Search

© 2016 The Author(s). Background: Care home residents in England have variable access to health care services. There is currently no coherent policy or consensus about the best arrangements to meet these needs. The purpose of this review was to explore the evidence for how different service delivery models for care home residents support and/or improve wellbeing and health-related outcomes in older people living and dying in care homes. Methods: We conceptualised models of health care provision to care homes as complex interventions. We used a realist review approach to develop a preliminary understanding of what supported good health care provision to care homes. We completed a scoping of the literature and interviewed National Health Service and Local Authority commissioners, providers of services to care homes, representatives from the Regulator, care home managers, residents and their families. We used these data to develop theoretical propositions to be tested in the literature to explain why an intervention may be effective in some situations and not others. We searched electronic databases and related grey literature. Finally the findings were reviewed with an external advisory group. Results: Strategies that support and sustain relational working between care home staff and visiting health care professionals explained the observed differences in how health care interventions were accepted and embedded into care home practice. Actions that encouraged visiting health care professionals and care home staff jointly to identify, plan and implement care home appropriate protocols for care, when supported by ongoing facilitation from visiting clinicians, were important. Contextual factors such as financial incentives or sanctions, agreed protocols, clinical expertise and structured approaches to assessment and care planning could support relational working to occur, but of themselves appeared insufficient to achieve change. Conclusion: How relational working is str

Given that HIV-protease inhibitors (HIV-PIs) are substrates/inhibitors of the multidrug transporter ABCB1, can induce ABCB1 expression, and are used in combination with doxorubicin for AIDS-Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS) treatment, the role that ABCB1 plays in mediating multidrug resistance (MDR) in a fully transformed KS cell line (SLK) was explored.

cited By 39

Sustainability in mineral development depends on a number of factors, including ore body size, profitability, involvement in the local community, political stability and commodity markets. This paper deals in particular with the size of ore bodies and mine safety, both of which have a major bearing on sustainability. The first lesson is that large ore resources provide a very good platform for sustainability but that this could be improved significantly if the commodity, in this case gold, is fairly priced at all times. Hence gold should remain demonetised, because price fixing will almost certainly lead to long-term declines in real value, severely affecting the sustainability of gold supply. The second lesson is that safe mining is economically sensible and leads to sustainability. If the analysis in this paper is correct, then mining safety should be the primary concern at all costs, since the cost of safety (not evaluated here) is likely to be small in relation to the cost of mining risk. The third lesson is that the cost of injuries in mining must be reflected in the market valuation of all publicly listed mining companies, and this becomes clear in the example of the market valuation of AngloGold Ashanti and two North American companies, Barrick and Newmont. The statistics given show that if health and safety issues are not addressed adequately, the sustainability and profitability of a company is seriously threatened by the direct and indirect costs of accidents, which results in depressed market valuation and increased cost of capital., Sustainability in mineral development depends on a number of factors, including ore body size, profitability, involvement in the local community, political stability and commodity markets. This paper deals in particular with the size of ore bodies and mine safety, both of which have a major bearing on sustainability. The first lesson is that large ore resources provide a very good platform for sustainability but that this could be improved significantly if the commodity, in this case gold, is fairly priced at all times. Hence gold should remain demonetised, because price fixing will almost certainly lead to long-term declines in real value, severely affecting the sustainability of gold supply. The second lesson is that safe mining is economically sensible and leads to sustainability. If the analysis in this paper is correct, then mining safety should be the primary concern at all costs, since the cost of safety (not evaluated here) is likely to be small in relation to the cost of mining risk. The third lesson is that the cost of injuries in mining must be reflected in the market valuation of all publicly listed mining companies, and this becomes clear in the example of the market valuation of AngloGold Ashanti and two North American companies, Barrick and Newmont. The statistics given show that if health and safety issues are not addressed adequately, the sustainability and profitability of a company is seriously threatened by the direct and indirect costs of accidents, which results in depressed market valuation and increased cost of capital.

Un updated compilation of published and new data of major ion (Ca, Cl, K, Mg, Na, NO3, SO4) and methylsulfonate (MS) concentrations in snow from 520 Antarctic sites is provided by the national ITASE (International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition) programmes of Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom, the United States, and the national Antarctic programme of Finland. The comparison shows that snow chemistry concentrations vary by up to four orders of magnitude across Antarctica and exhibit distinct geographical patterns. The Antarctic-wide comparison of glaciochemical records provides a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the fundamental factors that ultimately control the chemistry of snow or ice samples. This paper aims to initiate data compilation and administration in order to provide a framework for facilitation of antarctic-wide snow chemistry discussions across all ITASE nations and other contributing groups. The data are made available through the ITASE web page (http://www2.umaine.edu/itase/content/syngroups/snowchem.html) and will be updated with new data as they are provided. In addition, recommendations for future research efforts are summarized.

Given the increasing interest in using peat bogs as archives of atmospheric metal deposition, the lack of validated sample preparation methods and suitable certified reference materials has hindered not only the quality assurance of the generated analytical data but also the interpretation and comparison of peat core metal profiles from different laboratories in the international community. Reference materials play an important role in the evaluation of the accuracy of analytical results and are essential parts of good laboratory practice. An ombrotrophic peat bog reference material has been developed by 14 laboratories from nine countries in an inter-laboratory comparison between February and October 2002. The material has been characterised for both acid-extractable and total concentrations of a range of elements, including Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Ti, V and Zn. The steps involved in the production of the reference material (i.e. collection and preparation, homogeneity and stability studies, and certification) are described in detail.