High-sucrose diet-fed male rats show affectations in pubococcygeus reflex activation and myofiber content.

In males, the function of the pubococcygeus muscle (Pcm) shows a high androgen dependency. High sucrose intake increases testosterone levels in pubertal male rats. We aimed to analyze the Pcm reflex activity and fiber type in response to a 30 % sucrose diet. Wistar male rats were assigned into two groups: control and sugar. The Pcm electromyographic activity was recorded during the mechanical stimulation of the scrotal skin and penis. We also determined the relative levels of Glut4 expression, glycogen content, myofiber cross-sectional area (CSA), and the content of glycolytic and oxidative with NADH-TR or fast, intermediate, and slow fibers with alkaline (pH 9.4) ATPase histochemistry. The sugar group showed a short Pcm reflex activity, a higher Glut4 expression, and glycogen content; the CSA fibers showed a significant difference in the percentage of fibers with the different transversal areas. The number of nuclei was positively correlated with the CSA of the Pcm fibers. There was also a decrease in oxidative fibers but an increase in glycolytic fibers, while the content of fast muscle fibers increased to the detriment of intermediate and slow fibers. Thus, a high-sugar diet reduced Pcm reflex activity, fiber type, and dysregulation of skeletal muscle energy metabolism.

Análisis microbiológico a corto y largo plazo del material usado para esterilizar instrumental odontológico / Short and long-term microbiological analysis of the material for sterilize dental instruments

Introducción: el material para empaquetar el instrumental odontológico, como pueden ser bolsas de tela, papel o plástico, es usado por profesionales de la salud; sin embargo, es necesario esclarecer la efectividad de cada uno y determinar el tiempo que permanece estéril luego del procedimiento. Objetivo: identificar la eficacia de tela, plástico y papel como materiales para esterilizar instrumental a corto y largo plazo. Material y métodos: se realizaron cultivos sólidos y líquidos de instrumental esterilizado en tres materiales y con diferentes tiempos de postesterilización. Se incubaron a 36 oC por 72 horas en condiciones aerobias y anaerobias. Los resultados se analizaron usando una prueba de Kruskal-Wallis, seguida de una prueba de Dunn. Resultados: los resultados mostraron que inmediatamente después del proceso de esterilización, los tres materiales son efectivos (Kruskal-Wallis test, p = 0.2752), 24 horas (p = 0.2492), siete (p = 0.0509) y 14 días (p = 0.0006). Veinticuatro horas posterior a la esterilización la tela no es efectiva, el plástico disminuye su efectividad y el papel sigue siendo efectivo. Conclusión: en nuestros resultados, el papel es la mejor opción para esterilizar instrumental (AU)

Introduction: material such as cloth, paper or plastic bags to wrap dental instruments is used by health professionals, however, it is necessary to clarify the effectiveness of each one and determine if it remains sterile after the procedure. Objective: to determine the effectiveness of cloth, plastic and paper as materials to sterilize dental instruments in the short and long term. Material and methods: we carry out solid and liquid cultures of sterilized instruments in three materials, at different post-sterilization times, incubated at 36 oC for 72 hours under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and the results were analyzed using a Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by from a Dunn's test. Results: our results showed that immediately after the sterilization process the three materials are effective (Kruskal-Wallis; p = 0.2752), 24 hours (p = 0.2492), 7 (p = 0.0509) and 14 (p = 0.0006) days. Twenty-four hours after the cloth is not effective, plastic decreases its effectiveness and paper remain effective. Conclusion: in our results, paper is the best option to sterilize dental instruments (AU)

Cultura de seguridad del paciente por enfermería perioperatoria en un hospital público de Aguascalientes / Culture of security of the patient by perioperative nursing in a public hospital of Aguascalientes

Introducción: la cultura de seguridad del paciente es el resultado de los valores individuales y grupales, así como de actitudes, percepciones, competencias y patrones de comportamiento, que determinan el compromiso, estilo y competencia de una organización hacia la salud y manejo de la seguridad. Diversos organismos internacionales y nacionales reconocen el quirófano como un servicio hospitalario de alto riesgo en materia de seguridad del paciente. Objetivo: describir la cultura de seguridad del paciente por enfermería perioperatoria en un hospital público de Aguas- calientes, México. Metodología: estudio descriptivo y transversal. La muestra se conformó con 59 trabajadores con contratación indefinida que desempeñaban funciones de circulante, instrumentista, en sala de preanestesia y de recuperación posanestésica, durante los turnos matutino, vespertino y nocturno. Se realizó un censo estadístico. La población de estudio incluyó a 52 personas. Se utilizó el cuestionario sobre seguridad de los pacientes, con alfa de Cronbach de 0.96. Resultados: el aprendizaje organizacional mostró 57.7% de respuestas positivas. Las dimensiones restantes tuvieron res- puestas neutras. El grado de seguridad del paciente fue µd = 8.0. El grado de cultura de seguridad del paciente fue µd = 133.0 puntos. Existió buena cultura en el 73% de los casos. Conclusiones: la cultura de seguridad del paciente fue buena. El turno vespertino registró mayor cultura de seguridad del paciente.

Introduction: The Patient Safety Culture is the result of individual and group values, as well as attitudes, perceptions, competencies and behavior patterns, which determine the commitment, style and competence of an organization towards health and management of the security. The opera- ting room is recognized by various international and national organizations as a high-risk hospital service in terms of patient safety. Objective: To describe the Patient Safety Culture for perioperative nursing in a public hospital in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Methods: Descriptive-transversal study. The universe was made up of 59 workers with permanent contracts who per- formed the functions of circulating, instrumentalist, in the pre-anesthesia and post-anesthesia recovery rooms, during the morning, afternoon and night shifts. A statistical census was carried out. The study population was 52 people. The Patient Safety Survey was used, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.96. Results: Organizational learning presented 57.7% positive responses. The remaining dimensions showed neutral responses. The degree of patient safety was µd = 8.0. The level of Patient Safety Culture was µd = 133.0 points. There was a good culture in 73% of the cases. Conclusions: The Patient Safety Culture was good. The afternoon shift presented a higher Patient Safety Culture.

High Estradiol Differentially Affects the Expression of the Glucose Transporter Type 4 in Pelvic Floor Muscles of Rats.

PURPOSE: To characterize the relationship between serum estradiol levels and the expression of glucose transporter type 4 (Glut4) in the pubococcygeus and iliococcygeus muscles in female rats. METHODS: The muscles were excised from virgin rats during the metestrus and proestrus stages of the estrous cycle, and from sham and ovariectomized rats implanted with empty or estradiol benzoate-filled capsules. The expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) was inspected in the muscles at metestrus and proestrus. Relative Glut4 expression, glycogen content, and serum glucose levels were measured. Appropriate statistical tests were done to identify significant differences (P≤0.05). RESULTS: The pubococcygeus and iliococcygeus muscles expressed ERα and ERß. Glut4 expression and glycogen content in the pubococcygeus muscle were higher at proestrus than at metestrus. No significant changes were observed in the iliococcygeus muscle. In ovariectomized rats, the administration of estradiol benzoate increased Glut4 expression and glycogen content in the pubococcygeus muscle alone. CONCLUSION: High serum estradiol levels increased Glut4 expression and glycogen content in the pubococcygeus muscle, but not in the iliococcygeus muscle.

Correction: Screening of phospholipase A activity and its production by new actinomycete strains cultivated by solid-state fermentation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3524.].

Screening of phospholipase A activity and its production by new actinomycete strains cultivated by solid-state fermentation.

Novel microbial phospholipases A (PLAs) can be found in actinomycetes which have been poorly explored as producers of this activity. To investigate microbial PLA production, efficient methods are necessary such as high-throughput screening (HTS) assays for direct search of PLAs in microbial cultures and cultivation conditions to promote this activity. About 200 strains isolated with selected media for actinomycetes and mostly belonging to Streptomyces (73%) and Micromonospora (10%) genus were first screened on agar-plates containing the fluorophore rhodamine 6G and egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (PC) to detect strains producing phospholipase activity. Then, a colorimetric HTS assay for general PLA activity detection (cHTS-PLA) using enriched PC (≈60%) as substrate and cresol red as indicator was developed and applied; this cHTS-PLA assay was validated with known PLAs. For the first time, actinomycete strains were cultivated by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using PC as inductor and sugar-cane bagasse as support to produce high PLA activity (from 207 to 2,591 mU/g of support). Phospholipase activity of the enzymatic extracts from SSF was determined using the implemented cHTS-PLA assay and the PC hydrolysis products obtained, were analyzed by TLC showing the presence of lyso-PC. Three actinomycete strains of the Streptomyces genus that stood out for high accumulation of lyso-PC, were selected and analyzed with the specific substrate 1,2-α-eleostearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (EEPC) in order to confirm the presence of PLA activity in their enzymatic extracts. Overall, the results obtained pave the way toward the HTS of PLA activity in crude microbial enzymatic extracts at a larger scale. The cHTS-PLA assay developed here can be also proposed as a routine assay for PLA activity determination during enzyme purification,directed evolution or mutagenesis approaches. In addition, the production of PLA activity by actinomycetes using SSF allow find and produce novel PLAs with potential applications in biotechnology.

Role of Estrogens in the Size of Neuronal Somata of Paravaginal Ganglia in Ovariectomized Rabbits.

We aimed to determine the role of estrogens in modulating the size of neuronal somata of paravaginal ganglia. Rabbits were allocated into control (C), ovariectomized (OVX), and OVX treated with estradiol benzoate (OVX + EB) groups to evaluate the neuronal soma area; total serum estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) levels; the percentage of immunoreactive (ir) neurons anti-aromatase, anti-estrogen receptor (ERα, ERß) and anti-androgen receptor (AR); the intensity of the immunostaining anti-glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and the GDNF family receptor alpha type 1 (GFRα1); and the number of satellite glial cells (SGCs) per neuron. There was a decrease in the neuronal soma size for the OVX group, which was associated with low T, high percentages of aromatase-ir and neuritic AR-ir neurons, and a strong immunostaining anti-GDNF and anti-GFRα1. The decrease in the neuronal soma size was prevented by the EB treatment that increased the E2 without affecting the T levels. Moreover, there was a high percentage of neuritic AR-ir neurons, a strong GDNF immunostaining in the SGC, and an increase in the SGCs per neuron. Present findings show that estrogens modulate the soma size of neurons of the paravaginal ganglia, likely involving the participation of the SGC.

A broad pH range indicator-based spectrophotometric assay for true lipases using tributyrin and tricaprylin.

A continuous assay is proposed for the screening of acidic, neutral, or alkaline lipases using microtiter plates, emulsified short- and medium-chain TGs, and a pH indicator. The lipase activity measurement is based on the decrease of the pH indicator optical density due to protonation which is caused by the release of FFAs during the hydrolysis of TGs and thus acidification. Purified lipases with distinct pH optima and an esterase were used to validate the method. The rate of lipolysis was found to be linear with time and proportional to the amount of enzyme added in each case. Specific activities measured with this microplate assay method were lower than those obtained by the pH-stat technique. Nevertheless, the pH-dependent profiles of enzymatic activity were similar with both assays. In addition, the substrate preference of each enzyme tested was not modified and this allowed discriminating lipase and esterase activities using tributyrin (low water solubility) and tricaprylin (not water soluble) as substrates. This continuous lipase assay is compatible with a high sample throughput and can be applied for the screening of lipases and lipase inhibitors from biological samples.

Análisis descriptivo de los antecedentes de exposición al virus Varicela Zoster (VVZ) en los trabajadores de un hospital pediátrico / Descriptive analysis of the antecedents of exhibitions to the virus varicella zoster (VVZ) in the workers of a pediatric hsopital

Se caracterizó la población de trabajadores de salud en el Hospital Nacional de Niños, "Dr. Carlos Sáenz Herrera", San José, Costa Rica, en cuanto al riesgo de adquirir la infección por el virus de la varicela. La seropositividad contra el virus varicela zoster fue del 90,5 por ciento y del 9,5 por ciento para los trabajadores con histoira de contacto positiva y negativa, respectivamente. El valor predictivo positivo de la historia autoreferidad de varicela, demostró ser confiable, identificar a los individuos seropositivos. Debido a que el valor predictivo negativo no es confiable (el 88,6 por ciento de los empleados con una historia negativa o incierta, resultó inmune), se discute que la implementación de una prueba serológica rápida podría resultar costo-beneficiosa para aquellos empleados en esta condición

Evaluación de la respuesta serológica a la vacuna contra la hepatitis B en una población laboral hospitalaria / Evaluation of serologic response of Hepatitis B vaccine in the hospitalable group

Se evaluó la efectividad de la vacuna contra la hepatitis B (Engerix B) en 116 empleados del Hospital Nacional de Niños, San José, Costa Rica, de 120 que ingresaron voluntariamente al programa de vacunación en el período 1995-1996. La vacunación fue exitosa en el 99,13 por ciento de los individuos alcanzando éstos respuestas de seroprotección con niveles de anti HBs mayores a 10mUI/ml. Se puede corroborar que la edad y el sexo tienen influencia directa sobre los niveles de seroconversión; en general son mejores respondedores los jóvenes y las mujeres