Naresuan University Journal
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Effects of interventions promoting monitoring of medication use and brief messaging on medication adherence for people with type 2 diabetes: systematic review of randomised trials
No full textIs integrated care associated with service costs and admission rates to institutional settings? An observational study of community mental health teams for older people in England
No full textOBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between the degree of integration in community mental health teams (CMHTs) and: (i) the costs of service provision; (ii) rates of mental health inpatient and care home admission.METHODS: An observational study of service use and admissions to institutional care was undertaken for a prospectively-sampled cohort of patients from eight CMHTs in England. Teams were chosen to represent 'high' or 'low' levels of integrated working practice and patients were followed-up for seven months. General linear models were used to estimate service costs and the likelihood of institutional admission.RESULTS: Patients supported by high integration teams received services costing an estimated 44% more than comparable patients in low integration teams. However, after controlling for case mix, no significant differences were found in the likelihood of admission to mental health inpatient wards or care homes between team types.CONCLUSIONS: Integrated mental health and social care teams appeared to facilitate greater access to community care services, but no consequent association was found with community tenure. Further research is required to identify the necessary and sufficient components of integrated community mental health care, and its effect on a wider range of outcomes using patient-reported measures. © 2016 The Authors. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p
The politics of construction: towards a theory of material articulations
No full textThis paper seeks to position construction as a platform and a practice for the articulation of a new type of urban politics. The argument is presented in four steps, each of them supported by an analysis of the work of social movement GIROS in Rosario. The first part describes how construction introduces prefiguration as a means of reconfiguring the spatialities and temporalities of urban politics. The second part presents an analysis of the processes of de-institutionalisation and de-commodification that emerge from the involvement of urban social movements with construction practices in peripheral settlements. I then illustrate how the politicisation of construction operates through a simultaneous recuperation of what is described as techno-popular knowledges and a disruption of hegemonic constructive epistemologies. Lastly, the paper introduces the notion of material articulation to examine how construction, as a prefigurative tactic, is used to formulate alternative urban political programs. The part presents a brief conceptual history of the notion of articulation and argues for the need to deepen current trends that seek to expand its restrictive association with language and institutionalised politics. The paper concludes by addressing how material articulations are reconfiguring the content, agencies and spatialities of political action
Yeast mitochondrial glutathione is an essential antioxidant with mitochondrial thioredoxin providing a back-up system
No full textGlutathione is an abundant, low-molecular-weight tripeptide whose biological importance is dependent upon its redox-active free sulphydryl moiety. Its role as the main determinant of thiol-redox control has been challenged such that it has been proposed to play a crucial role in iron-sulphur clusters maturation, and only a minor role in thiol redox regulation, predominantly as a back-up system for the cytoplasmic thioredoxin system. Here, we have tested the importance of mitochondrial glutathione in thiol-redox regulation. Glutathione reductase (Glr1) is an oxidoreductase which converts oxidized glutathione to its reduced form. Yeast Glr1 localizes to both the cytosol and mitochondria and we have used a Glr1(M1L) mutant that is constitutively localized to the cytosol to test the requirement for mitochondrial Glr1. We show that the loss of mitochondrial Glr1 specifically accounts for oxidant sensitivity of a glr1 mutant. Loss of mitochondrial Glr1 does not influence iron-sulphur cluster maturation and we have used targeted roGFP2 fluorescent probes to show that oxidant sensitivity is linked to an altered redox environment. Our data indicate mitochondrial glutathione is crucial for mitochondrial thiol-redox regulation, and the mitochondrial thioredoxin system provides a back-up system, but cannot bear the redox load of the mitochondria on its own.Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.<br/
The reaction product of hydrogen and electro-refined plutonium observed by in situ electron microscopy
No full textComputational technology for analysis of 3D meso-structure effects on damage and failure of concrete
No full textMethodology for analysis of meso-structure effects on longer-scale mechanical response of concrete is developed. Efficient algorithms for particle generation and packing are proposed to represent 3D meso-structures as collections of discrete features distributed randomly in a continuous phase. Specialised to concrete, the continuous phase represents mortar, while the features are aggregates and voids. Intra- and inter-phase cohesive zones are used for failure initiation and crack propagation. A Monte Carlo approach is proposed to analyse the effects of meso-structure geometrical (volume density, size distribution and shape of features) and physical (strength and energy of cohesive zones) properties, whereas a number of model realisations with identical properties are used for statistical analysis. The results present the relative significance of each meso-structure parameter for the emergent load capacity (tensile strength), damage evolution via micro-crack coalescence and macro-crack patterns, and failure energy density (toughness) of concrete. The proposed methodology is an effective tool for meso-structure optimisation in the design of concrete structures with prescribed requirements for strength and toughness
What do people think about running barefoot/with minimalist footwear? A Thematic Analysis
No full textIMC, social media, and UK fashion micro-organisations
No full textPurpose – This paper analyses the practical applicability of integrated marketing communications (IMC) to micro-organisations operating in the UK’s fashion industry, focusing specifically on the use of online platforms. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative methodological tools including semi- structured interviews, semiotics, Twitterfeed, and Facebook analysis are used to examine to what extent micro-organisations apply IMC. Findings – The findings suggest that these micro-organisations have a limited understanding of IMC. Although they utilise various channels, including social media, there is a disconnect between reaching the audience, understanding their needs, and linking these aspects. External factors influence the use of various communication channels, leading to further fragmentation of sent messages. Research limitations/implications – This research focuses on five micro- organisations within the fashion industry and thus may be seen as limited in nature. Whilst implications of the findings are discussed in terms of their impact to the wider industry and other sectors, this needs to be further researched. Practical implications – Micro-organisations are underdeveloped in terms of both IMC and social media and require practical advice. Originality/value – This study investigates two under-researched areas; IMC in micro-organisations and the use of social media within IMC, thereby moving forward our understanding of IMC in practice
Long-term in vitro Treatment of Metformin Altered Biological and Biochemical Properties of Cardiac Cells
No full text A cardiovascular complication from diabetes, especially ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a major cause of death in diabetic patients. Metformin is an effective anti-diabetic drug that has been used worldwide. Several studies have reported the cardioprotective effect of Metformin in an in vivo and ex vivo model. However, information on the biological alterations of long-duration treatment with Metformin at the cellular and molecular levels is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effects of long-duration cardioprotective doses of Metformin treatment on the biological, biochemical and proteomes characteristics of cardiac cells. Rat cardiac myoblast cell lines (H9c2) were cultured for 30 days in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) in both the presence and absence of 3mM Metformin, which was optimized as a cardioprotective dose, in a simulated ischemia/reperfusion model. The changes in cell proliferation were determined by the characteristic of the growth curve and calculated populations doubling time (PDT). The cellular morphology was measured by F-actin cytoskeleton staining with phalloidin conjugated with TRITC and visualized under a fluorescence microscope. The phosphorylation of p38 MAPK was demonstrated by western blotting. The alteration of the expressed cellular protein was determined by a proteomics technique. The results showed that the long term effects of 3 mM Metformin was an increase of cell proliferation, decreased populations’ doubling time, slight disorganized actin, and decreased phosphorylation of the p38 MAPK level. In conclusion, the data suggested that the in vitro effect of long-duration Metformin treatment altered the biological, biochemical and proteome characteristics of the cardiac cells.
Keywords: diabetes, metformin, longterm effects of metformin, cardiac cell, proteomic