Establishing a Learning Model for Correct Hand Hygiene Technique in a NICU

The ability of healthcare workers to learn proper hand hygiene has been an understudied area of research. Generally, hand hygiene skills are regarded as a key contributor to reduce critical infections and healthcare-associated infections. In a clinical setup, at a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the outcome of a multi-modal training initiative was recorded, where objective feedback was provided to the staff. It was hypothesized that staff at the NICU are more sensitive towards applying increased patient safety measures. Outcomes were recorded as the ability to cover all hand surfaces with Alcohol-Based Handrub (ABHR), modelled as a time-series of measurements. The learning ability to rub in with 1.5 mL and with 3 mL was also assessed. As a secondary outcome, handrub consumption and infection numbers were recorded. It has been observed that some staff members were able to quickly learn the proper hand hygiene, even with the limited 1.5 mL, while others were not capable of acquiring the technique even with 3 mL. When analyzing the 1.5 mL group, it was deemed an insufficient ABHR amount, while with 3 mL, the critical necessity of skill training to achieve complete coverage was documented. Identifying these individuals helps the infection control staff to better focus their training efforts. The training led to a 157% increase in handrub consumption. The setting of the study did not allow to show a measurable reduction in the number of hospital infections. It has been concluded that the training method chosen by the staff greatly affects the quality of the outcomes

Synthesis of hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) based macromolecular antioxidants and investigation of their efficiency in stabilization of polyolefins

Macromolecular antioxidants with highly sup p ressed leac h ing to the environment, based on hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) carrier with bonded sterically hindered phenol and 2 alkyl compatibilizing groups with various chain length were synthesized and tes ted for their efficiency in stabilization of polyolefins. The synthesis of the macromolecular antioxidants was carried out by amidation of the amine groups present in poly(ethyleneimine) with various carboxylic acids containing sterically hindered phenol a nd compatibilizing group s , such as n - butyryl, lauryl or stearyl. The structure of the resulting polymers was analyzed by 1 H NMR and by GPC. The antioxidant content of the samples was determined by UV - Vis spectroscopy. The e fficiency of the synthesized anti oxidants in therm ooxidative stabilization of polypropylene was determined by chemiluminescence. The e fficiency in photostabilization of polypropylene and polyethylene was investigated by using FT IR and UV - Vis spectroscopies. It was found that the macromol ecular antioxidant which did not contain any compatibilizing groups shows the best stabilizing efficiency in both therm ooxidative and photooxidation tests. The extent of extraction of the synthesized macromolecular antioxidants from polypropylene films was investigated as well. Low extent of extraction of the maromolecular antioxidants from the po lypropylene films was observed in contrast to the high level of leaching of commercially used low molecular weight phenolic antioxidant . These results indicate the environmental advantage of the investigated poly(ethyleneimine) based macromolecular antioxidants over the widely applied low molecu l ar weight compounds

Basic aspects of the pharmacodynamics of tolperisone, a widely applicable centrally acting muscle relaxant

Tolperisone (2-methyl-1-(4-methylphenyl)-3-piperidin-1-ylpropan-1-one hydro-chloride) was introduced in the clinical practice more than forty years ago and is still evaluated as a widely applicable compound in pathologically elevated skeletal muscle tone (spasticity) and related pains of different origin. In the present review, basic pharmacodynamic effects measured on whole animals, analyses of its actions on cell and tissue preparations and molecular mechanism of action on sodium and calcium channels are summarized as recently significantly new data were reported