University College Cork

About: University College Cork is a education organization based out in Cork, Ireland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Irish. The organization has 12056 authors who have published 28452 publications receiving 958414 citations. The organization is also known as: Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh & National University of Ireland, Cork.

Photorhabdus and a host of hosts.

Abstract: Photorhabdus is a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae that lives in a mutualistic association with a Heterorhabditis nematode worm. The nematode worm burrows into insect prey and regurgitates Photorhabdus, which goes on to kill the insect. The nematode feeds off the growing bacteria until the insect tissues are exhausted, whereupon they reassociate and leave the cadaver in search of new prey. This highly efficient partnership has been used for many years as a biological crop protection agent. The dual nature of Photorhabdus as a pathogen and mutualist makes it a superb model for understanding these apparently exclusive activities. Furthermore, recently identified clinical isolates of Photorhabdus are helping us to understand how human pathogens can emerge from the enormous reservoir of invertebrate pathogens in the environment. As Photorhabdus has never been found outside a host animal, its niche represents an entirely biotic landscape. In this review we discuss what molecular adaptations allow this bacterium to complete this fascinating and complex life cycle.

Categorization of the gut microbiota: enterotypes or gradients?

Abstract: Grouping the microbiota of individual subjects into compositional categories, or enterotypes, based on the dominance of certain genera may have oversimplified a complex situation.

Patient-reported outcome measures in the NHS: new methods for analysing and reporting EQ-5D data.

Abstract: In a landmark move, the UK Department of Health (DH) has introduced the routine collection of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to measure the performance of health-care providers. From April 2009, generic (EQ-5D) and condition-specific PROMs are being collected from patients before and after four surgical procedures; eventually this will be extended to include a wide range of other NHS services. The aim of this article is to report analysis of the EQ-5D data generated from a pilot study commissioned by the DH and to consider the implications for the use of EQ-5D data in performance indicators and measures of patient benefit. We present two new methods that we have developed for analysing and displaying EQ-5D profile data: a Paretian Classification of Health Change and a health profile grid. We show that EQ-5D profile data can be readily analysed to generate insights into the nature of changes in patient-reported health that would be obscured by summarising these profiles by their index scores, or focusing just on the post operative outcomes. Our methods indicate differences between providers and between sub-groups of patients. Our results also show striking differences in changes in EQ-5D profiles between surgical procedures, which require further investigation.