Unilever (Portugal)

INTRODUCTION: Late HIV diagnosis is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and risk of onward transmission. Increasing HIV early diagnosis is still a priority. In this observational study with historical control, we determined the impact of an opportunistic HIV screening strategy in the reduction of late diagnosis and missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis. METHODS: The screening programme was implemented in the emergency department (ED) of the Hospital de Cascais between September 2018 and September 2021. Eligible patients were aged 18-64 years, with no known HIV diagnosis or antibody testing performed in the previous year, and who required blood work for any reason. Out of the 252 153 emergency visits to the ED, we identified 43 153 (17.1%) patients eligible for HIV testing. Among the total population eligible for the screening, 38 357 (88.9%) patients were ultimately tested for HIV. Impact of the ED screening was determined by analysing late diagnosis in the ED and missed opportunities at different healthcare settings 3 years before and 3 years after the start of the ED screening. RESULTS: After 3 years of automated HIV ED testing, we found 69 newly diagnosed HIV cases (54% male, 39% Portuguese nationals, mean age 40.5 years). When comparing the characteristics of HIV diagnoses made in the ED, we observed a significant reduction in the number of people with late HIV diagnosis before and after implementation of the screening programme (78.4% vs. 39.1%, respectively; p = 0.0291). The mean number of missed opportunities for diagnosis also fell (2.6 vs. 1.5 annual encounters with the healthcare system per patient, p = 0.0997). CONCLUSIONS: People living with HIV in Cascais and their providers miss several opportunities for earlier diagnosis. Opportunistic screening strategies in settings previously deemed to be unconventional, such as EDs, are feasible and effective in mitigating missed opportunities for timely HIV diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Efficacy and safety of mirikizumab, a p19-targeted anti-interleukin-23 monoclonal antibody, for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis was demonstrated previously. We evaluated clinical response, baseline characteristics, and clinical status in patients not responding by 12 weeks (W) of induction who then received extended induction treatment. METHOD: Patients unresponsive to 300 mg of intravenous (IV) mirikizumab every 4 weeks by W12 received 3 additional 300 mg IV doses every 4 weeks. Week-4 responders received 200 mg mirikizumab every 4 weeks subcutaneously until W52. Patients responding by W12 but subsequently losing response received rescue therapy with 300 mg IV for 3 doses every 4 weeks. Logistic regression modelling was performed for patients not achieving W12 clinical response to assess baseline characteristics and W12 efficacy parameters and potential prognostic factors of clinical response at W24. RESULTS: Of patients not achieving clinical response during induction, 53.7% achieved response following extended induction. After 52W, 72.2%, 43.1%, and 36.1% of patients achieved clinical response, endoscopic, and clinical remission, respectively. Of induction responders who subsequently lost response, 63.2% and 36.8% achieved symptomatic response and remission, respectively, after receiving rescue therapy No prior biologic or tofacitinib treatment, no immunomodulators at baseline, age older than 40 years, and W12 modified Mayo Score improvement were positively associated with a response to extended induction. The safety profile was similar to initial induction, with 38.3% treatment emergent adverse events, mostly mild. CONCLUSION: With "extended induction," total of 80.3% mirikizumab-treated patients achieved clinical response by W24. Potential prognostic factors determining response include disease severity, disease phenotype, C-reactive protein, and previous biologic therapy.

Uma perspectiva comportamental dos efeitos do uso de sistemas de medio de performance nas empresas: Evidncia de um caso de estudo

The real estate sector plays a vital role in today's economy and society. However, the current system for managing real estate transactions remains heavily reliant on manual document handling and verification processes, which are often inefficient and vulnerable to fraud, underscoring the need for innovative solutions. This position paper proposes a system that integrates Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Verifiable Credentials (VCs) to automate document extraction, verification, and management within real estate transactions. Key goals include (1) a comprehensive workflow to transform diverse document formats into standardized VCs and (2) an automated data matching mechanism to identify inconsistencies and potential fraud indicators. The approach involves using the potential of blockchain and Web3 technologies as a decentralized trust layer to improve data integrity and transparency. This solution holds significant promise for streamlining real estate processes, fostering trust among stakeholders, and establishing a scalable framework for secure and efficient digital transactions.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common, preventable, and treatable disease, defined by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. Acute COPD episodes dramatically impact patients’ quality of life and are a significant burden on healthcare systems. The remote monitorization of COPD patients enables prompt clinical intervention whenever needed, preventing acute episodes and delaying disease progression. Here we present the results from a tele-monitoring initiative for COPD patients, following a national multi-centre pilot study funded by the Shared Services of Ministry of Health (SPMS, Portugal), with 130 patients enrolled. The remote assessment of these patients allowed for the timely intervention in the management of acute episodes and yielded significant improvements for the number of emergency episodes, hospital admissions, days of hospitalization and costs. Moreover, results from a satisfaction questionnaire conducted in 2019 releveled high satisfaction levels among all users. Data on COPD patients’ tele-monitoring effectiveness through the COVID-19 pandemic was also collected. In conclusion, the tele-monitoring system for COPD patients herein reported significantly improved value-based healthcare, representing a valuable tool for other chronic diseases whenever clinically feasible.

The thermal infrared is the wavelength regime of choice for a broad range of astronomical disciplines: from the small scales related to the dust grain properties, over the bodies of our Solar System and extrasolar planets, the stars both young and evolved and structures surrounding them, all the way to the properties of the interstellar medium and large-scale dusty formations both in the Milky Way and in other galaxies. In this talk I will give an overview of the recent science highlights exploiting ground-based thermal-infrared facilities, to lay ground for more detailed discussions of these scientific achievements, presentation of the new results, and the bright future we see ahead.

The real estate market, valued at trillions of euros, faces challenges such as illiquidity, inefficiencies, and the reliance on slow and costly processes with unnecessary intermediaries. This paper proposes a real estate marketplace built on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to leverage its inherent decentralized properties. The system aims to accelerate processes with reduced costs, improved transparency, and a reduced level of fraud. The outcome is a secure decentralized finance (DeFi) platform involving transactions of Real-World Asset (RWA) tokens, providing a digital representation of the ownership rights of a real estate property.