70015 research outputs found
Sort by
Investigating the role of cytochrome bd oxidases in the antibacterial activity of madecassic acid and derivatives thereof
No full textNatural products are valuable starting points for drug discovery, although individual modes of action are often difficult to pin down. Ursanes such as madecassic acid have been shown to have antibacterial properties, but a variety of mechanisms have been proposed. In this paper, we report previously uninvestigated activity against cytochrome bd oxidases which are only found in prokaryotes and are therefore promising new targets, using madecassic acid and a set of synthetically modified derivatives. Our work shows that madecassic acid and its derivatives can block activity of these enzymes, while phenotypic effects in membrane and whole organism assays are more complex, consistent with modulation of multiple pathways depending upon molecular structure. This provides a new route to ursane-based antibacterial action while highlighting the importance of chemical modifications in fine-tuning biological activity of natural products
Flush: A Biography. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Virginia Woolf
No full textThe Cambridge Edition of Virginia Woolf's 1931 fictional biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's cocker spaniel. Includes extensive introduction, explanatory notes, textual notes and textual apparatus, unpublished drafts and Atlantic Monthly magazine version of the text
‘I Am Strong, I Am Invincible, I Am Woman’: A Commentary on the Semenya v Switzerland Case
No full textThis article analyses the case of athlete Caster Semenya before the European Court of Human Rights through the lenses of queer legal theory and intersectional feminism. It seeks to challenge the social and medical assumptions, categories, and tendencies regarding sex and gender embedded in sports law, particularly in female athletics. Furthermore, it examines the eligibility regulations for female classification in international competition as gendered and racialised norms, which have thus far been applied exclusively to women; specifically to women with variations in sex characteristics, particularly those who do not conform to Western standards of femininity. This study looks at the European Court of Human Rights’ role in Semenya’s case and questions how queer and intersectional views would have influenced its assessment of whether the review carried out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court satisfied the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights. By critically examining the outcome of this case, this paper reflects on its impact on international female athletics and the human rights legal framework
The Power of Biography: Using the Diary of Anne Frank to Stimulate Generalisation and Secondary Transfer of Willingness for Intergroup Contact
Get PDFAn impact evaluation of a large-scale field study tested the effects of biographical intergroup contact on children and adolescents' willingness to have intergroup contact with individuals from 12 social categories. Biographical contact was implemented through the anti-prejudice programme led by the educational charity the Anne Frank Trust UK, based on the life of the Jewish teenager Anne Frank. Before and after participating in the programme, young people between the ages of 9 and 17years (N=1413 from 69 participating schools) completed a ‘Contact Star' measure of their willingness for close social contact with individuals from each of the social categories. Biographical contact substantially improved willingness for contact with Jewish people (the initial target group) as well as with all 11 other groups, as measured by the Contact Star. Additionally, increased willingness for contact with Jewish people was strongly predictive of increased willingness for contact with the other groups, thereby demonstrating a secondary transfer of improved intergroup attitudes. The effect was similarly large in the case of outgroups that were less similar or familiar to participants, contrary to the idea that secondary transfer weakens as the outgroups become less similar (a generalisation gradient). Theoretical and practical implications of this potentially powerful new form of contact are discussed
Glucose Lowering through Weight management (GLoW): a randomised controlled trial of the clinical and cost effectiveness of a diabetes education and behavioural weight management programme vs a diabetes education programme in adults with a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes
Get PDFUK standard care for type 2 diabetes is structured diabetes education, with no effects on HbA , small, short-term effects on weight and low uptake. We evaluated whether remotely delivered tailored diabetes education combined with commercial behavioural weight management is cost-effective compared with current standard care in helping people with type 2 diabetes to lower their blood glucose, lose weight, achieve remission and improve cardiovascular risk factors. We conducted a pragmatic, randomised, parallel two-group trial. Participants were adults (≥18 years) with overweight or obesity (BMI≥25 kg/m ) and recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (≤3 years), recruited from 159 primary care practices in England. We randomised participants to a tailored diabetes education and behavioural weight management programme (DEW; delivered by Weight Watchers) or to current standard care diabetes education (DE; Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed [DESMOND] programme), using a computer-generated randomisation sequence in a 1:1 allocation stratified by gender and diabetes duration, unknown to those collecting and analysing the data. Participants could not be blinded due to the nature of the interventions. Participants completed assessments at 0, 6 and 12 months. The primary outcome was 12 month change from baseline in HbA . We also assessed bodyweight, blood pressure, cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL), glucose-lowering medication, behavioural measures (physical activity, food intake), psychosocial measures (eating behaviour, diabetes-related quality of life, wellbeing) and within-trial and modelled lifetime cost effectiveness. We randomised 577 participants (DEW: 289, DE: 288); 398 (69%) completed 12 month follow-up. We found no evidence for an intervention effect on change in HbA from baseline to 12 months (difference: -0.84 [95% CI -2.99, 1.31] mmol/mol, p=0.44) or 6 months (-1.83 [-4.05, 0.40] mmol/mol). We found an intervention effect on weight at 6 (-1.77 [-2.86, -0.67] kg) and 12 months (-1.38 [-2.56, -0.19] kg). Participants in DEW had a higher likelihood of achieving diabetes remission than participants in DE (6 months: RR 2.10 [95% CI 1.03, 4.47]; 12 months: RR 2.53 [1.30, 5.16]). DEW was cost-effective compared with DE in within-trial and lifetime analyses, in the latter generating an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of £2290 per quality-adjusted life year gained. A commercial behavioural weight management programme combined with remote dietary counselling after diagnosis of type 2 diabetes did not improve HbA up to 12 months post intervention in this trial. The intervention could help people achieve weight loss and be cost-effective compared with current standard National Health Service care. ISRCTN 18399564 FUNDING: National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR; RP-PG-0216-20010), Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00006/6), NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203312)
Understanding the role of metabolic syndrome in prostate cancer risk: A UK Biobank prospective cohort study
Get PDFPredictive value of metabolic syndrome for prostate cancer risk is not clear. We aimed to assess the association between metabolic syndrome and its components with prostate cancer incidence. The primary outcome was prostate cancer incidence, i.e., incidence rate ratios and adjusted cumulative incidence curves derived from flexible parametric survival models. Adjusted cumulative incidence curves were derived using a flexible survival parametrical modeling framework. We analysed UK Biobank data including 242,349 adult males, recruited during 2006–2010 and followed up until 2021, during which 6,467 (2.7%) participants were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Our findings indicate that metabolic syndrome, as a whole, was not associated with prostate cancer risk (incidence rate ratios, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 0.94–1.22). However, specific components such as hypertension and obesity increased the risk (incidence rate ratios, 1.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–1.44 and incidence rate ratios, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.05–1.46, respectively). Other components, such as prediabetes/diabetes and low cholesterol, were associated with a reduced risk (incidence rate ratios, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.67–0.94 and incidence rate ratios, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.69–0.97, respectively), while hyperlipidaemia showed no significant effect (incidence rate ratios, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 0.93–1.24). Further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms behind these relationships. Prostate cancer prevention strategies might benefit from targeting modifiable risk factors, particularly hypertension and obesity
The Impact of AI-driven Remote Patient Monitoring on Cancer Care: A Systematic Review
Get PDFThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic necessitated a shift in healthcare delivery, emphasizing the need for remote patient monitoring (RPM) to minimize infection risks. This review aimed to evaluate the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in RPM for cancer patients, exploring its impact on patient outcomes and implications for future healthcare practices. A qualitative systematic review was conducted using keyword searches across four databases: Embase OVID, PubMed, PsychInfo, and Web of Science. After removing duplicates and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, the selected studies underwent quality assessment using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tools and a risk of bias assessment. A thematic analysis was then performed using Delve, an application that facilitates deductive coding, to identify and explore themes related to AI in RPM. The search yielded 170 papers, from which 11 quantitative studies were selected for detailed analysis. Deductive coding resulted in the generation of 12 codes, leading to the identification of six subthemes and the construction of two primary themes: Efficacy of the RPM intervention and patient factors. AI systems in RPM show significant potential for enhancing cancer patient care and outcomes. However, this review could not conclusively determine that RPM provides superior outcomes compared to traditional face-to-face care. The findings underscore the preliminary nature of AI in medicine, highlighting the need for larger-scale, long-term studies to fully understand the benefits and limitations of AI in RPM for cancer care
Probing the Structure and Dynamics of the [NH4]M(HCO2)3 Ferroelectric Phases: Dielectric Relaxation through Orientational Disorder
Get PDFComprehensive Summary: Neutron diffraction studies of the low‐temperature relaxor ferroelectric phases of [NH4]M(HCO2)3, where M = Mn2+ and Zn2+, show that a third of the NH4+ cations remain subtly structurally disordered to low temperature. All NH4+ cations within the channels are well separated from each other, with significant hydrogen bonds only with the anionic M(HCO2)3 framework. Complementary studies of the dynamics using 2H solid state NMR and quasielastic neutron scattering indicate significant rotational motion in both paraelectric and ferroelectric phases, which evolves gradually with increasing temperature with no abrupt change at the phase transition. Nudged elastic band calculations suggest that the activation barrier for flipping between “up” and “down” orientations of the NH4+ cations is low in the ferroelectric phase, with the NH4+ cations primarily interacting with the framework rather than neighbouring NH4+ cations. It is likely this motion that is responsible for scrambling the NH4+ cation orientation locally in the ferroelectric phase. We propose that this disorder, with the same basic motion active above and below the phase transition, induces the significant dielectric relaxation in these materials. This suggests that orientational disorder may be an effective substitution for compositional disorder commonly associated with relaxor ferroelectrics in molecular materials
Corporate power centralisation, geographic dispersion, and audit fees
No full textThis study investigates the individual and interactive effects of corporate power centralisation (CPC) and corporate geographic dispersion (CGD) on audit fees of group companies. According to agency theory, higher CPC limits agency behaviour of subsidiaries by reducing delegation of authority from the parent company whereas greater CGD exacerbates intra-group monitoring costs and agency conflicts by lowering the parent−subsidiary geographical proximity. Our analyses of Chinese data indicate that increasing CPC reduces audit fees of group companies while greater CGD increases them, consistent with internal agency conflicts heightening audit engagement risk. We also find that the negative association between CPC and audit fees is more pronounced when CGD is greater, while the positive effect of CGD on audit fees is weakened by increasing CPC. Moreover, such individual and interactive effects of CPC and CGD are partially mediated by client financial reporting risk and business risk. Overall, our work advances the extant knowledge on the impact of complex group structures on group audits
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Kent Academic Repository? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!