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Background: Breast and cervical cancer are major public health issues globally. The reduction in incidence and mortality rates of these cancers is linked to effective prevention, early detection, and appropriate treatment measures. This study aims to analyze the temporal trends in the prevalence of mammography and Papanicolaou test coverage among women living in Brazilian state capitals between 2007 and 2023, and to compare the coverage of these tests before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: A time series study was conducted using data from the Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey from 2007 to 2023. The variables analyzed included mammography and Papanicolaou test coverage according to education level, age group, race/skin color, regions, and Brazilian capitals. The Prais-Winsten regression model was used to analyze the time series, and Student's t-test was employed to compare the prevalence rates between 2019 and 2023. Results: Between 2007 and 2023, mammography coverage showed a stationary trend (71.1% in 2007 and 73.1% in 2023; p-value = 0.75) with a declining trend observed among women with 12 years or more of education (APC= -0.52% 95%CI -1.01%; -0.02%). Papanicolaou test coverage for all women aged between 25 and 64 exhibited a downward trend from 82% in 2007 to 76.8% in 2023 (APC= -0.45% 95%CI -0.76%; -0.13%). This decline was also noticed among those with 9 years or more of education; in the 25 to 44 age group; among women with white and mixed race; and in the Northeast, Central-West, Southeast, and South regions. When comparing coverage before and during Covid-19 pandemic, a reduction was noted for both tests. Conclusions: Over the years, there has been stability in mammography coverage and a decline in Papanicolaou test. The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the number of these tests carried out among women, highlighting the importance of actions aimed at increasing coverage, especially among the most vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous policies have been proposed by international and supranational institutions, such as the European Union, to surveil Earth from space and furnish indicators of environmental conditions across diverse scenarios. In tandem with these policies, different initiatives, particularly on both sides of the Atlantic, have emerged to provide valuable data for environmental management such as the concept of essential climate variables. However, a key question arises: do the available data align with the monitoring requirements outlined in these policies? In this paper, we concentrate on Earth Observation (EO) optical data applications for environmental monitoring, with a specific emphasis on ocean colour. In a rapidly changing climate, it becomes imperative to consider data requirements for upcoming space missions. We place particular significance on the application of these data when monitoring lakes and marine protected areas (MPAs). These two use cases, albeit very different in nature, underscore the necessity for higher-spatial-resolution imagery to effectively study these vital habitats. Limnological ecosystems, sensitive to ice melting and temperature fluctuations, serve as crucial indicators of a climate in change. Simultaneously, MPAs, although generally small in size, play a crucial role in safeguarding marine biodiversity and supporting sustainable marine resource management. They are increasingly acknowledged as a critical component of global efforts to conserve and manage marine ecosystems, as exemplified by Target 3 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which aims to effectively conserve 30% of terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine areas by 2030 through protected areas and other conservation measures. In this paper, we analysed different policies concerning EO data and their application to environmental-based monitoring. We also reviewed and analysed the existing relevant literature in order to find gaps that need to be bridged to effectively monitor these habitats in an ecosystem-based approach, making data more accessible, leading to the generation of water quality indicators derived from new high- and very high-resolution satellite monitoring focusing especially on Chlorophyll-a concentrations. Such data are pivotal for comprehending, at small and local scales, how these habitats are responding to climate change and various stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A death that occurs inside a prison cell initiates a distinct set of procedures from those around a death on the outside. When a confined space within a penal institution of total surveillance and control becomes a crime scene, it may reflect the prevailing institutional cultures and the ways in which they react and adapt. This paper analyses the case of Marcos, who was found dead in a Portuguese prison cell which he shared with another individual. From the discovery of the body to the crime scene inspection by the police, and from the autopsy to the trial, the qualitative analysis of the inscriptions produced in this case reveals and highlight the epistemic cultures involved. As each culture is developed from the professional practices and modes of acquiring and using knowledge, the analysis of their logic contributes to an understanding of how forensic evidence is co-produced and appropriated in the Portuguese legal context. We identify five epistemic cultures: institutional defence, hunch, office, bubble, and 'rubber stamp'. We argue that the apparent neutrality of an inquisitorial criminal justice system enables the development of particular ways of producing, understanding and using scientific knowledge and forensic evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) pose a significant global threat, particularly in developing regions such as Southeast Asia. International bodies emphasize the role of formal undergraduate training in the prevention and control of HAIs. To address this, we aimed to explore the perceptions of Southeast Asian nursing students regarding a novel educational approach developed by a European–Southeast Asian project consortium. Methods: A pilot study was conducted in four nursing higher education institutions from Cambodia and Vietnam. First, local nursing educators conducted a 2 h classroom-based training session. Then, students were invited to participate for the first time in one of twelve evidence-based simulation scenarios developed by the research team, covering a range of nursing care situations related to the prevention and control of HAIs. After attending both components, students were asked to complete a paper-based questionnaire and rate their agreement with a set of statements on the appropriateness and meaningfulness of both components. Results: A total of 430 nursing students enrolled in the pilot study; 77.4% were female, with an average age of 19.8 years. The PrevInf educational intervention received positive feedback from participating students across settings, with strong agreement on the importance of proactiveness in competency development (M = 5.9, SD = 1.4). Notable differences between Cambodian and Vietnamese students were observed in terms of their receptiveness to the pre-selected teaching materials (p = 0.001) and strategies (p = 0.01) used by the nursing educators during their experience with the simulation scenarios. Conclusions: The PrevInf educational intervention shows promise in engaging Southeast Asian nursing students and fostering a deeper understanding of the prevention and control of HAIs. Further studies are warranted to refine the learning content and standardize the pedagogical strategies used by nursing educators across settings. This study was not registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control of the shape of complex metasurfaces is a challenging task often addressed in the literature. This work presents a class of tessellated plates able to deform into surfaces of preprogrammed shape upon activation by any flexural load and that can be controlled by a single actuator. Quadric metasurfaces are obtained from infinitesimal origami maps of monohedral hexagonal tessellations of the plane, that is pavings in which all tiles are congruent to each other. Monohedral tessellated portions can be joined together to obtain more complex shapes, which can be locally synclastic or anticlastic and can have a certain roughness. We broaden previous work by providing a complete characterization of all the three known types of monohedral tessellations composed by irregular hexagons. The proposed two-dimensional structures may have applications in prosthetics, tissue engineering, wearable devices, energy harvesting devices, tunable focus mirrors and adaptive facades. The study is divided in two parts. In Part I, after introducing the discrete kinematics of tessellated plates, it is proved analytically that essentially each type of monohedral hexagonal tessellation possesses only one deformation mode. Afterwards, several numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the variety of achievable surface shapes. In Part II, first the metasurfaces corresponding to assigned tile geometries are given a continuum description, which establishes that the continuous interpolant is always a quadric. Then, experimental results on fabrication, assembly and surface accuracy are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant advances have been achieved in multilateral negotiations regarding human development and environmental safeguarding since the 1972 UN Stockholm Conference. There is much greater global awareness and action towards sustainability. However, sustainability has persistently been sidelined, leading to the identification and definition of a transgressed "safe and just space for humanity". Here we develop a new evolutionary approach and methodology to explain the reasons why sustainability continues to be a difficult challenge for contemporary societies to adopt. We argue that these originate in six major biological, social, psychological, political, and cultural critical determinants that resulted from human biologic and cultural evolution. Although they are essential for human prosperity and wellbeing, these characteristics may also act as human sustainability boundaries. It is possible to reduce the inhibiting power of each critical determinant in the pathways to sustainability, a vital process that we term softening. Identifying, knowing, and softening these impediments is a necessary first step to achieving sustainability through greater self-knowledge and transformational processes. The application of the present methodology is restricted here to the climate change challenge. We examine the ways in which each human sustainability boundary is capable of obstructing climate action and offer possible ways to soften its hardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]