Methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus (MRSA) infection has received much attention in both the medical and non-medical press. However, it is not widely encountered on ENT wards, given the profile of short-stay, relatively well patients, although its impact seems to be increasing. We wished to explore the knowledge and attitudes towards MRSA on general surgical and ENT wards, and see if there were any significant differences between specialties, or between doctors and nurses. A 13-item questionnaire with a Likert scale response with six knowledge questions and seven attitude questions was prepared. It was completed anonymously by all nursing and medical staffs on the ENT and general surgical wards of a large District General Hospital. ENT doctors displayed the lowest knowledge and attitude scores; however, this only attained significance in terms of the knowledge of the difference between infection and colonization. Overall, nurses displayed significantly more positive attitudes towards MRSA patients than doctors, but knowledge scores were not significantly different between professions. The study suggests a lack of knowledge about and preponderance of negative attitudes towards MRSA amongst ENT doctors. The difference between colonization and infection is not well understood. Reasons for this may include the relative rarity of MRSA cases on ENT wards.
Abstract. Somatic chromosomes of Carthamus tinctorius L. were analysed. A karyotype formula for each studied population was formulated. Although all samples have 2n = 24, they could be differentiated by their karyotype formula and quantitative parameters of the karyotypes. The chromosomes were assorted into different categories on the basis of arms ratio following Levan et al. (1964). These were further subdivided into different types, on the basis of total length of the chromosomes. Based on an evolutionary point of view, variation in total chromosome length without major changes in the karyotype formula suggests that changes in the amounts of genomic DNA are proportional to the relative length of an each chromosome arm. All samples possessed symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical karyotype. The samples belonging to the same species were showing intra-specifi c or inter-specifi c chromosome polymorphism. This fi nding may provide useful information for Carthamus evolutionary, genetic, and breeding studies.
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