OBJECTIVES To assess the efficiency of a short-stay unit (SSU) for undifferentiated medical patients and evaluate its effect on the overall efficiency of a general medicine department. DESIGN, SETTING AND PATIENTS Retrospective study of all general medical patients admitted to the SSU at Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia, during its 5 years of operation (2005-2009), compared with 4 yea...

Hepatopancreatic microsporidiosis (HPM) caused by Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) is an important disease of cultivated shrimp. Heavy infections may lead to retarded growth and unprofitable harvests. Existing PCR detection methods target the EHP small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene (SSU-PCR). However, we discovered that they can give false positive test results due to cross reactivity ...

Of the three major bilaterian clades, Lophotrochozoa has the greatest diversity and disparity of body forms and is the least understood in terms of phylogenetic history. Within this clade, small nuclear ribosomal subunit (SSU or 18S) studies have failed to provide resolution and other molecular markers have insufficient taxon sampling. To examine relationships within Lophotrochozoa, we collecte...

As a nucleolar complex for small-subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA processing, SSU processome has been extensively studied mainly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae but not in diverse organisms, leaving open the question of whether it is a ubiquitous mechanism across eukaryotes and how it evolved in the course of the evolution of eukaryotes. Genome-wide survey and identification of SSU processome components...

This study reveals extensive phenotypic convergence based on the non-monophyly of genera and morphospecies of testate (shelled) amoebae. Using two independent markers, small subunit ribosomal DNA (ssu-rDNA) and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI), we demonstrate discordance between morphology and molecules for 'core Nebela' species (Arcellinida; Amoebozoa). Prior work using just a single l...

The Parabasala are a primitive group of protists divided into two classes: the trichomonads and the hypermastigids. Until recently, phylogeny and taxonomy of parabasalids were mainly based on the comparative analysis of morphological characters primarily linked to the development of their cytoskeleton. Recent use of molecular markers, such as small subunit (SSU) rRNA has led to now insights int...

The number of acute medical admissions to hospital continues to rise although not all need a prolonged stay. At the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, a short-stay unit (SSU) was developed specifically for such patients. Admissions to SSU over the first three weeks of 2006 were assessed. A total of 209 patients were admitted to SSU (10 patients a day). This accounted for 35% of all admissions...

Introducing components of algal carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) into higher plant chloroplasts could increase photosynthetic productivity. A key component is the Rubisco-containing pyrenoid that is needed to minimise CO2 retro-diffusion for CCM operating efficiency. Rubisco in Arabidopsis was re-engineered to incorporate sequence elements that are thought to be essential for recruitment ...

Previous studies using the nuclear SSU rDNA have indicated that the photosynthetic euglenoids are a monophyletic group; however, some of the genera within the photosynthetic lineage are not monophyletic. To test these results further, evolutionary relationships among the photosynthetic genera were investigated by obtaining partial LSU nuclear rDNA sequences. Taxa from each of the external clade...

The eukaryotic small-subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA (rRNA) has two evolutionarily conserved acetylcytidines. However, the acetylation sites and the acetyltransferase responsible for the acetylation have not been identified. We performed a comprehensive MS-based analysis covering the entire sequence of the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, SSU rRNA and identified two acetylcytidines at posi...