Determination of nitric oxide metabolites, nitrate and nitrite, in Anopheles culicifacies mosquito midgut and haemolymph by anion exchange high-performance liquid chromatography: plausible mechanism of refractoriness

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The diverse physiological and pathological role of nitric oxide in innate immune defenses against many intra and extracellular pathogens, have led to the development of various methods for determining nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. NO metabolites, nitrite (NO₂^-) and nitrate (NO₃^-) are produced by the action of an inducible <it>Anopheles culicifacies </it>NO synthase (AcNOS) in mosquito mid-guts and may be central to anti-parasitic arsenal of these mosquitoes.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>While exploring a plausible mechanism of refractoriness based on nitric oxide synthase physiology among the sibling species of <it>An. culicifacies</it>, a sensitive, specific and cost effective high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed, which is not influenced by the presence of biogenic amines, for the determination of NO₂^-and NO₃^-from mosquito mid-guts and haemolymph.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This method is based on extraction, efficiency, assay reproducibility and contaminant minimization. It entails de-proteinization by centrifugal ultra filtration through ultracel 3 K filter and analysis by high performance anion exchange liquid chromatography (Sphereclone, 5 μ SAX column) with UV detection at 214 nm. The lower detection limit of the assay procedure is 50 pmoles in all midgut and haemolymph samples. Retention times for NO₂^-and NO₃^-in standards and in mid-gut samples were 3.42 and 4.53 min. respectively. Assay linearity for standards ranged between 50 n<it>M </it>and 1 m<it>M</it>. Recoveries of NO₂^-and NO₃^-from spiked samples (1–100 μ<it>M</it>) and from the extracted standards (1–100 μ<it>M</it>) were calculated to be 100%. Intra-assay and inter assay variations and relative standard deviations (RSDs) for NO₂^-and NO₃^-in spiked and un-spiked midgut samples were 5.7% or less. Increased levels NO₂^-and NO₃^-in midguts and haemolymph of <it>An. culicifacies </it>sibling species B in comparison to species A reflect towards a mechanism of refractoriness based on AcNOS physiology.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HPLC is a sensitive and accurate technique for identification and quantifying pmole levels of NO metabolites in mosquito midguts and haemolymph samples that can be useful for clinical investigations of NO biochemistry, physiology and pharmacology in various biological samples.</p

Considering equity in priority setting using transmission models: Recommendations and data needs.

OBJECTIVES: Disease transmission models are used in impact assessment and economic evaluations of infectious disease prevention and treatment strategies, prominently so in the COVID-19 response. These models rarely consider dimensions of equity relating to the differential health burden between individuals and groups. We describe concepts and approaches which are useful when considering equity in the priority setting process, and outline the technical choices concerning model structure, outputs, and data requirements needed to use transmission models in analyses of health equity. METHODS: We reviewed the literature on equity concepts and approaches to their application in economic evaluation and undertook a technical consultation on how equity can be incorporated in priority setting for infectious disease control. The technical consultation brought together health economists with an interest in equity-informative economic evaluation, ethicists specialising in public health, mathematical modellers from various disease backgrounds, and representatives of global health funding and technical assistance organisations, to formulate key areas of consensus and recommendations. RESULTS: We provide a series of recommendations for applying the Reference Case for Economic Evaluation in Global Health to infectious disease interventions, comprising guidance on 1) the specification of equity concepts; 2) choice of evaluation framework; 3) model structure; and 4) data needs. We present available conceptual and analytical choices, for example how correlation between different equity- and disease-relevant strata should be considered dependent on available data, and outline how assumptions and data limitations can be reported transparently by noting key factors for consideration. CONCLUSIONS: Current developments in economic evaluations in global health provide a wide range of methodologies to incorporate equity into economic evaluations. Those employing infectious disease models need to use these frameworks more in priority setting to accurately represent health inequities. We provide guidance on the technical approaches to support this goal and ultimately, to achieve more equitable health policies

Development of a theoretical-practical script for clinical simulation

Abstract OBJECTIVE To develop a theoretical-practical script based on the opinion of experts to be used in simulated clinical activities. METHOD Qualitative study through analysis of content of interviews with experts on the theme in order to develop the proposed script. Of the 24 invited experts, 12 specialists from educational institutions in Brazil and abroad participated in the study in compliance with the ethical precepts. The experts responded to questions on the characterization of their study attributes and described the items required for the development of a simulated scenario. In view of the responses obtained, data content was analyzed and classified into units and subunits of significance. RESULTS The items mentioned for the development of the script generated seven units of significance. The units and subunits of significance were gathered in three stages of the main components of the simulated scenario: prior, preparation, and finals. CONCLUSION This study enables an innovative, stimulating teaching experience, making it easier for professors to use the simulation resource as a learning process in an effective and objective manner, as a guide to professors and researchers in the area of clinical simulation

The Scientific Legacy of NASA’s Operation IceBridge

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Operation IceBridge (OIB) was a 13-year (2009–2021) airborne mission to survey land and sea ice across the Arctic, Antarctic, and Alaska. Here, we review OIB’s goals, instruments, campaigns, key scientific results, and implications for future investigations of the cryosphere. OIB’s primary goal was to use airborne laser altimetry to bridge the gap in fine-resolution elevation measurements of ice from space between the conclusion of NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat; 2003–2009) and its follow-on, ICESat-2 (launched 2018). Additional scientific requirements were intended to contextualize observed elevation changes using a multisensor suite of radar sounders, gravimeters, magnetometers, and cameras. Using 15 different aircraft, OIB conducted 968 science flights, of which 42% were repeat surveys of land ice, 42% were surveys of previously unmapped terrain across the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, Arctic ice caps, and Alaskan glaciers, and 16% were surveys of sea ice. The combination of an expansive instrument suite and breadth of surveys enabled numerous fundamental advances in our understanding of the Earth’s cryosphere. For land ice, OIB dramatically improved knowledge of interannual outlet-glacier variability, ice-sheet, and outlet-glacier thicknesses, snowfall rates on ice sheets, fjord and sub-ice-shelf bathymetry, and ice-sheet hydrology. Unanticipated discoveries included a reliable method for constraining the thickness within difficult-to-sound incised troughs beneath ice sheets, the extent of the firn aquifer within the Greenland Ice Sheet, the vulnerability of many Greenland and Antarctic outlet glaciers to ocean-driven melting at their grounding zones, and the dominance of surface-melt-driven mass loss of Alaskan glaciers. For sea ice, OIB significantly advanced our understanding of spatiotemporal variability in sea ice freeboard and its snow cover, especially through combined analysis of fine-resolution altimetry, visible imagery, and snow radar measurements of the overlying snow thickness. Such analyses led to the unanticipated discovery of an interdecadal decrease in snow thickness on Arctic sea ice and numerous opportunities to validate sea ice freeboards from satellite radar altimetry. While many of its data sets have yet to be fully explored, OIB’s scientific legacy has already demonstrated the value of sustained investment in reliable airborne platforms, airborne instrument development, interagency and international collaboration, and open and rapid data access to advance our understanding of Earth’s remote polar regions and their role in the Earth system

Uso dos recursos de Internet na Enfermagem: uma revisão Uso de los recursos de la Internet en la Enfermería: una revisión Use of Internet resources in Nursing: a review

Os recursos do sistema Internet estão cada vez mais popularizados em todas as áreas das atividades humanas na sociedade. Este artigo teve como objetivo identificar e descrever as principais modalidades de utilização da Internet pela enfermagem nas áreas de Educação, Assistência e Pesquisa. Trata-se de um estudo bibliográfico cuja fonte de dados foi a base de dados MEDLINE, usando-se expressões de pesquisa pertinentes às áreas enfocadas. Dos trabalhos referidos, 63 artigos foram selecionados. A principal utilização na área de Educação é o desenvolvimento de aplicações para promover ensino à distância; na área de Educação ao Paciente é a disponibilização de informação de saúde; na área de Assistência são as aplicações que oferecem protocolos assistenciais para promover a prática baseada em evidências e na área de Pesquisa é a coleta de dados on-line. Conclui-se que a enfermagem vem utilizando satisfatoriamente os recursos do sistema Internet e, isto tem contribuído para o próprio desenvolvimento da profissão.<br>Los recursos del sistema Internet son amplamente popularizados en la mayoria de las actividades humanas en la sociedad. Esto artículo objectiva identificar y describir las principales modalidades de utilización de la Internet por la enfermería en las areas de Educación, Asistencia y Pesquisa. Es un estudio de revisión bibliográfica cuya fuente de datos fue la base de datos MEDLINE, usandose descriptores pertinentes a las areas enfocadas. De los trabajos referidos, 63 articulos fueran selecionados. La principal utilización en la area de Educación es el desarrollo de aplicaciones para promover la educacion a distancia; en la area de Educación al Paciente es la disponibilización de información de salud; en la area de Asistencia son las aplicaciones con protocolos asistenciales para promover la practica basada en evidencias y en la area de Pesquisa es la recolecta de datos online. Se ha concluyido que la enfermería utiliza satisfactoriamente los recursos del sistema Internet y esto ha contribuido para el proprio desarrollo de la profesión.<br>Resources of Internet system are widely popularized in most of all human activities in the society. This paper aims to identify and to describe major modalities of Internet utilization in nursing areas of Education, Care, and Research. This is a bibliographic review which data source was MEDLINE database, using pertinent descriptors for the focused areas. From referred publications, it was selected 63 articles. Major utilization in Education area is the development of applications to promote distance education; in Patient Education area is the development of applications to make health information available; in Care area are the applications to make care protocols available to promote evidence-based practice, and in Research area is online data collection. It was concluded that nursing is using Internet resources in a satisfactory way, and it has contributed for the profession evolution