Circulating levels of calprotectin, a signature of neutrophil activation in prediction of severe respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients: a multicenter, prospective study (CalCov study).

OBJECTIVE: Severe COVID-19 is characterized by a dysregulated immune response in which neutrophils play a critical role. Calprotectin reflects neutrophil activation and is involved in the self-amplifying thrombo-inflammatory storm in severe COVID-19. We aimed to evaluate the role of calprotectin in early prediction of severity in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This was a multicenter prospective observational study enrolling consecutive adult COVID-19 patients. On arrival to emergency department, blood samples were collected for laboratory tests, including serum calprotectin. The primary outcome was severe respiratory failure requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and the secondary outcome was need for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. RESULTS: Study population included 395 patients, 57 (14.4%) required invasive mechanical ventilation and 100 (25.3%) were admitted to ICU. Median serum calprotectin levels were significantly higher in intubated (3.73 mg/L vs. 2.63 mg/L; p < 0.001) and ICU patients (3.48 mg/L vs. 2.60 mg/L; p = 0.001). Calprotectin showed a significant accuracy to predict the need for invasive mechanical ventilation (ROC AUC 0.723) and ICU admission (ROC AUC 0.650). In multivariate analysis, serum calprotectin was an independent predictor of invasive mechanical ventilation (OR 1.161) and ICU admission (OR 1.068). CONCLUSION: Serum calprotectin can be used as an early predictor of severity in COVID-19 patients.

Socioeconomic Status in Adolescents: A Study of Its Relationship with Overweight and Obesity and Influence on Social Network Configuration.

Socioeconomic status (SES) influences all the determinants of health, conditioning health throughout life. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status and obesity in adolescence through an analysis of the patterns of contact between peers as a function of this parameter. A cross-sectional study was performed, analyzing a sample of 235 students aged 14 to 18 and 11 class networks. Social network analysis was used to analyze structural variables of centrality from a sociocentric perspective. We found that adolescents with a medium-low SES presented a two-fold higher probability of being overweight, but we did not detect any differences in the configuration of their social networks when compared with those of normal-weight adolescents. However, we did find significant differences in the formation of networks according to SES in the overall sample and disaggregated by gender, whereby adolescents with a high SES in general presented a higher capacity to form wider social networks. Elucidating the relationship between SES and overweight and its influence on social network formation can contribute to the design of preventative strategies against overweight and obesity in adolescents, since their social environment can provide them with several resources to combat excess weight.

Bajo peso al nacer, una problemática actual / Low birth weight, a current problem

RESUMEN Fundamento: el bajo peso al nacer con cifras inferiores a 2 500 gramos de peso, es una de las causas más importantes de morbilidad y mortalidad infantil y perinatal. Objetivo: caracterizar el bajo peso al nacer. Desarrollo: el bajo peso al nacer es uno de los aspectos más importantes que influyen en que un recién nacido experimente un crecimiento y desarrollo satisfactorio. (1) Para la Organización Mundial de la Salud, la incidencia de bajo peso al nacer es un indicador de gran utilidad para vigilar el progreso de las naciones hacia el logro de la meta de Salud para todos. Conclusiones: la sepsis vaginal, la anemia y la hipertensión figuran como las enfermedades o estados maternos asociados al embarazo que más se relacionan con el bajo peso al nacer.

ABSTRACT Background: low birth weight (newborn with figures below 2500 g of weight) is one of the most important causes of infant and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Objective: to characterize low birth weight. Development: birth weight is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects that influence a newborn to experience a satisfactory growth and development.1 For the World Health Organization, the incidence of low birth weight is a very useful indicator to monitor the progress of nations towards achieving the goal of Health for all. Conclusions: vaginal sepsis, anemia and hypertension are the diseases or maternal states associated with pregnancy that are most related with low birth weight.

Factores asociados al desdentamiento en adolescentes / Factors associated with teeth loss in adolescents

RESUMEN Fundamento: la pérdida de dientes puede afectar a las personas de cualquier edad es más frecuente en el adulto mayor, aunque en la actualidad se ha incrementado el número de jóvenes que desde edades tempranas, presentan dientes perdidos. Objetivo: identificar los factores asociados al desdentamiento en los adolescentes del municipio Cifuentes. Métodos: se realizó un estudio epidemiológico descriptivo de corte transversal en el Municipio Cifuentes desde septiembre de 2015 hasta marzo de 2017. El universo lo constituyó la población con edades entre 12 y 18 años conformados por un total de 465 estudiantes, de ellos se seleccionaron 180 mediante un muestreo probabilístico por conglomerados estratificado bietápico. Resultados: el desdentamiento en los adolescentes tuvo una prevalencia de 17,2 % lo que coincidió con el número de pacientes que presentaban obturaciones, la higiene bucal regular estuvo presente en el 51,7 % mientras que en el 58,2 % de los adolescentes las pérdidas dentarias fueron asociadas a la caries dental. Conclusiones: dentro de los factores asociados a dicho fenómeno cabe destacar: la edad, la presencia de obturaciones y la higiene bucal. La principal causa de desdentamiento fue la caries dental.

ABSTRACT Background: the loss of teeth can affect people of any age and although this is more frequent in the elder, presently it has increased the number of young persons that from early ages, present lost teeth. Objective: to identify the associated factors to the tooth loss in teenagers of the municipality of Cifuentes. Methods: a descriptive epidemic study of traverse court was carried out in the Municipality of Cifuentes from September, 2015 to March, 2017.The universe of population was constituted for ages between 12 and 18 years conformed by a total of 465 students, of them 180 were selected by means of a probabilistic sampling by two-stage stratified conglomerates. Results: the loss of teeth in the adolescents was of 17.2 % same to the number of filled, the oral hygiene to regulate it was present in 51.7 % also in the 58.2 % the cause of teeth loss was a dental caries. Conclusions: among the factors associated to this phenomenon it is necessary to highlight: the age, the presence of filled and oral hygiene. The main cause of teeth loss was a dental cavity.

Objeto de aprendizaje: elementos conceptuales sobre la categoría "riesgo" en medicina preventiva / Learning object: conceptual elements about the risk category in preventive medicine

Fundamento: los objetos de aprendizaje constituyen poderosas herramientas de apoyo a la docencia por lo que es necesario profundizar en su estudio desde la perspectiva pedagógica. Objetivo: elaborar un objeto de aprendizaje incluyendo los conceptos relacionados con la categoría "riesgo", por su importancia para la medicina preventiva en los estudios de las ciencias médicas. Métodos: se realizó un estudio de desarrollo tecnológico siguiendo los principios didácticos y según evidencias científicas de la literatura nacional e internacional. Se utilizaron métodos teóricos: analítico-sintético e inducción-deducción para argumentar la investigación e interpretar los resultados, y empíricos: análisis documental de la bibliografía y el Plan de Estudio del Médico General. Resultados: se logró confeccionar un material instructivo, atrayente, con efectos que contribuyen, didácticamente, a una mejor asimilación de contenidos relacionados con la categoría "riesgo". Para ello se utilizó el programa diseñador de video Camtasia Studio 7. Se siguieron los pasos a considerar en la construcción de los objetos de aprendizaje recomendados por la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. El producto elaborado se encuentra disponible en la dirección: ecr.ucm.vcl.sld.cu; además fue concebido en formato Mp4 y Mp3, y se presentó el documento del guion en un CD- ROM. Conclusiones: el objeto de aprendizaje elaborado constituye una herramienta de trabajo para el proceso enseñanza aprendizaje porque contribuye al mejoramiento del abordaje de los conceptos relacionados con la categoría "riesgo" y su importancia en la medicina preventiva. Fue considerado por los especialistas como útil, novedoso y pertinente.

: the learning objects are powerful tools to back up teaching that's why it's necessary to deep inside of them from a pedagogical perspective. Objective: to elaborate a learning object including the concepts related to the risk category, due to its importance for preventive medicine in the medical sciences studies. Methods: it was carried out a technological development study taking into account the didactic principles according to national and international scientific evidences. Theoretical methods were used: analytic-synthetic, induction-deduction to back up the research work and the interpretation of results, and empirical ones: documental analysis of the bibliography and the study plan for General Practitioners. Results: an instructive material was elaborated, appealing, with effects that didactically contribute to a better assimilation of the contents related to the risk category. For that purpose it was used the video designer program Camtasia Studio 7. The steps to be considered for the construction of learning objects according to Valencia Polytechnic University were followed. The elaborated product is available at: ecr.ucm.vcl.sld.cu; besides, it was also conceive in Mp4 and Mp3 formats, and a document with the script was presented in a CD-ROM. Conclusions: the elaborated learning object constitutes a working tool for the teaching learning process, because it facilitates a better approach to the concepts related to the risk category and its importance for preventive medicine. Specialists considered it useful, novel and pertinent.

Food biotechnology and education

It is clear that the future of our children will be marked by the development of two scientific disciplines: computing and biotechnology. Regarding the first, during recent years considerable progress have been done in many countries around the globe aimed at enhancing the teaching in these subjects and, at the same time, encouraging the use of computers in classrooms. On the contrary, training in biotechnology is absent in many secondary schools of the planet. This formative deficiency generates citizens whose opinion on the marketing of biotechnological products is easily manipulated by both defenders and opposers of biotechnology. This situation is of particular relevance when the item in question is food biotechnological applications that provoke an intense social debate and more specifically the so-called genetically modified foods (GM foods). In this article we report a survey carried out with 500 young Spanish consumers in order to discover their attitudes to GM foods. The work has been focused on the study of the perception of GM foods and their labelling. The results indicate that they are moderately receptive to GM foods but like to be informed through labelling. However, the most important conclusion of the survey is the lack of sufficient knowledge about food biotechnology and genetic engineering on the part of young Spaniards. It is therefore very important that an unbiased presentation of the scientific basis of biotechnology should be introduced in secondary education. In this sense, the project BIOEDUCAR is an important tool to introduce unbiased information about food biotechnology in the Latin America and Spanish secondary schools.

Lesiones telangiectásicas de distribución uniforme / Telangiectatic lesions in uniform distribution

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