Epidemiological aspects of visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil and in international border regions

Objectives: To verify the number of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases in Brazil and its states and twin cities, with a focus on the state and twin city with the highest number of cases. We investigated social, demographic, laboratory and clinical aspects of these cases. Methodological design: We performed a descriptive study using a quantitative approach and data from 2010 to 2019 that were obtained through a public domain website, the Informatics Department of the Unified Health System. The incidence rate of VL cases was calculated per 100,000 inhabitants. software. Results: In Brazil, 35,886 VL cases were reported, with 2,834 cases in international border states and 148 cases in twin cities. The state and twin city with the highest number of cases were Mato Grosso do Sul (1,834 cases) and Corumbá (94 cases), respectively, with annual mean incidence rates of 6.4 and 8.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In Mato Grosso do Sul and Corumbá, the disease was more frequent in male and brown-skinned individuals who had up to 8 years of education (age range: 1 to > 80 years old). Most of the cases occurred in urban areas, was diagnosed by laboratory tests and evolved to cure (p < 0.05). Conclusions: A high number of VL cases in Brazil was found during the period of study. The cases were distributed in 10 states with international borders and eight twin cities. These findings draw attention to the greater need for management programs to control and prevent VL.

A New Insight into Understanding Urban Vitality: A Case Study in the Chengdu-Chongqing Area Twin-City Economic Circle, China

Addressing the issues caused by urbanization through urban vitality theory has elicited increasing attention in social environment research. However, few studies focus on vitality itself, such as the generative mechanism of urban vitality (GMUV) and the identification of key factors to vitality improvement. Therefore, a new insight into vitality is presented in this study through the exploration of GMUV based on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Concretely, the GMUV and the key factors to vitality improvement are analyzed and identified based on nighttime lights data, points of interest, and the statistical data of the Chengdu-Chongqing Area Twin-City Economic Circle in China. The results show that external representations and internal elements constitute the structural basis of the GMUV and that environmental vitality and social vitality are the key factors to enhance vitality. Finally, suggestions on improving regional vitality are provided to urban policymakers. This study may promote a better understanding of vitality, and the proposed vitality evaluation model may serve as a reference for other regions.

Virtual Reality: Medical Students' Thoughts & Perspectives on the Pandemic & Chaos: A Twin City Survey

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about drastic changes in the way we teach medical students. As the universities shut down to contain the pandemic, teachers and educationists were forced to contemplate upon ways & means to continue teaching our vast medical curriculum, while the students stayed at home, having their world turned entirely virtual. As the lockdown eased, social distancing came into play as it became impossible to teach the whole crowd. The objective of our survey was to determine the level of awareness & perspectives of undergraduate medical/dental/physiotherapy students of the twin cities of Pakistan regarding the pandemic, their experience and satisfaction level to the virtual teaching strategies implemented. Methods: A self-designed, validated electronic questionnaire was created using an online application (Survey Planet). The survey comprised of 30 questions and was distributed to students of 8 institutes of the twin cities via email and social media, during the second & third waves of the pandemic. Results: A total of 1490 students responded. Most demonstrated adequate knowledge of the pandemic, implemented good safety protocols, and were hopeful of the situation. Majority were satisfied with the online learning process, and gave positive view of the handling of the pandemic by their institutes. However, most found difficulty in studying at home, felt that precious time had been lost, and feared failure in exams. Internet connectivity issues were face by the majority. Most were in favour of being vaccinated. Conclusions: Twin city students have good knowledge, practices and positive views of online education.

Representing a Digital Twin City Model Using Open Source Tools and Integrating It With Dynamic Sensor Data

This work presents the developments of representing a part of the city districts of Manchester, UK and Turin, IT initiated within the FP7 DIMMER project completed in 2016 and continued in the last years by the Center of Excellence GIS of CSI Piemonte. The DIMMER system integrates BIM (building information modelling) and district level 3D models with real-time data from sensors and user feedback to analyze and correlate buildings utilization and provide real-time feedback about energy-related behaviors. The emerging standard 3D Tiles endorsed by the OGC was applied to represent CityGML data of two districts of Turin, Italy and Manchester, UK. 3D Tiles allows for a high level of detail (LOD) visualization that displays increasing detail of geometric features and their alphanumeric properties. Currently, the OGC 3D Tiles technology is mature, and the OGC CityGML specification will be soon updated to version three, with the adoption of exciting innovations like the support of time-dependent properties defined Dynamizers.