Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5793/1510037
Examining Characteristics of Hospitalizations in Heart Failure Patients: Results from the 2009 All-payer Data
Lufei Young, Carol Gilbert, Jungyoon Kim, Yaewon Seo, Fernando A Wilson and Li-Wu Chen
Article Type: Original Article | First Published: June 28, 2016
Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common chronic and disabling illnesses, resulting in high morbidity and mortality. Readmission rate, one key indicator of healthcare quality and healthcare utilization, is prevalent in HF patients. Inconsistent evidences exist about the impact of rural health disparities on HF patients' readmissions. The purpose of this explorative study was to examine the characteristics of hospitalized HF patients and factors related to readmissions in 2009....
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5793/1510036
Globalization Challenges to Family Nutrition in the Caribbean: The Way Forward
Fitzroy J Henry
Article Type: Review Article | First Published: June 27, 2016
Good family nutrition is a major public health goal in the Caribbean but obesity is the dominant nutritional outcome in all age groups. Overweight/obesity prevalence in preschool children is up to 14%. For adolescents it is 30% and adults over 60%. Unfortunately, the region is far from where it needs to be in making major inroads into coping with this problem, particularly in children. Obesity reflects economically and culturally driven shifts in dietary practices towards over consumption of ene...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2572-4193.1510022
HPV Associated Head and Neck Cancer
Guler Yavas and Cagdas Yavas
Article Type: Review Article | First Published: July 12, 2016
Human papillomavirus (HPV) - associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an entity with unique clinical and molecular characteristics, which mainly arises from the palatine tonsils and base of the tongue. Nowadays, oropharyngeal cancers are increasing in incidence despite declining prevalence of smoking and in direct opposition to a decreasing incidence of all other HNSCC. An epidemic of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers seems to account for these incidence trends....
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5777/1510038
Outcome of Bilateral Simultaneous Fracture Neck of Femur in Patients with Low Socioeconomic Status
Mahmoud A Hafez, Hosamuddin Hamza and Ahmed Mounir Al-Dars
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: June 27, 2016
Fracture neck of femur (NoF) is a rare injury but represents a serious condition in low-income countries. It results from major or minor-repetitive trauma(s) or from different pathological conditions such as parathyroid or renal dysfunction, antiepileptic medication, seizure and tumors. Similarly to other hip fractures, the diagnosis of this condition can be missed where management becomes more complicated. The present study was conducted in a country with low socioeconomic status to assess the ...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2474-3631/1510020
Selection of a Progress Monitoring Instrument for Substance Use Disorder Treatment
Espen Ajo Arnevik
Article Type: Short Review | First Published: July 01, 2016
Recent research shows the value of ensuring the quality and efficiency of treatment using progress monitoring instruments. Before implementing progress monitoring instruments in clinical practice, health managers and clinicians must decide which particular instrument to use. Most identified progress monitoring instruments for substance use disorder treatment seems to include symptom level, relational functioning and social functioning, and all report adequate psychometric qualities. Of concern i...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5866/1510013
Maternal Undernutrition in Rats Affects Hippocampal Development through Inhibition of Neurogenin 1
Marquis L Jessie, Lili C Kudo, Nancy Vi, Kimbley Lau, Mina Desai, Michael G Ross and Stanislav L Karsten
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: July 11, 2016
Maternal undernutrition (UN) in rats inhibits neurologic development in offspring. To investigate these alterations we compared hippocampal global gene expression profiles of UN and control newborn pups. Whole transcriptome microarray analysis revealed significant changes in the expression of several genes including Neurogenin1 (Ngn1), a known neuro developmental regulatory factor. Expression of Ngn1 in the UN hippocampus was nearly 70% reduced. Western blot analysis using antibodies against Ngn...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5866/1510012
Decreased Hippocampal Volume is Related to White Matter Abnormalities in Treatment-Resistant Depression
Christina B Young, Philip van Eijndhoven, Robin Nusslock, Guillen Fernandez, Aart Schene, Christian F Beckmann and Indira Tendolkar
Article Type: Original Article | First Published: June 22, 2016
Despite considerable research on the pathophysiology of unipolar depression, relationships between gray and white matter brain changes associated with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) have been sparsely investigated. Here, we used voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics to examine differences in fronto-limbic gray matter volume and their connecting white matter tracts, respectively....
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-567X/1510024
HIV Exposed Uninfected Children at School Age: Developing Country Context
Gwendoline Q Kandawasvika, Felicity Z Gumbo and Patience Kuona
Article Type: Review Article | First Published: July 14, 2016
With the success of chemoprophylaxis for the prevention of perinatal transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), an increasing number of HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) children will have in utero and post-partum exposure to antiretroviral drugs and survive beyond infancy. The long term effect of antiretroviral drug exposure is however not fully understood. A few studies from developing countries have reported on growth, morbidity, mortality, nutrition, immunological profiles, neuro...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-567X/1510023
Determinants of Survival in HIV Patients: A Retrospective Study of Dilla University Hospital HIV Cohort
Solomon Hailemariam, Girma Tenkolu, Henok Tadese and Prabhanjan Kumar Vata
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: July 01, 2016
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has remarkably improved the survival of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients though it is not sufficient alone to achieve better HIV related clinical outcomes. There are many other modifiable factors that might have an impact on survival of HIV-infected patients. So far, few studies with small sample size have tried to assess the survival experience of HIV positive patients who are on treatment in Ethiopia. This study assessed the determinants ...