461 research outputs found
Pharmacist intervention in primary care to improve outcomes in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction
<b>Background</b> Meta-analysis of small trials suggests that pharmacist-led collaborative review and revision of medical treatment may improve outcomes in heart failure.<p></p>
<b>Methods and results</b> We studied patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction in a cluster-randomized controlled, event driven, trial in primary care. We allocated 87 practices (1090 patients) to pharmacist intervention and 87 practices (1074 patients) to usual care. The intervention was delivered by non-specialist pharmacists working with family doctors to optimize medical treatment. The primary outcome was a composite of death or hospital admission for worsening heart failure. This trial is registered, number ISRCTN70118765. The median follow-up was 4.7 years. At baseline, 86% of patients in both groups were treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. In patients not receiving one or other of these medications, or receiving less than the recommended dose, treatment was started, or the dose increased, in 33.1% of patients in the intervention group and in 18.5% of the usual care group [odds ratio (OR) 2.26, 95% CI 1.64â3.10; P< 0.001]. At baseline, 62% of each group were treated with a ÎČ-blocker and the proportions starting or having an increase in the dose were 17.9% in the intervention group and 11.1% in the usual care group (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.31â2.35; P< 0.001). The primary outcome occurred in 35.8% of patients in the intervention group and 35.4% in the usual care group (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% CI 0.83â1.14; P = 0.72). There was no difference in any secondary outcome.<p></p>
<b>Conclusion</b> A low-intensity, pharmacist-led collaborative intervention in primary care resulted in modest improvements in prescribing of disease-modifying medications but did not improve clinical outcomes in a population that was relatively well treated at baseline
Comment on Viscous Stability of Relativistic Keplerian Accretion Disks
Recently Ghosh (1998) reported a new regime of instability in Keplerian
accretion disks which is caused by relativistic effects. This instability
appears in the gas pressure dominated region when all relativistic corrections
to the disk structure equations are taken into account. We show that he uses
the stability criterion in completely wrong way leading to inappropriate
conclusions. We perform a standard stability analysis to show that no unstable
region can be found when the relativistic disk is gas pressure dominated.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, uses aasms4.sty, submitted for ApJ Letter
Monoclonal antibodies against mycobacterium avium/intracellulare
Ten hybridoma cell lines prodacing monoclonaI antibodies (Mabs) against M. avium/intracellulare
(Mai) serotype 8 were raised by the fusion of BALB/c mouse myeloma cells
(SPZ) to spleen cells from immunized BALB/c mice. The specificity of the monoclonal
antibodies was defined using their differing abilities to bind to sonicates from a range of
mycobacterial species and strains. Tbe Mabs showed strain and species specificity. Three
Mabs bound only to Mai serotype 8 and 1 Mab bound only to Mai serotypes 8 and 16, the
only serotypes tested. The results indicate that Mabs specific for Mai species and serotypes
can be produced. These could be useful for serodiagnostic and for epidemiological purposes
Sharp interface limits of phase-field models
The use of continuum phase-field models to describe the motion of
well-defined interfaces is discussed for a class of phenomena, that includes
order/disorder transitions, spinodal decomposition and Ostwald ripening,
dendritic growth, and the solidification of eutectic alloys. The projection
operator method is used to extract the ``sharp interface limit'' from phase
field models which have interfaces that are diffuse on a length scale . In
particular,phase-field equations are mapped onto sharp interface equations in
the limits and , where and are
respectively the interface curvature and velocity and is the diffusion
constant in the bulk. The calculations provide one general set of sharp
interface equations that incorporate the Gibbs-Thomson condition, the
Allen-Cahn equation and the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure
Mechanism, dynamics, and biological existence of multistability in a large class of bursting neurons
Multistability, the coexistence of multiple attractors in a dynamical system,
is explored in bursting nerve cells. A modeling study is performed to show that
a large class of bursting systems, as defined by a shared topology when
represented as dynamical systems, is inherently suited to support
multistability. We derive the bifurcation structure and parametric trends
leading to multistability in these systems. Evidence for the existence of
multirhythmic behavior in neurons of the aquatic mollusc Aplysia californica
that is consistent with our proposed mechanism is presented. Although these
experimental results are preliminary, they indicate that single neurons may be
capable of dynamically storing information for longer time scales than
typically attributed to nonsynaptic mechanisms.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figure
Optimised Traffic Flow at a Single Intersection: Traffic Responsive signalisation
We propose a stochastic model for the intersection of two urban streets. The
vehicular traffic at the intersection is controlled by a set of traffic lights
which can be operated subject to fix-time as well as traffic adaptive schemes.
Vehicular dynamics is simulated within the framework of the probabilistic
cellular automata and the delay experienced by the traffic at each individual
street is evaluated for specified time intervals. Minimising the total delay of
both streets gives rise to the optimum signalisation of traffic lights. We
propose some traffic responsive signalisation algorithms which are based on the
concept of cut-off queue length and cut-off density.Comment: 10 pages, 11 eps figs, to appear in J. Phys.
Research is âa step into the unknownâ: an exploration of pharmacistsâ perceptions of factors impacting on research participation in the NHS
Objective This study explored National Health Service (NHS) pharmacists’ perceptions and experiences of pharmacist-led research in the workplace. Design Semistructured, face-to-face discussions continued until distinct clusters of opinion characteristics formed. Verbatim transcripts of audio-recordings were subjected to framework analysis. Setting Interviews were carried out with 54 pharmacists with diverse backgrounds and roles from general practices and secondary care in the UK's largest health authority. Results The purpose and potential of health services research (HSR) was understood and acknowledged to be worthwhile by participants, but a combination of individual and system-related themes tended to make participation difficult, except when this was part of formal postgraduate education leading to a qualification. Lack of prioritisation was routinely cited as the greatest barrier, with motivation, confidence and competence as additional impediments. System-related themes included lack of practical support and pharmacy professional issues. A minority of highly motivated individuals managed to embed research participation into routine activity. Conclusions Most pharmacists realised the desirability and necessity of research to underpin pharmacy service expansion, but a combination of individual and professional level changes is needed to increase activity. Our findings provide a starting point for better understanding the mindset of hospital-based and general practice-based pharmacists towards research, as well as their perceived barriers and supports
Curricular orientations to real-world contexts in mathematics
A common claim about mathematics education is that it should equip students to use mathematics in the âreal worldâ. In this paper, we examine how relationships between mathematics education and the real world are materialised in the curriculum across a sample of eleven jurisdictions. In particular, we address the orientation of the curriculum towards application of mathematics, the ways that real-world contexts are positioned within the curriculum content, the ways in which different groups of students are expected to engage with real-world contexts, and the extent to which high-stakes assessments include real-world problem solving. The analysis reveals variation across jurisdictions and some lack of coherence between official orientations towards use of mathematics in the real world and the ways that this is materialised in the organisation of the content for students
Variation in dermcidin expression in a range of primary human tumours and in hypoxic/oxidatively stressed human cell lines.
Dermcidin acts as a survival factor in a variety of cancer cell lines under hypoxia or oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate dermcidin expression in cell lines following simulation of tumour microenvironmental conditions and in a range of primary tumours. Tumour tissues were collected from patients with oesophageal (28 samples), gastric (20), pancreatic (five), bile duct (one) and prostatic (52) carcinomas as well as 30 benign tissue samples, for assessment of dermcidin mRNA levels using real-time PCR. Dermcidin expression was assessed in prostatic and pancreatic cancer cell lines, with and without induction of hypoxia or oxidative stress. Dermcidin mRNA expression was very low or absent in both unstressed and stressed prostate cell lines. None of the primary prostate tissue, benign or malignant, expressed dermcidin mRNA. Only two (4%) of the gastro-oesophageal cancer samples expressed moderate quantities of dermcidin mRNA. However, three (60%) of the pancreatic cancer samples and the single cholangiocarcinoma specimen had moderate/high levels of dermcidin expression. Of the two pancreatic cancer cell lines, one expressed dermcidin moderately but neither showed a response to hypoxia or oxidative stress. Expression of dermcidin in human primary tumours appears highly variable and is not induced substantially by hypoxia/oxidative stress in cell line model systems. The relationship of these findings to dermcidin protein levels and cell survival remains to be determined
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