Contributions to zoology from the Museum of Yale College; No. I, Descriptions of a remarkable new jelly-fish and two actinians from the coast of Maine

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Are the Health of the Nation's targets attainable? Postal survey of general practitioners' views

The Health of the Nation's targets were introduced by the government in 1992 as part of a strategic approach to health.1 We aimed, in 1996, to elicit the views of general practitioners on the attainability of these targets

Integrative treatment approaches: family satisfaction with a multidisciplinary paediatric Abdominal Pain Clinic

<p align="left"><strong>Objectives</strong>: To assess patient and family satisfaction with evaluation received through a multidisciplinary paediatric Abdominal Pain Clinic (APC) staffed by a paediatric gastroenterologist and a paediatric psychologist as compared to a traditional gastroenterology clinic (GI) staffed by a paediatric gastroenterologist only.</p><p align="justify"><strong>Methods</strong>: Two hundred and ninety-eight families (145 APC, 153 GI) with a child or adolescent aged 8-17 years seen for initial evaluation of a chronic abdominal pain completed an anonymous survey to assess understanding of the treatment recommendations made, intent to follow through with various treatment recommendations, and the overall level of satisfaction with the evaluation service provided. Family perceptions of strengths and challenges of the APC evaluation process also were explored.</p><p align="justify"><strong>Results</strong>: APC families reported being prescribed adjunctive mental health and other therapies at significantly higher rates than GI families, while the rates of medication were comparable. APC families also reported significantly greater receptivity to beginning the treatments prescribed and higher levels of overall satisfaction with the evaluation process. The contribution of integrated medical and psychological perspectives frequently was identified as a strength of the APC evaluation process. Challenges identified for the APC evaluation were few and focused on issues related to paperwork and scheduling issues.</p><p><strong>Conclusions</strong>: Integrative care approaches to the evaluation of paediatric abdominal pain appear well accepted by families, yielding high levels of satisfaction, and enhance receptivity to treatment recommendations. Integrative care starting at the time of first evaluation may be particularly well-tailored to enhance outcomes, reduce health care utilization, and yield financial savings within this population.</p

Arithmetic Spacetime Geometry from String Theory

An arithmetic framework to string compactification is described. The approach is exemplified by formulating a strategy that allows to construct geometric compactifications from exactly solvable theories at $c=3$. It is shown that the conformal field theoretic characters can be derived from the geometry of spacetime, and that the geometry is uniquely determined by the two-dimensional field theory on the world sheet. The modular forms that appear in these constructions admit complex multiplication, and allow an interpretation as generalized McKay-Thompson series associated to the Mathieu and Conway groups. This leads to a string motivated notion of arithmetic moonshine.Comment: 36 page

Pathology and regulation for research in the UK: An overview [version 2; peer review: 3 approved]

The input of pathologists is essential for the conduct of many forms of research, including clinical trials. As the custodians of patient samples, pathology departments have a duty to ensure compliance with the relevant regulations, standards and guidelines to ensure the ethical and effective use for their intended investigational analysis, including when patients are participating in a research study. The results of research studies have impacts beyond the research study itself as they may inform changes in policy and practice or support the licensing of medicines and devices. Compliance with regulations and standards provides public assurance that the rights, safety and wellbeing of research participants are protected, that the data have been collected and processed to ensure their integrity and that the research will achieve its purpose. The requirements of the regulatory environment should not be seen as a barrier to research and should not significantly impact on the work of the laboratory once established and integrated into practice. This paper highlights important regulations, policy, standards and available guidance documents that apply to research involving NHS pathology departments and academic laboratories that are contributing to research involving human subjects