[DOI: 10.1063/1.3159881]“
“Purpose To compare two different approaches to performing focus groups and individual interviews, an open approach, and an approach based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Methods Patients with rheumatoid arthritis attended focus groups (n = 49) and individual interviews (n = 21). Time, number of concepts, ICF categories identified, and sample size for PRN1371 nmr reaching saturation of data were compared. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and independent t tests were performed.

Results With an overall time of 183 h, focus

groups were more time consuming than individual interviews (t = 9.782; P < 0.001). In the open approach, 188 categories in the focus groups and 102 categories in the interviews were identified compared to the 231 and 110 respective categories identified in the ICF-based approach. Saturation of data was reached after performing five focus groups and nine individual interviews in the open approach and five focus groups and 12 individual Selleckchem LY2157299 interviews in the ICF-based approach.

Conclusion The method chosen should depend on the objective of the study, issues related to the health condition, and the study’s participants.

We recommend performing focus groups if the objective of the study is to comprehensively explore the patient perspective.”
“Human epidemiological evidence and experiments using animal models have clearly indicated that maternal diet can have a significant impact on the life-long susceptibility of offspring to chronic disease. This includes many of the traits (obesity, insulin resistance, elevated plasma triacylglycerol and hypertension)

associated with the metabolic syndrome. Evidence is presented that both maternal undernutrition and overnutrition are associated Akt inhibitor with such ‘fetal programming’. Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and recent evidence is emerging to suggest that maternal nutrition impacts on the development of atherosclerosis in the offspring. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as changes in DNA methylation, that result in lifelong changes in gene expression, appear to be at least one of the underlying mechanisms of such fetal programming.”
“The solid state cathodoluminescence (SSCL) of an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)/SiO(2)/C(9)-poly (p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV)/SiO(2)/Al device is measured under ac bias at different voltages. The luminescence spectrum is composed of two emission peaks around 420 and 577 nm corresponding to the emission of the band-band recombination and exciton recombination emission, respectively. The traditional method of determining the luminescence phase by means of the brightness waveform shows that the phase of 420 nm is apparently earlier than that of 577 nm in their bright-voltage waveforms. This is obviously contrary to fact and this method ceases to be effective.