Mitochondrial membrane potential regulates PINK1 import and proteolytic destabilization by PARL

Differential localization to the inner and outer mitochondrial membranes regulates PINK1 stability and function

Physical conditioning and mental stress reduction - a randomised trial in patients undergoing cardiac surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Preoperative anxiety and physical unfitness have been shown to have adverse effects on recovery from cardiac surgery. This study involving cardiac surgery patients was primarily aimed at assessing the feasibility of delivering physical conditioning and stress reduction programs within the public hospital setting. Secondary aims were to evaluate the effect of these programs on quality of life (QOL), rates of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) and length of stay (LOS) in hospital.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Elective patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass graft and/or valve surgery at a public hospital in Melbourne, Australia were enrolled. Patients were randomized to receive either holistic therapy (HT) or usual care (UC). HT consisted of a series of light physical exercise sessions together with a mental stress reduction program administered in an outpatient setting for the first two weeks after placement on the waiting list for surgery. A self-administered SF-36 questionnaire was used to measure QOL and hospital records to collect data on LOS and rate of postoperative AF.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study population comprised 117 patients of whom 60 received HT and 57 received UC. Both programs were able to be delivered within the hospital setting but ongoing therapy beyond the two week duration of the program was not carried out due to long waiting periods and insufficient resources. HT, as delivered in this study, compared to UC did not result in significant changes in QOL, LOS or AF incidence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Preoperative holistic therapy can be delivered in the hospital setting, although two weeks is insufficient to provide benefits beyond usual care on QOL, LOS or postoperative AF. Further research is now required to determine whether a similar program of longer duration, or targeted to high risk patients can provide measurable benefits.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>This trial was conducted as part of a larger study and according to the principles contained in the CONSORT statement 2001.</p

Men, women, shops and 'little, shiny homes' : the consuming of Coventry, 1930-1939

In the 1930s many people leaving the United Kingdom's depressed areas in search of work were drawn to Coventry. Companies involved in the manufacture of motor cars, electrical goods, artificial silk and machine tools were typical of those located in the city. Most incomers found work: unemployment remained at a low level whilst the city's population exploded. The city boundaries were extended, and Coventry was rapidly suburbanised in response to the heightened demand for accommodation. Private developers noted with surprise how few of the new houses were built to let. The 1936 edition of Home Market placed Coventry first on its national index of purchasing power. From the middle of the decade, the city was closely associated with rearmament and four shadow factories provided further employment opportunities. This research addresses changes in the processes and practices of (primarily non-food) shopping amongst prosperous working-class Coventry people in the 1930s. It assesses the development of new spending patterns In relation to new products and services, and examines the role played by gender in determining the who, what, when, where and why of shopping. The thesis asks how these men and women negotiated financial power and consumer choice between them and discovers that the families who benefitted most from new material opportunities were those which placed a value on togetherness'. A range of source material is utilised to interrogate and contextualise oral testimony, and to explore the development of local retail provision. relationship is established between the city's manufacturing, retail and domestic environments. The research suggests that men spent slightly more time in the home, and women slightly less during this period. It also asserts that going shopping was not necessarily about acquiring goods; that acquir1ng goods did not necessarily involve going to the shops; and that the shopper was not always a woman