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The increasing rate of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) reinforces the need for additional resources to assist clinical staff with an individual's care and recovery. Pronation therapy involves physically rotating an individual from the posterior position to the prone position. Pronation therapy has successfully been used for individuals diagnosed with ARDS in Intensive Care Units for decades. However, manual pronation maneuvers by staff members poses risks for those who are critically ill and risk of physical injury to caregivers. Mechanical pronation beds have revolutionized the art of pronation therapy, minimizing risks, and decreasing possibility of kinking or pulling out life supporting lines. The methodology for this thesis included searching electronic database of research and clinical peer reviewed journals. Search terms included the keywords: Rotopron* OR "Rotoprone therapy" OR "rotation* bed" AND ARDS or "acute respiratory distress syndrome" OR "acute respiratory failure". Inclusion criteria included articles published in English between 2005– present. A table of evidence was being developed to summarize key points from each reviewed article. The articles were individually critiqued. Synthesis of the findings were discussed to identify consistent and inconsistent findings, along with gaps in the literature. Preliminary literature analysis suggests research is needed regarding standardization of mechanical pronation procedures along with staff education

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<I>Moraxella catarrhalis</I> is a gram-negative diplococcus which until recently was thought to be a harmless commensal. Increasing awareness has established the pathogenic nature of this organism and it is now recognised as a major cause of otitis media in children, exacerbations of chronic bronchitis in elderly patients and an occasional cause of invasive disease. <I>M. catarrhalis</I> is spread nosocomially especially in respiratory wards containing elderly patients. This study evaluated four methods for typing nosocomially spread isolates:- immunoblotting with normal human serum (NHS), and three DNA fingerprinting methods. The most discriminatory method found was restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) using <I>Taq</I> I, although immunoblotting with NHS and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using <I>Sma</I> I sub-divided isolates grouped together by the other methods. PFGE using <I>Not</I> I only confirmed groupings made by other methods. A study of <I>M. catarrhalis</I> and phenotypically similar organisms was performed using comparisons of partial 16S rDNA sequence. 16S rDNA of <I>M. catarrhalis</I> strains from disparate geographical locations was found to be extremely conserved <I>M. catarrhalis</I> 16S rDNA was very similar to that of other <I>Moraxella</I> species whilst <I>Moraxella</I> species were found to be generally distinct from the <I>Neisseria</I> and <I>Kingella</I> species studied. These results confirm <I>M. catarrhalis</I> as a genuine member of the <I>Moraxellae</I>.