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Objective: To determine the relative effectiveness of Helmet-CPAP (H&#95;CPAP) with respect to high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (HFNO) in avoiding greater need for intubation or mortality in a medium complexity hospital in Chile during the year 2021., Design: Cohort analytical study, single center., Setting: Units other than intensive care units., Patients: Records of adults with mild to moderate hypoxemia due to coronavirus type 2., Interventions: None., Main Variables of Interest: Need for intubation or mortality., Results: 159 patients were included in the study, with a ratio by support of 2:10 (H&#95;CPAP:HFNO). The 46.5% were women, with no significant differences by sex according to support (p = 0.99, Fisher test). The APACHE II score, for HFNO, had a median of 10.5, 3.5 units higher than H&#95;CPAP (p < 0.01, Wilcoxon rank sum). The risk of intubation in HFNO was 42.1% and in H&#95;CPAP 3.8%, with a significant risk reduction of 91% (95% CI: 36.9%-98.7%; p < 0.01). APACHE II does not modify or confound the support and intubation relationship (p > 0.2, binomial regression); however, it does confound the support and mortality relationship (p = 0.82, RR homogeneity test). Despite a 79.1% reduction in mortality risk with H&#95;CPAP, this reduction was not statistically significant (p = 0.11, binomial regression)., Conclusions: The use of Helmet CPAP, when compared to HFNO, was an effective therapeutic ventilatory support strategy to reduce the risk of intubation in patients with mild to moderate hypoxemia caused by coronavirus type 2 in inpatient units other than intensive care. The limitations associated with the difference in size, age and severity between the arms could generate bias., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the association between Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) discontinuation time and therapeutic failure (TF) in Venezuelan immigrants with HIV that restart HAART., Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study in a large hospital in Peru. We included Venezuelan immigrants who restarted HAART and were followed over at least 6 months. The primary outcome was TF. Secondary outcomes were immunologic (IF), virologic (VF) and clinical (CF) failures. The exposure variable was HAART discontinuation, categorised as no discontinuation, less than 6 months, and 6 months or more. We applied generalised linear models Poisson family with robust standard errors to calculate crude (cRR) and adjusted (aRR) relative risks by statistical and epidemiological criteria., Results: We included 294 patients, 97.2% were males, and the median age was 32 years. Out of all the patients, 32.7% discontinued HAART for less than 6 months, 15.0% discontinued for more than 6 months and the remaining 52.3% did not discontinue. The cumulative incidence of TF was 27.9%, 24.5% in VF, 6.0% in IF and 6.0% in CF. Compared with non-discontinued HAART patients, the discontinuation for less than 6 months (aRR = 1.98 [95% CI: 1.27-3.09]) and from 6 months to more (aRR = 3.17 [95% CI: 2.02-4.95]) increased the risk of TF. Likewise, treatment discontinuation of up to 6 months (aRR = 2.32 [95% CI: 1.40-3.84]) and from 6 months to more (aRR = 3.93 [95% CI: 2.39-6.45]) increased the risk of VF., Conclusions: HAART discontinuation increases the probability of TF and VF in Venezuelan immigrants., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Copper contamination in watercourses is a recent issue in countries where mining operations are prevalent. In this study, the application of copper precipitation through microbe-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) was analyzed using urea hydrolysis by bacteria to evaluate precipitated copper carbonates. This article demonstrates the application of a copper precipitation assay involving Sporosarcina pasteurii (in 0.5 mM Cu 2+ and 333 mM urea) and analyzes the resultant low removal (10%). The analysis indicates that the low removal was a consequence of Cu 2+ complexation with the ammonia resulting from the hydrolysis of urea. However, the results indicate that there should be a positive correlation between the initial urea concentration and the bacterial tolerance to copper. This identifies a challenge in the industrial application of the process, wherein a minimum consumption of urea represents an economic advantage. Therefore, it is necessary to design a sequential process that decouples bacterial growth and copper precipitation, thereby decreasing the urea requirement., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)