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Fire is a significant agent of landscape transformation on Earth, and a dynamic and ephemeral process that is challenging to map. Difficulties include the seasonality of native vegetation in areas affected by fire, the high levels of spectral heterogeneity due to the spatial and temporal variability of the burned areas, distinct persistence of the fire signal, increase in cloud and smoke cover surrounding burned areas, and difficulty in detecting understory fire signals. To produce a large-scale time-series of burned area, a robust number of observations and a more efficient sampling strategy is needed. In order to overcome these challenges, we used a novel strategy based on a machine-learning algorithm to map monthly burned areas from 1985 to 2020 using Landsat-based annual quality mosaics retrieved from minimum NBR values. The annual mosaics integrated year-round observations of burned and unburned spectral data (i.e., RED, NIR, SWIR-1, and SWIR-2), and used them to train a Deep Neural Network model, which resulted in annual maps of areas burned by land use type for all six Brazilian biomes. The annual dataset was used to retrieve the frequency of the burned area, while the date on which the minimum NBR was captured in a year, was used to reconstruct 36 years of monthly burned area. Results of this effort indicated that 19.6% (1.6 million km2) of the Brazilian territory was burned from 1985 to 2020, with 61% of this area burned at least once. Most of the burning (83%) occurred between July and October. The Amazon and Cerrado, together, accounted for 85% of the area burned at least once in Brazil. Native vegetation was the land cover most affected by fire, representing 65% of the burned area, while the remaining 35% burned in areas dominated by anthropogenic land uses, mainly pasture. This novel dataset is crucial for understanding the spatial and long-term temporal dynamics of fire regimes that are fundamental for designing appropriate public policies for reducing and controlling fires in Brazil.

Fire scar detection through orbital data can be done using specific techniques, such as the use of spectral indices like the normalized burn ratio (NBR), which are designed to help identify burnt areas as they have typical spectral responses. This paper aims to characterize burn severity and regrowth in areas hit by three fires in the Chapada Diamantina National Park (Bahia, Brazil) and its surrounding area through the differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) and relative differenced normalized burn ratio (RdNBR) spectral indices. The data acquired were pretreated and prepared adequately to calculate the indices. We conclude that for the study area, considering the limitations of fieldwork, the multitemporal index dNBR and the relative index RdNBR are important tools for classifying burnt areas and can be used to assess the regrowth of vegetation.

We investigate a cyclic game system where organisms face an epidemic beyond being threatened by natural enemies. As a survival strategy, individuals of one out of the species usually safeguard themselves by approaching the enemies of their enemies and performing social distancing to escape contamination when an outbreak affects the neighbourhood. We simulate how the survival movement strategy to local epidemic surges must adapt if a pathogen mutation makes the disease deadlier. We study the spatial distribution of local outbreaks and observe the influence of disease mortality on individuals' spatial organisation. We show that adapting the survival movement strategy for a high-mortality disease demands an altruistic behaviour of the organisms since their death risk increases. Despite weakening the disease transmission chain, which benefits the species, abandoning refuges provided by safeguarding social interaction increases the vulnerability to being eliminated in the cyclic game. Considering that not all individuals exhibit altruism, we find the relative growth in the species density as a function of the proportion of individuals behaving altruistically. Our results may be helpful for biologists and data scientists to understand how adaptive altruistic processes can affect population dynamics in complex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antipredator behavior is a self-preservation strategy present in many biological systems, where individuals join the effort in a collective reaction to avoid being caught by an approaching predator. We study a nonhierarchical tritrophic system, whose predator–prey interactions are described by the rock–paper–scissors game rules. We perform a set of spatial stochastic simulations where organisms of one out of the species can resist predation in a collective strategy. The drop in predation capacity is local, which means that each predator faces a particular opposition depending on the prey group size surrounding it. Considering that the interference in a predator action depends on the prey's physical and cognitive ability, we explore the role of a conditioning factor that indicates the fraction of the species apt to perform the antipredator strategy. Because of the local unbalancing of the cyclic predator–prey interactions, departed spatial domains mainly occupied by a single species emerge. Unlike the rock–paper–scissors model with a weak species because of a nonlocal reason, our findings show that if the predation probability of one species is reduced because individuals face local antipredator response, the species does not predominate. Instead, the local unbalancing of the rock–paper–scissors model results in the prevalence of the weak species' prey. Finally, the outcomes show that local unevenness may jeopardize biodiversity, with the coexistence being more threatened for high mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is a significant agent of landscape transformation on Earth, and a dynamic and ephemeral process that is challenging to map. Difficulties include the seasonality of native vegetation in areas affected by fire, the high levels of spectral heterogeneity due to the spatial and temporal variability of the burned areas, distinct persistence of the fire signal, increase in cloud and smoke cover surrounding burned areas, and difficulty in detecting understory fire signals. To produce a large-scale time-series of burned area, a robust number of observations and a more efficient sampling strategy is needed. In order to overcome these challenges, we used a novel strategy based on a machine-learning algorithm to map monthly burned areas from 1985 to 2020 using Landsat-based annual quality mosaics retrieved from minimum NBR values. The annual mosaics integrated year-round observations of burned and unburned spectral data (i.e., RED, NIR, SWIR-1, and SWIR-2), and used them to train a Deep Neural Network model, which resulted in annual maps of areas burned by land use type for all six Brazilian biomes. The annual dataset was used to retrieve the frequency of the burned area, while the date on which the minimum NBR was captured in a year, was used to reconstruct 36 years of monthly burned area. Results of this effort indicated that 19.6% (1.6 million km2) of the Brazilian territory was burned from 1985 to 2020, with 61% of this area burned at least once. Most of the burning (83%) occurred between July and October. The Amazon and Cerrado, together, accounted for 85% of the area burned at least once in Brazil. Native vegetation was the land cover most affected by fire, representing 65% of the burned area, while the remaining 35% burned in areas dominated by anthropogenic land uses, mainly pasture. This novel dataset is crucial for understanding the spatial and long-term temporal dynamics of fire regimes that are fundamental for designing appropriate public policies for reducing and controlling fires in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antibacterial efficacy of ozonated sunflower oil against Enterococcus faecalis biofilm was evaluated comparing to gaseous ozone. Sixty disks of composite resin were distributed in sterile microtubes containing bacterial suspension of an antibiotic-resistant E. faecalis isolated from endodontic infection. After incubation for 24 hours at 37°C, six protocols were conducted (n = 10): group I, any treatment was performed; group II, treated with sunflower oil for 10 min; group III, treated with ozonized oil for 5 min; group IV, treated with ozonized oil for 10 min; group V, treated with ozone gas for 2 min; and group VI, treated with ozone gas for 4 min. The control groups I and II showed the highest numbers of colony-forming units (CFU)/mL, with significant differences in comparison to groups treated with ozone-based protocols. There was no significant statistical difference in the number of CFUs between ozone-treated groups. Ozonized oil for 10 min presented the lowest CFU/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a class of the stochastic May-Leonard models, with three species dominating each other in a cyclic nonhierarchical way, according to the rock-paper-scissors game. We introduce an unevenness in the system, by considering that one of the species is weaker because of a lower selection probability. The simulation results show that the pattern formation is drastically affected by the presence of the weaker species, with no spiral waves arising immediately from random initial conditions. Instead, single-species spatial domains cyclically dominate the entire territory until a region occupied by the weaker species is sufficiently narrow to be crossed by individuals without being selected. This leads to the appearance of spatial patterns responsible for the species coexistence. We verify that the asymmetry in the selection probabilities leads to different spatial autocorrelation function and average relative species abundances. Finally, we investigate the coexistence probability and show that the surviving species depends on the level of unevenness of the model and the mobility of individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an ongoing global debate on soil degradation, its magnitude and agro‐environmental impact, where long‐term experimentation provides quantitative criteria for its capacity for restauration with rational use and management. In this context, research in the last 30 years has confirmed that the resilience of Red Ferralitic soils in the karst regions of western Cuba is a multifactorial process, conditioned not only by the intrinsic properties of the soil surface and use conditions but also dependent on geological–geomorphological and use conditions. This study determined the capacity of Red Ferralitic soils for blocking karst‐erosion to be a period of 50 years in the San Jose de Las Lajas polje. They would recover, but depending on the amount of limestone impurities, it would take from 100 to 600 years. In any case, there are very few similar studies, not only because of the time necessary to achieve reliable results but also because in the case of karst ecosystems, they are subjected to constant disturbances impeding resilience research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An understanding of forest carbon budgets, such as the factors that influence different levels of carbon accumulation, is one of the first steps in protecting and restoring areas of plant cover. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis was applied to evaluate the influence of climate variables (Rainfall, and mean maximum and minimum temperatures) on intra-annual above-ground carbon accumulated in tree species of the Caatinga. Above-ground carbon accumulated in the trees was 0.06 Mg ha−1 month−1. Carbon allocation in the aerial parts of the trees increased significantly with rainfall. Maximum and minimum temperature had little influence on carbon storage; however, variations in carbon accumulation are best explained when minimum and maximum temperatures are added to the regression model for rainfall, thereby demonstrating the simultaneous effect of these variables, and better explaining the carbon increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In soybeans, the leaves of the upper canopy often act as a shield against fungicide penetration, preventing pesticide deposition on target. Fungicide applications to control Asian soybean rust (ASR) are especially difficult because the infection usually starts on the lower canopy. In this study, soybean plants of an early indeterminate cultivar and a determinate cultivar were sprayed with the fungicide azoxystrobin + benzovindiflupyr at six different times of the day with or without the addition of a curtain of chains on the spray boom, which acted as a canopy opener. The number of uredia of Phakopsora pachyrhizi cm-2 and grain yield were measured to evaluate application efficacy. We found that the use of the curtain of chains reduced ASR control on the upper canopy for the indeterminate cultivar; however, less of a negative effect was observed for the determinate cultivar. The curtain of chains improved ASR control on the lower and middle canopies at more hours of the day for the determinate cultivar. For both cultivars, the curtain of chains increased ASR control at 6:00, 9:00, and 18:00 h on the lower canopy. Grain yield was also higher with the curtain of chains at 6:00 and 9:00 h for the determinate cultivar. Our results showed that using the curtain of chains could improve fungicide droplet deposition on the lower canopy, leading to greater ASR control and possibly increasing yield. However, it is important to consider the plant architecture and hour of application to maximize the benefit of the curtain of chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Hydrocarbons are the main components of diesel oil and are toxic for the majority of plants. A few plant species, known as phytoremediators, are tolerant of hydrocarbons and can survive the stressful conditions of soils contaminated with diesel oil. Canavalia ensiformis, a plant species that is well distributed throughout the tropics, possesses advantageous features for a potential resistance to soil contamination, such as fast growth and a deep root system. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the tolerance of C. ensiformis when it was exposed to soil contaminated with diesel oil. Seedlings were subjected to two treatments: contaminated soil (CS) (95 ml/kg of diesel oil) and non-contaminated soil (NCS) for a period of 30 days; its growth, morphology, anatomy, and physiology were analyzed. Despite the high level of toxicity, some individuals were able to survive in CS. These plants had root apical meristems with high levels of mitosis and were able to issue new roots with more developed aerenchyma tissue. Because the surviving plants presented no marks of cellular damage on the organs formed (root and leaves) during the experiment, the species capacity of growth on CS was confirmed. Although, long-term field experiments, applying different contaminant concentrations, should be considered to infer about the species resistance and use as phytoremediator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a nonhierarchical tritrophic system, whose predator-prey interactions are described by the rock-paper-scissors game rules. In our stochastic simulations, individuals may move strategically towards the direction with more conspecifics to form clumps instead of moving aimlessly on the lattice. Considering that the conditioning to move gregariously depends on the organism's physical and cognitive abilities, we introduce a maximum distance an individual can perceive the environment and a minimum conditioning level to perform the gregarious movement. We investigate the pattern formation and compute the average size of the single-species spatial domains emerging from the grouping behaviour. The results reveal that the defence tactic reduces the predation risk significantly, being more profitable if individuals perceive further distances, thus creating bigger groups. Our outcomes show that the species with more conditioned organisms dominate the cyclic spatial game, controlling most of the territory. On the other hand, the species with fewer individuals ready to perform aggregation strategy gives its predator the chance to fill the more significant fraction of the grid. The spatial interactions assumed in our numerical experiments constitute a data set that may help biologists and data scientists understand how local interactions influence ecosystem dynamics. • Stochastic simulations of the spatial rock-paper-scissors model with behavioural movement of aggregation were performed. • The emergence of single-species spatial domains caused by gregarious movement is demonstrated. • The benefits of the aggregation strategy in reducing predation risk are calculated. • The impact of the organisms' conditioning in the dynamics of species densities is quantified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The measurement of waist circumference (WC) is the most prevalent cause of the metabolic syndrome (MS). Objective: The aim of this study was to correlate WC and BMI with high-density lipoprotein (HDL-c) levels in patients with MS being consulted by the Family Health Program (PSF), Brazil. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2008 with 42 patients (29 women and 13 men) from 35 to 77 years. Dietary intake was reported, and biochemical and body composition measures were taken. Results: The HDL-c levels were higher in women when compared to men (48.4 ± 8.1 mg/dL vs. 36.4 ± 7.8 mg/dL). However, the triglycerides (TG)/HDL-c ratio and TG concentrations were lower in women (3.8 ± 1.5 and 178.0 ± 57.8 mg/dL, respectively) than in men (9.4 ± 8.5 and 471.5 ± 501.5 mg/dL, respectively). Regarding skinfold profile, the triceps was greater in females (37.0 ± 8.4 cm vs. 20.7 ± 10.5 cm). The dietetic profile showed that women had a lower intake of energy, fiber, phosphorus and sodium. The fruits and vegetables intake was diminished in the participants of this study, as less than 60% of the women and 50% of men met the daily recommendations. Approximately 54% of men and 28% of women had a lower intake of dairy products daily. Moreover, the results shows that the WC was negatively correlated to HDL-c (r = -0.41, p < 0.05) whereas the BMI is not associated with HDL-c (r = -0.34, p > 0.06). Conclusion: Our findings showed that WC is a better predictor of changes in HDL-c than BMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial quality of reclaimed water used for irrigation in two golf courses located in the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) was evaluated. Bacterial indicators for faecal pollution (total and faecal coliforms, Escherichia coli and enterococci) were tested by membrane filtration using appropriate selective media. In addition, somatic E. coli bacteriophages, enteric viruses (entero-, hepatitis A and rota-) and Legionella pneumophila were also analysed. The results obtained showed that all wastewater treatment processes reduced adequately the number of indicator microorganisms although a significant correlation between pathogenic and indicator microorganisms tested was not found. L. pneumophila was detected by PCR but not confirmed by culture. Survival experiments of pathogenic microorganisms in aerosols and irrigated turf are conducted to determine the health hazards for the golf practice and to propose a microbial standard for wastewater used for irrigation of golf courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), usually caused by a parathyroid adenoma, is characterized by a pathologically high secretion of parathyroid hormone and consequent hypercalcemia. PHPT has a high prevalence among elderly patients and might be responsible for neuropsychiatric symptoms. Objectives: We aim to report the rare manifestation of acute psychosis accompanying a PHPT diagnosis, and to discuss the neurobiological relationship between hyperparathyroidism, hypercalcaemia and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Methods: We present a clinical case based on patient's history and clinical data, along with a literature review on PHPT neuropsychiatric symptons. Results: We present the case of a 68-year-old man diagnosed with PHPT in November 2019. He was brought up to psychiatric evaluation for the first time in May 2020 upon behavioral changes (aggressiveness and bizarre rituals). The patient described the sensation of burns scattered throughout the body since January 2020, felling anxious and frightened, sleeping poorly and progressive social isolation. He presented delusional ideas of mystical and paranoid content. No significant cognitive impairments were found. The patient's psychosis was partially responsive to atypical antipsychotics. He's waiting for surgery. Hypercalcaemia might manifest as mood disorders, cognitive changes and rarely as acute psychosis. Although there is not yet a clear mechanism to explain it, high calcium levels seem to cause neurotoxicity and neurotransmission dysfunction. Restoration of normal calcium levels tend to resolve neuropsychiatric symptoms, but in PHPT parathyroidectomy is usually recommended. Conclusions: Neuropsychiatric symptoms are responsible for great disability, and demand an organic in-depth investigation. A multidisciplinary team approach must always be considered in the management of such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Early Onset Dementia (EOD) refers to cases occurring in adults before age 65. Risk factors vary according to etiology, the most common being Neurodegenerative. The onset is usually insidious. Early personality and behavioral changes may lead to Psychiatric referral, delaying definitive diagnosis. Objectives: We aim to discuss diagnostic challenges of EOD in a Psychiatric inpatient service. Methods: Description of two clinical cases of EOD, from the inpatient psychiatric service of CHVNG. Non systematic review of literature. Results: Case 1: R., age 54, male, long distance driver. History of cerebrovascular disease. No previous psychiatric history. May 2018: presents to the Psychiatric Emergency Service (PES), with low mood, self-harming behaviour, suicidal ideation, and recent cognitive difficulties. Committed for a short period and medicated with antidepressants, maintaining symptoms in follow up. December: presented to PES with agressive behaviour and persecutory delusions. A diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's Dementia, mixed presentation, was established. Case 2: M., age 61, female. History of a depressive episode in 2012, treated with antidepressants, total remission; other history unremarkable. Presented to PES in July 2019, with psychomotor agitation, aggression, disinhibition, and coprolalia. Mnestic deficits of insidious onset. More recently, executive dysfunction. A diagnosis of Mixed Dementia was established. Conclusions: These cases represent different profiles of neuropsychiatric presentation of dementia. Patients with EOD may first present to psychiatric services with early unspecific symptoms, mimicking primary psychiatric disorders, or with exuberant, disruptive behavioural symptoms. A thorough organic evaluation is essential, to rule out delirium and reversible causes of dementia, and establish the correct diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Intensive treatment under partial hospitalization is established as a viable and effective modality in acute decompensation, with low rates of early and long-term readmission, and less days in full hospitalization. Compared to general outpatient treatment, a day hospital setting seems to have an advantage in symptom management. It seems to bring greater engagement with treatment, without additional burden on family members compared to inpatient settings. Risk factors risk for readmission during treatment at DayHospital include active suicidal ideation, worsening of psychotic symptomatology (in patients referred after discharge) or worsening of functioning and socio-family relationships (in patients referred by the outpatient clinic). Day Hospital treatment seems to entail lower costs than complete hospitalization (with variable cost reduction from 20 to 37%). Objectives: We aimed to develop a protocol for management of acutely ill patients in a day hospital setting. Methods: Non systematic review of literature. Results: A 2-3 month follow-up program for acutely ill patients after discharge or referred from outpatient services was defined, as well as inclusion and exclusion criteria. A pre-established schedule is to be discussed with patients and family members, including medical and nursing appointments (including physical health monitoring), administration of medication (oral or LAI), occupational therapy and psychoeducational interventions. Pre and postintervention evaluation of health status and quality of life. Conclusions: The developed program presents as a feasible and effective alternative to inpatient treatment of acute mental illness. Implementation will prevent some admissions, and allow an earlier discharge and autonomization with community support. Quality assurance methods are to be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Correspondence between Psychiatrists and patients has evolved through the years, and telecommunication means are ubiquitous. Although the use of synchronous and asynchronous interventions is becoming more prevalent in clinical practice, both for assessment and treatment, guidelines are scarce. Objectives: We aim to do a qualitative review of available literature. Methods: Search of PubMed database. Inclusion criteria: type of study, focus on direct telecommunication between psychiatrist and patient. Exclusion criteria: language constraints, inability to find full text online. Results: There were 2371 articles matching the search query. 87 were selected - 8 case reports, 15 clinical studies (including 5 randomized controlled trials), 61 literature reviews (of which 2 were systematic), and 3 meta-analyses. Publication date ranged from 1985-2019 (54,0% in the present decade). When defined, the population consisted of exclusively adults in 45,2% (of which 47,4% general population, 36,8% forensic, 10,5% geriatric) and 31,0% exclusively children and adolescents. Many studies focused on videoconferencing or phone communication, and few on digital media. Main areas of focus included effectiveness, acceptability, feasibility and ethics. The majority of studies showed good acceptability and non-inferiority of telecommunication mediated interventions, compared to in person interventions. Conclusions: The use of telecommunications in everyday Psychiatric practice raises many practical, ethical and security related issues. It is at least as effective as in-person interventions, and generally well accepted. It may present as a cost effective way to reach communities otherwise isolated from mental health care. Arguably, communication through digital and online media will become more frequent, and will need better characterization in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire scar detection through orbital data can be done using specific techniques, such as the use of spectral indices like the normalized burn ratio (NBR), which are designed to help identify burnt areas as they have typical spectral responses. This paper aims to characterize burn severity and regrowth in areas hit by three fires in the Chapada Diamantina National Park (Bahia, Brazil) and its surrounding area through the differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) and relative differenced normalized burn ratio (RdNBR) spectral indices. The data acquired were pretreated and prepared adequately to calculate the indices. We conclude that for the study area, considering the limitations of fieldwork, the multitemporal index dNBR and the relative index RdNBR are important tools for classifying burnt areas and can be used to assess the regrowth of vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Cognitive deficits are a core feature of the first psychotic episode patients and could be an obstacle to functional ability. Cognitive stimulation could be a promising method to surpass neuropsychological deficits. Objectives –to implement an online training protocol to stable first psychotic episode outpatients; –to assess adherence to the intervention; –to measure neurocognitive, psychopathological and functional outcomes pre- and post-training. Aims To investigate the feasibility of an online-based resource for cognitive stimulation (COGWEB ® ) and explore possible benefits in different domains. Methods Fifteen patients were enrolled from the Early Psychosis Intervention Program (PROFIP) at the Department of Psychiatry of Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon. The training consisted on 30-40-minute online sessions performed every weekday during 6 months at home. Assessments were performed at baseline and after program completion and included: psychopathological scores; personal and social functioning scores; Clinical Global Impression and a neuropsychological battery. Results Every participant had some kind of impairment on baseline. Mean training time was 36 h. Six patients left the program before completion (half of them because they got employed). The program showed overall good feasibility and safety with no reported significant psychiatric occurrences or hospitalizations. Results regarding final neuropsychological, psychopathological and functioning showed a tendency for stability or improvement on an individual case analysis. Conclusions Our results show that cognitive training using an online-based stimulation software is a feasible intervention for first-episode psychosis patients with possible benefits for this population. However, results should be analyzed very carefully because of different participant trajectories and of study limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction As a general problem in nosology, the moment when one becomes ill may be hard to define. In Psychiatry, the boundaries of disease may be more difficult to establish. In the last decade, we’ve been observing a growing interest in early diagnosis in this field, and the concept of “transition” to a mental illness became an important topic of discussion with implications in clinical practice. Objective To review different author's models of evolution of symptoms and transition to mental illness and discuss their advantages and limitations in the actual context of Psychiatry research and clinical practice. Aim To increase understanding on the different paradigms of becoming ill and their relevance to present and future psychiatric practice. Methods Non-systematic review of literature devoted to the creation of models that describe the establishment of a mental disorder. Results One of the first accounts of becoming mentally ill was developed by K. Jaspers within a phenomenological life-history analysis. Nonetheless, a cross-sectional approach to diagnosis has dominated Psychiatry for most of the time. With the advent of early intervention studies, longitudinal models of disease have been emphasized. The concept of a transition to disease was then operationalized but also highly criticized. Recently, McGorry proposed a staging model for psychiatric disorders in continuum with the non-clinical population. Finally, a dynamic systems approach to diagnosis in Psychiatry will be discussed. Conclusion Driven by research in early phases of mental illnesses, current models of disease propose a longitudinal approach that emphasizes the complex and non-linear course of symptom clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the work was to study the effects of year period, technical team, breed, beef cattle and dairy cattle on the pregnancy rates in fresh embryos used in bovine transfer of IVF programs. The study was carried out at the fertilization laboratory In VitroNyltta Britto de Carvalho, in partnership with In VitroBrazil, located at the Boa Vista farm, Barra do Pirai, during August 2007 to September 2008, seeking subsidies to improve the use of the technique in the field. During that period, aspirations and inovulations in 3 different periods I (August to December), II (January to April), and III (May to September) were carried out. The jobs were accomplished by 9 technical teams (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I) rendering services to the laboratory, by working with 2 beef breeds (Brahman and Nelore) and 3 dairy breeds (Gir, Girolando, and Holstein). The different breed receivers were synchronized, and in general, from 6 to 8 days after heat, they received embryo transfer, the cervical way, under low epidural anesthesia, where each female received 1 fresh embryo of IVF. All cows were submitted to gestation diagnosis by rectal palpation and ultrasonography, in general, 42 days after embryo transfer. The numbers of embryo transferred and pregnancy rates were submitted to the chi-square test, which presented significant differences (P< 0.05). There were pregnancy rates of 36.25%a(n= 960), 39.83%a(n= 1180), and 32.59%b(n= 919) in the I, II, and III periods, respectively. Among the 9 technical teams, there were verified pregnancy rates (%) of 33.51d(n= 1313), 30.30d(n= 330), 35.00cd(n= 405), 39.24cd(n= 1060), 59.25a(n= 7), 33.33d(n= 24), 53.57bc(n= 28), 43.31c(n= 157), and 58.33ab(n= 12) for A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I teams, respectively. Among breeds there were rates (%) of 36.89ab(n= 412), 34.68b(n= 1286), 35.13ab(n= 74), 38.94a(n= 1140), and 37.80ab(n= 82) for Brahman, Nelore, Gir, Girolando, and Holstein, respectively. In the study, pregnancy rates (%) of 35.21b(n= 1698) in beef cattle and 38.65a(n= 1296) in dairy cattle were observed. The differences in pregnancy rates with respect to the evaluated factors, may be explained by individual, breed, and nutritional variations of the animals. There are few data in the literature with results on the embryo transfer use of IVF bovine under field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionised cancer therapy but frequently cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Description of late-onset and duration of irAEs in the literature is often incomplete. To investigate reporting and incidence of late-onset and long-lasting irAEs, we reviewed all registration trials leading to ICI's approval by the US FDA and/or EMA up to December 2019. We analysed real-world data from all lung cancer (LC) and melanoma (Mel) patients treated with approved ICIs at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV) from 2011 to 2019. To account for the immortal time bias, we used a time-dependent analysis to assess the potential association between irAEs and overall survival (OS). Duration of irAEs and proportion of patients with ongoing toxicities at data cut-off were not specified in 56/62 (90%) publications of ICIs registration trials. In our real-world analysis, including 437 patients (217 LC, 220 Mel), 229 (52.4%) experienced at least one grade ≥2 toxicity, for a total of 318 reported irAEs, of which 112 (35.2%) were long-lasting (≥6 months) and about 40% were ongoing at a median follow-up of 369 days [194–695] or patient death. The cumulative probability of irAE onset from treatment initiation was 42.8%, 51.0% and 57.3% at 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively. The rate of ongoing toxicity from the time of first toxicity onset was 42.8%, 38.4% and 35.7% at 6, 12 and 24 months. Time-dependent analysis showed no significant association between the incidence of irAEs and OS in both cohorts (log Rank p = 0.67 and 0.19 for LC and Mel, respectively). Late-onset and long-lasting irAEs are underreported but common events during ICIs therapy. Time-dependent survival analysis is advocated to assess their impact on OS. Real-world evidence is warranted to fully capture and characterise late-onset and long-lasting irAEs in order to implement appropriate strategies for patient surveillance and follow-up. • Late-onset and long-lasting irAEs are underreported in immunotherapy clinical trials. • RWD is of paramount importance to complement data from ICI's clinical trials. • Long-lasting irAEs are common events during ICI's therapy. • Time-dependent survival analysis is advocated to assess the impact of irAEs on OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]