Integration, effectiveness and costs of different models of primary health care provision for people who are homeless: an evaluation study.

Background: There is a high prevalence of health problems among single people who are homeless. Specialist primary health care services for this population have been developed in several locations across England; however, there have been very few evaluations of these services.

Objectives: This study evaluated the work of different models of primary health care provision in England to determine their effectiveness in engaging people who are homeless in health care and in providing continuity of care for long-term conditions.

How do people who use drugs experience treatment? A qualitative analysis of views about opioid substitution treatment in primary care (iCARE study).

Objective: To understand the most significant aspects of care experienced by people in opioid substitution treatment (OST) in primary care settings.

Design: Semistructured individual interviews were conducted, following the critical incidents technique. Interview transcripts were analysed following a thematic analysis approach.

Rifampin Resistance Mutations Are Associated with Broad Chemical Remodeling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Global control of tuberculosis has become increasingly complicated with the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis First-line treatments are anchored by two antibiotics, rifampin and isoniazid. Most rifampin resistance occurs through the acquisition of missense mutations in the rifampin resistance-determining region, an 81-base pair region encoding the rifampin binding site on the β subunit of RNA polymerase (rpoB). Although these mutations confer a survival advantage in the presence of rifampin, they may alter the normal process of transcription, thereby imposing significant fitness costs.

Pull-out strength comparison of a novel expanding fastener against an orthopaedic screw in an ovine vertebral body: an ex-vivo study.

The purpose of this study was to mechanically test a novel Unthreaded Expandable Fastener (UEF), manufactured using Selective Laser Melting, which was designed for fixation in the cervical lateral mass. The pull-out strength and stiffness of the prototype UEFs was evaluated in a non-osteoporotic ovine bone model against equivalent screws. The prototype UEF demonstrated a 41% increase in failure force and a 60% reduction in failure force standard deviation compared to the screws.

Analysis of mechanical contrast in optical coherence elastography.

Optical coherence elastography (OCE) maps the mechanical properties of tissue microstructure and has potential applications in both fundamental investigations of biomechanics and clinical medicine. We report the first analysis of contrast in OCE, including evaluation of the accuracy with which OCE images (elastograms) represent mechanical properties and the sensitivity of OCE to mechanical contrast within a sample. Using phase-sensitive compression OCE, we generate elastograms of tissue-mimicking phantoms with known mechanical properties and identify limitations on contrast imposed by sample mechanics and the imaging system, including signal-processing parameters.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis--heterogeneity revealed through whole genome sequencing.

The emergence of whole genome sequencing (WGS) technologies as primary research tools has allowed for the detection of genetic diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) with unprecedented resolution. WGS has been used to address a broad range of topics, including the dynamics of evolution, transmission and treatment. Here, we have analyzed 55 publically available genomes to reconstruct the phylogeny of Mtb, and we have addressed complications that arise during the analysis of publically available WGS data.

Fracture susceptibility of worn teeth.

An experimental simulation study is made to determine the effects of occlusal wear on the capacity of teeth to resist fracture. Tests are carried out on model dome structures, using glass shells to represent enamel and epoxy filler to represent dentin. The top of the domes are ground and polished to produce flat surfaces of prescribed depths relative to shell thickness.

'Talking of Sex': developing and piloting a sexual health communication tool for use in primary care.

Objective: To develop and pilot a communication aid aimed at increasing the frequency with which sexual health issues are raised proactively with young people in primary care.

Methods: Group interviews among primary health care professionals to guide development of the tool, simulated consultations to pre-test it, and a pilot study to assess effectiveness.

Results: We developed an electronic consultation aid: Talking of Sex and piloted it in eight general practices across the UK.

Communication between female tract and sperm: Saying NO* when you mean yes.

Signaling through [Ca(2+)](i) is central to regulation of sperm activity and is likely to be the mechanism that transduces signals from the female reproductive tract to regulate sperm motility. In a recent paper1 we showed that exposure of sperm to nitric oxide mobilizes stored Ca(2+) in human sperm, an effect that occurs through nitrosylation of protein thiols. Not only did we find that NO* production by cells of the human female tract would be sufficient to elicit this effect, but progesterone, which is also present in the female tract and is synthesized by the oocyte vestments, acted synergistically with NO* to mobilize Ca(2+) and enhance flagellar beating.

Effect of wear on stress distributions and potential fracture in teeth.

Finite element analysis is conducted on a tooth model with different degrees of wear. The model is taken as a hemispherical shell (enamel) on a compliant interior (dentin). Occlusal loading is simulated by contact with a flat or curved, hard or soft, indenter.

The role of skirt geometry of dental crowns on the mechanics of failure: experimental and numerical study.

Dental crown structures were modelled using a curved bi-layer system consisting of a brittle glass coating on a compliant polymeric substrate, to illustrate the role of skirt geometry on the mechanics of failure evolution. The geometries of the samples were varied by tapering the skirts of the glass shells in different lengths and thicknesses. The failure of these samples was investigated under single-cycle axial loading tests using an indenter of low elastic modulus.

Margin failures in crown-like brittle structures: off-axis loading.

The effect of off-axis loading of compliant indenters on the initiation of cracks at the margins of dental crown-like dome structures consisting of glass shells back-filled with an epoxy resin is examined. As in previous studies on similar structures but with strictly axial loading, cracks can be made to initiate and propagate from the margins around the dome faces into a "semi-lunar" fracture pattern characteristic of some all-ceramic crown failures. In this study, balsa wood and teflon disk indenters are used to provide the off-axis loading, at 45 degrees to the dome axis.

Genes involved in Sec-independent membrane targeting of hydrogenase in Azotobacter chroococcum.

Sec-independent translocation systems have been characterised in Escherichia coli and other bacteria and differ from the Sec-dependent system by transporting fully folded proteins using the transmembrane proton electrochemical gradient. Proteins transported by this system bear a twin-arginine motif (tat) in the N-terminal signal peptide and include several cofactor-containing proteins. Azotobacter chroococcum strain (MCD124) has a soluble hydrogenase, which exhibited low O(2)-dependent H(2) uptake, and a shift in the pH of the culture to a more alkaline range during growth.

Myotonic dystrophy in Otago, New Zealand.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of myotonic dystrophy (DM) in Otago, the ethnic distribution of the disease, any founder effect, the complications and adequacy of health care, and the quality of life of sufferers in this region.

Methods: DM patients were identified through hospital records and assessed using a structured questionnaire, neurological examination, and review of hospital records. Quality of life was evaluated using the SF-36 Health Survey, and compared to patients with other neuromuscular conditions and New Zealand norms.

Margin failures in brittle dome structures: relevance to failure of dental crowns.

Margin cracks in loaded brittle dome structures are investigated. Dome structures consisting of glass shells filled with polymer resin, simulating the essential features of brittle crowns on tooth dentin, provide model test specimens. Disk indenters of diminishing elastic modulus are used to apply axisymmetric loading to the apex of the domes.

Paternity analysis using microsatellite markers to identify pollen donors in an olive grove.

Olive (Olea europaea L.) is a wind-pollinated, allogamous species that is generally not considered to be self-compatible. In addition, cross-incompatibilities exist between cultivars that can result in low fruit set if compatible pollinisers are not planted nearby.

Fungal inoculum properties and its effect on growth and enzyme activity of Trametes versicolor in soil.

The effect of fungal inoculum properties on colonization of nonsterile soil by three isolates of the white-rot fungus Trametes versicolor was investigated. Fungal inoculum properties were examined in separate experiments and were fungal inoculum composition, age of fungal inoculum, concentration of the inoculum and inoculation method. The fungal inoculum composition study compared pine versus poplar sawdust as the basic carrier with varying amounts of corn grit, corn meal and starch.

Pre-M phase-promoting factor associates with annulate lamellae in Xenopus oocytes and egg extracts.

We have used complementary biochemical and in vivo approaches to study the compartmentalization of M phase-promoting factor (MPF) in prophase Xenopus eggs and oocytes. We first examined the distribution of MPF (Cdc2/CyclinB2) and membranous organelles in high-speed extracts of Xenopus eggs made during mitotic prophase. These extracts were found to lack mitochondria, Golgi membranes, and most endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but to contain the bulk of the pre-MPF pool.