Understanding the factors influencing prescriber uptake of pharmacist recommendations in secondary care.

Background: Pharmacists are increasingly recognized as medication experts who can bring much to clinical teams and decision making. The inclusion of a pharmacist into a multidisciplinary team, including ward rounds, can be sporadic in some settings, meaning pharmacists are not always present at the point of decision making. In this way, subsequent recommendations may not always be adopted.

S-adenosylmethionine and depression.

Background: Depression is one on the most common psychological problems encountered in medical practice. Conventional antidepressants, although effective, have many side effects and there is a need for effective medications with fewer side effects.

Objective: To present all the available clinical evidence on the supplement, S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in the treatment of depressive symptoms as well as its safety.

Patient dosimetry in hysterosalpingography: a comparative study.

Ovarian doses for 45 women undergoing hysterosalpingography (HSG) at our institution were calculated. Lithium borate thermoluminescent dosemeters were used to measure entrance surface doses in standard positions. The study compares the estimated dose received by 21 patients undergoing the procedure using an analogue fluoroscopic unit and standard film-screen radiography with that received by 24 patients who were imaged using a digital screening system with a C-arm.

Direct cell-cell communication in the blood-forming system.

In mammals, bone marrow is the principal tissue where blood is formed during adult life. Paracrine factors are generally considered to control this process but there is considerable evidence that gap junctions are present in haemopoietic tissues. Gap junctions have been implicated in developmental and patterning roles, and we set out to characterize the cells which are coupled, and to provide evidence for their role(s) in blood cell formation.