The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Comparison between Caregivers of Autistic and Non-Autistic Individuals in Italy

The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the daily routine of the population worldwide, including autistic people and their caregivers, with severe consequences on mental health. On one hand, the reduced social contacts and the interruption of outpatient and daycare services during the lockdown have represented a real challenge for autistic people and their caregivers. On the other hand, confinement has allowed individuals to spend more time pursuing their interests and stay home with their family members without feeling the pressure of social expectations. The present study aimed to compare the levels of personal wellbeing, family distress, insomnia, and resilience between caregivers of autistic people and caregivers of people with other neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, or relational disabilities. A web survey was completed by 383 participants, of which 141 were primary caregivers of autistic people. We did not find any significant difference between caregivers of autistic and non-autistic people in any of the considered psychological variables. Lower age of the autistic family member and lower resilience levels were significantly associated with higher individual distress in the group of caregivers of autistic people. Our findings do not corroborate the hypothesis that caregivers of autistic individuals have had more severe consequences than other caregivers during the lockdown. However, they confirm the importance of promoting resilient coping strategies in autistic people and their caregivers.

Mixed Depression: A Mini-Review to Guide Clinical Practice and Future Research Developments

The debate on mixed states (MS) has been intense for decades. However, several points remain controversial from a nosographic, diagnostic, and therapeutic point of view. The different perspectives that have emerged over the years have turned into a large, but heterogeneous, literature body. The present review aims to summarize the evidence on MS, with a particular focus on mixed depression (MxD), in order to provide a guide for clinicians and encourage the development of future research on the topic. First, we review the history of MS, focusing on their different interpretations and categorizations over the centuries. In this section, we also report alternative models to traditional nosography. Second, we describe the main clinical features of MxD and list the most reliable assessment tools. Finally, we summarize the recommendations provided by the main international guidelines for the treatment of MxD. Our review highlights that the different conceptualizations of MS and MxD, the variability of clinical pictures, and the heterogeneous response to pharmacological treatment make MxD a real challenge for clinicians. Further studies are needed to better characterize the phenotypes of patients with MxD to help clinicians in the management of this delicate condition.

An Empirical Comparison of Portuguese and Multilingual BERT Models for Auto-Classification of NCM Codes in International Trade

Classification problems are common activities in many different domains and supervised learning algorithms have shown great promise in these areas. The classification of goods in international trade in Brazil represents a real challenge due to the complexity involved in assigning the correct category codes to a good, especially considering the tax penalties and legal implications of a misclassification. This work focuses on the training process of a classifier based on bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) for tax classification of goods with MCN codes which are the official classification system for import and export products in Brazil. In particular, this article presents results from using a specific Portuguese-language-pretrained BERT model, as well as results from using a multilingual-pretrained BERT model. Experimental results show that Portuguese model had a slightly better performance than the multilingual model, achieving an MCC 0.8491, and confirms that the classifiers could be used to improve specialists’ performance in the classification of goods.

Management of Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS): A Practical Guide

Bladder pain syndrome (BPS) is a prevalent and pervasive disease. The physical and psychological sequelae can be very burdensome for the patient, and the condition represents a real challenge for the clinician as well. With no simple pathognomonic test, finding harmony in navigating patient care can be demanding. Diagnosis and management rely upon a multidisciplinary and holistic approach. Treatment options include conservative measures and pharmacotherapies as well as bladder instillation therapies. Ultimately, surgery may be offered but only in cases of refractory disease. This article offers a pragmatic guide for clinicians managing this challenging disease.

Dr Salman visiting his family

When Dr Salman sent me some reference photos, I instantly knew I had to choose the photo this painting is based on - although it was a complex scene with several figures, the narrative it presented was very powerful and emotional. I wanted to avoid sentimentality, and I think that the bold impasto technique I used, with thick oil paint and a large brush, helped with this. It was mostly about conveying raw emotion in an expressive way, without including lots of detail. Also making it an easily readable image just using loose brushstrokes, without delineating everything was a real challenge. I hope I succeeded.

Digital Communication in Museums and Museological Spaces

SMM (social media marketing) aims to produce content that users share in their various social media applications in order to increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach. There are numerous marketing techniques to apply in social media in order to involve the customer, some of which have costs and others that do not. Digitization was a real challenge for any museum, requiring cautious and well-planned action to be successful. In this sense, the nature of social networks demands the adoption of a constructivist perspective, that is, a perspective that involves affirmations of knowledge based on individual and collective experiences. Presently, being present in social networks presents itself as a high value advantage, allowing the exposure of the brand, product, or idea at a low cost to a large audience. This chapter aims to systematize some relational marketing best practices that are identified in the museums and museum spaces in “Baixo Alentejo” (Portugal). Specifically, some examples of relational marketing in terms of communication will be identified and analysed.

Effect of N-95 Mask on Oxygen Saturation Level in Health Care Workers and Their Experience While Using N-95 Mask

Background N-95 masks are in high demand during this COVID-19 pandemic but wearing an N-95 mask is a real challenge to the health workers during their duty hours. The present study aims to measure the effect of the N-95 mask on oxygen saturation level in the blood and the discomforts experienced while using it. Materials and Methods Oxygen saturation was measured in 80 health care workers before and after wearing the N-95 mask continuously for more than 6 hours. The participants were asked to fill a questionnaire regarding various discomforts of N-95 mask usage, which consisted of 14 questions. Results The most common discomfort was pain around the pinna followed by difficulty in breathing and fogging of spectacles or goggles. In addition, 71% of them had decreased oxygen saturation by 1%. Conclusion N-95 mask can alter the oxygen saturation but it does not produce significant effects in healthy individuals. It can significantly affect patients with compromised airways.

Ai4Truth: An In-depth Analysis on Misinformation using Machine Learning and Data Science

A number of social issues have been grown due to the increasing amount of “fake news”. With the inevitable exposure to this misinformation, it has become a real challenge for the public to process the correct truth and knowledge with accuracy. In this paper, we have applied machine learning to investigate the correlations between the information and the way people treat it. With enough data, we are able to safely and accurately predict which groups are most vulnerable to misinformation. In addition, we realized that the structure of the survey itself could help with future studies, and the method by which the news articles are presented, and the news articles itself also contributes to the result.

RUSSIAN DRAMA DURING THE CRIMEAN WAR OF 1853–1856

The Crimean War of 1853–1856 became a real challenge for Russian society and was reflected in the culture and art of that time, including drama. Already during the war, plays dedicated to this historical event were being created and staged in theatres. This article analyses four plays – “For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland” by Pyotr Grigor’yev, “The Veteran and the Recruit” by Aleksey Pisemsky, “The Feat of the Mother” by Orest Miller, “The Russians in 1854” by Adelaida Tal’tseva. The general ideological message of those dramatic works included patriotism, glorification of the greatness of the Fatherland and the strength of the Russian people, the Orthodox faith, in connection with which the plays created the image of a Russian soldier for whom participation in the war is a matter of honour and faith. The study establishes the correspondence of dramatic works of the period of the Crimean War of 1853–1856 to the requirements of the time, their close connection with the historical context of the era, as well as an orientation towards ease of perception by the audience. The author of the article defines the general features of patriotic plays of the Crimean War period at the plot and ideological level.

Complexities in endodontics: A case series

There are cases in the endodontic treatment which are a real challenge. There are teeth with different anatomies of the root canals of different teeth and their treatment. There are most of the cases which are sevely carious and has lost more than 50% of the tooth structure. Patients usually lose their teeth because these problems. The aim of this study is to investigate several cases with different root canal anatomies like in open apex with blunderbuss canals in maxillary central incisors or mandibular premolar and molars with severly decayed crown tooth structures and their management. one case with severly decayed lower mandibular premolar i.e 45, one case of maxillary first molar with severly decayed crown structure i.e 16, a case of severly decayed mandibular first molar i.e 36, Three Cases of maxillary central incisors with immature open apex and blunderbuss canals w.r.t 21. Results are observed after several years. In performing a root canal treatment on such teeth, one should appreciate the complexity of the root canal system, canal obliteration and configuration, and the potential for regenerating the original anatomy of the tooth either Endodontic or Post Endodontic. Knowledge of the phenomenon of the complexity of the root canal system, canal obliteration and configuration, and the potential for regenerating tooth anatomies with the help of rebond fibres, MTA and Composite restorations, this will improve the medical practice of the general dental practitioner.