k-SLAM: accurate and ultra-fast taxonomic classification and gene identification for large metagenomic data sets.

k-SLAM is a highly efficient algorithm for the characterization of metagenomic data. Unlike other ultra-fast metagenomic classifiers, full sequence alignment is performed allowing for gene identification and variant calling in addition to accurate taxonomic classification. A k-mer based method provides greater taxonomic accuracy than other classifiers and a three orders of magnitude speed increase over alignment based approaches. The use of alignments to find variants and genes along with their taxonomic origins enables novel strains to be characterized. k-SLAM's speed allows a full taxonomic classification and gene identification to be tractable on modern large data sets. A pseudo-assembly method is used to increase classification accuracy by up to 40% for species which have high sequence homology within their genus.

Alkali metal crystalline polymer electrolytes.

Polymer electrolytes have been studied extensively because uniquely they combine ionic conductivity with solid yet flexible mechanical properties, rendering them important for all-solid-state devices including batteries, electrochromic displays and smart windows. For some 30 years, ionic conductivity in polymers was considered to occur only in the amorphous state above Tg. Crystalline polymers were believed to be insulators. This changed with the discovery of Li(+) conductivity in crystalline poly(ethylene oxide)(6):LiAsF(6). However, new crystalline polymer electrolytes have proved elusive, questioning whether the 6:1 complex has particular structural features making it a unique exception to the rule that only amorphous polymers conduct. Here, we demonstrate that ionic conductivity in crystalline polymers is not unique to the 6:1 complex by reporting several new crystalline polymer electrolytes containing different alkali metal salts (Na(+), K(+) and Rb(+)), including the best conductor poly(ethylene oxide)(8):NaAsF(6) discovered so far, with a conductivity 1.5 orders of magnitude higher than poly(ethylene oxide)(6):LiAsF(6). These are the first crystalline polymer electrolytes with a different composition and structures to that of the 6:1 Li(+) complex.

Managing a national pilot site project. The Derby Theatre Project experience.

The National Theatre Project was set up in March 2001 by the Modernization Agency to improve the patient and carer experience, improve employee satisfaction, optimise theatre utilisation and reduce cancelled operations. This is the first in a series of four articles, looking at issues involved in managing a national project, improving operating theatre performance and how to engage the organisation in innovation and change.

Recruitment and retention. The Derby Theatre Project experience.

The National Theatre Project was set up in March 2001 by the Modernisation Agency to improve the patient and carer experience, improve employee satisfaction, optimise theatre utilisation and reduce cancelled operations. This is the second article in the series where David Ainsworth, manager of a pilot site project in Derby, describes issues around the Theatre Project. This month the focus is on recruitment, retention and staff morale.

Patient involvement. The Derby Theatre Project experience.

Patient involvement adds power and value to service redesign. Patient views can be extremely powerful when influencing clinical staff. They also provide a strong management case for change. Patient choice should be built into any service redesign. A model for improvement should form a template that can be amended to suit patient need and should take account of patient views. Patient views should be objective. Patients can give a better opinion of how services should be shaped when given a choice of what could be done. A model should offer different routes along a journey so that patients can say what they would prefer to happen.