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Lifelong dietary protein restriction accelerates skeletal muscle loss and reduces muscle fibre size by impairing proteostasis and mitochondrial homeostasis
Get PDF© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.The early life environment significantly affects the development of age-related skeletal muscle disorders. However, the long-term effects of lactational protein restriction on skeletal muscle are still poorly defined. Our study revealed that male mice nursed by dams fed a low-protein diet during lactation exhibited skeletal muscle growth restriction. This was associated with a dysregulation in the expression levels of genes related to the ribosome, mitochondria and skeletal muscle development. We reported that lifelong protein restriction accelerated loss of type-IIa muscle fibres and reduced muscle fibre size by impairing mitochondrial homeostasis and proteostasis at 18 months of age. However, feeding a normal-protein diet following lactational protein restriction prevented accelerated fibre loss and fibre size reduction in later life. These findings provide novel insight into the mechanisms by which lactational protein restriction hinders skeletal muscle growth and includes evidence that lifelong dietary protein restriction accelerated skeletal muscle loss in later life.VoR uploaded to CR and AAM archived 07/12/202
Identification of Disalicyloyl Curcumin as a potential DNA Polymerase Inhibitor for Marek’s Disease Herpesvirus: A computational study uising virtual screening and molecular dynamics simulations
Get PDFMarek’s disease virus (MDV) is a highly contagious and persistent virus that causes T-lymphoma in chickens, posing a significant threat to the poultry industry despite the availability of vaccines. The emergence of new virulent strains has further intensified the challenge of designing effective antiviral drugs for MDV. In this study, our main objective was to identify novel antiviral phytochemicals through in silico analysis. We employed Alphafold to construct a three-dimensional (3D) structure of the MDV DNA polymerase, a crucial enzyme involved in viral replication. To ensure the accuracy of the structural model, we validated it using tools available at the SAVES server. Subsequently, a diverse dataset containing thousands of compounds, primarily derived from plant sources, was subjected to molecular docking with the MDV DNA polymerase model, utilizing AutoDock software V 4.2. Through comprehensive analysis of the docking results, we identified Disalicyloyl curcumin as a promising drug candidate that exhibited remarkable binding affinity, with a minimum energy of −12.66 Kcal/mol, specifically targeting the DNA polymerase enzyme. To further assess its potential, we performed molecular dynamics simulations, which confirmed the stability of Disalicyloyl curcumin within the MDV system. Experimental validation of its inhibitory activity in vitro can provide substantial support for its effectiveness. The outcomes of our study hold significant implications for the poultry industry, as the discovery of efficient antiviral phytochemicals against MDV could substantially mitigate the economic losses associated with this devastating disease.Funder: King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Grant(s): RSPD2023R74
Evaluation of the Paediatric Home-based Palliative Care Service
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University of ChesterPalliative care has been recognised as a medical speciality since 1987 (Hynson & Sawyer, 2001). However, it remains relatively underdeveloped in the paediatric setting, and there has been little research carried out in the area. One reason for this may be the nature and challenge of surveying caretakers about a highly emotive and painful subject (Hynson & Sawyer, 2001). However, as Dangel, Fowler-Kerry, Karwacki, and Bereda (2000) suggest, ongoing programme evaluation is a necessary component to improve the quality of service delivery. Research is required in all aspects of palliative care in order to ensure that this relatively new speciality can move forward from an anecdotal basis to one that has a sound evidence base (Twycross & Dunn, 1994).
The most distinctive feature of palliative care is its divergence from most other types of medical care: the aims are different to that of curative care and thus create different priorities. Palliative care focuses on relieving pain or the symptoms of a disease or disorder without effecting a cure (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2005). As such palliative care aims to preserve normality as far as possible; for the great majority of children and young people, this means delivering care in the home (Watterson & Hain, 2003). In this setting, parents play a key role in decision making as they are involved in the day-to-day management of their child's symptoms (Dangel et al., 2000)
How is play expressed amongst Undergraduate Students from Medicine, Nursing & Allied Health Professions Programmes and does it relate to Psychological Wellbeing? An IPA Study
Get PDFThe psychological wellbeing (PWB) of students undertaking Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health Professions (AHP) programmes is at crisis point. Manifested as stress and mental health conditions, this group of students’ experience detriment to
wellbeing before they join what is arguably a stressful clinical environment at the end of their professional programme. Strategies to improve the wellbeing of students and healthcare workers have yet to bear fruit and the issue of declining wellbeing appears to be escalating. Empirical studies within business literature suggest that play in the organisational context may improve PWB. This Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate students from Medicine, Nursing and AHP programmes and their expression of play in the clinical environment. The findings contribute to a sparse body of knowledge about play in the healthcare organisational context and offers some unique and original insights into the types of play that the participants engaged in, the facilitative and limiting factors of play, and how the enactment of play contributes to improved PWB
An interrogation of concepts of journalistic professionalism within (HE level) journalism education in the context of ethics learning and teaching
Get PDFThe journalism field continues to undergo a significant transformation impacting on practitioners and their place within the public sphere. These changes are also apparent in the way journalists perceive themselves as well as their audiences (actual and potential) in particular. The impact of audience news consumption from online platforms has been especially significant during the last decade with characteristics traditionally associated with journalistic professionalism, such as gatekeeping and autonomy diminishing and their association with the field called into question. Professionalism however, has long been a
contested notion in journalism. This research begins with an exploration of its various sociological definitions and their relevance to the field of practice. A hypothesis then emerges from a review of key learning and teaching resource material which suggested the paucity of clear meanings in the documentation reflected a broader understanding of professionalism in
the journalism field and rendering the ascription of terms such as ‘professional’ and ‘professionalism’ to practice as problematic. This set the groundwork and rationale for the identification and interrogation of concepts of professionalism through interviews with journalism educators at HE level. The resulting isolation of characteristics of journalism practice in teaching and learning could be reflective of journalistic professionalism. The subsequent interview data was then analysed using a realistic evaluation approach which established a set of indicative themes considered to be key notions of journalistic professionalism. The findings confirmed the idea of journalistic professionalism was problematic because of the fluid contemporary environment of the journalism field. Perceived notions of professionalism however, were primarily driven by academization which, it was concluded, were intrinsic to an overarching definition of journalistic professionalism. Furthermore, when examined through the theoretical framework of social responsibility, three new themes were derived from the amalgamation of interview data with the ‘dimensions’ outlined by Singer (2003) and Larson (1977). These themes – the COAd theme (normative dimension, organizational theme and academic driver), NOE theme (the normative dimension, organizational and ethical themes) and EE theme (the evaluative dimension, existential theme), provided a set of clearly identifiable notions by which to differentiate between those in the field – ‘professionals’, adhering to normative journalistic practices, ethical behaviour and organizational obligation, and ‘non-professionals’, who identify as journalists but are not tied to any specific requirements, ethical or otherwise
Family carer experiences of hospice care at home: qualitative findings from a mixed methods realist evaluation
Get PDFThis document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in [Palliative Medicine]. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163231206027Background: Hospice-at-home aims to enable patients approaching end-of-life to die at home and support their carers. A wide range of different service models exists but synthesised evidence on how best to support family carers to provide sustainable end-of -life care at home is limited.
Aim: To explore what works best to promote family carers’ experiences of hospice-at-home.
Design: Realist evaluation with mixed methods. This paper focuses on qualitative interviews with carers (to gain their perspective and as proxy for patients) and service providers from twelve case study sites in England. Interviews were coded and programme theories were refined by the research team including two public members.
Setting/participants: Interviews with carers (involved daily) of patients admitted to hospice-at-home services (n=58) and hospice-at-home staff (n=78).
Results: Post bereavement, 76.4% of carers thought that they had received as much help and support as they needed and most carers (75.8%) rated the help and support as excellent or outstanding. Of six final programme theories capturing key factors relevant to providing optimum services, those directly relevant to carer experiences were: integration and co-ordination of services; knowledge, skills and ethos of hospice staff; volunteer roles; support directed at the patient–carer dyad.
Conclusions: Carers in hospice-at-home services identified care to be of a higher quality than generic community services. Hospice staff were perceived as having ‘time to care’, communicated well and were comfortable with dying and death. Hands-on care was particularly valued in the period close to death
Establishing community mental health clinics increased the number of patients receiving care in rural Western Uganda
Get PDFBackground: Mental, neurological, and substance-use disorders cause medium to long term disability in all countries. They are amenable to treatment but often treatment is only available in hospitals, as few staff feel competent to give treatment. The WHO developed the “Mental Health GAP” (mhGAP) course to train non-specialist clinical staff in basic diagnosis and treatment. At Bwindi Community Hospital, in south-west Uganda, mental health care was initially only provided at the hospital. It was extended outside the hospital in two implementation phases, initially by establishing 17 clinics in the community, run by qualified mental health staff from the hospital. In the second implementation phase staff in 12 health centers were trained using mhGAP and ran their own clinics under supervision. Methods: Using routine data the defined data variables for the individuals attending the clinics was extracted. Results: A total of 2,617 people attended a mental health care clinic in the study period between January 2016 and March 2020. Of these 1,051 people attended more than once. The number of patients attending clinics increased from 288 during the baseline to 693 in the first implementation phase then to 839 patients in the second implementation phase. After mhGAP training, about 30% of patients were seen locally by mhGAP trained healthcare personnel. The average number of mental health patients seen each month increased from 12 to 65 over the time of the study. The number of patients living >20 km from the hospital increased from 69 in the baseline to 693 in the second implementation phase. The proportion of patients seen at the hospital clinic dropped from 100% to 27%. Conclusions: Providing mental health care in the community at a distance from the hospital substantially increased the number of people accessing mental health care. Training health center-based staff in mhGAP contributed to this. Not all patients could appropriately be managed by non-specialist clinical staff, who only had the five-day training in mhGAP. Supplies of basic medicines were not always adequate, which probably contributed to patients being lost to follow-up. About 50% of patients only attend the clinic once. Further work is required to understand the reasons
From ‘tiaras and twirls’ to ‘action and adventure’. Eliciting children’s gendered perceptions of Disney characters through participatory visual methodology.
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Early Years Education on 03/01/2023, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2022.2164259This study, based on interpretative phenomenological methodology, examines the influence Disney media and merchandise may have on children’s understandings of gender. Although there are various studies in this area, most focus on the Disney Princesses’ effects on girls’ gender development and few directly elicit the views of both girls and boys (Golden and Jacoby 2018). The current study attempts to address this gap by investigating how girls and boys, aged five to eight years, interpret messages circulated by Disney to make sense of the gendered norms and roles of its characters. Participatory visual methods used were a draw and talk exercise and an image-values line activity. Critical discourse analysis identified two key gender discourses: physical appearance and gendered behaviours, with children’s exclusionary binary opinions core to both. However, both boys and girls valued the more active traits portrayed by the contemporary princesses. Through adopting a feminist poststructuralist lens, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge that informs of ways to deconstruct stereotypes with children to promote positive gender development in childhood
‘Not to judge by the looks but you can tell by the looks!’ Physical capital as symbolic capital in the individualization of health among young Norwegians
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Sport, Education and Society on 13/12/2022, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2022.2159361In this paper we explore how 15–16-year-old Norwegians experience social and cultural norms that shape their relationship with health and physical activity (PA) in a country where participation in PA is normative, in the sense that it is not only a widely shared practice but, in having significant cultural traction, is commonly understood as a ‘normal’ part of Norwegian daily life. The study draws upon qualitative data generated from 31 focus groups involving 148 10th graders (15–16-year-olds) in eight secondary schools in Norway. A key finding was that health was primarily viewed as synonymous with physical health and physical health as closely related to PA. A symbolic marker for physical condition – and, by extension, physical health –
was physical appearance and ‘looks’ (in other words, physical attractiveness), revolving around gender normative bodily ‘shape’. In this vein, the youngsters tended towards individualistic views of health – seeing health as a responsibility that lay largely in their hands. We argue that the significance of growing up and living in a wealthy, social democratic nation-state, with high living standards and high social and cultural expectations, can have profound implications for youngsters’ perceptions of health and PA, the impact of neoliberalism notwithstanding
UK or the Eurozone: Which Common Currency Area Can Work for Northern Ireland After Brexit?
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Journal of Finance on 26/05/2023, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/1351847X.2023.2216240Brexit and the controversy concerning an Irish border makes the issue of whether Northern Ireland is a common currency area with the rest of UK or the Eurozone topical. We test the microeconomic foundations of a common currency area for Northern Ireland, UK, Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Eurozone. We provide evidence that all areas meet the microeconomic criteria for a common currency area. Banking data suggest that lending in Northern Ireland is different from lending in the rest of the UK, raising doubt on whether or not the UK forms a common currency area including Northern Ireland
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