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In low-resource settings where vital registration of death is not routine it is often of critical interest to determine and study the cause of death (COD) for individuals and the cause-specific mortality fraction (CSMF) for populations. Post-mortem autopsies, considered the gold standard for COD assignment, are often difficult or impossible to implement due to deaths occurring outside the hospital, expense, and/or cultural norms. For this reason, Verbal Autopsies (VAs) are commonly conducted, consisting of a questionnaire administered to next of kin recording demographic information, known medical conditions, symptoms, and other factors for the decedent. This article proposes a novel class of hierarchical factor regression models that avoid restrictive assumptions of standard methods, allow both the mean and covariance to vary with COD category, and can include covariate information on the decedent, region, or events surrounding death. Taking a Bayesian approach to inference, this work develops an MCMC algorithm and validates the FActor Regression for Verbal Autopsy (FARVA) model in simulation experiments. An application of FARVA to real VA data shows improved goodness-of-fit and better predictive performance in inferring COD and CSMF over competing methods. Code and a user manual are made available at https//github.com/kelrenmor/farva.In the past few decades, nanotechnology has been employed to provide breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of several diseases using drug-carrying particles (DCPs). In such an endeavor, the optimal design of DCPs is paramount, which necessitates the use of an accurate and trustworthy constitutive model in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulators. We herein introduce a continuum model for elaborating on the rheological implications of adding particles in blood. The model is developed using non-equilibrium thermodynamics to guarantee thermodynamic admissibility. Red blood cells are modeled as deformed droplets with a constant volume that are able to aggregate, whereas particles are considered rigid spheroids. The model predictions are compared favorably against rheological data for both spherical and non-spherical particles immersed in non-aggregating blood. learn more It is expected that the use of this model will allow for the testing of DCPs in virtual patients and for their tailor-design in treating various diseases.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00397-021-01289-x.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00397-021-01289-x.Satellite remote sensing offers an effective remedy to challenges in ground-based and aerial mapping that have previously impeded quantitative assessments of global seagrass extent. Commercial satellite platforms offer fine spatial resolution, an important consideration in patchy seagrass ecosystems. Currently, no consistent protocol exists for image processing of commercial data, limiting reproducibility and comparison across space and time. Additionally, the radiometric performance of commercial satellite sensors has not been assessed against the dark and variable targets characteristic of coastal waters. This study compared data products derived from two commercial satellites DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 and Planet's RapidEye. A single scene from each platform was obtained at St. Joseph Bay in Florida, USA, corresponding to a November 2010 field campaign. A reproducible processing regime was developed to transform imagery from basic products, as delivered from each company, into analysis-ready data usable fo processing routine developed here offers a reproducible workflow for WorldView-2 and RapidEye imagery, which was tested in two additional coastal systems. This approach may become platform independent as more sensors become available.COVID-19 had a devastating and profound impact worldwide. The business world has been turbulent, and countries' economic landscape has shown dismal performance. There have been massive downsizing of employees and deductions of pay in most organisations as the pandemic outbreak negatively impacted the business environment. The study aimed to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on the psychology of employees working in private organisations. A qualitative analysis was conducted with 22 middle-level Indian employees employed in private sector organisations. Content analysis was performed from the transcripts and themes; coding categories were developed. Participation in the study was voluntary and was carried out through informed consent. The results demonstrated that the participants experienced psychological stress, social disconnectedness, and a sense of loneliness over the lockdown period. Furthermore, the semi-structured interviews also revealed the perceptions of the job, career prospects, and the fear of the imminent looming future ahead. The pandemic has raised serious questions on the employee's mental health and engagement issues. Managerial implications have been discussed with suggestions to alleviate the current professional and psychological challenges.Globally, increased domestic violence against women during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns concerned researchers, policymakers, governments and the civil society. In South Africa, an increased risk for gender-based domestic violence against women during the lockdown period was reported by various sources including the national gender-based violence call centre (GBVCC), the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the civil society. Covid-19 lockdown encouraged spatial distance a public health measure. This measure inadvertently created social distance and social disconnection. Public life, which is frequently a coping mechanism and an escape for some women and girls at risk of domestic violence, was curtailed by the lockdown rules that forbade movements. Informal sources of help for victims of abuse were limited due to closed economic activities, and community-based helping services for domestic violence were not permitted to open. Some victims of domestic violence struggled with public transportation to access informal help, visit the police, social workers and other sources of help. Some organisations offered online and telephone services. The increased risk of gender-based domestic violence during the lockdown is indicative of poly-violence that women are exposed to. The risk of the domesticated poly-violence during crisis periods could be averted by focussing on risk reduction for all forms of violations against women.In this study we intend to understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent stay-at-home orders, on the Spanish population's sense of belonging at three moments in time at the beginning of the lockdown, after one month of lockdown and with the return to the "new normality". A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey (N0 = 3480; N1 = 1041; N2 = 569). The sense of belonging was evaluated by means of four Likert-type items. These questions included membership in different groups work/studies, friends, family and neighborhood or community. Sociodemographic and COVID-19-related data were collected. Additionally, mental health, spiritual well-being, loneliness, social support and discrimination were assessed. Descriptive analyses were carried out and linear regression models compiled. The sense of belonging increased significantly during confinement, dropping dramatically with the start of the return to the "new normality" process. The only variable that showed interaction with time and sense of belonging was discrimination. Work condition (not working providing the lowest sense of belonging scores), social support from friends and loneliness were the main predictors of the sense of belonging. The impact caused by the pandemic and the actions adopted during the first weeks regarding the sense of belonging is evident. It has been a key variable in dealing with COVID-19. Actions are now needed to increase our sense of belonging to face the post-epidemic crisis and avoid a greater impact in other areas.COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant international public health problem. In addition to dealing with the pandemic's impact on mental health, parents need to cope with specific changes in their routines caused by social distance measures. This study aimed to investigate common mental disorders (CMD) symptoms in Brazilian parents during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors. A total of 232 Brazilian parents ranging from 20 to 48 years old (M = 33.85; SD = 4.83) with children aged 1-36 months (M = 17.00; SD = 9,87) participated in an online survey. Parents answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), and Parenting Sense of Competence Scale. Chi-square tests, correlations, and multiple linear regression were performed. Results showed that parents' symptoms of CMD were negatively associated to perceived parental competence (β =- 0.130; p = 0.011) and family income (β =- 0.190; p = 0.024). Furthermore, perceived stress was the most related variable to parents' symptoms of CMD (β = 0.618; p  less then  0.001), showing a positive association. The model explained 49.5% of the variation. Results suggest that lower family income may increase symptoms of CMD in Brazilian parents, which is a concern in a country of high social inequality. Parental sense of competence may be a relevant protective factor. Interventions targeting parental competence and stress reduction should be considered to address the mental health impacts of the pandemic.The world is currently facing an unprecedented pandemic crisis. The highly contagious coronavirus, or COVID-19, first occurred in Wuhan (China) in December 2019. The outbreak of the virus quickly spread all over the world, reaching Europe in January 2020. The first case in Germany was reported to be diagnosed on January 27. This study focuses on assessing the mental health consequences of the German public during COVID-19 outbreak. Psychological discomfort, generalized anxiety disorder, sleep disturbances, depressive symptoms and threat perception are especially investigated with respect to demographics, security importance and negative affectivity. The psychological vulnerabilities that go along with the pandemic are evaluated in detail. The cross-sectional online survey conducted in Germany reveals a prevalence of depressive symptoms, psychological discomfort, threat perception, generalized anxiety disorder and sleep disturbances associated with the pandemic crisis. The results also indicate a relationship between mental health issues and negative affectivity as well as the perception of threat. This paper gives an outlook on long-term consequences and what could be the strategies to mitigate the negative mental health outcomes of the crisis.Polyelectrolyte complex coacervates of homologous (co)polyelectrolytes with a near-ideally random distribution of a charged and neutral ethylene oxide comonomer were synthesized. The unique platform provided by these building blocks enabled an investigation of the phase behavior across charge fractions 0.10 ≤ f ≤ 1.0. Experimental phase diagrams for f = 0.30-1.0 were obtained from thermogravimetric analysis of complex and supernatant phases and contrasted with molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical scaling laws. At intermediate to high f, a dependence of polymer weight fraction in the salt-free coacervate phase (w P,c) of w P,c ∼ f 0.37±0.01 was extracted; this trend was in good agreement with accompanying simulation predictions. Below f = 0.50, w P,c was found to decrease more dramatically, qualitatively in line with theory and simulations predicting an exponent of 2/3 at f ≤ 0.25. Preferential salt partitioning to either coacervate or supernatant was found to be dictated by the chemistry of the constituent (co)polyelectrolytes.