Objective: To examine the multi-factorial efficacy of day-zero ambulation following primary total hip arthroplasty.
Data Sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, EMBASE and APA PsychInfo in accordance with PRISMA guidelines.
Review Methods: Studies were classified for study design and ranked in a hierarchy of evidence.
Background: Peer support is a promising intervention to mitigate post-ICU disability, however there is a paucity of rigorously designed studies.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to establish feasibility of an in-person, co-designed, peer-support model.
Methods: Prospective, randomised, adaptive, single-centre pilot trial with blinded outcome assessment, conducted at a university-affiliated hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for benzylpiperazine (BZP, ), an illicit designer drug, were developed by using both self-assembly and semi-covalent approaches. From an array of potential functional monomers (FMs) and using a combination of pre-synthetic interaction studies (by molecular modelling and NMR analysis) and binding assays, the highest performing self-assembly -MIPs were confirmed to result from methacrylic acid () as FM, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) or trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) as crosslinkers and chloroform as the porogen and rebinding solvent at template (T): FM ratios of 1:1 and 1:2, giving imprinting factors (IF) 3 to 7. The semi-covalent -MIPs were designed using benzylpiperazine (4-vinylphenyl) carbamate () as the template-monomer adduct in combination with either EDGMA or TRIM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study demonstrates the feasibility of molecular imprinting using a functional chain transfer agent sans a functional monomer. Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA)-based MIPs were synthesised in the presence of thioglycolic acid (TGA) possessing a carboxylic acid group, capable of interacting with the chosen test template ,-(±)-propranolol (PNL) and a labile S-H bond to facilitate an efficient chain transfer reaction. Quantitative H NMR measurements showed high PNL and TGA incorporation within the MIP, indicating an efficient chain transfer process and a favourable interaction between PNL and TGA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn optimized synthetic methodology for the preparation of highly homogeneous MIP nanoparticles by the precipitation method is presented. A quantitative H NMR method that was developed to estimate template incorporation, polymer composition and conversion, and binding capacities and selectivities is also described. While the experiment presented here is exemplified by an MIP formulation using (±)-propranolol as the template, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker, the methods and techniques are applicable to other precipitation MIP systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiaphragm muscle blood flow (BF) and vascular conductance (VC) are elevated with chronic heart failure (HF) during exercise. Exercise training (ExT) elicits beneficial respiratory muscle and pulmonary system adaptations in HF. We hypothesized that diaphragm BF and VC would be lower in HF rats following ExT than their sedentary counterparts (Sed).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Current medicines are ineffective in approximately one-third of people with epilepsy. Therefore, new antiseizure drugs are urgently needed to address this problem of pharmacoresistance. However, traditional rodent seizure and epilepsy models are poorly suited to high-throughput compound screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFATP-sensitive K (K) channels contribute to exercise-induced hyperemia in skeletal muscle either locally by vascular hyperpolarization or by sympathoinhibition and decreased sympathetic vasoconstriction. However, mean arterial pressure (MAP) regulation via baroreceptors and subsequent efferent activity may confound assessment of vascular versus neural K channel function. We hypothesized that systemic K channel inhibition via glibenclamide (GLI) would increase MAP without increasing sympathetic nerve discharge (SND).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a new concept of synthesis for preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers using a functionalized initiator to replace the traditional functional monomer. Using propranolol as a model template, a carboxyl-functionalized radical initiator was demonstrated to lead to high-selectivity polymer particles prepared in a standard precipitation polymerization system. When a single enantiomer of propranolol was used as template, the imprinted polymer particles exhibited clear chiral selectivity in an equilibrium binding experiment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Data are lacking regarding implementation of novel strategies such as follow-up clinics and peer support groups, to reduce the burden of postintensive care syndrome. We sought to discover enablers that helped hospital-based clinicians establish post-ICU clinics and peer support programs, and identify barriers that challenged them.
Design: Qualitative inquiry.
Adgrg6 (Gpr126) is an adhesion class G protein-coupled receptor with a conserved role in myelination of the peripheral nervous system. In the zebrafish, mutation of also results in defects in the inner ear: otic tissue fails to down-regulate gene expression and morphogenesis is disrupted. We have designed a whole-animal screen that tests for rescue of both up- and down-regulated gene expression in mutant embryos, together with analysis of weak and strong alleles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To identify the key mechanisms that clinicians perceive improve care in the intensive care unit (ICU), as a result of their involvement in post-ICU programs.
Methods: Qualitative inquiry via focus groups and interviews with members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine's THRIVE collaborative sites (follow-up clinics and peer support). Framework analysis was used to synthesize and interpret the data.
Background: Data evaluating outcomes and patterns of recurrence following radiation therapy (RT) for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) of the head and neck are limited.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 111 head and neck cSCC patients treated with RT at 4 affiliated institutions.
Results: With median follow-up of 7 months, there were 29 (26%) recurrences, 73% of which were nodal (n = 21).
It has been suggested that interprofessional tracheostomy teams improve safety, enhance outcomes and promote excellence. This study evaluated the effect of a Tracheostomy Review Service (TRS) on patient outcomes and staff attitudes. The TRS reviewed patients with a tracheostomy tube (TT) on our wards.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated the effect of feed formulation: the template:functional monomer (T:fM) and functional monomer:crosslinker (fM:X) ratios as well as the initiator concentration, on the binding performance and selectivity of caffeine (CAF) and theophylline (THP) imprinted polymers obtained by precipitation polymerisation in acetonitrile at 60 °C using methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as functional monomer and crosslinker, respectively. Template incorporation, monitored by quantitative ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, ranged from 8 to 77% and was found to be more favourable at both high and low T:fM ratios, low fM:X ratio and high initiator concentration. The resulting T:fM ratio in most MIPs were found to be lower than their feed ratios.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Patients and caregivers can experience a range of physical, psychologic, and cognitive problems following critical care discharge. The use of peer support has been proposed as an innovative support mechanism.
Design: We sought to identify technical, safety, and procedural aspects of existing operational models of peer support, among the Society of Critical Care Medicine Thrive Peer Support Collaborative.
Objectives: This study reviews qualitative research into the sociocultural meanings and subjective experiences that midlife men in the United Kingdom (UK) associate with their drinking. In the UK, average weekly alcohol consumption is highest among midlife men, and they are disproportionately affected by alcohol harm. There is increasing recognition that public health messages to support behaviour change must be based on an in-depth understanding of drinking motivations and experiences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitric oxide (NO) modulates oxygen delivery-utilization matching in resting and contracting skeletal muscle. Recent reports indicate that neuronal NO synthase (nNOS)-mediated vasoregulation during contractions is enhanced with exercise training and impaired with chronic heart failure (HF). Consequently, we tested the hypothesis that selective nNOS inhibition (S-methyl-l-thiocitrulline; SMTC, 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccurate quantification of histamine levels in food and in biological samples is important for monitoring the quality of food products and for the detection of pathophysiological conditions. In this study, solution processable histamine-imprinted microspheres were synthesized at 30°C via dilute free radical phototochemical polymerization technique using ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the crosslinker and methacrylic acid (MAA) as the monomer. The processability of the resulting polymer is dictated by the monomer feed concentration (eg, 4 wt% 80:20 EGDMA:MAA formulation) and solvent (acetonitrile).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe efficiency of the stoichiometric non-covalent imprinting of the imide 2,3,5-tri-O-acetyluridine (TAU) with 2,6-bis(acrylamido)pyridine (BAAPy) as functional monomer due to their strong donor-acceptor-donor/acceptor-donor-acceptor (DAD/ADA) hydrogen bond array interaction has been evaluated by bulk imprinting. This study is the first to investigate the imprinting and template rebinding efficiencies of the TAU/BAAPy molecularly imprinted polymeric (MIP) system prepared by precipitation polymerisation. We found that the stoichiometric 1:1 T:FM ratio has not been maintained in precipitation polymerisation and an optimal TAU:BAAPy ratio of 1:2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys
July 2017
Purpose: To report an assessment of in-house software, Verifier, developed to improve efficacy and efficiency of the radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning process and quality control review (QCR).
Methods And Materials: Radiation therapy plan parameters retrieved from our treatment planning database are used by automated tests to give 75 types of warnings, such as prescription and plan discrepancies. The software is continuously updated on the basis of new issues, ideas, and planning policies.
Older people consume less alcohol than any other adult age group. However, in recent years survey data on alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom have shown that while younger age groups have experienced a decline in alcohol consumption, drinking behaviours among the elderly have not reduced in the same way. This paper uses data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to analyse both the frequency and quantity of older adult's alcohol consumption using a lifecourse approach over a ten-year period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrontal analysis capillary electrophoresis was used to evaluate the binding performance of molecularly imprinted microspheres (MIM) toward its template histamine and analogs at pH 7, and compared to the high performance liquid chromatographic method. In both methods, batch binding was employed and the binding parameters were calculated from the measured concentration of unbound amine analytes and afforded comparable histamine equilibrium dissociation constants (K ∼ 0.4 mM).
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