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Numerous Strategies (numerous + strategy)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Large Bore Catheters with Surface Treatments versus Untreated Catheters for Vascular Access in Hemodialysis

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 7 2004
Rolf Bambauer
Abstract:, Infection, thrombosis, and stenosis are among the most frequent complications associated with blood-contacting catheters. Complications resulting from infection remain a major problem for hemodialysis catheters, with significant numbers of catheters being removed due to catheter-related sepsis. Numerous strategies have been employed to reduce the occurrence of infection and im-prove long-term outcomes, with varying degrees of success. The most important is the careful and sterile handling by the attending staff of the catheters during hemodialysis treatments to minimize or stop a microbial colonization of the skin and the catheter. Another approach is coating the external surface of the catheters with substances which are antibacterial like silver and/or substances with low thrombogenicity like silicone. This investigation reviews results of animal and clinical experiments conducted to assess the efficacy and biocompatibility of silver and silicone coated dialysis catheters. It is concluded that silver coatings can reduce bacterial colonization and occurrence of infection associated with these devices. The catheters employing ion implantation of silicone rubber showed low thrombogenicity. Results of the studies indicate that ion beam based processes can be used to improve thrombus and infection resistance of blood contacting catheters. A new development is the microdomain structured surface (PUR-SMA coated catheters). Preliminary results with these catheters are very encouraging. [source]

Progress with Molecular Electronic Junctions: Meeting Experimental Challenges in Design and Fabrication

ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 43 2009
Richard L. McCreery
Abstract Molecular electronics seeks to incorporate molecular components as functional elements in electronic devices. There are numerous strategies reported to date for the fabrication, design, and characterization of such devices, but a broadly accepted example showing structure-dependent conductance behavior has not yet emerged. This progress report focuses on experimental methods for making both single-molecule and ensemble molecular junctions, and highlights key results from these efforts. Based on some general objectives of the field, particular experiments are presented to show progress in several important areas, and also to define those areas that still need attention. Some of the variable behavior of ostensibly similar junctions reported in the literature is attributable to differences in the way the junctions are fabricated. These differences are due, in part, to the multitude of methods for supporting the molecular layer on the substrate, including methods that utilize physical adsorption and covalent bonds, and to the numerous strategies for making top contacts. After discussing recent experimental progress in molecular electronics, an assessment of the current state of the field is presented, along with a proposed road map that can be used to assess progress in the future. [source]

Nursing Leadership in the Boardroom

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 3 2004
Kathleen E. Thorman BSN
It is critical that nurse leaders, including chief nurse executives and service line directors, be part of the institutional decision-making process about resource allocation, strategic direction, and planning for the future. Nurse leaders can use numerous strategies to influence decisions made in the boardroom that affect the women's service line, including perinatal and women's health. These strategies include building on the importance of women's services to the organization, working in collaboration with senior leaders and key physician leaders, marketing, and reaching out to governing boards with information. Nurse leaders must continue to prepare for the future to thrive in the increasingly complex health care environment. [source]

Host,pathogen protein interactions predicted by comparative modeling

PROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 12 2007
Fred P. Davis
Abstract Pathogens have evolved numerous strategies to infect their hosts, while hosts have evolved immune responses and other defenses to these foreign challenges. The vast majority of host,pathogen interactions involve protein,protein recognition, yet our current understanding of these interactions is limited. Here, we present and apply a computational whole-genome protocol that generates testable predictions of host,pathogen protein interactions. The protocol first scans the host and pathogen genomes for proteins with similarity to known protein complexes, then assesses these putative interactions, using structure if available, and, finally, filters the remaining interactions using biological context, such as the stage-specific expression of pathogen proteins and tissue expression of host proteins. The technique was applied to 10 pathogens, including species of Mycobacterium, apicomplexa, and kinetoplastida, responsible for "neglected" human diseases. The method was assessed by (1) comparison to a set of known host,pathogen interactions, (2) comparison to gene expression and essentiality data describing host and pathogen genes involved in infection, and (3) analysis of the functional properties of the human proteins predicted to interact with pathogen proteins, demonstrating an enrichment for functionally relevant host,pathogen interactions. We present several specific predictions that warrant experimental follow-up, including interactions from previously characterized mechanisms, such as cytoadhesion and protease inhibition, as well as suspected interactions in hypothesized networks, such as apoptotic pathways. Our computational method provides a means to mine whole-genome data and is complementary to experimental efforts in elucidating networks of host,pathogen protein interactions. [source]

The skin as interface in the transmission of arthropod-borne pathogens

CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 7 2007
Freddy Frischknecht
Summary Animal skin separates the inner world of the body from the largely hostile outside world and is actively involved in the defence against microbes. However, the skin is no perfect defence barrier and many microorganisms have managed to live on or within the skin as harmless passengers or as disease-causing pathogens. Microbes have evolved numerous strategies that allow them to gain access to the layers underneath the epidermis where they either multiply within the dermis or move to distant destinations within the body for replication. A number of viruses, bacteria and parasites use arthropod vectors, like ticks or mosquitoes, to deliver them into the dermis while taking their blood meal. Within the dermis, successful pathogens subvert the function of a variety of skin resident cells or cells of the innate immune system that rush to the site of infection. In this review several interactions with cells of the skin by medically relevant vector-borne pathogens are discussed to highlight the different ways in which these pathogens have come to survive within the skin and to usurp the defence mechanisms of the host for their own ends. [source]