Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

When answering the question of whether freemasonry is a religion or not, one needs only to clarify the origins, nature, and purpose of Freemasonry and that of the Catholic Church. It is, evidently, an impossible task to achieve here. Since we cannot avoid approaching the topic, so we can only offer some guidelines for discussion in an attempt to answer these questions.  

REVIEW Isis modernista. Escritos panhispánicos sobre teosofía, espiritismo y el primer Krishnamurti (1890-1930) de José Ricardo Chaves. Ciudad de México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Bonilla Artigas Editores, 2020. 513 páginas. ISBN: 978-607-8636-97-6.

Presentation of a special issue dedicated to anti-freemasonry.

Introduction: A patent is an industrial property title granted by the State to the inventor of a new product or technology, susceptible of being marketed for profit on an exclusive basis for a determined period of time.Objective: To determine the number of patents granted to Peruvian universities in the biomedical field from 2010 to 2020, in comparison with the production of other inventors.Material and Methods: This descriptive, observational, retrospective and cross-sectional study analyzed 73 patents from a universe of 759 patents obtained from the database of the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property in Peru, from 2010 to 2020. To compare the number of patents granted to universities with respect to other inventors, Pearson's chi-square test with Yates' continuity correction was applied.Results: In Peru, during the years 2010 to 2020, 759 patents have been granted, of which 73 belong to the biomedical field (9.61 %), of which universities have generated 24.66 %, i.e. 2.47 % of the total. Furthermore, universities showed significant differences in patent production (p = 0.019) compared to other authors.Conclusions: In the biomedical field, patent production in Peruvian universities has been very limited from 2010 to 2020. In addition, universities presented significantly lower patent production compared to other inventors, noting that since 2016, they have not been granted any invention patents in the biomedical field.

Introducción: La ruptura de un hematoma subcapsular hepático resulta una rara complicación asociada con trastornos hipertensivos severos del embarazo como la preeclampsia, eclampsia y el Síndrome de Hellp.Objetivo: destacar la relevancia como causa de muerte de la ruptura hepática en el contexto del síndrome de Hellp, a través de un caso clínico.Presentación del caso: Se presenta a una paciente de 33 años, que cursa la semana 39 de gestación, la que acude al Servicio de Emergencias refiriendo dolor abdominal en hipogastrio de 8 horas de evolución, además de náuseas y malestar general. Embarazo de 41 semanas, óbito fetal, preeclamsia con signos de gravedad, Síndrome de Hellp tipo I y ruptura hepática grado IV. La sintomatología se exacerbó y provocó una evolución desfavorable. La observación y posteriores hallazgos diagnósticos motivaron la decisión de resolución quirúrgica.Conclusiones: La identificación temprana de los factores de riesgo durante la gestación es un factor clave en la prevención de enfermedades y sus posibles complicaciones.

Introduction: The transmission of COVID-19 in Cuba began in March 2020. Positive cases were reported throughout the country and La Lisa municipality was considered to be at high risk of becoming ill.Objective: To describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in La Lisa Municipality, Havana, Cuba.Material and Methods: Descriptive study of the COVID-19 pandemic in La Lisa municipality (Havana, Cuba) from March to June 2020. The positive cases of COVID-19 studied were reported by the Municipal Directorate of Hygiene and Epidemiology. The information was obtained from the epidemiological surveys carried out in the family doctor's office and in the health areas.Results: The incidence was 64.6 x 105 inhabitants. The highest rate of 124.1 x 105 inhabitants belonged to the area of Pulido Humaran Polyclinic. The lethality was 1.89 %. The mean age of the patients was 38 years, prevailing in men (55.7 %) and workers (80.2 %). The frequent symptoms were fever, cough and respiratory distress (14.1 %, 8.5 %, 6.6 %, respectively). Comorbidities were reported in 8.5 % of the positive cases. Asymptomatic patients had an influence (81.1 %). The outbreaks of COVID-19 increased the number of patients and occurred in three health areas.Conclusions: COVID-19 disease influenced adult men and the lethality was low. The transmission of the disease was at the expense of the asymptomatic forms. Outbreaks in institutions increased the number of patients in the community.

Introduction: Quimi-Hib®, a Cuban vaccine obtained by chemical synthesis and unique in the world, required its own regulatory strategy because there is no guideline on the requirements for its production and control.Objective: To characterize the regulatory strategy of the pre-launch phase of Quimi-Hib® in Cuba.Material and Methods: Descriptive-retrospective study of the requirements for the approval of the Cuban vaccine. Seven strategic steps were established to cover current and future regulatory standards based on expert advice for decision making. The starting point was the WHO´s guideline, which applies to anti-Hib vaccines of natural origin.Results: The regulatory strategy was developed based on the 15 recommendations of the aforementioned guideline, 11 of which were extrapolated to the Cuban vaccine and four of which were not, but served as the basis for the development of four requirements with similar rationale that apply to the semisynthetic vaccine.Six additional requirements were added, three of which were requested from the Cuba's National Regulatory Authority and three of which were obtained from the available relevant literature. These 21 requirements complete the regulatory package, the result of the strategy developed for this vaccine and the subsequent approval for marketing authorization and commercialization.Conclusions: The regulatory strategy compensates for the lack of specific guidelines for synthetic Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines and thus contributed to the approval of the first vaccine of this type. The regulatory strategy is flexible because it includes update requirements throughout the vaccine life cycle, and expert consensus was considered in its development.

Introduction: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are rare neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. A considerable number of cases have risk factors that cause early recurrence of the disease, therefore, adjuvant therapy with imatinib in this group of patients manages to increase the disease-free interval and overall survival.Objective: To evaluate the prognostic factors that influence the survival of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors in localized stages in adjuvant treatment with imatinib.Material and Methods: A retrospective and observational study was carried out in patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumors who received adjuvant treatment with imatinib at the Ameijeiras Hospital between 2003 and 2020. Survival was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression was used to determine independent prognostic factors for survival.Results: The disease-free survival rates at 2, 3, and 5 years were 84.6 %, 81.2 %, and 74.5 %, respectively. The overall survival rates at 2, 3, and 5 years were 96.6 %, 88.6 %, and 81.9 %, respectively. Patients aged >60 years, non-gastric tumor location, higher mitotic index, and presence of positive surgical margins were independent prognostic factors related to lower survival.Conclusions: This study is the first Cuban report in the real world on the use of adjuvant imatinib. The results obtained in overall survival and disease-free survival are similar to those reported internationally.

Introducción: La lesión medular (LM) es un problema médico contemporáneo caracterizado por datos insuficientes sobre prevalencia y debilidad de modelización en metodología.Objetivo: Establecer las interrelaciones del estado nutricional y la condición neurológica-funcional con signos clínicos: tiempo y tipo de lesión, nivel de lesión y severidad del trauma raquimedular dorso lumbar. Material y Métodos: Estudio descriptivo transversal de 102 pacientes con trauma raquimedular al ingreso, 85 hombres y 17 mujeres (febrero  2016 - enero de 2020, CIREN) La Habana, Cuba. Se realizó evaluación nutricional, neurológica (nivel, grado y severidad de lesión) mediante escalas ASIA, Independencia SCIM-III e índice de Barthel.   Se obtienen medias, desviación estándar, error estándar y análisis de varianza para distribuciones normales. Se utilizó SPSS versión 26.Resultados: La edad promedio fue 29,7 ± 8,1 años. La antigüedad del trauma fue 3,1 ± 1,4 años. La lesión raquimedular ocurrió en 50,6 % del segmento T7– L3 en pacientes con lesión completa. Hubo deficiencia energética crónica (4,9 %), según Índice de Masa Corporal; el 50,6 % fueron ≥ 22 kg/m2, según criterio de riesgo de Nash. El 73,5 % clasificaban en escala A de ASIA. La correlación entre Catz y Barthel demostró asociación significativa (p<  0,01).   La disminución de masa muscular, área muscular del brazo, reflectividad y sensibilidad es significativa según antigüedad, tipo, nivel y severidad de lesiones (p< 0,05). Se discute debilidad metodológica de estimaciones para masa muscular esquelética.Conclusiones: Se caracterizan antigüedad de lesión, tono muscular y nivel neurológico de lesión medular como condicionantes interactivos del diagnóstico.

Introduction: Scientific research tends to be presented through written reports, which are initially called manuscripts. The review of their quality is important in the framework of methodological and scientific rigor.Objective: To design and validate an analytical rubric to evaluate scientific manuscripts.Material and Methods: Instrumental study. An analytical rubric composed of 21 aspects integrated into six dimensions and four performance levels (excellent, good, fair, to be improved) was developed. The methodology of expert judges (n = 9), reliability by means of Krippendorff's alpha (α), external criterion test, and qualitative information for the improvement of the indicators were used.Results: The expert judgment indicated that the 21 aspects to be evaluated can be considered valid (Aiken's V ≥ 0.70) and dependable (α ≥ 0.70). In addition, the experts' suggestions allowed qualitative improvements to the instrument. The pilot application with a group of seven evaluators indicated that the test has predictive power because it was found that the judges' scores decreased as the quality of the selected manuscript decreased.Conclusions: The analytical rubric elaborated is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used for the assessment of scientific manuscripts in the field of medical education. The methodological process provides solid evidence of its performance. Nevertheless, it is encouraged to continue revising the instrument as part of its continuous improvement process.