Does Cement Viscosity Impact Antibiotic Elution and In Vitro Efficacy Against Common Prosthetic Joint Infection Pathogens?

Background: Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) antibiotic-laden bone cement (ALBC) is commonly used in total joint arthroplasty to treat and potentially prevent prosthetic joint infection (PJI). Multiple properties impact the elution characteristics of antibiotics from PMMA-based ALBC, including viscosity. What is not known is how medium-viscosity cement formulations affect antibiotic elution and how different cement products from different manufacturers compare regarding reaching the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics for common PJI-causing organisms in an in vitro setting.

Examining the Role of Hypothalamus-Derived Neuromedin-U (NMU) in Bone Remodeling of Rats.

Global loss of the neuropeptide Neuromedin-U (NMU) is associated with increased bone formation and high bone mass in male and female mice by twelve weeks of age, suggesting that NMU suppresses osteoblast differentiation and/or activity in vivo. NMU is highly expressed in numerous anatomical locations including the skeleton and the hypothalamus. This raises the possibility that NMU exerts indirect effects on bone remodeling from an extra-skeletal location such as the brain.

Original Research: Patient-to-Nurse Violence During One-to-One Assignments: A Silent Epidemic.

Background: Nurses and nursing assistants given one-to-one ("sitter") assignments are placed with one patient for long periods of time. Some of these patients require a sitter for reasons that include dementia, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric disturbances such as delirium, and risk of self-harm. Some may become verbally abusive, physically violent, or both, putting the assigned staff member in danger.

Light Regulates Chromosomal and pAB3 Plasmid Genes at 37°C.

The opportunistic pathogen A. baumannii has a remarkable capacity to persist in the hospital environment and cause devastating human infections. This capacity can be attributed partly to the sensing and regulatory systems that enable this pathogen to modify its physiology based on environmental cues.