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Observations of aurorae borealis at low latitudes are very rare and are clearly associated with strong geomagnetic storms. Morphologically, they are characterized by a diffuse red colour with no rapid motions. The main aim of this paper is to analyse two hitherto ignored aurorae that were observed at two low-latitude sites, Tenerife (28°N 18°W) and Mexico City (19°N 99°W), in 1770 and 1789, respectively. These observations can give supplementary information about the level of solar activity at those times where direct solar observations were rather scarce. Studying also the behaviour of the heliosphere during this period using different proxies, we find that the open magnetic field better describes auroral occurrences. The variation over time in geomagnetic latitude at the two sites is also calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to culturally adapt the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer (ABC) measure for use in the Hispanic/Latino population living in the United States (US)., Methods: In accordance with Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) Consortium guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of measures for content and linguistic validity, we conducted: two forward-translations, reconciliation, two back-translations, revision and harmonization, six cognitive interviews, revision, external expert review, and finalization of the version. We used a mixed methods approach, conducting cognitive interviews with Hispanic/Latino community members while also convening an expert panel of six clinicians, health professionals, and community representatives and including the in the entire process. After cross-culturally adapting the ABC measure, we assessed the psychometric properties of the instrument using item response theory analysis. Item parameters, discrimination and category thresholds, and standard errors were calculated. For each of the adapted subdomains, we used item information curves to report the graphical profile of item effectiveness., Results: Twenty-two Hispanic/Latino community members were enrolled in cognitive interviews, and Hispanics/Latinos fluent in Spanish completed the measure to assess its psychometric properties. Cognitive interviews revealed opportunities to improve items. Key changes from the original measure include the inclusion of gender inclusive language and an inquiry into e-cigarette use on items related to smoking habits. Psychometric property analyses revealed that the anticipated delay in seeking medical help, general cancer beliefs, and cancer screening beliefs and behaviors subdomains had some slope parameters that were < 1; this implies that those items were not able to adequately discriminate the latent trait and had poor performance., Discussion: The adapted ABC measure for US Hispanics/Latinos meets content and linguistic validity standards, with construct validity confirmed for cancer symptom recognition and barriers to symptomatic presentation subdomains, but revisions are necessary for others, highlighting the need for ongoing refinement to ensure the cultural appropriateness of instruments., Competing Interests: JCa was employed by Heritage Care, Inc. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Contreras, Wang, Castillo, Caicedo, Guerrero Vázquez, Robalino, Hidalgo-Arroyo and Villalonga-Olives.)

Purpose of Review: This article discusses new data available on the safety of the second-generation rotavirus vaccines both in the United States and internationally., Recent Findings: Second-generation rotavirus vaccines are both highly effective against rotavirus disease. Recent data from passive and active surveillance systems in the United States indicate that RV1 and RV5 vaccines may possibly cause a small increase in the risk of intussusception; an estimated 1-3 US infants out of 100 000 might develop intussusception within 7 days of getting their first dose of rotavirus vaccine. Parents and health providers should be aware of the small risk of intussusception, the signs and symptoms of intussusception, and the need for prompt care., Summary: Taking into consideration available data on the benefits and risks, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to recommend that all US infants receive rotavirus vaccine based on the age and precaution/contraindication criteria. The benefits of RV5 and RV1 outweigh the small excess risk of intussusception. Safety monitoring will continue, both in the United States and internationally, to further quantitate the intussusception risk following each vaccine.

Varicella vaccine (Varivax, Merck) has been available in the United States since 1995. We reviewed published results of postlicensure studies of vaccine effectiveness. Among 19 studies, 17 reported on the effectiveness of vaccine received before exposure, and 2 reported on effectiveness after exposure. Studies used retrospective and prospective cohort, case-control, and secondary attack rate (household contact) designs. The majority of estimates assessed protection against clinically diagnosed varicella. One dose of varicella vaccine was 84.5% effective (median; range, 44%-100%) in preventing all varicella and 100% effective (mean and median) in preventing severe varicella. When administered after exposure, varicella vaccine was highly effective in preventing or modifying varicella. Although 1 dose of varicella vaccine has provided excellent protection, a higher degree of effectiveness is needed in order to interrupt transmission and to prevent outbreaks in settings with high contact rates. Monitoring the effectiveness of the newly recommended 2-dose childhood vaccine schedule for varicella vaccine is a priority.

Human growth and its resulting patterns display a great inter- and intra-population heterogeneity that reflects the quality of life, health and nutritional condition of populations. The aim of this work was to expand the knowledge about the growth of Jujenean children by statistical procedures that graphically express the relation of anthropometric variables to age and allow their comparison with specific references. Anthropometric data came from 9092 children (0-5 years) from various localities of Jujuy province (northwest Argentina) located at 1200 m above sea level (ma.s.l.). The centiles of weight for age (W/A) and height for age (H/A) were obtained by the LMS method using maximum penalized likelihood. A statistical and graphic comparison was made with the corresponding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) centile references. In general, estimated centiles were lower than those in both references. Discrepancies for H/A in comparison with the CDC reference ranged between 1.09+/-0.59% and 1.66+/-0.34%, and for W/A between 1.82+/-1.56% and 3.36+/-1.4%. In comparison with the WHO reference, discrepancies ranged from 1.38+/-0.65% to 1.87+/-0.41% for H/A, and from 1.12+/-1.28% to 2.74+/-1.49% for W/A. Centile discrepancies were attributed to the characteristics of early childhood feeding and the interaction of a set of biological and mesological factors that the Jujenean population is exposed to. Growth and nutritional conditions of this population should be evaluated with the WHO reference, for it reflects the recent growth pattern of biologically and culturally healthy children raised in favourable conditions, a pattern that also reflects that of Jujenean children.

Purpose of Review: Varicella zoster virus is the cause of both varicella (chickenpox) and herpes zoster (shingles). A live attenuated varicella vaccine was developed in 1974 and was approved in 1995 by the United States Food and Drug Administration for administration to both healthy children (>12 months of age) and adults who are susceptible to varicella. Many studies have shown varicella vaccine to be highly effective. Widespread use of the varicella vaccine in the United States has led to important changes in the epidemiology of the infection. The purpose of this review is to summarize the most recent and important findings regarding the impact that the widespread use of varicella vaccine has had on the epidemiology of varicella zoster infections in children., Recent Findings: Data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown a dramatic decline in the incidence of varicella (76 to 87% from 1995 to 2000), with the greatest decline observed in preschool children, as well as a reduction in the number of hospitalizations for cases of varicella. However, as the proportion of children in the United States who have received the varicella vaccine has increased there have been several recent reports in which the effectiveness of the vaccine was substantially lower than expected. In particular, reports during outbreaks of varicella in children have noted increases in breakthrough disease in children who were vaccinated before the age of 15 months, in children with asthma, in those who received the varicella vaccine soon after the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (<28 days), and in children who received the vaccine more than 3 years before the development of disease., Summary: Although reports of outbreaks of chickenpox in highly immunized groups have raised questions regarding the need for changes to the current vaccination policy, data undeniably indicate that immunization with varicella vaccine has been and continues to be successful in reducing the burden of disease in children and that universal immunization should continue to be a priority in the United States

Electronic artificial noses are being developed as systems for the automated detection and classification of odours, vapors and gases. In the food industry, such devices are used as aids for quality control or process-monitoring tools. An electronic nose (EN) is generally composed of a chemical sensing system and a pattern recognition system (e.g. artificial neural network). An EN based on a non-specific conducting polymer array was used to monitor chlorophenols in water samples. Operational parameters for the EN were optimized by a Plackett-Burman factorial design. The experimental parameters studied were: sample volume, platen temperature, sample equilibration time, loop fill time, sample pressurization time and injection time. Optimal experimental conditions were applied to chlorophenols determination and differentiation in ultrapure water samples spiked with the EPA listed chlorophenols. Data analysis was carried out using principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict the chlorophenols presence in water samples. The obtained results showed that it was possible to differentiate the five chlorophenol groups: monochlorophenol, dichlorophenol, trichlorophenol, tetrachlorophenol and pentachlorophenol. Differentiation of chlorophenol groups was based on Mahalanobis distance between the formed clusters. This Mahalanobis distance is designated by the Quality Factor, a value >2 for this quality factor means a good differentiation between the clusters.

This paper presents the results of the validation process to determine the concepts for knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer early detection practices among Puerto Rican elderly women. An initial questionnaire was designed based on the scientific literature review and focus group experiences. To determine its reliability and validity, 50 elderly women, stratified by type of profession and place of residence, were interviewed twice. Consistency of the questionnaire was analyzed using binomial test, matched t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Cronbach's coefficient effect. Factor analysis (FA) was the statistical technique used to analyze the grouping of the knowledge and beliefs statements. FA indicated that three scales for knowledge and one for beliefs can be constructed. The purpose of the scales was to identify differences among groups, according to breast cancer early detection practices. Construct validity was performed to determine the number of statistical associations between the scales and these practices. The results showed that beliefs scales was associated with practice of mammogram (p < 0.05), and visit to the gynecologist (p < 0.05) while the knowledge scale for early-detection was associated with the clinical breast examination (p < 0.05). The beliefs scale had better consistency than the knowledge scale. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.75 for the beliefs' scale and 0.30, 0.41 and 0.43 for each defined knowledge scale, respectively.