Nurse practitioner use of computer technologies in practice.

A study was undertaken to determine computer use by nurse practitioners in public clinics, private practice, health maintenance organizations, and other settings in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The descriptive research used a survey design. Subjects were 200 nurse practitioners. The survey instrument was developed by the researcher. Of the 104 respondents, 86 (83%) used computers at work. "Obtaining client records from other agencies or departments" was rated the most useful computer application for improving client care. "Internet searches" was rated the next most useful computer application; "entering client record information" was rated the third most useful. Use of computer applications varied by practice setting. Only 7 (25%) nurse practitioners in private practice accessed client records from other agencies, as did 17 (57%) in public clinics, and nearly all, 29 (94%), in HMOs. The research demonstrated that nurse practitioners underused computer applications that would improve client care in their practice.

Recovery of atrazine, bromacil, chlorpyrifos, and metolachlor from water samples after concentration on solid-phase extraction disks: interlaboratory study.

An interlaboratory comparison was conducted in 1997 and 1998 to examine the feasibility of using C18 solid-phase extraction disks (Empore) to simultaneously determine the herbicides atrazine, bromacil, and metolachlor and the insecticide chlorpyrifos in water samples. A common fortification source and sample processing procedure were used to minimize variation in initial concentrations and operator inconsistencies. The protocol consisted of paired laboratories in different locations coordinating their activities and shipping fortified water samples (deionized or local surface water) or Empore disks on which the pesticides had been retained and then quantitating the analytes by a variety of gas chromatographic methods. Average recoveries from all laboratories were >80% for atrazine, bromacil, and metolachlor, and >70% for chlorpyrifos. Detection of bromacil was unachievable at some locations because of chromatographic problems. Shipping samples between cooperating laboratories did not affect the recovery of atrazine, chlorpyrifos, or metolachlor in either matrix. Recoveries tended to be higher from disks shipped to cooperating laboratories compared with those from fortified water. Shipping disks eliminated many problems associated with the shipment of water samples, such as bottle breakage, higher shipping cost, and possible pesticide degradation. Recoveries of bromacil and metolachlor were lower from fortified surface water samples than from fortified deionized water samples. This collaborative research demonstrated that pesticides in water samples can be concentrated on solid-phase extraction disks at one location and quantitated under diverse analytical conditions at another location. The extraction efficiencies of the disks were comparable with or better than the recoveries obtained from the shipped water samples, and the problems associated with shipping water samples were eliminated by using the disks.

Reductive activation of benzazolo[3,2-a]-quinolinium chlorides.

Initial ferricytochrome c (Cyt(III)c) reduction rates occurring in aerobic or anaerobic solutions containing either 3-nitrobenzothiazolo[3,2-a]-(NBQCl), 1-ethyl-3-nitrobenzimidazolo[3,2-a]-(ENBIQCl), 7-ethylbenzimidazolo[3,2-a]quinolinium chloride (EHBIQCL), or nitrofurantoin (NFT) and xanthine/xanthine oxidase were measured. Maximum rates in nitrogen-saturated solutions follow the order NFT > NBQCL > ENBIQCL > EHBIQCL. These rates correlate linearly with the half-wave reduction potentials (E1/2) of these compounds. With the exception of EHBIQCl, smaller rates of Cyt(III)c reduction were obtained in air-saturated than in nitrogen-saturated solutions at the quinolinium salt concentrations used. Larger concentrations of superoxide dismutase (SOD) are needed for 50% inhibition of the Cyt(III)c reduction reaction for heterocyclic compounds with larger E1/2 values. Thus, measurement of the portion of the Cyt(III)c reduction rate under air that is inhibited by SOD does not account solely for the production of superoxide. These observations suggest that NBQCL, ENBIQCl, and less probably EHBIQCl may interfere with mitochondrial energy metabolism or induce DNA damage through reduced intermediates.

Photochemistry of aqueous solutions of benzazolo[3,2-a]quinolinium salts. A spin-trapping study using 17O-enriched water and oxygen.

The photolysis of buffered aqueous solutions containing the quinolinium salts, 3-nitro-7-ethyl-benzimidazolo[3,2-a]quinolinium perchlorate (NEBQClO4) and 3-nitrobenzothiazolo[3,2-a]quinolinium chloride (NBQCl), at 344 and 365 nm, respectively, was studied in the presence of the spin trap 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-1-oxide (DMPO). Only a water-derived DMPO-OH.spin-adduct was obtained for both of these salts, at a DMPO concentration of 14 mM, as confirmed by H2 17O-enriched water experiments. A photosolvated intermediate is postulated as the OH donating species. Lower steady-state concentrations of the spin adduct were obtained in argon-saturated solutions, implying that oxygen gas is at least partially necessary in the water-derived DMPO-OH formation. Evidence for superoxide ion formation was obtained by the DMPO-17OH spin-adduct formation during the photolysis of NBQCl in an 17O-enriched oxygen atmosphere in the presence of 150 mM DMPO. An increase in the DMPO-OH steady-state concentration was observed if the photolysis of NBQCl was performed in the presence of superoxide dismutase (SOD). Our results suggest that this effect is due to the SOD inhibition of the destruction of DMPO-OH.by superoxide ion.