Process Monitoring with Disposable Chemical Sensors Fit in the Framework of Process Analysis Technology (PAT) for Innovative Pharmaceutical Development and Quality Assurance

The innovative principle of enzymatic sensors applied to monitor the feeding process in disposable bioreactors is described. Innovative is the type of enzyme immobilized within the 'paste' to monitor L-glutamate. Innovative is the application of the miniaturized disposable sensor developed at C-CIT AG for continuous monitoring. The sensor allows the amount of the digested nutrient to be estimated from the amperometric signal. Innovative is the wireless signal transduction between the sensor mounted to the bioreactor and the signal receiver. An example of a process control run is given and, also, the biocompatibility and the specifications of the biosensors. The comparison of results evaluated by different analytical methods is discussed

The Centre for Chemical Sensors/Biosensors and bioAnalytical Chemistry, CCS, at the Interface between Science and the Market Place

In the following article, a very brief overview describing the general strategies and the main goals tackled by CCS is given. The latest news, as well as projects running in collaboration with companies are not discussed here. For more details see homepage, http://www.chemsens.ethz.ch

Evanescent-Wave Spectroscopy on Bulk-Response Optode Membranes

The absorbance of a solvent polymerie bulk optode membrane in contact with sapphire as a wave-guide is studied with the attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique. Utilizing thin (≤ 1 μm) and, therefore, fast-responding membranes, high values of absorbance are obtained by multiple internal reflection (MIR). The approach has an advantage over conventional transmission studies in that the light beam does not pass through the sample solution. Samp1e-induced swelling of the membrane may, however, create problems

Use of peripheral vascular access in the prehospital setting: is there room for improvement?

Previous studies have shown that prehospital insertion of peripheral vascular access is highly variable. The aim of this study is to establish the proportion of peripheral vascular access placement and its use with regard to both the severity of cases and the main problem suspected by the paramedics involved. Over-triage was considered to have taken place where peripheral vascular access was placed but unused and these cases were specifically analysed in order to evaluate the possibility of improving current practice. This is a one-year (2017) retrospective study conducted throughout one State of Switzerland. Data were extracted from the state's public health service database, collected electronically by paramedics on RescueNet® from Siemens. The following data were collected and analyzed: sex, age, main diagnosis suspected by paramedics and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics score (NACA) to classify the severity of cases. A total of 33,055 missions were included, 29,309 (88.7%) with a low severity. A peripheral vascular access was placed in 8603 (26.0%) cases. Among those, 3948 (45.9%) were unused and 2626 (66.5%) of these patients had a low severity score. Opiates represent 48.3% of all medications given. The most frequent diagnosis among unused peripheral vascular access were: respiratory distress (12.7%), neurological deficit without coma or trauma (9.6%), cardiac condition with thoracic pain and without trauma or loss of consciousness (9.6%) and decreased general condition of the patient (8.5%). Peripheral vascular access was set in 26% of patients, nearly half of which were unused. To reduce over-triage, special attention should be dedicated to cases defined by EMS on site as low severity, as they do not require placement of a peripheral vascular access as a precautionary measure. Alternative routes, such as the intra-nasal route, should be promoted, particularly for analgesia, whose efficiency is well documented. Emergency medical services medical directors may also consider modifying protocols of acute clinical situations when data show that mandatory peripheral vascular access, in stroke cases for example, is almost never used

Validation of the newly developed Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire: A national survey.

To describe psychometric validation of the newly developed Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire. Cross-sectional quantitative study. The development of the questionnaire followed an adapted version of the seven steps described in the guide by the Association for Medical Education in Europe. A nationwide online survey tested the construct and structural validity and internal consistency using an exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and a Kruskal-Wallis test to compare the hypotheses. We received 222 questionnaires between January and September 2020. The factor analysis produced a seven-factor solution as suggested in Hamric's model. However, not all item loadings aligned with the framework's competencies. Cronbach's alpha of factors ranged between .795 and .879. The analysis confirmed the construct validity of the Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire. The tool was able to discriminate the competencies of guidance and coaching, direct clinical practice and leadership across the three advanced practice nurse roles clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner or blended role. A precise assessment of advanced practice nurse tasks is crucial in clinical practice and in research as it may be a basis for further refinement, implementation and evaluation of roles. The Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire is the first valid tool to assess tasks according to Hamric's model of competencies independently of the role or the setting. Additionally, it distinguishes the most common advanced practice nurse roles according to the degree of tasks in direct clinical practice and leadership. The tool may be applied in various countries, independent of the degree of implementation and understanding of advanced nursing practice. The STARD 2015 guideline was used to report the study. No patient or public contribution

Advanced Materials and Measuring Techniques for Chemical Sensors

This overview focuses on modifications of chemical compounds used in the development of chemical sensors, and on materials and chemical sensors which may be sufficiently mature to be used in the industry. Special attention is paid to gas-selective optode membranes which incorporate compounds such as cobyrinate derivatives and Ru(II)complexes that are chemically modified in view of a specific application. New materials are described, e.g. the magnesium-selective ionophores currently used for diagnostic applications, and a class of substituted polymethine dyes characterized by an amine donor and a bisdicyanovinyl-ideneindandione acceptor group, where the target pKa can be modulated by decisive substituents.Three projects are discussed in more detail: 1) the development of ion-selective nanoprobes on the basis of coated AFM-tips; 2) reactands and chromoreactands which are covalently bound to acrylate-based copolymers and allow to monitor alcohols and amines continuously, and 3) a continuous-flow module integrating a fiber-optical probe that allows to monitor variations in the absorption spectrum of chromoreactands in the transflection mode

Pattern and process in Amazon tree turnover, 1976-2001

Previous work has shown that tree turnover, tree biomass and large liana densities have increased in mature tropical forest plots in the late twentieth century. These results point to a concerted shift in forest ecological processes that may already be having significant impacts on terrestrial carbon stocks, fluxes and biodiversity. However, the findings have proved controversial, partly because a rather limited number of permanent plots have been monitored for rather short periods. The aim of this paper is to characterize regional-scale patterns of 'tree turnover' (the rate with which trees die and recruit into a population) by using improved datasets now available for Amazonia that span the past 25 years. Specifically, we assess whether concerted changes in turnover are occurring, and if so whether they are general throughout the Amazon or restricted to one region or environmental zone. In addition, we ask whether they are driven by changes in recruitment, mortality or both. We find that: (i) trees 10 cm or more in diameter recruit and die twice as fast on the richer soils of southern and western Amazonia than on the poorer soils of eastern and central Amazonia; (ii) turnover rates have increased throughout Amazonia over the past two decades; (iii) mortality and recruitment rates have both increased significantly in every region and environmental zone, with the exception of mortality in eastern Amazonia; (iv) recruitment rates have consistently exceeded mortality rates; (v) absolute increases in recruitment and mortality rates are greatest in western Amazonian sites; and (vi) mortality appears to be lagging recruitment at regional scales. These spatial patterns and temporal trends are not caused by obvious artefacts in the data or the analyses. The trends cannot be directly driven by a mortality driver (such as increased drought or fragmentation-related death) because the biomass in these forests has simultaneously increased. Our findings therefore indicate that long-acting and widespread environmental changes are stimulating the growth and productivity of Amazon forests