Complete genomes of two cluster AK phages isolated from soil samples in Newburgh, NY, United States.

Two phages belonging to phage cluster AK were isolated from soil samples collected in Newburgh, NY in 2021. Both are lytic with a genome organization typical of siphoviruses except for two genes encoding minor tail proteins with pyocin-knob domains found early in the genome, before the terminase gene.

Primary care morbidity in Eastern Cape Province.

Background: Primary health care in rural South Africa is predominantly provided by remote clinics and health centres. In 1994, health centres were upgraded and new health centres developed to serve as a health care filter between community clinics and district hospitals.

Aim: To describe the spectrum of clinical problems encountered at a new health centre in an area of high economic deprivation and compare this with an adjacent community clinic and district hospital.

Multispectral scanning during endoscopy guides biopsy of dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus.

Esophageal cancer is increasing in frequency in the United States faster than any other cancer. Barrett's esophagus, an otherwise benign complication of esophageal reflux, affects approximately three million Americans and precedes almost all cases of esophageal cancer. If detected as high-grade dysplasia (HGD), most esophageal cancers can be prevented.

Diagnostic imaging of esophageal epithelium with clinical endoscopic polarized scanning spectroscopy instrument.

This letter reports the development of an endoscopic polarized scanning spectroscopy (EPSS) instrument compatible with existing endoscopes. This instrument uses light scattering spectroscopy (LSS). In proof-of-principle studies using a single-point instrument, LSS has successfully demonstrated the ability to identify pre-cancer in the epithelial tissues of five different organs, including Barrett's esophagus (BE).

Light-scattering spectroscopy differentiates fetal from adult nucleated red blood cells: may lead to noninvasive prenatal diagnosis.

Present techniques for prenatal diagnosis are invasive and present significant risks of fetal loss. Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis utilizing fetal nucleated red blood cells (fNRBC) circulating in maternal peripheral blood has received attention, since it poses no risk to the fetus. However, because of the failure to find broadly applicable identifiers that can differentiate fetal from adult NRBC, reliable detection of viable fNRBC in amounts sufficient for clinical use remains a challenge.

'Over-the-counter' genetic testing: what does it really mean for primary care?

The publication of More Genes Direct by the Human Genetics Commission is a timely reminder of the potential impact that 'over-the-counter' genetic testing (that is, a direct genetic test without the need for a medical referral) may have on the NHS. This article considers the relevance of current genetic research on complex common diseases and how this might translate into risk estimates for developing conditions such as dementia, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. The implications for primary care include the need to understand the current limitations of genetic testing and its commercial application over the counter, and the importance of continuing to make risk assessments using family history.

Confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic microscopy monitors organelles in live cells with no exogenous labels.

This article reports the development of an optical imaging technique, confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic (CLASS) microscopy, capable of noninvasively determining the dimensions and other physical properties of single subcellular organelles. CLASS microscopy combines the principles of light-scattering spectroscopy (LSS) with confocal microscopy. LSS is an optical technique that relates the spectroscopic properties of light elastically scattered by small particles to their size, refractive index, and shape.

Identifying patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia in primary care: an informatics-based approach in one primary care centre.

Background: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is associated with highly raised low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and causes early-onset cardiovascular disease. Its autosomal dominant inheritance allows family cascade screening to be performed once an index case has been identified. However, the vast majority of people with FH in the United Kingdom have not been identified, and there is no national screening programme.

Microcytosis, iron deficiency and thalassaemia in a multi-ethnic community: a pilot study.

The high prevalence of microcytosis (defined here as mean cell haemoglobin<27 pg) with no other abnormality is a principal cause of confusion in screening for haemoglobin disorders. Here we report the results of a small pilot study aiming to resolve this confusion by routinely proceeding to plasma ferritin and HPLC assay, using the original sequestrene blood sample, when microcytosis is detected. Participants comprised a random sample of 1,302 people referred for a full blood count by their General Practitioner (GP) to the laboratory of a North London district general hospital serving a multi-ethnic inner-city population.

Confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic microscopy.

We have developed a novel optical method for observing submicrometer intracellular structures in living cells, which is called confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic (CLASS) microscopy. It combines confocal microscopy, a well-established high-resolution microscopic technique, with light-scattering spectroscopy. CLASS microscopy requires no exogenous labels and is capable of imaging and continuously monitoring individual viable cells, enabling the observation of cell and organelle functioning at scales of the order of 100 nm.

Socio-economic inequalities as a predictor of health in South Africa--the Yenza cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To describe the demographic, environmental and health characteristics of the rural Eastern Cape and to explore demographic and environmental predictors of health.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Engcobo and Umtata in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Optical, real-time monitoring of the glomerular filtration rate.

An easy and accurate assessment of the renal function is a critical requirement for detecting the initial functional decline of the kidney induced by acute or chronic renal disease. A method for measuring the glomerular filtration rate is developed with the accuracy of clearance techniques and the convenience of plasma creatinine. The renal function is measured in rats as the rate of clearance determined from time-resolved transcutaneous fluorescence measurements of a new fluorescent glomerular filtration agent.

Collecting genetic information in primary care: evaluating a new family history tool.

Background: The family history is a time-honoured method for identifying genetic predisposition. In specialist practice the standard approach is to draw up a family tree based on a genetic pedigree interview, but this is too time-consuming and focused on single gene disorders to be applicable in primary care.

Objectives: To assess the ability of a brief self-administered Family History Questionnaire (FHQ), given to patients when they register with a GP, to identify genetic risk.

Timeline: Raising the profile of genetics in primary care.

Primary care practitioners recognize that genetics is relevant to their daily practice, for example, for detecting and managing the risk of multifactorial disorders and genetic reproductive risks, and, in future, for targeted drug therapy. However, they lack confidence in their ability to apply genetic approaches. In fact, genetics is already ingrained in current practice, and the development of appropriate guidelines and web-based information resources will help practitioners to make personalized genetic risk assessment a part of holistic, patient-oriented primary health care.

Direct energy recovery from primary and secondary sludges by supercritical water oxidation.

Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) oxidizes organic and biological materials virtually completely to benign products without the need for stack gas scrubbing. Heavy metals are recovered as stabilized solid, along with the sand and clay that is present in the feed. The technology has been under development for twenty years.

Clinical exposure during clinical method attachments in general practice.

Background: There has been a significant decline in medical students' clinical experience in hospitals. Hospital-based teaching is struggling to provide medical students with sufficient experience of the common health problems of our industrialized ageing society. Hence, general practice has become an important locus for medical education.

Evaluation of a direct doctor-patient telephone advice line in general practice.

A general practitioner-staffed direct access telephone advice line was made available for 30 minutes every morning at an inner-London practice to advise patients with urgent problems. Users valued the service, but the impact on surgery consultations was too small for this to be advocated as an alternative to emergency consultations.

Community-based teaching: the challenges.

The amount of undergraduate medical education delivered in general practice is expanding rapidly, both in the United Kingdom and internationally. There are a number of challenges facing general practice as well as medical schools, health authorities and primary care groups, which must be met for this development to be sustainable. These include: impact on service general practice; resources; difficulties with integrating basic sciences with clinical teaching; recruitment, training and maintenance of GP tutors; quality control; impact on academic departments of primary care; and the importance of rigorous evaluation of educational initiatives.

A comparison of the educational opportunities on junior medical attachments in general practice and in a teaching hospital: a questionnaire survey.

Objectives: To obtain students' perceptions of the educational quality of the general internal medicine teaching overall and to determine whether specific learning objectives were better addressed in general practice or in hospital.

Design: The survey was carried out after a 10 week block of general internal medicine, consisting of five weeks taught in general practice and five weeks taught in a teaching hospital. Students were randomly allocated to start in either general practice or hospital.