Telehealth Preferences Among Patients With Advanced Cancer in the Post COVID-19 Vaccine Era.

Background: Few studies have examined patient preferences for telehealth in palliative care after the availability of COVID-19 vaccines. We examined patient preferences for video versus in-person visits and factors contributing to preferences in the postvaccine era.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey of patients who were seen at our palliative care clinic between April 2021 and March 2022.

Postvaccine Era COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Distress in Palliative Care Patients With Advanced Cancer.

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a source of distress in patients with advanced cancer; however, few studies have examined the extent of pandemic-related distress in the postvaccine era.

Objectives: We conducted a cross-sectional survey to examine pandemic-related distress among patients seen by palliative care after vaccine availability.

Methods: Patients at our palliative care clinic were surveyed from April 2021 to March 2022 regarding 1) pandemic-related distress level, 2) potential contributors to pandemic-related distress, 3) coping strategies, 4) demographic factors and symptom burden.

Linkage between Neighborhood Social Cohesion and BMI of South Asians in the Masala Study.

Unlabelled: . South Asians in the United States have a high prevalence of obesity and an elevated risk for cardiometabolic diseases. Yet, little is known about how aspects of neighborhood environment influence cardiometabolic risk factors such as body mass index (BMI) in this rapidly growing population.

Effect of a 2-year diet intervention with walnuts on cognitive decline. The Walnuts And Healthy Aging (WAHA) study: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Walnut consumption counteracts oxidative stress and inflammation, 2 drivers of cognitive decline. Clinical data concerning effects on cognition are lacking.

Objectives: The Walnuts And Healthy Aging study is a 2-center (Barcelona, Spain; Loma Linda, CA) randomized controlled trial examining the cognitive effects of a 2-y walnut intervention in cognitively healthy elders.

The Effect of a Tobacco Dependence Treatment Program With Stress Management Through Mindfulness Technique Training in US Veterans.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the Life-Change Stop Smoking Program (tobacco dependence treatment program with Stress Management/Mindfulness Training) was more effective in achieving 6 mo of smoking abstinence among a high-risk group, such as US veterans at the Loma Linda Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, compared with the VA's conventional stop smoking program. The effects of participants' initial stress level and depression risk on achieving abstinence were also assessed.

Methods: Through examination of medical records and confirmation of exhaled air carbon monoxide level, abstinence status from smoking was determined at the 6-mo follow-up of the Life-Change Stop Smoking program (study group) participants and the Break the Chains program (comparison group, age and gender matched) participants.

The Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study (WAHA): Protocol for a Nutritional Intervention Trial with Walnuts on Brain Aging.

An unwanted consequence of population aging is the growing number of elderly at risk of neurodegenerative disorders, including dementia and macular degeneration. As nutritional and behavioral changes can delay disease progression, we designed the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) study, a two-center, randomized, 2-year clinical trial conducted in free-living, cognitively healthy elderly men and women. Our interest in exploring the role of walnuts in maintaining cognitive and retinal health is based on extensive evidence supporting their cardio-protective and vascular health effects, which are linked to bioactive components, such as n-3 fatty acids and polyphenols.

Effects of a meal replacement system alone or in combination with phentermine on weight loss and food cravings.

Objective: To examine the effects of phentermine combined with a meal replacement program on weight loss and food cravings and to investigate the relationship between food cravings and weight loss.

Methods: In a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 77 adults with obesity received either phentermine or placebo. All participants were provided Medifast meal replacements, were instructed to follow the Take Shape for Life Optimal Weight 5&1 Plan for weight loss, and received lifestyle coaching in the Habits of Health program.

Multidimensional Model of Disability and Role Functioning in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To examine a model addressing the roles of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease burden, mood disturbance, and disability as determinants of impairments in role functioning.

Methods: In a cross-sectional design, 103 RA patients recruited from the community to participate in a clinical trial completed assessments of self-assessed disease burden (total joint pain and disease activity), mood disturbance (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale depressed mood, somatic symptoms, lack of positive affect, and interpersonal problems), disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index gross and fine motor), and role functioning (Short Form 36 health survey physical and social). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine direct and indirect mechanisms linking disease burden to role functioning.

Predicting reattendance at a high-risk breast cancer clinic.

Objective: The research about follow-up patterns of women attending high-risk breast-cancer clinics is sparse. This study sought to profile daughters of breast-cancer patients who are likely to return versus those unlikely to return for follow-up care in a high-risk clinic.

Method: Our investigation included 131 patients attending the UCLA Revlon Breast Center High Risk Clinic.

Evolution of Emotional Symptoms Over Time Among Daughters of Patients With Breast Cancer.

Objective: This study longitudinally profiled anxiety and depressive symptoms of daughters of patients with breast cancer and examined the mother׳s survival status, the daughter׳s age at the time of mother׳s diagnosis, and the style of family communication about breast cancer as moderators of change in symptomatology across participants׳ first 3 appointments at the University of California, Los Angeles Revlon Breast Center High Risk Clinic.

Methods: We evaluated the effects of hypothesized predictors on change in anxiety and depressive symptoms, 3 (symptomatology at first, second, and third clinic visits) × 2 (mother survived or died) × 2 (<20 or ≥20y old at diagnosis) × 2 (open or closed family communication) repeated-measures analyses of variance were employed.

Results: There was a main effect for time of diagnosis on state anxiety, demonstrating a significant reduction in anxiety across clinic visits overall (p < 0.

Brief heterogeneous inpatient psychotherapy groups: a process-oriented psychoeducational (POP) model.

In the United States, there is currently an increase in admissions to psychiatric hospitals, diagnostic heterogeneity, briefer stays, and a lack of inpatient research. Most traditional group therapy models are constructed for longer-term homogeneous patients. Diagnostically homogeneous groups even outperform heterogeneous groups.

Body fat and body-mass index among a multiethnic sample of college-age men and women.

Obesity prevalence and average body composition vary by US race and gender. Asian Americans have the lowest prevalence of obesity. Relying on body-mass index (BMI) to estimate obesity prevalence may misclassify subgroups that appear normally weighted but have excess body fat.

The effects of a psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) based lifestyle intervention in modifying the progression of depression in clinically depressed adults.

Objective: Uncontrolled stress can lead to poorly controlled upsurges of cortisol and deregulation of the hypothalamus pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), thereby leading to major depression. Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is the area of medicine dealing with the bidirectional pathways connecting the influences of brain, neuroendocrine, and immune system. Individual PNI-based lifestyle interventions such as humor and guided imagery have been shown to modulate the stress response.

Cutting edge: the PTPN22 allelic variant associated with autoimmunity impairs B cell signaling.

PTPN22 is a gene encoding the protein tyrosine phosphatase Lyp. A missense mutation changing residue 1858 from cytosine to thymidine (1858C/T) is associated with multiple autoimmune disorders. Studies have demonstrated that Lyp has an inhibitory effect on TCR signaling; however, the presence of autoantibodies in all of the diseases associated with the 1858T variant and recent evidence that Ca(2+) flux is altered in B cells of 1858T carriers indicate a role for Lyp in B cell signaling.

FADD and caspase-8 control the outcome of autophagic signaling in proliferating T cells.

Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) and caspase-8 (casp8) are vital intermediaries in apoptotic signaling induced by tumor necrosis factor family ligands. Paradoxically, lymphocytes lacking FADD or casp8 fail to undergo normal clonal expansion following antigen receptor cross-linking and succumb to caspase-independent cell death upon activation. Here we show that T cells lacking FADD or casp8 activity are subject to hyperactive autophagic signaling and subvert a cellular survival mechanism into a potent death process.

A Fas-associated death domain protein/caspase-8-signaling axis promotes S-phase entry and maintains S6 kinase activity in T cells responding to IL-2.

Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) constitutes an essential component of TNFR-induced apoptotic signaling. Paradoxically, FADD has also been shown to be crucial for lymphocyte development and activation. In this study, we report that FADD is necessary for long-term maintenance of S6 kinase (S6K) activity.

Genetic variation in PTPN22 corresponds to altered function of T and B lymphocytes.

A variant of the PTPN22 gene, 1858C/T, is associated with an increased risk for the development of a wide array of autoimmune disorders. It is known that the protein tyrosine phosphatase Lyp encoded by this gene has an inhibitory effect on the proximal TCR signaling pathways. However, the consequences of carrying this variant and the mechanism by which it contributes to the development of autoimmunity are poorly understood.

FADD self-association is required for stable interaction with an activated death receptor.

Receptor-mediated programmed cell death proceeds through an activated receptor to which the death adaptor FADD and the initiator procaspases 8 and/or 10 are recruited following receptor stimulation. The adaptor FADD is responsible for both receptor binding and recruitment of the procaspases into the death-inducing signaling complex. Biochemical dissection of the FADD death effector domain and functional replacement with a coiled-coil motif demonstrates that there is an obligatory FADD self-association via the DED during assembly of the death-inducing signaling complex.

Cutting edge: FADD is not required for antigen receptor-mediated NF-kappaB activation.

Recently, it has been demonstrated that stimulated T cells bearing defects in caspase-8 fail to promote nuclear shuttling of NF-kappaB complexes. Such cells display strikingly similar proliferative and survival defects as T cells lacking Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) function. We characterized NF-kappaB signaling in T cells bearing a dominant-negative FADD transgene (FADDdd).

Prostate cancer survivors' and partners' self-reports of health-related quality of life, treatment symptoms, and marital satisfaction 2.5-5.5 years after treatment.

Purpose/objectives: To describe health-related quality of life (QOL), health status, and marital satisfaction of couples as many as 5.5 years after treatment for prostate cancer.

Design: Survey with longitudinal, comparative, and predictive elements.

The "fuzzy logic" of the death-inducing signaling complex in lymphocytes.

Receptors belonging to the tumor necrosis factor receptor family have long been thought to play an important role in the regulation of immunity. Although this family is composed of a large number of surface receptors that potentiate myriad functions in vivo, a subset is known to directly convey apoptotic signals. One such molecule belonging to this subset is CD95.

Bcr-Abl kinase modulates the translation regulators ribosomal protein S6 and 4E-BP1 in chronic myelogenous leukemia cells via the mammalian target of rapamycin.

Identification of signaling pathways downstream of Abl tyrosine kinase may increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and suggest strategies to improve clinical treatment of the disease. By combining the use of a phosphospecific antibody recognizing a substrate motif of serine/threonine kinases with bioinformatics, we found that the translational regulators ribosomal protein S6 and 4E-BP1 are constitutively phosphorylated in CML cells. Experiments with specific inhibitors indicated the phosphorylation is downstream of Bcr-Abl kinase and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR).