Bipolar disorders in Nigeria: a mixed-methods study of patients, family caregivers, clinicians, and the community members' perspectives.

Background: Bipolar Disorders (BDs) are chronic mental health disorders that often result in functional impairment and contribute significantly to the disability-adjusted life years (DALY). BDs are historically under-researched compared to other mental health disorders, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria.

Design: We adopted a mixed-methods design.

Structures of D2 layers on LiF(001).

Classical Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of D(2) molecules physisorbed on LiF(001) surfaces are reported and show a series of interesting commensurate structure forms, viz., p(2x2) -->p(8x2) -->p(4x2), with coverages Theta=0.5, 0.

Monte Carlo simulations of the adsorption of CO2 on the MgO(100) surface.

The adsorption of CO2 gas on the MgO (100) crystal surface is investigated using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. This allows us to obtain adsorption isotherms that can be compared with experiment, as well as to explore the possible formation of monolayers of different densities. Our model calculations agree reasonably well with the available experimental results.

The search for new antifungal drugs and strategies continues.

Much of the research presented at the 4th Congress of the European Confederation of Medical Mycology involved new ways of combating the problem of resistance to antifungal agents. Among the possible ways forward in medical mycology are improvements in the bioavailability of existing agents, more clinical testing of new agents and further development of the lipid formulations of amphotericin B. A current major concern of clinicians is that they are now seeing the appearance of cross-resistance between a number of previously very effective antifungals drugs.

Aiming for quality as well as quantity.

The 4(th) International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection was held November 8-12, 1998, in Glasgow, Scotland. Triple combination therapy, the so-called HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy), has now become established as the cornerstone of treatment, but a number of new approaches are under investigation. Current treatments have a number of limitations, including problems achieving patient compliance with complicated drug regimens and the development of resistance.

Novel medicines from nature.

A meeting held at the Royal Society of Medicine brought together a wide variety of people to look at a number of scientific, legal and ethical issues associated with the discovery of new drugs from nature, including plant, marine and animal sources. The meeting began with a historic overview of plant medicine, followed by presentations and discussion on particular aspects of bioprospecting and biodiversity. This was followed by an overview of the methods that can be used to identify potentially important drugs from natural products.

Fast, efficient generation of high-quality atomic charges. AM1-BCC model: II. Parameterization and validation.

We present the first global parameterization and validation of a novel charge model, called AM1-BCC, which quickly and efficiently generates high-quality atomic charges for computer simulations of organic molecules in polar media. The goal of the charge model is to produce atomic charges that emulate the HF/6-31G* electrostatic potential (ESP) of a molecule. Underlying electronic structure features, including formal charge and electron delocalization, are first captured by AM1 population charges; simple additive bond charge corrections (BCCs) are then applied to these AM1 atomic charges to produce the AM1-BCC charges.

Drug-resistant bacteria: responding to the infectious disease crisis.

The 1990s have been a period of growing anxiety about the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Public health, society and the research community must respond quickly to safeguard existing drugs and develop new ones to prevent resistance overwhelming healthcare systems worldwide.

Type II diabetes: tips for managing your older patients.

In older type II diabetics, complications progress more rapidly than in younger diabetics for any given degree of hyperglycemia. Therefore, it is important to closely monitor blood glucose levels. When their sugars are controlled, older diabetics will have less nocturia and polyuria; fewer infections; better wound healing; a decrease in the rate of progression of cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and nerve and renal disease; and better control of dyslipidemia.

Psychometric profiling of the elderly using the Cambridge Cognitive Examination.

Objectives: To (1) build a psychometric profile of elderly subjects attending specialists day care centers and residential homes using the Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG); (2) identify factors that are predictive of the score obtained; and (3) determine whether scores from CAMCOG and the less time-consuming Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were correlated sufficiently for the latter to replace the former for general cognitive screening.

Design: Nonrandom convenience sampling of elderly subjects attending specialist day care centers, residential homes, and units for the elderly mentally ill.

Setting: Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Keep taking the tomatoes--the exciting world of nutraceuticals.

The market for functional of health foods is growing steadily, and new legislation in the USA is likely to give it an enormous boost. Although the public has been aware of health foods for a long time, the latest products really merit the label 'designer foods'. There are still a number of important issues to be resolved, but industry is preparing itself for major investment in a market that could dwarf that for drugs.