Preventing Static Biofilm Formation of Staphylococcus aureus on Different Types of Surfaces Using Microbubbles.

Bacterial fouling and biofilm formation on surfaces have been ongoing problems in real life as well as in the medical field. Different approaches have been taken to tackle the issues, from costly surface modification to antibiotic-delivering strategies. In this study, we examined the potential of using stabilized microbubbles (MBs) to shield against bacterial adhesion. Three types of surfaces were tested: hydrophilic glass (hydrophilic surface), neutral hydrophobic polystyrene (PS)-coated surfaces, and negatively charged hydrophobic octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS)-coated surfaces. By evaluating the colony-forming unit (CFU) values from each surface, MBs stabilized by 0.05 mM SDS were shown to only produce significant reduction of Staphylococcus aureus adhesion on PS surfaces, up to 60.29 and 82.32% compared to no-MB PS surfaces, and no-MB uncoated surfaces, correspondingly, due to the appropriate size, stability, and negative charges of the MB shielding layer. On the other hand, OTS coatings had an intrinsic antiadhesion effect (69.83% compared to uncoated surface), given that the negatively charged OTS-aqueous interface or surface porosity nature of the coating prohibited the attachment of MBs, leading to the elimination of the antifouling effect of MBs. Ultimately, MBs gave better shielding results than surface modification when compared to uncoated surfaces and hence can be applied more widely.

Discussion of an approach to starting a JEDI inventory in a College of Pharmacy.

Problem description\The University of Nebraska College of Pharmacy is interested in conducting and learning from an inventory of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) within the college. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT METHODS: An extensive literature review was undertaken to define the terms included in JEDI and to craft a listing of ideal inventory components. RESULTS OF CQI INQUIRY: The terms used in JEDI were defined and a list of 148 ideal inventory components was created. This list is further segmented by the JEDI components themselves and by five assessment factors including: representation, curriculum & education, policies & procedures, support & resources, and college climate. INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION: The attempt to create an ideal listing of JEDI inventory components resulted in an unusably large number of potential items. This occurred intentionally to allow the next steps in the longitudinal creation of a workable, quantifiable, and evaluative JEDI inventory process. Describing these preliminary efforts are important in the ultimate acceptance of the results of the JEDI inventory. CONCLUSION: Deliberate and extensive listing of initial aspirations for a JEDI inventory of a College of Pharmacy or any institution allows for sufficient input and breadth to help assure that no significant factor is overlooked as the process is refined.

Adherence to hypertension and dyslipidemia treatment and its implication on control of cardiovascular disease in Vietnam: A semi-systematic review.

BACKGROUND: To understand the prevalent issues and challenges in the provision of care for dyslipidemia and hypertension in Vietnamese adults, quantification of patient journey stages (awareness, screening, diagnosis, treatment, adherence, and control) was performed in this semi-systematic review. METHODS: The EMBASE and MEDLINE databases were searched for English articles published between 2010 and 2019. Thesis abstracts, letters to the editor, editorials, case studies, and studies on patient subgroups or nationally unrepresentative studies, were excluded. Articles from Google, the Incidence and Prevalence Database, the World Health Organization, Vietnam's Ministry of Health, and those suggested by the authors were also included. The last search was run on December 10, 2019 for dyslipidemia and hypertension. RESULTS: A reviewer independently screened 586 retrievals for dyslipidemia and 177 retrievals for hypertension, and extracted data from 2 articles on dyslipidemia and 6 articles on hypertension that were included in the final synthesis. CONCLUSION: The data generated in this review will help overcome these issues and barriers to patient care in populations with these 2 conditions.