Newborn-onset chronic urticaria as the first manifestation of NLRP3 mosaicism

Objectives: A 7-month-old boy presented with generalized urticaria since the first week of life, without any other clinical manifestation. Cow's milk allergy was ruled out. His development was normal for his age. Maternal history was significant for COVID-19 infection in the third trimester of pregnancy with mild symptoms. Family history was significant for dermatographism in a maternal uncle. Hives were migratory with no single lesion persisting more than 24 h. There were no recognizable triggers and only relieved for 1-2 days after each vaccination. Patient was treated with optimal doses of antihistamines without improvement. Method(s): Laboratory tests and further studies were performed Results: Laboratory tests were normal including complete blood testing, circulating autoantibodies and infectious studies. C-reactive protein level and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were elevated. Due to chronic urticaria of newborn onset unresponsive to antihistamines a monogenic autoinflammatory disease was suspected. A targeted gene panel covering causative genes revealed the unreported p.Gly307Ala variant in the NLRP3 gene with a variant allele frequency (VAF) of 3% compatible with gene mosaicism. NLRP3 variant was classified as "likely pathogenic" based on its location, where a different variant has been reported as causing a severe form of cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS), and bioinformatic analyses. As expected, the variant was absent in patient's parents supporting for its de novo nature. Vision and hearing exams were normal. Treatment with canakinumab will start soon. Discussion(s): CAPS are dominantly-inherited autoinflammatory diseases caused by gain-of-function NLRP3 variants. These variants are often germline, but in some reported cases the variants are postzygotic causing gene mosaicism as in the patient here described. We believe that the mild presentation in our patient, despite having a likely pathogenic variant, may be explained by the low VAF. The genetic diagnosis in our patient allowed early initiation of anti-IL-1 treatment, which probably will prevent the development of other CAPS manifestations.

The Management of Educational Centers during the COVID-19 from a Gender Perspective

The situation caused by COVID-19 has led to various transformations in the management of educational centres, where management teams have had to take the lead in this circumstance. The aim of this research is to investigate the opinion of the headmasters and headmistresses of 43 schools in the city of Seville (Spain) on the management of their schools during the period of confinement. Specifically, the aim is to examine this situation from the point of view of school management, taking into account a gender perspective. The research methodology is quantitative, descriptive, ex post facto, cross-sectional and correlational. For the collection of information, a questionnaire comprising four study dimensions was used to investigate the organisation and management of the management team at the educational centre, the academic work carried out in the non-attendance mode and the link established with the families during the period of cessation of face-to-face teaching activities. The results indicate that there is a significant difference in the opinion expressed in the study, depending on the gender of the leaders of these management teams, which encourages reflection on the importance of attending to the management and organisation of educational teams from a gender perspective. © 2023 Hipatia Editorial. All rights reserved.

Air pollution and meteorological variables' effects on COVID-19 first and second waves in Spain.

The aim of this research is to study the influence of atmospheric pollutants and meteorological variables on the incidence rate of COVID-19 and the rate of hospital admissions due to COVID-19 during the first and second waves in nine Spanish provinces. Numerous studies analyze the effect of environmental and pollution variables separately, but few that include them in the same analysis together, and even fewer that compare their effects between the first and second waves of the virus. This study was conducted in nine of 52 Spanish provinces, using generalized linear models with Poisson link between levels of PM10, NO2 and O3 (independent variables) and maximum temperature and absolute humidity and the rates of incidence and hospital admissions of COVID-19 (dependent variables), establishing a series of significant lags. Using the estimators obtained from the significant multivariate models, the relative risks associated with these variables were calculated for increases of 10 µg/m3 for pollutants, 1 °C for temperature and 1 g/m3 for humidity. The results suggest that NO2 has a greater association than the other air pollution variables and the meteorological variables. There was a greater association with O3 in the first wave and with NO2 in the second. Pollutants showed a homogeneous distribution across the country. We conclude that, compared to other air pollutants and meteorological variables, NO2 is a protagonist that may modulate the incidence and severity of COVID-19, though preventive public health measures such as masking and hand washing are still very important. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13762-022-04190-z.

Small business lending under the PPP and PPPLF programs

We use Call Report data to examine the effects of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the PPP Liquidity Facility (PPPLF) on small business and farm lending by individual commercial banks. As program participation was associated with small business lending, we adopt an instrumental variables approach to identify causal implications based on historical bank relationships with the Small Business Administration and the Federal Reserve's discount window. Our results indicate that both programs encouraged lending growth over the first half of 2020. However, while the PPP encouraged greater lending across all banks, only small and medium-sized bank lending growth was significantly related to participation in the PPPLF. © 2022

Hedge accounting: results and opportunities for future studies

This study identifies the main results and research opportunities based on 52 hedge accounting-related studies, published in Scopus indexing journals from 2007-2019. The study was classified in five investigation groups based on their main topic, with Risk Management and Hedge Accounting being the topic most studied (18) and Regulatory Environment the least studied (six). The results show that during the period analysed, the journal with the largest number of publications on hedge accounting is in the United States of American and the most common origin of the journals is the United Kingdom (21). We have identified different research opportunities for each of the five groups and some general opportunities. The main opportunities relate to comparatives researches, considering samples from different countries, the development of methodologies for teaching hedge accounting and models for effectiveness measurement, the study of enterprise risk and disclosure analysis, and research on the impact of Covid-19 on hedge accounting through risk management. The study differs by identifying five classification groups for papers on hedge accounting, since prior studies didn't carry out such classification. The groups are: i) Regulatory Environment, ii) Academic Research, iii) Evolution of Hedge Accounting and Disclosure, iv) Hedge Effectiveness and v) Risk Management and Hedge Accounting. Furthermore, this study is, to our knowledge, the first bibliometric review done about hedge accounting. The paper is relevant to researchers because it points out opportunities for future studies, enabling the production of new research for a topic considered to be complex.

Anthropological and social approach to death anxiety in the state security forces during the COVID-19 crisis

The recent events sweeping the planet in all their dimensions (environmental, health, economic, political) contribute to the fact that human beings find themselves devoid of personal resources to deal with them. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, professionals considered essential, such as the Security Forces and Corps, tried to provide the population with a certain degree of well-being and security. However, they paid the high price of many members of this group generating anxiety in the face of death, especially among those on the front line. This study, using a descriptive and mixed methodology, aims to determine the level of death anxiety in a large sample of these professionals (n = 1705) and to carry out an anthropological and social analysis of their perceptions of these events. The results have shown a significant presence of death anxiety in members of the Security Forces and Corps, especially during the pandemic's first phase, allowing for different anthropological interpretations.

PANACEA cough sound-based diagnosis of COVID-19 for the DiCOVA 2021 Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the saturation of public health services worldwide. In this scenario, the early diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2 infections can help to stop or slow the spread of the virus and to manage the demand upon health services. This is especially important when resources are also being stretched by heightened demand linked to other seasonal diseases, such as the flu. In this context, the organisers of the DiCOVA 2021 challenge have collected a database with the aim of diagnosing COVID-19 through the use of coughing audio samples. This work presents the details of the automatic system for COVID-19 detection from cough recordings presented by team PANACEA. This team consists of researchers from two European academic institutions and one company: EURECOM (France), University of Granada (Spain), and Biometric Vox S.L. (Spain). We developed several systems based on established signal processing and machine learning methods. Our best system employs a Teager energy operator cepstral coefficients (TECCs) based frontend and Light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) backend. The AUC obtained by this system on the test set is 76.31% which corresponds to a 10% improvement over the official baseline.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY EVALUATED THROUGH METABOLIC EQUIVALENTS IN ATHLETIC TRAINERS DURING THE SARS-COV-2 LOCKDOWN

The objective of the book’s chapter was to compare the physical activity evaluated through metabolic equivalents in athletic trainers during the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown. Thirty-seven athletic trainers took part in the study, in order to determine the physical activity and calculate the energy expenditure, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used, the evaluation was virtually before and during the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown. The Student's t-test for independent sampling was used to calculate the equality of variance resulting in non-significant values in the total physical activity in MET-minutes of sports coaches before than during the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown (p =.232), with a percentage difference of 15.1?%. The level of financial activity in athletic trainers remains with no changes than those others professionals within the public health, who help to increase the active lifestyle of a society. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Do Air Pollution and Meteorological Variables Have a Bearing on COVID-19 Mortality? Benchmarking of Time Series between the First and Second Waves in Nine Spanish Provinces

Some pollutants like PM10, NO2 and O-3 are detrimental to people's health, as numerous studies have shown, and they are related to short-term and long-term mortality. A sample of 9 out of the 52 Spanish provinces was studied. Generalized linear models (GLM) with a Poisson link function were developed during the time periods corresponding to the first and second waves of the daily average values of the independent variables (PM10, NO2 and O-3, as atmospheric pollutants, and meteorological variables such as the daily maximum temperature and the absolute humidity) versus the dependent variable (COVID-19 mortality rate, or CMR) during said first and second waves. Statistically significant lags between the independent variables and the dependent variable were established. The associated relative risks were calculated from the estimators obtained in the GLMs, with increases of 10 mu g/m(3) for atmospheric pollutants, 1 degrees C for the maximum temperature and 1 g/m(3) for the absolute humidity. The results show that NO2 has a stronger relationship with the CMR than the other air pollutants. The meteorological variables examined did not show a robust relationship between both waves, which indicates that they played a minor role in the CMR. In conclusion, air pollutants such as to NO2 and PM10 had a statistically significant relationship with the CMR, although it is limited and subordinate to other factors such as the public health measures that were taken, the presence of comorbidities and the age of the patient.

PNEUMOMEDIASTINUM: A FREQUENT COMPLICATION OF COVID-19 PNEUMONIA

Introduction. Pneumomediastinum is a frequent complication in patients with COVID-19, caused in the context of a major inflammatory process Methodology. A descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study was conducted. We reviewed the chest CT scans and medical records of patients with/without a diagnosis of COVID-19 between April 1 and July 30, 2020. Results. We identified 66 patients with pneumomediastinum and a diagnosis of COVID-19. The prevalence found was 3.2%, 81.8% corresponded to males, the average age was 53.4 years, the average length of stay in hospital was 22.98 days, the most frequent comorbidities were obesity, diabetes and hypertension. 95.5% did not report smoking and 89.4% were not on mechanical ventilation. The most frequent symptoms were dyspnea, non-productive cough and chest pain. 69.7% of patients had a fatal outcome. Pulmonary tomography showed that 43. 9% presented moderate grade pneumomediastinum and with respect to pulmonary involvement 97% presented a typical bilateral pattern, the peak and progressive stage presented in 56.1% and 31.8% respectively and the most frequent percentage of pulmonary involvement was severe (53%). A percentage of lung involvement higher than 50% correlated directly with the severity of the pneumomediastinum (p<0.05). The average ferritin was 884.58 ug/ml, D-dimer 5.1 mg/ml, DHL 595. 55 IU/L, PCR 150.7 mg/L, lymphocytes 825.1 c/mm3, lactic acid 1.99 mmol/L, PCT 0.78 ng/ml, IL6 313 pg/ml and PaFiO2 171.5 mmHg. Conclusion. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is a frequent complication in patients with COVID-19, being an indicator of poor evolution.

Postpartum depression during COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of postpartum depression during the CO-VID-19 pandemic and the factors associated with infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational, analytical and cross-sectional study and carried out in patients attended at Hospital Dr. José Eleuterio González from February to May 2021 after 24 to 48 hours of puerperium. The Edinburgh Scale was applied in writing. Positive screening was considered for postpartum depression with a score greater than 10. Two groups were compared: patients with a history of positive COVID-19 test and those without. Patients with chronic degenerative diseases, rheumatic diseases, pregnancy with death or malformations were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 116 patients were studied: 56 positive for COVID-19 and 60 with no history of disease. The prevalence of depression was 15%. A history of COVID-19 added 2 positive points to the Edinburgh Scale, although it did not result in a factor associated with depression. Factors associated with a score greater than 10 were: junior high and high school education, and male sex of the newborn. Newborn sex resulted in similar percentages in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 contingency and history of SARS CoV-2 infection showed no association with depression. Higher schooling and male birth were observed in women with Edinburgh Scale score greater than 10. © 2022 Asociacion Mexicana de Ginecologia y Obstetricia. All rights reserved.

Communication and Cultural Approach to the Situation of Health Professionals in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction. The beginning of the third decade of the 21st century will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic and the health crisis it has produced, altering different systems such as the cultural, political, economic, media and communication systems. From the anthropology of health, the interconnections between the health system, communication, and culture can be observed, visible and indivisible by the many edges that coexist and conform to a field of own analysis. Methodology: This empirical research has been developed from a qualitative perspective through 40 anonymous semi-structured interviews in Spain during the height of the health crisis - in the state of alarm - and investigates how this pandemic affected health professionals during the first wave of the pandemic. They were the fundamental barrier to deal with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and they carried out their work in highly precarious conditions, with hardly any personal protection equipment, sufficient human resources, and the essential infrastructures to care for patients. Results/Discussion: The study focuses on three dimensions: (a) the cultural aspects that impregnate the professional activity of the health workers, (b) the emotional aspects in the development of the same about the processes of mourning and death from its symbolic components, and (c) the perceptions it has of the health management carried out by the public response. Conclusions: The results describe the extreme situation these professionals in a health crisis without precedent in decades, reflecting a new anthropological and sociological scenario.

"IN TWO YEARS WE WILL NOT REMEMBER THE PANDEMIC." DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON TOURISM DECREASE IN BARCELONA

When the spread of COVID-19 globally, it would be possible to affirm that tourism is in an authentic situation of life-support machine. Governments around the world are pouring money into the sector in anticipation of a speedy recovery. This is also the desire on the part of a business sector that hopes to return, as soon as possible, to the buoyant pre-pandemic situation. However, there are numerous voices, mostly from the academic sphere and social movements, which warn that the occasion is not being used to modify some of the old patterns that dragged tourism production. With the intention of taking advantage of old teachings, this article focuses on the role that social movements and the ideology of degrowth have played in protest actions against touristification in Spain in recent years. Although, these types of episodes have been frequent in cities such as Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao, Seville and Valencia, without any doubt those that have had the greatest diffusion and influence have been carried out in Barcelona. Platforms such as the Assemblea de Barns per un Turisme Sostenible (ABTS), an organization formed by grassroots movements, associations and other entities have stood out in their performance. Since its constitution in 2015, the ABTS has been at the forefront whenever it has tried to demand a reduction in the flow of tourists to the Catalan capital and a reversal of the social, economic, cultural and environmental effects indicated as harmful and generated by mass tourism. The research hypothesis raises that the dominant discourse, by emphasizing the contribution that tourism has made to Spanish economic and political development, provides a positive framework for the industry that contrasts sharply with the concerns about its harmful effects expressed by its opponents, the degrowth movements. The interpretation of such a proposal will be developed through the use of the Analysis of Political Discourse (ADP), as well as the treatments of Louis Althusser on the concept of ideology, and the interpellation and work on tourism degrowth developed by various authors. Finally, the text shows what happens when these interpellation attempts fail, as has happened so spectacularly in the case of Barcelona.

Relationship between obesity and chronic noncommunicable and infectious diseases

Introduction: Obesity increases the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and affects the course of diseases of infectious origin. Objective: Reviewing the literature on how obesity influences the severity of the clinical picture of some of the non-communicable and communicable diseases of greatest impact in Peru. Methods: Documentary research, from studies developed in various contexts associated with the presence of obesity along with infections or NCDs. Results: The condition of obesity reached by bad consumption habits and low physical activity is the main responsible for the high rate of NCDs, consequently, mortality. Conclusions: Excess weight affects the immune system, contributing specifically to exacerbated phenomena of a systemic inflammatory response, determined by increased secretion of adipocytokines, which predisposes the body to develop and contract NCDs and infectious diseases.

Design of a payment system in private transportation to prevent Covid-19 Contagion - Huancayo

The contagion of Sars-CoV-2 or Covid-19 inside the city of Huancayo is growing, with the transport sector being one of the most affected, so it was planned to reduce the rate of contagion among users of these services. This required the use of RFID-NFC technology in such a way as to prevent direct and indirect contact between passengers and drivers. Technology that is not dependent on the internet, because it was taken into account that, in that city, the technology is not very expanded so, there are places where the internet signal does not arrive. For this reason, the modules created from RFID technology are a good option to be able to slow the advance of the covid-19. © 2021 Association for Computing Machinery.

HIV-1 and SARS-CoV2 both cause protein s, but through different mechanisms

Background : The anticoagulant protein S (PS) circulates in two plasma pools: free (functional) or bound to complement factor 4-binding protein (c4bp). PS deficiency commonly occurs in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1)+ patients and is associated with thrombosis. We hypothesized a similar process contributes to thrombosis in COVID-19. Aims : To assess the regulation of PS in viral coagulopathies. Methods : This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. Citrated plasma was collected from consenting HIV-1+ (19 naïve, 11 on antiretroviral therapy, ART) or SARS-CoV-2+ (28 inpatients, 49 outpatients) and healthy controls for both populations (10, 31, respectively). Results : HIV-1+ patients had lower total PS than controls (94.12 ± 8.71% vs 133.77 ± 10.45%, P = 0.008), in both naïve (42%) and ART-treated (27%) patients. Total PS negatively correlated with endogenous thrombin potential ( P = 0.01), suggesting PS deficiency contributes to increased thrombin generation in these patients. Total PS was not reduced in SARS-CoV-2+ patients, but free PS was (Table). To determine the cause of free PS deficiency, we measured known PS-binding proteins C4bp, protein C (PC), and Mer, and found no differences between patients and controls. By native gel, we identified PS bound to C4bp, Mer, PC, tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), and von Willebrand Factor (VWF). VWF was markedly elevated in inpatients. Purified VWF dose-dependently decreased free, but not total, PS when added to control plasma, and blocked the TFPI cofactor activity of PS. PS was also identified as a plasma binding partner of VWF by mass spectrometry, and this interaction increased 10-million-fold with shearing. Finally, despite anticoagulation, plasma thrombin generation in inpatient samples was comparable to controls, suggesting a profound hypercoagulability, possibly exacerbated by PS deficiency. Conclusions : In HIV-1, PS consumption leads to total PS deficiency. In SARS-CoV-2, VWF increases and binds PS, reducing the free pool. Thus, viruses can cause PS deficiency through multiple mechanisms, promoting thrombosis by shifting the procoagulant-anticoagulant balance.

Perception of level of knowledge, skills, and safety before and after training to perform videolaryngoscopy with the Intubox barrier system for airway management in patients with COVID-19

Objectives. The main objective was to describe physicians' perception of their knowledge, skill, and safety before and after training to perform videolaryngoscopy while using the Intubox barrier system when managing the airway of a patient with the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19). The secondary objective was to assess the safety afforded by the barrier by means of visually evaluating particle dispersion during intubation. Methods. Single-arm clinical simulation trial. The participants were physicians who received training in both a lowfidelity and a high-fidelity simulation zone. The participants assessed their knowledge, skill, and safety when using the Intubox before and after training using a specially designed and validated questionnaire. Droplet contamination was estimated visually. Results. Twenty-seven physicians with a mean (SD) age of 40 (10.8) years participated;63% were women. They perceived their knowledge, skill, and safety to be significantly higher after training. Droplet contamination was seen to decrease when airway management maneuvers were done with the barrier in place. Conclusions. After simulation training the emergency physicians judged their knowledge, skill, and safety to be greater when they used the barrier during airway management in patients with COVID-19. The combined use of a laryngoscope and the Intubox barrier resulted in less particle dispersion during intubation.

Assessment of comorbidities and COVID-19 pneumonia prognosis: a literature review

Mortality due to SARS-CoV-2 is high compared to that caused by other respiratory viruses. This article aims to define the comorbidities associated with high mortality rates or complications that require ventilatory support in intensive care units. A bibliographic search has been performed with respect to comorbidities and/or alterations in laboratory tests and radiographic exams that have been associated with mortality, especially those described in China.

Physical activity assessed in physical education class in disabled and nondisabled high school students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To evaluate physical activity in physical education class in disabled and non-disabled high school students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Participating subjects were high school students with an average age of 15.2 ± 5.7 years, 106 students without disabilities and 77 students diagnosed with disabilities, physical activity was evaluated before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using the international physics activity questionnaire IPAQ. Results: The analysis of variance (ANOVA) mixed 2 x 2 (groups x measurements), indicated that a statistically significant difference of p = .001 between the groups and p = .005 the measurements with the highest weekly energy expenditure of physical activity, in the student body without disabilities. Conclusions: When comparing the values with an investigation that used the same methodological procedure, students with disabilities report higher sedentary habits than schoolchildren undiagnosed with disabilities, during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021 Federacion Espanola de Docentes de Educacion Fisica. All rights reserved.

Consequences of COVID-19 at Schools According to Their Socioeconomic Context and Type

The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has led to changes in the organisation and management of educational institutions, in teaching methodologies and in the relationships established with students and their families. The aim of this research is to find out the opinion of the directors of 43 schools in Seville (Spain) on the management of their schools and the possible problems that may arise during the period when classroom activities cease, considering the socio-economic level of the context where the school is located and its ownership. The research methodology is quantitative, descriptive, ex post facto, transversal, and correlational. A questionnaire was used to collect information, validated by expert judgement, and subjected to the Cronbach Alpha reliability test. The results present a clear differentiation in the answers depending on the type of educational centre and the socio-economic level of the area where they are located, in questions such as the organisation from the management team, the development of the academic task not in person or the relationship with the families. After the research carried out, it was concluded that public schools and schools located in contexts of low socioeconomic level, are those who have fewer technological resources to provide an appropriate educational response, the same happens with the provision of technology in the homes, creating a great inequality of access to education that generates major associated problems.