Intellectual Property Rights and Vaccines.

Over the past 20 years, there has been steady, year-on-year growth in the number of granted vaccine-related patents. It is therefore important that those involved in vaccine research should be aware of both the risks and opportunities that patents create. The aim of this chapter is to offer a brief introduction to how, and when, patent rights might become available to vaccine developers and to explain the potential risk of infringement of third-party patent rights and the potential consequences.

Redesigning the work of case management: testing a predictive model for readmission.

The rising cost of healthcare along with pay-for-performance and bundled-payment initiatives have affirmed the importance of case management in today's healthcare market. Case managers have historically functioned as gatekeepers regarding patient length of stay (LOS) and cost per case. While LOS and cost of care remain important components of the case manager's responsibilities, at present they have evolved to a much broader role that includes prevention of readmissions and successful transition through the continuum of care.

Engineering a stem cell house into a home.

In the body, tissue homeostasis is established and maintained by resident tissue-specific adult stem cells (aSCs). Through preservation of bidirectional communications with the surrounding niche and integration of biophysical and biochemical cues, aSCs actively direct the regeneration of aged, injured and diseased tissues. Currently, the ability to guide the behavior and fate of aSCs in the body or in culture after prospective isolation is hindered by our poor comprehension of niche composition and the regulation it imposes.

The Manitoba Project: a re-examination of the link between menopause and depression.

This paper re-examines the association between menopause and depression using data from a study in which 477 women were interviewed 6 times over a 3-year period. Menopause is examined as one of a series of factors which may increase the risk of depression for women in middle age, such as children leaving home, the death and illness of family members, the stresses of daily living, health and the onset of chronic disease. Rather than hormonal changes, it seems to be her health coupled with the shifts and stresses of family life in a woman's menopausal years which may trigger her depression.

Excellence in action: developing and implementing a fall prevention program.

The University Medical Center at Princeton has been a leading teaching hospital for more than 30 years. Established in 1919, University Medical Center at Princeton is committed to redefining care by continually enhancing the quality of the care provided and improving the health of the communities served. University Medical Center at Princeton, in collaboration with the Hill-Rom Clinical Excellence Team, designed, implemented, and monitored a new fall prevention program.

Dual prenylation is required for Rab protein localization and function.

The majority of Rab proteins are posttranslationally modified with two geranylgeranyl lipid moieties that enable their stable association with membranes. In this study, we present evidence to demonstrate that there is a specific lipid requirement for Rab protein localization and function. Substitution of different prenyl anchors on Rab GTPases does not lead to correct function.