Neonatal Hypoxia-Ischemia alters Brain-Derived Contactin-2-Positive Extracellular Vesicles in the Mouse Plasma.

Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) impairs white matter development and results in long-term neurodevelopmental deficits. Leveraging prior findings of altered neuronal proteins carried by brain-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are marked by a neural-specific cell surface glycoprotein Contactin-2 (CNTN2) in NE infants, the present study aimed to determine the correlation between brain and circulating CNTN2+-EVs and whether NE alters circulating CNTN2+-EV levels in mice. Brain tissue and plasma were collected from postnatal day (P)7, 10, 11, 15 mice to determine the baseline CNTN2 correlation between these two compartments (n = 4-7/time point/sex). NE was induced in P10 pups. Brain and plasma samples were collected at 1, 3, 6, 24, and 120 h (n = 4-8/time point/sex). CNTN2 from brain tissue and plasma EVs were quantified using ELISA. ANOVA and linear regression analyses were used to evaluate changes and correlations between brain and plasma CNTN2+-EVs. In baseline experiments, CNTN2 in brain tissue and plasma EVs peaked at P10 with no sex-difference. Brain and plasma CNTN2+-EV showed a positive correlation across early postnatal ages. NE pups showed an elevated CNTN2 in brain tissue and EVs at 1 h and only in brain tissue at 24 h. NE also abolished the positive plasma-brain correlation. The findings establish a link for central CNTN2 and its release into circulation during early postnatal life. The immediate elevation and release of CNTN2 following NE highlight a potential molecular response shortly after a brain injurious event. Our findings further support the utility of circulating brain-derived EVs as a possible bioindicator of NE.

Pediatric End-of-Life Care Skills Workshop: A Novel, Deliberate Practice Approach.

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric end of life (EOL) care skills are a high acuity, low occurrence skill set required by pediatric clinicians. Gaps in education and competence for this specialized care can lead to suboptimal patient care and clinician distress when caring for dying patients and their families. METHODS: A half-day workshop using a deliberate practice approach was designed by an inter-professional workgroup including bereaved parent consultants. Pediatric fellows (neonatal-perinatal medicine, critical care, hematology oncology, blood and marrow transplant) and advanced practice providers learned and practiced EOL skills in a safe simulation environment with instruction from interprofessional facilitators and standardized patients. Participant perceived competence (self-efficacy) was measured before, immediately-post, and 3 months post workshop. RESULTS: There were 28 first-time (of 34 total) participants in 4 pilot workshops. Participants reported significantly increased self-efficacy post-workshop for 6 of 9 ratings, which was sustained 3 months afterwards. Most (92%, n = 22 of 24 respondents) reported incorporating the workshop training into clinical practice at 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: With early success of the pilot workshops, future iterative work includes expanding workshops to earlier, interprofessional learners and collecting validity evidence for a competency-based performance checklist tool. A project website (https://z.umn.edu/PECS) was developed for local and collaborative efforts.

Melasma en el 2021: actualización en la patogénesis y en el enfrentamiento terapéutico / Melasma in 2021: update on the pathogenesis and therapeutic coping

El Melasma es una patología con alta prevalencia a nivel mundial presente en alrededor de un 10% de la población Latinoamericana. Se caracteriza por ser una hipermelanosis cutánea adquirida que ocurre con más frecuencia en cara y cuello de mujeres con fototipos de piel III-VI de Fitzpatrick. Su patogenia aún no ha sido completamente dilucidada; sin embargo, existe evidencia que respalda la asociación del melasma con la radiación ultravioleta, la luz visible, la estimulación hormonal, factores genéticos y procesos inflamatorios. Su diagnóstico es fundamentalmente clínico, y es apoyado por instrumentos de medición que nos permiten objetivar la severidad e impacto en la calidad de vida de los pacientes afectados. El tratamiento continúa siendo un desafío ya que, si bien existen múltiples terapias que han demostrado efectividad, aún no han logrado una remisión completa, presentando una alta tasa de recurrencia. Dentro de las opciones terapéuticas destacan los tratamientos tópicos combinados, los peelings químicos y las terapias basadas en láser, sin embargo, lo más importante es hacer énfasis en la fotoprotección como medida preventiva. En esta revisión pretendemos actualizar sobre los últimos avances tanto de la fisiopatología como del tratamiento del melasma

Melasma is a pathology with a high prevalence worldwide, present in approximately 10% of the Latin American population. It is a cutaneous hypermelanosis that presents itself more frequently on the face and neck of women with Fitzpatrick skin phototypes III-VI. Its pathogenesis has not yet been fully elucidated, however, there is evidence that supports its association with ultraviolet radiation, hormonal stimulation, genetic factors, and inflammatory processes. Its diagnosis is fundamentally clinical, and is supported by clinical scores that allow us to objectify the severity and impact on the quality of life of patients who suffer from it. Treatment continues to be a challenge since, although there are multiple therapies that have demonstrated effectiveness, they have not yet achieved a complete and / or definitive remission of the disease, presenting a high recurrence rate. Treatment options include combined topical therapy, chemical peels and laser-based treatments. Much emphasis has been placed lately on photoprotection of the skin as a preventive measure. In this review we intend to update the latest advances in both the pathophysiology and treatment of melasma

Custo anual de cuidado ao paciente segundo o tipo de morbidade / Annual cost of health care according to individual morbidity

Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi o de conhecer os custos da utilização do serviço público de saúde por indivíduos segundo suas morbidades crônicas. Métodos: A metodologia adotada para apuração dos custos foi o sistema de custeio por absorção. Os custos apurados para cada serviço foram cruzados com a base de dados dos usuários atendidos no mesmo período, incluindo um conjunto de condições de saúde ou doença existentes, sem identificação dos usuários. Resultados: Os resultados obtidos correspondem aos custos de 375.760 usuários que utilizaram algum serviço da rede municipal de saúde durante o período de um ano. Os custos variaram de R$ 0,05 a R$ 16.773,82, sendo os menores equivalentes apenas ao consumo de medicamentos e os maiores, ao uso de múltiplos serviços. Conclusão: O estudo demonstrou importante variação nos custos médios por indivíduo no contexto de uma rede municipal de saúde estruturada, com associação direta ao problema/condição de saúde observado

Objective: The aim of this study was to know the costs of public health service users in a Brazilian city, according to their chronic morbidities. Methods: Cost method absortion was the methodology adopted to calculate those costs. The costs of each service were cross-referenced with a database of users cared in the same period, including a set of pre-existing health conditions, with no individual identification. Results: The results obtained correspond to the costs of 375,760 individuals who use some service of the municipal health network for a year. Costs ranged from R$ 0.05 to R$ 16,773.82, the lowest were equivalent to the consumption of medicines only and the highest to the use of multiple services. Conclusion: Significant variation was observed in the average costs per individual directly associated with the health problem/condition

Variations of carnosic acid and carnosol concentrations in ethanol extracts of wild Lepechinia salviae in Spring (2008-2011).

Ethanol extracts from dried leaves of wild Lepechinia salvia (Lindl) Epling, collected during the flowering period (September-November), contained 15% to 25% carnosic acid and 2 to 8% carnosol, depending on the month of collection. The highest concentration of carnosic acid in extracts was in October, while carnosol concentration had a peak in September, which suggests that it is not a product of carnosic acid oxidation. A comparison of extracts obtained in September 2008 to 2011 shows that the production of both abietanes increased in years with less winter rainfall and higher temperatures, which induced an early blooming. EC50 values in DPPH radical scavenging and antiproliferative (CCRF-CEM tumor cells) bioassays confirm that the high bioactivity of the extracts of rosemary, sage and L. salviae does not arise only from carnosol and carnosic acid. The cytotoxic activity was significantly higher in extracts of L. salviae, probably due to water stress differences between the cultivars and the wild species. These results correlate well with the close phylogenetic relationship between the three species, and their similar medicinal uses.

Present and future advanced laparoscopic surgery.

Modern laparoscopy, starting with Kurt Semm's insufflators and the first successful appendectomies, has only been around for approximately 30 years. Since those early successes, the technology has grown from the inception of basic laparoscopy to endoscopic surgery through natural orifices, and it continues to evolve by leaps and bounds with computer-assisted surgery and improved robotics in surgery. Without question, laparoscopy has revolutionized the way we perform standard surgery, especially relative to the techniques that had been used for hundreds of years. Despite the development of multiple novel technologies since the 1980s, very little has changed with regard to basic conceptualizations and practice of laparoscopy. In this review article, we will describe the highlights of recent advanced laparoscopic surgery procedures, their potential applications within the field of surgery, and how these advances may impact and improve future quality and patient outcomes.

Cogestão e processo de intervenção de apoiadores da Política Nacional de Humanização (PNH) / Comanagement and the intervention process of supporters of the National Humanization Policy (PNH) / Cogestión y proceso de intervención de los apoyadores de la Política de Humanización Nacional

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar as mudanças nos modos de gestão geradas pelo processo de intervenção dos apoiadores institucionais formados no Curso de Apoiadores Institucionais para a Humanização da Atenção e Gestão do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) em 2009, em Santa Catarina, Brasil. Trata-se de uma pesquisa do tipo qualitativa, com design exploratório-descritivo. Os sujeitos de pesquisa foram sete apoiadores institucionais que trabalharam a diretriz “cogestão” em seus planos de intervenção. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de pesquisa documental e entrevistas, sendo analisados por meio do método hermenêutico dialético. Eles foram categorizados e reagrupados em categorias temáticas: “Motivações para trabalhar cogestão”, “Experimentando a cogestão” e “Efeitos da intervenção”. Os resultados indicam que os movimentos disparados pelas intervenções dos apoiadores nos serviços com relação à cogestão foram importantes para promover mudanças em processos anteriormente cristalizados, entretanto inúmeros desafios ainda permanecem...

The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in management methods generated through the intervention process by institutional supporters who underwent training through the institutional supporters’ course for Humanization of Brazilian Health System (SUS) Care and Management, in Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 2009. This was a qualitative study with a descriptive and exploratory design. The research subjects comprised seven institutional supporters who worked on the “comanagement” guideline in their intervention plans. The data-gathering consisted of document research and interviews. The data analysis used the hermeneutic dialectic method, with classification and grouping into thematic categories: “Motivation for comanagement work”, “Experimenting with comanagement” and “Effects of Intervention.” The results showed that the movements triggered by interventions from supporters in services, with regard to comanagement, were important for promoting changes in processes that previously had been set in stone, although many challenges still remain...

El objetivo del estudio fue analizar los cambios en el modo de gestión generados por el proceso de intervención de los apoyadores institucionales formados en el Curso de Apoyadores Institucionales para la Humanización de la Atención y Gestión del del Sistema Brasileño de Salud (SUS), realizado en 2009 en Santa Catarina, Brasil. Se trata de un estudio cualitativo con diseño exploratorio descriptivo. Los sujetos de la investigación fueron 7 apoyadores institucionales que trabajaron la directriz “cogestión” en sus planes de intervención. La recolección de datos fue por medio de investigación documental y entrevistas y los datos se analizaron utilizando el método dialéctico hermenéutico. Los referidos datos fueron clasificados y agrupados en categorías temáticas: “Motivaciones para trabajar la cogestión”, “Cómo experimentar la cogestión” y “Efectos de la intervención.” Los resultados mostraron que los movimientos causados por las intervenciones de los apoyadores en los servicios en lo que se refiere a la cogestión fueron importantes para promover cambios en procesos anteriormente cristalizados, aunque todavía son muchos los desafíos...