Protecting patients from infection: Improving topical prophylaxis compliance on surgical wards.

Background: At a medium-sized district general hospital in the heart of England, it was identified that compliance to the administration of topical prophylaxis on three general surgery wards had reduced to 23%, following implementation of an electronic medication prescription record. Therefore, a quality improvement project was commenced to improve this compliance to protect patients from meticillin-resistant (MRSA) colonisation and associated bacteraemia.

Aim: To improve compliance of topical prophylaxis administration on three surgical wards to protect patients from infection.

Analysis of sexual healthcare provided by school nurses.

Unlabelled: AimThe aim of this study was to explore the role and activities of the school nursing service in sexual health within a large inner London borough.

Background: School nurses (SNs) are specialist community public health nurses working with the school age population to promote their health and well-being and therefore are arguably in a prime position to promote the sexual health of children and young people. This is particularly pertinent in inner city boroughs where the rates of sexually transmitted infections and under-18 conceptions are a significant problem.

Diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma: a case series and literature review.

Introduction: Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare neoplasm of the bile ducts. Risk factors include primary sclerosing cholangitis, Caroli's disease, infection, liver flukes, and chronic typhoid. Improvements in imaging and surgical techniques may allow for earlier diagnosis and improvements in patient survival.

Linking functional molecular variation with environmental gradients: myosin gene diversity in a crustacean broadly distributed across variable thermal environments.

To investigate the molecular basis of temperature adaptation in natural populations we used the candidate gene approach, targeting the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) gene. The functional effects of genetic variation in MyHC have been well characterised, and changes in the flexibility of the surface loops 1 and 2, caused by modulations in length, amino acid composition and charge can play an important role in thermal acclimation in fish. However, the extent that MyHC diversity is influenced by natural thermal gradients is largely unknown.

The IGF-I splice variant MGF increases progenitor cells in ALS, dystrophic, and normal muscle.

The effects of muscle splice variants of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on proliferation and differentiation were studied in human primary muscle cell cultures from healthy subjects as well as from muscular dystrophy and ALS patients. Although the initial numbers of mononucleated progenitor cells expressing desmin were lower in diseased muscle, the E domain peptide of IGF-IEc (MGF) significantly increased the numbers of progenitor cells in healthy and diseased muscle. IGF-I significantly enhances myogenic differentiation whereas MGF E peptide blocks this pathway, resulting in an increased progenitor (stem) cell pool and thus potentially facilitating repair and maintenance of this postmitotic tissue.