Widespread occurrence and phylogenetic placement of a soil clone group adds a prominent new branch to the fungal tree of life.

Fungi are one of the most diverse groups of Eukarya and play essential roles in terrestrial ecosystems as decomposers, pathogens and mutualists. This study unifies disparate reports of unclassified fungal sequences from soils of diverse origins and anchors many of them in a well-supported clade of the Ascomycota equivalent to a subphylum. We refer to this clade as Soil Clone Group I (SCGI). We expand the breadth of environments surveyed and develop a taxon-specific primer to amplify 2.4kbp rDNA fragments directly from soil. Our results also expand the known range of this group from North America to Europe and Australia. The ancient origin of SCGI implies that it may represent an important transitional form among the basal Ascomycota groups. SCGI is unusual because it currently represents the only major fungal lineage known only from sequence data. This is an important contribution towards building a more complete fungal phylogeny and highlights the need for further work to determine the function and biology of SCGI taxa.

Primer binding site mutations affecting the typing of STR loci contained within the AMPFlSTR SGM Plus kit.

The Forensic Science Service carries out human identification and familial investigations using the AMPFlSTR SGM Plus kit (PE Biosystems, Warrington, England). We have studied approximately 42,000 parent/child allelic transfers (meioses) for deviations from expected Mendelian Inheritance patterns. Of 55 apparent mutations detected, 20 had patterns suggestive of the presence of a primer binding site mutation producing a silent/null allele. The presence of a silent allele was unequivocally demonstrated in 13 of the 20 suspected cases by using alternative primer sets. Of the 13 confirmed cases, 9 involved the D18S51 locus. As the individuals in these cases all originated from the same geographic region of the Middle East, this cluster suggests the presence of a relatively common variant D18S51 allele in that particular group. These data taken together with our previously published work, confirm that the primer binding sites utilised for amplification of the loci contained in the AMPFlSTR SGM Plus kit have highly conserved nucleotide sequences.

Dosimetric improvements following 3D planning of tangential breast irradiation.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the dosimetric difference between a simple radiation therapy plan utilizing a single contour and a more complex three-dimensional (3D) plan utilizing multiple contours, lung inhomogeneity correction, and dose-based compensators. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This is a study of the radiation therapy (RT) plans of 85 patients with early breast cancer. All patients were considered for breast-conserving management and treated by conventional tangential fields technique. Two plans were generated for each patient. The first RT plan was based on a single contour taken at the central axis and utilized two wedges. The second RT plan was generated by using the 3D planning system to design dose-based compensators after lung inhomogeneity correction had been made. The endpoints of the study were the comparison between the volumes receiving greater than 105% and greater than 110% of the reference dose, as well as the magnitude of the treated volume maximum dose. Dosimetric improvement was defined to be of significant value if the volume receiving > 105% of one plan was reduced by at least 50% with the absolute difference between the volumes being 5% or greater. The dosimetric improvements in 49 3D plans (58%) were considered of significant value. Patients' field separation and breast size did not predict the magnitude of improvement in dosimetry. CONCLUSION: Dose-based compensator plans significantly reduced the volumes receiving > 105%, >110%, and volume maximum dose.

From humane care to prevention.

Dr. Leonard R. Denton's professional career has spanned the fields of education, social work, program evaluation, research, and clinical psychology, in both institutional and community mental health settings. He is an advocate for community mental health and prevention programs aimed at decreasing the risk of mental/emotional and social disorders. In 1971, Denton was the primary founder of Atlantic Behavioural Science Applications, an organization for promoting the use of scientifically derived knowledge in the planning, operation, and evaluation of human service programs. On three occasions, his volunteer efforts have been recognized by the Canadian Mental Health Association, the most recent in 1998 when he received the Dr. C.M. Hincks Award for the advancement of mental health. In the same year, he was given recognition in the Nova Scotia Legislature for his service and contribution to the mental health profession. A native Nova Scotian, Dr. Denton lives in Truro, Nova Scotia, where he operates a private practice.

Objective evaluation of the quality of voice following radiation therapy for T1 glottic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Radiation therapy is commonly considered the treatment of choice for T1 glottic cancer. While it is generally believed that the quality of voice following irradiation is quite satisfactory, few studies have reported the results of objective assessment of voice after radiation therapy. PURPOSE: To objectively evaluate the quality of voice following radiation therapy for T1 glottic cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The voices of 12 patients treated for T1 glottic cancer with radiation therapy were evaluated by acoustic analysis and speech aerodynamic studies. Eleven patients received between 6300 and 6665 cGy at a daily fraction size of 180-225 cGy. One patient received 7000 cGy at a daily fraction size of 200 cGy. Evaluation of the quality of voice was done 3 months to 7 years following completion of radiation therapy. RESULTS: The number of patients who scored abnormal values for the measurements of fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer and harmonic to noise ratio was 2, 10, 4 and 3, respectively. The number of patients who scored abnormal values for transglottic airflow rate, subglottal pressure and glottal resistance was 12, 8 and 9, respectively. None of the studied patients scored normal values in all given tests. CONCLUSION: Although radiation therapy cures a high proportion of patients with T1 glottic cancer, the quality of voice does not return to normal following treatment.

The contribution of quality assurance to the achievement of quality nursing care.

This paper explores the concept of quality in relation to nursing care and the contribution of quality assurance to its achievement. A descriptive study involving the administration of a questionnaire to all registered nurses in the clinical area employed at Osborne Park Hospital, Perth, Western Australia was undertaken to examine these issues. Overall, respondents had a positive attitude towards quality and quality assurance, although the latter concept appeared to be better understood. Quality assurance was viewed as an effective activity for reviewing and changing nursing practice and for helping to achieve quality nursing care. However, the study also demonstrated a need for further education in skills associated with quality assurance activities. Several other barriers to participating in quality assurance and to delivering quality care were identified.

A review of hospital boards of management in rural Western Australia.

The primary aim of the study described in this paper was to review the place of hospital boards in the delivery of public sector health services in rural Western Australia. Specific issues explored included the demographic characteristics of country hospital boards, board roles and functions, and mechanisms for evaluating performance. While most board members and administrators perceived management control of boards to be about equally shared between them, over 90 per cent of board members felt they did not have sufficient skills to adequately discharge their board responsibilities.

Functional significance of antibody formation after long-term salmon calcitonin therapy.

Twenty patients with Paget's disease were challenged with porcine (PCT) and salmon (SCT) calcitonin before and after 6 months SCT therapy. Acute hypocalcaemia was clearly related to the prevailing rate of bone turnover but responses to PCT showed that treatment had not disturbed this relationship. Although antibodies to SCT developed in eight patients during the period of treatment the acute hypocalcaemic response to SCT was not diminished in relation to bone turnover. It is suggested that antibodies which develop during the course of SCT therapy do not necessarily exert a functionally effective neutralizing action.