Adapted cardiac rehabilitation programme to improve uptake in patients of Moroccan and Turkish origin in The Netherlands:a qualitative study

Aim. To explore the treatment experiences in patients of Moroccan and Turkish origin and their rehabilitation therapists regarding an adapted outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme. Background. Non-native patients who participated in a cardiac rehabilitation programme at a Dutch rehabilitation centre had more difficulties to achieve the treatment aims than native Dutch patients. Therefore, an adapted programme for non-native patients, lacking proficiency in Dutch, has been instigated. The programme contains six adapted treatment modules and additional strategies: adapted education regarding (1) the heart and the vascular system and (2) the use of healthy food, with use the of (audio) visual educational materials, (3) adapted physical exercise module with explicit involvement of the patients relatives, (4) standard use of professional interpreters, (5) increase in the number and length of consultations and (6) individual treatment instead of a group programme. Design. Qualitative study. Method. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with eight patients of Moroccan and Turkish origin and five native Dutch rehabilitation therapists. By comparison, three native Dutch patients were interviewed regarding the regular programme. Results. The results indicate that the patients disease symptoms reduced and that patients adopted lifestyle changes. Therapists experienced that the number and length of the consultations, the structural use of interpreters and (audio) visual educational materials contributed to the achievement of the treatment aims. Conclusion. An adapted cardiac rehabilitation programme with separate modules and additional strategies for non-native patients appears to lead to satisfied patients who adopted lifestyle changes. Relevance to clinical practice. The findings of this study are important as the study highlights the practical actions that may be taken by physicians and healthworkers to adjust rehabilitation treatment to the needs of patients of non-native origin

Louis-Ferdinand Céline, literary genius or national pariah? Defining moral parameters for influential cultural figures, post- Charlie Hebdo

In January 2011 the French Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand, withdrew Louis-Ferdinand Céline from a list of famous French authors specifically selected for a national celebration of culture. This bold decision polarized opinion: while many welcomed Mitterrand’s intervention, a number of prominent writers, some of them Jewish, opposed it on the grounds that Céline’s abhorrent political beliefs – expressed in three anti-Semitic pamphlets and his flirtation with Nazism- should in no way detract from his literary genius. In the light of this controversy, and of the rise in anti-Semitism following the Charlie Hebdo attacks of January 2015, this paper proposes Céline as a vital case study of the moral parameters a democratic nation should apply to a culturally important figure whose political views are deemed unacceptably reactionary

Retreat into scientism, paradoxes of transparency, and corruption in education

Um dos sintomas da razão indolente (SANTOS, 2006) é o recuo ao cientificismo, o qual tem sido, particularmente, acentuado nas políticas, cada vez mais hegemônicas, de avaliação, de prestação de contas e de responsabilização. Por isso, um dos objetivos deste texto é o de colocar em causa este aparente consenso cientificista (ou este consenso supostamente transideológico) e fazer uma breve incursão exploratória ao que aqui se designa de paradoxos da transparência. Considera-se que esses paradoxos traduzem a existência de tensões e contradições relativas a uma dimensão central dos discursos políticos e educacionais contemporâneos. Com isso, o artigo pretende dar continuidade a uma linha de pesquisa que tem procurado sublinhar a relevância da necessidade de complexificar e dar maior rigor teórico-conceptual à accountability em educação. Finalmente, tentando abrir caminho para o desenvolvimento de novas articulações e análises, chama-se a atenção para a corrupção na educação cuja complexidade ainda é insuficientemente conhecida e pesquisada, nomeadamente, nas suas relações com as problemáticas da transparência e da accountability. Admite-se que as práticas de corrupção em educação, em muitas situações, são (paradoxalmente) induzidas pela necessidade de dar resposta à governação baseada nos números, nos rankings e nas (supostas) evidências, anulando completamente as expectativas legítimas em torno da transparência dos processos educacionais e das decisões políticas.One symptom of “indolent reason” (SANTOS, 2006) is the retreat into scientism, which is especially marked in the increasingly hegemonic policies surrounding assessment, reporting and accountability. As such, one of the aims of this paper is to call into question this apparent consensus on scientism (a supposedly trans-ideological consensus), and briefly explore what we define as the paradoxes of transparency. These paradoxes are found to reveal the existence of tensions and contradictions concerning a central aspect of current political and educational discourse. In doing so, the article seeks to continue a line of study which has aimed to emphasize the significance of the need for a more complex, and theoretically and conceptually rigorous understanding of accountability in education. Finally, in an attempt to pave the way for further discussion and analysis, attention is drawn to corruption in education, the complex nature of which remains insufficiently understood and studied, notably in terms of its relationship with the problems of transparency and accountability. It is acknowledged that practices of corruption within education are, in many situations, (paradoxically) caused by the need to answer to a system of governance based on numbers, league tables, and (supposed) truths, completely nullifying legitimate expectations about the transparency of educational processes and policy decisions.Trabalho financiado por Fundos Nacionais através da FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – no âmbito do Projeto PEst-OE/CED/UI1661/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

10-Hydroxy-Nb-methyl-corynantheol, a new quaternary alkaloid from the stem bark of Strychnos usambarensis

A new quaternary indole alkaloid: 10-hydroxy-Nb-methyl corynantheol has been isolated from the stem bark of S. usambarensis by High Speed C

In Vitro Activities of Strychnos Alkaloids and Extracts against Plasmodium falciparum

The in vitro antimalarial activities of 46 alkaloids and extracts from Strychnos species were evaluated. Two types of quasidimeric alkaloids exhibit high and selective activities against Plasmodium. Strychnopentamine and isostrychnopentamine were active against chloroquine-sensitive and -resistant strains (50% inhibitory concentration [IC(50)] ≈ 0.15 μM), while dihydrousambarensine exhibited a 30-fold higher activity against the chloroquine-resistant strain (IC(50) = 0.03 μM) than it did against the chloroquine-sensitive strain

10'-Hydroxyusambarensine, a New Antimalarial Bisindole Alkaloid from the Roots of Strychnos Usambarensis

Reinvestigation of Strychnos usambarensis Gilg resulted in the isolation of a tertiary phenolic bisindole alkaloid, 10'-hydroxyusambarensine (1), which was identified by detailed spectroscopic methods. Compound 1 was moderately active against two strains of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro