Randomized clinical trial of donor-site wound dressings after split-skin grafting.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to study which dressing material was best for healing donor-site wounds (DSWs) after split-skin grafting as there is wide variation in existing methods, ranging from classical gauze dressings to modern silicone dressings. METHODS: This 14-centre, six-armed randomized clinical trial (stratified by centre) compared six wound dressing materials in adult patients with DSWs larger than 10 cm(2) . Primary outcomes were time to complete re-epithelialization and pain scores measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS) over 4 weeks. Secondary outcomes included itching (VAS, over 4 weeks), adverse events and scarring after 12 weeks rated using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS). RESULTS: Between October 2009 and December 2011, 289 patients were randomized (of whom 288 were analysed) to either alginate (45), film (49), gauze (50), hydrocolloid (49), hydrofibre (47) or silicone (48) dressings. Time to complete re-epithelialization using hydrocolloid dressings was 7 days shorter than when any other dressing was used (median 16 versus 23 days; P < 0·001). Overall pain scores were low, and slightly lower with use of film dressings (P = 0·038). The infection rate among patients treated with gauze was twice as high as in those who had other dressings (18 versus 7·6 per cent; relative risk 2·38, 95 per cent confidence interval 1·14 to 4·99). Patients who had a film dressing were least satisfied with overall scar quality. CONCLUSION: This trial showed that use of hydrocolloid dressings led to the speediest healing of DSWs. Gauze dressing should be discontinued as they caused more infections. REGISTRATION NUMBER: NTR1849 (http://www.trialregister.nl).

Strict isolation requires a different approach to the family of hospitalised patients with COVID-19: A rapid qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced family-centred care dramatically due to restricting visiting policies. In this new situation, nurses were challenged to develop new approaches to involve family members in patient care. A better understanding of these changes and the experiences of nurses is essential to make an adaptation of procedures, and to secure a family-centred approach in care as much as possible. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate how family involvement had taken place, and to explore the experiences of nurses with family involvement during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, we aimed to formulate recommendations for the involvement of family. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study using patient record review and focus-group interviews between April and July 2020. We reviewed records of patients with confirmed COVID-19, who were admitted to the COVID-19 wards at two affiliated university hospitals in the Netherlands. All records were searched for notations referring to family involvement. In two focus-groups, nurses who worked at the COVID-19 wards were invited to share their experiences. The Rigorous and Accelerated Data Reduction (RADaR) method was used to collect, reduce and analyse the data. RESULTS: In total, 189 patient records were reviewed and nine nurses participated in the focus-group meetings. Patient records revealed infrequent and often unstructured communication with focus on physical condition. Nurses confirmed that communication with family was far less than before and that the physical condition of the patient was predominant. The involvement of family in care was limited to practicalities, although more involvement was described in end-of-life situations. Nurses experienced moral distress due to the visiting restrictions, though some acknowledged that they had experienced the direct patient care so intense and burdensome, that family contact simply felt too much. CONCLUSION: The communication with and involvement of family in hospital care changed enormously during the COVID-19 outbreak. Based on the identified themes, we formulated recommendations that may be helpful for family-centered care in hospitals during periods of restricted visiting policy.

Parentage analysis and outcrossing patterns in cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) farms in Cameroon.

The present study investigates the parentage of farm accessions in Cameroon using data from 12 microsatellite loci. Bayesian analysis suggests that 25.5% of the 400 farm accessions studied is still closely related to the traditional Amelonado variety called 'German Cocoa' by the farmers. Another 46.3% of the farm accessions were found to be direct descendants (20.8% first-generation (F1) hybrids and 25.5% selfed genotypes) from 24 parental clones used in biclonal seed gardens (BSGs) established in the 1970s in southern and western Cameroon. Furthermore, 28.3% of farm accessions appeared to descent from uncontrolled pollination events in cacao farms, which could be related to a common practice of cacao growers to use seeds collected in their own farm for new plantings. All farm accessions descending from BSG could be individually related through parentage analysis to the 24 progenitors of the BSG. Only 25% of progenies distributed from BSG corresponded to F1 hybrids combinations originally planned to be released. Significant biparental inbreeding estimates were observed for all 'traditional' farms and for most 'F1 hybrids' farms due to presence of a high proportion of selfed accessions. Biparental inbreeding occurs when plants receive pollen from genetically related neighbors. High levels of outcrossing observed in 'mixed' farms might be explained by the admixture of traditional varieties and BSG progenies. The implications of our finding for management of seed gardens and for further breeding using farm accessions in Cameroon are discussed.

Transient expression of ß-glucuronidase following biolistic delivery of foreign DNA into coffee tissues.

Some conditions related to the transient expression of ß-glucuronidase in biolistically-treated Coffea spp. tissues were investigated, and subsequently used in a promoter study. Bombardments were performed on different types of tissue (leaves, somatic embryos and suspension cultures) of genotypes of C. arabica, C. canephora and Arabusta, using 4 different promoter sequences. Tobacco leaves were used as a comparison. In general, similar large variation and mean values of transient expression were observed between coffee and tobacco leaves. With regard to the coffee tissues effect, transient expression was best detectable and most frequently observed with bombarded leaves of microcuttings. Disturbing endogenous light blue staining was found with control treatments of somatic embryos. For the three coffee species tested, the most effective promoter was the EF1α-A1 promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana.