ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aims to determine the quality of life of higher education students at the Polytechnic Institutes of Santarem and Leiria during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The population consists of 6483 students attending higher education, from both Institutes. A total of 775 participants selected by convenience sampling, participated in the study. Study with a quantitative, descriptive, correlational character, aiming to describe phenomena and, in addition, identify and explore possible relationships between variables. The WHOQOL-Bref instrument adapted from WHO was applied. The data treatment and analysis were performed using descriptive, correlational and inferential statistics. Results: Students' self-assessment about Quality of Life is globally superior to the self-assessment with their satisfaction with health, where the female students have lower average values than the male students. The WHOQOL-Bref domains referring to Quality of Life with higher values were the Physical and Environment domain, with the Social Relations and Psychological domains having the lowest values. Conclusion: The results point to the need for intervention to promote the Quality of Life of students, focusing on psychosocial factors, due to the conditions imposed during the confinement period, by the pandemic COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Quantitative measurements of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in raw wastewater have been implemented worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic. Recent efforts are being made to evaluate different viral concentration methodologies to overcome supplier shortages during lockdowns. A set of 22-wastewater samples seeded with murine hepatitis virus (MHV), a member of the Coronaviridae family, and the bacteriophage MS2, were used to characterize and compare two ultrafiltration-based methods: a centrifugal ultrafiltration device (Centricon® Plus-70) and the automated concentrating pipette CP-Select™. Based on the recovery efficiencies, significant differences were observed for MHV, with Centricon® Plus-70 (24%) being the most efficient method. Nevertheless, concentrations of naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2, Human adenoviruses and JC polyomaviruses in these samples did not result in significant differences between methods suggesting that testing naturally occurring viruses may complement the evaluation of viral concentration methodologies. Based on the virus adsorption to solids and the necessity of a pre-centrifugation step to remove larger particles and avoid clogging when using ultrafiltration methods, we assessed the percentage of viruses not quantified after ultrafiltration. Around 23% of the detected SARS-CoV-2 would be discarded during the debris removal step. The CP-Select™ provided the highest concentration factor (up to 333×) and the lowest LoD (6.19 × 103 GC/l) for MHV and proved to be fast, automatic, highly reproducible and suitable to work under BSL-2 measures.