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A comparison of LKB1/AMPK/mTOR metabolic axis response to global ischaemia in brain, heart, liver and kidney in a rat model of cardiac arrest
Get PDF© The Author(s). 2018 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Background
Cellular energy failure in high metabolic rate organs is one of the underlying causes for many disorders such as neurodegenerative diseases, cardiomyopathies, liver and renal failures. In the past decade, numerous studies have discovered the cellular axis of LKB1/AMPK/mTOR as an essential modulator of cell homeostasis in response to energy stress. Through regulating adaptive mechanisms, this axis adjusts the energy availability to its demand by a systematized control on metabolism. Energy stress, however, could be sensed at different levels in various tissues, leading to applying different strategies in response to hypoxic insults.
Methods
Here the immediate strategies of high metabolic rate organs to time-dependent short episodes of ischaemia were studied by using a rat model (n = 6/group) of cardiac arrest (CA) (15 and 30 s, 1, 2, 4 and 8 min CA). Using western blot analysis, we examined the responses of LKB1/AMPK/mTOR pathway in brain, heart, liver and kidney from 15 s up to 8 min of global ischaemia. The ratio of ADP/ATP was assessed in all ischemic and control groups, using ApoSENSOR bioluminescent assay kit.
Results
Brain, followed by kidney showed the early dephosphorylation response in AMPK (Thr172) and LKB1 (Ser431); in the absence of ATP decline (ADP/ATP elevation). Dephosphorylation of AMPK was followed by rephosphorylation and hyperphosphorylation, which was associated with a significant ATP decline. While heart’s activity of AMPK and LKB1 remained at the same level during short episodes of ischaemia, liver’s LKB1 was dephosphorylated after 2 min. AMPK response to ischaemia in liver was mainly based on an early alternative and a late constant hyperphosphorylation. No significant changes was observed in mTOR activity in all groups.
Conclusion
Together our results suggest that early AMPK dephosphorylation followed by late hyperphosphorylation is the strategy of brain and kidney in response to ischaemia. While the liver seemed to get benefit of its AMPK system in early ischameia, possibly to stabilize ATP, the level of LKB1/AMPK activity in heart remained unchanged in short ischaemic episodes up to 8 min. Further researches must be conducted to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying LKB1/AMPK response to oxygen supply
Community health professionals’ dementia knowledge, attitudes and care approach: a cross-sectional survey in Changsha, China
Get PDF© The Author(s). 2018 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Background
Community health professionals play a significant role in dementia care. However, little is known about community health professionals’ capacity in dementia care, especially in low and middle-income countries. The aim of the present study was to assess community health professionals’ dementia knowledge, attitudes and care approach in China, a country with the largest population of people with dementia in the world and where community based dementia care services are much needed.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was conducted. 450 health professionals were recruited into the study using random sampling from community health service centres in Changsha, China. Their knowledge, attitudes and care approach were assessed utilising the Chinese version of the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale, Dementia Care Attitude Scale and Approach to Advanced Dementia Care Questionnaire respectively.
Results
A total of 390 participants returned the questionnaire (response rate 87%). Age, education, professional group and care experience were associated with knowledge scores, and overall dementia knowledge was poor. Attitudes were generally positive and influenced by age, professional group, gender and care experience. The experience of caring for people with dementia was positively associated with a person-centred care approach, although the participants tended not to use a person-centred care approach. A statistically significant association was found between knowledge and attitudes (r = 0.379, P < 0.001), and between attitudes and care approach (r = 0.143, P < 0.001). However, dementia knowledge has no relationship with a person-centred approach.
Conclusions
Community health professionals showed generally positive attitudes towards people with dementia. However, they demonstrated poor dementia knowledge and tended not to use a person-centred care approach. The results suggest that a multifaceted approach consisting of educational interventions for community health professionals, and policy and resource development to meet the demand for community dementia care services, is urgently needed in China
Barriers to HIV testing among male clients of female sex workers in Indonesia
Get PDF© The Author(s). 2018 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Background
Frequent engagement of men in sexual encounters with female sex workers (FSWs) without using condoms places them at a high risk for HIV infection. HIV testing has been noted to be among important strategies to prevent HIV transmission and acquisition. However, it is known that not all men willingly undertake an HIV test as a way to prevent HIV transmission and/or acquisition. This study aimed to identify barriers to accessing HIV testing services among men who are clients of FSWs (clients) in Belu and Malaka districts, Indonesia.
Methods
A qualitative inquiry employing face to face open ended interviews was conducted from January to April 2017. The participants (n = 42) were clients of FSWs recruited using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were analysed using a qualitative data analysis framework.
Results
Findings indicated three main barriers of accessing HIV testing services by clients. These included: (1) personal barriers (lack of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and HIV testing availability, and unwillingness to undergo HIV testing due to low self-perceived risk of HIV and fear of the test result); (2) health care service provision barriers (lack of trust in health professionals and limited availability of medication including antiretroviral (ARV)); and (3) social barriers (stigma and discrimination, and the lack of social supports).
Conclusions
These findings indicated multilevelled barriers to accessing HIV testing services among participants, who are known to be among key population groups in HIV care. Actions to improve HIV/AIDS-related health services accessibility are required. The dissemination of the knowledge and information on HIV/AIDS and improved available of HIV/AIDS-related services are necessary actions to improve the personal levelled barriers. System wide barriers will need improved practices and health policies to provide patients friendly and accessible services. The societal levelled barriers will need a more broad societal approach including raising awareness in the community and enhanced discussions about HIV/AIDS issues in order to normalise HIV in the society
What is the overall impact or effectiveness of visiting primary health care services in rural and remote communities in high-income countries? A systematic review
Get PDF© The Author(s). 2018 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Background
Visiting services address the problem of workforce deficit and access to effective primary health care services in isolated remote and rural locations. Little is known about their impact or effectiveness and thereby the extent to which they are helping to reduce the disparity in access and health outcomes between people living in remote areas compared with people living in urban regions of Australia. The objective of this study was to answer the question “What is the impact or effectiveness when different types of primary health care services visit, rather than reside in, rural and remote communities?”
Method
We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature from established databases. We also searched relevant websites for ‘grey’ literature and contacted several key informants to identify other relevant reference material. All papers were reviewed by at least two assessors according to agreed inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Results
Initially, 345 papers were identified and, from this selection, 17 papers were considered relevant for inclusion. Following full paper review, another ten papers were excluded leaving seven papers that provided some information about the impact or effectiveness of visiting services. The papers varied with regard to study design (ranging from cluster randomised controlled trials to a case study), research quality, and the strength of their conclusions. In relation to effectiveness or impact, results were mixed. There was a lack of consistent data regarding the features or characteristics of visiting services that enhance their effectiveness or impact. Almost invariably the evaluations assessed the service provided but only two papers mentioned any aspect of the visiting features within which service provision occurred such as who did the visiting and how often they visited.
Conclusions
There is currently an inadequate evidence base from which to make decisions about the effectiveness of visiting services or how visiting services should be structured in order to achieve better health outcomes for people living in remote and rural areas. Given this knowledge gap, we suggest that more rigorous evaluation of visiting services in meeting community health needs is required, and that evaluation should be guided by a number of salient principles
Purification and functional characterization of recombinant Balsamin, a ribosomeinactivating protein from Momordica balsamina
Get PDF© 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (February 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyBalsamin, a type I ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP), has been shown to inhibit
HIV-1 replication at the translation step. Our recent studies have shown that balsamin also
possess anti-tumor, antibacterial and DNase-like activity, however, the amount of natural
balsamin in Momordica balsamina seeds is limited and preclinical studies require large
quantities of pure, bioactive balsamin. Therefore, in this study, we cloned the balsamin gene,
expressed it in E.coli BL21 (DE3) strain and purified it by nickel affinity chromatography.
Functional analysis indicated that balsamin exhibits both RNA N-glycosidase activity,
releasing the Endo-fragment from rabbit reticulocyte rRNA, and DNase-like activity,
converting the supercoiled form of a plasmid into the linear form in a concentration-dependent
manner. Analysis of secondary structure revealed that recombinant balsamin mainly consisted
of α-helical and random coiled with minimal turns and β-sheets. Recombinant balsamin was
found to be stable in the temperature range of 20-60 °C and pH range of 6-9. Antimicrobial
assays showed that the minimum inhibitory concentrations of recombinant balsamin for
various pathogens ranged between 1.56-12.5 μg/ml. Heterologous expression and purification
of balsamin carries great importance as it provides an alternative approach for large-scale
preparation of biologically active recombinant balsamin, which is difficult from its natural
source
Imagining trauma: Memory amplification and the role of elaborative cognitions
Get PDF© 2018 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (April 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyBackground and objectives: Trauma victims, such as war veterans, often remember
additional traumatic events over time: the “memory amplification effect”. This effect is
associated with the re-experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
including frequent and intrusive images of the trauma. One explanation for memory
amplification is that people gradually incorporate new, imagined information about the
trauma with what they actually experienced, leading to an amplified memory for what
actually happened. We investigated this proposal here. Methods: Participants viewed highly
negative and graphic photographs and recorded their intrusions. Critically, we instructed
some participants to elaborate on their intrusions—that is, we asked them to imagine details
about the trauma beyond what they actually witnessed. We assessed memory for the
traumatic photos twice, 24-hours apart. Results: The elaboration condition experienced fewer
intrusions about the photos compared to the control condition. Furthermore, the elaboration
condition were less susceptible to memory amplification compared to controls. Limitations:
The use of negative photos allowed experimental control, however does not permit
generalization of our findings to real-world traumatic experiences. Conclusions: Our findings
suggest that effortful imagination of new trauma-related details leads to a reduction in
intrusions and an increased tendency to not endorse trauma exposure over time. One
explanation for this finding is that elaboration enhanced conceptual processing of the trauma
analogue, therefore reducing intrusions. Critically, this reduction in intrusions affected
participants’ tendency to endorse trauma exposure, which is consistent with the realitymonitoring
explanation for memory amplification
Foredune morphodynamics and sediment budgets at seasonal to decadal scales: Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, California, USA.
Get PDF© 2018 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (June 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyCoastal foredunes are shore-parallel ridges that form in the backshore and their morphodynamics are controlled partly by seasonal and spatial variations in the coastal (onshore) sediment budget that, in turn, are driven by oceanic and atmospheric processes and interactions, including regional wave and wind regimes, climatic variability events (e.g., ENSO), sediment availability, beach characteristics (e.g., width, slope), and vegetation type and cover in the backshore. Previous studies on shoreline change in Northern California report only broad rates of erosion and accretion related to regional meteorological regimes. This study presents a more detailed, multi-decadal to seasonal account of shoreline response and foredune morphodynamics along a 2.5 km stretch of coast in the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge (HBNWR). Analysis of historical aerial photography (1939–2014) reveals trends in shoreline position that are coupled with more detailed assessments of foredune morphodynamics and seasonal scale volumetric changes from cross-shore topographic profiles``. These findings set the historical context of foredune morphodynamics and allow exploration of the implications of seasonal meteorological variation on long-term (75-year) foredune evolution and development at the HBNWR.
DSAS describes maximum foredune progradation in the north (up to +0.51 m a−1) and maximum foredune retreat in the south (up to −0.49 m a−1). Aerial photograph analysis (2004–2014) shows statistically significant larger erosive features in the southern zone than in the northern and central zones. Seasonal volume calculations from cross-shore profiles indicate statistically significant differences in alongshore transect elevation and foredune volume, with larger elevations and volumes in the northern and central zones than in the southern. Combined with evidence of seasonal bidirectional littoral drift, these data support a north to south gradient in sediment availability, foredune position and resulting stages of established foredune development. Seasonal storm energies and climate forcing events introduce variability in erosive patterns but support the persistence of alongshore developmental stages. Future research should explore foredune morphodynamics on a smaller spatial scale and changes related to the presence/absence of multiple vegetation assemblages
Cognitive defusion and guided imagery tasks reduce naturalistic food cravings and consumption: A field study
Get PDF© 2018 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (May 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThe present study investigated the effect of two craving reduction techniques, namely, cognitive defusion and guided imagery, on naturalistic food cravings. These techniques targeted the intrusion and elaboration stages of the craving process, respectively (Kavanagh, Andrade, & May, 2005). Participants underwent a seven-day baseline period followed by a seven-day intervention period, during which they recorded their food cravings as they occurred using online diaries accessed via smartphone. In the intervention period, participants were randomly assigned to one of cognitive defusion, guided imagery or control conditions. Participants in the cognitive defusion and guided imagery conditions listened to three-minute audio clips containing their respective instructions every time they experienced a food craving, and rated their craving intensity before and after the intervention, while the control participants recorded their cravings as they did in the baseline week. Results showed that both cognitive defusion and guided imagery techniques reduced craving frequency, intensity, the likelihood of consumption following cravings, and craving-related calorie intake, consistent with predictions. These findings show that cognitive defusion and guided imagery are useful for dealing with naturally occurring cravings across a range of foods, and can reduce craving-related consumption in everyday life
Hybrid enhancements by polydopamine and nanosilica on carbon fibre reinforced polymer laminates under marine environment
Get PDF© 2018 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (June 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyIn this study, two enhancement methods, i.e., toughen the epoxy matrix by commercially
available nanosilica and enhance the interfaces of fibres and matrix by autoxidation of
dopamine were applied together in carbon fibre reinforced polymer laminates with potential
large-scale applicability. Significant enhancements were found for Mode I interlaminar
fracture toughness and interlaminar shear strength with the combined addition of nanosilica
and polydopamine in the laminates. The enhancement mechanism is proposed as well. Salt
spray tests were applied in this study to simulate a marine environment for the laminates.
Model I interlaminar fracture toughness and interlaminar shear strength both decreased
under the simulated marine environment with an increase in immersion time, but the
deterioration was significantly mitigated when nanosilica and polydopamine were added
together with still much higher mechanical properties measured after 3 weeks of salt spray
immersion than in neat laminate without salt spray immersion, providing promising
evidence for maritime engineering applications of such laminates
How do clients in Australia experience Consumer Directed Care?
Get PDFThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Our study explored client experience of Australian Consumer Directed Care. This evolving funding model enables consumer autonomy and choice, allowing older people to remain in their community as they age and need support through the creation of a personalised support service. Consumer Directed Care focuses on providing services that the consumer self-determines to meeting their needs including identifying their types of services, from whom, when and how these services are delivered.
Methods
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted in two Australian states between August 2015 and April 2016 with 14 participants, preferably in receipt of CDC services for at least the previous 12 months. Questions explored how the participant first learned about this service; the types of services they received; whether services met their needs; and any additional support services they personally purchased. Interviews were transcribed, coded and thematically analysed.
Results
Four main themes related to consumer experience emerged. Knowledge: Unsure what Consumer Directed Care Means. Acceptance: Happily taking any prescriptive service that is offered. Compliance: Unhappily acceding to the prescriptive service that is offered. External Influences: Previous aged care service experience, financial position, and cultural differences.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that the anticipated outcomes of Consumer Directed Care providing a better service experience were limited by existing client knowledge of these services, how best to utilise their funding allocation, and their acceptance or compliance with what was offered, even if this was not personalised or sufficient. External influences, such as service experience, finances, cultural difference, impacted the way clients managed their allocation. Our study identified that ongoing engagement and discussion with the client is required to ensure that services are specific, directly relevant and effective to achieving a consumer directed care service