Real-time acid production and extracellular matrix formation in mature biofilms of three strains with special reference to xylitol.

Background: Acidogenicity and production of an extracellular matrix (ECM) are important virulence factors for the dental caries-associated bacteria, such as that live in biofilms on tooth surface. The ECM protects the bacteria from the flushing and buffering effects of saliva resulting in highly acidic microenvironments inside the biofilm.

Materials And Methods: In this study, we applied real-time assays to follow biofilm formation and pH decrease in a growth medium and saliva by three strains, as well as acid neutralization inside the mature biofilm.

Use of an electronic wellness instrument in the integrated health and social care of older adults: a group concept mapping study.

Background: Health system fragmentation directly contributes to poor health and social outcomes for older adults with multiple chronic conditions and their care partners. Older adults often require support from primary care, multiple specialists, home care, community support services, and other health-care sectors and communication between these providers is unstructured and not standardized. Integrated and interprofessional team-based models of care are a recommended strategy to improve health service delivery to older adults with complex needs.

Observed rates of surgical instrument errors point to visualization tasks as being a critically vulnerable point in sterile processing and a significant cause of lost chargeable OR minutes.

Background: The reporting of surgical instrument errors historically relies on cumbersome, non-automated, human-dependent, data entry into a computer database that is not integrated into the electronic medical record. The limitations of these reporting systems make it difficult to accurately estimate the negative impact of surgical instrument errors on operating room efficiencies. We set out to determine the impact of surgical instrument errors on a two-hospital healthcare campus using independent observers trained in the identification of Surgical Instrument Errors.

Profiling the medical, functional, cognitive, and psychosocial care needs of adults assessed for home care in Ontario, Canada: The case for long-term 'life care' at home.

Calls to leverage routinely collected data to inform health system improvements have been made. Misalignment between home care services and client needs can result in poor client, caregiver, and system outcomes. To inform development of an integrated model of community-based home care, grounded in a holistic definition of health, comprehensive clinical profiles were created using Ontario, Canada home care assessment data.