ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic brought confinement that caused a drastic change throughout society. Mobility was reduced, education suffered a substantive change, distance learning, and digital skills were developed. Climate change and environmental pollution indicators indeed decreased. However, the quantification of the environmental footprint of the new form of remote work (digital carbon footprint) has not been considered in systematic studies. There are not many tools to calculate the corresponding emissions. The main objective of this educational research work was to determine the carbon footprint of digital activities in a company during the confinement caused by COVID-19 through a Challenge-Based Learning methodology. A one-semester academic program was designed to develop energy auditing skills for students of Sustainable Development Engineering. A company (training partner) was determined to validate the evaluation instruments. Techniques for data collection, questionnaires, and analysis of energy consumption data were designed. A helpful protocol was defined to determine the digital carbon footprint generated in the pilot company, allowing us to scale our research towards quantifying Greenhouse Gas emissions in Institutions or Companies of greater size. The soft and disciplinary graduation competencies of the students were solidly developed and evaluated through internal instruments and by the training partner standards. Finally, we propose mitigation measures aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with the new Green and Sustainable Digital Education trend. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Introduction and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a public health problem of the first order and underdiagnosis of this disease is a universal phenomenon. The objective of our study is to determine the prevalence of COPD and to analyze the clinical, radiological and functional characteristics of patients without a previous diagnosis of COPD and diagnosed with this disease in the post-COVID follow-up consultation, and to compare them with patients without COPD. Methods and materials: A study was carried out of the patients referred to the post-COVID consultation who were diagnosed with COPD in said consultation between the months of June 2020 and February 2021. The variables included were: sex, age, smoking habit, pack-year index (IPA), degree of dyspnea according to the mMRC scale, function and characteristics in chest CT. Result(s): Of the 371 patients evaluated in the post-COVID follow-up consultation, 23 of them, 11%, were diagnosed with COPD. 61% were men with a mean age of 60 +/- 11 years, 17% being active smokers, 56% ex-smokers with a mean IPA of 26 +/- 15. The rest of the variables are shown in Table 1. Significant differences were found between patients with and without COPD in terms of smoking (p<0.001) and lung function (p=0.002). No significant differences were found in the rest of the variables. 21% of COPD patients had emphysema on chest CT. Conclusion(s): The diagnosis of COPD was established in 11% of the patients evaluated in the post-COVID consultation.
ABSTRACT
Introduction and objective: The objective of our study was to determine if the presence of interstitial involvement in the chest CT of patients infected with SARS CoV2 is related to the severity and need for oxygen therapy during the acute episode. Material(s) and Method(s): We carried out a descriptive study of patients infected with SARS CoV2 between March and June 2020 in follow-up in the postCOVID consultation from June 2020 to December 2021 and divided them into 4 groups based on the severity of the acute process. Group 1: did not require oxygen therapy, group 2: oxygen therapy up to 15lpm, group 3: high flow nasal cannula or continuous positive pressure, and group 4 orotracheal intubation. We analyzed the clinical characteristics and the evolution of the lesions on chest CT and respiratory function tests 12 months after hospital discharge. Result(s): We analyzed 388 patients, mean age 57+/-13 years, 53% male. Group 1: 68 (17.5%), group 2: 213 (54.8%), group 3: 19, (5%) group 4: 88 (23%).The most frequent radiological alterations were ground glass (70%) and bronchial dilations (30%), being present in 42% of patients in group 1, 75% in group 2, 84% in group 3 and in 97% % of patients in group 4. These differences were significant comparing patients in group 1 with group 2 (p=0.001), with group 3 p=0.012 and with group 4, (p<0.001). No significant differences were found when comparing the rest of the groups with each other. Conclusion(s): The persistence of postCOVID radiological alterations 12 months after hospital discharge is related to the need for oxygen therapy during the acute episode.
ABSTRACT
Educational Need: The interdisciplinary course: Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) (INTD 5998) responds to the need to provide undergraduate and graduate students of higher education institutions in Puerto Rico (PR), the knowhow in CTR. Method: INTD 5998 is a two-credit course, designed in the hybrid modality, as part of the RCM-UCC Cooperative Title V Project. The course presents the main concepts underlying the performance of CTR through lectures, workshops, and presentations. It was offered from January to May in 2020 and 2021, in a virtual modality responding to the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This distance learning mode provided greater accessibility to students from distant geographic areas, including students from other UPR campuses;and allowed for continuity to the teaching and learning process. The learning management system Blackboard Ultra and Teams were used as alternative platforms. Results: 100% of the students (n=23) who completed the course indicated that the course was a good learning experience, it helped them increase their knowledge In CTR, it met their expectations, and that they would recommend other students to take it. Conclusion: INTD 5998 offers a valuable interprofessional experience.
ABSTRACT
This observational retrospective study aimed to investigate the usefulness of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Quick SOFA (qSOFA), National Early Warning Score (NEWS), and quick NEWS in predicting respiratory failure and death among patients with COVID-19 hospitalized outside of intensive care units (ICU). We included 237 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 who were followed-up on for one month or until death. Respiratory failure was defined as a PaO2/FiO2 ratio ≤200mmHg or the need for mechanical ventilation. Respiratory failure occurred in 77 patients (32.5%), 29 patients (12%) were admitted to the ICU, and 49 patients (20.7%) died. Discrimination of respiratory failure was slightly higher in NEWS, followed by SOFA. Regarding mortality, SOFA was more accurate than the other scores. In conclusion, sepsis scores are useful for predicting respiratory failure and mortality in COVID-19 patients. A NEWS score ≥4 was found to be the best cutoff point for predicting respiratory failure.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Respiratory Insufficiency , Sepsis , Adult , COVID-19/complications , Hospital Mortality , Humans , Intensive Care Units , Organ Dysfunction Scores , Prognosis , ROC Curve , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
This observational retrospective study aimed to investigate the usefulness of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Quick SOFA (qSOFA), National Early Warning Score (NEWS), and quick NEWS in predicting respiratory failure and death among patients with COVID-19 hospitalized outside of intensive care units (ICU). We included 237 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 who were followed-up on for one month or until death. Respiratory failure was defined as a PaO2/FiO2 ratio ≤ 200 mmHg or the need for mechanical ventilation. Respiratory failure occurred in 77 patients (32.5%), 29 patients (12%) were admitted to the ICU, and 49 patients (20.7%) died. Discrimination of respiratory failure was slightly higher in NEWS, followed by SOFA. Regarding mortality, SOFA was more accurate than the other scores. In conclusion, sepsis scores are useful for predicting respiratory failure and mortality in COVID-19 patients. A NEWS score ≥ 4 was found to be the best cutoff point for predicting respiratory failure.