Novel monoclonal antibodies against Menangle virus nucleocapsid protein.

Menangle virus (MenV) is a member of the family Paramyxoviridae isolated in Australia that causes a reproductive disease of pigs. There is a need for specific immunoassays for virus detection to facilitate the diagnosis of MenV infection. Three novel monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) of the IgG1 subtype were generated by immunizing mice with recombinant yeast-expressed MenV nucleocapsid (N) protein self-assembled to nucleocapsid-like structures.

Generation of Tioman virus nucleocapsid-like particles in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Tioman virus (TioV) was isolated from a number of pooled urine samples of Tioman Island flying foxes (Pteropus hypomelanus) during the search for the reservoir host of Nipah virus. Studies have established TioV as a new virus in the family Paramyxoviridae. This novel paramyxovirus is antigenically related to Menangle virus that was isolated in Australia in 1997 during disease outbreak in pigs.

The Human Capital Competencies Inventory for developing nurse managers.

Background: Nurse managers play a vital role in healthcare delivery systems. Psychometrically sound measures of management practices grounded in empirical practice data are needed.

Method: An integrative review provided content domain for the Human Capital Competencies Inventory (HCCI).

Assessment of a point-of-care lactate monitor in emergency admissions of adult horses to a referral hospital.

Background: Blood lactate concentration [LAC] is considered a useful indicator of disease severity in horses. Agreement of point-of-care (POC) lactate monitors with laboratory standards has not been established for clinically abnormal horses.

Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that results from a POC lactate monitor would be in agreement with a laboratory-based measurement of [LAC].

The prevalence of blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring in Boston among non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites.

Objectives: Racial and ethnic minorities are at increased risk for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Appropriate blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring is a critical first step in identification, treatment, and control of these conditions and the prevention of coronary artery disease. This study examines blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White subjects.

Adrenocorticotropin concentration following administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone in healthy horses and those with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction and pituitary gland hyperplasia.

Objective: To compare the effect of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) administration on endogenous ACTH concentrations in healthy horses and those with pituitary pars inter-media hyperplasia and compare the test with the dexamethasone suppression test (DST).

Design: Prospective case series.

Animals: 15 horses with clinical signs of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), 4 horses with equivocal signs of PPID, and 29 horses without signs of PPID.

Embedded, engaged, evolving: a consortium of nurse researchers and clinicians.

This article describes the journey of an innovative partnership among nurse researchers and nurse clinicians. The Chronic Illness Consortium (CIC) is an academic-service partnership between a university and its neighbors in a region without an academic medical center. It began with a small group of nurse researchers seeking a strategy to maximize research output and knowledge development and has evolved over 6 years into a forum that bridges scholars and clinicians, specialists and generalists, current and former students.

Feline model of acute nipah virus infection and protection with a soluble glycoprotein-based subunit vaccine.

Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) are paramyxoviruses capable of causing considerable morbidity and mortality in a number of mammalian species, including humans. Case reports from outbreaks and previous challenge experiments have suggested that cats were highly susceptible to NiV infection, responding with a severe respiratory disease and systemic infection. Here we have assessed the cat as a model of experimental NiV infection and use it in the evaluation of a subunit vaccine comprised of soluble G glycoprotein (sG).

The conceptual model for nursing and health policy revisited.

A conceptual model of nursing and health policy was proposed by the authors in 2001. Revisions in the model have been made, and the model has been used to guide the evolution of a nursing doctoral program and doctoral dissertation research. The revised model provides a framework for analysis and evaluation of public, organizational, and professional policies influencing the quality, cost, and access to nursing and other health care services, as well as for nursing-discipline specific and health services research at any one of four interacting levels: Level 1--efficacy of nursing practice processes; Level 2--effectiveness of nursing practice processes and effectiveness and efficiency of health care delivery subsystems; Level 3--equity of access to effective and efficient nursing practice processes and efficient nursing practice delivery systems, and equity in distribution of costs and burdens of care delivery; Level 4--justice and the social changes and market interventions addressing equity.

Mastery path for developing nurses for management: a conceptual model.

The demand for knowledgeable and skilled nurses in health care management positions highlights the importance of identifying management practices, competencies, and skills of effective managers. Once these attributes are identified, then approaches can be identified for developing nurses for these positions. This article describes a conceptual model, the Mastery Path for Developing Nurses for Management, that serves as a tool for the profession of nursing, health care organizations, and academic institutions to identify and educate nurses in the health care system.

Reactivity of anti-Nipah virus monoclonal antibodies to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lung tissues from experimental Nipah and Hendra virus infections.

The immunohistochemical reactivity of seven clones of mouse monoclonal antibodies raised to Nipah virus antigens were investigated using formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded porcine and equine lung tissues from experimental Nipah and Hendra virus infection, respectively. Either microwave irradiation or enzymatic digestion effectively unmasked the viral antigens in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Four clones showed positive reaction to both Nipah virus-infected porcine lung tissue and Hendra virus-infected equine lung tissue.

Federal CAT policy: politics and practice.

The critical care nurse encounters a patient in a setting that is charged with overt physiologic needs that are addressed by an array of healthcare providers in a setting dominated by covert political dynamics. Understanding these dynamics can empower critical care nurses to create a voice of agency to advocate disciplinary nursing concerns. Policy skills enable nurses to participate in meaningful ways in the policy process.

Vision 2020, part 2: Educational preparation for the future nurse manager.

The demand for knowledgeable and skilled nursing leaders at the first, middle, and executive levels of management in healthcare organizations drove a multiphased project concerning the types of nurse managers that will be needed in the future and their educational needs. In Part 1 (June 2003), national nurse leaders identified the increased need for knowledgeable and skilled nurses in first-line, mid-level, and executive management positions in the healthcare delivery system. This article describes the second Vision 2020 survey of nurse managers in Massachusetts on the current and future demand for nurse managers and their academic preparation and continuing education needs.

Vision 2020, part I: profile of the future nurse leader.

The demand for knowledgeable and skilled nursing leaders at the first, middle, and executive levels of management in healthcare organizations drove a multi-phased project about the kinds of nurse managers who will be needed in the future and their educational needs. This first article in a two-part series describes seasoned nurse leaders' opinions about the educational preparation, experiences, and competencies desired in nurse managers for the year 2020.