Should formalities be less formal? A comparative study of patient preferences on formalities and accommodation choices from 1999 to 2023.

Purpose: To explore if patients' preferences regarding formalities and inpatient accommodation during their inpatient hospital experience have changed since 1999.

Methods: A ten-item survey was administered to an inpatient sample in an urban teaching hospital and compared with results from a similar survey in 1999.

Results: The majority (98.

Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the gene for surface layer protein, slpA, from 14 PCR ribotypes of Clostridium difficile.

Clostridium difficile is the commonest cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, with the hospitalized elderly being at particular risk. The organism makes a crystalline surface protein layer (S-layer), encoded by the slpA gene, the product of which is cleaved to give two mature peptides which associate to form the layer. The larger peptide (high molecular weight; HMW), derived from the C-terminal portion of the precursor, is relatively conserved, whereas the smaller peptide (low molecular weight; LMW), derived from the N-terminal portion of the precursor, is a dominant antigen which substantially forms the basis for serotyping of isolates.