Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-567X/1510012
Impact of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV I/II) Diagnosis on the Frequency of Mood Disorders in a Non-Endemic Area
Sergio Monteiro de Almeida, Meri Bordignon Nogueira, Rafaela Miravalhes, Thiago Mestre, Francisco Jaime Barbosa, Marise Zonta, Gabriel Santos Schafer, Indaiara Felisbino, Suzana Carstensen, Ana Cristina Medeiros, Indianara Rotta, Mirian Pelegrino Beltrame, Sonia Mara Raboni and Luine Rosele Vidal
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: October 22, 2015
Chronic diseases cause different impact to different people. We performed this study to evaluate the impact of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV I/II) diagnosis on the frequency of mood disorders. Of six HTLV I/II infected patients, including one asymptomatic, four reported depression at the moment of HTLV diagnosis. The findings reveal that it is crucial to inform patients of the HTLV diagnosis only after conducting confirmatory tests, as indicated by majority of diagnosis protocols. Usually cou...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-3634/1410045
Perceptions of a Culturally Tailored Adapted Program to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Angela Cooper Brathwaite and Manon Lemonde
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: October 19, 2015
Objective: To explore African and Caribbean immigrants' perceptions of a culturally tailored intervention to prevent type 2 diabetes. Methods: Using a purposive sampling scheme, 29 participants (26 women and 3 men, mean age 48 years and average length of residency of 22 years in Canada) participated in this study. The researchers used in-depth focus groups and individual surveys to collect qualitative data from participants. Following these interviews, participants individually reviewed the inte...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-3634/1410044
The Safety, Efficacy and Treatment Satisfaction Comparison of Unchanged Premixed Insulin Regimen Plus Sitagliptin with Switch from the Premixed Insulin to Once-Daily Basal Insulin Plus Sitagliptin in Patients with Inadequately Controlled Type 2 Diabetes with Twice-Daily Premixed Insulin
Kanako Ono, Akinobu Nakamura, Junko Kawaguchi, Masahiro Takihata, Yuichiro Inoue, Jun Shirakawa, Akiko Kameda, Yu Togashi, Tsutomu Hayashi, Takayuki Furuki, Shun Ito, Tatsuro Takano, Satsuki Kawasaki, Hiroshi Takeda, Tetsuji Kaneko, Mari Kimura, Shunsaku Mizushima and Yasuo Terauchi
Article Type: Original Article | First Published: September 30, 2015
Background: While adding sitagliptin to insulin therapy for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) showing poor response to therapy with premixed insulin alone, we compared the efficacy and safety and satisfaction from continuing treatment with the premixed insulin versus switching of the premixed insulin to basal insulin therapy. Methods: The study was an open-label, randomized controlled trial conducted at 7 institutions in Japan. The study participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment ...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2572-4010.1510007
Dietary and Nutritional Factors Influencing Obesity in Qatari Adults and the Modifying Effect of Physical Activity
Mohammed H Al-Thani, Al-Anoud Al-Thani, Walaa F Al-Chetachi, Shamseldin AH Khalifa, Hammad Akram, Benjamin V Poovelil, Badria A Almalki, Ahmad Haj Bakri, Paul Arora and Alaa Badawi
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: September 10, 2015
Obesity is a complex, chronic disorder characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the body due to an imbalance between calorie intake and energy expenditure. Obesity is also directly related to the socio-economic status, physical environment, and behavioral and cultural aspects of a community. In addition, genetic factors may play an important role in the development of obesity, especially in the presence of particular environmental factors....
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2474-1353/1510002
Mother's Autonomy and Health Outcome in Nepal
Prem B Bhandari
Article Type: Original Research Article | First Published: October 14, 2015
This paper investigates the influence of women's autonomy and husbands' roles in decision making on the utilization of antenatal care, a primary indicator of women's health and well-being. Using data on 4,018 Nepalese mothers who had at least one birth within the last 5 years, I employ multilevel logistic regression and find that women's autonomy in decision making significantly and positively contributed to antenatal care visits. Similarly, joint decision making by a couple also positively cont...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5823/1510011
Stress Reduction with the Transcendental Meditation Program in Caregivers: A Pilot Study
Sanford Nidich, Randi J Nidich, John Salerno, Brooke Hadfield and Charles Elder
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: November 02, 2015
Objective: To determine feasibility and potential effects of the transcendental meditation TM (TM) technique on caregivers' mental health and spiritual well-being. Methods: Twenty-three caregivers learned the TM program over five sessions and attended twice monthly group meetings over a two month period. Participants practiced at home for twenty minutes twice a day. Outcomes included perceived stress using Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, Total Mood Disturbance using the profile of Mood States (P...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3648/1410019
Development of a Comprehensive NGS Workflow for the Analysis of Tumor BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations and Large Rearrangements
Zhengwei Dong, Hua Dong, Xiaorong Zhong, Zuxiang Peng, Xuehua Zhu, Yun Sun, Yunqin Chen, Changting Liu, Xiaolu Yin, Guanshan Zhu, Hong Zheng and Yi Gu
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: September 28, 2015
Patients with germ line or somatic BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are sensitive to PARP inhibitor treatment. However, current clinical testing of BRCA1/2 is limited to germ line mutations in blood samples. In the present study, we have developed and validated a work flow for BRCA1/2 mutation test in patient tumor samples, which can identify both germ line and somatic mutations. Our approach combined targeted capturing with the BRCA MASTR assay and consequent sequencing using Miseq, a benchtop next-ge...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3648/1410018
Enhanced Detection of Longer Insertions and Deletions in Clinical Exome Sequencing Improves Diagnostic Yield
Deepali N. Shinde, Jefferey Chen, Soren Fischbach, David J. Salvador, Kelly Farwell, Hsiao-Mei Lu and Sha Tang
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: September 17, 2015
Whole exome sequencing (WES) has been remarkably successful as both a diagnostic and novel gene discovery tool since its introduction to the clinical laboratory in 2011. Where traditional diagnostic methods have been uninformative in discovering the pathogenic etiology in patients, diagnostic exome sequencing (DES) has provided answers for roughly one-third of patients tested, thus contributing to the management of patients' overall healthcare. Single nucleotide variants are generally efficientl...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5793/1510016
Patient Health Literacy and Perception of Provider Communication: Is there a Link?
Erin Vaughn, Kristie Hadden and Benjamin Doolittle
Article Type: Research Article | First Published: October 21, 2015
Inadequate health literacy is a common problem that contributes to poor patient-provider communication. Health literacy screening and specific provider communication practices may be important in clinics where patients are at high risk for inadequate health literacy. This study assessed patients' health literacy and their perception of provider communication practices in a primary care residency program clinic serving an urban multi-ethnic population. A convenience sample of 324 patients in an u...