Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor distribution in Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease, and vascular dementia: in vitro binding study using 5-[(125)i]-a-85380.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been implicated in a number of neurological disorders. 5-Iodo-3-[2(S)-2-azetidinylmethoxy]pyridine (5-I-A-85380) is a novel nAChR marker, binding predominantly to the alpha4beta2 subtype. This in vitro autoradiography study describes the distribution of 5-[(125)I]-A-85380 binding in post-mortem brain tissue from normal elderly individuals and from cases with age-associated dementias of both neurodegenerative and vascular types.

Rehabilitation: identification of needs, priorities and expectations, and the evaluation of benefit.

Audiology services evolved from technical disciplines with emphasis on assessment of hearing impairments rather than the experiences of disabilities and handicaps. This article argues for a comprehensive, though structured, framework for the assessment of listening needs (disabilities) which, via sets of personal and societal contexts, lead to handicaps. Rehabilitative and instrumental interventions should be selected on the basis of disabilities and handicaps as modulated by individuals' expectations and attitudes, and configured as part of an overall management plan aimed at alleviating the consequences of impaired hearing.

Population pharmacokinetics of intramuscular gentamicin administered to young infants with suspected severe sepsis in Kenya.

Aims: To determine the population pharmacokinetics of intramuscular (i.m.) gentamicin in African infants with suspected severe sepsis.

An audit of NHS Trust alcohol policy referrals to an occupational health service.

An exploratory review of 33 referrals to an Occupational Health Service of employees with alcohol problems provided information on age and sex, job category, mode of referral, medical and social problems and outcome. Case records were examined providing information on clinical assessment and the treatment options. The high rates of relapse, drop-out and refusal of help, supported the view that this population had serious alcohol problems.

Pneumococcal disease and asplenia: the importance of vaccination.

Pneumococcal disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in certain patient groups including those who have been splenectomised or have no functioning spleen. Recent deaths in two asplenic patients from pneumococcal disease should remind doctors of the importance of vaccination in asplenic individuals. The current guidelines for vaccination in such patients are highlighted and discussed.

A population model of epirubicin pharmacokinetics and application to dosage guidelines.

Purpose: To use a population approach to identify readily available clinical or biochemical characteristics that influence the pharmacokinetics of epirubicin and to develop new dosage guidelines based on these results.

Methods: Data were available from 109 patients with advanced breast cancer, 72 of whom were known to have liver metastases. They were treated with single-agent epirubicin 12.

A Delphi study to determine nursing research priorities in the North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust and the corresponding evidence base.

The aims of the study are to identify and prioritize research questions of importance to nurses in North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust and to investigate and describe the existing evidence base for the highest priority questions identified. The consensus method known as the Delphi technique was used. Systematic searching of the literature for each question identified from the research priorities enabled the existing evidence base to be characterized.

Analysis of PorA variable region 3 in meningococci: implications for vaccine policy?

Outer membrane protein (OMP) vaccines are being developed against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B which may provide protection against common circulating serotypes and serosubtypes in some countries. However, limited data is available in Europe from genosubtyping meningococci. We therefore undertook a retrospective analysis of the three main variable regions, VR1, VR2 as well as VR3, of the porA gene from N.

In vitro comparison of orthodontic band cements.

The aim of the study was to compare the mean retentive strength of microetched orthodontic bands cemented to extracted human third molars with a modified composite, a resin-modified glass ionomer cement, and a conventional glass ionomer cement. The mode of band failure and amount of cement remaining on the tooth at deband were also assessed. Finally, survival time of bands with each cement was assessed with simulated mechanical stress in a ball mill.

Detection and genotyping of meningococci using a nested PCR approach.

An effective vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B is required. Outer-membrane protein vaccines have been developed, which may provide protection against common circulating serotypes and serosubtypes in some countries. However, limited genosubtyping data are available because most laboratories use mAbs directed against a limited number of specific serotypes and serosubtypes and laboratories do not genosubtype directly from body fluids due to the lack of a sensitive PCR method.

Evaluating Emergency Nurse Practitioner services: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENP) are increasingly managing minor injuries in Accident and Emergency departments across the United Kingdom. This study aimed to develop methods and tools that could be used to measure the quality of ENP-led care. These tools were then tested in a randomized controlled trial.

Homeopathy in survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

The objective of this review was to ascertain the incidence of childhood sexual abuse: to ascertain the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse and to collate the experiences of homeopaths in caring for survivors. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is common with a high percentage of homeopathic patients giving a positive history. It is associated with many common clinical conditions, particularly pelvic pain.

Clinical aspects of pneumonia.

Pneumonia is a serious medical condition and a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It has many infectious aetiologies, although bacterial and viral forms are most common. Our understanding of pneumonia has improved significantly during the course of the 20th century but the overall disease burden has changed little.

Semi-automation of the polymerase chain reaction for laboratory confirmation of meningococcal disease.

Demand for accurate high-throughput detection and characterisation of medically important bacteria has increased dramatically within research and clinical laboratories. Liquid-handling robots have been developed to achieve high levels of accuracy and reproducibility. Assay automation can play a key role in the modern diagnostic laboratory and the data presented here shows that automated PCR is comparable with manual methods.

Application of polymerase chain reaction with oligoligation assay to determine genotype in individuals presenting with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Background: Current methods for the molecular diagnosis of the 21-hydroxylase deficiency variant of congenital adrenal hyperplasia use cumbersome combinations of Southern blotting and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The aim of the present study was to develop a practical genetic test for the unambiguous diagnosis of this condition, and to use this procedure to determine the range of mutations in Scottish patients. In addition, we wished to obtain further information to that currently available in the literature regarding the correlation of genotype with phenotype in any identified carriers.

Effect of the addition of ketamine to morphine in patient-controlled analgesia.

This randomised, double-blind, prospective study compared morphine (1 mg x m(-1)) with the combination of morphine (1 mg x m(-1)) and ketamine (0.75 mg x m(-1)) via a patient-controlled analgesia system (PCAS) for postoperative pain control. A total of 42 female patients, ASA grade I and II, undergoing elective total abdominal hysterectomy was studied.

A clinical retrospective evaluation of 2 orthodontic band cements.

This study aimed to compare the time to first failure of stainless steel orthodontic first permanent molar bands cemented with either a modified composite (Band-Lok, Reliance Orthodontic Products) or a conventional glass ionomer cement (AquaCem, De Trey Dentsply). The effect of patient sex, patient age at the start of treatment, the presenting malocclusion, treatment mechanics, and the operator proficiency on band survival was also assessed. Data for 219 bands cemented with Band-Lok in 108 patients and for 395 bands cemented with AquaCem in 183 patients were analyzed.

Treatment of pain in severe burns.

Burn pain can cause psychologic and functional difficulties, and is difficult to predict from wound depth. The initial painful stimulation of nerve endings by the burn with continued painful stimuli result in peripheral and central mechanisms causing amplification of painful stimuli, and the development of chronic pain syndromes that can be difficult to treat. In order to assess the effect of analgesic interventions it is essential to measure the patient's pain in a simple and reproducible manner.

Oral anticoagulation and hemorrhagic complications in an elderly population with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Warfarin sodium therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation markedly reduces the incidence of embolic stroke. However, in elderly patients warfarin therapy is often underused owing to the perceived higher risk of hemorrhagic complications.

Objectives: To assess the quality of anticoagulant control and the incidence of hemorrhagic complications and stroke in an elderly population (>75 years old) compared with a younger control group (between 60 and 69 years) and to assess the quality of anticoagulant control and incidence of hemorrhagic complications in those patients who recently commenced receiving warfarin therapy (first year of therapy).

Scoring nuclear pleomorphism in breast cancer.

Aims: Nuclear grade has equal weight with mitotic index and acinus formation in grading breast cancer, but criteria for its assessment are less well defined. This study examines consistency of nuclear grading in breast cancer and whether improved nuclear grading criteria are required.

Methods And Results: Photographic prints of haematoxylin-eosin sections of 100 unselected symptomatic breast cancers were circulated to histopathologists who assigned each carcinoma a nuclear pleomorphism score on a linear analogue scale 0-100 (0-33 equating to nuclear pleomorphism grade 1, 34-66 to grade 2, and 67-100 to grade 3).