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Abstract COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, has raised significant interest in understanding potential cross-immunity mechanisms. Recent evidence suggests that T-cells associated with common cold coronaviruses (229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1) may provide some level of cross-immunity against SARS-CoV-2. It is also known that the prevalence of smokers among patients admitted to hospital for COVID-19 is lower than expected according to the corresponding country’s smoking prevalence, which is known as smoker’s paradox in COVID-19. No clear consensus to explain it has yet been reached. This phenomenon suggests a complex interaction between smoking and immune response. Nonetheless, very few works have studied the prevalence of smokers in those infected by common cold coronaviruses, and its relation to COVID-19 has not been investigated. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to study the prevalence of smokers among patients infected by common cold coronaviruses, and to compare them to the corresponding country’s smoking prevalence. L’Abbé plots were used to visually assess the consistency of the observed effects across the different studies included in the meta-analysis. Additionally, significant differences were found in smoking prevalence among the various types of ccCoV, indicating the need for further research into the biological mechanisms driving these disparities. The results show that smoking prevalence is higher among those patients infected by these coronaviruses than in the general population (OR = 1.37, 95% CI: 0.81–2.33). A study was separately done for the four coronavirus types, and the prevalence of smokers was higher in three of the four than that corresponding to country, gender and study year: OC43 (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 0.64–5.82); HKU1 (OR = 3.62, 95% CI: 1.21–10.85); NL63 (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 0.64–5.82); 229E (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.50–1.90). The heterogeneity of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane Chi-squared test, I-squared (I2), and Tau-squared (τ2). This detailed statistical analysis enhances the robustness of our findings and highlights the variations in smoking prevalence among different ccCoVs. Our data suggest that COVID-19 might be less prevalent among smokers due to greater cross-immunity from a larger number or more recent infections by common cold coronaviruses than the non-smoking population, which would explain smoker’s paradox in COVID-19. IMPLICATIONS. The low prevalence of current smokers among SARS-CoV-2 patients is a finding recurrently repeated, even leading to postulate the “smoker’s paradox” in COVID-19. This fact compelled us to study the prevalence of smokers among patients infected by common cold coronaviruses, and to compare them to the corresponding country’s smoking prevalence. Our data could explain smoker’s paradox in COVID-19 by a greater cross immunity due to a larger number, or more recent infections by common cold coronaviruses than the non-smoking population. This manuscript allow understand potential unrevealed mechanism for low prevalence of current smokers among SARS-CoV-2 patients.

Summary: Background: The main objective of the present study was to analyze both clinical characteristics and evolution during hospitalization of a cohort of patients admitted for COVID-19 pneumonia who were not vaccinated, or with a complete or incomplete vaccination schedule. Methods: This COVID-19 specialized single-center cohort study of 1888 COVID-19 patients hospitalized at the “Enfermera Isabel Zendal” Emergencies Hospital (HEEIZ), Madrid (Spain) was performed between July 1 and September 30, 2021. It compared the results of 1327 hospitalized unvaccinated patients to 209 hospitalized fully vaccinated and 352 hospitalized partially vaccinated patients. The four different COVID-19 vaccines authorized in Spain during the time-period studied were: BNT162b2 (Pfizer); ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AstraZeneca), mRNA-1273 (Moderna); Ad26.COV2.S (Janssen). Findings: Hospitalized patients’ median age was 41 years (IQR 33–50) for the unvaccinated and 61 years (IQR 53–67) for the fully vaccinated ones. The main comorbidities were obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. 20% of unvaccinated patients (266) required noninvasive respiratory care, as did 14% (51) of partially and 14% (30) of fully vaccinated; 6% (78) of the unvaccinated patients also needed invasive respiratory care, as did 5% (16) of partially and 11 (5%) fully vaccinated. Interpretation: Fully vaccinated patients were 84% (95% CI: 82–86%) less likely to be admitted to hospital, and protection rose for those aged

SARS-CoV-2 is a new coronavirus that has caused a worldwide pandemic. It causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (COVID-19), which is fatal in many cases, and is characterized by a cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Great efforts are currently being made to block the signal transduction pathway of pro-inflammatory cytokines in order to control this “cytokine storm” and rescue severely affected patients. Consequently, possible treatments for cytokine-mediated hyperinflammation, preferably within approved safe therapies, are urgently being researched to reduce rising mortality. One approach to inhibit proinflammatory cytokine release is to activate the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway through nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7nAchR). Nicotine, an exogenous α7nAchR agonist, is clinically used in ulcerative colitis to counteract inflammation. We have found epidemiological evidence, based on recent clinical SARS-CoV-2 studies in China, that suggest that smokers are statistically less likely to be hospitalized. In conclusion, our hypothesis proposes that nicotine could constitute a novel potential CRS therapy in severe SARS-CoV-2 patients.

Introduction Stoma placement is a common surgical procedure that can be performed in the context of urgent and elective surgery for benign and malignant conditions, with an estimated morbidity ranging from 21% to 70%.

Introduction: As patients seek health information more frequently on the internet, the impact on their health status and their relationship with doctors could be a matter of concern. The objective of this study is to know how frequently rural primary care patients seek health information on the internet and the factors associated with it. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 850 patients aged over 15 years who attended two rural health centers in Cuenca (Spain). Consecutive case sampling was done. The participants were invited to answer a survey with sociodemographic and clinical aspects, and questions about possible internet searches for health information. The statistical analysis included the description of the variables and a bivariate analysis, and was completed with a logistic regression analysis. Results: Patients' median age was 54 years, interquartile range 39-67 years; 60.9% were female. Of those surveyed, 49.8% (95% confidence interval 46.3-53.2) stated that they used the internet to seek health information. Statistically significant differences were apparent for gender, age, level of education, disease and attendance (p

Background. Sports injuries, in addition to the economic cost which they incur for football clubs, appear to be linked to a worse collective performance during the season. Objectives. The aim of this study was to determine the injury incidence in a professional football team during 4 consecutive seasons. Methods. A total of 109 football players aged about 25 ± 4 years, having experience in sports from 18 ± 5 years, were analysed based on the injuries which they suffered during the training sessions and competition. Based on the recommendations of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), the exact type, severity and duration of football injuries were reported. Results. A total of 251 injuries (62.7 injuries/season and 2.3 injuries/player) were recorded. The incidence during the competition (37.2 injuries/1000h) was higher than that obtained during the training sessions (3.95 injuries/1000h). The injuries of a muscular type were the ones which showed the highest injury incidence (53% - 3.3 injuries/1000h), where the posterior thigh (19.6%), the knee (18.3%) and the groin (17.4%) were the most frequently damaged zones. It was found that 14.4% of the injuries were relapses of injuries suffered previously. Conclusion. The injury incidence detected in Spanish players is within the normal range for professional football players. The highest frequency injury types are muscular injury, closely followed by joint injury. The variables of injury risk were undifferentiated by the level of competition, player´s age, position and time of occurrence (month).

In this work, we propose an inexpensive laboratory practice for an introductory physics course laboratory for any grade of science and engineering study. This practice was very well received by our students, where a smartphone (iOS, Android, or Windows) is used together with mini magnets (similar to those used on refrigerator doors), a 20 cm long school rule, a paper, and a free application (app) that needs to be downloaded and installed that measures magnetic fields using the smartphone’s magnetic field sensor or magnetometer. The apps we have used are: Magnetometer (iOS), Magnetometer Metal Detector, and Physics Toolbox Magnetometer (Android). Nothing else is needed. Cost of this practice: free. The main purpose of the practice is that students determine the dependence of the component x of the magnetic field produced by different magnets (including ring magnets and sphere magnets). We obtained that the dependency of the magnetic field with the distance is of the form x–3, in total agreement with the theoretical analysis. The secondary objective is to apply the technique of least squares fit to obtain this exponent and the magnetic moment of the magnets, with the corresponding absolute error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

En este artículo se muestran un conjunto de sencillas experiencias de laboratorio que ilustran el fenómeno de la inducción electromagnética. El dispositivo experimental, análogo a un transformador, está formado por dos bobinas magnéticamente acopladas conectadas a un generador de corriente alterna sinusoidal de frecuencia variable. Midiendo la tensión inducida en la bobina del secundario en función de la corriente que hay en la bobina del primario se obtiene una dependencia lineal. Los resultados obtenidos concuerdan bastante bien, teniendo en cuenta los intervalos de error, con las predicciones teóricas de la ley de Faraday-Henry. Para la predicción teórica se ha tenido en cuenta el tamaño finito de ambas bobinas calculando el flujo magnético mediante una sencilla integral.

Globalizacion es un termino que se escucha hoy en dia de manera reiterada. No obstante no es un termino nuevo y aunque asi se nos presenta, fue utilizado y difundido en los años 60.