High heparin content surface-modified polyurethane discs promote rapid and stable angiogenesis in full thickness skin defects through VEGF immobilization.

Three-dimensional scaffolds have the capacity to serve as an architectural framework to guide and promote tissue regeneration. Parameters such as the type of material, growth factors, and pore dimensions are therefore critical in the scaffold's success. In this study, heparin has been covalently bound to the surface of macroporous polyurethane (PU) discs via two different loading methods to determine if the amount of heparin content had an influence on the therapeutic affinity loading and release of (VEGF165 ) in full thickness skin defects. PU discs (5.4 mm diameter, 300 µm thickness, and interconnected pore size of 150 µm) were produced with either a low (2.5 mg/g) or high (6.6 mg/g) heparin content (LC and HC respectively), and were implanted into the modified dorsal skin chamber (MDSC) of C57BL/6 J mice with and without VEGF. Both low- and high-content discs with immobilized VEGF165 (LCV and HCV, respectively) presented accelerated neovascularization and tissue repair in comparison to heparin discs alone. However, the highest angiogenetic peak was on day 7 with subsequent stabilization for HCV, whereas other groups displayed a delayed peak on day 14. We therefore attribute the superior performance of HCV due to its ability to hold more VEGF165, based on its increased heparin surface coverage, as also demonstrated in VEGF elution dynamics. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2543-2550, 2017.

The impact of the inpatient practice of continuous deep sedation until death on healthcare professionals' emotional well-being: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The practice of continuous deep sedation is a challenging clinical intervention with demanding clinical and ethical decision-making. Though current research indicates that healthcare professionals' involvement in such decisions is associated with emotional stress, little is known about sedation-related emotional burden. This study aims to systematically review the evidence on the impact of the inpatient practice of continuous deep sedation until death on healthcare professionals' emotional well-being. METHODS: A systematic review of literature published between January 1990 and October 2016 was performed following a predefined protocol. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Scopus, and PsycINFO were searched using search terms within "end-of-life care", "sedation", and "emotional well-being". Dissertations and reference lists were screened by hand. Two independent reviewers conducted study selection, data extraction and quality assessment. We abstracted measures of psychological outcomes, which were related to the practice of continuous deep sedation until death, including emotional well-being, stress and exhaustion. We used the GRADE approach to rate the quality of evidence. RESULTS: Three studies remained out of 528 publications identified. A total of 3'900 healthcare professionals (82% nurses, 18% physicians) from Japan (n = 3384) and the Netherlands (n = 16) were included. The prevalence of sedation-related burden in nurses varied from 11 to 26%, depending on outcome measure. Physicians showed medium levels of emotional exhaustion and low levels of depersonalization. Common clinical concerns contributing to professionals' burden were diagnosing refractory symptoms and sedation in the context of possibly life-shortening decisions. Non-clinical challenges included conflicting wishes between patients and families, disagreements within the care team, and insufficient professionals' skills and coping. Due to the limited results and heterogeneity in outcome measure, the GRADE ratings for the quality of evidence were low. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence does not suggest that practicing continuous deep sedation is generally associated with lower emotional well-being of healthcare professionals. Higher emotional burden seems more likely when professionals struggled with clinical and ethical justifications for continuous deep sedation. This appeared to be in part a function of clinical experience. Further research is needed to strengthen this evidence, as it is likely that additional studies will change the current evidence base.

Surface-structured bacterial cellulose with guided assembly-based biolithography (GAB).

A powerful replica molding methodology to transfer on-demand functional topographies to the surface of bacterial cellulose nanofiber textures is presented. With this method, termed guided assembly-based biolithography (GAB), a surface-structured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold is introduced at the gas-liquid interface of an Acetobacter xylinum culture. Upon bacterial fermentation, the generated bacterial cellulose nanofibers are assembled in a three-dimensional network reproducing the geometric shape imposed by the mold. Additionally, GAB yields directional alignment of individual nanofibers and memory of the transferred geometrical features upon dehydration and rehydration of the substrates. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopy are used to establish the good fidelity of this facile and affordable method. Interaction of surface-structured bacterial cellulose substrates with human fibroblasts and keratinocytes illustrates the efficient control of cellular activities which are fundamental in skin wound healing and tissue regeneration. The deployment of surface-structured bacterial cellulose substrates in model animals as skin wound dressing or body implant further proves the high durability and low inflammatory response to the material over a period of 21 days, demonstrating beneficial effects of surface structure on skin regeneration.