Oregon 4-H wildlife stewards: project certification handbook

Published October 2005. Reviewed September 2013. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Specialist antenatal clinics for women at high risk of preterm birth: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative research

Background Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Women with previous prenatal loss are at higher risk of preterm birth. A specialist antenatal clinic is considered as one approach to improve maternity and pregnancy outcomes. Methods A systematic review of quantitative, qualitative and mixed method studies conducted on women at high risk of preterm birth (PTB). The review primary outcomes were to report on the specialist antenatal clinics effect in preventing or reducing preterm birth, perinatal mortality and morbidity and women’s perceptions and experiences of a specialist clinic whether compared or not compared with standard antenatal care. Other secondary maternal, infant and economic outcomes were also determined. A comprehensive search strategy was carried out in English within electronic databases as far back as 1980. The reviewers selected studies, assessed the quality, and extracted data independently. Results were summarized and tabulated. Results Eleven studies fully met the review inclusion criteria, ten were quantitative design studies and only one was a qualitative design study. No mixed method design study was included in the review. All were published after 1989, seven were conducted in the USA and four in the UK. Results from five good to low quality randomised controlled trials (RCTs), all conducted before 1990, did not illustrate the efficacy of the clinic in reducing preterm birth. Whereas results from more recent low quality cohort studies showed some positive neonatal outcomes. Themes from one good quality qualitative study reflected on the emotional and psychological need to reduce anxiety and stress of women referred to such a clinic. Women expressed their negative emotional responses at being labelled as high risk and positive responses to being assessed and treated in the clinic. Women also reported that their partners were struggling to cope emotionally. Conclusions Findings from this review were mixed. Evidence from cohort studies indicated a specialist clinic may be a means of predicting or preventing preterm birth. Testing this in a randomised controlled trial is desirable, though may be hard to achieve due to the growing focus of such clinics on managing women at high risk of preterm birth. Ongoing research has to recognize women’s experiences and perceptions of such a clinic. Further clarification of the optimal referral route and a clear and standardized management and cost economic evaluation plan are also required. Fathers support and experience of PTB clinics should also be included in further research

Oregon 4-H wildlife stewards: volunteer handbook

Revised October 2005. Reviewed September 2013. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Gallium‐Loaded Dissolvable Microfilm Constructs that Provide Sustained Release of Ga3+ for Management of Biofilms

The persistence of bacterial biofilms in chronic wounds delays wound healing. Although Ga(3+) can inhibit or kill biofilms, precipitation as Ga(OH)3 has prevented its use as a topical wound treatment. The design of a microfilm construct comprising a polyelectrolyte film that releases noncytotoxic concentrations of Ga(3+) over 20 d and a dissolvable micrometer-thick film of polyvinylalcohol that enables facile transfer onto biomedically important surfaces is reported. By using infrared spectroscopy, it is shown that the density of free carboxylate/carboxylic acid and amine groups within the polyelectrolyte film regulates the capacity of the construct to be loaded with Ga(3+) and that the density of covalent cross-links introduced into the polyelectrolyte film (amide-bonds) controls the release rate of Ga(3+) . Following transfer onto the wound-contact surface of a biologic wound dressing, an optimized construct is demonstrated to release ≈0.7 μg cm(-2) d(-1) of Ga(3+) over 3 weeks, thus continuously replacing Ga(3+) lost to precipitation. The optimized construct inhibits formation of P. aeruginosa (two strains; ATCC 27853 and PA01) biofilms for up to 4 d and causes pre-existing biofilms to disperse. Overall, this study provides designs of polymeric constructs that permit facile modification of the wound-contacting surfaces of dressings and biomaterials to manage biofilms

Interfacial Stacks of Polymeric Nanofilms on Soft Biological Surfaces that Release Multiple Agents

We report a general and facile method that permits the transfer (stacking) of multiple independently fabricated and nanoscopically thin polymeric films, each containing a distinct bioactive agent, onto soft biomedically relevant surfaces (e.g., collagen-based wound dressings). By using polyelectrolyte multilayer films (PEMs) formed from poly­(allyl amine hydrochloride) and poly­(acrylic acid) as representative polymeric nanofilms and micrometer-thick water-soluble poly­(vinyl alcohol) sacrificial films to stack the PEMs, we demonstrate that it is possible to create stacked polymeric constructs containing multiple bioactive agents (e.g., antimicrobial and antibiofilm agents) on soft and chemically complex surfaces onto which PEMs cannot be routinely transferred by stamping. We illustrate the characteristics and merits of the approach by fabricating stacks of Ga³⁺ (antibiofilm agent)- and Ag⁺ (antimicrobial agent)-loaded PEMs as prototypical examples of agent-containing PEMs and demonstrate that the stacked PEMs incorporate precise loadings of the agents and provide flexibility in terms of tuning release rates. Specifically, we show that simultaneous release of Ga³⁺ and Ag⁺ from the stacked PEMs on collagen-based wound dressings can lead to synergistic effects on bacteria, killing and dispersing biofilms formed by <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (two strains: ATCC 27853 and MPAO1) at sufficiently low loadings of agents such that cytotoxic effects on mammalian cells are avoided. The approach is general (a wide range of bioactive agents other than Ga³⁺ and Ag⁺ can be incorporated into PEMs), and the modular nature of the approach potentially allows end-user functionalization of soft biological surfaces for programmed release of multiple bioactive agents

Engineered Surface-Immobilized Enzyme that Retains High Levels of Catalytic Activity in Air

In the absence of aqueous buffer, most enzymes retain little or no activity; however, “water-free” enzymes would have many diverse applications. Here, we describe the chemically precise immobilization of an enzyme on an engineered surface designed to support catalytic activity in air at ambient humidity. Covalent immobilization of haloalkane dehalogenase on a surface support displaying poly­(sorbitol methacrylate) chains resulted in ∼40-fold increase in activity over lyophilized enzyme powders for the gas-phase dehalogenation of 1-bromopropane. The activity of the immobilized enzyme in air approaches 25% of the activity obtained in buffer for the immobilized enzyme. Poly­(sorbitol methacrylate) appears to enhance activity by replacing protein–water interactions, thereby preserving the protein structure