Early drug use of dapagliflozin prescribed by general practitioners and diabetologists in Germany.

OBJECTIVES: Dapagliflozin is an inhibitor of the human sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) that has been shown to improve glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and treatment patterns of dapagliflozin users in comparison to users of other anti-diabetic (AD) treatments in Germany. METHODS: Data from patients with T2DM initiating at least one prescription for dapagliflozin or other AD therapy between November 2012 and April 2014 were collected from the IMS German Disease Analyzer database. RESULTS: The use of dapagliflozin combination therapy (n=1034; 74%) was more common than monotherapy (n=371; 26%). In comparison with other AD therapy users, a higher percentage of dapagliflozin users were ⩽64years of age (62.3% vs. 36.4%), and a higher proportion were male (59.1% vs. 53.6%). The average duration of diabetes was comparable between dapagliflozin patients and other AD therapy users (5.7yearsvs. 5.5years), however higher levels of HbA1c were found in dapagliflozin users (8.2% (66mmol/mol) vs. 7.5% (58mmol/mol). For the vast majority (71.5% of 10mg dapagliflozin users and 88.9% of 5mg users), dapagliflozin was prescribed in combination with other AD therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients starting on dapagliflozin differed in several demographic and health-related respects to patients starting another AD therapy during the same period. Dapagliflozin was predominantly used as a component of combination therapy, adding on to existing therapy. After initiation, switching to other AD treatments or adding to therapy was comparatively rare during the first year

Embodying Love in the Inner City : Undoing Injustice through Intentional Neighboring

In many American cities, middle-class, faith-motivated individuals and families are moving into poor, inner-city neighborhoods to live out their vision of social justice in the city by becoming “intentional neighbors.” Drawing from the commandment to “love thy neighbor,” these faith-motivated actors develop relationships with their neighbors and share their resources in order to work towards the transformation of these places. In this paper we use the case study of participants in Mission Year, a Christian community-development organization, to examine the spatial and embodied practices that are integral to “doing justice” and demonstrating love in the inner city.Dans de nombreuses villes américaines, des individus et des familles issus de la classe moyenne, motivés par leur foi, emménagent dans les quartiers pauvres du centre-ville pour mettre en pratique leur idéal de justice sociale en devenant des « voisins volontaires ». Inspirés par le commandement « tu aimeras ton prochain comme toi-même », ces citoyens motivés par la foi développent des relations avec leurs voisins et partagent leurs ressources afin d’œuvrer à la transformation de ces lieux de vie. Cet article est une étude de cas des membres de Mission Year, une organisation chrétienne de développement communautaire. Cette étude nous permet d’examiner les pratiques spatiales et concrètes qui font partie intégrante du « faire justice » dans les centres-villes

Contextualizing neighbourhood activism: Spatial solidarity in the city

In much Global North urban geography, neighbourhood activism refers to propinquity-based solidarity among residents who share a district or part of a city. Solidarities are often formed through political demands of local government, including objections to nuisances or changes in land use, dubbed ‘NIMBY’ for ‘not in my back yard’. Neighbourhood activism may involve demands to local government for services in support of everyday life, e.g. roads, schools, water and utilities – what Castells termed collective consumption. Yet some neighbourhood activism is practiced and expressed through social relationships among neighbours, motivated by values and faith traditions, which emphasize social community. Investigation of contemporary neighbourhood activism highlights its multi-dimensional nature and diverse motivations. Outside of Western countries, the concept of neighbourhood as a place identity and therefore a basis for solidarity can be less resonant, which suggests the significance of political and cultural contexts in shaping the ontological basis of neighbourhood activism

Charter schools and urban regimes in neoliberal context: Making workers and new spaces in metropolitan Atlanta

In this article, we demonstrate the neoliberalism and multiscalar economic perspective of the charter school movement in Atlanta, Georgia, through examination of news articles and editorials about charter schools in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1998 to 2004. We posit three interrelated dynamics which explain the editorial board\u27s interest in charter schools as part of a broader urban regime agenda. First, charter schools represent part of a neoliberal shift in education that parallels shifts in urban governance, emphasizing flexibility, public-private partnerships, and \u27market\u27-oriented consumer choice and accountability. Second, the newspaper is issuing a challenge to educational structures, to adopt more neoliberal policies and shed a bureaucratic, liberal governance framework. Finally, we find critical evidence that the charter school movement draws on a multiscalar discourse which simultaneously references responsiveness to local, neighborhood needs, and at the same time highlights the economic imperatives of a global, competitive city to differentially skill students/workers in order to capture mobile and fractured (global) capital. © 2006 The Authors. Journal Compilation 2006 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Positionality and Active Learning: Confronting Privilege in Field-Exercise Design

University instructors are increasingly drawing on active learning exercises to engender critical thinking skills among students. In this article, we introduce the design and implementation of an active learning exercise about mobility and transportation that we assigned in an introductory human geography class at the University of Georgia. The students\u27 responses and the survey instrument we used to assess the effectiveness of the exercise revealed disappointing results and caused us to think carefully about the role of positionality in designing active learning exercises. In this article, we argue that we need to understand privilege—particularly class privilege—in order to design effective assignments