Ryanodine receptors: physiological function and deregulation in Alzheimer disease

BackgroundHealth-care professionals have a responsibility to be attentive to patients’ adherence behavior but it could be difficult to identify poor adherence in the context of clinical practice. Assessment of personality could be used to identify individuals who are in need for support with their adherence behavior. To our knowledge, existing adherence questionnaires are not based on individuals reflecting asthmatics in the general population and there is limited research describing adherence with asthma medication in relation to personal goals with the treatment. The aim was to develop and validate an adherence questionnaire in adult individuals with asthma from the general population and to assess adherence in relation to personality traits and goals with the asthma medication using the developed questionnaire.MethodsThe study was conducted in three phases: 1. A preliminary postal 46-item questionnaire was refined after psychometric testing (n = 157). 2. The questionnaire was validated (n = 104). 3. The developed adherence questionnaire was analyzed in relation to personality traits and achieved goals with the asthma medication. Adult respondents with physician diagnosed asthma using asthma medications were selected from the population-based West Sweden Asthma Study. The respondents completed the Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness to Experience Five-Factor Inventory and the Medication Adherence Report Scale and stated their goals with the asthma medication. Data were analyzed using t-tests, correlations, multiple regression and principal component analysis.ResultsA final questionnaire was developed consisting of ten items organized in three subscales - “medication routines”, “self-adjusting the medication” and “concerns about side-effects”. Two of the subscales - “medication routines” and “self-adjusting the medication” – were associated with the Medication Adherence Report Scale. The subscale “medication routines” was associated with the personality traits – Conscientiousness and Neuroticism and unachieved goals with the asthma medication.ConclusionsThe developed questionnaire appears to be useful for measuring adherence to asthma medication in adult individuals with asthma. The study suggests that both individual differences and personal treatment goals need to be addressed in efforts to promote adherence to asthma medication treatment

Disseminating evidence from health technology assessment : the case of tobacco prevention

OBJECTIVES: The aims of the present study were to investigate the awareness among dentists and dental hygienists of evidence-based reports and guidelines on tobacco cessation activities and the impact these publications had on clinical practice. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to dental hygienists and dentists in Stockholm County, Sweden, and the results were compared with a previous investigation. RESULTS: Among the respondents, awareness of a popular science version of a systematic review on smoking and its effect on oral health was reported by 90 percent of the hygienists and 66 percent of the dentists. The information was used in clinical work by 34 percent of the dentists and 54 percent of the hygienists. Reported changes in patterns of practice were more frequent recommendations to use nicotine replacement therapy and a more widespread use of setting quit dates. Approximately one quarter of the dental professionals reported that they had increased tobacco cessation consultation because of the results from the reports. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in patterns of practice were observed after dissemination of evidence-based information on tobacco cessation. Methods that were proven to be effective in the evidence-based report such as discussing quit dates and recommending nicotine replacement therapy were more commonly used after the publication of the report. Short, popular versions of extensive systematic reviews seem to be useful for implementing evidence-based knowledge and changing clinical practice.NonePublishe

Subject specific pedagogy in technical vocational education – the implementation of a new way of teaching

Research regarding classroom pedagogy of subject specific contents in the field of technical vocational education is scarce, nationally in Sweden, but also in an international perspective. This paper presents results from a Swedish action research project and it aims at exploring the process of a learning study, which deals with the settings in MIG/MAG welding and the intervention of the new pedagogic approach CAVTA (Conversation Analysis and Variation Theory Approach). The empiric material consists of video recorded welding education in a workshop and documented meetings in a welding teacher team. The theoretical toolbox of CAVTA permeates the teaching and learning processes as the teachers in the intervention try to implement patterns of variation in the planning, enactment and evaluation of the teaching and learning processes. In combination with the variation theoretic principles embedded in the teaching, ideas inspired by conversation analysis are implemented – the main element being an enhanced interaction, thus enabling for the students to display their understanding of the subject specific contents. The results show how CAVTA can be integrated in the teaching of settings regarding MIG/MAG welding, so that certain aspects of the object of learning is visualized. Furthermore, the findings show how the integration of CAVTA support the manifestation of a student’s understanding of the object of learning. How variation and the use of several senses and simultaneous different semiotic resources are activated as essential components in the teaching and learning processes, is made explicit in the paper. Plans for a recently launched research project including several different technical vocational education programs are also presented. The lack of classroom studies regarding technical vocational education calls for exploration in research, but should not avoid the ambition of development. This study captures the design and the development of a new pedagogic approach. Our hope is that the study will contribute to a growing body of knowledge within the field of technical vocational education and spur on further studies in this field of research.&nbsp

To Teach and Learn Technical Vocational Content: Ongoing Research in Swedish Upper Secondary Education

This paper describes ongoing research focusing on how vocational learning content in different technical vocational programmes in upper secondary schools is taught and learned in close interaction in the midst of practical learning situations. The study shows that the technical vocational learning content have some aspects in common – such as the interplay between theoretical and practical knowledge, the use of working tools, the problem solving and the complexity of interacting critical aspects. However, there are also differences between the learning content in the teaching of different vocational subjects, in relation to working methods and the nature of the objects of learning. Still, more studies are needed in order to claim that the differences are subject specific. Furthermore, the study shows that teachers often aimed to teach the learning content in a broad perspective, which could be at the expense of a clear focus for the student. In one of the studied programmes an intervention study was conducted. This study shows that an enhanced focus on fewer, specific critical aspects of the object of learning might support the learning process

Proton translocating nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase from E. coli. Mechanism of action deduced from its structural and catalytic properties11This review is dedicated to the memory of Professor Lars Ernster.

AbstractTranshydrogenase couples the stereospecific and reversible transfer of hydride equivalents from NADH to NADP+ to the translocation of proton across the inner membrane in mitochondria and the cytoplasmic membrane in bacteria. Like all transhydrogenases, the Escherichia coli enzyme is composed of three domains. Domains I and III protrude from the membrane and contain the binding site for NAD(H) and NADP(H), respectively. Domain II spans the membrane and constitutes at least partly the proton translocating pathway. Three-dimensional models of the hydrophilic domains I and III deduced from crystallographic and NMR data and a new topology of domain II are presented. The new information obtained from the structures and the numerous mutation studies strengthen the proposition of a binding change mechanism, as a way to couple the reduction of NADP+ by NADH to proton translocation and occurring mainly at the level of the NADP(H) binding site

Lessons learned from 25 years of operational large-scale restoration: The Sow-A-Seed project, Sabah, Borneo

While restoration projects globally scale-up to meet the growing demand to restore degraded ecosystems, data on the long-term benefits of restoration are still rare. Here, we describe the lessons learned from the Sow-A-Seed project in Sabah, Borneo: a long-term and large-scale restoration project launched in 1998 with the aim to rehabilitate 18,500 ha of tropical rainforest degraded by logging and forest fires. The project was built from the ground-up, including establishment of essential infrastructure and knowledge creation via trial-and-error. Three restoration techniques were used depending on the level of degradation; 1) Assisted Natural Regeneration (weeding, climber cutting and selective girdling) to promote natural regeneration of late-successional species in the least disturbed forests, and; 2) Enrichment Planting in gap-clusters in moderately disturbed forests, and; 3) Enrichment Planting in rows (i.e, line-planting) throughout heavily degraded forests with no- or few late successional tree species in the overstory. The project includes successful propagation of 92 native tree species including dipterocarps and fruit trees, and planting of over 5 million trees during the last 25 years. Long-term monitoring shows that the mortality rate of planted seedlings is -15% per year up to 3 years, but decreases to -2% between years 3-10 and 10-20. One of the largest trees, a Shorea leprosula planted in 1998, is now 74 cm in DBH and some planted trees have reached reproductive age and are contributing to natural regeneration. A range of wildlife including orangutans, elephants, hornbills and all five wildcat species in Sabah have been documented in the area. In 2015, the area was classified as a Class 1 protected forest, the highest level of conservation status in Malaysia, and removed from commercial forestry. We highlight that there is much knowledge to be gained by research dove-tailing with operational activities, and we encourage that the lessons learned from operational restoration are shared among practitioners and restoration ecologists. We present 8 key lessons learned from the Sow-a-Seed project

Membrane Topology of the Lactococcal Bacteriocin ATP-binding Cassette Transporter Protein LcnC. Involvement of LcnC in Lactococcin A Maturation

Many non-lantibiotic bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria are produced as precursors with N-terminal leader peptides different from those present in preproteins exported by the general sec-dependent (type II) secretion pathway. These bacteriocins utilize a dedicated (type I) secretion system for externalization. The secretion apparatus for the lactococcins A, B, and M/N (LcnA, B, and M/N) from Lactococcus lactis is composed of the two membrane proteins LcnC and LcnD. LcnC belongs to the ATP-binding cassette transporters, whereas LcnD is a protein with similarities to other accessory proteins of type I secretion systems. This paper shows that the N-terminal part of LcnC is involved in the processing of the precursor of LcnA. By making translational fusions of LcnC to the reporter proteins β-galactosidase (LacZ) and alkaline phosphatase (PhoA*), it was shown that both the N- and C-terminal parts of LcnC are located in the cytoplasm. As the N terminus of LcnC is required for LcnA maturation and is localized in the cytoplasm, we conclude that the processing of the bacteriocin LcnA to its mature form takes place at the cytosolic side of the cytoplasmic membrane.