Self-help groups challenge health care systems in the US and UK

Purpose: This research considers how self-help groups (SHGs) and self- help organizations (SHOs) contribute to consumerist trends in two different societies: United States and United Kingdom. How do the health care systems and the voluntary sectors affect the kinds of social changes that SHGs/SHOs make? Methodology/approach: A review of research on the role of SHGs/SHOs in contributing to national health social movements in the UK and US was made. Case studies of the UK and the US compare the characteristics of their health care systems and their voluntary sector. Research reviews of two community level self-help groups in each country describe the kinds of social changes they made. Findings: The research review verified that SHGs/SHOs contribute to national level health social movements for patient consumerism. The case studies showed that community level SHGs/SHOs successfully made the same social changes but on a smaller scale as the national movements, and the health care system affects the kinds of community changes made. Research limitations: A limited number of SHGs/SHOs within only two societies were studied. Additional SHGs/SHOs within a variety of societies need to be studied. Originality/value of chapter Community SHGs/SHOs are often trivialized by social scientists as just inward-oriented support groups, but this chapter shows that local groups contribute to patient consumerism and social changes but in ways that depend on the kind of health care system and societal context

Beyond the therapeutic: a Habermasian view of self-help groups’ place in the public sphere

Self-help groups in the United Kingdom continue to grow in number and address virtually every conceivable health condition, but they remain the subject of very little theoretical analysis. The literature to date has predominantly focused on their therapeutic effects on individual members. And yet they are widely presumed to fulfil a broader civic role and to encourage democratic citizenship. The article uses Habermas’ model of the public sphere as an analytical tool with which to reconsider the literature on self-help groups in order to increase our knowledge of their civic functions. In doing this it also aims to illustrate the continuing relevance of Habermas’ work to our understanding of issues in health and social care. We consider, within the context of current health policies and practices, the extent to which self-help groups with a range of different forms and functions operate according to the principles of communicative rationality that Habermas deemed key to democratic legitimacy. We conclude that self-help groups’ civic role is more complex than is usually presumed and that various factors including groups’ leadership, organisational structure and links with public agencies can affect their efficacy within the public sphere

Exercising 'soft closure' on lay health knowledge? Harnessing the declining power of the medical profession to improve online health information

This study aims to address the increasingly complex medical predicament of low quality online health information contributing to lay health knowledge and consequently to clinical outcomes. We situate the predicament within a social change paradigm of individualism, choice, diminishing medical power, and emergence of the legitimacy of lay health knowledge. We contend that the prominence of lay health knowledge has been facilitated by the internet, and is due to a surge in broadcasting of experiential knowledge coupled with increased access to and enactment of medical and non-medically sanctioned online information on health and illness. We draw on and further test the application of social closure theory to help conceive a potential solution to this enduring problem. We conduct a quality assessment of an indicative case study, Apicectomies, and test the application of our notion of soft closure on its findings, resulting in targeted, feasible and potentially beneficial solutions to increasing the medical quality of online health information. We further present the extant application of soft closure by Healthtalkonline.org, which collates a medically reliable set of experiential knowledge on a range of health issues. As such, we propose a constructive re-enactment of the traditional closure of the medical profession on medical knowledge

Chronic Consumption of Farmed Salmon Containing Persistent Organic Pollutants Causes Insulin Resistance and Obesity in Mice

Background: Dietary interventions are critical in the prevention of metabolic diseases. Yet, the effects of fatty fish consumption on type 2 diabetes remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a diet containing farmed salmon prevents or contributes to insulin resistance in mice. Methodology/Principal Findings: Adult male C57BL/6J mice were fed control diet (C), a very high-fat diet without or with farmed Atlantic salmon fillet (VHF and VHF/S, respectively), and Western diet without or with farmed Atlantic salmon fillet (WD and WD/S, respectively). Other mice were fed VHF containing farmed salmon fillet with reduced concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (VHF/S-POPs). We assessed body weight gain, fat mass, insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, ex vivo muscle glucose uptake, performed histology and immunohistochemistry analysis, and investigated gene and protein expression. In comparison with animals fed VHF and WD, consumption of both VHF/S and WD/S exaggerated insulin resistance, visceral obesity, and glucose intolerance. In addition, the ability of insulin to stimulate Akt phosphorylation and muscle glucose uptake was impaired in mice fed farmed salmon. Relative to VHF/S-fed mice, animals fed VHF/S-POPs had less body burdens of POPs, accumulated less visceral fat, and had reduced mRNA levels of TNFa as well as macrophage infiltration in adipose tissue. VHF/S-POPs-fed mice further exhibited better insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance than mice fed VHF/S. Conclusions/Significance: Our data indicate that intake of farmed salmon fillet contributes to several metabolic disorders linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity, and suggest a role of POPs in these deleterious effects. Overall, these findings may participate to improve nutritional strategies for the prevention and therapy of insulin resistance

Use of Gold Nanoparticles To Enhance Capillary Electrophoresis

We describe here the use of gold nanoparticles to manipulate the selectivity between solutes in capillary electrophoresis. Two different gold-based nanoparticles were added to the run buffer. In one case, the nanoparticles were stabilized with citrate ions, but in another study, the gold nanoparticles were capped with mercaptopropionate ions (thiol-stablized). Citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles were used in conjunction with capillaries treated with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC). The positively charged PDADMAC layer on the capillary walls adsorbs the negatively charged gold nanoparticles. The model solutes that were used to study the effect of the presence of the citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles are structural isomers of aromatic acids and bases. The presence of the PDADMAC layer and the PDADMAC plus the gold nanoparticles changes both the electroosmotic mobility and the observed mobility of the solutes. These changes in the mobilities influence the observed selectivities and the separations of the system. Thiol-stabilized gold nanoparticles were used without PDADMAC in the capillary. The model solutes studied in this part are various aromatic amines. In this case as well, the presence of the gold nanoparticles modifies the electroosmotic mobility and the observed mobility of the solutes. These changes in the mobilities are manifested in selectivity alterations. The largest change in the selectivities occurs at low concentrations of the gold nanoparticles in the run buffer. The presence of nanoparticles improves the precision of the analysis and increases the separation efficiency. Nanodispersions have attracted extensive attention in various fields of physics, biology, and chemistry. [1][2][3][4][5] Physicists and chemists are intrigued by the gradual transition of the nanomaterial properties from molecule-like to those of solid-state properties by a change of a single variable, the particle size. This property has practical and future applications for nonlinear optics and electronics. The large surface area of nanomaterials intrigues chemical engineers and catalysis scientists. Surprisingly, very little research has been devoted to the application of nanoparticles for chemical separation. In this work, we demonstrate the utility and versatility of organically modified gold nanoparticles in capillary electrophoresis (CE) separations. The nanoparticles serve as large surface area platforms for organofunctional groups that interact with the capillary surface, the analytes, or both. Thus, the apparent mobilities of target analytes, as well as the electroosmotic flow, can be altered leading to enhanced selectivities. Separation of various benzene derivatives demonstrates these capabilities. Metallic nanodispersions can be prepared in aqueous and organic solvents using diverse procedures. 1,2,6-9 Nanodispersions can be stabilized in organic solvents by the solvent itself, 10 by the addition of long chain surfactants, 11,12 or by specific ligands. 13 Stabilization of metal nanodispersions in aqueous solutions is somewhat more complicated. Several successful stabilization methods are available that are based on capping of the metal nanoparticles (e.g., citrate, 6 3-mercaptopropionate, 1

BOND CHARGE MODEL FOR VIBRATIONS OF XYnXY_{n} MOLECULES.

$^{1}$ R. G. Parr and R. F. Borkman, J. Chem. Phys. 49, 1055 (1968). $^{2}$ R. F. Borkman, G. Simons and R. G. Parr, J. Chem. Phys. 50, 58 (1969).Author Institution: School of Chemistry, Georgia Institute of TechnologyA simple model previously used to describe vibrations of $homonuclear^{1}$ and $heteronuclear^{2}$ diatomic molecules has been extended to symmetric stretching vibrations of polyatomic $XY_{n}$ molecules. The model consists of a system of point charges: First, a static set $+eZ_{i}$ representing the nuclci and core electrons; and second, a set -eq representing the valence electrons, assumed to move free-electron-like in the bonds. For a symmetric ``breathing'' motion of the nuclei, the Born-Oppenheimer electronic energy is the sum of kinetic plus potential energy, $W(S) = T(S) + V(S)$, where S is the dimensionless scale parameter describing the symmetric motion. The kinetic energy T is modeled as a sum of particle-in-a-box energies, wherein each bond charge, q, moves independently in a box of length $\nu$/S. The potential energy V is modeled as a sum of all possible coulomb attractions and repulsions among the point charges. A ``symmetric stretching force constant'' is then defined, $K_{aym} = (d^{2}W/dS^{2})_{eq}$, and used to relate the model parameters q and $\nu$ to molecular structure data and force constants. Using this data as input, values of q and $\nu$ have been calculated for some $30 XY_{n}$ molecules, in symmetries $D_{\infty h}, C_{2\nu}, C_{3\nu}, D_{2h}$ and $T_{d}$. Values of q are found to be reasonable measures of bond order. Values of $\nu$ are found to depend on the positions of the constituent atoms (X and Y) in the periodic chart, and are interpreted as measuring the core radii of the atoms

SINGLE CENTER CALCULATIONS ON THE EXCITED STATES OF THE EQUILATERAL Ha+H_{a}^{+} MOLECULE

$^{1}$E. F. Hayes and R. G. Parr, J. Chem. Phys. 47, 3961 (1967), and references therein. $^{2}$H. Conroy, J. Chem. Phys. 51, 3979 (1969), and references therein.""Author Institution: School of Chemistry, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThe single-center expansion configuration-interaction $method^{1}$ has been used to examine the low lying electronically excited states of the $H_{3}^{+}$ molecule (equilateral triangular $H_{3}^{+}$ with $D_{th}$ symmetry). The expansion center for the electronic wavefunctions was placed in the plane of the molecule, equidistant from the three hydrogen nuclei. The wavefunction was expanded as a sum of two-electron configurations, each consisting of an antisymmetrized product of symmetry adapted Stater orbitals. The energy of each state was minimized with respect to the non-linear orbital parameters. For each of the electronic states considered, (^{3}A_{1}^{\prime}, ^{1}A_{2}^{\prime}^{\prime}, ^{3}A_{2}^{\prime}^{\prime}, ^{1}E_{1}^{\prime}, ^{3}E_{1}^{\prime}) the energy was evaluated at several values of the internuclear separation. Of the above states, only the ^{1}A_{2}^{\prime}^{\prime} and the ^{a}A_{2}^{\prime}^{\prime} states were found to be bound with respect to the symmetric stretching coordinate. The other states were purely repulsive. Comparisons, where possible, were made with previous $calculations^{2}$, and the single-center method was found to compare favorably with other methods of calculation. The oscillator strengths of the allowed transitions, ^{1}A_{1}^{\prime}\rightarrow ^{1}A_{2}^{\prime}^{\prime} and $^{1}A_{1}^{\prime}\rightarrow ^{1}E^{\prime}$, were also calculated

AB INITIO POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES OF H4+H_{4}{^{+}}

Author Institution: School of Chemistry, Georgia Institute of TechnologyPotential energy surfaces for the ground and excited states of $H_{2}-H_{2}{^{+}}$ have been calculated using SCF and limited CI techniques. Several orientations have been studied, with the $H_{2}$ and $H_{2}^{+}$ bond lengths restricted to their equilibrium values. A basis set of 28 symmetry-adapted Gaussian-type orbital was employed in the SCF and CI calculations. Perturbation techniques have been applied to the study of the asymptotic limits for the two states, Results show an interaction energy of approximately 1.6 eV for the ground state of the most stable geometry -- a perpendicular orientation with the $H_{2}{^{+}}$ molecule lying along the $C_{2}$ symmetry axis. All of the lowest electronically excited states were found to be repulsive. These ground and excited-state energy surfaces will be used in multistate-impact-para-meter calculations of the cross-sections for charge transfer reactions between $H_{2}$ and $H_{2}{^{+}}$