Project Wingman - A short survey of staff perception and lounge benefit in a large UK NHS Trust.

Project Wingman is a novel initiative conceived early in the COVID-19 pandemic by two airline captains and a psychologist, which brings airline style lounges, staffed by volunteer air crew to NHS Trusts. The aim was to boost morale by providing airline style customer service for staff while on breaks. Over 50 lounges were opened across the NHS, staffed by up to 5000 volunteers. In this pilot study of one large Trust, we surveyed staff who visited the Wingman lounge. 100 completed questionnaires were used as an end point. All staff felt that the lounge was beneficial during COVID. 62% reported that they would visit the lounge even it was not attended by aircrew. 57% felt their wellbeing had suffered during the pandemic. A national study would be useful to assess the impact of the Wingman Lounges, but our pilot study highlights the importance of staff wellbeing and the value of taking breaks while at work. Many of the lessons learned in supporting colleagues during the pandemic could be used and adapted to help future wellbeing initiatives and aid retention of staff across the NHS.

The role of electroencephalography in the diagnosis of serotonin syndrome.

Serotonin syndrome is a potentially life-threatening side-effect of agents that enhance synaptic serotonin levels. With the increasing use of serotoninergic agents greater awareness of serotonin syndrome is necessary, including the potential for drug interactions with serotoninergic agents to produce serotonin syndrome. Clinical presentation ranges from mild reactions to a severe toxic state involving generalized tonic-clonic seizures, fevers exceeding 40℃ or coma. This case highlights the necessity of considering serotonin syndrome alongside other differential diagnoses: neuroleptic malignant syndrome, infectious cause, atypical seizures and delirium tremens, in the setting of altered mental state with abnormal neurology. It highlights the potential diagnostic use of electroencephalography in supporting a diagnosis of serotonin syndrome.

Understanding and modeling alternating tangential flow filtration for perfusion cell culture.

Alternating tangential flow (ATF) filtration has been used with success in the Biopharmaceutical industry as a lower shear technology for cell retention with perfusion cultures. The ATF system is different than tangential flow filtration; however, in that reverse flow is used once per cycle as a means to minimize fouling. Few studies have been reported in the literature that evaluates ATF and how key system variables affect the rate at which ATF filters foul. In this study, an experimental setup was devised that allowed for determination of the time it took for fouling to occur for given mammalian (PER.C6) cell culture cell densities and viabilities as permeate flow rate and antifoam concentration was varied. The experimental results indicate, in accordance with D'Arcy's law, that the average resistance to permeate flow (across a cycle of operation) increases as biological material deposits on the membrane. Scanning electron microscope images of the post-run filtration surface indicated that both cells and antifoam micelles deposit on the membrane. A unique mathematical model, based on the assumption that fouling was due to pore blockage from the cells and micelles in combination, was devised that allowed for estimation of sticking factors for the cells and the micelles on the membrane. This model was then used to accurately predict the increase in transmembane pressure during constant flux operation for an ATF cartridge used for perfusion cell culture.