Pilot Evaluation of S-(3-[F]Fluoropropyl)-D-Homocysteine and O-(2-[F]Fluoroethyl)-D-Tyrosine as Bacteria-Specific Radiotracers for PET Imaging of Infection.

Purpose: There is currently no ideal radiotracer for imaging bacterial infections. Radiolabelled D-amino acids are promising candidates because they are actively incorporated into the peptidoglycan of the bacterial cell wall, a structural feature which is absent in human cells. This work describes fluorine-18 labelled analogues of D-tyrosine and D-methionine, O-(2-[F]fluoroethyl)-D-tyrosine (D-[F]FET) and S-(3-[F]fluoropropyl)-D-homocysteine (D-[F]FPHCys), and their pilot evaluation studies as potential radiotracers for imaging bacterial infection.

Automated radiosynthesis and preclinical in vivo evaluation of [F]Fluoroethylpuromycin as a potential radiotracer for imaging protein synthesis with PET.

Purpose: From a series of fluorinated analogues of puromycin, we recently identified [F]fluoroethylpuromycin (FEPURO) as a potential candidate for imaging the rate of protein synthesis in vivo. Herein, we describe the automation of the radiosynthesis, and evaluation of [F]FEPURO in vivo.

Procedures: [F]FEPURO was radiosynthesised in an automated module.

Wheel of Wellbeing (WoW) health promotion program: Australian participants report on their experiences and impacts.

Background: Community-based mental health promotion programs focus on improving individual and community wellbeing by strengthening resilience and building capacity to support positive health outcomes. The Wheel of Wellbeing (WoW) is an example of such a program, promoting activities that support social engagement and positive emotions within a holistic framework underpinned by positive psychology. WoW is intended to be flexibly implemented in each community, training community members who implement behaviour change activities in their local community, workplace and educational settings.

200 Years Since the Birth of Nursing Informatics?

It is 200 years since the birth of Florence Nightingale. This keynote paper reviews some of her work relating to health statistics and outlines its continuing legacy to nursing informatics around the world and especially in poorer countries, like South Africa, in the 21st century.

Hypoxia imaging with [18F]HX4 PET in squamous cell head and neck cancers: a pilot study for integration into treatment planning.

Background: Radical chemoradiotherapy is the primary treatment for head and neck cancers in many hospitals. Tumour hypoxia causes radiotherapy resistance and is an indicator of poor prognosis for patients. Identifying hypoxia to select patients for intensified or hypoxia-modified treatment regimens is therefore of high clinical importance.

A tolerability and patient acceptability pilot study of a novel antimicrobial urinary catheter for long-term use.

Aims: We have developed a novel antimicrobial urinary catheter (AUC) impregnated with rifampicin, triclosan, and sparfloxacin and demonstrated that it has long-term (∼84 days) protection against bacterial colonization in vitro. This study aimed to assess the safety and patient acceptability of this device in long-term catheter users.

Methods: Adults who use long term (>28 days) indwelling urinary catheters with capacity to consent were invited to receive the AUC at their next catheter change.

Synthesis, in Vitro Evaluation, and Radiolabeling of Fluorinated Puromycin Analogues: Potential Candidates for PET Imaging of Protein Synthesis.

There is currently no ideal radiotracer for imaging of protein synthesis rate (PSR) by positron emission tomography (PET). Existing fluorine-18-labeled amino acid-based radiotracers predominantly visualize amino acid transporter processes, and in many cases they are not incorporated into nascent proteins at all. Others are radiolabeled with the short-half-life positron emitter carbon-11, which is rather impractical for many PET centers.

Health Informatics: Developing a Masters Programme in Rwanda based on the IMIA Educational Recommendations and the IMIA Knowledge Base.

Since 2011, the Regional e-Health Center of Excellence in Rwanda (REHCE) has run an MSc in Health Informatics programme (MSc HI). A programme review was commissioned in February 2014 after 2 cohorts of students completed the post-graduate certificate and diploma courses and most students had started preparatory activity for their master dissertation. The review developed a method for mapping course content on health informatics competences and knowledge units.

Nurses behaviour pre and post the implementation of data capture using tablet computers in a rural clinic in South Africa.

This Time and Motion study was part of a larger Open Source Development Project to evaluate the use of Tablet computers for collecting patient data in rural clinics in the OR Tambo District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The intention was to determine if there were any differences in the activities and workloads between the two methods of data capture. The main difference between the Phases was that the number of activities undertaken per patient decreased in the second phase.

Automated radiosynthesis of GMP quality [18F]HX4 for PET imaging of hypoxia.

Introduction: [(18)F]HX4 is a 2-nitroimidazole based investigational radiotracer for imaging hypoxia.

Methods: A two-step, one-pot synthetic procedure was developed on a GE Tracerlab MX-FDG with a disposable cassette. Nucleophilic substitution of a nosylate group with [(18)F]fluoride was followed by solvent evaporation and acidic removal of the acetyl protecting group.

A clinical and economic evaluation of Control of Hyperglycaemia in Paediatric intensive care (CHiP): a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Early research in adults admitted to intensive care suggested that tight control of blood glucose during acute illness can be associated with reductions in mortality, length of hospital stay and complications such as infection and renal failure. Prior to our study, it was unclear whether or not children could also benefit from tight control of blood glucose during critical illness.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine if controlling blood glucose using insulin in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) reduces mortality and morbidity and is cost-effective, whether or not admission follows cardiac surgery.

2-Bromo-6-[(18) F]fluoropyridine: two-step fluorine-18 radiolabelling via transition metal-mediated chemistry.

Novel radiolabelling methods are important for the development of new tracers for positron emission tomography. Direct nucleophilic fluorination of aromatic rings with [(18) F]fluoride is limited to activated substrates, restricting the application of this approach. Inspired by transition metal-mediated transformations, a fluorine-18 synthon was prepared to supplement the radiolabelling methods available for molecules unsuitable for direct labelling.

A functional microsatellite of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene associated with meningococcal disease.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an abundantly expressed proinflammatory cytokine playing a critical role in innate immunity and sepsis and other inflammatory diseases. We examined whether functional MIF gene polymorphisms (-794 CATT(5-8) microsatellite and -173 G/C SNP) were associated with the occurrence and outcome of meningococcal disease in children. The CATT(5) allele was associated with the probability of death predicted by the Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 (P=0.

Intestinal injury and endotoxemia in children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease.

Rationale: Children with congenital heart disease are at risk of gut barrier dysfunction and translocation of gut bacterial antigens into the bloodstream. This may contribute to inflammatory activation and organ dysfunction postoperatively.

Objectives: To investigate the role of intestinal injury and endotoxemia in the pathogenesis of organ dysfunction after surgery for congenital heart disease.

Endotoxemia in pediatric critical illness--a pilot study.

Introduction: The aim was to investigate the prevalence of endotoxemia in children admitted to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and its association with disease severity and outcome.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study of children admitted to PICU at St. Mary's Hospital, London over a 6-month period.

Genome-wide association study identifies variants in the CFH region associated with host susceptibility to meningococcal disease.

Meningococcal disease is an infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis. Genetic factors contribute to host susceptibility and progression to disease, but the genes responsible for disease development are largely unknown. We report here a genome-wide association study for host susceptibility to meningococcal disease using 475 individuals with meningococcal disease (cases) and 4,703 population controls from the UK.

Control of hyperglycaemia in paediatric intensive care (CHiP): study protocol.

Background: There is increasing evidence that tight blood glucose (BG) control improves outcomes in critically ill adults. Children show similar hyperglycaemic responses to surgery or critical illness. However it is not known whether tight control will benefit children given maturational differences and different disease spectrum.

Polymorphisms in PARP, IL1B, IL4, IL10, C1INH, DEFB1, and DEFA4 in meningococcal disease in three populations.

The pathogenesis of meningococcal infections involves activation of the complement system, proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators, antimicrobial peptides, and apoptosis. We hypothesized that variations in genes encoding these products are involved in the susceptibility to and severity of pediatric meningococcal infections. Polymorphisms in poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP), serine protease C1 inhibitor (C1INH), IL4, IL10 and IL1B, alpha-defensin 4, and beta-defensin 1 (DEFB1) were analyzed in two independent Caucasian case control cohorts from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and in a family-based transmission disequilibrium test cohort from the UK.

Nitroimidazole conjugates of bis(thiosemicarbazonato)64Cu(II) - Potential combination agents for the PET imaging of hypoxia.

Combination agents comprising two different pharmacophores with the same biological target have the potential to show additive or synergistic activity. Bis(thiosemicarbazonato)copper(II) complexes (e.g.

Open source and healthcare in Europe - time to put leading edge ideas into practice.

Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) is a process of software development, a method of licensing and a philosophy. Although FLOSS plays a significant role in several market areas, the impact in the health care arena is still limited. FLOSS is promoted as one of the most effective means for overcoming fragmentation in the health care sector and providing a basis for more efficient, timely and cost effective health care provision.

Observations on sustainable and ubiquitous healthcare informatics from Florence Nightingale.

As nurses around the world prepare to celebrate the centenary of the death of Florence Nightingale in 2010 this paper reviews her work on using information, especially statistics, to analyze and manage patient care and links that to current developments in informatics. It then examines assistive technologies and how they may impact on nursing practice in the future and links these developments to the writings of Florence Nightingale. The paper concludes by suggesting that in progressing towards sustainable and ubiquitous healthcare informatics we need to study history in order to learn from the lessons of Florence Nightingale and other healthcare pioneers.

Effector protein modulation of host cells: examples in the Chlamydia spp. arsenal.

As obligate intracellular parasites, Chlamydia spp. must create and maintain a specialized intracellular niche while simultaneously contending with potent host defenses. Discoveries that chlamydiae deploy an array of anti-host proteins have placed new emphasis on deciphering the impact of host cell biology on chlamydial development and virulence.

In vitro and in vivo evaluations of a hydrophilic 64Cu-bis(thiosemicarbazonato)-glucose conjugate for hypoxia imaging.

Unlabelled: A water-soluble glucose conjugate of the hypoxia tracer 64Cu-diacetyl-bis(N4-methylthiosemicarbazone) (64Cu-ATSM) was synthesized and radiolabeled (64Cu-ATSE/A-G). Here we report our initial biological experiments with 64Cu-ATSE/A-G and compare the results with those obtained for 64Cu-ATSM and 18F-FDG.

Methods: The uptake of 64Cu-ATSE/A-G and 64Cu-ATSM into HeLa cells in vitro was investigated at a range of dissolved oxygen concentrations representing normoxia, hypoxia, and anoxia.

Hyperglycemia is associated with morbidity in critically ill children with meningococcal sepsis.

Objective: To determine the association between hyperglycemia and outcome in children ventilated for meningococcal sepsis.

Design: Retrospective case notes review.

Setting: Eight bedded pediatric intensive care unit in London.