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Assessment of the impact of solvent/detergent treatment on the quality and potency of a whole IgG equine antivenom
(2009-10) Segura Ruiz, Álvaro; León Montero, Guillermo; Su, Chen Yao; Gutiérrez, José María; Burnouf, Thierry Pierre Robert
We have evaluated for the first time the impact of a solvent/detergent (S/D) treatment on the quality and in vivo neutralization potency of horse-derived whole IgG antivenom used in the treatment of viperid snake bite envenoming in Central America. The S/D treatment by 1% tri (n-butyl) phosphate (TnBP) – 1% Triton X-45 at 22–25 °C was applied either on starting plasma or on purified immunoglobulins. The S/D agents were removed from both fractions by extractions with oil. S/D-treated plasma was subjected to caprylic acid precipitation to purify the immunoglobulins. Products were formulated, sterile-filtered, and filled into 10-mL vials, stored at 5 ± 3 °C, and subjected to routine quality controls, SDS-PAGE, determination of anti-Bothrops asper venom antibody titre by ELISA, in vivo B. asper venom-neutralization potency tests, and safety test, comparatively with an antivenom manufactured by caprylic acid fractionation without S/D treatment. Results indicate that these conditions of S/D treatment on purified immunoglobulin yielded an antivenom of high turbidity that induced weight loss in animals. In contrast, antivenom fractionated from the S/D-treated plasma had physico-chemical and biological characteristics indistinguishable from those of the non-S/D-treated antivenom. S/D treatment of horse plasma may be considered to increase the viral safety of antivenoms.
Textos, público e meios de comunicação: a persistência das perguntas
(2023-12-28) Sandoval García, Carlos
Este artigo questiona as mudanças e permanências nas formas como os vínculos entre meios de comunicação, poder e sociedade são analisados em relação aos ecossistemas comunicativos que hoje são chamados de tradicionais, como a imprensa, o rádio e a televisão, e as plataformas digitais que se consolidaram no século XXI. Particularmente, presta-se atenção a três perspectivas: a capacidade dos discursos para interpelar o público, a atividade do público e o papel das indústrias de comunicação. A pesquisa acadêmica sobre os vínculos entre meios de comunicação, poder e sociedade exige reparar as mudanças entre o "tradicional" e o "novo", e as permanências. Além disso, é sugerida uma apropriação crítica das trajetórias de pesquisa desses vínculos, para que não sejam reproduzidos alguns dos "becos sem saída" transitados décadas atrás.
The health equity network of the Americas: inclusion, commitment, and action
(2021-06) Castro, Arachu; Sáenz, Rocío; Avellaneda, Ximena; Cáceres, Carlos; Galvão, Luiz; Mas, Pedro; Ritterbusch, Amy; Urbina Fuentes, Manuel
The Health Equity Network of the Americas (HENA) is a multidisciplinary network that promotes knowledge sharing and intersectoral action for equity in health and human rights in the Americas. The objectives of HENA are: 1) to share successful experiences in the development of interventions, considering the social determinants and determination of health, to achieve participatory and community-based health responses; 2) to analyze the health, social, political, environmental and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; 3) to identify the effects of pandemic care on populations most at risk because of their age and pre-existing health conditions; 4) examine the situation at borders and population movements in the spread of the pan-demic and its effects on migrant populations; 5) propose strategies to ensure access to comprehensive care for pregnant women in order to reduce maternal and neonatal suffering, morbidity, and mortality; and 6) ana-lyze violations of human rights and the right to health of historically marginalized populations, including street dwellers and other communities that depend on public spaces and the street for survival. The analytical and intervention models for health equity at HENA are based on various approaches, including social medicine, social epidemiology, medical anthropology, human ecology, and One Health.
Accelerating systems thinking in health: perspectives from the region of the Americas
(2023-03-16) Sáenz Madrigal, María del Rocío; Echandi Román, María Paulina; Rojas Araya, Karol; Solís Calvo, Luis Fernando; Gómez Duarte, Ingrid
Introduction: The Systems Thinking Accelerator (SYSTAC) is a community to engage, connect and collaborate to elevate the field of systems thinking with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the need to identify existing capacities within research and at the practice level. The study aimed to explore if there is a perceived need for and benefit from the application of Systems Thinking tools for analysis and diagnosis of problem-solving within Healthcare in the Region of the Americas in 2021 and the existing capabilities.
Methods: The identification and deconstruction of the needs, demands, and opportunities regarding systems thinking in the Americas were approached by: (i) adapting the tools and Systems Thinking definition to reflect regional nuances, (ii) identifying stakeholder exercise, (iii) needs assessment survey distribution, (iv) stakeholder mapping analysis, (v) workshop. More information on the adaptation and execution of each tool can be found below.
Results: 123 stakeholders were identified, of which 40 participated in the needs assessment survey. 72% of respondents indicated little knowledge of the tools and approaches of systems thinking but a high interest in developing them, as stated by 87% of respondents. Qualitative tools were most frequently used, such as brainstorming, problem trees, and stakeholder mapping. Systems thinking is mainly used when conducting research, implementing, and evaluating projects. A clear need and want for training and developing capacities in health systems thinking were identified. However, in practice, systems thinking faces challenges like resistance to change and to the transformation of health processes, barriers at the institutional level, and other administrative disincentives that hinder its application, being institutional transparency, political will, and the articulation of the actors the main challenges.
Discussion: Strengthening and building personal and institutional capacities in systems thinking theory and practice requires overcoming challenges such as lack of transparency and inter-institutional cooperation, the low political will to implement it, and difficult stakeholders' integration. As a first step, it is crucial to understand further the stakeholder network and the capacity needs of the region, gain buy-in from strategic players to establish the use of system thinking as a priority, and develop a roadmap.
From feed to flow: watching television on TikTok
(2025-04-24) Siles González, Ignacio; Valerio Alfaro, Luciana
This paper investigates how users engage with content on TikTok that was originally produced for television. Based on interviews with participants in Costa Rica, we argue that watching television content on TikTok provides valuable insights into the future trajectories of both television and new media. To this end, we first demonstrate that TikTok's television flow (in Raymond Williams' sense) is "co-programed" through user interaction with algorithms, rather than being universally predetermined. We then posit the notion of "uncommitted attention" to argue that watching television on TikTok involves active engagement with content and texto-material conditions that make this experience fleeting and unstable. Finally, we examine how users establish cross-platform flows between TikTok and their broader media environments. In this way, we offer insights into how ontologically ambivalent platforms such as TikTok reconfigure traditional television watching.