Saint Francis University

About: Saint Francis University is a education organization based out in Loretto, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Osteoblast. The organization has 1694 authors who have published 2038 publications receiving 87149 citations.

Basic fibroblast growth factor stimulates expression of interstitial collagenase and inhibitors of metalloproteinases in rat bone cells.

Abstract: Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a bone cell mitogen that affects osteoblastic function by suppressing type I collagen synthesis. The investigators in this study examined whether bFGF also regulates interstitial collagenase and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in osteoblast-enriched cells isolated from 22-day fetal rat calvariae. After exposure to 600 pM bFGF, interstitial collagenase messenger RNA (mRNA) levels, as determined by Northern hybridization analysis, increased after 2 h and were maximally stimulated to approximately 13-fold at 6 h. Exposure of osteoblast-enriched cells to 0.06-6 nM bFGF increased collagenase mRNA in a dose-dependent manner, and bFGF also increased immunoreactive collagenase measured in the culture medium by Western blot analysis. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, as well as two inhibitors of protein kinase C, staurosporine and sangivamycin, prevented the bFGF induction of collagenase transcripts, whereas indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostag...

The gap between policy and practice: a systematic review of patient-centred care interventions in chronic heart failure.

Abstract: Patient-centred care (PCC) is recommended in policy documents for chronic heart failure (CHF) service provision, yet it lacks an agreed definition. A systematic review was conducted to identify PCC interventions in CHF and to describe the PCC domains and outcomes. Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ASSIA, the Cochrane database, clinicaltrials.gov, key journals and citations were searched for original studies on patients with CHF staged II-IV using the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Included interventions actively supported patients to play informed, active roles in decision-making about their goals of care. Search terms included 'patient-centred care', 'quality of life' and 'shared decision making'. Of 13,944 screened citations, 15 articles regarding 10 studies were included involving 2540 CHF patients. Three studies were randomised controlled trials, and seven were non-randomised studies. PCC interventions focused on collaborative goal setting between patients and healthcare professionals regarding immediate clinical choices and future care. Core domains included healthcare professional-patient collaboration, identification of patient preferences, patient-identified goals and patient motivation. While the strength of evidence is poor, PCC has been shown to reduce symptom burden, improve health-related quality of life, reduce readmission rates and enhance patient engagement for patients with CHF. There is a small but growing body of evidence, which demonstrates the benefits of a PCC approach to care for CHF patients. Research is needed to identify the key components of effective PCC interventions before being able to deliver on policy recommendations.