Current practices in the use of sildenafil for pulmonary arterial hypertension in Brazilian hospitals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sildenafil is a cyclic guanosine monophosphate-specific phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor used for treating pulmonary hypertension. Although the use of sildenafil in patients under 18 years old is off-label, this inhibitor has been widely prescribed for children treatment at hospitals in Brazil. In this work we evaluated the current practices in using sildenafil in the three main reference hospitals of Rio de Janeiro to design a clinical trial. Then we analyzed the content of sildenafil in powder paper preparations used in these institutions.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>We assessed the data about the use of sildenafil in three reference hospitals including Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia – INC, Instituto Estadual de Cardiologia Aloysio de Castro – IECAC and Hospital Pro-Cardíaco – HPC. The pharmacy records were analyzed from April 1st, 2008 to April 30th, 2008 and interviews with the pharmacists were also performed. Our results showed that INC used the greatest amount of sildenafil in: treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), management of transient PAH during surgery, preparation for cardiac transplantation and haemodynamic studies during cardiac catheterization. Meanwhile IECAC and HPC used sildenafil only for treating PAH in few patients during the period evaluated. In INC and IECAC, sildenafil was available in tablets, and powder papers prepared by two private pharmacies and one public hospital pharmacy. In contrast all patients of HPC received sildenafil in tablets with no external manipulation. Our quantification analysis results using reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography method showed that powder papers prepared by the private pharmacies from the sildenafil tablets presented only 58.5 to 89.3% of the declared concentration in contrast to samples from the public hospital pharmacy (104.4 to 105.3%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Few patients received the prescribed sildenafil dose at the reference hospitals evaluated in Rio de Janeiro, which may importantly compromise this inhibitor effect in the current treatment. This study reinforced the need of checking the practices of preparing and administering sildenafil continually.</p

The behavior of academic investigators using an institutional repository

Institutional repositories (IRs) are a new strategy for universities to expedite changes in scientific communication. They are digital collections that store, preserve, and make available the intellectual output of one or more universities. Housing this production in an IR can solve problems such as the high acquisition and maintenance costs of collections, and the publication of gray literature, reports and post-prints. However, the IR brings new questions about copyright that are still in discussion. It can also improve the situation of the universities that are responsible for producing 70% of the scientific papers, buying from commercial editors about 90% of the articles they consume, compromising part of the budget in the acquisition of periodicals that bring back the results of their own work. The use of open archives by IRs should stimulate self-archiving, since it assures a more efficient dissemination of digital documents. However, self-archiving is a new task, sometimes perceived as an additional burden in overcrowded schedules, not yet part of the habits and routines of researchers and academic staff. This work is justified in a socio-cultural context, especially in understanding the behavior of investigators from different knowledge areas and cultures in their acceptance and use of IRs, being possible to know important factors in its adoption. This way, we intend to provide the academic managers guidelines that help them to promote a culture of sharing and disseminating the scientific information produced by their institutions, increasing the investigation’s excellence

Bifenthrin Baseline Susceptibility and Evaluation of Simulated Aerial Applications in \u3ci\u3eStriacosta albicosta\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Striacosta albicosta (Smith) is a maize pest that has recently expanded its geographical range into the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. Aerial application of pyrethroids, such as bifenthrin, has been a major practice adopted to manage this pest. Reports of field failure of pyrethroids have increased since 2013. Striacosta albicosta populations were collected in 2016 and 2017 from maize fields in Nebraska, Kansas, and Canada and screened with bifenthrin active ingredient in larval contact dose-response bioassays. Resistance ratios estimated were generally low in 2016 (1.04- to 1.32-fold) with the highest LC50 in North Platte, NE (66.10 ng/cm2) and lowest in Scottsbluff, NE (50.10 ng/cm2). In 2017, O’Neill, NE showed the highest LC50 (100.66 ng/cm2) and Delhi, Canada exhibited the lowest (6.33 ng/cm2), resulting in a resistance ratio variation of 6.02- to 15.90-fold. Implications of bifenthrin resistance levels were further investigated by aerial application simulations. Experiments were conducted with a spray chamber where representative S. albicosta populations were exposed to labeled rates of a commercial bifenthrin formulation. Experiments resulted in 100% mortality for all populations, instars, insecticide rates, and carrier volumes, suggesting that levels of resistance estimated for bifenthrin active ingredient did not seem to impact the efficacy of the correspondent commercial product under controlled conditions. Results obtained from this research indicate that control failures reported in Nebraska could be associated with factors other than insecticide resistance, such as issues with the application technique, environmental conditions during and/or after application, or the insect’s natural behavior. Data generated will assist future S. albicosta resistance management programs

RepositóriUM: implementação do DSpace em português: lições para o futuro e linhas de investigação.

Neste trabalho descrevemos a implementação do Repositório Institucional (RepositóriUM) da Universidade do Minho (UMinho), Portugal. A UMinho traduziu e está a utilizar a primeira versão em língua portuguesa do DSpace, um programa Open Source desenvolvido numa parceria entre o Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) e a Hewlett-Packard (HP). As cinco fases definidas para o plano de implementação são descritas neste trabalho (1. instalação, tradução e configuração; 2. carregamento de teses e dissertações; 3. instituição das comunidades piloto; 4. abertura do repositório ao público, e 5. abertura para toda comunidade da UMinho), bem como as razões que conduziram à escolha das seis comunidades piloto de diferentes áreas do conhecimento para participarem nesse período de implementação (Sistemas de Informações; Engenharia de Polímeros; Engenharia Biológica; Gestão, e uma da área de Ciências Humanas e outra da área de Ciências Sociais). Neste artigo pretendemos compartilhar as lições aprendidas com o processo, e os caminhos de investigação que o projecto abriu, em particular para investigação e comparação de comportamentos de comunidades com diferentes culturas, de acordo com algumas questões e observações surgidas durante os primeiros dez meses de experiência. Tendo estas informações como base, foram identificados alguns caminhos para pesquisa que começam a ser desenvolvidos no contexto de pesquisas de mestrado ou doutorado na UMinho

RepositóriUM: implementing DSpace in portuguese: lessons for the future and research pathways

In this paper we describe the implementation of the Minho University (UMinho) Institutional Repository (RepositóriUM), Portugal. UMinho translated and has been using the first Portuguese version of DSpace, an Open Source software system developed in a partnership of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Hewlett-Packard (HP). The five phases established for the implementation plan are pointed out in this work (1. installation, translation, and configuration; 2. upload of thesis and dissertations; 3. establishment of pilot communities; 4. making the repository public, and 5. opening to the overall UMinho community), as well as, the reasons that led to the choice of the six pilot communities of different areas of knowledge (Information Systems; Polymers Engineering; Biological Engineering; Management, and one from the Humanities and another from the Social Sciences areas) to participate in this implementation period. In this paper we wish to share the lessons learnt, and the pathways for research, in particular for cross-cultural research, according to some questions and observations obtained during the first 10 months of experience. With this information as a background, some research pathways have been identified and are starting to be further developed in the context of MSc or PhD research at UMinho

Assessing caries status according to the CAST instrument and WHO criterion in epidemiological studies

ABSTRACT: Background: The Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST) is a new epidemiological instrument for detection and treatment of dental caries. Worldwide, the WHO criterion constitutes the epidemiological tool most commonly used for caries detection. The objective of the present study is to determine the levels of similarity and difference between the CAST instrument and WHO criterion on the basis of caries prevalence, dmf/DMF counts, examination time and reporting of results. Methods: An epidemiological survey was carried out in Brazil among 6-11-year-old schoolchildren. Time of examinations was recorded. dmft, dmfs, DMFT and DMFS counts and dental caries prevalence were obtained according to the WHO criterion and the CAST instrument, as well the correlation coefficient between the two instruments. Results: Four hundred nineteen children were examined. dmft and dmfs counts were 1.92 and 5.31 (CAST), 1.99 and 5.34 (WHO) with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.95 and 0.93, respectively. DMFT and DMFS counts were 0.20 and 0.33 (CAST), 0.19 and 0.30 (WHO), with r = 0.78 and r=0.72, respectively. Kappa coefficient values for intra-examiner consistency were CAST = 0.91-0.92; WHO = 0.95-0.96 and those for inter-examiner consistency were CAST = 0.90-0.96; WHO = 0.94-1.00. Mean time spent on applying CAST and WHO were 66.3 and 64.7 sec, respectively p = 0.26. The prevalence of dental caries using CAST (codes 2, 5-8) and the WHO criterion for the primary dentition were 63.0% and 65.9%, respectively, and for the permanent dentition they were 12.7% and 12.8%, respectively. Conclusions: The CAST instrument provided similar prevalence of dental caries values and dmf/DMF counts as the WHO criterion in this age group. Time spent on examining children was identical for both caries assessment methods. Presentation of results from use of the CAST instrument, in comparison to WHO criterion, allowed a more detailed reporting of stages of dental caries, which will be useful for oral health planners