Average Of Previous Years Research Articles

How COVID-19 pandemic affected fisheries (catch volume and price): A case study in Europe

Portugal, with the highest per capita fish consumption and expenditure in the European Union, provides an excellent case study for examining the effects of COVID-19 containment measures on fishing activity. The present study focused exclusively on data obtained from mainland Portugal, covering the years 2015–2021. The analysis included different time periods: namely, pre-lockdown, during lockdown, and post-lockdown. The primary objective was to investigate and gain insights into the potential effects of lockdown measures on the quantity (catch volume) and price ($/Kg) of different fish species groups. During the lockdown, professional fishermen experienced lower quantities, compared to the average of previous years (2015–2019), in some months (March, April and May), of tuna (−44%: from 85 ton to 47 ton), small pelagic fish (−41.8%: from 4510 ton to 2627 ton), crustaceans (−31.9%: from 94 ton to 64 ton), and bivalves (−33.5%: from 412 ton to 274) being landed. Although prices fluctuated, only crustaceans showed a significant decrease in value (−34.8%: from 14.85$/Kg to 9.68 $/Kg). Groundfish, flatfish, cephalopods, and other marine fish groups did not experience any significant impacts on landing quantities. Although there was some recovery in catch volume and market prices in the post-closure period, indicating a certain level of resilience in the sector, the socio-economic context indirectly exacerbated the profitability challenges faced by the fishing industry due to COVID-19. Given the potential for future socio-economic crises, policymakers (e.g., country government) and stakeholders (e.g., Fishers’ associations, HORECA) should prepare comprehensive and easily implementable measures to strengthen the sector and minimize potential disruptions.

Flu vaccination ‘influenced’ by Covid-19: Italy experience

Abstract Background During last decades, National Health System has guaranteed free flu vaccination to the ‘fragile’ population. However, the population's compliance with this prophylactic procedure has never been optimal, reaching only in a few years and only in some regions the percentage considered satisfactory of 70% of people at risk. The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly raised the public's awareness of diseases of an infectious nature, respiratory in particular, among which influenza occupies a prominent role. We aimed to assess whether that compliance is increased as a result of Covid-19. Methods From epicenter.iss.it, influenza vaccination coverage rates of the Italian population both as a whole and of individual regions from 1999 to 2022 were obtained. In particular, comparisons were made between data for the pre-Covid (2017-2019) and post-Covid (2020-2022) three-year periods. Results The comparison revealed an increase in influenza vaccine coverage nationwide over the last three-year period (2020-2022). An average of the values from 1999 to 2017 of 15.22% of the population, an average of the pre-Covid three-year period (2017-2019) of 16.3%, not deviating from the national average of previous years, and an average of the post-Covid three-year period (2020-2022) of 22.1% was developed. A 35.58% increase in influenza vaccine coverage in the general population in Italy between the two three-year periods could be ascertained, which was the subject of special attention. Conclusions The Covid-19 pandemic has raised awareness among the population toward the usefulness of vaccination and not only toward the anti-SARS-CoV2 one. Influenza vaccination adherence has increased over the past three years. We plan to investigate whether compliance particularly affects those at higher risk who should be the main recipients. Key messages • The population after the covid 19 pandemic has become more aware of the usefulness of vaccination, not just the SARS-CoV2 vaccination.

The Prevalence of COVID-19 Among Health Care Personnel in a University Hospital by the End of 2020, and Ambient Air CO2 in Hospital Rooms Ventilated by Window-Opening in 2021/22

In autumn and winter 2020/21 and again in 2021/22 Slovenia has ranked among countries with the highest incidence of COVID-19 per million inhabitants and high excess mortality over the average of previous years. Many patients on non-COVID-19 hospital wards were in fact infected by SARS-CoV-2. Health care personnel at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana (UMCL) were falling ill by Covid-19 in large numbers despite wearing surgical masks and eye protection when dealing with patients. We compared the prevalence of COVID-19 among health care personnel of the Division of Internal Medicine, UMCL by the end of December 2020 with the national average of Slovenia. After instructions had been issued to increase room ventilation by opening windows every hour for at least 10 minutes, ambient air CO2 was measured in an intensive care room and in an outpatient clinic room during a 10-month period, from April 2021 to February 2022. The prevalence of COVID-19 by the end of December 2020 was 42 % among nurses, 21 % among registered nurses and 17 % among medical doctors, whereas the national of average of the population was significantly lower at 5.5 %. Between April 2021 and February 2022, the average CO2 (ppm) in the intensive care was 633 (standard deviation 198, range 376 – 1540), while in the outpatient clinic the average was 552 (standard deviation 199, range 380 - 1910). During 2020, before the instructions for the use of personal protective equipment were up-graded and before regular window-opening was advised, the prevalence of Covid-19 among health care personnel at the Division of Internal medicine, UMCL exceeded the national average by 3- to 8-fold. After regular window-opening was advised, the peak CO2 levels still often exceeded the recommended “safe” level of 750 ppm.

Liquid Swine Manure Application Variability: Challenges and Opportunities

HighlightsVariability of manure N content on the day of application was a major contributor to plot-to-plot N rate variability.Using the average of previous years’ manure samples is a valid strategy to improve the accuracy of P application.Estimated economic losses from missing target manure N rates averaged $34.27 ha-1 year-1 ($13.87 ac-1 year-1).Improving N rate accuracy with real-time N sensing provided an estimated value of $7 to $44 ha-1 ($3 to $18 ac-1).Abstract. Liquid livestock manure application presents both opportunities for replacing commercial fertilizer and challenges to doing so accurately. This study demonstrated the challenges in achieving a target N application rate using liquid swine manure on eighteen 0.4 ha research plots at the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm (NERF) near Nashua, Iowa. Differences between the nutrient analyses of manure from a pre-application sample and samples taken on the day of application, equipment adjustments, field conditions, and changing manure nutrient content during pit pumping contributed to variability in the actual N rate applied. The coefficient of variability (CV) of manure N during manure pumping ranged from 2.7 to 13.6, with an 8-year average of 6.5. A weighted-average CV for applied manure volume ranged from 1.5 to 4.7, with an 8-year average CV of 3.2, suggesting that plot-to-plot variability in manure volume was less of an issue for achieving the target N rate than was the variability of manure N on the day of application. A separate analysis of manure from six Iowa swine farms showed that using the average of the previous years’ manure samples improved accuracy for phosphorus at Farm 2, whereas using a single sample from the application year improved accuracy for potassium at Farm 5. Averaged across the six farms, using the average of the previous years’ manure samples resulted in less error for phosphorus than using a single sample from the application year. For nitrogen, there was no significant difference between the two approaches within or across farms (p < 0.1). The average economic loss from missing the target N rate in the NERF study was $34.27 ± $32.49 ha-1 year-1 ($13.87 ± $13.15 ac-1 year-1). The estimated economic value from using real-time nutrient sensing to improve N rate accuracy ranged from $7.56 to $32.03 ha-1 ($3.06 to $12.96 ac-1) in a corn-soybean rotation and from $10.38 to $44.41 ha-1 ($4.20 to $17.97 ac-1) in continuous corn. This study illustrates the need for new technologies for real-time manure nutrient sensing and on-the-go rate adjustment. The economic analysis can serve as a guide for manure applicators when evaluating the feasibility of manure nutrient-sensing systems. Keywords: Manure application, Manure management, Manure nutrient content, Manure nutrient sensing, Manure rate calibration.

Underreporting of Death by COVID-19 in Brazil's Second Most Populous State.

The COVID-19 pandemic brings to light the reality of the Brazilian health system. The underreporting of COVID-19 deaths in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), where the second largest population of the country is concentrated, reveals government unpreparedness, as there is a low capacity of testing in the population, which prevents the real understanding of the general panorama of SARS-CoV-2 dissemination. The goals of this research are to analyze the causes of deaths in different Brazilian government databases (Civil Registry Transparency Portal and InfoGripe) and to assess whether there are sub-records showing an unexpected increase in the frequency of deaths from causes clinically similar to COVID-19. A descriptive and quantitative analysis of the number of deaths by COVID-19 and similar causes was performed in different databases. Our results demonstrate that different official sources had a discrepancy of 109.45% between these data referring to the same period. There was also a 758.57% increase in SARI deaths in 2020, when compared to the average of previous years. Finally, it was shown that there was an increase in the rate of pneumonia and respiratory insufficiency (RI) by 6.34 and 6.25%, respectively. In conclusion, there is an underreporting of COVID-19 deaths in MG due to the unexplained excess of deaths caused by SARI, respiratory insufficiency, and pneumonia compared to previous years.

Correspondence: the donation of human milk during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dear Editor, In previous epidemics, it has been shown that the use of breast milk represents one of the first crucial measures to be taken in emergencies. On the occasion of the World Day for the Donation of Human Milk, which was celebrated on May 22, the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN) reaffirmed the importance of Human Milk Banks (HMBs), reassuring mothers about the safety of donation at HMBs, also in this pandemic period. In the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, we found that the restrictive measures did not represent a reason to limit breastfeeding nor donation. We have been close to nursing and donating mothers, providing constant support from the HMB and NICU staff, with practical advice and psychological closeness. In particular, in the February-May period, the crucial one of the pandemic, 15 donors donated 91.25 liters. In comparison with the average of previous years of donation data to the HMB, the balance is even in favor of the current year. In fact, in 2019, in the same period, 12 mothers were recruited and 58.7 liters were collected and, in 2018, the donor women were 10 but they donated 119.5 liters. As manager of the HMB, I found it useful to report the experience of our HMB and our NICU on this specific aspect, and I hope that other HMBs can do the same. I believe that these testimonies can represent an element of hope, encouragement and reflection. Solidarity did not end with the lockdown.

Increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome hospitalizations in Brazil: an ecological study.

Objective to describe the demographic characteristics and the spatio-temporal dynamics of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) hospitalizations in Brazil between 2008 and 2017. Methods this is an ecological study using data from the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian National Health System (SIH/SUS); GBS hospitalization rates were calculated and a control diagram was built; natural break ranges were used in the spatial analysis. Results 15,512 GBS hospitalizations were recorded during the study period; between 2008-2014 there were 1,344 hospitalizations per year on average, in the following year (2015), 1,953 hospitalizations were registered, representing an increase of 45% in relation to the average of previous years; GBS hospitalizations reached an epidemic level in the Northeast region in 2015 and 2016. Conclusion GBS hospitalizations increased with effect from 2015, following the introduction of chikungunya virus and the rapid spread of Zika virus in Brazil.

Significant decrease of lightning activities during COVID-19 lockdown period over Kolkata megacity in India

The outbreak of COVID-19 has now created the largest pandemic and the World health organization (WHO) has declared social distancing as the key precaution to confront such type of infections. Most of the countries have taken protective measures by the nationwide lockdown. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of lockdown on air pollutants and to analyze pre-monsoon (April and May) cloud-to-ground and inter-cloud lightning activity in relation to air pollutants i.e. suspended Particulate matter (PM10), Nitrogen dioxides (NO2) Sulfur dioxide (SO2), Ozone (O3) and Aerosol concentration (AC) in a polluted tropical urban megacities like Kolkata. After the strict lockdown the pollutants rate has reduced by more than 40% from the pre-lockdown period in the Kolkata megacity. So, decreases of PM10, NO2, SO2, O3 and AC have a greater effect on cloud lightning flashes in the pre-monsoon period. In the previous year (2019), the pre-monsoon average result shows a strong positive relation between the lightning and air pollutants; PM10 (R2 = 0.63), NO2 (R2 = 0.63), SO2 (R2 = 0.76), O3 (R2 = 0.68) and AC (R2 = 0.83). The association was relatively low during the lock-down period (pre-monsoon 2020) and the R2 values were 0.62, 0.60, 0.71, 0.64 and 0.80 respectively. Another thing is that the pre-monsoon (2020) lightning strikes decreased by 49.16% compared to the average of previous years (2010 to 2019). The overall study shows that the reduction of surface pollution in the thunderstorm environment is strongly related to the reduction of lightning activity where PM10 and AC are the key pollutants in the Kolkata megacity.

The impact of the learning contract on self-directed learning and satisfaction in nursing students in a clinical setting.

Background: The most important responsibilities of an education system are to create self-directed learning opportunities and develop the required skills for taking the responsibility for change. The present study aimed at determining the impact of a learning contract on self-directed learning and satisfaction of nursing students. Methods: A total of 59 nursing students participated in this experimental study. They were divided into six 10-member groups. To control the communications among the groups, the first 3 groups were trained using conventional learning methods and the second 3 groups using learning contract method. In the first session, a pretest was performed based on educational objectives. At the end of the training, the students in each group completed the questionnaires of self-directed learning and satisfaction. The results of descriptive and inferential statistical methods (dependent and independent t tests) were presented using SPSS. Results: There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in gender, grade point average of previous years, and interest toward nursing. However, the results revealed a significant difference between the 2 groups in the total score of self-directed learning (p= 0.019). Although the mean satisfaction score was higher in the intervention group, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study suggested that the use of learning contract method in clinical settings enhances self-directed learning among nursing students. Because this model focuses on individual differences, the researcher highly recommends the application of this new method to educators.

A Prediction Market for Climate Outcomes

This article proposes a way of introducing some organization and tractability in climate science, generating more widely credible evaluations of climate science, and imposing some discipline on the processing and interpretation of climate information. I propose a two-part policy instrument consisting of (1) a carbon tax that is indexed to a basket of climate outcomes, and (2) nested inside this carbon tax, a cap-and-trade system of emissions permits that can be redeemed in lieu of paying the carbon tax. The amount of the carbon tax in this proposal would be set each year on the basis of some objective, non-manipulable climate indices, such as temperature and mean sea level, and also on the number of certain climate events, such as hurricanes or droughts, that occurred in the previous year (or some moving average of previous years). In addition to setting a carbon tax rate each year, an auction would be held each year for tradeable permits to emit a ton of carbon dioxide in separate, specific, future years. That is, in the year 2012, a number of permits to emit in 2013 would be auctioned, as well as a number of permits to emit in 2014, in 2015, and so forth. In the year 2013, some more permits to emit in 2014 would be auctioned, as well as more permits to emit in 2015, 2016, and so forth. The permits to emit in the future are essentially unitary exemptions from a future carbon tax: an emitter can either pay the carbon tax or surrender an emissions permit to emit in the specific vintage year. Because of this link between the carbon tax and the permit market, the trading price of the permits should reflect market expectations of what the carbon tax will be in the future, and concomitantly, expectations of future climate outcomes. The idea is to link the price of tradeable permits to future climate outcomes, so that a market is created in which accurate and credible information about future climate conditions are important inputs into the price of permits. The market for tradeable permits to emit in the future is essentially a prediction market for climate outcomes.

Radiative properties of aerosol mixture observed during the dry season 2006 over M'Bour, Senegal (African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis campaign)

During the dry season in the Western Africa region the outbreaks of biomass burning aerosols occur on a background of frequent dust storms. In the frame of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) campaign we studied optical properties and radiative effects of aerosol mixture and dust observed from January to March 2006 over M'Bour, Senegal. The aerosol burden during the observing period was notably below the average of previous years. However, variability of aerosol sizes and spectral absorption were found as representative. The lidar obtained extinction profiles suggested aerosol transport in two layers (or one elevated layer) for events with two different aerosol types, called aerosol mixture in the paper. Low‐altitude transport was observed for dust. The broadband solar radiative fluxes and aerosol radiative effects were analyzed by combining measurements and simulations. The simulations relied on retrieved column aerosol properties and are products of Aerosol Robotic Network data processing. The 24‐h average aerosol radiative effect yielded cooling at the bottom and at the top of the atmosphere for all the analyzed events of aerosol mixture and dust. The radiative efficiency (radiative effect scaled by optical thickness) at the bottom of the atmosphere and within the aerosol layer appeared to be stronger in case of mixture than in case of pure dust due to enhanced absorption ability of former. We also evaluated the importance of accounting for dust particles nonsphericity for simulating radiative effects. Our test showed that neglecting of aerosol particle shape can result in pronounced bias, up to 10% overestimation of daily average aerosol radiative effect.