Background COVID‐19 pandemic causes high global morbidity and mortality, and better medical treatments to reduce mortality are needed. Objective To determine the added benefit of Cyclosporine‐A (CsA), to low‐dose steroid treatment, in patients with COVID‐19. Methods Open‐label, non‐randomized pilot study of patients with confirmed infection of SARS‐CoV2, hospitalized from April to May 2020 at a single center in Puebla, Mexico. Comparative treatment with steroids or CsA plus steroids. Pneumonia severity was assessed by clinical, laboratory, and lung tomography. The death rate was evaluated at 28 days. Results 209 adult patients were studied, 105 received CsA plus steroids (age 55.3 ±13.3; 69% men), and 104 steroids alone (age 54.06 ±13.8; 61% men). All patients received clarithromycin, enoxaparin, and methylprednisolone or prednisone up to 10 days. Patient´s death was associated with hypertension (RR=3.5) and diabetes (RR=2.3). Mortality was 22 and 35% for CsA and control groups (p=0.02), respectively, for all patients, and 24 and 48.5% for patients with moderate to severe disease (p=0.001). Higher cumulative clinical improvement was seen for the CsA group (Nelson Aalen curve, p=0.001, log‐rank test) in moderate to severe patients. The Cox proportional hazard analysis showed the highest HR improvement value of 2.15 (1.39‐3.34, 95%CI, p=0.0005) for CsA treatment in moderate to severe patients, and HR = 1.95 (1.35‐2.83, 95%CI, p=0.0003) for all patients. Conclusion CsA used as an adjuvant to steroid treatment for COVID‐19 patients showed to improve outcomes and reduce mortality, mainly in those with moderate to severe disease. Further investigation through controlled clinical trials is warranted.
Maize is the most important and strategic crop in Mexico, however, this sector suffers from low productivity. Among the various strategies to improve yield by hectare, improved maize seeds play an important role. In this context, adoption studies in Mexico of these types of seeds are scarce and in general do not jointly account for the timing of adoption factors affecting the adoption decision. This study analysed the determinants of the adoption rates of improved seeds using the survival analysis method. Farm-level data were collected in 2015 through a questionnaire administered to 200 maize farmers in Chiapas, Mexico. Our results showed that 60% of the farmers who adopted the improved seeds reached the decision within a 10 years’ period. Specifically, young farmers with a low number of family members from several generations of agricultural work, who exhibited positive attitudes towards innovation and with low risk perception were likely to adopt the new varieties. Furthermore, results showed that the NAFTA Mexican reform of agricultural policy in 1994 negatively affected the adoption rate of improved seeds. Improving the maize yield requires adequate extension information systems that allow farmers to receive more information on the importance of adoption innovation as well as help them market their products.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health problem that causes more than 1.27 million deaths annually; therefore, it is urgent to focus efforts on solving or reducing this problem. The major causes of AMR are the misuse of antibiotics and antimicrobials in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and human medicine, which favors the selection of drug-resistant microbes. One of the strategies proposed to overcome the problem of AMR is to use polyvalent human immunoglobulin or IVIG. The main advantage of this classic form of passive immunization is its capacity to enhance natural immunity mechanisms to eliminate bacteria, viruses, or fungi safely and physiologically. Experimental data suggest that, for some infections, local administration of IVIG may produce better results with a lower dose than intravenous application. This review presents evidence supporting the use of polyvalent human immunoglobulin in AMR, and the potential and challenges associated with its proposed usage.
The objective of this research was to analyze the adoption behavior over time for the improved variety of garlic CEZAC 06, and the factors associated with the adoption process through survival analysis (SA), in North-Central Mexico. The data comes at farm level and was collected in 2019 through a questionnaire given to 40 garlic farmers in Zacatecas, Mexico. The results show that 62.5 % of the farmers who adopted CEZAC 06 carried out this process in the first two years after they were first introduced to it. The factors that played a role in the adoption process were: farmer age, how long the farmer had been in business for, number of hectares availables for garlic production, yield, number of college-educated family members, income from crop farming, income from garlic farming, agriculture-related courses taken, financial aid from the federal government, and being part of any type of organization. Improving yield and the quality of the garlic bulb requires an adequate extension system that allows farmers to receive updated and reliable information on the importance of technological innovation. Highlights The analysis also suggested that new technologies should be transmitted at higher rates to increase adoption. This can be done by implementing courses aimed at farmers with low educational backgrounds, small plots of land and low productivity levels. The factors affecting the adoption process were: farmer age, how long the farmer had been in business, yield, etc. CEZAC 06 will increase yield and rural farmers could improve the quality of the bulb as a marketable surplus. This work contributes to the scarce literature on the application of survival analysis to agricultural technologies.
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