139 research outputs found
Conformally coupled dark matter
Dark matter is obtained from a scalar field coupled conformally to
gravitation; the scalar being a relict of Dirac's gauge function. This
conformally coupled dark matter includes a gas of very light () neutral bosons having spin 0, as well as a
time-dependent global scalar field, both pervading all of the cosmic space. The
time-development of this dark matter in the expanding F-R-W universe is
investigated, and an acceptable cosmological behaviour is obtained.Comment: LaTEX File 10 pages, no figure
Challenges and opportunities for ex-offender support through community nursing
This study was a qualitative case study underpinned by “The Silences Framework” aimed at mapping the ex-offender health pathway towards identifying “touch points” in the community for the delivery of a nurse-led intervention. Participants meeting the study inclusion criteria were quantitatively ranked based on poor health. Participants scoring the lowest and endorsing their ranking through a confirmation of a health condition were selected as cases and interviewed over 6 months. Individuals in the professional networks of offenders contextualized emergent themes. The study indicated that pre-release, offenders were not prepared in prison for the continuity in access to healthcare in the community. On release, reintegration preparation did not routinely enquire whether offenders were still registered with a general practitioner or had the agency to register self in the community. Participants identified the site of post-release supervision as the “touch point” where a nurse-led intervention could be delivere
Motivations for seeking experimental treatment in Japan
In this article on innovative medical treatment for serious conditions in Japan we aim to revise two widespread notions: first, that people living with severe conditions are all waiting for a cure or are impatient to try out experimental treatment, in particular regenerative medicine. Showing that motivations for cure seeking are complex and linked to somatic identity, we argue that gaining a cure also means a new social normality, which for some people narrows the only normality that is meaningful to them; and, second, that people living with a serious (latent) condition necessarily define their lives as not normal in the light of normalization. People with a condition conceptualise normal life variously and multiply in the light of both individual and collective experiences. The two revisions are crucial to attempts at understanding what makes people seek experimental medicine. Comparing the narratives of people with four different conditions – spinal cord injury, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Diabetes Mellitus type 1 and cardiovascular disease – it becomes clear that the difference between seeking treatment or not largely depends on somatic identities; rather than through notions of (ab)normality, it is more adequately understood in terms of the experience of somatic lacking and wholeness
Trial Forge Guidance 1 : what is a Study Within A Trial (SWAT)?
Randomised trials are a central component of all evidence-informed health care systems and the evidence coming from them helps to support health care users, health professionals and others to make more informed decisions about treatment. The evidence available to trialists to support decisions on design, conduct and reporting of randomised trials is, however, sparse. Trial Forge is an initiative that aims to increase the evidence base for trial decision-making and in doing so, to improve trial efficiency.One way to fill gaps in evidence is to run Studies Within A Trial, or SWATs. This guidance document provides a brief definition of SWATs, an explanation of why they are important and some practical 'top tips' that come from existing experience of doing SWATs. We hope the guidance will be useful to trialists, methodologists, funders, approvals agencies and others in making clear what a SWAT is, as well as what is involved in doing one
Prospectus, April 18, 1984
CHORAL UNION DEMANDING AND REWARDING; News Digest; Is your child part of the identi-child program?; Budding playwrights get chance to have work produced; PC Happenings: Parkland wins Automotive Contest, German Club annual Springfest, EMT workshop offered, Petitions available for Stu-Go, Stu-Go lacks quorum; Here Comes the Easter Bunny (or the Easter Hare?); Faces We Make; Former Prospectus entertainment writer: Alender services held; Strange things at the library; Only Food Service Management course in area: Sutton leads Food Service Management program; Criminal justice program well rounded; Running may increase protein need; Easter means Easter egg time; Second Wind hosts race; Did You Know...; Classifieds; Creative Corner...Especially for you!!: Recollections, She\u27s More than a Nurse, You are a corn-fed steak..., Memories..., A fire burns, AKTING??????????????..., Sometimes in their heed to tact..., Clouds, Disturb Not the Dead, Follow the Wind, I don\u27t know why I bother..., Innoncent Eyes, Please tell me what it is you want..., Running scared from yourself and tripped, babe..., Time Bomb, Don\u27t go away--Linger on..., Class, Raggedy Ann lay in the back of an old station wagon..., Too Late, To God; Ice Capades comes to town: Skaters say it\u27s hard work but well worth it; few surprises during Hollywood\u27s biggest night; \u27Queen\u27 film at Assembly Hall; Director shines in film; \u27Go-Go\u27s\u27 are back on track; \u27Weird Al\u27 hits big time; Fan Club to host film; Parkland College 1984 baseball roster; Cobra men lose two; 1984 Parkland Outdoor Track Bests; Sports Digest; Women lose twin bill; Prospectus survey resultshttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1984/1024/thumbnail.jp
The interactions of disability and impairment
Theoretical work on disability is going through an expansive period, built on the growing recognition of disability studies as a discipline and out of the political and analytical push to bring disability into a prominent position within accounts of the intersecting social categories that shape people's lives. A current debate within critical disability studies is whether that study should include impairment and embodiment within its focus. This article argues it should and does so by drawing from symbolic interactionism and embodiment literatures in order to explore how differences in what bodies can do-defined as impairments-come to play a role in how people make sense of themselves through social interaction. We argue that these everyday interactions and the stories we tell within them and about them are important spaces and narratives through which impairment and disability are produced. Interactions and stories are significant both in how they are shaped by wider social norms, collective stories and institutional processes, and also how they at times can provide points of resistance and challenges to such norms, stories and institutions. Therefore, the significance of impairment and interaction is the role they play in both informing self-identity and also broader dynamics of power and inequality
A practice change intervention to improve antenatal care addressing alcohol consumption by women during pregnancy: research protocol for a randomised stepped-wedge cluster trial
Background: Despite clinical guideline recommendations, implementation of antenatal care addressing alcohol consumption by pregnant women is limited. Implementation strategies addressing barriers to such care may be effective in increasing care provision. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness, cost and cost-effectiveness of a multi-strategy practice change intervention in increasing antenatal care addressing the consumption of alcohol by pregnant women. Methods: The study will be a randomised, stepped-wedge controlled trial conducted in three sectors in a health district in New South Wales, Australia. Stepped implementation of a practice change intervention will be delivered to sectors in a random order to support the introduction of a model of care for addressing alcohol consumption by pregnant women. A staged process was undertaken to develop the implementation strategies, which comprise of: leadership support, local clinical practice guidelines, electronic prompts and reminders, opinion leaders, academic detailing (audit and feedback), educational meetings and educational materials, and performance monitoring. Repeated cross-sectional outcome data will be gathered weekly across all sectors for the study duration. The primary outcome measures are the proportion of antenatal appointments at 'booking in', 27-28 weeks gestation and 35-36 weeks gestation for which women report (1) being assessed for alcohol consumption, (2) being provided with brief advice related to alcohol consumption during pregnancy, (3) receiving relevant care for addressing alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and (4) being assessed for alcohol consumption and receiving relevant care. Data on resources expended during intervention development and implementation will be collected. The proportion of women who report consuming alcohol since knowing they were pregnant will be measured as a secondary outcome. Discussion: This will be the first randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness, cost and cost-effectiveness of implementation strategies in improving antenatal care that addresses alcohol consumption by pregnant women. If positive changes in clinical practice are found, this evidence will support health service adoption of implementation strategies to support improved antenatal care for this recognised risk to the health and wellbeing of the mother and child.Melanie Kingsland, Emma Doherty, Amy E. Anderson, Kristy Crooks, Belinda Tully, Danika Tremain, Tracey W. Tsang, John Attia, Luke Wolfenden, Adrian J. Dunlop, Nicole Bennett, Mandy Hunter, Sarah Ward, Penny Reeves, Ian Symonds, Chris Rissel, Carol Azzopardi, Andrew Searles, Karen Gillham, Elizabeth J. Elliott, and John Wigger
Molecular Characterization of Spontaneous Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transformation
Background. We previously reported the in vitro spontaneous transformation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) generating a population with tumorigenic potential, that we termed transformed mesenchymal cells (TMC). Methodology/Principal Findings. Here we have characterized the molecular changes associated with TMC generation. Using microarrays techniques we identified a set of altered pathways and a greater number of downregulated than upregulated genes during MSC transformation, in part due to the expression of many untranslated RNAs in MSC. Microarray results were validated by qRT-PCR and protein detection. Conclusions/Significance. In our model, the transformation process takes place through two sequential steps; first MSC bypass senescence by upregulating c-myc and repressing p16 levels. The cells then bypass cell crisis with acquisition of telomerase activity, Ink4a/Arf locus deletion and Rb hyperphosphorylation. Other transformation-associated changes include modulation of mitochondrial metabolism, DNA damage-repair proteins and cell cycle regulators. In this work we have characterized the molecular mechanisms implicated in TMC generation and we propose a two-stage model by which a human MSC becomes a tumor cell
Smad phosphoisoform signals in acute and chronic liver injury: similarities and differences between epithelial and mesenchymal cells
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) usually arises from hepatic fibrosis caused by chronic inflammation. In chronic liver damage, hepatic stellate cells undergo progressive activation to myofibroblasts (MFB), which are important extracellular-matrix-producing mesenchymal cells. Concomitantly, perturbation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling by pro-inflammatory cytokines in the epithelial cells of the liver (hepatocytes) promotes both fibrogenesis and carcinogenesis (fibro-carcinogenesis). Insights into fibro-carcinogenic effects on chronically damaged hepatocytes have come from recent detailed analyses of the TGF-β signaling process. Smad proteins, which convey signals from TGF-β receptors to the nucleus, have intermediate linker regions between conserved Mad homology (MH) 1 and MH2 domains. TGF-β type I receptor and pro-inflammatory cytokine-activated kinases differentially phosphorylate Smad2 and Smad3 to create phosphoisoforms phosphorylated at the COOH-terminal, linker, or both (L/C) regions. After acute liver injury, TGF-β-mediated pSmad3C signaling terminates hepatocytic proliferation induced by the pro-inflammatory cytokine-mediated mitogenic pSmad3L pathway; TGF-β and pro-inflammatory cytokines synergistically enhance collagen synthesis by activated hepatic stellate cells via pSmad2L/C and pSmad3L/C pathways. During chronic liver disease progression, pre-neoplastic hepatocytes persistently affected by TGF-β together with pro-inflammatory cytokines come to exhibit the same carcinogenic (mitogenic) pSmad3L and fibrogenic pSmad2L/C signaling as do MFB, thereby accelerating liver fibrosis while increasing risk of HCC. This review of Smad phosphoisoform-mediated signals examines similarities and differences between epithelial and mesenchymal cells in acute and chronic liver injuries and considers Smad linker phosphorylation as a potential target for the chemoprevention of fibro-carcinogenesis
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