Publications by authors named "Sloma A"

Introduction: Emergency departments (ED) are in the unique position to initiate buprenorphine, an evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). However, barriers at the system and clinician level limit its use. We describe a series of interventions that address these barriers to ED-initiated buprenorphine in one urban ED.

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Background: The Promoting Excellence and Reflective Learning in Simulation (PEARLS) Healthcare Debriefing Tool is a cognitive aid designed to deploy debriefing in a structured way. The tool has the potential to increase the facilitator's ability to acquire debriefing skills, by breaking down the complexity of debriefing and thereby improving the quality of a novice facilitator's debrief. In this pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of the tool on facilitators' cognitive load, workload, and debriefing quality.

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Background: The burden on healthcare systems is mounting continuously owing to population growth and aging, overuse of medical services, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This overload is also causing reduced healthcare quality and outcomes. One solution gaining momentum is the integration of intelligent self-assessment tools, known as symptom-checkers, into healthcare-providers' systems.

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Background: Diagnostic decision support systems (DDSS) are computer programs aimed to improve health care by supporting clinicians in the process of diagnostic decision-making. Previous studies on DDSS demonstrated their ability to enhance clinicians' diagnostic skills, prevent diagnostic errors, and reduce hospitalization costs. Despite the potential benefits, their utilization in clinical practice is limited, emphasizing the need for new and improved products.

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Background: Survivers of stroke or transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) are at risk of new vascular events. Our objective was to study primary health care patients with stroke/TIA regarding their knowledge about risk factors for having a new event of stroke/TIA, possible associations between patient characteristics and patients' knowledge about risk factors, and patients' knowledge about their preventive treatment for stroke/TIA.

Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 240 patients with stroke/TIA diagnoses, and 182 patients (76%) responded.

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Directed evolution coupled with a high-throughput robotic screen was employed to broaden the industrial use of the maltogenic alpha-amylase Novamyl from Bacillus sp. TS-25. Wild-type Novamyl is currently used in the baking industry as an anti-staling agent in breads baked at neutral or near neutral pH.

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The hasA gene from Streptococcus equisimilis, which encodes the enzyme hyaluronan synthase, has been expressed in Bacillus subtilis, resulting in the production of hyaluronic acid (HA) in the 1-MDa range. Artificial operons were assembled and tested, all of which contain the hasA gene along with one or more genes encoding enzymes involved in the synthesis of the UDP-precursor sugars that are required for HA synthesis. It was determined that the production of UDP-glucuronic acid is limiting in B.

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Natural isolates of Bacillus subtilis exhibit a robust multicellular behavior known as swarming. A form of motility, swarming is characterized by a rapid, coordinated progression of a bacterial population across a surface. As a collective bacterial process, swarming is often associated with biofilm formation and has been linked to virulence factor expression in pathogenic bacteria.

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In Bacillus subtilis, the competence transcription factor ComK activates its own transcription as well as the transcription of genes that encode DNA transport proteins. ComK is expressed in about 10% of the cells in a culture grown to competence. Using DNA microarrays representing approximately 95% of the protein-coding open reading frames in B.

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A novel aminopeptidase with unique substrate specificity was purified from a culture broth of Sphingomonas capsulata. This is the first reported aminopeptidase to demonstrate broad substrate specificity and yet release glycine and alanine with the highest efficacy. On a series of pentapeptide amides with different N-terminal amino acids, this enzyme efficiently releases glycine, alanine, leucine, proline, and glutamate with the lowest turnover value of 370 min(-1) for glutamate.

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The gene (nprV), encoding the extracellular neutral protease, vibriolysin (NprV), of the Gram- marine microorganism, Vibrio proteolyticus, was isolated from a V. proteolyticus DNA library constructed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant E.

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We have purified a minor extracellular serine protease from a strain of Bacillus subtilis bearing null mutations in five extracellular protease genes: apr, npr, epr, bpr, and mpr (A. Sloma, C. Rudolph, G.

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We have purified a minor extracellular serine protease from Bacillus subtilis. Characterization of this enzyme indicated that it was most likely the previously reported enzyme bacillopeptidase F. The amino-terminal sequence of the purified protein was determined, and a "guess-mer" oligonucleotide hybridization probe was constructed on the basis of that sequence.

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The gene for a novel extracellular metalloprotease was cloned, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The gene (mpr) encodes a primary product of 313 amino acids that has little similarity to other known Bacillus proteases. The amino acid sequence of the mature protease was preceded by a signal sequence of approximately 34 amino acids and a pro sequence of 58 amino acids.

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We have isolated and characterized two minor extracellular proteases from culture supernatants of a strain of Bacillus subtilis containing deletion mutations of the genes for the extracellular proteases subtilisin (apr) and neutral protease (npr) and a minor extracellular protease (epr) as well as intracellular serine protease-I (isp-1). Characterization studies have revealed that one of these enzymes is the previously described protease bacillopeptidase F. The second enzyme, the subject of this report, is a novel metalloprotease, which we designate Mpr.

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The gene for a minor, extracellular protease has been identified in Bacillus subtilis. The gene (epr) encoded a primary product of 645 amino acids that was partially homologous to both subtilisin (Apr) and the major internal serine protease (ISP-1) of B. subtilis.

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Uninucleate trophozoites and schizonts of Plasmodium lophurae were labeled metabolically with [3H]proline. Analysis of labeled parasites indicated that the histidine-rich protein (HRP) was the major polypeptide synthesized by both developmental stages; in trophozoites it represented a larger proportion of total labeled polypeptides. Polyadenylated RNA was prepared from trophozoites and translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system in the presence of [3H]histidine.

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The gene for the type I beta-lactamase from Bacillus cereus has been cloned in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. In B. subtilis, penicillinase activity is detected and the enzyme is secreted.

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Bacterial plasmids containing human leukocyte interferon sequences were constructed and identified. Identification was confirmed by correspondence of the nucleotide sequence with out amino acid sequence of human leukocyte interferon. The finding of bacterial recombinants containing distinct leukocyte interferon sequences is consistent with our purification of different leukocyte interferon species.

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