Web-delivered multimedia training materials for the self-collection of dried blood spots: A formative project

Background: The use of dried blood spots (DBS) in biomedical research has been increasing as an objective measure for variables that are typically plagued by self-report, such as smoking status and medication adherence. The development of training materials for the self-collection of DBS that can be delivered through the Web would allow for broader use of this methodology. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the self-collection of DBS using newly developed multimedia training materials that were delivered through the Web. We also aimed to assess the usability of the collected DBS samples. Methods: We recruited participants through Facebook advertising for two distinct studies. The first study evaluated the acceptability of our newly developed DBS training materials, while the second assessed the implementation of this protocol into a larger Web-based study. Results: In the first study, participants (N=115) were aged, on average, 26.1 (SD 6.4) years. Training materials were acceptable (113/115, 98.2%, of participants were willing to collect DBS again) and produced usable samples (110/115, 95.7%, collected DBS were usable). In the second study, response rate was 25.0% (41/164), with responders being significantly younger than nonresponders (20.3 [SD 0.2] vs 22.0 [SD 0.4]; P<.001), and 92% (31/41) of collected DBS samples were usable by the laboratory. Conclusions: Overall, while the protocol is acceptable, feasible, and produced usable samples, additional work is needed to improve response rates. © 2020 Alicia M Allen, Kim Lundeen, Sharon E Murphy, Logan Spector, Bernard L Harlow.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Comparison of pupil responses to luminance and colour in severe optic neuritis

Objective: The pupil response to light flux increments is abnormal in severe optic neuritis, but little is known about the effects of this condition on the pupil colour response. The aim of this study was to examine how optic neuritis affects pupil responses to light flux and colour modulation and the extent to which such pupil responses mirror the loss and recovery of vision. Methods: A new pupil examination technique that makes use of sinusoidal modulation of either luminance contrast or chromatic saturation was employed. This technique enables the automatic extraction of both pupil response amplitude and latency and achieves a high signal to noise ratio with fewer averages. Results: The study reveals a greater loss of pupil response amplitude and significantly longer latencies to chromatic modulation (i.e. ∼80 ms). Stimulation of the unaffected eye in the optic neuritis group results in smaller response amplitudes when compared to the normal group for both light flux and colour modulation. Conclusions: Pupil response components can be affected differently in optic neuritis. These findings suggest that the pupil colour response, in particular, may provide a useful, objective estimator to judge the extent of damage and recovery in diseases of the optic nerve

Bovine viral diarrhea diagnostic: immunohistochemistry standardization for routine Padronização da técnica de imunoistoquímica para o diagnóstico etiológico de rotina da diarréia bovina a vírus

The immunohistochemistry standardization for bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) diagnostic was described. The formalin-fixed tissue samples from a heifer with mucosal disease were used as positive control. The validation of the first phase results was performed using samples from an aborted fetus and a calf infected with reference strains of BVDV. The best results were seen using monoclonal antibodies and a commercial kit consisting of labelled streptavidin biotin (LSAB) reagents and the diaminobenzidine (DAB) substrate-chromogen reagent. The immunohistochemistry demonstrated to be an useful method for routine diagnosis for the controll and detection of BVDV infection