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Interferon gamma (IFNγ) is a proinflammatory cytokine implicated in autoimmune diseases. However, deficiency or neutralization of IFNγ is ineffective in reducing disease. We characterize islet antigen-specific T cells in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice lacking all three IFN receptor genes. Diabetes is minimally affected, but at 125 days of age, antigen-specific CD8

This paper investigates effective strategies for enhancing completion rates of apprentices and their retention after completing their training. The study was cross sectional and qualitative, involving semi‐structured interviews with managers and four focus groups involving current and completed apprentices from within the engineering sector. The findings revealed that the factors that can enhance intentions of completing an apprenticeship were perceived organisation support (POS) factors such as apprentice pay, recognition and employer support. Leader Member Exchange (LMX) factors such as support from trainers and supervisors, would increase their intentions to complete an apprenticeship and stay on with an organisation after training. The key Percieved Organisational Support factors that would enhance intentions to stay with the organisation after completion were post apprenticeship pay, career progression and challenging and interesting work. Participants with high Perceived Organisational Support and Leader‐Member Exchange, had higher intentions of completing an apprenticeship and staying with the employer after completion and vice versa. This research added to the literature on apprenticeships as it analysed the factors influencing current and completed apprentices’ intentions to discontinue or complete an apprenticeship and stay with or leave their employer after completion through the lens of social exchange theory (SET) (Blau, 1964). This is unlike previous studies that emphasised motivation theory. Social Exchange Theory was supported as both employers and apprentices weighed the costs and benefits of their relationship which impacted on their completion and retention choices. The implication of this study is that employers should develop effective strategies for enhancing completion and retention rates to reap the full benefits from apprenticeships.

Aims and methodThe Maintaining Adherence Programme (MAP) is a new model of care for patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar affective disorder which aims to encourage adherence and prevent relapse. This evaluation, conducted by retrospective and prospective data collection (including patient questionnaires and staff interviews), aimed to describe MAP's impact on healthcare resource use, clinical measures and patient and staff satisfaction, following its implementation in a university National Health Service (NHS) foundation trust in England. We included 143 consenting patients who entered MAP before 31 March 2012.ResultsIn-patient bed days and non-MAP NHS costs reduced significantly in the 18 months post-MAP entry. At 15–18 months post-MAP, Medication Adherence Rating Scale scores had improved significantly from baseline and there was a shift towards less severe clinician-rated disease categories. Based on patient surveys, 96% would recommend MAP to friends, and staff were also overwhelmingly positive about the service.Clinical implicationsMAP was associated with reduced cost of treatment, improvements in clinical outcomes and very high patient and staff satisfaction.

PurposeWith care clusters an established framework for mental health services it is timely to consider how to use them to deliver high quality, evidence based care that is socially inclusive and recovery oriented. This paper aims to describe conceptual thinking about these issues, specifically in relation to the challenges and balances inherent in the care packages approach. It seeks to describe work to develop an internet based, high‐level description of such packages for each care cluster.Design/methodology/approachThe background to the project is described, along with a discussion of the conceptual and practice issues behind the work.FindingsWith mental health care now trying to make sense of local services in terms of care clusters the authors offer a high‐level framework to help people in this sensemaking. Coherent, socially inclusive and recovery oriented packages are set out on the website.Research limitations/implicationsThe work discussed in the article is highly innovative, being the first systematic attempt to provide evidence‐based, high‐level care packages for the care clusters model. Hence, a limitation is the challenge remaining to operationalise the work to real world care contexts.Practical implicationsThe website sets out a framework to help local services and commissioners plan and organise their services, drawing on the best guidance and evidence and developing care packages on the basis of the right ethos of care.Social implicationsIn moving to services fully commissioned and organised around the care clusters model, there remain major conceptual and practice challenges to address including operationalising evidence‐based care packages and means of flexibly delivering individual care.Originality/valueThis is the first view of socially inclusive packages for each of the care clusters that also draw together the best of guidance and standards of care.

Summary Mutations in whole organisms are powerful ways of interrogating gene function in a realistic context. We describe a program, the Sanger Institute Mouse Genetics Project, that provides a step toward the aim of knocking out all genes and screening each line for a broad range of traits. We found that hitherto unpublished genes were as likely to reveal phenotypes as known genes, suggesting that novel genes represent a rich resource for investigating the molecular basis of disease. We found many unexpected phenotypes detected only because we screened for them, emphasizing the value of screening all mutants for a wide range of traits. Haploinsufficiency and pleiotropy were both surprisingly common. Forty-two percent of genes were essential for viability, and these were less likely to have a paralog and more likely to contribute to a protein complex than other genes. Phenotypic data and more than 900 mutants are openly available for further analysis. PaperClip, Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Large openly available resource of targeted mouse mutants and phenotypic data • Screen for broad range of disease features and traits • Many novel phenotypes suggest functions for both studied and unstudied genes • Haploinsufficiency and pleiotropy are common, More than 900 new mutant mice lines and a multifaceted phenotypic screening platform reveal unanticipated pleiotropies, widespread effects of haploinsufficiency, potential disease models, and functions for unstudied genes.

Inactivating mutations in the human patched (PTCH) gene have been identified in both familial and sporadic basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). In some tumors mutations have been detected in both alleles thereby supporting the role of PTCH as a tumor suppressor gene. We have analyzed 22/23 coding exons of PTCH for mutations in 44 sporadic BCCs, and detected 10 novel mutations in nine tumors. In two of the mutant tumors the remaining allele was inactivated by loss of heterozygosity. Five novel PTCH polymorphisms were also identified. Most of the variations found were CT substitutions at dipyrimidine sites, supporting previous studies which indicate a role for ultraviolet-B in the genesis of sporadic BCCs.

The successful introduction of oil/water separating hydrocyclones into the offshore oil industry over the last ten years has provided a basis for the further development of the technology and scope for applications in the wider field of wastewater treatment where liquid contaminants are a problem; e. g. removal of fats and oils from food processing and agricultural effluents. Central to this development process has been establishing the limits of hydrocyclonic water deoiling capabilities, especially in streams contaminated with other components, and the extension of the hydrocyclone concept to achieve multi-component separations (e.g. oil and sand from water) in a single unit. These aspects will be discussed with reference to both laboratory tests and field data.

The development of the hydrocyclone at Southampton University for separating oil/water emulsions for the oil industry during the last 15 years would also appear to offer a possible new dimension for biological separations since both types of separation are similar in terms of their shear sensitivity and low differential density. The peak centrifugal forces generated in small hydrocyclones can be several thousand times the force of gravity which is similar to the centrifugal force used to sediment cells in centrifuges. Therefore, there would seem to be a potential for separating different types of cells in hydrocyclones. In addition, hydrocyclones are low cost, low inventory separators that are easy to isolate and clean; this last property is important for biotechnological applications such as production of genetically-engineered proteins in microorganisms. This paper reports on the preliminary assessment of the degree of compatibility of biological samples with separation in hydrocyclone systems and describes the initial results of dense separations in a small hydrocyclone test rig originally designed for low shear liquid-liquid separations.