21,347 research outputs found
Unexpected evolutionary proximity of eukaryotic and cyanobacterial enzymes responsible for biosynthesis of retinoic acid and its oxidation
Biosynthesis of retinoic acid from retinaldehyde (retinal) is catalysed by an aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and its oxidation by cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs). Herein we show by phylogenetic analysis that the ALDHs and CYPs in the retinoic acid pathway in animals are much closer in evolutionary terms to cyanobacterial orthologs than would be expected from the standard models of evolution
Abdominal aortic aneurysm after pulmonary transplantation: A case report
AbstractWe present the case of a 39-year-old man who underwent repair of a symptomatic 5-cm abdominal aortic aneurysm. This patient had received a bilateral lung transplant for cystic fibrosis 10 years before this event. He was receiving cyclosporine, prednisone, and azathioprine as immunosuppression therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first reported abdominal aortic aneurysm after lung transplantation, and we note that our patient had a rapidly enlarging aneurysm, as seen in recipients of heart transplants. We postulate that immunosuppression may be related to the development and/or rapid growth of abdominal aortic aneurysms. (J Vasc Surg 2000;31:585-8.
Fidelity in complex behaviour change interventions : a standardised approach to evaluate intervention integrity
Objectives: The aim of this study was to (1) demonstrate the development and testing of tools and procedures designed to monitor and assess the integrity of a complex intervention for chronic pain (COping with persistent Pain, Effectiveness Research into Self-management (COPERS) course); and (2) make recommendations based on our experiences.
Design: Fidelity assessment of a two-arm randomised controlled trial intervention, assessing the adherence and competence of the facilitators delivering the intervention.
Setting: The intervention was delivered in the community in two centres in the UK: one inner city and one a mix of rural and urban locations.
Participants: 403 people with chronic musculoskeletal pain were enrolled in the intervention arm and 300 attended the self-management course. Thirty lay and healthcare professionals were trained and 24 delivered the courses (2 per course). We ran 31 courses for up to 16 people per course and all were audio recorded.
Interventions: The course was run over three and a half days; facilitators delivered a semistructured manualised course.
Outcomes: We designed three measures to evaluate fidelity assessing adherence to the manual, competence and overall impression.
Results: We evaluated a random sample of four components from each course (n=122). The evaluation forms were reliable and had good face validity. There were high levels of adherence in the delivery: overall adherence was two (maximum 2, IQR 1.67â2.00), facilitator competence exhibited more variability, and overall competence was 1.5 (maximum 2, IQR 1.25â2.00). Overall impression was three (maximum 4, IQR 2.00â3.00).
Conclusions: Monitoring and assessing adherence and competence at the point of intervention delivery can be realised most efficiently by embedding the principles of fidelity measurement within the design stage of complex interventions and the training and assessment of those delivering the intervention. More work is necessary to ensure that more robust systems of fidelity evaluation accompany the growth of complex interventions
In Memoriam: Daniel J. Meltzer
Sedan Ă„r 2006 har den syntetiskt framstĂ€llda drogen spice existerat i Sverige, men först Ă„r 2008 blev drogen populĂ€r och tidningar började rikta uppmĂ€rksamhet mot den. Genom att drogen kan byta skepnad i uppbyggnaden kan den förbli laglig, dĂ€rför kan egentligen namnet âspiceâ inte betraktas som ett enhetligt begrepp. VĂ„rt syfte med denna studie blev att granska hur drogen spice beskrivs i tidningar och forskning. Ăven hur drogen betraktas gĂ€llande psykosociala och medicinska avseenden. Detta i förhĂ„llande till socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Den metod som vi valde att anvĂ€nda oss av i studien var kvantitativ innehĂ„llsanalys. Genom analys av 80 stycken svenska tidningsartiklar hĂ€mtade ur databasen mediearkivet, samt vetenskapliga artiklar och litteratur har vi besvarat vĂ„ra frĂ„gestĂ€llningar. De resultat vi fick frĂ„n analyser visade pĂ„ att tidningar kan vara av betydande roll för ungdomars attityder. Tidningar kan utföra bland annat skrĂ€mselpropaganda för att upplysa och förhindra brukandet av spice, dessvĂ€rre visar resultatet en motsatt effekt. Forskning visar att bruk av spice kan pĂ„verka relationer och arbete negativt. Dessutom Ă€r nĂ„gra bieffekter av spice bröstsmĂ€rtor, vanförestĂ€llningar, sjĂ€lvmordstankar och hjĂ€rtstopp
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