Dispensing errors in a Rio de Janeiro tertiary hospital: incidence, types, and causes / Erros de dispensação em hospital terciário do Rio de Janeiro: incidência, tipos e causas

Objective: In this study, the drug dispensing system of a tertiary care center was analysed, with the purpose of identifying the occurrence of dispensing errors, their types, causes, and the role of double checking in prevention. The main factors that contribute for the errors and the recommendations to avoid them have been evaluated from the perspective of the professionals involved in the dispensation process. Methods: 1,077 prescriptions were assessed in a 6-month  period. The errors were recorded and corrected before the medication left the pharmacy. Each pharmaceutical unit dispensed was considered as a possibility of error. The results were analyze through descriptive statistics (average, median, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and frequencies). In the second step of the research, the opinion of the professionals directly involved with dispensing  about causes and consequences of the errors was assessed through a questionnaire with  open and closed questions to explore the factors and causes of errors. Results: A 4.5% rate of dispensing errors inside the pharmacy was observed , during the double-check process. The rate observed when the medicines arrived at the admission units was of 0.37%.  The most frequent class of errors in dispensing was drug omission (62.9%), followed by dose added errors (11.7%); incorrect time (10.2%); incorrect drug (9.2%), and changed dosage form (6.4%). We found a direct relationship between the number of dispensed items during a shift and the number of dispensing errors (?=0,844). The schedule for team shifts  influenced the error rate (p=0,016). Conclusion: Knowing the dispensing error profile is crucial for promoting behaviour changes and to define adequated error barriers

Gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) mediates chemotaxis in neutrophils

Neutrophil migration to inflamed sites is crucial for both the initiation of inflammation and resolution of infection, yet these cells are involved in perpetuation of different chronic inflammatory diseases. Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) is a neuropeptide that acts through G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) involved in signal transmission in both central and peripheral nervous systems. Its receptor, gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR), is expressed by various cell types, and it is overexpressed in cancer cells. RC-3095 is a selective GRPR antagonist, recently found to have antiinflammatory properties in arthritis and sepsis models. Here we demonstrate that i.p. injection of GRP attracts neutrophils in 4 h, and attraction is blocked by RC-3095. Macrophage depletion or neutralization of TNF abrogates GRP-induced neutrophil recruitment to the peritoneum. In vitro, GRP-induced neutrophil migration was dependent on PLC- β2, PI3K, ERK, p38 and independent of Gαi protein, and neutrophil migration toward synovial fluid of arthritis patients was inhibited by treatment with RC-3095.We propose that GRPR is an alternative chemotactic receptor that may play a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders

EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA ESCOLAR, A DANÇA E O BALLET CLÁSSICO: POSSÍVEIS INTERLOCUÇÕES À LUZ DAS RELAÇÕES DE GÊNERO

Este trabalho consiste de um ensaio reflexivo, desenvolvido a partir das discussões de graduandos/as em Educação Física e Dança da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro durante o curso da disciplina de Gênero e Sexualidades na Educação Física e Esportes. Neste trabalho, tivemos por objetivo apresentar a experiência partilhada da autoria do texto no que se refere a um bloco de conteúdo da disciplina, que versava sobre Educação Física, práticas corporais e cultura popular, não sendo as únicas temáticas debatidas, no entanto, para este trabalho, restringimo-nos a apenas esta unidade para análise. As demais, acreditamos serem melhores outras problematizações em futuros momentos. Para tanto, todos os 30 encontros, de 2 horas cada, e seus eventuais acontecimentos foram registrados em um diário de campo, posteriormente lidos, relidos e destacados conforme as aparições mais significantes, possibilitando assim a formulação de duas grandes unidades de análise: 1- Gênero, Sexualidades e Educação Física escolar; e 2- A Dança e o Ballet Clássico. Diante desses apontamentos, pudemos inferir o quão as relações de gênero com base em preceitos patriarcais e machistas encontram-se circunscritas nos campos analisados e se estendem para outras camadas socioculturais. Problematizar esses processos irrompe como demanda urgente no que tange à construção de uma sociedade mais democrática e igualitária para pessoas, não reclusa apenas ao binarismo de gênero e a preceitos engessados que permeiam os campos em questão

Chronos - take the pulse of our galactic neighbourhood. After Gaia: Time domain information, masses and ages for stars

Understanding our Galaxy’s structure, formation, and evolution will, over the next decades, continue to benefit from the wonderful large survey by Gaia, for astrometric, kinematic, and spectroscopic characterization, and by large spectroscopic surveys for chemical characterization. The weak link for full exploitation of these data is age characterization, and stellar age estimation relies predominantly on mass estimates. The ideas presented in this White Paper shows that a seismology survey is the way out of this situation and a natural complement to existing and planned surveys. These ideas are strongly rooted in the past decade’s experience of the so-called Seismology revolution, initiated with CoRoT and Kepler. The case of red giant stars is used here as the best current illustration of what we can expect from seismology for large samples, but premises for similar developments exist in various other classes of stars covering other ranges of age or mass. Whatever the star considered, the first information provided by stellar pulsations is always related to the mean density and thus to the mass (and age). In order to satisfy the need for long-duration and allsky coverage, we rely on a new instrumental concept which decouples integration time and sampling time. We thus propose a long (~1 year) all-sky survey which would perfectly fit between TESS, PLATO, and the Rubin Observatory (previously known as LSST) surveys to offer a time domain complement to the current and planned astrometric and spectroscopic surveys. The fine characterization of host stars is also a key aspect for the interpretation and exploitation of the various projects – anticipated in the framework of the Voyage 2050 programme – searching for atmospheric characterization of terrestrial planets or, more specifically, looking for a signature of life, in distant planets

The APOKASC Catalog: An Asteroseismic and Spectroscopic Joint Survey of Targets in the Kepler Fields

We present the first APOKASC catalog of spectroscopic and asteroseismic properties of 1916 red giants observed in the Kepler fields. The spectroscopic parameters provided from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment project are complemented with asteroseismic surface gravities, masses, radii, and mean densities determined by members of the Kepler Asteroseismology Science Consortium. We assess both random and systematic sources of error and include a discussion of sample selection for giants in the Kepler fields. Total uncertainties in the main catalog properties are of order 80 K in Teff , 0.06 dex in [M/H], 0.014 dex in log g, and 12% and 5% in mass and radius, respectively; these reflect a combination of systematic and random errors. Asteroseismic surface gravities are substantially more precise and accurate than spectroscopic ones, and we find good agreement between their mean values and the calibrated spectroscopic surface gravities. There are, however, systematic underlying trends with Teff and log g. Our effective temperature scale is between 0-200 K cooler than that expected from the Infrared Flux Method, depending on the adopted extinction map, which provides evidence for a lower value on average than that inferred for the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC). We find a reasonable correspondence between the photometric KIC and spectroscopic APOKASC metallicity scales, with increased dispersion in KIC metallicities as the absolute metal abundance decreases, and offsets in Teff and log g consistent with those derived in the literature. We present mean fitting relations between APOKASC and KIC observables and discuss future prospects, strengths, and limitations of the catalog data.Comment: 49 pages. ApJSupp, in press. Full machine-readable ascii files available under ancillary data. Categories: Kepler targets, asteroseismology, large spectroscopic survey

The influence of metallicity on stellar differential rotation and magnetic activity

Observations of Sun-like stars over the last half-century have improved our understanding of how magnetic dynamos, like that responsible for the 11-year solar cycle, change with rotation, mass and age. Here we show for the first time how metallicity can affect a stellar dynamo. Using the most complete set of observations of a stellar cycle ever obtained for a Sun-like star, we show how the solar analog HD 173701 exhibits solar-like differential rotation and a 7.4-year activity cycle. While the duration of the cycle is comparable to that generated by the solar dynamo, the amplitude of the brightness variability is substantially stronger. The only significant difference between HD 173701 and the Sun is its metallicity, which is twice the solar value. Therefore, this provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of the higher metallicity on the dynamo acting in this star and to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for the observed photometric variability. The observations can be explained by the higher metallicity of the star, which is predicted to foster a deeper outer convection zone and a higher facular contrast, resulting in stronger variability.Comment: Submitted to Ap

Astro2020 science white paper:stellar physics and galactic archeology using asteroseismology in the 2020's

Asteroseismology is the only observational tool in astronomy that can probe the interiors of stars, and is a benchmark method for deriving fundamental properties of stars and exoplanets. Over the coming decade, space-based and ground-based observations will provide a several order of magnitude increase of solar-like oscillators, as well as a dramatic increase in the number and quality of classical pulsator observations, providing unprecedented possibilities to study stellar physics and galactic stellar populations. In this white paper, we describe key science questions and necessary facilities to continue the asteroseismology revolution into the 2020's

Preclinical Evidence Supporting Early Initiation of Citalopram Treatment in Machado-Joseph Disease

Spinocerebellar ataxias are dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorders with no disease-modifying treatment. We previously identified the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram as a safe and effective drug to be repurposed for Machado-Joseph disease. Pre-symptomatic treatment of transgenic (CMVMJD135) mice strikingly ameliorated mutant ataxin-3 (ATXN3) pathogenesis. Here, we asked whether citalopram treatment initiated at a post-symptomatic age would still show efficacy. We used a cohort of CMVMJD135 mice that shows increased phenotypic severity and faster disease progression (CMVMJD135hi) compared to the mice used in the first trial. Groups of hemizygous CMVMJD135hi mice were orally treated with citalopram. Behavior, protein analysis, and pathology assessment were performed blindly to treatment. Our results show that even when initiated after symptom onset, treatment of CMVMJD135hi mice with citalopram ameliorated motor coordination and balance, attenuating disease progression, albeit to a lesser extent than that seen with pre-symptomatic treatment initiation. There was no impact on ATXN3 aggregation, which contrasts with the robust reduction in ATXN3-positive inclusions observed in CMVMJD135 mice, when treated pre-symptomatically. Post-symptomatic treatment of CMVMJD135hi mice revealed, however, a limited neuroprotective effect by showing a tendency to repair cerebellar calbindin staining, and to increase the number of motor neurons and of NeuN-positive cells in certain brain regions. While supporting that early initiation of treatment with citalopram leads to a marked increase in efficacy, these results strengthen our previous observation that modulation of serotonergic signaling by citalopram is a promising therapeutic approach for Machado-Joseph disease even after symptom onset.European Regional Development Funds (FEDER), through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038. This article has been developed under the scope of the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the FEDER. This work was also supported by FCT and COMPETE through the projects [PTDC/SAU-GMG/112617/2009] (to PM) and [EXPL/BIM-MEC/0239/2012] (to AT-C), by FCT through the project [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016818 (PTDC/NEU-NMC/3648/2014)] (to PM), by National Ataxia foundation (to PM and to AT-C), and by Ataxia UK (to PM). SE, SD-S, SO, and AT-C were supported by the FCT individual fellowships, SFRH/BD/78554/2011, SFRH/BD/78388/2011, PD/BD/127818/2016, and SFRH/BPD/102317/2014, respectively. FCT fellowships are co-financed by POPH, QREN, Governo da República Portuguesa, and EU/FSEinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio