The lack of precise definitions and terminological consensus about the impact studies of COVID-19 vaccination leads to confusing statements from the scientific community about what a vaccination ...impact study is.
The present work presents a narrative review, describing and discussing COVID-19 vaccination impact studies, mapping their relevant characteristics, such as study design, approaches and outcome variables, while analyzing their similarities, distinctions, and main insights.
The articles screening, regarding title, abstract, and full-text reading, included papers addressing perspectives about the impact of vaccines on population outcomes. The screening process included articles published before June 10, 2022, based on the initial papers' relevance to this study's research topics. The main inclusion criteria were data analyses and study designs based on statistical modelling or comparison of pre- and post-vaccination population.
The review included 18 studies evaluating the vaccine impact in a total of 48 countries, including 32 high-income countries (United States, Israel, and 30 Western European countries) and 16 low- and middle-income countries (Brazil, Colombia, and 14 Eastern European countries). We summarize the main characteristics of the vaccination impact studies analyzed in this narrative review.
Although all studies claim to address the impact of a vaccination program, they differ significantly in their objectives since they adopt different definitions of impact, methodologies, and outcome variables. These and other differences are related to distinct data sources, designs, analysis methods, models, and approaches.
Gut transit times and dispersal distances of seeds ingested by Callicebus coimbrai at two localities were estimated by tracing seeds found in faeces to feeding sites. Feeding events and faecal ...samples were recorded/collected and mapped by GPS between April and July, 2012. Junco group fed almost exclusively on fruit, whereas Trapsa group fed on fruit and leaves/flowers in similar proportions. A much higher proportion of faecal samples from Junco contained seeds (47.9%, n = 244, vs. 33.6%, n = 177), and contained more seeds, on average (3.0 ± 2.8 vs. 2.1 ± 2.1) than those from Trapsa. However, gut transit times were absolutely longer at Trapsa (mean = 4.87 ± 1.48 h, n = 6, vs. 2.85 ± 0.53 h, n = 13 daytime events), and dispersal distances were significantly longer (200 ± 81.0 m vs. 126 ± 53.4 m). The evidence indicates that, while the more folivorous diet at Trapsa was reflected in a much lower faecal seed count, it was also associated with longer gut transit times, and significantly longer dispersal distances, i.e. while dispersing approximately half the seeds dispersed by Junco group, Trapsa group dispersed these seeds over almost twice the distance.
An approach for the preparation of tetrandrine sustained release calcium alginate gel beads was described. In vitro the release of tetrandrine from sustained release dosage forms went on a time of 12 ...hours which fitted non-Fickian diffusion with matrix erosion significantly. In vivo the plasma concentration of tetrandrine extended preparation given in dogs reached Cmax 2.67±0.69 μg/ml approximately at 5.67±0.58 h after oral administration. The AUC0→24 and AUC0→∞ were 24.64±6.77 mg·h/l and 29.75±5.30 mg·h/l, respectively. The elimination half-time was 9.6±2.40 h. While a favorable correlativity existed between in vitro and in vivo with a correlative coefficient of 0.9798 through linear regression. An investigation on the quantitative relationship between in vitro release and in vivo absorption is a highly necessary work guided for manufacture, optimization and in vivo evaluation of sustained release dosage by means of in vitro release or dissolution tests.
A unique sustained drug-controlled release system was designed by robocasting using a composite ink able to fabricate scaffolds that embrace functions such as local drug delivery and bone tissue ...regeneration. Polylactic-co-glycolic acid nanoparticles loaded with levofloxacin and ibuprofen were successfully developed with a high drug-loading capacity, allowing a sustained release of both drugs. The drug-loaded nanoparticles were successfully added to a calcium phosphate-based composite ink, keeping their structural integrity during the printing process. A controlled drug release profile was verified for the composite scaffolds containing encapsulated drug nanoparticles, contrarily to the completely released in the first hours for both scaffolds that contained non-encapsulated drugs (levofloxacin and ibuprofen). The work developed introduces an innovative drug-loaded extrudable feedstock to fabricate bone-like scaffolds as drug delivery systems, not requiring any post-processing steps.
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•PLGA nanoparticles display a high drug-loading efficiency of Levofloxacin/Ibuprofen.•Levofloxacin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles promote a sustained release of Levofloxacin.•Ibuprofen-loaded PLGA nanoparticles promote a sustained release of Ibuprofen.•Encapsulated drug-loaded scaffolds keep structural integrity during printing process.•Innovative CaP-based scaffold as a controlled-release drug system was developed.
Atualmente o uso da internet e da telemedicina no tratamento das alterações psicológicas tem aumentado exponencialmente, mostrando as mais variadas vantagens do uso da tecnologia digital em programas ...de prevenção e tratamento em saúde. O objetivo deste trabalho é perceber a utilização e efetividade das tecnologias digitais no tratamento dos doentes com Perturbações do Comportamento Alimentar. Para tal realizou-se uma pesquisa de artigos científicos em bases de dados relevantes do qual resultaram 27 artigos incorporados neste estudo. As tecnologias digitais, desde sites web, aplicações para smartphones, mensagens de texto por telemóvel ou e-mail e a realidade virtual podem ser usados no recrutamento, na autoajuda, na Terapia Cognitivo Comportamental e monitorização do tratamento nos doentes com Perturbações do Comportamento Alimentar, tendo-se revelado eficazes e úteis. Além disso são vistas pelos doentes como vantajosas e facilitadoras do processo de tratamento, porém necessitam ser aprimoradas e personalizadas a cada tipo de doente. No entanto, apesar dos benefícios comprovados, a ciência carece ainda de estudos que mostrem a eficácia do uso das novas tecnologias, especialmente nas Perturbações do Comportamento Alimentar.
Business rules are a form of knowledge that expresses policies being practiced throughout the organization. The set of business rules represents part of important collective knowledge, therefore ...enterprises are likely to have them explicited and documented. The Story Mining Method was proposed previously for the extraction of business process elements from collaborative narratives; however, process models and rules are complementary forms of knowledge that represent organizational knowledge as a whole. This paper presents an extension of the Story Mining method and the collaborative supporting application, expanding the scope of the method for business rules extraction.