University of Aberdeen

About: University of Aberdeen is a education organization based out in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 21174 authors who have published 49962 publications receiving 2105479 citations. The organization is also known as: Aberdeen University.

Normative data for the HADS from a large non-clinical sample

Abstract: Objective. To provide normative data for the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS).Design. Repeated measures and correlational.Methods. The HADS was administered to a non-clinical sample, broadly representative of the general adult UK population (N = 1792) in terms of the distributions of age, gender and occupational status. Correlational analysis was used to determine the influence of demographic variables on HADS scores.Results. Demographic variables had only very modest influences on HADS scores. The reliability of the HADS is acceptable; the Anxiety and Depression scales are moderately correlated (.53). Tables to convert raw scores to percentiles are presented for females and males.Conclusions. The present normative data allow clinicians to assess the rarity of a given HADS score, and thus provide a useful supplement to existing cut-off scores.© 2001 The British Psychological Society

Autotrophic nitrification in bacteria

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the physiology of autotrophic ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Several aspects of the physiology of nitrifiers of relevance to their growth and activity in natural environments are considered. The chapter describes the basic features of the biochemistry of ammonia and nitrite oxidation and discusses the growth limiting factors and activity of these organisms. The influence of oxygen concentration, pH value, and inhibitors on their physiology is also described. Nitrification plays a central role in the nitrogen cycle of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, converting the most reduced form of nitrogen, NH3, to the most oxidized form, NO3. Nitrifying bacteria occupy niches in many ecosystems and compete successfully with faster and more efficiently growing organisms for oxygen, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Nitrifiers are capable of reversing the nitrification process, carrying out denitrification and producing nitrite, ammonia, nitrous and nitric oxides, and gaseous nitrogen. Ammonia oxidizers can metabolize urea and can assimilate carbon from methane while nitrite oxidizers can grow anaerobically in the presence of organic compounds and nitrate.

Metal Chelation and Inhibition of Bacterial Growth in Tissue Abscesses

Abstract: Bacterial infection often results in the formation of tissue abscesses, which represent the primary site of interaction between invading bacteria and the innate immune system. We identify the host protein calprotectin as a neutrophil-dependent factor expressed inside Staphylococcus aureus abscesses. Neutrophil-derived calprotectin inhibited S. aureus growth through chelation of nutrient Mn2+ and Zn2+: an activity that results in reprogramming of the bacterial transcriptome. The abscesses of mice lacking calprotectin were enriched in metal, and staphylococcal proliferation was enhanced in these metal-rich abscesses. These results demonstrate that calprotectin is a critical factor in the innate immune response to infection and define metal chelation as a strategy for inhibiting microbial growth inside abscessed tissue.