The aim of this study is to determine the anxiety and fear related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and their associations with travel, tourism and hospitality, in the Portuguese population. The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) were validated for the Portuguese population and correlations with issues related to travel, tourism and hospitality were established. CAS and FCV-19S presented a good adjustment model and solid reliability and validity. Correlations between CAS and FCV-19S and the perception of the impact of COVID-19 in travel, tourism and hospitality were found. Participants considered that COVID-19 mainly affected their holidays and leisure time. However, the strongest correlation established was between total FCV-19S and emotional fear FCV-19S and the fear of attending hotel facilities. The Portuguese versions of CAS and FCV-19S are reliable psychological tools to assess anxiety and fear in relation to COVID-19 for the general population. The use of hotel facilities is the most threatening issue related to travel, tourism and hospitality. The results suggest that hotels should invest in hygiene and safety measures that allow users to regain confidence in hotel equipment.

A systematic investigation of erbium diffusion in lithium niobate (LiNbO3) crystal as a function of crystal cut-direction, diffusion process parameters (temperature and time), and initial film thickness is reported. Depth concentration profiles of erbium are obtained by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Combining experimental data with diffusion theory, the relevant diffusion parameters are derived. Diffusion from an infinite source of erbium ions is studied to evaluate the solid solubility lower limit of Er in LiNbO3. A thin film diffusion regime, with complete depletion of ion source, is also investigated. A comparison of Er diffusion with Er/Ti codiffusion in LiNbO3 crystals is reported.

Machado-Joseph disease [MJD, also spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3)] and familial amyloid polyneuropathy type I (FAP-I or ATTR V30M) are neurodegenerative disorders, inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, which have a high prevalence in Portugal, probably due to a founder effect. MJD and FAP-I are late-onset diseases, with symptoms emerging usually during adulthood. CGPP, which is the national reference centre for these disorders, has a genetic lab that offers diagnostic, pre-symptomatic and prenatal testing and an outpatient clinic to counsel and follow relatives at risk for hereditary ataxias, FAP-I and Huntington disease (HD). The present work is a review of our 10-year experience with psychological counselling of individuals at risk for MJD and FAP-I. Persons at risk for FAP-I may show a better response to pre-symptomatic testing than those who are at risk for MJD and HD because of the availability of liver transplantation, which may improve their health and life expectancy. Psychological well-being and specific distress of MJD and FAP-I test applicants, before undergoing genetic testing (baseline level) and 3 to 6 months after disclosure of test results, have shown a low level of change, both in identified carriers and non-carriers. A major goal of psychological characterization of at-risk individuals for MJD and FAP-I is to determine the factors that influence the uptake of genetic testing.

A detailed comparison between a low-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity and a typical two-beam interferometer is developed and checked experimentally. The consequences of approximating the true Fabry-Perot function by the two-beam function are evaluated for commonly used signal-processing schemes in order to quantify the final error introduced in various fiber sensing schemes employing this configuration.

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