Formative Evaluation of CLABSI Adoption and Sustainment Interventions in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Background: Pediatric patients require central venous catheters to maintain adequate hydration, nutritional status, and delivery of life-saving medications in the pediatric intensive care unit. Although central venous catheters provide critical medical therapies, their use increases the risk of severe infection, morbidity, and mortality. Adopting an evidence-based central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) bundle to guide nursing practice can decrease and sustain low CLABSI rates, but reliable and consistent implementation is challenging.

Megakaryocyte membrane-wrapped nanoparticles for targeted cargo delivery to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are desirable targets for gene therapy but are notoriously difficult to target and transfect. Existing viral vector-based delivery methods are not effective in HSPCs due to their cytotoxicity, limited HSPC uptake and lack of target specificity (tropism). Poly(lactic--glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) are attractive, nontoxic carriers that can encapsulate various cargo and enable its controlled release.

Membrane-Wrapped Nanoparticles for Enhanced Chemotherapy of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

This work reports the development of a biomimetic membrane-wrapped nanoparticle (MWNP) platform for targeted chemotherapy of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Doxorubicin (DOX), a chemotherapeutic used to treat leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers, was encapsulated in polymeric NPs that were coated with cytoplasmic membranes derived from human AML cells. The release rate of DOX from the MWNPs was characterized under both storage and physiological conditions, with faster release observed at pH 5.

Membrane-wrapped nanoparticles for photothermal cancer therapy.

Cancer is a global health problem that needs effective treatment strategies. Conventional treatments for solid-tumor cancers are unsatisfactory because they cause unintended harm to healthy tissues and are susceptible to cancer cell resistance. Nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy is a minimally invasive treatment for solid-tumor cancers that has immense promise as a standalone therapy or adjuvant to other treatments like chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiotherapy.

SARS-CoV-2 Nsp14 mediates the effects of viral infection on the host cell transcriptome.

Viral infection involves complex set of events orchestrated by multiple viral proteins. To identify functions of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, we performed transcriptomic analyses of cells expressing individual viral proteins. Expression of Nsp14, a protein involved in viral RNA replication, provoked a dramatic remodeling of the transcriptome that strongly resembled that observed following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

SARS-CoV-2 Nsp14 mediates the effects of viral infection on the host cell transcriptome.

Viral infection involves complex set of events orchestrated by multiple viral proteins. To identify functions of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, we performed transcriptomic analyses of cells expressing individual viral proteins. Expression of Nsp14, a protein involved in viral RNA replication, provoked a dramatic remodeling of the transcriptome that strongly resembled that observed following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Pharmacists Act on Care Transitions in Stroke (PACT-Stroke): A Systems Approach.

Purpose: Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability in the United States. Prompt secondary prevention decreases the risk for recurrence. Pharmacists have taken a more active role in poststroke care and are initiating prompt follow-up after hospital discharge.

Formin 3 directs dendritic architecture via microtubule regulation and is required for somatosensory nociceptive behavior.

Dendrite shape impacts functional connectivity and is mediated by organization and dynamics of cytoskeletal fibers. Identifying the molecular factors that regulate dendritic cytoskeletal architecture is therefore important in understanding the mechanistic links between cytoskeletal organization and neuronal function. We identified Formin 3 (Form3) as an essential regulator of cytoskeletal architecture in nociceptive sensory neurons in Drosophila larvae.

Evaluation of a pharmacist-led antibiotic stewardship program and implementation of prescribing order sets.

Background: It is established that pharmacists can play a role in antibiotic stewardship in inpatient settings; however, there remains a paucity of data regarding pharmacist impact on antibiotic stewardship in outpatient care.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of an outpatient pharmacist antimicrobial stewardship program involving the implementation of prescribing order sets on the rate of compliance with guideline-recommended antibiotic use.

Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective study conducted at a resident-run, adult medicine clinic evaluating the implementation of a pharmacist-led antimicrobial stewardship education program and prescribing order sets.

Advances in targeted nanotherapeutics: From bioconjugation to biomimicry.

Since the emergence of cancer nanomedicine, researchers have had intense interest in developing nanoparticles (NPs) that can specifically target diseased sites while avoiding healthy tissue to mitigate the off-target effects seen with conventional treatments like chemotherapy. Initial endeavors focused on the bioconjugation of targeting agents to NPs, and more recently, researchers have begun to develop biomimetic NP platforms that can avoid immune recognition to maximally accumulate in tumors. In this review, we describe the advantages and limitations of each of these targeting strategies.

Cancer Cell Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles for Cancer Management.

Cancer is a global health problem in need of transformative treatment solutions for improved patient outcomes. Many conventional treatments prove ineffective and produce undesirable side effects because they are incapable of targeting only cancer cells within tumors and metastases post administration. There is a desperate need for targeted therapies that can maximize treatment success and minimize toxicity.

Dendritic Cytoskeletal Architecture Is Modulated by Combinatorial Transcriptional Regulation in .

Transcription factors (TFs) have emerged as essential cell autonomous mediators of subtype specific dendritogenesis; however, the downstream effectors of these TFs remain largely unknown, as are the cellular events that TFs control to direct morphological change. As dendritic morphology is largely dictated by the organization of the actin and microtubule (MT) cytoskeletons, elucidating TF-mediated cytoskeletal regulatory programs is key to understanding molecular control of diverse dendritic morphologies. Previous studies in have demonstrated that the conserved TFs Cut and Knot exert combinatorial control over aspects of dendritic cytoskeleton development, promoting actin and MT-based arbor morphology, respectively.