Desenvolvimento de metodologias para implementação de sistemas de gestão da qualidade no serviço de patologia clínica do Hospital Conde de Bertiandos

Trabalho de projeto em Gestão das Organizações: Ramo de Gestão de Unidades de Saúde (parceria com a APNOR) apresentada na Escola Superior de Saúde do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do CasteloA dependência do Hospital Conde de Bertiandos (HCB) ao Hospital Santa Luzia na realização de análises clínicas foi vista como uma barreira, dado que não permite assegurar a conformidade das amostras, gerando variabilidade dos resultados analíticos e aumentando os custos de não qualidade. A investigação constituiu um estudo de caso com o apoio da metodologia PDCA, que após diagnóstico inicial, foi direcionado para o processo de realização das amostras biológicas que continham os parâmetros identificados com qualidade inferior à desejável provenientes de todas as origens do HCB e enviadas para Laboratório de Viana do Castelo (SPC-VC) no período de março - junho de 2011. O objetivo era a melhoria dos processos de modo a garantir a melhor prática, maximização da qualidade e minimização dos custos. A implementação do novo modelo permitiu reduzir o recurso ao SPC-VC para a realização de 6800 análises/mês, estando dependente deste laboratório em apenas 8,5% das análises. Com a extensão do perfil bioquímico, assistiu-se a uma diminuição em 82% das amostras fora do tempo regulado, eliminação do retrabalho efetivo e desperdício. Com a aplicação do novo modelo constatou-se uma redução de 2h09min no tempo médio de preparação e 1h53min no tempo médio de resposta global. No processamento de hemoculturas, eliminaram-se as amostras fora do tempo regulado, verificando-se uma redução de 21h22min no tempo médio de preparação e uma redução do tempo de resposta global. O projeto solucionou o problema da variabilidade analítica associada ao tempo de preparação e às condições de acondicionamento e transporte. A diminuição do recurso ao SPC-VC permitiu reduzir tempo de preparação, diminuindo o tempo de resposta global e contribuindo para o diagnóstico atempado. O modelo desenvolvido foi adotado pelo SPC-PL e o desenvolvimento das metodologias adequadas permitiu preparar o SPC-PL para a obtenção da extensão da Certificação ISO 9001:2008 em novembro de 2011.The dependence of the Hospital Conde Bertiandos (HCB) on Hospital Santa Luzia in clinical analysis was seen as a barrier, as it does not ensure compliance of the samples, generating variability of analytical results and increasing the costs of non-quality. The investigation consisted of a case study with the support of the PDCA methodology, which after initial diagnosis, was directed to the process of realization of biological samples containing the parameters identified with less than desirable quality from all sources of HCB and sent to Laboratory of Viana do Castelo (SPC-VC) in the period March - June 2011. The goal was to improve processes to ensure best practice, maximizing quality and minimizing costs. The implementation of the new model reduced the use of SPC-VC in performing 6800 analysis / month, being dependent on laboratory analyzes of only 8.5%. With the extension of biochemical profile, there was a decrease by 82% of the samples out of the set time, effective elimination of rework and wasted. The application of the new model showed a reduction in average time of 2h09min and 1h53min preparation in average response time overall.In the processing of blood cultures, the samples were removed off time set, by checking a reduction in median time from 21h22min preparation and a reduced overall response time. The project solved the problem of analytical variability associated with the preparation time and the conditions of handling and transport. The decrease in the use of SPC-VC has reduced preparation time, reducing the overall response time and contributing to the timely diagnosis. The developed model was adopted by the SPC-PL and the development of appropriate methodologies prepared the SPC-PL for obtaining the extension of ISO 9001:2008 certification in November 2011

In vitro protective effect and antioxidant mechanism of Resveratrol induced by Dapsone Hydroxylamine in human cells

Dapsone (DDS) hydroxylamine metabolites cause oxidative stress- linked adverse effects in patients, such as methemoglobin formation and DNA damage. This study evaluated the ameliorating effect of the antioxidant resveratrol (RSV) on DDS hydroxylamine (DDSNHOH) mediated toxicity in vitro using human erythrocytes and lymphocytes. The antioxidant mechanism was also studied using in-silico methods. In addition, RSV provided intracellular protection by inhibiting DNA damage in human lymphocytes induced by DDS-NHOH. However, whilst pretreatment with RSV (10-1000 μM significantly attenuated DDS-NHOH-induced methemoglobinemia, but it was not only significantly less effective than methylene blue (MET), but also post-treatment with RSV did not reverse methemoglobin formation, contrarily to that observed with MET. DDS-NHOH inhibited catalase (CAT) activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, but did not alter superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in erythrocytes. Pretreatment with RSV did not alter these antioxidant enzymes activities in erythrocytes treated with DDS-NHOH. Theoretical calculations using density functional theory methods showed that DDS-NHOH has a pro-oxidant effect, whereas RSV and MET have antioxidant effect on ROS. The effect on methemoglobinemia reversion for MET was significantly higher than that of RSV. These data suggest that the pretreatment with resveratrol may decrease heme-iron oxidation and DNA damage through reduction of ROS generated in cells during DDS therapy

Motmot, an open-source toolkit for realtime video acquisition and analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Video cameras sense passively from a distance, offer a rich information stream, and provide intuitively meaningful raw data. Camera-based imaging has thus proven critical for many advances in neuroscience and biology, with applications ranging from cellular imaging of fluorescent dyes to tracking of whole-animal behavior at ecologically relevant spatial scales.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we present 'Motmot': an open-source software suite for acquiring, displaying, saving, and analyzing digital video in real-time. At the highest level, Motmot is written in the Python computer language. The large amounts of data produced by digital cameras are handled by low-level, optimized functions, usually written in C. This high-level/low-level partitioning and use of select external libraries allow Motmot, with only modest complexity, to perform well as a core technology for many high-performance imaging tasks. In its current form, Motmot allows for: (1) image acquisition from a variety of camera interfaces (package motmot.cam_iface), (2) the display of these images with minimal latency and computer resources using wxPython and OpenGL (package motmot.wxglvideo), (3) saving images with no compression in a single-pass, low-CPU-use format (package motmot.FlyMovieFormat), (4) a pluggable framework for custom analysis of images in realtime and (5) firmware for an inexpensive USB device to synchronize image acquisition across multiple cameras, with analog input, or with other hardware devices (package motmot.fview_ext_trig). These capabilities are brought together in a graphical user interface, called 'FView', allowing an end user to easily view and save digital video without writing any code. One plugin for FView, 'FlyTrax', which tracks the movement of fruit flies in real-time, is included with Motmot, and is described to illustrate the capabilities of FView.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Motmot enables realtime image processing and display using the Python computer language. In addition to the provided complete applications, the architecture allows the user to write relatively simple plugins, which can accomplish a variety of computer vision tasks and be integrated within larger software systems. The software is available at <url>http://code.astraw.com/projects/motmot</url></p

Synchronization modulation increases transepithelial potentials in MDCK monolayers through Na/K pumps

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Exclusion of PINK1 as candidate gene for the late-onset form of Parkinson's disease in two European populations

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. Recently, mutations in the PINK1 (PARK6) gene were shown to rarely cause autosomal-recessively transmitted, early-onset parkinsonism. In order to evaluate whether PINK1 contributes to the risk of common late-onset PD we analysed PINK1 sequence variations. A German (85 patients) and a Norwegian cohort (90 patients) suffering from late-onset PD were screened for mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the PINK1 gene. Both cohorts consist of well-characterized patients presenting a positive family history of PD in ~17%. Investigations were performed by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), denaturating high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and sequencing analyses. SNP frequencies were compared by the χ(2 )test RESULTS: Several common SNPs were identified in our cohorts, including a recently identified coding variant (Q115L) in exon 1. Genotyping of the Q115L variation did not reveal significant frequency differences between patients and controls. Pathogenic mutations in the PINK1 gene were not identified, neither in the German nor in the Norwegian cohort. CONCLUSION: Sequence variation in the PINK1 gene appears to play a marginal quantitative role in the pathogenesis of the late-onset form of PD, in German and Norwegian cohorts, if at all