During the COVID-19 pandemic, effective public policy interventions have been crucial in combating virus transmission, sparking extensive debate on crisis management strategies and emphasizing the necessity for reliable models to inform governmental decisions, particularly at the local level. Leveraging disaggregated socio-demographic microdata, including social determinants, age-specific strata, and mobility patterns, we design a comprehensive network model of Catalonia's population and, through numerical simulation, assess its response to the outbreak of COVID-19 over the two-year period 2020-21. Our findings underscore the critical importance of timely implementation of broad non-pharmaceutical measures and effective vaccination campaigns in curbing virus spread; in addition, the identification of high-risk groups and their corresponding maps of connections within the network paves the way for tailored and more impactful interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRodlet cells (RCs) are specialised immune cells found in teleost fish, recognised for their unique morphology and potential roles in both immune responses and environmental adaptation. Herein, current knowledge on RCs is reviewed, focussing on their responsiveness to toxicants and environmental stressors. The historical context of RC research is discussed, including key milestones in the identification and characterisation of these cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The aim of the present study was to identify information and educational needs of neurological inpatients during residential rehabilitation from the caregivers' perspective. On top of that, it was important to acknowledge the conceptual framework underlying the complexity of needs, for the development in future research of an early identification of caregiver's information needs assessment tool. This preliminary study will allow to define the dimensions on which to measure caregiver needs and the quality of care provided to the patients and their families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The use of music in cognitive interventions represents a possibility with potential worthy of further investigation in the field of aging, both in terms of prevention from dementia, in the phase of mild cognitive impairment, and in the treatment of overt dementia.
Objectives: Currently, the types of music-based interventions proposed in the literature are characterized by wide heterogeneity, which is why it is necessary to clarify which interventions present more evidence of effectiveness in stimulating different cognitive domains.
Method: The study was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews.
IEEE J Biomed Health Inform
November 2024
The advent of computerized medical recording systems in healthcare facilities has made data retrieval tasks easier, compared to manual recording. Nevertheless, the potential of the information contained within medical records remains largely untapped, mostly due to the time and effort required to extract data from unstructured documents. Natural Language Processing (NLP) represents a promising solution to this challenge, as it enables the use of automated text-mining tools for clinical practitioners.
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