No abstract

Enteral administration of talactoferrin reduced 28-day all-cause mortality in patients with severe sepsis. This reduction in mortality was sustained at 6 months. Talactoferrin was very well tolerated.

The controller maintained the arterial blood gases within normal limits under steady-state conditions and the transient response of the system was robust under various disturbances. The results of the study have showed that the proposed dual closed-loop technique has effectively controlled mechanical ventilation under different test conditions.

BACKGROUND:The current variety of medication inhaler devices can be confusing to patients due to the many different delivery systems. Many health-care professionals who prescribe these devices may not be educated properly about the administration techniques for different inhalers. The objectives of this study were to evaluate various health-care providers' knowledge of specific inhaler devices and to assess their ability to retain this knowledge for a minimum period of 3 months. METHODS: This was a prospective study that included 4 different health-care professional groups (physicians, respiratory therapists, registered nurses, and pharmacists). All subjects underwent baseline written and practical tests. A checklist was developed for the practicum test for each inhaler on the correct delivery method. The written examination tested knowledge of 4 different inhaler techniques with true or false questions. Then subjects watched an instructional video that demonstrated the correct method of delivery for each device. Last, subjects were retested on the practicum and written tests after a minimum lapse of 3 months. RESULTS: The distribution of written and practical scores at baseline and postintervention was approximately normal (P > .05). The baseline written scores were significantly different across groups (P ‫؍‬ .002). The mean written score of respiratory therapists was significantly higher than those of registered nurses and physicians (P ‫؍‬ .02 and .01, respectively). Similarly, the baseline practical scores were significantly different across groups (P < .001). The mean practical score of respiratory therapists was significantly higher compared with those of registered nurses and physicians (P ‫؍‬ .002 and P < .001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We found a suboptimal number of medical professionals who have the proper knowledge base and technical skill to teach different inhaler device techniques. In order to increase the simplicity and effectiveness of delivering inhaler medication, we hope that the industry will provide more uniformity for future inhaler devices.

Thus, in this pilot study, application of a three-channel ES system in combination with local heat is effective in the healing of non-healing chronic wounds. Future studies should examine a larger population with variables such as treatment duration, number of days, or length of treatment to optimize the effect of ES on healing of non-healing chronic wounds.