Hospital Takes Hard Look at Immediate-Use Steam Sterilization

An evaluation of immediate-use steam sterilization practices in adult knee and hip arthroplasty procedures.

BACKGROUND Immediate-use steam sterilization (IUSS) is a safe method to sterilize emergently contaminated instruments, but inappropriate use may lead to an increased risk for surgical site infection. This study aimed to identify risk factors, rationale, and variability in procedural adherence in cases of IUSS. METHODS This retrospective, case-control study compared adult patients undergoing h...

GAO Takes a Close Look at

The monoclonal antibody 19-9 was originally raised against a human colon carcinoma cell line, SW 116 (Koprowski et al., 1981). The antigen defined is a carbohydrate determinant of a circulating antigen designated CA19-9 (Del Villano et al., 1983). A radioimmunoassay to detect CA19-9 in serum was recently developed (Del Villano et al., 1983) and elevated levels of CA19-9 have been found associat...

A mighty weapon: steam sterilization.

A Hard Look at Soft Concepts

What can only humans do? What can humans do that machines cannot? These questions have long been tantalizing scientists and philosophers. Many areas, such as creativity and humor, are traditionally considered to be outside the reach of computers. We believe that these territories define an intriguing set of challenges for computer science. We present two approaches for tackling such challenges ...

Nanotechnology takes a new look at old drugs.

W hen tumor necrosis factor (TNF) appeared on the cover of Time magazine in the mid-1980s, there were great hopes for this compound, which had dramatically shrunk tumors in mice. Those hopes evaporated when preclinical and phase I trials revealed profound side effects, such as life-threatening drops in blood pressure and liver toxicity. But now TNF is making a comeback thanks to recent advances...