Threads in tubing: an innovative approach towards improved electrochemical thread-based microfluidic devices.

Thread-based microfluidic analytical devices have received growing attention since threads have some advantages over other materials. Compared to paper, threads are also capable of spontaneously transporting fluid due to capillary action, but they have superior mechanical strength and do not require hydrophobic barriers. Therefore, thread-based microfluidic devices can be inexpensively fabricated with no need for external pumps or sophisticated microfabrication apparatus.

Fully independent validation and updating of a clinical pharmacy prioritizing risk score in an infectious disease hospital ward.

Aims: The aim of this study was to validate and update the risk score originally developed at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, verifying its performance in an infectious disease population.

Methods: This is an observational study with consecutive selection of admission in a ward of participants with infectious diseases. Predictors were age, number of medications, intravenous drugs, potentially dangerous drugs, renal dysfunction, liver dysfunction, use of nasoenteral tube, nasogastric tube, gastrostomy feeding, jejunostomy feeding, oral enteral tube, total parenteral nutrition, cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction and immunosuppression.

Sample preparation combined with electroanalysis to improve simultaneous determination of antibiotics in animal derived food samples.

A procedure based on liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and phase separation using magnetically stirred salt-induced high-temperature liquid-liquid extraction (PS-MSSI-HT-LLE) was developed to extract and pre-concentrate ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) and enrofloxacin (ENRO) from animal food samples before electroanalysis. Firstly, simple LLE was used to extract the fluoroquinolones (FQs) from animal food samples, in which dilution was performed to reduce interference effects to below a tolerable threshold. Then, adapted PS-MSSI-HT-LLE protocols allowed re-extraction and further pre-concentration of target analytes in the diluted acid samples for simultaneous electrochemical quantification at low concentration levels.