Clinical Features of COVID-19 on Patients With Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders.

Background And Objectives: To describe the clinical features and disease outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

Methods: The Neuroimmunology Brazilian Study Group has set up the report of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV2) cases in patients with NMOSD (pwNMOSD) using a designed web-based case report form. All neuroimmunology outpatient centers and individual neurologists were invited to register their patients across the country.

Self-reported adherence among people with epilepsy in Brazil.

Background: Nonadherence rates among people with epilepsy (PWE) are widely variable, ranging from 26% to 95.4%. We aimed to identify nonadherence in Brazil, its determinant factors, its impact on patients' management, and to compare it with other chronic nonparoxysmal diseases.

[Symptoms and upper limb work-related musculo-skeletal disorders among 173 supermarket cashiers].

Background: Cashiers in supermarket chains have long been considered at risk for the development of work related musculo-skeletal disorders of the upper limbs (UL-WMSDs). The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of UL-WMSDs among workers operating supermarket cash tills and, after clinical tests, their frequency.

Methods: A standardized questionnaire was given to a random group of 173 workers in order to collect information regarding symptoms in the upper limbs (pain and parasthesia).

Q-switching and efficient harmonic generation from a single-mode LMA photonic bandgap rod fiber laser.

We demonstrate a Single-Mode (SM) Large-Mode-Area (LMA) ytterbium-doped PCF rod fiber laser with stable and close to diffraction limited beam quality with 110W output power. Distributed-Mode-Filtering (DMF) elements integrated in the cladding of the rod fiber provide a robust spatial mode with a Mode-Field-Diameter (MFD) of 59μm. We further demonstrate high pulse energy Second-Harmonic-Generation (SHG) and Third Harmonic Generation (THG) using a simple Q-switched single-stage rod fiber laser cavity architecture reaching pulse energies up to 1mJ at 515nm and 0.

Single-Mode ytterbium-doped Large-Mode-Area photonic bandgap rod fiber amplifier.

Enabling Single-Mode (SM) operation in Large-Mode-Area (LMA) fiber amplifiers and lasers is critical, since a SM output ensures high beam quality and excellent pointing stability. In this paper, we demonstrate and test a new design approach for achieving SM LMA rod fibers by using a photonic bandgap structure. The structure allows resonant coupling of higher-order modes from the core and acts as a spatially Distributed Mode Filter (DMF).