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.

Mutation of gene of mannose-binding protein associated with chronic hepatitis B viral infection.

Background: Persistent with hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects 350 million people worldwide, and 20-40% of infected patients die of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Little is known about the host factors that determine the variable natural history. Studies have focused on the role of acquired rather than innate immunity.

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.

Haptoglobin typing of bloodstains using horizontal discontinuous polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

A horizontal electrophoresis method using a discontinuous polyacrylamide gel to identify haptoglobin polymorphs is described. Improvements over the traditional vertical gel method include less sample required, easy gel preparation, and shortened run time. Additionally, vertical electrophoresis equipment, which can be technically challenging, is not needed.

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.