Vascular complications in 305 severely ill patients with COVID-19: a cohort study.

Background: Although an association has been made between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and microvascular disease, data on vascular complications (other than venous thromboembolism) are sparse.

Objective: To investigate the vascular complications in severely ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and their association with all-cause mortality.

Design And Setting: This cohort study was conducted at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil.

Recommendations for use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in surgical procedures during the SARS-Cov pandemic.

Since the Coronavirus Disease 2019 was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2019, many measures have been proposed to reduce the risks and the chances of contamination by the new coronavirus. In this context, wearing personal protective equipment is very important, especially in hospital environments and situations involving healthcare, since the degree of exposure is notably higher among the subgroup of healthcare professionals. The aim of this article is to propose a roadmap for the sequence of personal protective equipment use for surgical procedures during the coronavirus pandemic.

Extrusion of polysaccharide nanocrystal reinforced polymer nanocomposites through compatibilization with poly(ethylene oxide).

Polysaccharide nanocrystals with a rodlike shape but with different dimensions and specific surface area were prepared from cotton and capim dourado cellulose, and with a plateletlike morphology from waxy maize starch granules. The rheological behavior of aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with different molecular weights when adding these nanoparticles was investigated evidencing specific interactions between PEO chains and nanocrystals. Because PEO also bears hydrophobic moieties, it was employed as a compatibilizing agent for the melt processing of polymer nanocomposites.

Polyelectrolyte films based on chitosan/olive oil and reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals.

Composite films designed as potentially edible food packaging were prepared by casting film-forming emulsions based on chitosan/glycerol/olive oil containing dispersed cellulose nanocrystals (CNs). The combined use of cellulose nanoparticles and olive oil proved to be an efficient method to reduce the inherently high water vapor permeability of plasticized chitosan films, improving at the same time their tensile behavior. At the same time, it was found that the water solubility slightly decreased as the cellulose content increased, and further decreased with oil addition.

Antimicrobial effectiveness of bioactive packaging materials from edible chitosan and casein polymers: assessment on carrot, cheese, and salami.

Antimicrobial packaging is one of the most promising active packaging systems for controlling spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. In this work, the intrinsic antimicrobial properties of chitosan (CH) were combined with the excellent thermoplastic and film-forming properties of sodium caseinate (SC) to prepare SC/CH film-forming solutions and films. The antimicrobial effectiveness of SC, CH, and SC/CH coatings on the native microfloras of cheese, salami, and carrots was evaluated.