Annotating reliability to enhance disinformation detection: annotation scheme, resource and evaluation

Disinformation is a critical problem in our society. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have been key events for the spreading of fake news. Assuming that fake news mixes reliable and unreliable information, we propose RUN-AS (Reliable and Unreliable Annotation Scheme), a fine-grained annotation scheme that labels the structural parts and essential content elements of a news item to enable their classification into Reliable and Unreliable. This type of annotation will be used for training systems to automatically classify the reliability of a news item. To this end, RUN dataset in Spanish was built and annotated with RUN-AS. A set of experiments were conducted to validate the annotation scheme. The experiments evidence the validity of the annotation scheme proposed, obtaining the best F1m, i.e., 0.948. ©2023 Sociedad Española para el Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural.

Diabetes mellitus: Lessons from COVID-19 for monkeypox infection.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is known to be linked to malfunctioning antiviral defense; however, its association with the severity of monkeypox is poorly understood. In this review, we discuss key immunological mechanisms in the antiviral response affected by poor glucose control that could impact the susceptibility and severity of monkeypox infection, leading to a heightened emphasis on the use of the available antidiabetic drugs. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Google scholar for articles published from January 1985 to August 2022. No criteria for publication data were set, and all articles in English were included. RESULTS: Currently, there are no studies about the risk or consequences of monkeypox infection in the diabetic population. A high incidence of diabetes is reported in countries such as China, India, Pakistan, EUA, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Bangladesh, Japan, and Egypt, where unfortunately imported cases of monkeypox have been reported and the infection continues to spread. CONCLUSIONS: High incidence of diabetes together with the cessation of smallpox vaccination has left large numbers of the human population unprotected against monkeypox. The best option for the population remains confined to the prevention of infection as well as the use of hypoglycemic agents that have also been shown to improve immune mechanisms associated with viral protection.

Neutrosophic Statistical Analysis of Self-Assessment of Rehabilitation Knowledge in University Students

This study arises because of the growing demand for rehabilitation in different population sectors since after the COVID-19 pandemic that the whole world experienced, this discipline is an important alternative in recovering from the sequelae caused by this disease. In accordance with the aforementioned, the objective of the present research is to carry out a neutrosophic statistical study of the self-assessment of knowledge about rehabilitation in undergraduate medical students. For this, theoretical, empirical, and mathematical-statistical methods and techniques were used. Techniques of neutrosophic statistics were used in the validation. The results obtained denote an important level of validity and allowed identifying the need to develop further studies on this topic. © 2022, Neutrosophic Sets and Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Variation of Air Quality in Four Districts of Lima in the Period of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the variation of air quality parameters: PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and O3 in four districts of Lima-Peru (Carabayllo, San Juan de Lurigancho, Villa María del Triunfo, and Jesús María) in the period 2015-2019 and 2020-2021. Likewise, the ozone variability in the Carabayllo district was modelled. Pollutant concentration data were collected from the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology of Peru (SENAMHI) from the 4 stations located in the aforementioned districts. The data was processed with the IBM SPSS Statistics v.25 software. A statistically significant decrease was observed between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2021 periods in pollutants PM10, PM2.5, and NO2, in the four monitoring stations, mainly because the country entered in a state of emergency (quarantine due to COVID -19). However, an increase in O3 was observed, attributed to the decrease in NOX concentrations. Finally, the gamma generalized linear model represented 87.6% of the ozone variability in the Carabayllo district, showing a good fit for the field data. © 2022 IEEE.

Programa Doadores Herois: Reconhecendo Doadores Fidelizados

A captacao de doadores e uma ferramenta valiosa que cria um vinculo entre o doador, o banco de sangue e a missao de salvar vidas. O presente programa de captacao e reconhecimento de doadores fidelizados, foi baseado no conceito de Marketing Social para fomentar uma mudanca de comportamento e mobilizar de doadores. Objetivou-se implementar o Programa Doadores Herois, visando fortalecer o relacionamento com doadores, fideliza-los e torna-los multiplicadores de campanhas de doacao de sangue. Trata-se de um estudo de pesquisa-acao com abordagem intervencionista e foco na disseminacao da cultura de doacao de sangue voluntaria, demonstrando quanto os doadores herois sao importantes para salvar vidas. O programa consiste em reconhecer os doadores com 10 doacoes ou mais por meio da entrega de um certificado de solidariedade presencialmente e por meios digitais, assim como solicitar a contribuicao deles na promocao da doacao de sangue, sendo multiplicadores das campanhas. A enfermeira responsavel faz a gestao do numero de doacoes de cada pessoa, por meio do sistema de informacoes hemoterapicas HEMOPLUS, entra em contato com os doadores via whatsapp, informando que eles fazem parte do grupo de "doadores herois", explica quantas vidas ja salvaram aproximadamente, envia o certificado de solidariedade como uma forma simbolica de agradecimento e reconhecimento, assim como questiona se o doador tem interesse de ser multiplicador de campanhas de doacao. Todos os doadores com mais de 10 doacoes que comparecem para uma nova doacao, sao identificados no ato do cadastro e e confeccionado o certificado para a entrega durante a doacao, realizados registros fotograficos e publicacao no instagram ihhs_aracaju_sergipe. Por fim, os doadores herois sao convidados a preencher o link da capsula do tempo do IHHS, que consiste numa iniciativa de o doador registrar o seu sentimento no momento do recebimento do certificado de solidariedade, onde acaba refletindo sobre quantas vidas ja salvou e o quanto isso e importante. A capsula sera aberta em 2026, numa comemoracao especifica convidando os doadores para participarem e abrirem conosco, assim como fazerem a leitura das suas mensagens (https://abre.ai/capsulatempoihhs). Resultados e Discussao: Antes da implementacao do Programa Doadores Herois o indice de doadores fidelizados era de 33% e apos aumentou para 52% (p>0,01). Atualmente o IHHS possui 261 (100%) doadores herois, destes 102 (39%) participam ativamente das campanhas e 95 (36,4%) ja preencheram a capsula do tempo. O Programa Doadores Herois foi reconhecido pela Organizacao Nacional de Acreditacao como um dos pontos fortes da Instituicao, bem e motivo constante de elogio pelos doadores, que muitas vezes se emocionam junto com a equipe no momento da entrega do certificado. O programa foi apresentado para a populacao no jornal local, ganhando destaque e visibilidade, contribuindo para uma imagem positiva da doacao de sangue, motivando outras pessoas a se tornarem doadores. Com o advento da pandemia do novo coronavirus, as doacoes de sangue diminuiram muito, uma vez que, o combate a propagacao da COVID-19 contempla o isolamento social. Conclusao: O Programa Doadores Herois traz beneficios para os pacientes que aguardam transfusao, pois permite uma melhor manutencao do estoque de sangue, permitindo o pronto atendimento das solicitacoes. Constatou-se a eficacia do programa, pois apos a sua implementacao houve um aumento significativo de doadores fidelizados e melhoria do acesso a informacao sobre doacao de sangue para a populacao. Copyright © 2022

Sentinel-1A/-1B mission and performance status, sentinel-1C/-1D improvements

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission ensures continuity of C-band SAR observations for Europe. The routine operations of the constellation are on-going and performed at full mission capacity. The mission is characterized by large-scale and repetitive observations, systematic production and free and open data policy. Sentinel-1 data are routinely used by Copernicus and many operational services, as well as in the scientific and commercial domain. The paper addresses the mission status, the Sentinel-1 observation scenario, the impact on the COVID-19 crisis, and an overview on the recent mission performance aspects. It also presents the mission perspective for the years to come, in particular preliminary information on the new concept of a Sentinel-1 satellite in stand-by in orbit. In a second part, the paper addresses the improvements in system robustness and performance for the Sentinel-1C/-1D units. In addition, it discusses the main characteristics of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) instrument to augment the SAR payload data for ship marine traffic applications. © 2022 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. All rights reserved.

Experiencing Pediatric Celiac Disease during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Currently, the only treatment for celiac disease (CD) is a lifelong stringent gluten-free diet (GFD), which has a very high perceived treatment burden. COVID-19, a global pandemic, caused most of the population to stay at home and limit outside contact. The study aimed to capture the impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life of children with CD and their families. Method(s): Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using a phenomenology approach between May 19th and August 3rd, 2020 with 15 children and parents of children with CD. All interviews were recorded and transcribed;study staff coded transcripts individually, meeting at scheduled intervals to discuss discrepancies before proceeding with the next transcript. Result(s): Based on the interviews with children with CD and their parents, five unique themes emerged including: access to gluten free (GF) food, access to care through telehealth, perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, avoiding gluten exposure and emotional responses. Among the five themes, there were twelve subthemes that were developed to showcase the full experience of a child with CD and their parents' experience with COVID-19. Conclusion(s): Our cohort experienced similar circumstances caused by the pandemic when compared to the general public, with notable exceptions. Both populations took strict safety precautions, but our cohort experienced additional layers of stress related to access to safe food and perceived additional vulnerabilities to COVID-19. These findings emphasize the importance of proactively supporting CD management and its challenges through the end of the pandemic and beyond.

Self-sufficiency through the edible landscaping (EL) technology: assessing the promotional activities of EL in the Philippines, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

The sustainability of the food supply seems to be a never-ending concern of many households in the Philippines. This concern is most especially felt in this time of pandemic wherein many Filipinos are struggling on where to get their food to feed their families. The adoption of edible landscaping has become more in demand because of the current situation caused by the pandemic. As such, having a sustainable edible garden is very much recommended because it can provide the household a "garden to table" food which can help in making the household food self-sufficient. There is a current need to promote edible landscaping technology primarily through trainings and seminars and it should be intensified to inform and educate the people on food self-sufficiency amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Edible landscaping (EL) as an approach that merges the science of crop production and the art of landscaping, is continuously being promoted using different strategies and one of which is the conduct of trainings and seminars all over the Philippines. This study assessed the different ways by which the Edible Landscaping Team of the University of the Philippines Los Banos delivered promotional activities such as webinars and e-training amidst the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was conducted using the qualitative approach, specific case studies, and the data gathered were analyzed using thematic analysis. More than 39,000 individuals in the Philippines have already been reached and educated on the technology through the conduct of e-trainings and webinars. The presentations and lectures on edible landscaping were modified based on the needs of the requesting institution and were discussed using a combination of English and Filipino languages. The duration of the eight webinars ranged from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of almost 5 hours (in discussion is written 'almost 4 hours). Based on the comments, most of the online viewers gave affirmative responses.

THE USE OF COMPUTERS AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR OF ASTENOPIA

The computer is a powerful and versatile tool that has become an indispensable element for the population worldwide, its use increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused the suspension of all academic activities forcing students to receive virtual classes;which increased the incidence of asthenopia. This work aims to determine the use of electronic computers as a predisposing factor for the development of asthenopia. The methods employed consist of a literature review through a descriptive study of scientific articles, written in English and Spanish and published between 2015 and 2021. As a result, it was obtained that ergonomics and practical advice for the correct use of electronic devices decrease the incidence of developing asthenopia. The study's main conclusion was that people who spend long periods of time in front of computers,cell phones, and tablets are more likely to have visual problems such as eye fatigue.

LOSS of TOLERANCE and ANERGY in HUMAN PERIPHERAL B CELLS during SARS-CoV-2 INFECTION

Background: Severe infection with SARS-CoV-2 induces systemic autoreactive antibodies with specificity to Type I IFN, phospholipids, nuclear or tissue specific targets. The wide breadth of targets suggests a system-wide defect in B cell tolerance during viral infection and that the source of autoreactive antibodies is likely a heterogenous subset of B cells. BND cells are mature naïve B cells that do not express IgM but do express IgD and are enriched in autoreactive specificities. BND cells are held in an anergic state in healthy humans as a mechanism of peripheral tolerance, although in vitro evidence suggests anergy can be broken with strong inflammation. We hypothesized that robust inflammation associated with viral infection from SARS-CoV2 may relax peripheral tolerance and promote breakage of BND cell anergy. Methods: Plasma and PBMCs were collected from healthy controls (N=10), subjects immunized with Pfizer BNT162b2-mRNA/Moderna mRNA-1273 (N=10), subjects with mild (N=11) or severe SARS-CoV-2 infection (N=14). BND cells were examined ex vivo for markers of activation by flow cytometry. Phosphorylation of signaling proteins downstream of the BCR were measured in vitro with or without BCR crosslinking. Inflammatory cytokines were measured in plasma by multiplex. For statistical analysis, unpaired t test between populations or paired t test between unstimulated and BCR stimulated conditions were performed. Results: BND cells from severe SARS-CoV-2 infection have lower expression of CD21, associated with loss of anergy, higher expression of activation markers CD68 and CD86 with lower expression of inhibitory receptors CD22 and CD72 when compared to BND cells from other subjects, suggesting a phenotypical breach of anergy. Upon BCR crosslinking, BND cells have higher levels of downstream signaling components of the BCR (pPLCγ2, pBlnk, and pSyk) when compared to healthy controls and immunized subjects, suggesting a functional breach in anergy with infection. Examination of plasma from severe SARS-CoV-2 infection showed higher levels of inflammatory cytokines (IFNγ, TNFα, IL-6 and CRP) where TNFα and CRP correlated with enhanced BCR signaling in BND cells. Conclusion: We demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 viral infection relaxes peripheral tolerance of BND cells, likely through strong systemic inflammation produced during infection. These autoreactive cells overcome anergy and become activated with increased BCR signaling. Thus BND cells could be a source of autoreactive antibodies during viral infection.

IMPORTÂNCIA DA LAVAGEM DE MÃOS PARA PREVENIR A DISSEMINAÇÃO DA COVID-19

Introdução: Desde a percepção do novo coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2), responsável pela disseminação do surto descoberto pela primeira vez na cidade de Wuhan, China, em dezembro de 2019, a raça humana tem vivenciado um difícil problema sanitário global, arrodeadas de exatidão no que diz respeito aos caracteres epidemiológicos, sorológicos e sua facilidade de se disseminar. As infecções relacionadas à assistência à saúde têm ocorrência em várias em instituições assistenciais de saúde, tanto em países desenvolvidos como subdesenvolvidos, acometendo aproximadamente 1,4 milhões de pacientes em todo o mundo, resultando em altos números morbimortalidade, prolongamento do tempo de internação, resistência de microrganismos e óbitos. Apresentam diversas causas e tem várias relações multifatoriais. A higienização das mãos retrata a conduta apartada primordial como tática de minimização da incidência das infecções ambulatoriais e hospitalares. Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi orientar os profissionais do setor de ambulatório de um centro de Hemoterapia no período de 10 a 26 de fevereiro de 2020, com intuito de melhorar os métodos de limpeza e higienização e prevenção acerca da COVID-19. Material e métodos: Foi realizado um treinamento teórico através do Google Met., que é um serviço de comunicação por vídeo desenvolvido pelo Google. O treinamento foi realizado em cinco módulos com carga horária 30h com os funcionários envolvendo o preenchimento do check-list, baseado no manual Segurança do Paciente em Serviços de Saúde, Higienização das Mãos da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. Resultados: Dos 32 funcionários que executam suas atividades profissionais no setor de transfusão e ambulatório que responderam o instrumento de pesquisa, 75% (24) eram do sexo feminino e 25% (08) do sexo masculino. O nível de formação acadêmica variou entre os docentes: 9,3% (3) são Enfermeiros, Farmacêuticos 6,2 (02), Técnicos de Enfermagem 18,7% (06), Assistente administrativo 15,6% (05), Assistente social 3,1% (01), Psicóloga 3,1% (01), Fisioterapeuta 3,1% (01), Dentista 6,2% (02), Estagiários 34,3% (11). Discussão: Neste estudo observou-se que a higienização e o uso de luvas associaram-se a uma menor velocidade de contaminação das mãos durante cuidados rotineiros nos setores laboratoriais e no ambulatório evitando a contaminação da maioria dos profissionais de saúde. Conclusão: Esta ação deve ser constantemente desenvolvida na prática educacional, além de abordagem aprofundada referente à prevenção e controle de infecções como estratégia de promoção da segurança do paciente.

Covid-19 epidemiology in pediatric patients from Ecuador

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was first identified in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in the People’s Republic of China, the virus is transmitted from one person to another in the respiratory secretions that are dispersed when the infected person coughs, speaks or sneezes. With 10.93 deaths per million people from coronavirus as of April 6, 2020, Ecuador has one of the highest mortality rates from COVID-19 in Latin America, with only 7.46 Polymerase Chain Reaction tests. (RT-PCR) per 10,000 people. Pediatric cases were rare in the first days of the COVID-19 outbreak, but with the appearance of family aggregation, they began to appear, registering the first cases on March 27th. The pediatric group is always susceptible to upper respiratory tract infections because their immune system is developing. This report describes the epi-demiological situation of pediatric patients in Ecuador, where it was shown that adolescents aged 15 to 18 years were more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 and the group with the highest mortality was from 0 to 9 years old, it was also shown that of the total diagnostic tests performed, 63.6% were RT-PCR tests and 36.3% were rapid tests.

PediatriX: A Framework for Mobile and Web Applications for Pediatrics Online Consultation in Paranaque City

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly affected people's lives worldwide. Directly going to medical facilities became too risky for health, so the minor's attention was less since parents took extra precautionary measures. Thus, the proponents interviewed the client for the application, Dr. Andrea Carag of The Pediatric Clinic. She mentioned that the problems she encountered in similar applications include difficulty in signing in, unpleasant graphical user interface, and accessibility issues for different platforms. An initial survey for patients was also conducted, and reflecting on the result, factors like the minimal health services available online, minimal specialists, and inaccessible health assistance virtually will be what the proponents aim to address. Most respondents had never consulted a health professional under the new-normal setup. Nonetheless, they said they are prepared to engage in one. The remainder of respondents who had new-normal medical consultations noted that the frequent issues they experienced were poor internet connection and communications and lack of devices. Consequently, PediatriX, a mobile and web application, will provide online medical consultation from a licensed pediatrician in the Philippines. Throughout the development, the researchers used the Scrum Agile model as the project method to continue the work and result in allotted days, including planning, designing, developing, testing, releasing, and receiving feedback. Significantly, it is recommended for future researchers to incorporate a wider variety of patients to help a more significant number of individuals. They may also include additional pediatric healthcare services as its features.

The 2021 SIM IT Issues and Trends Study

IT spending levels are returning from the Covid-induced highs of 2020. This is consistent with many other findings in 2021, including the percentage of organizations increasing both IT headcount and salaries. The top five IT management issues for organizations in 2021 were Cybersecurity, Alignment, Analytics, Digital Transformation and Compliance;the top five largest IT investments were Cloud, Analytics, Cybersecurity, Application Development and ERP;while the five hardest to find IT technical skills were Cybersecurity, Analytics, AI, Functional Knowledge and Cloud. The most common criteria for assessing CIO performance were User Satisfaction (Internal), Value of IT to the Business, Strategic Contribution of IT, IT Availability and Cybersecurity. The average tenure of CIOs is six years (median four) with almost 47% reporting to their CEO. A ten-year low of 22.6% report to their CFO. CIOs continue to come from outside organizations at record levels (again over 80%) and 24.1% came from prior non-IT positions, down significantly from the 2019 high of 31.1%.(1)