National survey of hospital patients.

OBJECTIVE--To survey patients'' opinions of their experiences in hospital in order to produce data that can help managers and doctors to identify and solve problems. DESIGN--Random sample of 36 NHS hospitals, stratified by size of hospital (number of beds), area (north, midlands, south east, south west), and type of hospital (teaching or non-teaching, trust or directly managed). From each hospital a random sample of, on average, 143 patients was interviewed at home or the place of discharge two to four weeks after discharge by means of a structured questionnaire about their treatment in hospital. SUBJECTS--5150 randomly chosen NHS patients recently discharged from acute hospitals in England. Subjects had been patients on medical and surgical wards apart from paediatric, maternity, psychiatric, and geriatric wards. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Patients'' responses to direct questions about preadmission procedures, admission, communication with staff, physical care, tests and operations, help from staff, pain management, and discharge planning. Patients'' responses to general questions about their degree of satisfaction in hospitals. RESULTS--Problems were reported by patients, particularly with regard to communication with staff (56% (2824/5020) had not been given written or printed information); pain management (33% (1042/3162) of those suffering pain were in pain all or most of the time); and discharge planning (70% (3599/5124) had not been told about warning signs and 62% (3177/5119) had not been told when to resume normal activities). Hospitals failed to reach the standards of the Patient''s Charter--for example, in explaining the treatment proposed and giving patients the option of not taking part in student training. Answers to questions about patient satisfaction were, however, highly positive but of little use to managers. CONCLUSIONS--This survey has highlighted several problems with treatment in NHS hospitals. Asking patients direct questions about what happened rather than how satisfied they were with treatment can elucidate the problems that exist and so enable them to be solved.     

A survey of the use of field facilities by Scottish higher education

The paper describes a survey of the use made of field study facilities by Scottish universities and colleges during the academic year 1971-72. Most of the data relate to residential field courses, and a variety of characteristics of such courses are tabulated. Some interesting points of comparison arise between biology and geography courses, the former being apparently more dependent on time, staff and laboratory facilities. The nature of the facilities available for field work and some of the constraints placed on the provision of field courses are briefly discussed.     

DNA sequencing research group: 2006 general survey of DNA sequencing facilities.

Over the past few years, technological advances in automated DNA sequencing have had a profound effect on the nature of DNA sequencing laboratories. To characterize the changes occurring within DNA sequencing facilities, the DNA Sequencing Research Group conducted three previous studies, in 1998, 2000, and 2003. A new general survey has been designed and conducted by the DSRG to capture the current status of DNA sequencing facilities in all sectors. Included were questions regarding facility administration, pricing, instrumentation, technology, protocols, and operation. The results of the survey are presented here, accompanied by comparisons to the previous surveys. These comparisons formed a basis for the discussion of trends within the facilities in response to the dynamics of a changing technology.     

State-of-the-art biomolecular core facilities: a comprehensive survey

A survey of 124 protein and/or nucleic acid chemistry facilities has provided a basis for estimating the resources needed to establish a facility, the financial support needed to keep it operating, and the technical capabilities it might reasonably be expected to achieve. Based on these data, an average core facility occupied 870 ft2, was staffed by three full-time personnel, and was equipped with 4-5 major instrument systems. Because user fees generated an average of about $101,000/year in income compared with an average operating budget of about $197,000/year, even a facility that charged user fees would, on average, still require an annual subsidy of about $96,000. Although most government and industrial core facilities did not assess user fees, at least 83 of the 124 respondents did have a preestablished schedule of service charges that enabled a compilation to be made of the average cost of providing a number of typical facility analyses and syntheses. The greater than 100-fold range in charges assessed in core facilities for seemingly identical services was shown to result from the equally large range in the degree of subsidization of these laboratories. Although an average facility might be expected to offer four or five of the following six major services--amino acid sequencing, amino acid analysis, HPLC peptide isolation, peptide synthesis, fragmentation of proteins and DNA synthesis--less than 10% of the responding laboratories provided mass spectrometry, capillary zone electrophoresis, or RNA synthesis. With the exception of peptide synthesis, which had an average turn-around time of about 24 days, all other major services had turn-around times that averaged in the range of 4-9 days. Additional data are summarized regarding average sample throughput in core laboratories and the amount of protein that is needed for hydrolysis/amino acid analysis and sequencing.     

A survey of therapeutic drug monitoring in a teaching hospital

ObjectivesTherapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is one of the tools that aim to improve and ensure the best therapeutic effects while avoiding drug toxicity. This study aimed to identify the clinical utilization and application of TDM at a major teaching hospital in Jeddah.MethodsA cross sectional survey of the clinical utilization and application of TDM at King Abdulaziz University Teaching Hospital across nurses in medical, surgical, pediatric, and intensive care units. The sample size (n = 130) represented 30% of the nursing population. The collection of questionnaires started on the 31st of January 2019 and was completed by the 10th of March 2019.ResultsThe indication to use TDM was well-known to respondents. However, only 64% of respondents reported collection and measuring of the correct drug levels at a precise sampling time with no specific protocols being followed for each drug. Moreover, only 53% reported that the drug levels were being re-measured and adequately monitored for the right indication and proper sampling time. Regarding the presence of clinical pharmacists, 70% of the respondents indicated that no clinical pharmacist worked in their department.ConclusionResults demonstrate that appropriate sampling time was not used for the majority of monitored drugs. In the absence of a TDM request form, this finding probably indicates the lack of national or local TDM guidelines. In conclusion, TDM services, which include standardized forms, references, and an active clinical pharmacist will likely improve the application of TDM.     

Microbiological survey of Korean mouse facilities from 2014 to 2019

We surveyed mouse microbiological contamination rates by testing rates for common contaminants using serological, culture, and parasitological methods. A total of 21,292 experimentally housed mice from 206 animal facilities, including hospitals, universities, companies, and research institutes, were tested over a 6-year period from 2014 to 2019. The most commonly found contaminants were various species of nonpathogenic protozoa (47.2%). The most common pathogenic bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus (21.2%), Pasteurella pneumotropica (12.5%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.8%). Mouse hepatitis virus (6.1%) was detected, but no other viral or bacterial pathogens were found. These results establish that the main pathogens that currently contaminate mouse facilities in Korea are opportunistic pathogens and that contamination with important pathogens, such as those in Categories B or C, has decreased.     

Crisis in our schools: survey of sanitation facilities in schools in Bloomsbury health district.

OBJECTIVE--To survey sanitation facilities in schools in Bloomsbury health district. DESIGN--Postal questionnaire. SETTING--Inner London health district. PARTICIPANTS--School nurses. RESULTS--16 of 17 school nurses responded (37 of 41 schools). Fifteen schools did not have the minimum number of toilets and hand basins established in the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981. In two schools toilets were kept locked for most of the day. In 10 schools toilet paper was not always available, and three of five secondary schools did not have disposal units for sanitary towels in the girls'' toilet areas. In 18 of the schools the toilets were not kept adequately clean. CONCLUSIONS--These conditions raise serious questions about environmental health, with the potential for the spread of infectious diseases, and undermine attempts to teach children basic hygiene. Health professionals have an important role in assessing health and safety standards in schools and ensuring that necessary improvements are made.     

A survey of dynamical genetics.

The classical view of genetics is based on the central dogma of molecular biology that assigns to DNA a fundamental but static role. According to the dogma, DNA can be duplicated only in identical copies (except for random errors), and no smart mechanism can alter the information content of DNA: in more detail, the direction of transfer of the genetic information is only from DNA through RNA to proteins and never backwards. However, starting from the so-called dynamic genome (McClintock's jumping genes), and the so-called dynamic mutations (such as the trinucleotide expansion or, more generally, the instability of the number of tandem repeats of longer sequences), there is now a growing body of important cases where it is known that the DNA is altered in a more or less sophisticated way, often by smart enzymatic mechanisms. The study of all such dynamic phenomena and of their interpretations can be naturally called dynamical genetics. In this survey we examine a number of such dynamic phenomena, and also some phenomena of great biological importance that have no universally accepted explanation within a static approach to genetics, and for which a dynamical interpretation has been only proposed. Important examples are some controversial but interesting phenomena such as horizontal transmission and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and those peculiar DNA structures known as G-quadruplexes.     

Palaeoparasitology in Japan--discovery of toilet features

The development of palaeoparasitology in Japan has occurred in recent decades. Despite the fact that archaeology in Japan has been slow to develop techniques for excavating ancient toilets, important information about the development of sanitation has been derived from the analysis of a few sites. This shows that the earliest people had very simple methods of sanitation. As populations increased, sanitation became more complex. Ditches surrounding early towns were used for excrement disposal. Eventually distinct toilets were developed followed by cesspit type toilets and flushing toilets. The parasites recovered from these toilets include many species that infect humans today. These parasite spectra reflect local use of aquatic, marine, and land animals. Fecal borne disease was an increasing problem as represented by whipworm and ascarid roundworm eggs. Interestingly, ascarid roundworms were absent in the earliest cultures and only became common with rice agriculture. Finds of pollen and seeds in toilet sediments reveal the use of medicinal plants to control the emerging problem of parasites.