National long COVID impact and risk factors.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for long COVID symptoms among polymerase chain reaction-confirmed COVID-19 patients (hospitalised and community) in Malta. STUDY DESIGN: This was a national cross-sectional survey among COVID-19 patients in Malta during 2020. METHODS: Patients were sent a questionnaire 3-6 months after testing positive. Data were analysed descriptively to estimate symptom prevalence, and multivariable logistic regressions were used to determine the risk factors for long COVID symptoms. Age, sex, initial symptoms, hospitalisation, and healthcare worker status were used as risk factors and symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, anxiety, sadness, and memory loss) 2.5 months or more after COVID-19 onset were used as outcomes. RESULTS: Of 8446 eligible participants, 2665 (31.55%) responded with a median age of 37 years. Initial symptoms were reported in 82% of responders, and 7.73% were hospitalised. Among the long COVID symptoms, fatigue persisted among most non-hospitalised responders, whereas anxiety, shortness of breath, and sadness were the most common symptoms. Female sex, hospitalisation, and initial symptoms were associated with higher odds of fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, anxiety, sadness, and memory loss as long COVID symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to highlight long COVID symptoms and risk factors in Malta, showing that long COVID is common among hospitalised and non-hospitalised patients. These data should increase awareness of long COVID and facilitate support to those affected nationally.

Maintenance of core body temperature in anaesthetised pigeons (Columba livia domestica): a comparison of two thermal devices.

Active thermal devices are used to prevent hypothermia during anaesthetic procedures. Two thermal devices, one conductive and one convective, were compared for their effect on maintenance of core body temperature (CBT) during 1h of general anaesthesia in pigeons (Columba livia domestica). In a randomised crossover trial, CBT decreased significantly less with the conductive device than when the convective device was used (2.5 ± 0.7°C and 3.8 ± 0.9°C, respectively; P<0.01). Moreover, CBT was maintained above a clinically acceptable level of 38.3°C in 82% of pigeons when the conductive device was selected, compared to 14% of pigeons with the convective device. The use of the conductive device is therefore recommended in preference to the convective device when performing anaesthetic procedures in birds.

Blindness in a bladder cancer patient.

Blindness is an unusual symptom in the clinical course of cancer. When it appears it is necessary to differentiate between benign and malign causes. Brain metastases in bladder cancer are extremely rare. MRI is the best diagnostic option. We present a deaf-and-dumb male with subacute blindness, 12 months after the diagnosis of a metastatic bladder cancer. Computerised tomography scan and MRI revealed a mass into the pituitary gland and sella, probably of metastatic origin.

Blindness in a bladder cancer patient

Blindness is an unusual symptom in the clinical course of cancer. When it appears it is necessary to differentiate between benign and malign causes. Brain metastases in bladder cancer are extremely rare. MRI is the best diagnostic option. We present a deaf-and-dumb male with subacute blindness, 12 months after the diagnosis of a metastatic bladder cancer. Computerised tomography scan and MRI revealed a mass into the pituitary gland and sella, probably of metastatic origin (AU)

Emulsiones o/w estabilizadas con caseinato de sodio: efecto de los iones calcio, concentración de proteína y temperatura / Emulsions stabilized with sodium caseinate: effect of calcium ions, protein concentration and temperature

El efecto de la adición de iones calcio, concentración de proteína y temperatura, en la capacidad emulsificante y estabilizadora del caseinato de sodio (NaCn) es estudiado empleando emulsiones O/W (19.35por ciento aceite de girasol). La capacidad emulsificante de las dispersiones de caseinato de sodio preparadas a 4 ºC y 25 ºC, sin adición de iones calcio, es muy similar, generando emulsiones con tamaños promedio de partícula en el intervalo 1.0-1.5 mm. Al adicionar iones calcio a las dispersiones de caseinato de sodio produce la floculación de las gotas de la emulsión para cantidades de CaCl2 superiores al valor de concentración crítica de iones calcio (VCC). El VCC es dependiente de la temperatura, mostrando mayores valores a 4 ºC en comparación con los observados a 25 ºC. Para concentraciones de iones calcio inferiores al VCC, la capacidad emulsificante y estabilizante del caseinato de sodio no es afectada y muestra valores comparables a las emulsiones sin adición de iones calcio. Se logra establecer que la emulsión preparada a 4 ºC, 3 por ciento NaCn y 30 mM CaCl2 podría ser usada en la elaboración de derivados lácteos enriquecidos con calcio conservando las capacidades emulsificantes y estabilizantes del caseinato de sodio.

Desordenes reumaticos de tejidos blandos / Soft tissue rheumatic disorders

EI reumatismo de partes blandas constituye la primera causa de consulta reumatológica y en la mayoría de los casos ocurre sin compromiso sistémico y como consecuencia de trauma crónico o sobre uso. Ellos pueden ser locales en los casos de bursitis, tendinitis o tenosinovitis regionales como la lumbalgia y el síndrome miofascial y generalizados como la fibromialgia y el síndrome de fatiga crónica. Su enfoque diagnóstico es eminentemente clínico, su tratamiento exige un enfoque interdisciplinario.

Location and limitation of cellulose production by Acetobacter xylinum established from oxygen profiles.

The static fermentation of coconut water sucrose by Acetobacter xylinum was carried out at initial pH's of 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 or 6.0. Cellulose was produced at the surface, and its production was most favourable at pH's 4.0 and 5.0. These pH values also allowed for optimal bacterial growth. Oxygen concentration profiles were measured with microelectrodes at different cultivation stages, and steep profiles were obtained with penetration depths between 50 and 100 microm. A substrate penetration depth analysis confirmed the hypothesis that the first stage of the fermentation is entirely oxygen controlled. Diffusion calculations showed, however, that at a later stage sucrose becomes a limiting substrate also, which was confirmed by the decrease in cellulose production rate over time. The effective diffusion coefficient of oxygen in deactivated cellulose pellicles was measured with microelectrodes, and a value of 1.4 x 10(-9) m2/s was obtained under all investigated conditions. The oxygen flux was 5.9 x 10(-6) mol/m2.s, while a significantly higher value of 9.1 x 10(-6) mol/m2.s was obtained at pH 4.0.

Randomized clinical trial of adjuvant mitomycin plus tegafur in patients with resected stage III gastric cancer.

PURPOSE: The efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer is controversial. We conducted a phase III, randomized, multicentric clinical trial with the goal of assessing the efficacy of the combination of mitomycin plus tegafur in prolonging the disease-free survival and overall survival of patients with resected stage III gastric cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with resected stage III gastric adenocarcinoma were randomly assigned, using sealed envelopes, to receive either chemotherapy or no further treatment. Chemotherapy was started within 28 days after surgery according to the following schedule: mitomycin 20 mg/m(2) intravenously (bolus) at day 1 of chemotherapy; 30 days later, oral tegafur at 400 mg bid daily for 3 months. Disease-free survival and overall survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Between January 1988 and September 1994, 148 patients from 10 hospitals in Catalonia, Spain, were included in the study. The median follow-up period was 37 months. The tolerability of the treatment was excellent. The overall survival and disease-free survival were higher in the group of patients treated with chemotherapy (P =.04 for survival and P =.01 for disease-free survival in the log-rank test). The overall 5-year survival rate and the 5-year disease-free survival rate were, respectively, 56% and 51% in the treatment group and 36% and 31% in the control group. CONCLUSION: Our positive results are consistent with the results of recent studies; which conclude that there is a potential benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in resected gastric cancer.

Nutritional factors and gastric cancer in Spain.

A case-control study on diet and gastric cancer, carried out in selected areas of four regions of Spain (Aragon, Castile, Catalonia, and Galicia) in 1988 and 1989, included 354 cases of histologically confirmed gastric adenocarcinoma and 354 controls matched by age, sex, and area of residence. Cases and controls were selected from 15 hospitals, representing most of the hospital facilities in the study areas. Usual diet was estimated by means of a dietary history questionnaire administered by interview. An increased risk of gastric cancer was observed for high consumption of exogenous nitrosamines (odds ratio = 2.1 for the highest quartile of consumption versus the lowest; p for linear trend = 0.007), nitrites, fat, and cholesterol. However, in a multivariate regression model, the effect of fat and cholesterol disappeared. An inverse association with the risk for gastric cancer was seen for high intake of fiber, vitamin C, folate, carotene, and nitrates. High consumption of vitamin C seemed to neutralize the increased risk related to simultaneous consumption of nitrosamines. For histologic type, the authors found no meaningful differences in the effect of most of the nutrients between intestinal and diffuse cancers. Their findings are consistent with previously reported results about the protective effect of fruit and vegetables and the increased risk associated with foods that are important sources of nitrites and preformed nitrosamines.

[Establishment in Mayagüez of a coal-based thermoelectric plant: perspectives for human health]. / El establecimiento en Mayagüez de una planta termoeléctrica a base de carbón desde la perspectiva de la salud humana.

The proposal to burn coal in Mayagüez fails to address important facts that may affect human health. In the first place, the pattern of winds prevailing in Mayagüez is simply excluded and arbitrarily substituted by a pattern prevailing twenty kilometer north of Mayagüez. The fact that pollutants in compliance with the air standards may, nevertheless, affect human health is entirely disregarded. Also is the episodic accumulations of pollutants by meteorological conditions, such as thermal inversions coupled by low winds. The remarkable effect of exercise amplifying ozone harmful action is ignored, in spite of the athletic activity at the Mayagüez Campus of the UPR. The effect of chronic exposures of nitrogen dioxide on children living in houses with gas stoves is also ignored. These and other omissions raise serious human health concerns about the burning of coal in the setting already existing in Mayagüez.

[Performance of athletes exercising in ozone polluted air]. / Rendimiento del atleta que hace ejercicio en aire contaminado con ozono.

The literature on the performance of those exercising in air containing ozone was examined. The action of ozone is mediated by muscarinic receptors and others of unknown nature localized, apparently, over the respiratory epithelium of gaseous transport. Due to its action on those receptors the inspiratory phase of the pulmonary ventilation is reduced in an effect associated with pain and, simultaneously, the resistance to the pass of air is increased. If exercise increases ventilation to 90 or more liters per minute the effective dose of ozone increases potentiating its effect on the inspiration and the resistance. The potentiated reduction of the inspiratory phase and the associated pain (a) strongly antagonize the ventilatory effort of exercise and (b) reduced the capacity of response to the increase in resistance with augmented inspirations. In this way an important decrease in performance appears.