The relationship between small-scale nursing home care for people with dementia and staff's perceived job characteristics

Background: Over the past few decades, new care models that are more resident-oriented and directed toward small-scale and homelike environments have been developed worldwide. The impact of these care models on the quality of life of residents has been studied. However, little research has been conducted to gain insight into how these new care models influence healthcare staff's work environment. This study focuses on the consequences of small-scale care on staff's perceived job characteristics. Methods: Data were derived from a sample of 136 Dutch living arrangements providing nursing home care for people with dementia (2008/2009), in which 1,327 residents and 1,147 staff participated. The relationship between two indicators of small-scale care (small-scale care characteristics and total number of residents with dementia in facility) and staff's job characteristics (job demands, decision authority, coworker and supervisor support) were studied with multilevel regression analyses. All analyses were adjusted for staff, resident, and living arrangement characteristics when needed. Results: Both indicators of small-scale care were associated with job demands; staff perceived less time and work pressure as more characteristics of small-scale care were integrated and the facility had less residents with dementia in total. Only one indicator was associated with decision authority. As more characteristics of small-scale care were integrated, staff's perceived decision authority was higher. No relationship was found with coworker and supervisor social support. Conclusions: Knowing that job demands and decision authority are important predictors of job appraisal and well-being, our findings show that small-scale care could have a beneficial impact on healthcare staff's work environment. Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014

Análise da diversidade nucleotídica intra e interespecífica de Coffea spp.

Os bancos de dados de ESTs do gênero #Coffea# têm auxiliado os estudos de identificação de marcadores moleculares. Entre estes trabalhos, foi desenvolvido um #pipeline# para busca de polimorfismos que resultou na identificação de 23.062 SNPs e INDELS presentes em dois genótipos de #C. arabica# e quatro de #C canephora#. Devido a baixa representatividade genotípica dos dados de ESTs, esse trabalho buscou validar os polimorfismos detectados pelo #pipeline# e avaliar a frequência dos mesmos em um painel maior de genótipos, representativo da diversidade de #C. arabica# (12 genótipos) e #C. canephora# (oito genótipos). Também foram avaliados os polimorfismos entre estas duas espécies com #C. eugenioides#, #C. racemosa# e #Psilanthus bengalensis#. Para a análise foram selecionados oito genes envolvidos na biossíntese de diterpenos e açúcares, importantes compostos relacionados à qualidade da bebida, bem como um gene mitocondrial e um cloroplastídico, que permitem também a inferência sobre a história evolutiva dos genes analisados. Fragmentos dos respectivos genes foram amplificados por PCR e os produtos foram sequenciados. O alinhamento das sequências e a detecção manual dos polimorfismos foram realizados pelo programa #Codon Code Aligner#. Aproximadamente 7,6 kb foram explorados para identificação de 465 polimorfismos incluindo 416 SNPs, 18 INDELs e 31 SSR. Uma frequência de 6,1 SNP foi observada a cada 100 pb. Quando todos os polimorfismos foram considerados, verificou-se que 110 correspondem a diferenças entre #Psilanthus# e #Coffea# e 360 correspondem a diferenças entre as espécies de Coffea; destes 266 são intra ou inter específicos para #C. canephora# e #C. eugenioides#, espécies ancestrais de C. arabica. Em C. arabica foram encontrados 134 SNPs, sendo que aproximadamente 87% destes correspondem a polimorfismos entre os parentais da espécie e apenas 13% correspondem a diferenças intraespecíficas, sendo que maioria dos polimorfismos intraespecíficos verificados não é fixada na população. A partir dos resultados inferiu-se que a análise realizada pelo #pipeline# foi relevante para identificar alguns polimorfismos que diferenciam os genomas dos ancestrais de #C. arabica#, mas apresenta limitações na detecção de SNPs intraespecíficos importantes; por outro lado, o painel diverso de genótipos, permitiu a detecção de vários polimorfismos ainda não identificados, importantes para o mapeamento genético, análises de diversidade e de evolução molecular ao nível intraespecífico. Os dados obtidos poderão ser utilizados tanto nos programas de mapeamento genético de #C. arabica# e #C. canephora#, como para aplicações práticas de genotipagem ou no melhoramento através de seleção assistida por marcadores (SAM), além de serem úteis para estudos evolutivos e possibilitarem a escolha de genes candidatos para estudos de associação e de expressão diferencial de haplótipos relacionada à plasticidade fenotípica. Apoio Financeiro: Consórcio Pesquisa Café, CNPq. (Texte intégral

Characterization and expression of two cDNA encoding 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase isoforms in coffee (Coffea arabica L.).

In higher plants there are two independent pathways for isoprenoid biosynthesis, located in the cytosol (mevalonic acid or MVA pathway) or in the plastids (methylerythritol phosphate ? MEP pathway). The 3-hydroxy-3-methyglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) is the first committed step in the MVA pathway. Using the information available from the Brazilian Coffee Genome Project, we found 13 ESTs that originated two isoforms, CaHMGR1 and CaHMGR2, for the enzyme HMGR of Coffea arabica. A complementary DNA encoding the isoform CaHMGR1 was cloned, and its complete nucleotide sequence determined. The full-length cDNA of CaHMGR1 was 2242 bp containing a 1812-bp ORF encoding 604 amino acids. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that the deduced CaHMGR1 had extensive homology with other plant HMGRs and contained two transmembrane domains and two putative HMGR binding sites and two NADP(H)-binding sites. Under normal growth conditions, transcripts of isoform CaHMRG1 were detected in fruit tissues (pulp, perisperm and endosperm) only at the initial stages of development, flower buds and leaves. CaHMRG2 was expressed in all tissues and during all fruit development stages examined. These results suggest a constitutive expression of isoform CaHMGR2, while the isoform CaHMGR1 shows temporal and tissue-specific transcriptional activation

A Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis of Natural Genetic Variation for \u3ci\u3eDrosophila melanogaster\u3c/i\u3e Oxidative Stress Survival

Little is known about natural genetic variation for survival under oxidative stress conditions or whether genetic variation for oxidative stress survival is associated with that for life-history traits. We have investigated survival in a high-oxygen environment at 2 adult densities using a set of re-combinant inbred lines (RILs) isolated from a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. Female and male oxidative stress survival was highly correlated. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for oxidative stress survival were identified on both autosomes. These QTLs were sometimes sex or density spe-cific but were most often not. QTLs were identified that colocalize to the same region of the genome as longevity in other studies using the same set of RILs. We also determined early-age egg produc-tion and found QTLs for this trait, but there was no support for an association between oxidative stress survival and egg production