62880 research outputs found
Sort by
Did 2004 EU expansion matter to new migrants’ housing tenure and settlement choices in England?
Get PDFThis paper analyses how migration policy changes affect the housing and location patterns of immigrants. Using the UK Longitudinal Household Survey data, we examine the relationship between the 2004 EU accession as a migration policy change and the housing and locational patterns of EU immigrants (specifically from 10 countries who joined EU in that time period) from a selected set of countries to the UK post-2004. In addition to confirming the importance of the migration policy frameworks through which immigrants are admitted into a country, we find that liberalised migration can create a wave of immigrants with a lower propensity for homeownership and may cause the dispersion of new immigrants to locations away from the gateway cities and primary immigrant clusters such as London. The results are robust to a number of tests
Communication for development: conceptualising changes in communication and inclusive rural transformation in the context of environmental change
Get PDFGlobally, rural conditions are in states of change. They are often highly vulnerable to climate and environmental change, extreme weather events, conflict, socio-economic changes, inequalities, and demographic changes. These changes are putting stress on rural areas, which rely upon agriculture and natural resources for their livelihoods and are often the foundation of national economies. Communication for development (C4D) has played an important role in addressing these challenges. Its thinking is broadly consistent with rural development goals—indeed, the roots of C4D come in part from rural development and agricultural extension. Communication for development (C4D) was defined by the World Congress on Communication for Development as “…a social process based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It also seeks change at different levels, including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge and skills, building policies, debating, and learning for sustained and meaningful change. It is not public relations or corporate communications”. However, after decades of action to address these interrelated rural development challenges, much remains to be done. This paper critically considers the following: What does inclusive rural development mean now, in light of environmental change, and how does this affect the conceptualisation and practice of C4D? This was done by using three countries as case studies: Malawi, Ukraine, and the Philippines. Each of these countries represented contrasting challenges and opportunities for rural development and environmental change, with lessons from their experiences shedding insight into the communication for development thinking
The effects of phytocannabinoids cannabidiol and cannabigerol on platelet modulation, thrombus formation and inflammatory responses
Get PDFCardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide each year.
Antiplatelet therapies have been found to reduce the risk of mortality for CVD patients and
prevent subsequent occurrences. Platelets are small circulating blood cells that perform critical roles
in blood clotting and the maintenance of haemostasis. In pathological settings, inappropriate
activation of platelets causes thrombosis in the arterial circulation, obstructing blood flow to key
organs such as the heart and brain, resulting in myocardial infarction and stroke, respectively.
Anti-platelet medications are currently in use, and while they do help save lives, they are
accompanied by several undesirable side effects, including gastrointestinal toxicity,
gastrointestinal ulcers, nausea, and bleeding. These adverse reactions are caused by the therapeutic
agents themselves. Therefore, the development of improved therapeutic strategies to treat/prevent
thrombotic disorders is a pressing concern. Non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids derived from the
Cannabis Sativa plant, such as cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabidiol (CBD), have been shown
to possess several therapeutic benefits in a variety of pathological disorders. As a result, the
purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effects of CBD and CBG on agonists-induced platelet
activation, thrombus formation under arterial flow conditions, and haemostasis in mice. CBD and
CBG were found at the used concentrations (1.56, 3.125, 6.25, 12.5 and 25 μM) to reduce
platelet aggregation when stimulated by a variety of agonists, showing their broad impact on
platelet signalling pathways. Moreover, each of CBD and CBG at the mentioned concentrations was
found to block granule release and intracellular calcium mobilisation in platelets, as well as
inside-out signalling of the integrin αIIb- β3 and outside-in signalling that was activated by the
same integrin. CBD and CBG also decreased thrombus formation on a collagen-coated surface
under arterial flow conditions. In addition, CBD and CBG had modest effects on the haemostasis of
mice. Even at high concentrations such as 100 μM, CBD and CBG did not have any cytotoxic
effects on platelets.
Their anti-inflammatory properties decrease inflammatory cytokines released by induced
platelets and reduce platelet-leukocyte aggregates. It has been found that CBD and CBG impair
platelet activity by interacting with a variety of molecules, including AKT, Src, and cAMP. In light
of these findings, the study shows that CBD and CBG have the potential to operate as treatments
to regulate inappropriate platelet reactivity under a variety of pathophysiological condition
In defence of good planning: planning practice, the learned profession and unifying action through reflexive lifelong learning
Get PDFThe need for ongoing learning and reflection and discussion of why, how and what it is that is being brokered through lifelong learning is presented. The nature of lifelong learning is considered, not only how it is offered and received, but also conceptualisation in a learned
profession and what linkages to initial planning education are maintained. We feel this is particularly germane given the increasingly politicised environment that planners operate in and which can shape behaviours and professional culture. Such reflection is required in a time where robust defence of good planning appears ever more necessary
Projected changes in heatwaves and its impact on human discomfort over India due to global warming under the CORDEX-CORE framework
Get PDFDue to climate change, rapid warming and its further intensification over different parts of the globe have been recently reported. This has a direct impact on human health, agriculture, water availability, power generation, various ecosystems, and socioeconomic conditions of the exposed population. The current study thus investigates the frequency and duration of heatwaves, human discomfort, and exposure of the human population to these extremes using the high-resolution regional climate model experiments under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP2.6, RCP8.5) over India. We find that more than 90% of India will be exposed to uncomfortable warm nights by the end of the 21st century with the highest rise over western India, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh (UP), Punjab, and the Haryana region. States like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, eastern parts of MP and UP, and some parts of J&K will be the worst hit by the intense and frequent heatwaves and human discomfort followed by the densely populated Indo-Gangetic plains under RCP8.5. Strict enforcement of the stringent policies on stabilization of population growth, improvement of local adaptive capacities, and economic status of the vulnerable population along with enforcing effective measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions are important to reduce human exposure to future heat stress. We demonstrate that a proper mitigation-based development (RCP2.6) instead of a business-as-usual scenario (RCP8.5) may help to reduce 50–200 heatwave days, 3–10 heatwave spells, and 10–35% warm nights over the Indian region. Consequently, this can avoid the exposure of 135–143 million population to severe discomfort due to extreme heat conditions by the end of the 21st century
Samuel Browne’s late 17th century Indian herbarium: identifications and early modern taxonomic practice
No full textSamuel Browne (21st December 1698) was a surgeon employed by the English East India Company (EIC) at Fort St. George, Madras (now Chennai) in India. In 1697, Browne sent a herbarium of 316 specimens collected in and around Chennai to the EIC. Many of those specimens were accompanied with vernacular names, descriptions and notes on their properties and uses. Browne’s specimens were studied by James Petiver who published descriptions with Browne as co-author. Those descriptions made reference to polynomial names in many other published works. In this paper we present a description of the Browne herbarium and identifications for all specimens, with 313 of the 316 specimens identified to species level. We also examine how knowledge from the specimens sent by Browne was integrated with existing
knowledge in published works. We show that specimens with a medicinal or other use recorded by Browne were more extensively referenced to other literature than those with no use documented, likely reflecting the fact that plants with documented uses were more likely to have been studied previously. Contrary to our expectations, we found no difference in the extent of referencing to other works when comparing widespread species with species endemic to the Indian subcontinent. The ethnobotanical information recorded in Browne’s herbarium, used in conjunction with the identifications provided in this paper, provides
a unique resource for understanding plants in 17th century Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
Self-assembly and antimicrobial activity of lipopeptides containing lysine-rich tripeptides
Get PDFThe conformation and self-assembly of two pairs of model lipidated tripeptides in aqueous solution are probed using a combination of spectroscopic methods along with cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The palmitoylated lipopeptides comprise C16-YKK or C16-WKK (with two l-lysine residues) or their respective derivatives containing d-lysine (k), i.e., C16-Ykk and C16-Wkk. All four molecules self-assemble into spherical micelles which show structure factor effects in SAXS profiles due to intermicellar packing in aqueous solution. Consistent with micellar structures, the tripeptides in the coronas have a largely unordered conformation, as probed using spectroscopic methods. The molecules are found to have good cytocompatibility with fibroblasts at sufficiently low concentrations, although some loss of cell viability is noted at the highest concentrations examined (above the critical aggregation concentration of the lipopeptides, determined from fluorescence dye probe measurements). Preliminary tests also showed antimicrobial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria
Antibacterial and antiviral properties of Chenopodin-derived synthetic peptides
Get PDFAntimicrobial peptides have been developed based on plant-derived molecular scaffolds for the treatment of infectious diseases. Chenopodin is an abundant seed storage protein in quinoa, an An-dean plant with high nutritional and therapeutic properties. Here, we used computer- and physico-chemical-based strategies and designed four peptides derived from the primary structure of Che-nopodin. Two peptides reproduce natural fragments of 14 amino acids from Chenopodin, named Chen1 and Chen2 and two engineered peptides of the same length were designed based on the Chen1 sequence. The two amino acids of Chen1 containing amide side chains were replaced by ar-ginine (ChenR) or tryptophan (ChenW) to generate engineered cationic and hydrophobic peptides. The evaluation of these 14-mer peptides on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli showed that Chen1 does not have antibacterial activity up to 512 µM against these strains, while other peptides exhibited antibacterial effects at lower concentrations. The chemical substitutions of glutamine and asparagine by amino acids with cationic or aromatic side chains significantly favoured their antibacterial effects. These peptides did not show significant hemolytic activity. Fluorescence mi-croscopy analysis highlighted the membranolytic nature of Chenopodin-derived peptides. Using molecular dynamic simulations, we found that a pore is formed when multiple peptides are as-sembled in the membrane. Whereas some of them form secondary structures when interacting with the membrane, allowing water translocations during the simulations. Finally, Chen2 and ChenR significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings demonstrate that Chenopodin is a highly useful template for design, engineering, and manufacturing of non-toxic, antibacterial, and antiviral peptides
Need satisfaction in daily well-being: both social and solitude contexts contribute to well-being
Get PDFDaily need satisfaction for relatedness (social connection), autonomy (volitional self-congruent action), and competence (self-efficacy) fosters well-being, but those findings primarily reflect experiences during social interactions. A three-week daily diary study (N=178) explored psychological need satisfaction in two key everyday contexts: solitude and social. Holding constant the benefits of need-satisfying social contexts, autonomy satisfaction during solitude was key to peaceful affect, whereas competence satisfaction during solitude contributed to lower loneliness; both psychological needs in solitude contributed to evaluating the day as more satisfying. Relatedness-deficiency in solitude did not contribute to loneliness; instead, those who were relatedness-deficient in social interactions felt lonely. Further, solitude need satisfaction compensated for deficient needs in social contexts, reducing loneliness (autonomy and relatedness) and increasing day satisfaction (all needs) when social contexts failed to satisfy needs. Findings suggest daily solitude can shape daily well-being and further attention is needed to understand and ultimately improve everyday solitude