Purpose - The main purpose of this study was to determine whether users of the online social network site, Facebook, actually look at the ads displayed (briefly, to test the existence of the ...phenomenon known as "banner blindness" in this website), thus ascertaining the effectiveness of paid advertising, and comparing it with the number of friends' recommendations seen.Design methodology approach - In order to achieve this goal, an experiment using eye-tracking technology was administered to a total of 20 participants from a major university in the USA, followed by a questionnaire.Findings - Findings show that online ads attract less attention levels than friends' recommendations. A possible explanation for this phenomenon may be related to the fact that ads on Facebook are outside of the F-shaped visual pattern range, causing a state of "banner blindness". Results also show that statistically there is no difference in ads seen and clicked between women and men.Research limitations implications - The sample type (undergraduate and graduate students) and the sample size (20 participants) inhibit the generalization of the findings to other populations.Practical implications - The paper includes implications for the development of an effective online advertising campaign, as well as some proposed conceptualizations of the terms social network site and advertising, which can be used as platforms for discussion or as standards for future definitions.Originality value - This study fulfils some identified needs to study advertising effectiveness based on empirical data and to assess banner blindness in other contexts, representative of current internet users' habits.
Abstract
Background
Periportal fibrosis (PPF) is the major pathological consequence of Schistosoma mansoni infection. The Coutinho index—the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) to platelet ratio (ALP/upper ...limit of normality {ULN}/platelet count 106/L x 100)—was validated. Validation consisted of modest laboratory tests to predict advanced PPF.
Methods
A total of 378 individuals from an endemic area of Brazil with a previous history of the disease and/or a positive parasitological examination were evaluated. We used ultrasound examination as the gold standard for classification of the PPF pattern and measured the biological markers of the index.
Results
Forty-one individuals (10.8%) without PPF, 291 (77%) with moderate PPF and 46 (12.2%) with advanced PPF, were identified. ALP and platelet count were used for the index. The cut-off point ≥0.228 predicted the presence of fibrosis with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.56, sensitivity of 68.6% and specificity of 46.3%. There was an absence of PPF in 46.3% of individuals without fibrosis and the presence of PPF in 68.5% of cases with moderate and advanced ultrasound fibrosis. The identification of advanced fibrosis with a cut-off point ≥0.316 revealed an AUROC curve of 0.70, sensitivity of 67.4% and specificity of 68.3%, thus confirming the advanced phase in 65.2% of cases compared with ultrasound.
Conclusion
The Coutinho index was able to predict advanced PPF in most individuals. It is valid as a new tool, uses routine laboratory tests and therefore is more accessible for screening patients with a severe form of the disease in endemic areas.
The Eukaryotic Pathogen Genomics Database Resource (EuPathDB, http://eupathdb.org) is a collection of databases covering 170+ eukaryotic pathogens (protists & fungi), along with relevant free-living ...and non-pathogenic species, and select pathogen hosts. To facilitate the discovery of meaningful biological relationships, the databases couple preconfigured searches with visualization and analysis tools for comprehensive data mining via intuitive graphical interfaces and APIs. All data are analyzed with the same workflows, including creation of gene orthology profiles, so data are easily compared across data sets, data types and organisms. EuPathDB is updated with numerous new analysis tools, features, data sets and data types. New tools include GO, metabolic pathway and word enrichment analyses plus an online workspace for analysis of personal, non-public, large-scale data. Expanded data content is mostly genomic and functional genomic data while new data types include protein microarray, metabolic pathways, compounds, quantitative proteomics, copy number variation, and polysomal transcriptomics. New features include consistent categorization of searches, data sets and genome browser tracks; redesigned gene pages; effective integration of alternative transcripts; and a EuPathDB Galaxy instance for private analyses of a user's data. Forthcoming upgrades include user workspaces for private integration of data with existing EuPathDB data and improved integration and presentation of host-pathogen interactions.
The study of facial growth is explored in many fields of science, including anatomy, genetics, and forensics. In the field of forensics, it acts as a valuable tool for combating child pornography. ...The present research proposes a new method, based on relative measurements and fixed references of the human face-specifically considering measurements of the diameter of the iris (iris ratio)-for the analysis of facial growth in association with age in children and sub-adults. The experimental sample consisted of digital photographs of 1000 Brazilian subjects, aged between 6 and 22 years, distributed equally by sex and divided into five specific age groups (6, 10, 14, 18, and 22 year olds ± one month). The software package SAFF-2D® (Forensic Facial Analysis System, Brazilian Federal Police, Brazil) was used for positioning 11 landmarks on the images. Ten measurements were calculated and used as fixed references to evaluate the growth of the other measurements for each age group, as well the accumulated growth (6-22 years old). The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was applied for the evaluation of intra-examiner and inter-examiner reliability within a specific set of images. Pearson's Correlation Coefficient was used to assess the association between each measurement taken and the respective age groups. ANOVA and Post-hoc Tukey tests were used to search for statistical differences between the age groups. The outcomes indicated that facial structures grow with different timing in children and adolescents. Moreover, the growth allometry expressed in this study may be used to understand what structures have more or less proportional variation in function for the age ranges studied. The diameter of the iris was found to be the most stable measurement compared to the others and represented the best cephalometric measurement as a fixed reference for facial growth ratios (or indices). The method described shows promising potential for forensic applications, especially as part of the armamentarium against crimes involving child pornography and child abuse.
•Few studies have described post-covid conditions in a population, mainly de low/middle-income country.•Multimorbidity was significantly associated with anxiety symptomatology.•Being male and aging ...reduced the anxiety and depression score.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit individuals with chronic conditions the hardest. It is known that anxiety symptoms are frequent in post-COVID conditions. We want to examine whether multimorbidity is associated with anxiety in post-COVID patients. We reported descriptive statistics from 389 post-COVID patients and perform a linear regression with anxiety symptoms measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale. For each extra chronic condition, there was a mean increase of 0.11 in the HAD-anxiety score. However, there was a reduction for age and being male. These findings can potentially help policy-makers better organize post-COVID health services and improve patients care.
Chagas disease is a relevant public health threat that affects over 6 million people worldwide, resulting in devastating social and economic consequences. Moreover, the therapeutic options are ...limited, highlighting the urgency in searching for novel active antitrypanosomal molecules. Compounds with either thiazole or biaryl units have been described as possessing anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activities. Therefore, here, we describe the synthesis of nine arylated and diarylated thiazole derivatives and the evaluation of their in vitro toxicity on mammalian cells as well as their anti-T. cruzi activity. The compounds were prepared in straightforward synthetic routes, using Hantzsch thiazole synthesis and cross-coupling reactions as key steps. A pyridylphenyl-thiazole (PPT) derivative (4c) presented 76% of T. cruzi growth inhibition in preliminary tests using a fixed concentration of 20 µM. This compound was used as a scaffold for the synthesis of two novel PPT analogs (4g and 4h). Dose-response assays on intracellular forms of T. cruzi demonstrated that these three compounds presented high antiparasitic potency (half maximal effective concentration (EC50) values ranging from 1.15 to 2.38 μM) and low toxic profile against L929 cell lines. Hence, these findings highlight the pyridyl-phenyl-thiazole backbone as a novel privileged scaffold in the search for active molecules against T. cruzi.
This review addresses three contemporary questions on the topic of word of mouth (WOM): (1) Are WOM and online WOM the same phenomenon? (2) What kind of target is more likely to engage in brands ...recommendations? (3) Can ‘organic’ and ‘fertilised’ WOM have the same value/impact? Furthermore, the present work gives academics a framework for analysing the popular phenomenon WOM, and provides marketers with some best practice suggestions. Finally, the reader can find some suggestions for further research on this topic.
Ao fazer uso da técnica de revisão sistemática, este trabalho apresenta dois objetivos. Em primeiro lugar, procurou-se identificar por meio da literatura especializada diferentes formas de ...classificação da orientação sexual no âmbito do mercado de trabalho. Tendo em vista o segundo objetivo, analisou-se o mercado de trabalho como um canal que gera distribuição desigual de renda mediante mecanismos discriminatórios a partir dos diferenciais de rendimentos com base na orientação sexual. A fonte de dados utilizada foi a plataforma Periódicos Capes. Entre os resultados, quatro formas de identificação da orientação sexual foram observadas, tendo as uniões consensuais (coabitação) o maior número de estudos, seguidas da autodeclaração, comportamento e militância. Adicionalmente, pode-se destacar a penalidade salarial sofrida por homens gays vis-à-vis as suas contrapartes sexuais, prêmio salarial para lésbicas, com relação às mulheres heterossexuais, e desvantagens dos homossexuais na inserção do mercado de trabalho em simulações na taxa de convite para entrevista, revelando, assim, indícios de discriminação logo na etapa inicial de contratação. Finalmente, é ressaltado que, mesmo na presença de legislações que protejam minorias sexuais, até em países mais liberais e tolerantes, o ambiente profissional não está completamente alinhado à produtividade do trabalhador.
This retrospective case series aims to describe the ophthalmic manifestations of the Monkeypox virus infection in seven patients evaluated in two countries of South America (Colombia and Brazil). Two ...had skin lesions in the eyelid, and five had conjunctivitis. None had intraocular involvement. Three of seven patients had a history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, and all patients had lesions in the genital region, suggesting sexual-contact transmission. In 6 of 7 cases, conjunctival RT-PCR was positive for the Monkeypox virus, including one case without conjunctival vesicles. In all cases, lesions resolved without complications, and just two required antiviral treatment. All patients demonstrated improvement without complications. RT-PCR positivity in conjunctiva demonstrated the presence of the Monkeypox virus, suggesting that ocular-mediated transmission could be plausible. Ophthalmologists should be aware of this ophthalmic manifestation.
Robust systems are required for autonomous driving on non-uniform terrain commonly found in open-pit mines and developing countries. To help narrow the gap in this kind of application, this work ...proposes a perception system for autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance specialized on unpaved roads and off-road environments capable of navigating through rough terrain without a predefined trail. As part of this system, the Configurable Modular Segmentation Network (CMSNet) framework is proposed facilitating the creation of different architectures arrangements. Some CMSNet configurations were ported and trained to segment obstacles and trafficable ground on a new collection of images from unpaved roads and off-road scenarios containing adverse conditions such as night, rain, and dust. It was also performed: an investigation regarding the feasibility of applying deep learning to detect regions where the vehicle can pass through when there is no clear track boundary; a study of how our proposed segmentation algorithms behave in different severity levels of visibility impairment; and an evaluation of field tests carried out with semantic segmentation architectures conditioned for real-time inference. The new dataset (named Kamino) has almost 12,000 new images collected from an operated vehicle with various sensors, including eight cameras capturing synchronized sequences from different points of view. The Kamino dataset has a high number of labeled pixels compared to similar publicly available collections. It includes images collected from an off-road proving ground exclusively assembled for testing the system that emulates an open-pit mine scenario under different adverse conditions of visibility. To achieve embedded real-time inference and allows field tests, many layers of the CMSNet CNN networks were methodically removed and fused using TensorRT, C++, and CUDA. Empirical experiments on two datasets validated the effectiveness of the proposed system. The proposed solution achieves a mIoU of ∼87% (50.40% higher than the PSPNet and 56.21% than the DeepLabV3) on the Kamino dataset, and ∼81 % on the DepScene dataset, reaching up to 29 FPS on the RTX2060 GPU and almost 100 FPS with the optimized configurations, and low standard deviation values with the DrivePX2 computer platform.
Display omitted
•Autonomous vehicles and ADAS able to drive on unpaved urban and rural roads.•Developing countries have unpaved roads; open-pit industry has off-road environment.•Datasets for off-road track including impairments to exploit visibility condition.•Deep Supervised Learning for semantic segmentation track in adverse conditions.•Computational cost to embed DL for field tests and the Jaccard index for evaluation.
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