N-95/P2 respirator compliance with fit testing recommendations and respirator satisfaction amongst hospital staff.

Background: Filtering Facepiece Respirators (FFRs) are an important and readily scalable infection control measure; however their effectiveness is ultimately determined by compliance. We aimed to examine staff compliance and satisfaction with wearing the N95/P2 FFRs assigned to them via the standardised fit testing protocol implemented in a single large healthcare network in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, employees from five hospital campuses who participated in the health networks N95/P2 FFR fit testing process were invited in person to participate in the study.

Striving to be the fittest: quantitative P2/N95 respirator fit test results among hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To provide fit rates for specific P2/N95 respirators and compare these results by age, sex, clean-shaven status, and fit tester experience.

Design: Exploratory audit involving secondary analysis of existing quantitative fit testing data.

Setting: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare services across Australia implemented respiratory protection protocols.

The effect of clinical face shields on aerosolized particle exposure.

Background: Face shields protect healthcare workers (HCWs) from fluid and large droplet contamination. Their effect on smaller aerosolized particles is unknown.

Materials & Methods: An ultrasonic atomizer was used to simulate particle sizes equivalent to human breathing and forceful cough.

Pass rates of four P2/N95 respirators or filtering facepiece respirators in Australian healthcare providers: A prospective observational study.

P2/N95 respirators or filtering facepiece respirators may not have the same pass rate on quantitative fit testing. The aim of this study was to investigate the pass rate of four commonly used filtering facepiece respirators in Australian healthcare providers. The secondary objectives included assessing the ease of donning, doffing and comfort of wearing these four filtering facepiece respirators for more than 30 minutes.

G3BP1-linked mRNA partitioning supports selective protein synthesis in response to oxidative stress.

Cells limit energy-consuming mRNA translation during stress to maintain metabolic homeostasis. Sequestration of mRNAs by RNA binding proteins (RBPs) into RNA granules reduces their translation, but it remains unclear whether RBPs also function in partitioning of specific transcripts to polysomes (PSs) to guide selective translation and stress adaptation in cancer. To study transcript partitioning under cell stress, we catalogued mRNAs enriched in prostate carcinoma PC-3 cell PSs, as defined by polysome fractionation and RNA sequencing (RNAseq), and compared them to mRNAs complexed with the known SG-nucleator protein, G3BP1, as defined by spatially-restricted enzymatic tagging and RNAseq.