Strontium potently inhibits mineralisation in bone-forming primary rat osteoblast cultures and reduces numbers of osteoclasts in mouse marrow cultures

The basic mechanisms by which strontium ranelate acts on bone are still unclear. We show that an important action of strontium salts is to block calcification in cultures of osteoblasts, the bone-forming cells. These results suggest that strontium treatment could have previously overlooked effects on bone

Understanding patients' satisfaction with physician assistant/associate encounters through communication experiences: a qualitative study in acute hospitals in England.

BACKGROUND: Physician assistants/associates (PAs) are a recent innovation in acute hospital teams in England and many other countries worldwide. Although existing evidence indicates generally high levels of patient satisfaction with their PA hospital encounters, little is known about the factors associated with this outcome. There is a lack of evidence on the process of PA-patient communication in hospital encounters and how this might influence satisfaction. This study therefore aimed to understand patients' satisfaction with PA acute hospital encounters through PA-patient communication experiences. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted among patients and representatives of patients seen by or receiving care from one of the PAs working in acute hospital services in England. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken face-to-face with study participants in the hospital setting and shortly after their PA encounter. Data were coded and analysed using thematic analysis. The study was framed within a theoretical model of core functions of medical encounter communication. RESULTS: Fifteen patients and patient representatives who had experienced a PA encounter participated in interviews, across five hospitals in England. Four interrelated communication experiences were important to participants who were satisfied with the encounter in general: feeling trust and confidence in the relationship, sharing relevant and meaningful information, experiencing emotional care and support, and sharing discussion on illness management and treatment. However, many participants misconceived PAs to be doctors, raising a potential risk of reduced trust in the PA relationship and negative implications for satisfaction with their PA encounter. Participants considered it beneficial that patients be informed about the PA role to prevent confusion. CONCLUSIONS: PA encounters offer a constructive example of successful clinician-patient communication experiences in acute hospital encounters from the patient's perspective. Study participants were generally naïve to the PA role. Hospital services and organisations introducing these mid-level or advanced care practitioner roles should consider giving attention to informing patients about the roles

Modeling RAFT gelation and grafting of polymer brushes for the production of molecularly imprinted functional particles

RAFT precipitation polymerization was here used for the molecular imprinting of 5-fluorouracil (a drug used in cancer treatment) followed by grafting of polymer functional brushes in the particles surface. Materials combining high molecular recognition capabilities and stimulation triggered by changes in the surrounding environment (e.g. pH/temperature) have thus been sought. Mathematical modeling of the RAFT copolymerization of vinyl/divinyl monomers was used to describe the crosslinking process involved in the molecular imprinting step. The size of the grafted polymer functional brushes was estimated using models for the calculation of molecular weight distribution in RAFT homopolymerization. One of the goals of this study consists in the development of polymer reaction engineering tools for the design of synthesis conditions leading to tailored molecularly imprinted particles with responsive features. A first sketch of the two steps involved in the production of the MIP responsive particles is here presented. However, the need for new kinetic studies accounting for specificities of the molecular imprinting and surface extension processes (e.g. presence of template during molecular imprinting and solvent effects) is here identified. Measurements of the dynamics of gelation and brushes growth are also needed to perform model validation. Improvement on the modeling of RAFT gelation with heterogeneous conditions avoiding some simplifications and the amelioration of the numerical efficiency in the calculation of the MWD of RAFT polymers are other issues to be addressed in future works.This work was financially supported by: Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006984 – Associate Laboratory LSRE/LCM funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizaç~ao (POCI) and by national funds through FCT Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Financial support through Project UID/EQU/50020/2013, QREN, ON2 and FEDER (Project NORTE-07-0162-FEDER- 000050) and QREN, ON2 and FEDER (Project NORTE-07-0124-FEDER- 0000014 - Polymer Reaction Engineering) is also gratefully acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio