Effectiveness of a pharmacist-led structured group-based intervention in improving medication adherence and glycaemic control among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: A pharmacist-led structured group-based intervention (MEDIHEALTH) was formulated to improve medication adherence among Malay type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of MEDIHEALTH and its mechanism of impact for improving medication adherence and the glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level.

Methods: A two group and parallel randomised controlled trial with a twelve months follow-up period was conducted at two primary health clinics in Malaysia that were surrounded by Malay communities.

Frequency-fluctuation model applied to Stark-Zeeman spectral line shapes in plasmas.

A very fast method for calculating line shapes in the presence of an external magnetic field accounting for charge particle dynamics is proposed. It is based on a reformulation of the frequency fluctuation model, which provides an expression of the dynamic line shape as a functional of the static distribution function of frequencies. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the distribution of intensity and polarization of the emission depends on the angle between the observation line and the magnetic field's direction.

Dynamic Stark broadening as the Dicke narrowing effect.

A very fast method to account for charged particle dynamics effects in calculations of spectral line shape emitted by plasmas is presented. This method is based on a formulation of the frequency fluctuation model (FFM), which provides an expression of the dynamic line shape as a functional of the static distribution of frequencies. Thus, the main numerical work rests on the calculation of the quasistatic Stark profile.

Electron dynamics at a positive ion.

The dynamics of electrons in the presence of a positive ion is considered for conditions of weak electron-electron coupling but strong electron-ion coupling. The equilibrium electron density and the electric field time correlation functions are evaluated for semiclassical conditions using a classical statistical mechanics with a regularized electron-ion interaction for molecular dynamics simulation (MD). Results are reported for the autocorrelation function of the electron electric field at the ion for 0< or =Z< or =40 , including conditions of strong electron-ion coupling.

Development of a Chlamydia trachomatis bacterial ghost vaccine to fight human blindness.

Trachoma is the world's leading cause of preventable disease and the third most common cause of blindness after cataract and glaucoma, affecting an estimated 84 million people and leaving 590 million at risk. As a crippling disease, trachoma causes an enormous loss of productivity and constitutes a major socioeconomic burden. Although antibiotics are effective in treating active cases of the illness, they do not prevent re-infection, which occurs with high frequency in susceptible populations.