Peptide--water association in peptide crystals.

The structures of 37 peptide crystals, containing 78 water-peptide hydrogen bonds and 77 other hydrogen bonds involving water, were surveyed to identify the geometry of peptide backbone hydration. In the sample, hydration of peptide carbonyl occurred more frequently than hydration of peptide N--H. The most probable value of the C'=O ... O water angle was near 138 degrees, considerably greater than the 120 degrees to the axis of a lone electron pair on the carbonyl oxygen. Associated water oxygens tended to be in the plane of the peptide bond, bui--H and Ci+1=O atoms, was common in glycine-containing cyclic hexapeptides. The distribution of angles between two hydrogen bonds at a single water molecule, as defined by the three nonhydrogen atoms involved, was centered near the tetrahedral angle.     

Hospital pharmacy committees in England: Their structure,function, and development.

A total of 150 chief and group chief pharmacists in England took part in a survey of the structure and role of pharmacy committees in hospitals. Just over half of the hospitals had such a committee. About two-thirds of these dealt only with pharmacy matters and one-third dealt also with other matters. The number of new committees set up increased slowly until 1967 and then showed a sharp rise. Their terms of reference, membership, and manner of appointment varied greatly. Among subjects dealt with the cost of drugs and the introduction of new prescribing sheets were prominent. Many of the respondents believed that the work of the committees, often with the help of smaller, more specialized groups, had significantly improved various aspects of the local supply and use of drugs.