Clinical pharmacy-led disease and medicine management programme for patients with COPD

center dot The concept of self-management plans for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is derived from their success in asthma management.

Phenotype-environment correlations in a putative whitefish adaptive radiation

1. The adaptive radiation of fishes into benthic (littoral) and pelagic (lentic) morphs in post-glaciallakes has become an important model system for speciation. Although these systems are well stud-ied, there is little evidence of the existence of morphs that have diverged to utilize resources in theremaining principal lake habitat, the profundal zone.
2. Here, we tested phenotype-environment correlations of three whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus)morphs that have radiated into littoral, pelagic and profundal niches in northern Scandinavianlakes. We hypothesized that morphs in such trimorphic systems would have a morphology adaptedto one of the principal lake habitats (littoral, pelagic or profundal niches). Most whitefish popula-tions in the study area are formed by a single (monomorphic) whitefish morph, and we furtherhypothesized that these populations should display intermediate morphotypes and niche utiliza-tion. We used a combination of traditional (stomach content, habitat use, gill raker counts) andmore recently developed (stable isotopes, geometric morphometrics) techniques to evaluate pheno-type-environment correlations in two lakes with trimorphic and two lakes with monomorphicwhitefish.
3. Distinct phenotype-environment correlations were evident for each principal niche in whitefishmorphs inhabiting trimorphic lakes. Monomorphic whitefish exploited multiple habitats, hadintermediate morphology, displayed increased variance in gillraker-counts, and relied significantlyon zooplankton, most likely due to relaxed resource competition.
4. We suggest that the ecological processes acting in the trimorphic lakes are similar to each other,and are driving the adaptive evolution of whitefish morphs, possibly leading to the formation ofnew species.

Novel in vitro assays for the characterization of EMT in tumourigenesis

Background Two novel assays quantifying Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) were compared to traditional motility and migration assays. TGF-ß1 treatment of AY-27 rat bladder cancer cells acted as a model of EMT in tumourigenesis. Methods AY-27 rat bladder cancer cells incubated with 3ng/ml TGF-ß1 or control media for 24 or 48h were assessed using novel and traditional assays. The Spindle Index, a novel measure of spindle phenotype, was derived from the ratio of maximum length to maximum width of cells. The area covered by cells which migrated from a fixed coverslip towards supplemented agarose was measured in a novel chemoattractant assay. Motility, migration and immunoreactivity for E-cadherin, Vimentin and cytokeratin were assessed. Results TGF-ß1 treated cells had increased “spindle” phenotype together with decreased E-cadherin, decreased Cytokeratin-18 and increased Vimentin immunoreactivity. After 48h, the mean Spindle Index of TGF-ß1 treated cells was significantly higher than Mock (p=0.02 Bonferroni test) and there were significant differences in migration across treatment groups measured using the novel chemoattractant assay (p = 0.02, Chi-Square). TGF-ß1 significantly increased matrigel invasion. Conclusion The Spindle Index and the novel chemoattractant assay are valuable adjunctive assays for objective characterization of EMT changes during tumourigenesis.

Four articles on Irish traditional music

Four sole-authored entries in this Encyclopedia under the titles "Belfast", "Music and Politics," and "Traditional Music Revivals" and "Traditional Music, Aesthetics" totalling 6000 words.

I also served on the Editorial Advisory Committee for this Encyclopedia.

Metabolic profile changes in the testes of mice with streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes mellitus

Contrary to the traditional view, recent studies suggest that diabetes mellitus has an adverse influence on male reproductive function. Our aim was to determine the effect of diabetes on the testicular environment by identifying and then assessing perturbations in small molecule metabolites. Testes were obtained from control and streptozotocin-induced diabetic C57BL/6 mice, 2, 4 and 8 weeks post-treatment. Diabetic status was confirmed by glycated haemoglobin, non-fasting blood glucose, physiological condition and body weight. A novel extraction procedure was utilized to obtain protein free, low-molecular weight, water soluble extracts which were then assessed using H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Principal component analysis of the derived profiles was used to classify any variations, and specific metabolites were identified based on their spectral pattern. Characteristic metabolite profiles were identified for control and type 1 diabetic animals with the most distinctive being from mice with the largest physical deterioration and loss of body weight. Eight streptozotocin-treated animals did not develop diabetes and displayed profiles similar to controls. Diabetic mice had decreases in creatine, choline and carnitine and increases in lactate, alanine and myo-inositol. Betaine levels were found to be increased in the majority of diabetic mice but decreased in a few animals with severe loss of body weight and physical condition. The association between perturbations in a number of small molecule metabolites known to be influential in sperm function, with diabetic status and physiological condition, adds further impetus to the proposal that diabetes influences important spermatogenic pathways and mechanisms in a subtle and previously unrecognized manner.