Assessing compliance of infection prevention mitigation strategies in hospital construction and renovation.

Hospital-associated fungal infections from construction and renovation activities can be mitigated using an infection control risk assessment (ICRA) and implementation of infection prevention measures. The effectiveness of these measures depends on proper installation and maintenance. Consistent infection prevention construction rounding with feedback is key to ongoing compliance.

Building a personal protective equipment monitor team as part of a comprehensive COVID-19 prevention strategy.

We instituted Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Monitors as part of our care of COVID-19 patients in high-risk zones. PPE Monitors aided health care personnel (HCP) in donning and doffing, which contributed to nearly zero transmission of COVID-19 to HCP, despite their care of over 1400 COVID-19 patients.

Does a mobile dust-containment cart reduce the risk of healthcare-associated fungal infections during above-ceiling work?

Immunocompromised patients are at risk for infections due to above-ceiling activities in hospitals. Mobile dust-containment carts are available as environmental controls, but no published data support their efficacy. Using microbial air sampling and particle counts, we provide evidence of reduced risk of fungal exposure during open ceiling activities.

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA9) expression in multiple renal epithelial tumour subtypes.

AIMS: Renal epithelial neoplasms (RENs) can be difficult to subclassify, owing to overlapping morphological features. Carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9) is a common biomarker for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC); however, the sensitivity and specificity across REN subtypes are less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate CA9 expression in RENs, especially those in the differential diagnosis with CCRCC and less common entities, to determine its reliability as a diagnostic biomarker. METHODS AND RESULTS: CA9 immunostaining was performed on 262 RENs, including 119 CCRCCs and 143 non-CCRCC. Immunostaining was evaluated as negative (0%), rare (1+, 1-10%), focal (2+, 11-50%), or diffuse (3+, >50%). CCRCCs were 3+ CA9-positive in 93% of cases; 4% were CA9-negative. Sixty-seven percent of papillary renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) were 1+/2+ CA9-positive, whereas 33% were CA9-negative. Chromophobe RCCs were nearly always CA9-negative (93%), with 7% showing rare cell reactivity. Clear cell tubulopapillary RCCs (CCTPRCCs) were consistently 3+ CA9-positive, but with a cup-like staining pattern. Fifty-three percent of Xp11.2 RCCs were CA9-negative; however, 6% were 3+ CA9-positive and 12% were 2+ CA9-positive. Two of eight fumarate hydratase-deficient RCCs were 3+ CA9-positive. A small subset of the remaining RCCs showed rare to focal CA9 expression. All oncocytomas and eosinophilic solid and cystic RCCs were CA9-negative. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, diffuse CA9 expression was identified in nearly all CCRCCs and in all CCTPRCCs (high sensitivity); however, CA9 was not entirely specific. At least focal CA9 expression can been seen in a subset of many RCCs, and such findings should be taken into consideration with other morphological, immunophenotypic and clinical findings.

Seizure First Aid Training For people with Epilepsy (SAFE) frequently attending emergency departments and their significant others: results of a UK multi-centre randomised controlled pilot trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility and optimal design of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of Seizure First Aid Training For Epilepsy (SAFE). DESIGN: Pilot RCT with embedded microcosting. SETTING: Three English hospital emergency departments (EDs). PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged ≥16 with established epilepsy reporting ≥2 ED visits in the prior 12 months and their significant others (SOs). INTERVENTIONS: Patients (and their SOs) were randomly allocated (1:1) to SAFE plus treatment-as-usual (TAU) or TAU alone. SAFE is a 4-hour group course. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Two criteria evaluated a definitive RCT's feasibility: (1) ≥20% of eligible patients needed to be consented into the pilot trial; (2) routine data on use of ED over the 12 months postrandomisation needed securing for ≥75%. Other measures included eligibility, ease of obtaining routine data, availability of self-report ED data and comparability, SAFE's effect and intervention cost. RESULTS: Of ED attendees with a suspected seizure, 424 (10.6%) patients were eligible; 53 (12.5%) patients and 38 SOs consented. Fifty-one patients (and 37 SOs) were randomised. Routine data on ED use at 12 months were secured for 94.1% patients. Self-report ED data were available for 66.7% patients. Patients reported more visits compared with routine data. Most (76.9%) patients randomised to SAFE received it and no related serious adverse events occurred. ED use at 12 months was lower in the SAFE+TAU arm compared with TAU alone, but not significantly (rate ratio=0.62, 95% CI 0.33 to 1.17). A definitive trial would need ~674 patient participants and ~39 recruitment sites. Obtaining routine data was challenging, taking ~8.5 months. CONCLUSIONS: In satisfying only one predetermined 'stop/go' criterion, a definitive RCT is not feasible. The low consent rate in the pilot trial raises concerns about a definitive trial's finding's external validity and means it would be expensive to conduct. Research is required into how to optimise recruitment from the target population. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN13871327.

The compliance coach: A bedside observer, auditor, and educator as part of an infection prevention department's team approach for improving central line care and reducing central line-associated bloodstream infection risk.

A compliance coach who audits central line maintenance and provides feedback and education to bedside nurses through timely, nonpunitive conversation is an effective addition to busy infection prevention departments. Staff nurses and nurse managers reported receiving clearly communicated and actionable information from the coach and compliance improved over time in multiple areas of central line maintenance.

Preventable Patient Harm: a Multidisciplinary, Bundled Approach to Reducing Clostridium difficile Infections While Using a Glutamate Dehydrogenase/Toxin Immunochromatographic Assay/Nucleic Acid Amplification Test Diagnostic Algorithm.

Health care facility-onset Clostridium difficile infections (HO-CDI) are an important national problem, causing increased morbidity and mortality. HO-CDI is an important metric for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service's (CMS) performance measures. Hospitals that fall into the worst-performing quartile in preventing hospital-acquired infections, including HO-CDI, may lose millions of dollars in reimbursement. Under pressure to reduce CDI and without a clear optimal method for C. difficile detection, health care facilities are questioning how best to use highly sensitive nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) to aid in the diagnosis of CDI. Our institution has used a two-step glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH)/toxin immunochromatographic assay/NAAT algorithm since 2009. In 2016, our institution set an organizational goal to reduce our CDI rates by 10% by July 2017. We achieved a statistically significant reduction of 42.7% in our HO-CDI rate by forming a multidisciplinary group to implement and monitor eight key categories of infection prevention interventions over a period of 13 months. Notably, we achieved this reduction without modifying our laboratory algorithm. Significant reductions in CDI rates can be achieved without altering sensitive laboratory testing methods.

Network opportunity.

Our developing scientific understanding of complex networks is being usefully applied in a wide set of financial systems. What we've learned from the 2008 crisis could be the basis of better management of the economy - and a means to avert future disaster.

Conductivity enhancement in carbon nanocone adhesive by electric field induced formation of aligned assemblies.

We show how an alternating electric field can be used to assemble carbon nanocones (CNCs) and align these assemblies into microscopic wires in a commercial two-component adhesive. The wires form continuous pathways that may electrically connect the alignment electrodes, which leads to directional conductivity (∼10(-3) S/m) on a macroscopic scale. This procedure leads to conductivity enhancement of at least 2-3 orders of magnitude in the case where the CNC fraction (∼0.2 vol %) is 1 order of magnitude below the percolation threshold (∼2 vol %). The alignment and conductivity are maintained on curing that joins the alignment electrodes permanently together. If the aligned CNC wires are damaged before curing, they can be realigned by an extended alignment period. This concept has implications in areas such as electronic packaging technology.