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Journal of AOAC International Nov 2023In response to the growing global need for pesticide residue testing, laboratories must develop versatile analytical methods and workflows to produce scientifically...
BACKGROUND
In response to the growing global need for pesticide residue testing, laboratories must develop versatile analytical methods and workflows to produce scientifically sound results. One of the many challenges faced by food chemists is acquiring suitable pesticide certified reference materials (CRMs) to calibrate analytical equipment, monitor method performance, and confirm the identity and concentration of hundreds of pesticide residues in food samples. CRM producers invest considerable resources to ensure the stability of their products.
OBJECTIVE
To present proper CRM handling and storage practices as guidance to ensure stability based on the results of several multiresidue pesticide stability studies.
METHODS
The open ampoule and combined multiresidue mix studies were conducted under controlled conditions. New ampoules containing multiresidue pesticide CRM mixtures were opened and compared to previously opened ampoules at multiple intervals while stored under freezing and refrigerated temperatures. Both LC- and GC-amenable pesticides (>200 residues) were combined and stored under typical laboratory conditions. Studies were performed with and without celery matrix.
RESULTS
The open ampoule study showed high levels of stability for all mixtures. All GC residues remained stable over the duration of the experiment. A week after opening LC multiresidue pesticide mixtures showed minor degradation. After combination of the multiresidue pesticide mixtures, degradation occurred rapidly for both the GC and LC mixtures.
CONCLUSION
Multiresidue pesticide mixtures are stable as ampullated until they are opened. Once the contents of a kit were opened and combined, decreasing stability was observed over time. This was true for both the LC and GC kits. Working mixtures of CRMs for instrument calibration should be made daily.
HIGHLIGHTS
This article shows a novel approach for measuring stability of CRM mixes. In-depth analysis of multiresidue pesticide mixtures and the stability that can be expected before and after mixing under typical storage conditions is described.
Topics: Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Pesticides; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Chromatography, Liquid; Pesticide Residues
PubMed: 37701991
DOI: 10.1093/jaoacint/qsad096 -
STAR Protocols Dec 2021The preservation of mammalian freeze-dried (FD) spermatozoa is commonly performed using small glass ampules; however, they are bulky and breakable. In this study, we...
The preservation of mammalian freeze-dried (FD) spermatozoa is commonly performed using small glass ampules; however, they are bulky and breakable. In this study, we present a protocol to prepare and preserve mouse FD sperm using thin plastic sheets. This approach allows storing thousands of mouse strains in a card folder. We can also send the FD sperm domestically using a postcard without any extra equipment. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Ito et al. (2021).
Topics: Animals; Freeze Drying; Male; Mice; Semen Preservation; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 34806046
DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100933 -
Marine Life Science & Technology Nov 2022The ultrastructure of ciliates carries important cytological, taxonomical, and evolutionary signals for these single-celled eukaryotic organisms. However, little...
The ultrastructure of ciliates carries important cytological, taxonomical, and evolutionary signals for these single-celled eukaryotic organisms. However, little ultrastructural data have been accumulated for most ciliate groups with systematic problems. In the present work, a well-known marine uronychiid, , was investigated using electron microscopy and a comparison with, and a discussion considering, phylogenetic analyses were made. The new findings primarily show that: (i) this species lacks the typical alveolar plate, bears cortical ampule-like extrusomes, and has microtubular triads in the dorsal pellicle, and thus exhibits some ultrastructural features in common with most of its previously studied congeners; (ii) each adoral membranelle before the level of frontal cirrus II/2 contains three rows of kinetosomes and each membranelle after the level of frontal cirrus II/2 contains four rows, which might be related with morphogenesis and could be considered as a distinctive character of ; (iii) some structural details of the buccal field, such as the extra-pellicular fibrils, pellicle, pharyngeal disks and microtubular sheet, were documented. In addition, based on the ultrastructural comparison of representatives, we discuss the differentiation between the subfamilies Diophryinae and Uronychiinae. A hypothetical systematic relationship of members in the order Euplotida based on a wide range of data is also provided.
PubMed: 37078077
DOI: 10.1007/s42995-022-00153-y -
International Journal of Environmental... Dec 2022School nurses should participate in the care of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of school nurses about...
School nurses should participate in the care of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of school nurses about the basic principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus and to attempt to determine the factors that influence this level of knowledge. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among school nurses from October 2018 to November 2019 in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. The study was conducted using a self-constructed questionnaire. The survey included questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, and a test of the knowledge and skills regarding the principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (16 test questions). This study included 168 Polish school nurses (mean age ± SD = 55.1 ± 8.9 years). Most of the nurses had a secondary education (81%), worked in a municipal educational institution (78.6%), and provided care to more than one student with type 1 diabetes mellitus at school (70.2%). The average level of knowledge of school nurses was 12.5 ± 2.0 points (maximum 16). The nurses working in a village school and those who worked only in one school had lower levels of knowledge. Only 85.7% of nurses reported that they could independently perform a blood glucose measurement with a glucometer, and as many as 56.5% were unable to determine the level of ketone bodies in the urine with Keto-Diastix test strips. Only 62.5% of nurses had a glucometer and glucometer strips in their nursing office. A total of 19.6% of nurses did not have glucagon (1 mg GlucaGen HypoKit, Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsværd, Denmark) or an ampoule with 20% glucose for an intravenous administration. The knowledge of school nurses about the principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus is insufficient. Due to the strong increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus among children and adolescents, it is important to organize permanent, continuous, and mandatory training on the principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus for school nurses. The equipment in Polish school nurses' offices should be supplemented with a working glucometer and blood glucose test strips, and the set of obligatory medications in the school nurse's office should be supplemented with glucagon for students with type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Child; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Glucagon; Cross-Sectional Studies; Blood Glucose; Self-Control; Nurses; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Diabetes Mellitus
PubMed: 36554455
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192416576 -
Pain Physician Jan 2024In patients with severe cancer pain, systemic analgesics are often refractory or have limited application due to the side effects of opioids. In these cases, epidural... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
BACKGROUND
In patients with severe cancer pain, systemic analgesics are often refractory or have limited application due to the side effects of opioids. In these cases, epidural analgesia may be effective. However, data on the effects of epidural patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) on cancer pain are limited.
OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of epidural PCA in patients with cancer pain through a retrospective chart review.
STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective analysis.
SETTING
A single academic center in Daegu, South Korea.
METHODS
The analgesic efficacy of epidural PCA on cancer pain was analyzed in patients who underwent epidural PCA using a disposable balloon pump with a flow regulator between 2012 and 2021. The pump was filled with a 600-mL mixture of 6 ampoules of 0.2% ropivacaine, 1 mg fentanyl, and normal saline. For the first use of epidural PCA, the basal rate, bolus dose, and lockout time were set as 4 mL/h, 2 mL, and 15 min, respectively. The basal rate was increased and decreased depending on the degree of pain relief effect and occurrence of side effects, respectively. To increase the usage time of epidural PCA and reduce the patient's cost burden, the fentanyl dose was increased by 1 mg when the disposable balloon pump was replaced with a new one after exhaustion of the drug if no side effects from the previous dose were observed. Analgesic efficacy was confirmed by comparing the number of types and the total amount of opioids used in patients before and after epidural PCA application in terms of the equivalent dose of oral morphine.
RESULTS
Epidural catheterization was performed 105 times, and PCA was refilled 257 times in 88 patients. On average, epidural catheterization was performed 1.2 ± 0.4 (1-3) times, and epidural PCA was refilled 3.2 ± 2.3 (1-11) times per patient. The mean duration of PCA use was 15.6 ± 13.4 (1-82) days. The mean number of opioid types used the day before the procedure and the mean smallest number of opioids used per day up to 5 days after the procedure were 3.4 ± 1.2 and 2.4 ± 1.4, respectively (P < 0.05). The total amount of opioids used the day before the procedure and the smallest total amount of opioids used per day up to 5 days after the procedure were converted into oral morphine equivalent doses, respectively, and the mean doses were 449.5 ± 555.9 and 331.9 ± 462.8 mg, respectively (P < 0.05).
LIMITATIONS
The study results are the author's observations from a single center. Epidural PCA was performed only on hospitalized patients. Individual differences were not considered in the composition of drugs for PCA. Transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl was not accurately converted to oral morphine; thus, it was excluded from the analysis of the total amount used, and the effect of adjuvant analgesics could not be considered.
CONCLUSION
Epidural PCA using subcutaneous tunneling is a useful cancer pain control method. Furthermore, it can be safely used for a longer duration owing to its low infection risk.
Topics: Humans; Analgesia, Patient-Controlled; Cancer Pain; Retrospective Studies; Analgesics; Analgesics, Opioid; Fentanyl; Pain; Morphine Derivatives; Neoplasms
PubMed: 38285038
DOI: No ID Found -
Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine 2023Assisted reproductive therapy (ART) has been developed remarkably in these decades; however, the rate of unsuccessful embryo implantation especially in the frozen-thawed...
BACKGROUND
Assisted reproductive therapy (ART) has been developed remarkably in these decades; however, the rate of unsuccessful embryo implantation especially in the frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles remains high and is reported up to 70%. The current study was designed to compare the effect of intramuscular injection of hCG on endometrium preparation and embryo implantation, in women undergoing FET compared to the control group.
METHODS
This clinical trial was done on 140 infertile women that underwent FET. The study sample was randomly allocated to the intervention group (two 5000 unit ampoules of hCG were injected intramuscularly before the first dose of progesterone administration) and the control group (without hCG injection). In both groups, 4 days after progesterone administration, the cleavage stage embryos were transferred. The study outcomes were biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy and abortion rate.
RESULTS
The average age of intervention and control group was 32.65±6.05 and 33.11±5.36 years, respectively. The basic information between two study groups did not differ significantly. The chemical (30% vs. 17.1%, P=0.073, relative risk (RR)=0.57) and clinical (28.6% vs. 14.3%, P=0.039, RR=0.50) pregnancy rates were higher in the intervention group compared to the control group; these higher ratios were only significant in clinical pregnancy rate. Abortion rate was not significantly (P=0.620) different between the intervention and control groups (4.3% vs. 1.4%, respectively).
CONCLUSION
This study showed that intramuscular injection of 10000 IU hCG before the endometrial secretory transformation phase in cleavage-stage embryo, improves IVF cycle outcomes.
PubMed: 37223296
DOI: 10.22088/cjim.14.2.185 -
Advanced Biomedical Research 2023In this case, a 44-year-old pregnant woman at a gestational age of 28 weeks and 6 days with symptoms of cold, shortness of breath, and cough since a week ago. She had...
In this case, a 44-year-old pregnant woman at a gestational age of 28 weeks and 6 days with symptoms of cold, shortness of breath, and cough since a week ago. She had received remdesivir ampoule, Tamiflu tablet, meropenem and linezolid, and dexamethasone. She received oxygen through a 14-liter reservoir bag mask and hydrocortisone, heparin, and ceftriaxone. Nine hours after hospitalization, the patient suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest, resuscitation was performed, and the patient was intubated. Emergency cesarean section was done in the intensive care unit. Finally, the patient suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest, prop was placed for the patient, and evidence of severe Mitral stenosis and right ventricle dilation were observed. The cardiopulmonary resuscitation operation continued for an hour, but unfortunately the patient died. So, it is important to be careful about influenza during pregnancy and in the case of heart failure symptoms, it is necessary to consider the presence of underlying mitral stenosis.
PubMed: 38192899
DOI: 10.4103/abr.abr_104_23 -
Biologicals : Journal of the... May 2023The International Standard for Diphtheria Antitoxin Equine is essential for the standardisation of assays used to determine the potency of therapeutic diphtheria...
The International Standard for Diphtheria Antitoxin Equine is essential for the standardisation of assays used to determine the potency of therapeutic diphtheria antitoxin products produced from equine serum. This paper describes the production and characterization of the 2nd International Standard for Diphtheria Antitoxin Equine and its calibration in International Units. Calibration was performed by toxin neutralization test in vivo and in vitro (Vero cell assay), and potency was expressed relative to the 1st International Standard to ensure continuity of the International Unit. The candidate standard (NIBSC product code 18/180) was assigned a unitage of 57 IU/ampoule based on results from 14 laboratories in 9 different countries and was established by the World Health Organisation Expert Committee on Biological Standardization in 2021.
Topics: Chlorocebus aethiops; Animals; Horses; Diphtheria Antitoxin; Calibration; Reference Standards; Vero Cells; World Health Organization
PubMed: 37149975
DOI: 10.1016/j.biologicals.2023.101682 -
PloS One 2022Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used widely to study various biomarkers from blood, less is known about the protein profiles from saliva. The aim of the...
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used widely to study various biomarkers from blood, less is known about the protein profiles from saliva. The aim of the study was to investigate the use DSC in order to detect saliva thermal profiles and determine the most appropriate sampling procedure to collect and process saliva. Saliva was collected from 25 healthy young individuals and processed using different protocols based on centrifugation and filtering. The most effective protocol was centrifugation at 5000g for 10 min at 4°C followed by filtration through Millex 0.45 μm filter. Prepared samples were transferred to 3 mL calorimetric ampoules and then loaded into TAM48 calibrated to 30°C until analysis. DSC scans were recorded from 30°C to 90°C at a scan rate of 1°C/h with a pre-conditioning the samples to starting temperature for 1 h. The results show that the peak distribution of protein melting points was clearly bimodal, and the majority of peaks appeared between 40-50°C. Another set of peaks is visible between 65°C- 75°C. Additionally, the peak amplitude and area under the peak are less affected by the concentration of protein in the sample than by the individual differences between people. In conclusion, the study shows that with right preparation of the samples, there is a possibility to have thermograms of salivary proteins that show peaks in similar temperature regions between different healthy volunteers.
Topics: Calorimetry; Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; Feasibility Studies; Humans; Saliva; Temperature
PubMed: 35687571
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269600 -
Applied Ergonomics Oct 2022Misreading labels, syringes, and ampoules is reported to make up a 54.4% of medication administration errors. The addition of icons to medication labels in an operating...
Misreading labels, syringes, and ampoules is reported to make up a 54.4% of medication administration errors. The addition of icons to medication labels in an operating room setting could add additional visual cues to the label, allowing for improved discrimination, visibility, and easily processed information that might reduce medication administration errors. A multi-disciplinary team proposed a method of enhancing visual cues and visibility of medication labels applied to vasoactive medication infusions by adding icons to the labels. Participants were 1.12 times more likely to correctly identify medications from farther away (p < 0.001, AOR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.22) with icons. When icons were present, participants were 2.16 times more likely to be more confident in their identifications (p < 0.001, AOR = 2.16, 95%CI: 1.80, 2.57). Carefully designed icons may offer an additional method for identifying medications, and thus reducing medication administration errors.
Topics: Drug Labeling; Humans; Medication Errors; Operating Rooms; Syringes
PubMed: 35717790
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103831