An Analysis of the Scientific Production Related to Digital Educational Resources (DER) and Virtual Learning Objects (VLO) between 2000-2021

This article aims to characterize the scientific production of Digital Educational Resources (DER) and Virtual Learning Objects (VLO) published between 2000 and 2021 and indexed in the main collections of Web of Science, Scielo Citation Index, Scopus, and Dimensions. To achieve this, a two-phase quantitative methodology is used. In the first phase, a bibliometric analysis (n=649) is carried out to characterize the production and, in the second phase, a content analysis (n=171) is carried out of publications focused on the development of DER and VLO. Our results show that Colombia is the country with the highest production of DER and VLO, that the largest number of educational resources are aimed at higher education students and that few are inclusive in their characteristics. Finally, the production of scientific texts has been increasing and is positioned as a trend in the specialized databases included in this study, especially for the time frame of the Covid-19 pandemic. © 2023 Authors. All rights reserved.

PNAE and actions in the State of Rio de Janeiro during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought impacts of several types, among them it affected the execution of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), demanding adaptations of strategies and regulations for the continuity of food supply to Brazilian students enrolled in the public school network. This study aimed to recognize the strategies for implementing the PNAE in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), its limits and contributions to the promotion of Food and Nutritional Security for students from Rio de Janeiro, and to analyze the regulations related to the management of the program in the pandemic. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out, with an online questionnaire being applied to the executing entities (EEx) of the PNAE in the state of RJ from March to July 2020. Most of the EEx continued the PNAE, adopting as a priority the delivery of food kits and the transfer of financial resources, carried out through intersectoral partnerships and with the participation of nutritionists, education workers and School Feeding Councils;however, sometimes violating the PNAE guidelines, regarding universality, equity and purchase of foodstuffs from family farming. It was concluded that many implementing entities did not fulfill or partially fulfilled the PNAE objectives in the first half of 2020, enhancing the high prevalence of food insecurity observed in the country.

Geospatial, earth observations and statistical data integration in the Cortés department, Honduras

Proper territorial data management is critical for territorial planning projects, research, innovation, and the appropriate follow-up to act for the well-being of populations. A multidisciplinary team of professionals established a pilot project named Cortes Data Hub (Centro de Datos de Cortés). It presents several dashboards that show official statistics on the energy sector, mapping the region's energy demand, data on COVID-19 cases and vaccination rates by municipality or department, and a project using Google Earth that combines post-Eta and Iota observations and a social media campaign for disaster awareness and for the promotion of activities to develop tourism in the San Manuel Municipality. This pilot project shows the importance to observe and monitor various key environmental, health, and socioeconomic data. This will help improve initiatives for local development, disaster prevention and control, and the promotion of the One Health approach. The challenges to overcome are the quality and timing of data. Training more academics, government teams, and decision-makers in the use of new tools for data integration with earth observations are important for the Cortés department's development. © 2022 IEEE.

Understanding Predictors of Patient Follow-up in Tissue-Poor Endocervical Curettage (ECC) Specimens: A Single Center Experience

Background: Endocervical curettage (ECC) specimens routinely aid in diagnosis of cervical dysplasia. At our institution, we routinely use the words insufficient or scant/minute to convey inadequacy and under-sampling of a ECC specimen. Among patients with an inadequate ECC, conclusions are not possible in absence of a positive concurrent cervical biopsy (CCB). Though a repeat procedure is recommended for patients with inconclusive results, many are not followed in a timely fashion. The goals of this work are to identify predictors of follow-up within one year among patients with tissue-poor ECC, and to characterize the frequency of non-benign outcomes on repeat procedures among such patients for whom a follow-up procedure was actually performed. Design: We identified ECC specimens reported as insufficient or scant/minute in our pathology data system from April to September in 2018 and 2020. Age;HPV status;concurrent cervical biopsy;prior history of ASCUS, LSIL, and HSIL;and pathologic findings on follow-up procedures (if performed) were recorded. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify predictors of follow-up among patients with either no CCB performed or a benign CCB. Results: We identified 294 patients with inadequate ECC specimens. The mean age was 41.5 years (SD=12.3). A total of 173/294 (59%) patients had a CCB;64/173 (37%) had LSIL and 27/173 (16%) had HSIL. Among the 83 patients with a benign CCB, 51 (61%) were followed, and 12/51 (24%) had dysplasia/carcinoma reported on their follow up procedure. Among the 121 patients with no CCB, 68 (56%) were followed, and 22/68 (32%) had dysplasia/carcinoma reported on a follow up procedure. We identified HPV18 (aOR=6.3, 95% CI: [1.5, 26.3];p=0.01), prior HSIL (aOR=3.3, 95% CI: [1.2, 9.4];p=0.02), and prior ASCUS (aOR=2.1, 95% CI: [1.04, 4.1];p=0.04) as significant predictors of receiving a follow up procedure on an inadequate ECC. We further found that follow up was markedly lower during the COVID-19 pandemic (aOR=0.24, 95% CI: [0.12, 0.42];p<0.001). Additional odds ratios are reported in Table 1. Conclusions: The high rate of non-benign results on follow-up sampling to inconclusive prior results is alarming and critically important. This study highlights the need for more effective diagnostic verbiage on inadequate / poorly sampled ECC specimens, to ensure adequate follow-up. This study also supports the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse role in longterm cancer prevention.

The Ethics in the Publication in Times of COVID-19

Scientists around the world are facing the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to find a vaccine, a number of investigations are being carried out, which must be based on good practices and ethical principles, to maintain a high scientific integrity in order to avoid scientific misconduct and fraud, so in this essay the causes of retraction are analyzed such as plagiarism, falsification, incorrect bibliography, invented results, infodemic and conflicts of interest, the work of the good scientific community is also highlighted and next to it the objective of the ethics committees, that help to maintain an order of integrity towards scientific information with ethical and bioethical reflections. © 2021, Universidad del Zulia. All rights reserved.

Ensemble Models for Covid Prediction in X-Ray Images

Due to the urgency of the COVID pandemic, it is necessary to develop new and quick methods to detect the infection and stop the spread of the disease. In this work we compare a simple Deep Learning (DL) model with an ensemble model in the task of COVID detection in X-Ray images. For the simple model, we have used only frontal DX X-Ray images while, for the ensemble model, we have used frontal DX and CR X-Ray images, as well as lateral DX and CR X-Ray images. In the ensemble model, the features of the four images are combined to make a final prediction and, since not every patient possess all types of images, the model is also robust against missing information, which is crucial in these types of models. Although the dataset used is very noisy, the presented system has shown the desired robustness and offers relevant results, showing that ensemble models can generalize better over the data, which leads to a higher accuracy. Finally, we share our conclusions and discuss future work where we want to try using a similar methodology. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Mexican registry of neurologic manifestations in patients with confirmed COVID-19: Preliminary results

Objective: To describe the neurologic manifestations and complications of Mexican patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was confirmed to have reached Mexico in February 2020. At present, Mexico is one of the most affected countries by the pandemic of COVID-19 worldwide. In the first months of the pandemic, only a few Mexican studies on COVID-19 had been reported. Scarce national data limited our understanding of the unique nuances that may occur in our setting and hindered the interpretation of evidence from other countries in the local context. Design/Methods: In March 2020, the Mexican Academy of Neurology (MAN) launched a national registry to have a clearer picture of the full spectrum of neurologic manifestations and complications of COVID-19 in Mexican patients. This online registry was available to all MAN members. Only patients with SARS-CoV-2 detected by real-time RT-PCR were included in this analysis. Results: At the end of August 2020, 89 patients (31 women, 34.8%) have been included. Their mean age was 50.5±18.8 years. Most cases were reported in central and southern regions (96%). Most patients showed respiratory symptoms (87%) and were admitted to hospital (88%). Among severe neurologic manifestations, vascular etiologies were the most commonly reported: ischemic stroke (n=17), intraparenchymal hemorrhage (n=6), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (n=4). Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions were reported in 34 and 26 patients. Headache and delirium were reported in 54 and 18 patients. 7 patients had seizures. Meningitis and encephalitis were reported in 2 and 5 patients. 5 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome were reported;three of them were classified as axonal variants. Neurologic sequelae were reported in 30 patients (33%). 19 (21%) patients died. Conclusions: In this nationwide registry, one in five patients with COVID-19 and neurologic manifestations died. Cerebrovascular insults were the most common severe neurologic manifestations.

Design of specific primer sets for SARS-CoV-2 variants using evolutionary algorithms

Primer sets are short DNA sequences of 18-22 base pairs, that can be used to verify the presence of a virus, and designed to attach to a specific part of a viral DNA. Designing a primer set requires choosing a region of DNA, avoiding the possibility of hybridization to a similar sequence, as well as considering its GC content and Tm (melting temperature). Coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, have a considerably large genome (around 30 thousand nucleotides) when compared to other viruses. With the rapid rise and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants, it has become a priority to breach our lack of specific primers available for diagnosis of this new variants. Here, we propose an evolutionary-based approach to primer design, able to rapidly deliver a high-quality primer set for a target sequence of the virus variant. Starting from viral sequences collected from open repositories, the proposed approach is proven able to uncover a specific primer set for the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant. Only recently identified, B.1.1.7 is already considered potentially dangerous, as it presents a considerably higher transmissibility when compared to other variants. © 2021 ACM.

Combination anti-coronavirus therapies based on nonlinear mathematical models.

Using nonlinear mathematical models and experimental data from laboratory and clinical studies, we have designed new combination therapies against COVID-19.

Alpha and Gamma variants of SARS-CoV-2: rapid review to aid decision-making

Objective: To describe the transmission and severity risk of the Alpha and Gamma variants concerning SARS-CoV-2 compared with other variants. Materials and methods: Narrative and rapid review conducted in PubMed up to May 10, 2021.