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Fan support has long been stated as one of the major contributors to the home advantage which football teams enjoy across Europe; whereby fans motivate the home team to increase performance levels, and in some cases, inadvertently cause referees to subconsciously make decisions in favour of the home team. With the naturally created experimental design by the COVID-19 pandemic, the unique opportunity arose to analyse the influence of fans on these home advantage outcomes. Mixed-effects models were used while controlling for available confounds. It was observed that home teams won fewer points and were less dominant without the support of their fans; while referees called more fouls against, and produced more yellow cards for home teams without fans present. However, these decisions were dependent on team dominance in a match. The findings reinforced social theories and also provided greater insights into the home advantage phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Alzheimer's disease is most common among the dementias and is characterized by gradual declines in functional and cognitive abilities. Caregivers including family members play a key role in providing critically needed care for these patients. Objective: This study compared the knowledge and attitudes of pre-healthcare and non-medical undergraduate students towards patients with Alzheimer's disease. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving quota sampling of 691 undergraduate students (369 prehealthcare and 322 non-medical). A 28-item questionnaire was utilised comprising of closed-ended questions and some based on a scale rating. The students' knowledge of Alzheimer's disease was arranged into categories such as: 0 for no knowledge about Alzheimer's disease, 1 for very little knowledge about Alzheimer's disease, 2 for fair knowledge about Alzheimer's disease and 3 for great knowledge about Alzheimer's disease. Statistical Analysis: The data was analysed using the computer software SPSS and the Chi squared test of independence was also used to determine which knowledge variables were independent of student's status. Results: Overall, 40.01% of the students have great or fair knowledge of Alzheimer's disease, with that of pre-healthcare students being satisfactory (54.47%). Pre-healthcare students have a more positive attitude towards Alzheimer's disease and 82.2% of students wished to take advantage of predictive test for Alzheimer's disease. Age and genetics were identified as risk factors of the disease. Conclusion: Pre-healthcare students had greater understanding of Alzheimer's disease and depicted a more empathetic and caring attitude towards patients. This can be attributed mainly to their knowledge and exposure toward the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term sea level variability is investigated by analytical methods to ascertain whether there is a link between peak tidal residuals in the Gulf of Paria (GoP), Trinidad, and peak river outflow from the Orinoco on the Venezuelan mainland. Analysis of tidal data suggests that although the Orinoco delta fronts the Atlantic ocean, significant volumes of this river runoff enter into the GoP and play a role in seasonal sea level variation on the western coastline of the southernmost Caribbean island of Trinidad. The indications from various statistical analyses including harmonic, spectral and time series analyses of tide gauge data are that mean seasonal variations in water level in the north of the GoP exhibit a positive temporal correlation between the tidal residuals and the peak river discharge associated with the Orinoco's seasonal cycle. The maximal de-tided residuals are strongly correlated with maximal values of the river runoff, as well as the discharge trend, with the residual values at initial average estimates of about 12-15 cm/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]