Improving the precision of search strategies for guideline surveillance.

Introduction And Aim: NICE guideline surveillance determines whether previously published guidelines need updating. The surveillance process must balance time constraints with methodological rigor. It includes a rapid review to identify new evidence to contradict, reinforce or clarify guideline recommendations.

NICE update NICE public health guidance update.

This article covers recently published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance relevant to public health and a review of evidence published since we released the NICE guidance on unintentional injury prevention in under 15 year olds. The article features some of this evidence that was found to reinforce published recommendations on safety in the home and on the roads, indicating the guidance remains up to date and relevant. In addition, it importantly highlights that there is great opportunity to prevent future unintentional injury through integrated and coordinated, evidence and intelligence-informed approaches.

Looking beyond satisfaction: evaluating the value and impact of information skills training.

In this feature guest writers Michael Raynor and Jenny Craven from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) present an overview of their evaluative research study on the value and impact of the information skills training courses they provide at NICE. In particular, this small study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to look beyond satisfaction and confidence levels and identify whether learning had actually taken place as a result of attending the sessions, and how new skills were used by the attendees in their day-to-day work. H.

Methylation profiling of normal individuals reveals mosaic promoter methylation of cancer-associated genes.

Epigenetic silencing by promoter methylation of genes associated with cancer initiation and progression is a hallmark of tumour cells. As a consequence, testing for DNA methylation biomarkers in plasma or other body fluids shows great promise for detection of malignancies at early stages and/or for monitoring response to treatment. However, DNA from normal leukocytes may contribute to the DNA in plasma and will affect biomarker specificity if there is any methylation in the leukocytes.

Developing information literacy skills in pre-registration nurses: an experimental study of teaching methods.

Aim: To compare the effectiveness of an online information literacy tutorial with a face-to-face session for teaching information literacy skills to nurses.

Design: Randomised control trial.

Participants: Seventy-seven first year undergraduate pre-registration diploma nursing students.

Identification of circulating tumour cells in early stage breast cancer patients using multi marker immunobead RT-PCR.

Introduction: The ability to screen blood of early stage operable breast cancer patients for circulating tumour cells is of potential importance for identifying patients at risk of developing distant relapse. We present the results of a study of the efficacy of the immunobead RT-PCR method in identifying patients with circulating tumour cells.

Results: Immunomagnetic enrichment of circulating tumour cells followed by RT-PCR (immunobead RT-PCR) with a panel of five epithelial specific markers (ELF3, EPHB4, EGFR, MGB1 and TACSTD1) was used to screen for circulating tumour cells in the peripheral blood of 56 breast cancer patients.

Online anatomy and physiology: piloting the use of an anatomy and physiology e-book-VLE hybrid in pre-registration and post-qualifying nursing programmes at the University of Salford.

Background: Anatomy and physiology (A&P) teaching and learning in nursing curricula poses problems for educators because of the often varying levels of students' background knowledge. This study reports on a pilot project that attempted to normalize these differentials by delivering A&P teaching using an online interactive e-book-virtual learning environment (VLE) hybrid.

Objectives: Evaluate the effectiveness of using an online interactive resource to deliver A&P teaching.

Investigation of the expression of the EphB4 receptor tyrosine kinase in prostate carcinoma.

Background: The EphB4 receptor tyrosine kinase has been reported as increased in tumours originating from several different tissues and its expression in a prostate cancer xenograft model has been reported.

Methods: RT-PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemical techniques were used to examine EphB4 expression and protein levels in human prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP, DU145 and PC3. Immunohistochemistry was also used to examine localisation of EphB4 in tissue samples from 15 patients with prostate carcinomas.

Structural and functional consequences of glutamine tract variation in the androgen receptor.

The androgen receptor (AR) gene contains a polymorphic trinucleotide repeat region, (CAG)(n), in its N-terminal transactivation domain (NTD) that encodes a polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the receptor protein. Whereas the length of the CAG repeat ranges from 6 to 39 in healthy individuals, the variations in repeat length both within and outside the normal range are associated with disease, including impaired spermatogenesis and Kennedy's disease, and with the risk of developing breast and prostate cancer. Whereas it has been proposed that the inverse relationship between polyQ tract length within the normal range and AR transactivation potential may be responsible for altered risk of disease, the molecular mechanisms underlying polyQ length modulation of AR function have not been elucidated.

Why hard-nosed executives should care about management theory.

Theory often gets a bum rap among managers because it's associated with the word "theoretical," which connotes "impractical." But it shouldn't. Because experience is solely about the past, solid theories are the only way managers can plan future actions with any degree of confidence.

Optimisation of the RT-PCR detection of immunomagnetically enriched carcinoma cells.

Background: Immunomagnetic enrichment followed by RT-PCR (immunobead RT-PCR) is an efficient methodology to identify disseminated carcinoma cells in the blood and bone marrow. The RT-PCR assays must be both specific for the tumor cells and sufficiently sensitive to enable detection of single tumor cells. We have developed a method to test RT-PCR assays for any cancer.