The Acquisition of Static and Dynamic Intervention Skills by Graduate Speech-Language Pathology Students.

Purpose: Speech-language pathology programs use simulated learning experiences (SLEs) to teach graduate student clinicians about fidelity to therapeutic interventions, including static skills (clinical actions that are delivered in a prespecified way regardless of the client's behavior) and dynamic skills (contingent responses formulated in response to a client's behavior). The purpose of this study was to explore student learning of static and dynamic skills throughout SLEs and live clinical practice.

Method: Thirty-three speech-language pathology graduate students participated in this study.

Postcode osteoarthritis: geographic inequities in hip and knee arthroplasty.

Background: It is suspected that there are differences in access to orthopaedic care within New Zealand (NZ), due to inter-hospital differences in scoring thresholds for surgical eligibility. We aimed to evaluate those patients who meet the threshold for publicly funded surgery with regard to both functional disability and severity of radiographic arthritis across three different public hospitals to assess any discrepancies.

Methods: A retrospective review of prospectively collected data over a 12 month period (2018-2019) across three public hospitals (Auckland City, North Shore and Whangārei hospitals) in NZ was performed.

Safety and efficacy of intraosseous ropivacaine in lower extremity (SORE) study.

Background: Day stay surgery for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions is an increasingly common practice and has driven clinicians to develop postoperative pain regimes that allow same day mobilization and a safe and timely discharge. There is a paucity of literature surrounding the use of intraosseous (IO) ropivacaine used as a Bier's block to provide both intraoperative and postoperative analgesia in lower limb surgery.

Methods: This patient blinded, pilot study randomized 15 patients undergoing ACL reconstruction to receive either IO ropivacaine 1.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in elective hip and knee arthroplasty reduces length of hospital stay.

Background: Standardized perioperative care within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programme aims to reduce postoperative morbidity and length of hospital stay (LOS). This study evaluated the effect of ERAS in patients undergoing elective, primary total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA) in a New Zealand public hospital.

Methods: Data collected prospectively on patients who had undergone THA and TKA in an ERAS programme (ERAS: August-December 2013) were compared to a retrospective cohort of patients managed in a traditional perioperative care environment (control: June-August 2012).

Review article: Perioperative care in enhanced recovery for total hip and knee arthroplasty.

Enhanced recovery pathways for total hip and knee arthroplasty can reduce length of hospital stay and perioperative morbidity. 22 studies were reviewed for identification of perioperative care interventions, including preoperative (n=4), intra-operative (n=8), and postoperative (n=4) care interventions. Factors that improve outcomes included use of pre-emptive and multimodal analgesia regimens to reduce opioid consumption, identification of patients with poor nutritional status and provision of supplements preoperatively to improve wound healing and reduce length of hospital stay, use of warming systems and tranexamic acid, avoidance of drains to reduce operative blood loss and subsequent transfusion, and early ambulation with pharmacological and mechanical prophylaxis to reduce venous thromboembolism and to speed recovery.

Health economics in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery programs.

Purpose: The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program aims to combine and coordinate evidence-based perioperative care interventions that support standardizing and optimizing surgical care. In conjunction with its clinical benefits, it has been suggested that ERAS reduces costs through shorter convalescence and reduced morbidity. Nevertheless, few studies have evaluated the cost-effectiveness of ERAS programs.

Oral health literacy: awareness and practices among pediatric dentists.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine pediatric dentists' awareness and experiences with oral health literacy and to identify communication techniques used with parents.

Methods: Active North American members of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry were invited to participate in the survey. Descriptive statistical analyses were completed, and Pearson's chi-square crosstabs tests were used to compare categorical data between groups.

A systematic review to assess cost effectiveness of enhanced recovery after surgery programmes in colorectal surgery.

Aim: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programmes have been shown to reduce length of stay and peri-operative morbidity. However, there are comparatively few data on their cost effectiveness. The object of this systematic review was to appraise the current literature to determine the cost effectiveness of ERAS and to characterize how cost is reported and evaluated.

Separation of glucose and pentose sugars by selective enzyme hydrolysis of AFEX-treated corn fiber.

A process was developed to fractionate corn fiber into glucose- and pentose-rich fractions. Corn fiber was ammonia fiber explosion treated at 90 degrees C, using 1 g anhydrous ammonia pergram of drybiomass, 60% moisture, and 30-min residence time. Twenty four hour hydrolysis of ammonia fiber explosion-treated corn fiber with cellulase converted 83% of available glucanto-glucose.

Fluorescence preselection of bioaerosol for single-particle mass spectrometry.

We have designed, constructed, and tested a system that pre-selects the biological fraction of airborne particles from the overall aerosol. The preselection is based on fluorescence emission excited by a continuous 266 nm laser beam. This beam is one of two cw beams used to measure the aerodynamic particle size of sampled particles.

Enzyme recovery and recycling following hydrolysis of ammonia fiber explosion-treated corn stover.

Both cellulase and cellobiase can be effectively recovered from hydrolyzed biomass using an ultrafiltration recovery method. Recovery of cellulase ranged from 60 to 66.6% and for cellobiase from 76.

Enhancing profitability of dry mill ethanol plants: process modeling and economics of conversion of degermed defibered corn to ethanol.

An Aspen Plus modeling platform was developed to evaluate the performance of the conversion process of degermed defibered corn (DDC) to ethanol in 15- and 40-million gallons per year (MGPY) dry mill ethanol plants. Upstream corn milling equipment in conventional dry mill ethanol plants was replaced with germ and fiber separation equipment. DDC with higher starch content was fed to the existing saccharification and fermentation units, resulting in higher ethanol productivity than with regular corn.

Application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization to on-line aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectra were obtained from single biological aerosol particles using an aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS). The inlet to the ATOFMS was coupled with an evaporation/condensation flow cell that allowed the aerosol to be coated with matrix material as the sampled stream entered the spectrometer. Mass spectra were generated from aerosol composed either of gramicidin-S or erythromycin, two small biological molecules, or from aerosolised spores of Bacillus subtilis var niger.

Laboratory and hospital evaluation of four personal monitoring methods for glutaraldehyde in ambient air.

Four industrial hygiene monitoring methods were studied in the laboratory and in a hospital to evaluate their effectiveness in measuring glutaraldehyde concentrations in ambient air. The sampling devices evaluated included a silica gel tube, a direct reading handheld glutaraldehyde meter, a DNPH- (2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine) impregnated passive diffusion badge, and a DNPH-impregnated filter cassette. The accuracy and precision of the different methods were determined in the laboratory.

Glutaraldehyde permeation: choosing the proper glove.

Six different gloves were tested with five different aqueous glutaraldehyde formulations to determine each glove's resistance to permeation. When tested against 2% or 3.4% glutaraldehyde solutions, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, a synthetic surgical glove, and polyethylene were each impermeable for at least 4 hours.

Techniques for selection of industrially important microorganisms.

The screening of microorganisms for the production of useful products continues to be an important aspect of biotechnology. Although advances in instrumentation, genetics, and microbial physiology are having an impact, screening programs are still primarily based on so-called classical techniques of enrichment and mutagenesis. One area that needs strengthening is the advancement of knowledge in microbial physiology.

A comparative study of virulent and avirulent strains of Chromobacterium violaceum.

A clinical isolate and a soil isolate of Chromobacterium violaceum were compared to determine differences in virulence-related characteristics. Purified lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin) from the virulent, clinical strain was more reactive than that from the avirulent soil strain as determined by the Limulus amebocyte lysate assay. There were no differences in hemolysin or cyanide production between the two strains.