COVID-19 infection in patients with severe hereditary angioedema in long term prophylaxis with subcutaneous C1-inhibitor -A prospective study

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was suspected to trigger angioedema attacks, or cause more severe COVID-19 disease in patients with Hereditary angioedema (HAE). Our objective was to evaluate the severity of COVID-19 and its impact on disease control in patients with severe HAE in long-term prophylaxis(LTP) with subcutaneous C1-inhibitor( SC C1-INH). Method(s): We p erformed a retrospective s tudy of p atients w ith s evere course of HAE who maintained LTP with SC C1-INH during the pandemic. Date were collected under conditions of daily clinical practice. Patients were evaluated at least 2 times after switching to LTP with SC C1-INH. We analyzed COVID19 vaccine application and tolerance, COVID19 infection, disease control after COVID19 infection and the quality-of- life. Result(s): We evaluated 18 patients(12 female) who switched from LTP with IV C1-INH to LTP with SC C1 INH. Switching was followed by a significant decrease in the number of attacks, visits to the emergency department, and use of rescue dose of IV C1-INH or icatibant, as well as improved disease control (Angioedema Control Test). All patients were vaccinated against COVID19 (37 doses of mRNA vaccine and 4 doses of viral vector vaccine). Nor severe neither moderate adverse reactions were observed. 5 patients were infected with COVID19 (one 30 years-old female patient was infected twice) and had mild symptoms. None of the patients needed a hospital admission. Only one of the patients had worsening of the disease control after COVID19 infection and long -term post COVID repercussion (persistent headache and depressive mood). One of the infected patients was pregnant (7 gestational weeks) and had asymptomatic COVID19 infection with no impact on pregnancy. Conclusion(s): In our cohort of patients LTP with SC C1 INH and correct vaccination against COVID19 have shown that can maintain severe HAE patients with good clinical control even when infected with the virus.

2022 Annual World Congress of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe disease that can progress to clinical decompensation, risk of hospitalization and death owing to disease-related or other diseases. In the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), PH was considered a risk factor for complications. The purpose of the study was to assess the mortality rate of COVID-19 in PH patients from a PH Center in Brazil. We conducted a telephone survey between June and August 2021 among all patients or relatives from the PH referral center who were followed after the first case of COVID- 19 in Brazil. Only patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PH were included in the analysis. Of the 426 patients followed in the first 18 months of the pandemic, 115 patients were excluded (lost to follow-up, post-acute PE or unconfirmed PH). Among 311 patients included, 39 had a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 (COVID-19 + ), and 38.5% of patients were hospitalized. The estimated incidence rate was 12.5%. Comparing the COVID-19+ versus patients without infection (COVID-19 - ) in the period, the mean age was similar (55 +/- 17 vs. 54 +/- 16 years) and the majority in the COVID-19+ group were female (85% vs. 69%, p = 0.039), respectively. There was no difference in the proportion of patients diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH;49% and 42%) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH;24% and 33%) between groups. All PAH patients and the majority of CTEPH patients were treated on specific therapy (combination/triple therapy, 70%). The case fatality rate in the PH-COVID-19+ group was 23%. Considering only PAH and CTEPH, the case fatality rate was 21,9%, while COVID-19 mortality was 2.9% and overall lethality in Brazil was 2.8%. In the COVID-19+ group, the mean pulmonary artery pressure was 48 +/- 14 mmHg, cardiac index 2.7 +/- 0.6 L/min/m2 and pulmonary vascular resistance 730 +/- 424 dyn.s/cm5. In conclusion, among PH patients there was high incidence and mortality from COVID-19, even in those with PHspecific therapy. Further studies are needed to evaluate the prognostic predictors in PH-COVID-19 patients.

2022 Annual World Congress of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe disease that can progress to clinical decompensation, risk of hospitalization and death owing to disease-related or other diseases. In the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), PH was considered a risk factor for complications. The purpose of the study was to assess the mortality rate of COVID-19 in PH patients from a PH Center in Brazil. We conducted a telephone survey between June and August 2021 among all patients or relatives from the PH referral center who were followed after the first case of COVID- 19 in Brazil. Only patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PH were included in the analysis. Of the 426 patients followed in the first 18 months of the pandemic, 115 patients were excluded (lost to follow-up, post-acute PE or unconfirmed PH). Among 311 patients included, 39 had a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 (COVID-19 + ), and 38.5% of patients were hospitalized. The estimated incidence rate was 12.5%. Comparing the COVID-19+ versus patients without infection (COVID-19 - ) in the period, the mean age was similar (55 +/- 17 vs. 54 +/- 16 years) and the majority in the COVID-19+ group were female (85% vs. 69%, p = 0.039), respectively. There was no difference in the proportion of patients diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH;49% and 42%) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH;24% and 33%) between groups. All PAH patients and the majority of CTEPH patients were treated on specific therapy (combination/triple therapy, 70%). The case fatality rate in the PH-COVID-19+ group was 23%. Considering only PAH and CTEPH, the case fatality rate was 21,9%, while COVID-19 mortality was 2.9% and overall lethality in Brazil was 2.8%. In the COVID-19+ group, the mean pulmonary artery pressure was 48 +/- 14 mmHg, cardiac index 2.7 +/- 0.6 L/min/m2 and pulmonary vascular resistance 730 +/- 424 dyn.s/cm5. In conclusion, among PH patients there was high incidence and mortality from COVID-19, even in those with PHspecific therapy. Further studies are needed to evaluate the prognostic predictors in PH-COVID-19 patients.

Humanitarian engineering, global sociotechnical competency, and student confidence: A comparison of in-person, virtual, and hybrid learning environments

The PIRE Responsible Mining, Resilient Communities (RMRC) project is a multi-country, interinstitutional, and interdisciplinary global research collaboration whose goal is to co-design socially responsible and sustainable gold mining practices with communities, engineers, and social scientists. This paper will investigate two key research questions. The first question considers how participating in the summer session influences students' global sociotechnical competency with the second question analyzing how the changes in sociotechnical competency impact the students' confidence in their engineering ability. The project hosted three intensive summer field sessions that each enrolled a different group of students. In 2019, the students conducted research in the field in Colombia while in 2020, the students completed the research completely virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, the students participated in the project in a hybrid format with time split between the field and virtual work. To assess changes in students' learning and attitudes, we collected data from the students before and after the summer sessions in the form of interviews, surveys, and essays. The data will be analyzed to investigate whether the format of the summer session (in person, virtual, and hybrid) differently influenced students' global sociotechnical competency and their confidence as engineers. Other research has shown that service learning increases engineering students' confidence in their engineering ability. The data analyzed from this project describes how this may be context-specific. This paper will shed light on broader concerns in engineering education about if and how specific kinds of service learning can enhance students' global sociotechnical competency and their confidence as engineers. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022

Making the Most of Virtual Community Engagement for International Projects During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Responsible Mining, Resilient Communities project is a multi-country, interinstitutional, and interdisciplinary global research collaboration whose goal is to co-design socially responsible and sustainable gold mining practices with communities, engineers, and social scientists. A key component of this work is engineering education research that investigates how situated learning enhances undergraduate students' global sociotechnical competency, especially as it relates to their ability to define and solve problems with people from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and life experiences. Situated learning refers to how students learn under different a) configurations of social relations (e.g., graduate/undergraduate;expert/non-expert;US/non-US students, etc.);b) pedagogical strategies for engineering problem definition and solution (e.g., remote vs. in-person;in-class vs. in-field);and c) different geographical contexts (e.g., in the US vs. in Colombia) affect faculty and student learning. Global sociotechnical competency refers to having the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to define and solve engineering problems as socio-technical in different international settings. Knowledge is understanding how engineering problems are always socio-technical and shaped by the historical, cultural, economic, and physical dimensions of a place. Skills are learning to define and solve problems with perspectives different than their own. Attitudes are the desires to continue engaging other expert and non-expert perspectives, working abroad, and serving communities after graduation. In 2019 a diverse group of engineering undergraduate students from the Colorado School of Mines, United States Air Force Academy, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Medellín participated in a two-week field session in Colombia, where they visited mine sites and processing facilities, in addition to the partner university in Colombia. In 2020, however, the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic made international fieldwork impossible. This paper will describe how we developed and executed a meaningful distance-based fieldwork experience that maintained direct engagement with international students and community members. We will offer a preliminary assessment of these methods' efficacy for developing global sociotechnical competency through remote community engagement and learning. We will analyze the situated learning of the student participants as they differently identified stakeholders for engineering projects and changed their understanding of mining as a sociotechnical process as a result of the summer session. As a part of this analysis, we will also compare 2019 (in the field) and the 2020 (virtual) learning outcomes for the two different sets of students. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RESILIENCE IN PEOPLE WITH DIABETES DURING THE SOCIAL DISTANCING PERIOD IMPOSED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Objective: To verify the association of socioeconomic and clinical data and behavioral habits with the resilience level in people with Diabetes Mellitus during social distancing in the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus disease. Method: A cross-sectional, analytical and exploratory study. The population consisted of users monitored in the Family Health Strategy, diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus, in the municipality of Cuité, Paraíba, Brazil. The sample consisted of 300 participants. The data were collected between November 2020 and February 2021 and operationalized through two forms: One containing socioeconomic and clinical aspects, as well as behavioral habits;and another that was part of the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale for Brazil, consisting of 25 items divided into four factors, namely: Tenacity, adaptability, tolerance, dependence on external support, and intuition. In the bivariate analysis, the Pearson’s Chi-square and Fisher’s Exact tests were performed, and the prevalence ratio was calculated, along with the respective 95% confidence intervals. Finally, Poisson Regression with robust variance was applied. Results: The prevalence of having high resilience levels was 43% higher in people under 60 years old, 39% higher in Evangelicals, 36% higher in people who consumed alcoholic beverages and 29% higher in people who practiced some physical activity. Conclusion: An association was evidenced between socioeconomic/clinical data and behavioral habits and a high resilience level;such findings lead to the elaboration of inclusive actions during the pandemic, especially considering the emotional and social aspects, in order to suggest the creation of care strategies aimed at mental health. © 2022, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. All rights reserved.