Microbial extracellular enzyme activity affects performance in a full-scale modified activated sludge process.

The rate-limiting step of wastewater treatment is the breakdown of polymers by extracellular enzyme activity (EEA). The efficacy of EEA on biomass from full scale conventional activated sludge (AS) and modified AS with bench scale and full scale rotating biofilm reactors (RBR) was compared. The maximum amino-peptidase EEA was 394 ± 34 μmolL min for the bench RBR which was 11.

Evaluating oral health promotion: need for quality outcome measures.

Oral health promotion effectiveness reviews have identified the need to improve the quality of the evaluation of interventions. A project was undertaken to identify and assess the quality of available outcome measures. This paper describes the methodology adopted and highlights the need for further development of oral health promotion outcome measures.

Oral health promotion evaluation--time for development.

Increasing emphasis is now being placed upon the evaluation of health service interventions to demonstrate their effects. A series of effectiveness reviews of the oral health education and promotion literature has demonstrated that many of these interventions are poorly and inadequately evaluated. It is therefore difficult to determine the effectiveness of many interventions.

Exploring young men's drinking using the AUDIT questionnaire.

This paper reports the findings of an AUDIT questionnaire administered to a sample of young (16-24-year-old) white males. Of the sample, 65% were drinking at potentially harmful levels. Averaging 45 U/week, 18-21 years was the age of highest alcohol consumption.

Effects of chondroitin sulphate, human serum albumin and Tamm-Horsfall mucoprotein on calcium oxalate crystallization in undiluted human urine.

The effects of physiological concentrations of chondroitin sulphate, human serum albumin and Tamm-Horsfall mucoprotein on the crystallization of calcium oxalate in undiluted, ultrafiltered human urine were investigated using particle size analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Neither the amount of oxalate required to induce detectable calcium oxalate crystal nucleation nor crystal morphology was affected by the presence of any of these macromolecules. Chondroitin sulphate had no effect on the amount of crystalline material deposited or on the size of the particles precipitated in response to a standard oxalate load.