Coding accuracy for Parkinson's disease hospital admissions:implications for healthcare planning in the UK

ObjectivesHospital Episode Statistics data are used for healthcare planning and hospital reimbursements. Reliability of these data is dependent on the accuracy of individual hospitals reporting Secondary Uses Service (SUS) which includes hospitalisation. The number and coding accuracy for Parkinson's disease hospital admissions at a tertiary centre in Birmingham was assessed.Study designRetrospective, routine-data–based study.MethodsA retrospective electronic database search for all Parkinson's disease patients admitted to the tertiary hospital over a 4-year period (2009–2013) was performed on the SUS database using International Classification of Disease codes, and on the local inpatient electronic prescription database, Prescription and Information Communications System, using medication prescriptions. Capture-recapture methods were used to estimate the number of patients and admissions missed by both databases.ResultsFrom the two databases, between July 2009 and June 2013, 1068 patients with Parkinson's disease accounted for 1999 admissions. During these admissions, the Parkinson's disease was coded as a primary or secondary diagnosis. Ninety-one percent of these admissions were recorded on the SUS database. Capture-recapture methods estimated that the number of Parkinson's disease patients admitted during this period was 1127 patients (95% confidence interval: 1107–1146). A supplementary search of both SUS and Prescription and Information Communications System was undertaken using the hospital numbers of these 1068 patients. This identified another 479 admissions. SUS database under-estimated Parkinson's disease admissions by 27% during the study period.ConclusionThe accuracy of disease coding is critical for healthcare policy planning and must be improved. If the under-reporting of Parkinson's disease admissions on the SUS database is repeated nationally, expenditure on Parkinson's disease admissions in England is under-estimated by approximately £61 million per year

A pyridinium derivative from Red Sea soft corals inhibited voltage-activated potassium conductances and increased excitability of rat cultured sensory neurones

BACKGROUND: Whole cell patch clamp recording and intracellular Ca(2+ )imaging were carried out on rat cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurones to characterize the actions of crude extracts and purified samples from Red Sea soft corals. The aim of the project was to identify compounds that would alter the excitability of DRG neurones. RESULTS: Crude extracts of Sarcophyton glaucum and Lobophyton crassum attenuated spike frequency adaptation causing DRG neurones to switch from firing single action potentials to multiple firing. The increase in excitability was associated with enhanced KCl-evoked Ca(2+ )influx. The mechanism of action of the natural products in the samples from the soft corals involved inhibition of voltage-activated K(+ )currents. An active component of the crude marine samples was identified as 3-carboxy-1-methyl pyridinium (trigonelline). Application of synthetic 3-carboxy-1-methyl pyridinium at high concentration (0.1 mM) also induced multiple firing and reduced voltage-activated K(+ )current. The changes in excitability of DRG neurones induced by 3-carboxy-1-methyl pyridinium suggest that this compound contributes to the bioactivity produced by the crude extracts from two soft corals. CONCLUSION: Sarcophyton glaucum and Lobophyton crassum contain natural products including 3-carboxy-1-methyl pyridinium that increase the excitability of DRG neurones. We speculate that in addition to developmental control and osmoregulation these compounds may contribute to chemical defenses

Asymmetric interlimb transfer of concurrent adaptation to opposing dynamic forces

Interlimb transfer of a novel dynamic force has been well documented. It has also been shown that unimanual adaptation to opposing novel environments is possible if they are associated with different workspaces. The main aim of this study was to test if adaptation to opposing velocity dependent viscous forces with one arm could improve the initial performance of the other arm. The study also examined whether this interlimb transfer occurred across an extrinsic, spatial, coordinative system or an intrinsic, joint based, coordinative system. Subjects initially adapted to opposing viscous forces separated by target location. Our measure of performance was the correlation between the speed profiles of each movement within a force condition and an ‘average’ trajectory within null force conditions. Adaptation to the opposing forces was seen during initial acquisition with a significantly improved coefficient in epoch eight compared to epoch one. We then tested interlimb transfer from the dominant to non-dominant arm (D → ND) and vice-versa (ND → D) across either an extrinsic or intrinsic coordinative system. Interlimb transfer was only seen from the dominant to the non-dominant limb across an intrinsic coordinative system. These results support previous studies involving adaptation to a single dynamic force but also indicate that interlimb transfer of multiple opposing states is possible. This suggests that the information available at the level of representation allowing interlimb transfer can be more intricate than a general movement goal or a single perceived directional error

educationUndergraduate: Journal of undergraduate research in education (Volume 2)

Edited by Claire Taylor, Peter Harrod, Richard Woolley, Karl Aubrey and Nick Edmonds. Contents: Factors Affecting the Use of Experiential Learning in Teaching Religious Education in Schools by Rachel Day; An Investigation Into the Attitudes and Use of Resources for Life-long Learning in the Heritage Sector by Esther Horner; An Investigation into Teachers’ Views on Children’s Spirituality, with Particular Reference to ‘Godly Play’ by Cheryl Livingstone; The Role of Fiction in Motivating Boys to Read by Julie Robinson; The Effect of Role-Play on Children's Speaking Skills by Julia Newton; Pupils' Attitudes Towards Practical Work in Science: Motivating or Monotonous? by Rachel Meek

10 simple rules to create a serious game, illustrated with examples from structural biology

Serious scientific games are games whose purpose is not only fun. In the field of science, the serious goals include crucial activities for scientists: outreach, teaching and research. The number of serious games is increasing rapidly, in particular citizen science games, games that allow people to produce and/or analyze scientific data. Interestingly, it is possible to build a set of rules providing a guideline to create or improve serious games. We present arguments gathered from our own experience ( Phylo , DocMolecules , HiRE-RNA contest and Pangu) as well as examples from the growing literature on scientific serious games

Remnant Fermi surface in the presence of an underlying instability in layered 1T-TaS_2

We report high resolution angle-scanned photoemission and Fermi surface (FS) mapping experiments on the layered transition-metal dichalcogenide 1T-TaS_2 in the quasi commensurate (QC) and the commensurate (C) charge-density-wave (CDW) phase. Instead of a nesting induced partially removed FS in the CDW phase we find a pseudogap over large portions of the FS. This remnant FS exhibits the symmetry of the one-particle normal state FS even when passing from the QC-phase to the C-phase. Possibly, this Mott localization induced transition represents the underlying instability responsible for the pseudogapped FS

Developing Artemisia annua for the extraction of artemisinin to treat multi-drug resistant malaria

Keynote Lecture presented at the 23rd Conference on Isoprenoids. Minsk, Belarus, September 4-7, 2016Semi-synthetic derivatives of the sesquiterpene artemisinin have worldwide become the main treatment for P. falciparum malaria. Artemisinin-combination therapies (ACTs), containing artemether or artesunate combined with non-isoprenoid drugs, are recommended as first line treatment by the World Health Organization, particularly in areas where resistance against quinine and quinine analogues has developed. Whereas methods for the total synthesis of artemisinin have been developed, artemisinin extracted from the leaves of Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) is still the preferred source for commercial production of antimalarial drugs. The biosynthetic pathway of artemisinin is well-known and a number of genes that regulate artemisinin biosynthesis have been identified. Various attempts have been made to enhance the yield of artemisinin in crops or plant cell cultures through the use of genetic engineering. Another approach has been semi-synthesis of artemisinin via artemisinic acid in genetically engineered yeast. Although genetic engineering holds a great promise for the future, currently the largest improvements in artemisinin yield have been obtained through creation of high-yielding varieties by classical breeding programs combined with modern agricultural production techniques