Introduction to “A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Updates”

Abstract Since the publication of "A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals" in 2008, prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has become a national priority. Despite improvements, preventable HAIs continue to occur. The 2014 updates to the Compendium were created to provide acute care hospitals with up-to-date, practical, expert guidance to assist in prioritizing and implementing their HAI prevention efforts. It is the product of a highly collaborative effort led by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of a number of organizations and societies with content expertise, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), the Society for Hospital Medicine (SHM), and the Surgical Infection Society (SIS)

240th ENMC workshop: the involvement of skeletal muscle stem cells in the pathology of muscular dystrophies 25 -27 January 2019, Hoofddorp, the Netherlands

Satellite cells are dysfunctional in several neuromuscular disorders. Some muscles are more susceptible than others to disease and ageing. In vitro and in vivo model systems have shed light on many of the processes involved. in satellite cell function and dysfunction, but the drawbacks of each model system must be considered. Skeletal muscle pathology in mouse models of neuromuscular disease are affected by genetic background. A single cell approach will be useful to identify dysfunction in subsets of cell populations

Ländliche Lebensverhältnisse im Wandel 1952, 1972, 1993, 2012: Volume 3, Kindheit im Wandel

Wie hat sich die Kindheit im dörflichen Raum gewandelt? Wie beurteilen die Kinder ihre aktuelle Lebenssituation? Wie beurteilen die Eltern die Lebenssituation ihrer Kinder? Welche Muster des Aufwachsens zeigen sich im ländlichen Raum? Das sind die Forschungsfragen, denen im Rahmen der Längsschnittstudie 'Ländliche Lebensver-hältnisse im Wandel 1952, 1972, 1993 und 2012' in der Teilstudie zu Kindheit im ländlichen Raum durch ForscherInnen der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal nachgegangen werden konnte. Somit konnten Daten zu vergangenen Kindheiten in historisch-zeitlicher Perspektive und Daten zur aktuellen Kindheit aus der Perspektive der 5- bis 13-jährigen Kinder im ländlichen Raum erhoben und ausgewertet werden. [...]How has childhood in rural areas changed? How do children judge on their current living conditions? How do parents judge on their children's living conditions? Which patterns of growing up occur in rural areas? These are the research questions which could be pursued by researchers form Bergische Universität Wuppertal in the context of the longitudinal study 'Ländliche Lebensverhältnisse im Wandel 1952, 1972, 1993 and 2012 (Changing Living Conditions in Rural Areas 1952, 1972, 1993 and 2012)', here: sub-study on childhood in rural areas. The study allowed for collecting and assessing data on past childhoods from a historical-chronological perspective as well as data on current childhood from the perspective of children at the age of 5-13 in rural areas. [...

A Process for Measuring the Quality of Cancer Care: The Quality Oncology Practice Initiative

Purpose The Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) is a practice-based system of quality self-assessment sponsored by the participants and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The process of quality evaluation, development of the pilot questionnaire, and preliminary results are reported. Methods Physicians from seven oncology groups developed medical record abstraction measures based on practice guidelines and consensus-supported indicators of quality care. Each practice completed two rounds of records review and received practice and aggregate results. Mean frequencies of responses for each indicator were compared among practices. Results Participants universally, if informally, find QOPI helpful, and results show statistically significant variation among practices for several indicators, including assessing pain in patients close to death, documentation of informed consent for chemotherapy, and concordance with granulocytic and erythroid growth factor administration guidelines. Measures with universally high concordance include the use of serotonin antagonist antiemetics according to the ASCO guideline; the presence of a pathology report in the record; the use of chemotherapy flow sheets; and adherence to standard chemotherapy recommendations for patients with certain stages of breast, colon, and rectal cancer. Concordance with quality indicators significantly changed between survey rounds for several measures. Conclusion Pilot results indicate that the QOPI process provides a rapid and objective measurement of practice quality that allows comparisons among practices and over time. It also provides a mechanism for measuring concordance with published guidelines. Most importantly, it provides a tool for practice self-examination that can promote excellence in cancer care

Analysis of allele-specific RNA transcription in FSHD by RNA-DNA FISH in single myonuclei

Autosomal dominant facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is likely caused by epigenetic alterations in chromatin involving contraction of the D4Z4 repeat array near the telomere of chromosome 4q. The precise mechanism by which deletions of D4Z4 influence gene expression in FSHD is not yet resolved. Regulatory models include a cis effect on proximal gene transcription (position effect), DNA looping, non-coding RNA, nuclear localization and trans-effects. To directly test whether deletions of D4Z4 affect gene expression in cis, nascent RNA was examined in single myonuclei so that transcription from each allele could be measured independently. FSHD and control myotubes (differentiated myoblasts) were subjected to sequential RNA–DNA FISH. A total of 16 genes in the FSHD region (FRG2, TUBB4Q, FRG1, FAT1, F11, KLKB1, CYP4V2, TLR3, SORBS2, PDLIM3 (ALP), LRP2BP, ING2, SNX25, SLC25A4 (ANT1), HELT and IRF2) were examined for interallelic variation in RNA expression within individual myonuclei. Sequential DNA hybridization with a unique 4q35 chromosome probe was then applied to confirm the localization of nascent RNA to 4q. A D4Z4 probe, labeled with a third fluorochrome, distinguished between the deleted and normal allele in FSHD nuclei. Our data do not support an FSHD model in which contracted D4Z4 arrays induce altered transcription in cis from 4q35 genes, even for those genes (FRG1, FRG2 and SLC25A4 (ANT1)) for which such an effect has been proposed

A compendium of strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections in acute care hospitals: 2014 updates.

Since the publication of "A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals" in 2008, prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has become a national priority. Despite improvements, preventable HAIs continue to occur. The 2014 updates to the Compendium were created to provide acute care hospitals with up-to-date, practical, expert guidance to assist in prioritizing and implementing their HAI prevention efforts. They are the product of a highly collaborative effort led by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of a number of organizations and societies with content expertise, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), the Society for Hospital Medicine (SHM), and the Surgical Infection Society (SIS)