Parents' beliefs and knowledge about the management of acute otitis media: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Acute otitis media is a common reason for antibiotic prescribing, despite strong evidence that antibiotics provide minimal benefit. Studies have demonstrated that patients’ (or parents’) expectations of antibiotics often influence general practitioners’ (GPs) decision to prescribe antibiotics, but few have explored parents’ expectations of the management of infections in children, or which factors influence the development of these expectations. This study aimed to explore parents’ knowledge and beliefs about the management of acute otitis media in children. METHODS: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 parents of children who had recently presented to their GP with acute otitis media. Parents were recruited at childcare centres or playgroups in Brisbane, Australia. RESULTS: Many parents did not have an accurate understanding of what causes acute otitis media. GPs were primarily consulted for the management of symptoms such as pain and fever. Others specifically wanted reassurance or were concerned about hearing loss. Most parents assumed that antibiotics were the best treatment option. Parents’ perceptions about the best treatment were mainly based on their previous experience and the advice of the GP. Pain relief medications, such as paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, were not considered by parents to be sufficient treatment on their own. CONCLUSION: There is discrepancy between parents’ beliefs and expectations of management of acute otitis media and the evidence-based recommendations. This study provides insights into parents’ expectations of management of acute otitis media, which may help inform clinicians about perceptions and misperceptions that may be valuable to elicit and discuss

Visualization of SARS-CoV-2 particles in naso/oropharyngeal swabs by thin section electron microscopy

Background SARS-CoV-2 replicates efficiently in the upper airways of humans and produces high loads of virus RNA and, at least in the initial phase after infection, many infectious virus particles. Studying virus ultrastructure, such as particle integrity or presence of spike proteins, and effects on their host cells in patient samples is important to understand the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Methods Suspensions from swab samples with a high load of virus RNA (Ct < 20) were sedimented by desktop ultracentrifugation and prepared for thin section electron microscopy using a novel method which is described in detail. Embedding was performed in Epon or in LR White resin using standard or rapid protocols. Thin sections were examined using transmission electron microscopy. Results Virus particles could be regularly detected in the extracellular space, embedded in a background of heterogenous material (e.g. vesicles and needle-like crystals), and within ciliated cells. Morphology (i.e. shape, size, spike density) of virus particles in the swab samples was very similar to particle morphology in cell culture. However, in some of the samples the virus particles hardly revealed spikes. Infected ciliated cells occasionally showed replication organelles, such as double-membrane vesicles. The most common cells in all samples were keratinocytes from the mucosa and bacteria. Conclusions The new method allows the ultrastructural visualization and analysis of coronavirus particles and of infected host cells from easy to collect naso/oropharyngeal patient swab samples.Peer Reviewe

Morphometry of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 particles in ultrathin plastic sections of infected Vero cell cultures

SARS-CoV-2 is the causative of the COVID-19 disease, which has spread pandemically around the globe within a few months. It is therefore necessary to collect fundamental information about the disease, its epidemiology and treatment, as well as about the virus itself. While the virus has been identified rapidly, detailed ultrastructural analysis of virus cell biology and architecture is still in its infancy. We therefore studied the virus morphology and morphometry of SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to SARS-CoV as it appears in Vero cell cultures by using conventional thin section electron microscopy and electron tomography. Both virus isolates, SARS-CoV Frankfurt 1 and SARS-CoV-2 Italy-INMI1, were virtually identical at the ultrastructural level and revealed a very similar particle size distribution with a median of about 100 nm without spikes. Maximal spike length of both viruses was 23 nm. The number of spikes per virus particle was about 30% higher in the SARS-CoV than in the SARS-CoV-2 isolate. This result complements a previous qualitative finding, which was related to a lower productivity of SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture in comparison to SARS-CoV.Peer Reviewe

Genetic variants including markers from the exome chip and metabolite traits of type 2 diabetes

Diabetes-associated metabolites may aid the identification of new risk variants for type 2 diabetes. Using targeted metabolomics within a subsample of the German EPIC-Potsdam study (n = 2500), we tested previously published SNPs for their association with diabetes-associated metabolites and conducted an additional exploratory analysis using data from the exome chip including replication within 2,692 individuals from the German KORA F4 study. We identified a total of 16 loci associated with diabetes-related metabolite traits, including one novel association between rs499974 (MOGAT2) and a diacyl-phosphatidylcholine ratio (PC aa C40:5/PC aa C38:5). Gene-based tests on all exome chip variants revealed associations between GFRAL and PC aa C42:1/PC aa C42:0, BIN1 and SM (OH) C22:2/SM C18:0 and TFRC and SM (OH) C22:2/SM C16:1). Selecting variants for gene-based tests based on functional annotation identified one additional association between OR51Q1 and hexoses. Among single genetic variants consistently associated with diabetes-related metabolites, two (rs174550 (FADS1), rs3204953 (REV3L)) were significantly associated with type 2 diabetes in large-scale meta-analysis for type 2 diabetes. In conclusion, we identified a novel metabolite locus in single variant analyses and four genes within gene-based tests and confirmed two previously known mGWAS loci which might be relevant for the risk of type 2 diabetes

Centro Universitário Municipal de São José (USJ) no caminho da inovação: relato de experiência do investimento em Projetos de Extensão e Iniciação Científica/ Centro Universitário Municipal de São José (USJ) in the path of innovation: experience report of the investment in Extension and Scientific Initiation Projects

O objetivo geral deste relato de experiência é evidenciar as atividades desenvolvidas pelo Centro Universitário Municipal de São José – USJ –  como incentivo à cultura da inovação. Destaca-se que o período da experiência em destaque nesta pesquisa são os anos 2018 e 2019. Como questão norteadora deste relato, elegeu-se a seguinte pergunta: com um olhar para as novas tendências da educação, como as práticas dos projetos de extensão contribuem para a gestão da inovação do USJ?  Como metodologia, empregaram-se a pesquisa de origem básica, com procedimentos técnicos de estudo de caso, documental e pesquisa participante, objetivos exploratórios e descritivos. Este relato de experiência também possui abordagem qualitativa. Como resultado das atividades relatadas, observou-se a quebra de paradigmas para os docentes e discentes do USJ quanto à inovação. Além disso, notou-se que as práticas promovidas pelos projetos beneficiam a institucionalização da cultura da inovação e o estreitamento dos vínculos entre ensino e aprendizagem, o que estimula um novo olhar para o mercado de trabalho e prepara as novas gerações para enfrentar o universo da inovação e do conhecimento

REVISITANDO O PASSADO E CONHECENDO O PRESENTE DO CENTRO UNIVERSITÁRIO MUNICIPAL DE SÃO JOSÉ: DESAFIOS E CONQUISTAS DA GESTÃO UNIVERSITÁRIA

Este trabalho tem a finalidade de divulgar a experiência vivida pela gestão do Centro Universitário Municipal de São José (USJ), mantido pela Prefeitura Municipal de São José (SC) há 14 anos. Destaca-se que o relato de experiência limita-se à exposição dos principais desafios enfrentados para a manutenção do USJ e ao reconhecimento das conquistas obtidas desde 2013, uma vez que a partir deste período, a gestão municipal foi assumida pela atual Prefeita, Excelentíssima Sra. Adeliana Dal Pont, que apropriou-se do compromisso de manter e fortalecer as atividades do USJ frente às respectivas adversidades técnicas, estruturais e financeiras. Tal trajetória permite evidenciar os esforços da gestão municipal no fomento à oferta de cursos de nível superior, bem como enaltecer o cumprimento do papel social da instituição e os benefícios trazidos à sociedade josefense e região a partir deste investimento. A partir das considerações expostas neste relato, é possível concluir que a manutenção do USJ e o fomento a atividades de extensão e iniciação-científica contribuem ao desenvolvimento sustentável da cidade e à economia local por meio da formação de nível superior ofertada à comunidade, além de promover a melhoria qualidade de vida da população josefense