Women and drink driving

While there is a lot of work around drink-driving, it generally focuses on young men and the risk they pose to themselves and to others.  There is no doubt that young men are the most concerning demographic.  However, with the on-going publicity around young women and binge drinking, this report analyses the available statistics on young women and drink-driving, and older women and drink-driving, as well as looking at media reporting of incidents involving them.  Older and younger women were also interviewed about their behaviour and attitudes towards drink-driving.  Campaigns are not necessarily seen to be relevant to women and while they still remain an absolute minority in terms of drink-driving incidents, there does need to be some consideration paid to more inclusive ways of addressing the issue

Citricoccus parietis sp. nov., isolated from a mould-colonized wall and emended description of Citricoccus alkalitolerans Li et al. 2005

A Gram-positive, coccoid-shaped organism (strain 02-Je-010T), forming yellow-pigmented colonies was isolated from the wall of an indoor environment. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies, it was shown that strain 02-Je-010T belongs to the genus Citricoccus with sequence similarities of 98.9?% to Citricoccus alkalitolerans DSM 15665T and 98.6?% to Citricoccus muralis DSM 14442T. Cell-wall sugars were mannose and glucose. The diagnostic diamino acid of the peptidoglycan was lysine. The major menaquinones detected were MK-9(H2) and MK-8(H2). The polar lipid profile consisted of the major lipids diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol and moderate amounts of two unknown phospholipids and two unknown glycolipids. The fatty acid profile comprised major amounts of anteiso-C15?:?0, anteiso-C17?:?0 and iso-C15?:?0. All these data supported the affiliation of strain 02-Je-010T to the genus Citricoccus. The results of DNA–DNA hybridization and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain 02-Je-010T from the two recognized Citricoccus species. For these reasons, strain 02-Je-010T represents a novel species, for which the name Citricoccus parietis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain 02-Je-010T (=CCUG 57388T=CCM 7609T)

Investigating the Temporal Relationships between Symptoms and Nebuliser Adherence in People with Cystic Fibrosis: A Series of N-of-1 Observations

Treatment adherence in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) is poor. One of the reasons identified for lack of adherence to nebulised treatments is that patients may not experience any immediate relief in their symptoms or notice changes as a result of taking their treatment, thus many report that they do not perceive there to be consequences of non adherence. The aim of the study was to investigate the temporal relationships between symptoms and adherence to nebulised treatments in adults with CF using an N-of-1 observational design. Six participants were recruited for a six-week period during which time they completed a daily online respiratory symptom questionnaire. Adherence to treatment was measured throughout the duration of the study using an eTrack® nebuliser that logged date and time of treatments taken. Data generated from each participant was analysed separately. There were significant relationships between pain and adherence for three participants, tiredness and adherence for one participant and cough and adherence for one participant. For all of these findings, the symptom and adherence were experienced on the same day. Extending the monitoring period beyond six weeks may provide increased insight into the complex relationship between symptoms and adherence in CF

Microlunatus parietis sp. nov., isolated from an indoor wall

A Gram-positive, coccoid, non-endospore-forming actinobacterium (strain 12-Be-011T) was isolated from indoor wall material. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, strain 12-Be-011T was clearly shown to belong to the genus Microlunatus and was most closely related to Microlunatus panaciterrae Gsoil 954T (95.7 %), Microlunatus soli CC-12602T (94.9 %), Microlunatus ginsengisoli Gsoil 633T (94.8 %), Microlunatus aurantiacus YIM 45721T (95.5 %) and Microlunatus phosphovorus DSM 10555T (94.7 %). The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained ll-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. Mycolic acids were absent. The major menaquinone was MK-9(H4). The polar lipid profile consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, two unknown phospholipids and one unknown glycolipid. The major fatty acids of iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0 and iso-C16:0 supported the affiliation of strain 12-Be-011T to the genus Microlunatus. Physiological and biochemical test results allowed a clear phenotypic differentiation of strain 12-Be-011T from all other species of the genus Microlunatus. Hence, strain 12-Be-011T can be regarded as a representative of a novel species, for which the name Microlunatus parietis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain 12-Be-011T (=DSM 22083T=CCM 7636T)

Kytococcus aerolatus sp. nov., isolated from indoor air in a room colonized with moulds

A Gram-positive, coccoid bacterial isolate (02-St-019/1(T)), forming beige pigmented colonies was obtained from an indoor air sample. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies it was determined that this isolate 02-St-019/1(T) belonged to the genus Kytococcus, showing sequence similarties of 98.6% to Kytococcus schroeteri DSM 13884(T) and 98.3% to Kytococcus sedentarius DSM 20547(T), respectively. The diagnostic diaminoacid of the peptidoglycan was lysine, cell wall sugars were ribose and xylose. The major menaquinones detected were MK-7 and MK-8. The polar lipid profile consisted of the major phospholipids diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol mannoside. Fatty acid patterns were composed of major amounts of the iso- and anteiso-branched fatty acids anteiso C(17:0), iso C(15:0) and iso C(17:0) and unsaturated fatty acids (C(17:1) omega8c, iso C(17:1) omega9c, and C(17:1) omega8c) with smaller amounts of the straight-chain fatty acids C(15:0), C(16:0) and C(17:0). The results of DNA-DNA hybridizations and physiological and biochemical tests clearly allowed a genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain 02-St-019/1(T) from the two described Kytococcus species. On the basis of these results a novel species to be named Kytococcus aerolatus sp. nov., is proposed, with the type strain 02-St-019/1(T) (=DSM 22179(T)=CCM 7639(T))

An Analysis of the Questions on University Teaching Surveys and the Universities that Use Them: The Australian Experience

This paper is the first attempt to perform an analysis of the internal Quality of Teaching Surveys (QTS) used in all Australian Universities by investigating how they compare across Universities. We categorize the questions on each university’s QTS into one of 18 types and then define a proximity measure between the surveys. We then use an agglomerative cluster analysis to establish groupings of these institutions on the basis of the similarity of their QTSs as well as groupings of question types by their frequency of use. In addition, we also determine if the form of the survey is related to the responses recorded by the Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) that is administered to all graduates of Australian Universities. This was done by the use of regression analysis to establish if the form of the questionnaire is related to the overall good teaching scores earned by the universities from the CEQ.Tertiary Education; University Rankings; CEQ

A Systematic Analysis of Quality of Teaching Surveys

All tertiary institutions in Australia use the same Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) however for the internal evaluation of teaching they use their own surveys. This paper performs an analysis of the internal Quality of Teaching Surveys (QTS) used in Australian Universities. We classify the questions within the QTS surveys. This classification is used to explore how different universities’ surveys are similar to each other. We find that some universities use a QTS that is quite distinct from other universities. We also investigate whether there is a particular pattern to the types of questions used in the surveys. We find that there are some question types that are employed widely in a typical survey and others that are All tertiary institutions in Australia use the same Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) however for the internal evaluation of teaching they use their own surveys. This paper performs an analysis of the internal Quality of Teaching Surveys (QTS) used in Australian Universities. We classify the questions within the QTS surveys. This classification is used to explore how different universities’ surveys are similar to each other. We find that some universities use a QTS that is quite distinct from other universities. We also investigate whether there is a particular pattern to the types of questions used in the surveys. We find that there are some question types that are employed widely in a typical survey and others that are All tertiary institutions in Australia use the same Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) however for the internal evaluation of teaching they use their own surveys. This paper performs an analysis of the internal Quality of Teaching Surveys (QTS) used in Australian Universities. We classify the questions within the QTS surveys. This classification is used to explore how different universities’ surveys are similar to each other. We find that some universities use a QTS that is quite distinct from other universities. We also investigate whether there is a particular pattern to the types of questions used in the surveys. We find that there are some question types that are employed widely in a typical survey and others that are not. This analysis can be used by universities to determine how their surveys compare to their peer institutions and other institutions across Australia.

Quantification of growth hormone in serum by isotope dilution mass spectrometry

Inter-assay variation of antibody based routine tests is hampering comparability of measurement results for growth hormone (GH) between different laboratories and decision making in clinical practice. Here it is demonstrated, that quantification of GH by isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) constitutes a way to precise and reliable results which can be referred to in evaluation of performance of commercial test kits. With the IDMS method developed, tryptic cleavage products YSFLQNPQTSLCFSESIPTPSNR (T6) and LEDGSPR (T12) of GH are quantified by LC/MS-MS using the isotopically labeled forms of the peptides as internal standards. The GH cleavage fragments are obtained by whole-serum tryptic proteolysis and then extracted from the resulting mixture by semi-preparative reversed phase liquid chromatography followed by strong cation-exchange chromatography. Method validation basing on recovery of recombinant 22 kDa GH spiked to blank serum in defined amounts covering the intended concentration range (3-30 µg/L) would yield mean recoveries of 101.6% (100.7%), standard deviations of 2.5% (2.4%) and combined uncertainties (_u~c~_) of 3.0% (2.5%) if quantifying T6 (T12) as GH derived fragments, while the LOQ were 1.7 µg/L (2.7 µg/L). Potential to acquisition of reference values is exemplified by application to serum materials used in a recent quality assessment exercise for routine laboratories