Improving the safety of neonatal care through the development and implementation of a staff-focused delta team.

Patient safety is one of the greatest imperatives in healthcare today, yet there are many obstacles that must be overcome to make healthcare delivery truly safe. Critically ill newborns are among the most medically fragile patients in hospitals today. Given their size and gestational age, the tolerance for error within this population is extremely small.

Implementation of a clinical pathway system in maternal newborn care: a comprehensive documentation system for outcomes management.

This article describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of an interdisciplinary clinical pathway system for maternal newborn care in a perinatal regional referral institution. Core issues in the design of this system are addressed to promote outcomes management and ongoing performance improvement. A discussion of the implementation follows, illustrating the lessons learned, changes made, and associated evaluation.

Effects of transforming growth factor-beta on collagen synthesis by normal rat kidney epithelial cells.

The effects of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) on the growth of and collagen production by NRK52E cells, a clonal line established from normal rat kidney epithelial cells, have been characterized. NRK52E cells were grown in the absence or presence of TGF-beta for 4 days followed by incubation for 24 hours in serum-free medium containing [3H]proline. The secreted and cell-associated collagens produced by control and experimental cultures were isolated by limited pepsin digestion and differential salt fractionation.

Effects of epidermal growth factor on collagen synthesis by an epithelioid cell line derived from normal rat kidney.

Studies were performed to characterize the effects of both acute and chronic exposure to epidermal growth factor (EGF) on collagen biosynthesis by NRK52E cells, an epithelioid line established from normal rat kidney. Both conditions of exposure to EGF stimulated cell growth. Qualitative analysis revealed that NRK52E cells continued to synthesize types I, III, IV, and V collagens under all circumstances.

Synthesis of type III collagen by cultured kidney epithelial cells.

Studies have been performed to evaluate both the relative amounts and molecular forms of the collagens synthesized by an established line of cultured rat kidney epithelial (clone NRK52E) cells. The collagens secreted into the culture medium and extracted from the cell layers of cultured NRK52E cells were isolated after limited pepsin digestion and differential salt fractionation. Greater than 95% of the collagenous proteins synthesized by NRK52E cells were found to be associated with the cells and not secreted.