Intellectual Property Rights and Vaccines.

Over the past 20 years, there has been steady, year-on-year growth in the number of granted vaccine-related patents. It is therefore important that those involved in vaccine research should be aware of both the risks and opportunities that patents create. The aim of this chapter is to offer a brief introduction to how, and when, patent rights might become available to vaccine developers and to explain the potential risk of infringement of third-party patent rights and the potential consequences.This chapter begins with a brief introduction to the patent application process and the international patent systems. The advantages and drawbacks of patent protection are discussed, followed by an overview of patent infringement and the various legal safe-harbors that may be available for certain research activities. Other features of the patent system which may be of particular relevance in the vaccines context are also discussed, such as compulsory licensing, sovereign states' rights to use patented inventions and voluntary technology sharing agreements. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and recent developments in the field of vaccine patents that have arisen as part of the international response.

Redesigning the work of case management: testing a predictive model for readmission.

The rising cost of healthcare along with pay-for-performance and bundled-payment initiatives have affirmed the importance of case management in today's healthcare market. Case managers have historically functioned as gatekeepers regarding patient length of stay (LOS) and cost per case. While LOS and cost of care remain important components of the case manager's responsibilities, at present they have evolved to a much broader role that includes prevention of readmissions and successful transition through the continuum of care. Medicare beneficiaries readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge are thought to cost the healthcare system $17.4 billion annually. In today's hospitals, case managers are being asked to address this issue with systems and processes developed only as discharge facilitation models. Case managers at one acute care organization recognized the need to move beyond the traditional case management roles and activities related to discharge planning, utilization review, and LOS management. Effective transition from hospital to home or supportive agency is a major component of this case management model.

Engineering a stem cell house into a home.

In the body, tissue homeostasis is established and maintained by resident tissue-specific adult stem cells (aSCs). Through preservation of bidirectional communications with the surrounding niche and integration of biophysical and biochemical cues, aSCs actively direct the regeneration of aged, injured and diseased tissues. Currently, the ability to guide the behavior and fate of aSCs in the body or in culture after prospective isolation is hindered by our poor comprehension of niche composition and the regulation it imposes. Two-and three-dimensional biomaterials approaches permit systematic analysis of putative niche elements as well as screening approaches to identify novel regulatory mechanisms governing stem cell fate. The marriage of stem cell biology with creative bioengineering technology has the potential to expand our basic understanding of stem cell regulation imposed by the niche and to develop novel regenerative medicine applications.

Excellence in action: developing and implementing a fall prevention program.

The University Medical Center at Princeton has been a leading teaching hospital for more than 30 years. Established in 1919, University Medical Center at Princeton is committed to redefining care by continually enhancing the quality of the care provided and improving the health of the communities served. University Medical Center at Princeton, in collaboration with the Hill-Rom Clinical Excellence Team, designed, implemented, and monitored a new fall prevention program.

The Manitoba Project: a re-examination of the link between menopause and depression.

This paper re-examines the association between menopause and depression using data from a study in which 477 women were interviewed 6 times over a 3-year period. Menopause is examined as one of a series of factors which may increase the risk of depression for women in middle age, such as children leaving home, the death and illness of family members, the stresses of daily living, health and the onset of chronic disease. Rather than hormonal changes, it seems to be her health coupled with the shifts and stresses of family life in a woman's menopausal years which may trigger her depression.

Dual prenylation is required for Rab protein localization and function.

The majority of Rab proteins are posttranslationally modified with two geranylgeranyl lipid moieties that enable their stable association with membranes. In this study, we present evidence to demonstrate that there is a specific lipid requirement for Rab protein localization and function. Substitution of different prenyl anchors on Rab GTPases does not lead to correct function. In the case of YPT1 and SEC4, two essential Rab genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, alternative lipid tails cannot support life when present as the sole source of YPT1 and SEC4. Furthermore, our data suggest that double geranyl-geranyl groups are required for Rab proteins to correctly localize to their characteristic organelle membrane. We have identified a factor, Yip1p that specifically binds the di-geranylgeranylated Rab and does not interact with mono-prenylated Rab proteins. This is the first demonstration that the double prenylation modification of Rab proteins is an important feature in the function of this small GTPase family and adds specific prenylation to the already known determinants of Rab localization.