induce bone repair in a mouse calvaria model

Tissue engineering sustains the need of a three-dimensional (3D) scaffold to promote the regeneration of tissues in volume. Usually, scaffolds are seeded with an adequate cell population, allowing their growth and maturation upon implantation in vivo. Previous studies obtained by our group evidenced significant growth patterns and osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) when seeded and cultured on melt-based porous chitosan fibre mesh scaffolds (cell constructs). Therefore, it is crucial to test the in vivo performance of these in vitro 3D cell constructs. In this study, chitosan-based scaffolds were seeded and cultured in vitro with hBMSCs for 3 weeks under osteogenic stimulation conditions and analysed for cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. Implantation of 2 weeks precultured cell constructs in osteogenic culture conditions was performed into critical cranial size defects in nude mice. The objective of this study was to verify the scaffold integration and new bone formation. At 8 weeks of implantation, scaffolds were harvested and prepared for micro-computed tomography (μCT) analysis. Retrieved implants showed good integration with the surrounding tissue and significant bone formation, more evident for the scaffolds cultured and implanted with human cells. The results of this work demonstrated that chitosan-based scaffolds, besides supporting in vitro proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs, induced bone formation in vivo. Thus, their osteogenic potential in orthotopic location in immunodeficient mice was validated, evidencing good prospects for their use in bone tissue-engineering therapies.Ana Costa-Pinto was supported by Scholarship No. SFRH/24735/2005 from the Portuguese Research Council (Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia; FCT). This work was partially supported by the EU Integrated Project GENOS-TEM ('Adult mesenchymal stem cells engineering for connective tissue disorders: from the bench to the bedside'; Grant No. LSHB-CT-2003-5033161) and the European Network of Excellence EXPERTISSUES Project (Grant No. NMP3-CT-2004-500283)

Whale, whale, everywhere: increasing abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in their wintering grounds

The western South Atlantic (WSA) humpback whale population inhabits the coast of Brazil during the breeding and calving season in winter and spring. This population was depleted to near extinction by whaling in the mid-twentieth century. Despite recent signs of recovery, increasing coastal and offshore development pose potential threats to these animals. Therefore, continuous monitoring is needed to assess population status and support conservation strategies. The aim of this work was to present ship-based line-transect estimates of abundance for humpback whales in their WSA breeding ground and to investigate potential changes in population size. Two cruises surveyed the coast of Brazil during August-September in 2008 and 2012. The area surveyed in 2008 corresponded to the currently recognized population breeding area; effort in 2012 was limited due to unfavorable weather conditions. WSA humpback whale population size in 2008 was estimated at 16,410 (CV = 0.228, 95% CI = 10,563–25,495) animals. In order to compare abundance between 2008 and 2012, estimates for the area between Salvador and Cabo Frio, which were consistently covered in the two years, were computed at 15,332 (CV = 0.243, 95% CI = 9,595–24,500) and 19,429 (CV = 0.101, 95% CI = 15,958–23,654) whales, respectively. The difference in the two estimates represents an increase of 26.7% in whale numbers in a 4-year period. The estimated abundance for 2008 is considered the most robust for the WSA humpback whale population because the ship survey conducted in that year minimized bias from various sources. Results presented here indicate that in 2008, the WSA humpback whale population was at least around 60% of its estimated pre-modern whaling abundance and that it may recover to its pre-exploitation size sooner than previously estimated.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The Bound State S-matrix of the Deformed Hubbard Chain

In this work we use the q-oscillator formalism to construct the atypical (short) supersymmetric representations of the centrally extended Uq (su(2|2)) algebra. We then determine the S-matrix describing the scattering of arbitrary bound states. The crucial ingredient in this derivation is the affine extension of the aforementioned algebra.Comment: 44 pages, 3 figures. v2: minor correction