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Despite the availability of effective vaccines against COVID-19, booster vaccinations are needed to maintain vaccine-induced protection against variant strains and breakthrough infections. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine (Janssen) as primary vaccination plus a booster dose.ENSEMBLE2 is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial including crossover vaccination after emergency authorisation of COVID-19 vaccines. Adults aged at least 18 years without previous COVID-19 vaccination at public and private medical practices and hospitals in Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK, and the USA were randomly assigned 1:1 via a computer algorithm to receive intramuscularly administered Ad26.COV2.S as a primary dose plus a booster dose at 2 months or two placebo injections 2 months apart. The primary endpoint was vaccine efficacy against the first occurrence of molecularly confirmed moderate to severe-critical COVID-19 with onset at least 14 days after booster vaccination, which was assessed in participants who received two doses of vaccine or placebo, were negative for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR at baseline and on serology at baseline and day 71, had no major protocol deviations, and were at risk of COVID-19 (ie, had no PCR-positive result or discontinued the study before day 71). Safety was assessed in all participants; reactogenicity, in terms of solicited local and systemic adverse events, was assessed as a secondary endpoint in a safety subset (approximately 6000 randomly selected participants). The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04614948, and is ongoing.Enrolment began on Nov 16, 2020, and the primary analysis data cutoff was June 25, 2021. From 34 571 participants screened, the double-blind phase enrolled 31 300 participants, 14 492 of whom received two doses (7484 in the Ad26.COV2.S group and 7008 in the placebo group) and 11 639 of whom were eligible for inclusion in the assessment of the primary endpoint (6024 in the Ad26.COV2.S group and 5615 in the placebo group). The median (IQR) follow-up post-booster vaccination was 36·0 (15·0-62·0) days. Vaccine efficacy was 75·2% (adjusted 95% CI 54·6-87·3) against moderate to severe-critical COVID-19 (14 cases in the Ad26.COV2.S group and 52 cases in the placebo group). Most cases were due to the variants alpha (B.1.1.7) and mu (B.1.621); endpoints for the primary analysis accrued from Nov 16, 2020, to June 25, 2021, before the global dominance of delta (B.1.617.2) or omicron (B.1.1.529). The booster vaccine exhibited an acceptable safety profile. The overall frequencies of solicited local and systemic adverse events (evaluated in the safety subset, n=6067) were higher among vaccine recipients than placebo recipients after the primary and booster doses. The frequency of solicited adverse events in the Ad26.COV2.S group were similar following the primary and booster vaccinations (local adverse events, 1676 [55·6%] of 3015 vs 896 [57·5%] of 1559, respectively; systemic adverse events, 1764 [58·5%] of 3015 vs 821 [52·7%] of 1559, respectively). Solicited adverse events were transient and mostly grade 1-2 in severity.A homologous Ad26.COV2.S booster administered 2 months after primary single-dose vaccination in adults had an acceptable safety profile and was efficacious against moderate to severe-critical COVID-19. Studies assessing efficacy against newer variants and with longer follow-up are needed.Janssen ResearchDevelopment.

This article aims to analyse a fundamental issue in contemporary societies: the payment of taxes as a form of wealth distribution, with a particular emphasis for the tax evasion. In particular, this study deals with an African country, Mozambique. Here, from the one side, research on this subject is rare and, from the other side, the local government delegated to a Tax Authority the task to collect the taxes of the taxpayers. Through a qualitative approach, using an historical and sociological perspective, and starting from the analysis of the activity of the Tax Authority of Mozambique, this research shows, as its main conclusions, that the tax value collected by the Tax Authority is still far from what Mozambican government desired. This circumstance is due to structural factors, as the weak technical training of the employees of the Tax Authorities and the absence of a reliable database, as well as to subjective factors, first of all a pervasive corruption among the employees of that institution. Such elements make the work of the Tax Authority very difficult, and for these reasons it cannot accomplish with its own goals. Este artigo tenciona analisar uma questão de fundamental relevância nas sociedades contemporâneas: o pagamento dos impostos como forma de redistribuição da riqueza, com enfoque especial para a fuga ao fisco. De forma específica, o estudo debruça-se sobre a realidade de um país africano, Moçambique, em que, por um lado, as pesquisas sobre o tema são escassas, e por outro, o governo local confiou à Autoridade Tributária a tarefa de colectar os impostos dos contribuintes. Mediante uma abordagem qualitativa, de tipo histórico e sociológico, a partir da análise da actividade da Autoridade Tributária Moçambicana, o estudo conclui que o valor dos impostos arrecadado por parte da Autoridade Tributária ainda está aquém do desejado. Tal circunstância deve-se a factores estruturais, tais como escassa formação do pessoal técnico e ausência de uma base de dados fiável, assim como subjetivos, acima de tudo uma corrupção difusa entre os funcionários daquela instituição, que torna complicado o bom funcionamento da mesma, que não consegue cumprir com as suas próprias metas.

No âmbito desta investigação, a gestão do local do crime é conceituada como o conjunto de ações com vista a preservação da integridade do local do crime. Assim, o local do crime deve ser entendido no sentido mais amplo possível, podendo constituir um espaço físico único ou uma multiplicidade de espaços físicos delimitados. Dada a diversidade de perspetivas em que pode ser estudada a gestão do local de crime, estabelecemos limites para o nosso estudo, tendo como objetivo fundamental estudar os principais procedimentos e princípios de gestão do local do crime, sobretudo, as condutas empregues no ordenamento jurídico moçambicano pelo Serviço Nacional de Investigação Criminal (SERNIC), mais especificamente para descrever e caraterizar os princípios e procedimentos de gestão do local de crime; identificar os principais procedimentos e princípios de gestão do local de crime empregues no ordenamento jurídico moçambicano; e conhecer o modo como o SERNIC faz a gestão do local do crime e qual o seu funcionamento. Recorremos ao método das entrevistas, bem como do método de análise de conteúdo para analisar as informações recolhidas das entrevistas. Optámos, ainda, pela observação do tipo descritivo, sobretudo para a identificação e posterior análise de dados disponíveis sobre os procedimentos e princípios empregues na investigação criminal moçambicana, em particular na gestão do local de crime. Within the scope of this investigation, crime scene management is conceptualized as the set of actions aimed at preserving the integrity of the crime scene. Being the crime scene, all physical space, delimited or delimitable, where a criminal action or omission has taken place, susceptible of interacting with the environment, leaving signs or traces of its occurrence. Thus, the crime scene should be understood in the broadest possible sense and may constitute a single physical space or a multiplicity of delimited physical spaces. As there are diversity of perspectives in which crime scene management can be studied, we have established limits for our study, with the fundamental objective of studying the main procedures and principles of crime scene management, such as, the conduct employed in the legal system Mozambican by the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), more specifically to describe and characterize the crime scene management principles and procedures; identify the main procedures and principles for the management of the crime scene employed in the Mozambican legal system and; know how SERNIC manages the crime scene and how it works. We used the interview method, followed by the content analysis method, as a complement, especially to analyse the information collected from the interviews. We also opted for the observation of the descriptive type, especially for the identification and subsequent analysis of available data on the procedures and principles employed in the Mozambican criminal investigation, particularly in the management of the crime scene.

BACKGROUND During routine Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis, an unusually high viral load was detected by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in a nasopharyngeal swab sample collected from a patient with respiratory and neurological symptoms who rapidly succumbed to the disease. Therefore we sought to characterise the infection. OBJECTIVES We aimed to determine and characterise the etiological agent responsible for the poor outcome. METHODS Classical virological methods, such as plaque assay and plaque reduction neutralisation test combined with amplicon-based sequencing, as well as a viral metagenomic approach, were performed to characterise the etiological agents of the infection. FINDINGS Plaque assay revealed two distinct plaque phenotypes, suggesting either the presence of two severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains or a productive coinfection of two different species of virus. Amplicon-based sequencing did not support the presence of any SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants that would explain the high viral load and suggested the presence of a single SARS-CoV-2 strain. Nonetheless, the viral metagenomic analysis revealed that Coronaviridae and Herpesviridae were the predominant virus families within the sample. This finding was confirmed by a plaque reduction neutralisation test and PCR. MAIN CONCLUSIONS We characterised a productive coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) in a patient with severe symptoms that succumbed to the disease. Although we cannot establish the causal relationship between the coinfection and the severity of the clinical case, this work serves as a warning for future studies focused on the interplay between SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1 coinfection and COVID-19 severity.

Mestrado em Métodos Quantitativos para a Decisão Económica e Empresarial Este Trabalho Final de Mestrado advém de um estágio realizado na empresa Quidgest S.A., em parceria com o Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG), no âmbito do mestrado de Métodos Quantitativos para a Decisão Económica e Empresarial (MQDEE). Este trabalho resulta da necessidade em aumentar o sucesso de vendas, através da previsão do sucesso de leads, recorrendo a técnicas e algoritmos de Machine Learning. Neste domínio, foi realizada uma prévia análise e compreensão do cenário empresarial, para que a utilização dos algoritmos pudesse oferecer uma adequada compatibilidade com os padrões de negócio da empresa. Previamente, foram aplicadas técnicas de tratamento, aumento e limpeza de dados, nomeadamente: SMOTE; ADASYN e TOMEK. Relativamente aos algoritmos de Machine Learning, foram utilizados algoritmos assentes no âmbito da aprendizagem supervisionada, nomeadamente: Support Vector Machines; Random Forest; Neural Networks; Adaboost e C5.0. As etapas deste trabalho foram alinhadas com a metodologia CRISP-DM, que é uma das mais conhecidas abordagens no que toca à logística de processos para a construção de sistemas computacionais. Os softwares utilizados foram: software R (com recurso ao R Studio); Microsoft SQL Server e o GENIO, que é o software próprio da Quidgest S.A. This Master's Final Work results from an internship performed at Quidgest S.A., in a partnership with Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG), within the scope of the Master of Quantitative Methods for Economic and Business Decision (MQDEE). The purpose of this work is to increase the company's sales success, by predicting the success of leads, using Machine Learning techniques and algorithms. In this domain, a previous analysis of the business scenario was studied and analyzed, to allow that the usage of the algorithms could be suitable with the company's standard business processes. Then, techniques for processing, increasing and cleaning the data were applied, such as: SMOTE; ADASYN and TOMEK, and then, algorithms within the scope of supervised learning were used, such as: Support Vector Machines; Random Forest; Neural Networks; Adaboost and C5.0. The sequential steps of this work were aligned with the CRISP-DM methodology, which is one of the most used tools in terms of logistics for building computer systems. The used softwares were: R software (using R Studio); Microsoft SQL Server and GENIO, which is the owned and created software by Quidgest S.A. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Despite the investment in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, there is still little data about the proportion of women that are retained in treatment after pregnancy in Brazil. Research worldwide shows that a significant proportion of women drop out of treatment after pregnancy. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with treatment dropout of women that received prenatal care at a federal hospital in Rio de Janeiro between 2016 and 2017 and abandoned treatment after pregnancy. This was a retrospective cohort study using data on prescription refills and hospital medical records. Cross-sectional analysis of data from 454 women showed that 18% were not on cART after pregnancy. Illicit drug use during pregnancy, being less than 35 years old, and being aware of HIV diagnosis before conceiving but not taking cART were factors associated with treatment interruption postpartum. The high prevalence of interruption of HIV treatment after pregnancy suggests that there is a need for better post-natal care to increase adherence in this population.

Este artigo tenciona analisar uma questão de fundamental relevância nas sociedades contemporâneas: o pagamento dos impostos como forma de redistribuição da riqueza, com enfoque especial para a fuga ao fisco. De forma específica, o estudo debruça-se sobre a realidade de um país africano, Moçambique, em que, por um lado, as pesquisas sobre o tema são escassas, e por outro, o governo local confiou à Autoridade Tributária a tarefa de colectar os impostos dos contribuintes. Mediante uma abordagem qualitativa, de tipo histórico e sociológico, a partir da análise da actividade da Autoridade Tributária Moçambicana, o estudo conclui que o valor dos impostos arrecadado por parte da Autoridade Tributária ainda está aquém do desejado. Tal circunstância deve-se a factores estruturais, tais como escassa formação do pessoal técnico e ausência de uma base de dados fiável, assim como subjetivos, acima de tudo uma corrupção difusa entre os funcionários daquela instituição, que torna complicado o bom funcionamento da mesma, que não consegue cumprir com as suas próprias metas.

Described here is a case of postmalaria neurological syndrome in a patient who presented infection by Plasmodium falciparum two months earlier. The patient received empiric use of acyclovir for herpetic meningoencephalitis, but neuropsychiatric symptoms improved only after administration of methylprednisolone.

Procurou-se identificar e analisar a cadeia produtiva da banana “in natura” no Estado do Ceará, através de um enfoque sistêmico, que visou a estudar todos os elos envolvidos na atividade mencionada. Com base em informações preliminares, foram elaborados questionários específicos para cada agente da cadeia produtiva. No que diz respeito aos pequenos produtores, com até 50 ha de área, e que correspondem a 86,83% dos bananicultores do Ceará, verificou-se que utilizam tecnologias atrasadas, recebem pouca assistência técnica, têm pequena disponibilidade de crédito, são desarticulados do mercado e, portanto, têm pouco poder de barganha na comercialização do seu produto, que, em geral, é repassado a atravessadores. Uma análise paralela, relativa a grandes produtores, com áreas localizadas em pólos de irrigação do Estado, mostrou que a bananicultura pode ser muito vantajosa, caso venha a ser explorada segundo os modernos conceitos de agronegócio. No âmbito do atacado, considerando-se a Central de Abastecimento S.A., constatou-se, através dos quadros de procedência, que parte da banana comercializada no Ceará é importada de outros estados. O diferencial de qualidade da banana comercializada na Central, em relação à comercializada nos principais estabelecimentos de varejo, é bastante visível e apontada até mesmo pelos atacadistas, que, por sua vez, se mostraram desanimados e sem perspectivas no ramo em que atuam. Os varejistas apresentaram-se muito exigentes com relação à qualidade do fruto e à constância de entrega do produto. Estes são muito organizados e demonstram considerável poder de barganha. Conclui-se que, caso não haja incentivos governamentais (crédito, assistência técnica, disponibilidade de tecnologias modernas, treinamentos etc.) aos pequenos produtores das regiões tradicionais. a exemplo do que ocorre nos pólos de produção de frutas irrigadas, poderá haver mais desestímulo à produção, com problemas de desemprego e outros gravames sociais relevantes, como, por exemplo, o êxodo rural.

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do grau de Doutor na Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, sob a orientação do Prof. Doutor António Almeida do Vale