Screening of Impulse Control Disorders and Addictions

Introduction: The questionnaire for the screening of impulse control disorders and addictions is a screening scale of eight specific behaviors. Its validation and use is due to the need for a brief and reliable instrument for clinical screening in Cuba. Objective: Describe the results of research in which the questionnaire for the screening of impulse control disorders and addictions in Cuba has been used. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological study was carried out based on the documentary review and content analysis of the four research in which the questionnaire for the screening of impulse control disorders and addictions in Cuba was used Results: In the validation process, a Cronbach's alpha of 0.7502 and higher than 0.7 was obtained for all scales. Risk behaviors related to videogames were identified in about 25% of the participants, and the existence of a positive correlation between addictive risk and emotional dysregulation was verified. During the COVID-19 pandemic, men in the highest risk categories predominated in the alcohol abuse/dependence scale (70.8%).Conclusions: Between 2018 and 2022, four research was carried out in Cuba using the questionnaire for the screening of impulse control disorders and addictions. They included validation based on its adaptation to the Cuban sociocultural context, its use as a baseline in preventive interventions, and as an evaluation technique in a secondary level health care consultation © Este material es publicado según los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons Atribución–NoComercial 4.0. Se permite el uso, distribución y reproducción no comerciales y sin restricciones en cualquier medio, siempre que sea debidamente citada la fuente primaria de publicación

Use of social media to promote critical thinking in university students during COVID-19

Objective: To analyze the use of social networks to promote critical thinking in students of a higher education institution in Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Method: The research is exploratory and descriptive with a qualitative-quantitative approach, using the survey to collect information. It is part of the active students for the 2021-2 academic period during the social confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Students use social networks between 5 and 10 hours per week on average, the most frequented being WhatsApp (32%), Instagram (75%) and Facebook (66%);50% of them acknowledge that they use them mainly for entertainment and social exchange purposes. Discussion and Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of social networks, causing substantial distractions in the development of classes. Its use is not affected by socioeconomic level, reducing the participation gaps that other scenarios of society usually have. Teachers can use them as a novel resource in the teaching and learning processes avoiding wishful thinking, pursuing the development of critical thinking based on the objectivity of knowledge linked to research, creativity, innovation and transformation. © 2023 The authors.

The Covid-19 Pandemic's Impact On Peruvian Higher Education

The goal of this research is to determine the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on Peruvian higher education. Surveys were issued to 349 instructors at various institutions to obtain information. As a result of the study's findings, it appears that COVID-19 has a detrimental influence on higher education, running interruptions to teaching and learning, less access to educational and research resources, job losses and increased student debt. However, virtual education has been impeded by limited internet connectivity, a scarcity of computer equipment, and a lack of digital literacy. The study underlines the importance of adopting distance education technology in order to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 and potential future pandemics on university education. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.

Do coronavirus containment measures work? Worldwide evidence

Using a daily data base covering 158 countries during January to August 2020, this paper assesses the effectiveness of coronavirus containment measures in reducing contagion and death rates. To estimate the effectiveness of different containment measures, the paper uses a methodological approach that takes into consideration the persistence in the dynamics between coronavirus containment measures and contagion/death rates, countries' idiosyncratic characteristics, and the endogeneity of the containment measures. To obtain efficient estimates of the effect of coronavirus containment measures on contagion and death rates, a dynamic panel-data technique is used, complemented by efficient instruments for the decision of adopting coronavirus containment measures. The results show that countries with better health systems, higher temperatures, and more democratic regimes tended to delay the adoption of coronavirus containment measures. The results also detect demonstration effects as the early adoption of coronavirus containment measures in Western Europe led other countries to accelerate their adoption. Using predictions from the estimated model, it is possible to benchmark the timing of adoption of coronavirus containment measures and assess whether their adoption was timely or not and if they were lifted prematurely or not. The findings of this exercise show that countries with timely adopted coronavirus containment measures restricted activities, meanwhile they lagged in the adoption of measures restricting individual liberties. The evidence indicates that most countries resisted the urge to lift restrictions in advance, once they have been in place: over 60 percent of the countries have reacted as predicted by our econometric models, maintaining coronavirus containment measures in place until contagion rates receded. Nevertheless, around one-quarter of the countries lifted their restrictions one month or more ahead of what the worldwide evidence would have suggested, in particular by removing lockdowns and re-opening workplaces. Finally, the results show that coronavirus containment measures have been effective in reducing contagion and death rates, but there are differences in the effectiveness among them, and restrictions on activities have been more effective than restrictions on personal liberties.

Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 lineage -2 U.S. States, 2021

Background. In December 2020, B.1.1.7 lineage of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in the United States and has since become the dominant lineage. Previous investigations involving B.1.1.7 suggested higher rates of transmission relative to non-B.1.1.7 lineages. We conducted a household transmission investigation to determine the secondary infection rates (SIR) of B.1.1.7 and non-B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 lineages. Methods. From January-April 2021, we enrolled members of households in San Diego County, CA, and Denver, CO metropolitan area (Tri-County), with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in a household member with illness onset date in the previous 10 days. CDC investigators visited households at enrollment and 14 days later at closeout to obtain demographic and clinical data and nasopharyngeal (NP) samples on all consenting household members. Interim visits, with collection of NP swabs, occurred if a participant became symptomatic during follow-up. NP samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using TaqPath™ RT-PCR test, where failure to amplify the spike protein results in S-Gene target failure (SGTF) may indicate B.1.1.7 lineage. Demographic characteristics and SIR were compared among SGTF and non-SGTF households using two-sided p-values with chi-square tests;95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated with Wilson score intervals. Results. 552 persons from 151 households were enrolled. 91 (60%) households were classified as SGTF, 57 (38%) non-SGTF, and 3 (2%) indeterminant. SGTF and non-SGTF households had similar sex distribution (49% female and 52% female, respectively;P=0.54) and age (median 30 years, interquartile range (IQR 14-47) and 31 years (IQR 15-45), respectively). Hispanic people accounted for 24% and 32% of enrolled members of SGTF and non-SGTF households, respectively (p=0.04). At least one secondary case occurred in 61% of SGTF and 58% of non-SGTF households (P=0.66). SIR was 52% (95%[CI] 46%-59%) for SGTF and 45% (95% CI 37%-53%) for non-SGTF households (P=0.18). Conclusion. SIRs were high in both SGTF and non-SGTF households;our findings did not support an increase in SIR for SGTF relative to non-SGTF households in this setting. Sequence confirmed SARS-CoV-2 samples will provide further information on lineage specific SIRs.

Digital competences of university professors during the covid-19 pandemic in Peru

Information and communication technologies have had a significant impact on people's quality of life in recent years. But, its educational potential has yet to be fully realized. In the wake of the covid-19 outbreak, this article presents an examination of the digital competence of university professors. The development of these talents among university professors was studied. To collect data, Google Forms was used to create online surveys. Requests were sent to the 240 professors of the Universidad Nacional Santiago Antunez de Mayolo via institutional email, and the responses of the 187 professors were included in the SPSS V26 database as a result of the outbreak. The findings show that university professors have sufficient digital skills, but their use in non-face-to-face classrooms is restricted, requiring a review of training programs in public institutions in this context of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Characterization of nailfold capillaroscopy in covid-19: A case control study

Background: Nailfold capillaroscopy is a relatively easy-to-access, low-cost clinical tool that could help identify early coagulopathy in subjects with SARS-CoV-2, but specific findings vs. controls and its possible prognostic role has not been studied. Objectives: To describe capillaroscopic findings and their usefulness in patients with COVID-19 compared to healthy controls. Methods: We designed a cross-sectional study, carried out in a single care center for critical patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia at the ABC Medical Center, Mexico City, which included patients from an intensive care unit (ICU) and internal medicine ward from March to April 2020. Demographic, biochemical and clinical features were collected. All patients signed the informed consent and the study was approved by the hospital ethics committee. All patients underwent nail capillary imaging of the 3 central fingers of each hand with a portable microscope with 60-100x magnification coupled to a smartphone with 7 megapixel images in an immersion medium. Capillaroscopy was performed in patients who did not have fever or hypothermia, or need vasopressors at the time of evaluation. Control subjects are healthy subjects matched on age and sex from a database of healthy controls without rheumatic diseases. Image evaluation of COVID-19 patients was performed in a blinded way for their characteristics. Prior to the analysis of the images, a pilot test was obtained with 4 rheumatologists in random cases, obtaining an acceptable global agreement in the visualization of capillaries and specific alterations of the nail bed. (Kappa = 0.58, p = 0.0019). Obtained data from capillaroscopies were used to be compared between severe and moderate cases of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Additionally, we compared the findings against a healthy population in order to establish a reference. Results: We included data from 27 patients and 32 controls with similar demographic features. Patients with COVID-19 patients had a mean age of 43 +/-13.8 years, 63% female. Comorbidities were present in 44.4% with: type II Diabetes Mellitus 18.5%, systemic arterial hypertension 18.5%, and rheumatoid arthritis 3.7%. The mean length of stay time was 13 +/-7.1 days, 48.1% were admitted to the ICU, and 40.7% required invasive mechanical ventilation. In the capillaroscopic review remarkable findings of patients vs. controls were hemosiderin deposits (33 vs 12.5%, p=0.05), less frequently observable capillaries (77 vs 100%, p=0.005), any abnormality in capillaries (25.9 vs. 6.3%, p=0.03). Of notice, specific findings in COVID-19 patients were capillary tortuosities in 19%, dilatation in 9.5%, serpentine pattern in 4.8%, bush pattern in 9.5% and decreased density in only 4.8% of the cases. No avascular areas or capillaries of neoformation were observed. Finally, the presence of hemosiderin was associated with worse presentation and risk factors for severe COVID-19: Male sex 66.7 vs. 27.8%, (p = 0.024);Admission to ICU 77% vs 33% (p = 0.029);BMI > 30 kg/m2 66.7 vs. 27.8% (p = 0.053). And risk for ICU admission OR = 7.0 (95% CI 1.098 -44.6). No significant associations were found for abnormalities in capillary morphology. Conclusion: We present one of the first reports of nailfold capillaroscopic findings in patients with COVID-19 and the first to compare to healthy controls. Previous data on this regard suggests the presence of endothelial dysfunction and microvascular complications such as micro hemorrhage or micro thrombosis. Further studies may confirm these findings and prognostic value for worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

An efficient method for covid-19 detection using light weight convolutional neural network

The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant milestone in the modern history of civilization with a catastrophic effect on global wellbeing and monetary. The situation is very complex as the COVID-19 test kits are limited, therefore, more diagnostic methods must be developed urgently. A significant initial step towards the successful diagnosis of the COVID-19 is the chest X-ray or Computed Tomography (CT), where any chest anomalies (e.g., lung inflammation) can be easily identified. Most hospitals possess X-ray or CT imaging equipments that can be used for early detection of COVID-19. Motivated by this, various artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have been developed to identify COVID-19 positive patients using the chest X-ray or CT images. However, the advance of these AI-based systems and their highly tailored results are strongly bonded to high-end GPUs, which is not widely available in several countries. This paper introduces a technique for early COVID-19 diagnosis based on medical experience and light-weight ConvolutionalNeuralNetworks (CNNs),which does not require a custom hardware to run compared to currently availableCNNmodels. The proposed deep learning model is built carefully and fine-tuned by removing all unnecessary parameters and layers to achieve the light-weight attribute that could run smoothly on a normal CPU (0.54% of AlexNet parameters). This model is highly beneficial for countries where high-end GPUs are luxuries. Experimental outcomes on some new benchmark datasets shows the robustness of the proposed technique robustness in recognizing COVID-19 with 96% accuracy. © 2021 Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.

Caracterización clínica y epidemiológica de pacientes con Covid-19 atendidos en Servicio de Emergencia del Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile entre marzo y mayo 2020

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in China and has spread globally, creating a pandemic. The objective of this is study is to determinate clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with coronavirus en emergency department. The HCUCH Emergency Service treated a total of 6959 patients between March 13th and May 31th, of whom 1.278 were positive and had confirmed with coronavirus. The male sex was the most prevalent (59.7%). The most frequent symptoms in both groups were cough, myalgia and fever. In the group of ambulatory patients, headache stood out in 50% and in hospitalized patients, dyspnea with 67%. The mortality rate in hospitalized patients was 15.6%. Of these, 66.6% were older than 65 years. Regarding diagnosis of hospital discharge, 87.5% correspond to pneumonia. There is a higher prevalence of coronavirus disease in male patients. The most frequent comorbidities in hospitalized patients were HT and DM2. The highest rate of hospitalization and case fatality in people over 65 years of age. This information helps to characterize the profile of patients at risk in which prevention efforts should be focused. (AU)