The media through which we communicate shape how we think, how we act, and who we are. Electronic health records (EHRs) may promote more effective, efficient, coordinated, safer care. Research is emerging, but more is needed to assess the effect of EHRs on communication, relationships, patients' trust, adherence, and health ...

Schamberg's disease is a pigmented purpuric dermatosis that is generally asymptomatic, however, patients with Schamberg's disease often seek treatment for aesthetic improvement. Many topical and systemic therapies have been tried without consistent results. This case series describes the treatment of five patients with Schamberg's disease of the lower extremities using ...

Numerous empirical studies identified fractal noise in human behavior. According to the theory of Self Organized Criticality, long memory 1/f scaling is a signature of stable and adaptive complex dynamical systems. This article discusses the following aspects of fractality research: (a) generation of fractal noise in simulation studies; (b) quality ...

Objective-To determine the influence of transportation by road and air on heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) in horses. Animals-6 healthy horses. Procedures-ECG recordings were obtained from horses before (quarantine with stall rest [Q]; 24 hours) and during a journey that included transportation by road (RT; 4.5 hours), waiting ...

: A retrospective comparative study. : To investigate the clinical efficacy of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) augmentation in vertebral pseudarthrosis after osteoporotic vertebral fractures. : Despite being the most rigid form of posterior instrumentation, pedicle screws sometimes achieve poor initial fixation primarily in patients with osteoporosis. One method for improving pedicle screw ...

Purpose: To determine whether oral zinc supplementation might affect the efficacy and duration of botulinum toxin treatments. Methods: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study, we examined the efficacy of three botulinum toxin preparations (onabotulinumtoxinA, abobotulinumtoxinA, and rimabotulinumtoxinB) following oral supplementation with zinc citrate 50 mg and phytase 3,000 PU, ...

Pharmacologic reversal of neuromuscular blockade is a topic not very well acknowledged and controversially discussed. Reasons for this are numerous and include missing perception of the potential complications of residual neuromuscular paralysis including an increased morbidity and mortality, as well as low efficacy and numerous unwanted side effects of the ...

The key points for designing and implementing an evidence-based practice (EBP) model in a large health care system are discussed. This implementation created strategies for practice changes for organizational change. The quality management methods included structured EBP toolkits that are described as part of the deliverable of each toolkit's Design ...

Objective-To determine aqueous humor flow rate (AHFR) in an avian species by use of anterior segment fluorophotometry. Animals-9 healthy red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis; 4 males and 5 females) that ranged from 8 months to 8 years of age. Procedures-A protocol was developed for fluorophotometric determination of AHFR. Topical administration of ...

Purpose: Social cognition captures affect recognition, social cue perception, "theory of mind," empathy, and attributional style. The aim of our study was to assess social cognition in schizophrenia inpatients being treated with first-generation antipsychotic drugs (FGAs), n=28 (perphenazine and haloperidol, FGAs) or with second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs), n=56 (olanzapine and ...

Most dermatologists will treat at least one patient suffering from delusions of parasitosis (DP) in their career.1 These patients are memorable not only for the peculiarity of their delusions and their repeated visits to the office, but for the challenges they present in their treatment. These patients are also frustrating. ...

Retrospective case series. To compare different interbody reconstruction implants after corpectomy in metastatic spine tumors. Vertebral body reconstruction after corpectomy is common for patients with metastatic spine tumors. Although various implants are reported individually in the literature, no study to-date has compared them with one another directly. Thirty-seven consecutive patients ...

Isolated angiokeratomas are common benign cutaneous lesions, generally deemed unworthy of further investigation. In contrast, diffuse angiokeratomas should alert the physician to a possible diagnosis of Fabry disease, a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disorder, characterized by α-galactosidase deficiency. Glycosphingolipids accumulate in cells throughout the body resulting in progressive multi-organ failure. ...

Topical antifungal treatment is a mainstay of therapy for Seborrehic Dermatitis (SD). Although the amidazole and ciclopyridine antifungals have been extensively studied, few clinical efficacy data are available for topical allylamine therapy in SD. The objective of this open-label exploratory study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of natifine ...

Objective-To compare the pharmacokinetics of a novel bioadhesive gel formulation of midazolam after intranasal (IN) administration with that of midazolam solution after IN, IV, and rectal administration to dogs. Animals-10 (5 males and 5 females) healthy adult Beagles. Procedures-Dogs were assigned to 4 treatment groups for a crossover study design. ...

Background The contraceptive efficacy and tolerability of a new flexible extended regimen of ethinylestradiol (EE) 20 μg/drospirenone (DRSP) 3 mg to extend the menstrual cycle and enable management of intracyclic (breakthrough) bleeding (flexible(MIB)) was investigated and the bleeding pattern compared with a conventional 28-day regimen and a fixed extended 124-day ...

Objective-To establish practical doses and administration frequencies of fondaparinux for cats that would approximate human therapeutic peak and trough plasma anti-factor Xa activities for thromboprophylaxis (TP) and thrombosis treatment (TT) protocols. Animals-6 healthy adult purpose-bred cats. Procedures-Dosage protocols for TP and TT were selected on the basis of a single ...

Objective: Hyponatremia (serum sodium concentration [Na+] <136 mEq/L) is a potentially life-threatening condition often found chronically in patients with psychotic disorders. Vasopressin antagonists have recently been shown in short-term studies to correct hyponatremia in diverse patient populations, including individuals with both psychosis and idiopathic hyponatremia. However, the safety and efficacy ...

The International Molecular Exchange (IMEx) consortium is an international collaboration between major public interaction data providers to share literature-curation efforts and make a nonredundant set of protein interactions available in a single search interface on a common website (http://www.imexconsortium.org/). Common curation rules have been developed, and a central registry is ...

The objectives of this study are (1) to compare the prevalence of a medical home between children with public and private insurance across states, (2) to investigate the association between a medical home and state health care characteristics for children with public and private insurance. We performed a cross-sectional analysis ...

Quality improvement (QI) interventions in health care organizations have produced mixed results with significant questions remaining about how QI interventions are implemented. Team-based reflection may be an important element for understanding QI implementation. Extensive research has focused on individual benefits of reflection including links between reflection, learning, and change. There ...

Although the exact pathogenesis of vitiligo is not fully understood, it appears to be an autoimmune disease. It is hypothesized that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-?) plays an important role in vitiligo. TNF-? can destroy melanocytes through the induction of various apoptotic pathways. In addition, TNF-? can inhibit melanocyte stem ...

1-Vinylcycloalkenes undergo highly regio- and enantioselective (>98% ee) 1,4-hydrovinylation (HV) when treated with ethylene (1 atm) at room temperature in the presence of [(S,S)-2,4-bis-diphenylphosphinopentane (BDPP)]CoCl(2) (0.05 equiv) and methylaluminoxane. The minor 1,2-HV products, seen only in 1-vinylcyclohexene (~15%) and 1-vinylcycloheptene (2%), are formed as racemic mixtures. The corresponding Ni(II)-catalyzed HV ...

There is equivocal evidence regarding the benefits of aquatic aerobic exercise for non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) in addition to standard care in general practice consisting of education and advice. The purpose of this study was to compare the addition of deep water running (DWR) to standard general practice ...

RATIONALE: The development of experimental models that readily translate between animals and humans is required to better integrate and clarify the biological, behavioural and cognitive mechanisms that underlie normal fear and pathological anxiety. Inhalation of low concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) increases anxiety and autonomic arousal in humans, triggers related ...

OBJECTIVE: Nitric oxide synthesized from L: -arginine via the nitric oxide synthase enzyme family is the main regulatory molecule in many physiological systems. The level of nitric oxide can now be measured in tissues by a direct real-time amperometric method. The effect of electrical stimulation of the upper cervical spine ...

RATIONALE: Cocaine addiction is associated with high rates of relapse, and stress has been identified as a major risk factor. We have previously demonstrated that acupuncture reduces drug self-administration and dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain structure implicated in stress-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. OBJECTIVE: This study ...

The estrogen receptor (ER) is regarded as a significant drug target because of its important physical and pathological function. In this article, we describe a novel screening method to obtain agonists and antagonists of ER. ER was immobilized onto an aldehyde-modified glass slide. The affinity of Cy3-labeled estradiol for ER ...

The prevalence of anemia in the elderly is high and can reach among independent community-dwelling persons > 20% and among hospitalized geriatric patients up to 40%. Anemia in the elderly has numerous causes rather than being clearly age related. Although it is widely acknowledged that anemia influences morbidity and mortality in ...

The prevalence of anemia in geriatric patients is high. With some variation in different patient cohorts, prevalence of anemia can reach 40%. Anemia is not an age-related disease on its own, but is a symptom with multifactorial genesis and high risk potential. It directly influences mortality, morbidity, and the rate ...

The M protein of POEMS syndrome is essentially λ light chain restricted. Several studies have demonstrated the restrict usage of immunoglobulin λ light chain variable region (IGLV) genes in patients with POEMS syndrome. However, these studies only included a limited number of cases, and it is not clear whether the ...

Insulin resistance and visceral fat distribution usually play a major role in the development of clinical aspects of the metabolic syndrome, such as dyslipidemia, diabetes and atherosclerosis. In this review, the focus will be on some novel relationships with a fatty liver, for which susceptibility appears to be mediated by ...

Changes in gene expression of the brain serotonin (5-HT) 1A receptors may be important for the development and ameliorating depression, however identification of specific stimuli that activate or reduce the receptor transcriptional activity is far from complete. In the present study, the forced swim test (FST) exposure, the first stress ...

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding different metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) levels on performance of Aseel chicken during 0 to 8 weeks of age (Juvenile phase). At 1 day old, 432 chicks were randomly distributed into nine groups. Each group had 48 chicks distributed into ...

BACKGROUND: Many tumors contain hypoxic regions. Hypoxia, in turn, is known to increase aggressiveness and to be associated with treatment resistance. The two most frequently described and investigated subtypes of tumor hypoxia are acute and chronic. These two subtypes can lead to completely different hypoxia-related responses within the tumor, which ...

Epidemiological studies have reported on the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and subsequent risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) with inconsistent results. Individuals with DM present with an increased risk (approximate 40%) of subsequent AF compared with unaffected individuals, but the mechanisms underlying the relationship between DM and AF remains speculative. ...

CD163 is a 130-kDa, type I transmembrane protein belonging to group B of the cysteine-rich scavenger receptor family. Expression of CD163 is constitutive and/or induced by some stimuli on circulating monocytes and most tissue macrophages. An approximately 130-kDa soluble form of human CD163 is released from the cell surface by ...

PURPOSE: The treatment of early-stage colorectal cancers removed endoscopically depends on histopathologic findings. This study aimed to assess the benefit-risk balance for patients who underwent additional surgery after endoscopic resection of a T1 carcinoma with unfavorable histology. METHODS: From 2000 to 2010, 64 consecutive patients were included in this retrospective ...

Low-dose aspirin (<325 mg/day), administered to those with several conditions involving ischemic disorders, can cause upper gastrointestinal (GI) complications. In this prospective study, we aimed to clarify the incidence of aspirin-induced gastric ulcers in consecu tive Japanese patients and identify suitable preventive measures. We recruited 125 consecutive adult outpatients who ...

OBJECTIVES: To explore whether Rg3, a major and especially potent ginsenoside, modulates human osteoarthritic (OA) chondrocyte senescence. METHODS: Isolated chondrocytes were cultured in medium containing interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) with or without Rg3. The expression levels of mRNAs encoding aggrecan (ACAN), a major structural proteoglycan, type II collagen (COL2A1), and metalloproteinases ...

To investigate the involvement of neurotrophins and nerve fibres in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis, we performed a retrospective, clinical study. Hysterectomy specimens from 40 patients with histologically proven adenomyosis and from 20 patients without adenomyosis or endometriosis were used for immunohistochemical analysis. In order to investigate neurotrophic properties in adenomyosis, ...

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disorder with predilection for the axial skeleton, leading to progressive restricted mobility and deformity of the spine. The fundamental mechanism involves autoimmunity orchestrated by T cells. Similar to other rheumatic diseases, the complex interplay of cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6 ...

Amotivational states and insufficient recruitment of mental effort have been observed in a variety of clinical populations, including depression, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Previous rodent models of effort-based decision making have utilized physical costs whereas human studies of effort are primarily cognitive in ...

Magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) ablation of uterine fibroids provides a minimally invasive outpatient technique for targeting and treating symptomatic uterine fibroids. Magnetic resonance imaging provides a guidance platform that has high temporal and spatial resolution for guiding, as well as thermal monitoring of the procedure. The high-intensity focused ...

Here we describe a combined microfluidic-micromagnetic cell separation device that has been developed to isolate, detect and culture circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood, and demonstrate its utility using blood from mammary cancer-bearing mice. The device was fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane and contains a microfluidic architecture with a main channel ...

The exchange of a second coordination sphere water molecule in [Zn(H(2)O)(4)(L)](2+)·2H(2)O (L = HN(3), HCN, FCN, ClCN, BrCN, CH(3)CN, (C(4)H(3))CN, PhCN, (CH(3))(3)CCN, CF(3)CN, CCl(3)CN, CHCl(2)CN, and CH(2)ClCN) against a coordinated water molecule was studied by quantum chemical calculations (RB3LYP/6-311+G**). The complete reaction consists of an associative binding of one H(2)O ...

Impaired programmed cell death is an important factor in the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and in the development of resistance to chemoimmunotherapy. Hence, the reactivation of apoptotic processes is likely to be a pertinent strategy for circumventing this resistance. Proteins from the Bcl-2 family are critical elements in ...

Esophageal duplication (ED) in adults is rare, and ED canceration is very rare. We report a case of acute respiratory embarrassment caused by ED with squamous carcinoma in a 39-year-old man and a review of the literature.

Background: It remains unclear whether angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) have fully delivered the expected reduction in cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the effects of adding the direct renin inhibitor (DRI), aliskiren, to an ACEI or an ARB on monocyte subsets and myocardial salvage ...

PURPOSE: To review the literature about MD in developed countries. METHODS: A search in PubMed, EMBASE, Medline and reference lists was performed. Key words: maternal death/mortality, pregnancy death and obstetric/maternity care. Articles were selected if they reported the cause of death per livebirths, were performed in developed countries and unselected ...