Infection Prevention and Control at a Glance is the perfect companion for study and revision for pre-registration nursing and healthcare students, as well as qualified nurses and medical students. Infection prevention and control is one of the key five ‘essential skills clusters’ that is incorporated into all pre-registration nursing programmes. This highly visual and dynamic book is a thorough resource for nurses wanting to consolidate and expand their knowledge of this important part of nursing. Written by experienced infection prevention and control specialist nurses, it provides a concise and simple approach to a vast and complex subject, and equips the reader with key information in relation to various aspects of infection prevention and control practice. Provides a snap-shot of the application of infection prevention and control in practice and the key infections affecting patients in both acute and primary care A uniquely visual and accessible overview of a topic of relevance to all nursing staff Includes key points for clinical practice, patient management, and signposting of key national guidance documents and websites Available in a wide-range of digital formats - perfect for 'on the go' study and revision

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the significance of polysialic acid (polySia or PSA1) in modulating the plasticity of immature neurons in the developing and adult brain. PSA is an unusually long chain of sialic acid residues expressed on the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM). The expression of PSA is restricted to the embryonic brain and areas of neurogenesis in adulthood. Thus it has been proposed that PSA functions to promote neuronal plasticity. It has been suggested that the very large and negatively charged PSA is able to sterically hinder receptor interactions on cell membranes and between adjacent cells. By creating a voluminous space on the cell membrane, PSA limits stable attachments formed by NCAM-mediated adhesion and thereby promotes migration and neurite outgrowth. In the first part of this thesis we examined the role of PSA in the development of septal neurons, which are known to be important in learning and memory and affected in neurodegenerative disease. Our results showed that PSA limits septal neurite outgrowth in culture by preventing neuron-substrate contacts. We also demonstrated that PSA restricts a cholinergic phenotype in septal neurons, as measured by choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity. PSA limited ChAT activity by minimizing the responsiveness of the neurons to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). ChAT activity was also found to be improved by homophilic stimulation of NCAM, the carrier of PSA. In the second part of this thesis, we examined the role of retained expression of PSA on neural progenitor cells of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Our results revealed that PSA is important for mediating the clustering and migration behaviour of the adult neural progenitor cells to ensure their proper development. Together these data indicate that a significant role for PSA is to limit the interaction between growing neurons and their environment to orchestrate appropriate spatiotemporal neuronal development. Overall, this thesis provides new insight into the role of PSA as an important modulator of neuronal development, especially with regards to ChAT and progenitor cells. Keywords: Polysialic acid, neural cell adhesion molecule, neurite outgrowth, beta1 integrin, choline acetyltransferase, brain derived neurotrophic factor, mitogen activated protein kinase, C3d, neurogenesis. 1PSA is the abbreviation used for polysialic acid in throughout this thesis.