Residential mobility in private lower‐cost housing in Bangkok

The literature on residential satisfaction and mobility for Western countries is extensive and has yielded a number of models explaining mobility in the housing market. By studying a large number of residents of private lower‐cost housing estates in Bangkok (Thailand) a model is built explaining residential mobility in low‐income countries. The strongest predictor of mobility is home ownership followed by residential satisfaction itself. This contradicts earlier results in developed countries. Satisfaction with the individual dwelling unit, satisfaction with the environment of the estate and the age of the head of household also, with decreasing strength, influence plans to move.     

Protective effect against oxidation of human low-density lipoprotein and plasmid DNA strand scission of Tamarind seed coat extract in vitro

Methanolic extract from seed coat of Thai Tamarindus indica L. containing polyphenol; procyanidins, (−)-epicatechin was studied in vitro for protective effect against Cu²⁺-induced human low-density lipoprotein (hLDL) oxidation and oxidative damage of plasmid DNA induced by Fenton reactant. LDL oxidation was monitored by formation of conjugated dienes, fluorescent products, protein carbonylation and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Supercoiled DNA strand scission was evaluated by gel electrophoresis. The extract inhibited formation of all four products of oxidized LDL in a dose-dependent manner over 25-1000 ng/ml extracts. Furthermore, 1 mg/ml extract also protected supercoiled DNA strand in plasmid pBR322 against scission induced by Fenton-mediated hydroxyl radical similar to that found with reference antioxidant, 0.5 μg/ml Trolox. Thus, seed coat extract from Thai Tamarind shows antioxidant effects against in vitro Cu²⁺-mediated LDL oxidation and hydroxyl radical-induced supercoiled DNA damage. These results suggest that seed coat extract from Thai Tamarind may be useful for preventing LDL oxidation and DNA damage.