Search Results (3)

The clinical evolution of patients infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) depends on the complex interplay between viral and host factors. The evolution to less aggressive but better-transmitted viral variants, and the presence of immune memory responses in a growing number of vaccinated and/or virus-exposed individuals, has caused the pandemic to slowly wane in virulence. However, there are still patients with risk factors or comorbidities that put them at risk of poor outcomes in the event of having the coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19). Among the different treatment options for patients with COVID-19, virus-targeted measures include antiviral drugs or monoclonal antibodies that may be provided in the early days of infection. The present expert consensus is based on a review of all the literature published between 1 July 2021 and 15 February 2022 that was carried out to establish the characteristics of patients, in terms of presence of risk factors or comorbidities, that may make them candidates for receiving any of the virus-targeted measures available in order to prevent a fatal outcome, such as severe disease or death. A total of 119 studies were included from the review of the literature and 159 were from the additional independent review carried out by the panelists a posteriori. Conditions found related to strong recommendation of the use of virus-targeted measures in the first days of COVID-19 were age above 80 years, or above 65 years with another risk factor; antineoplastic chemotherapy or active malignancy; HIV infection with CD4+ cell counts < 200/mm³; and treatment with anti-CD20 immunosuppressive drugs. There is also a strong recommendation against using the studied interventions in HIV-infected patients with a CD4+ nadir <200/mm³ or treatment with other immunosuppressants. Indications of therapies against SARS-CoV-2, regardless of vaccination status or history of infection, may still exist for some populations, even after COVID-19 has been declared to no longer be a global health emergency by the WHO. Full article

In this study, a human hip joint with Cam-type Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) is studied by the Finite Element Method (FEM). This pathology consists of a malformation that causes a lack of sphericity of the head of the femur. In turn, this causes wear and tear of the cartilage, a cause of early osteoarthritis of the hip. The objective is to use the FEM to analyze and compare the increase in the von Mises stress and displacement of the cartilage in healthy and damaged (with Cam-type) human hip joints that this syndrome affects. The 3D models were reconstructed from two medical CT scans of a healthy and a damaged hip joint that were obtained, five years apart, for a male of 80 kg in weight. The 3D models were reconstructed using 3D Slicer software. The cortical and trabecular bone, as well as the cartilage, were segmented. The defects were corrected by MesMixer software that generated STL files. Both models were imported into the Marc Mentat^® software for the Finite Element Analysis (FEA). It was noted that the thickness of the cartilage decreased enormously during the five years, which suggests imminent mechanical contact between the head of the femur and the acetabulum of the pelvis. The FEA results showed an excessive increase in the stress and displacement of the cartilage. This will certainly result in a condition of osteoarthritis for the patient in the future years. Full article

Catalytic hydrogenation of the three ent-kaurane diterpene glycosides isolated from Stevia rebaudiana, namely rubusoside, stevioside, and rebaudioside-A has been carried out using Pd(OH)₂ and their corresponding dihydro derivatives have been isolated as the products. Synthesis of reduced steviol glycosides was performed using straightforward chemistry and their structures were characterized on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectral data and chemical studies. Also, we report herewith the sensory evaluation of all the reduced compounds against their corresponding original steviol glycosides and sucrose for the sweetness property of these molecules. Full article