Four New Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Examining Health-Seeking Behavior in Persons With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (REDD-CAT): Instrument Development Study.

Background: The management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) includes mastery of complex care activities, self-management skills, and routine health care encounters to optimize glucose control and achieve good health. Given the lifelong course of T2DM, patients are faced with navigating complex medical and disease-specific information. This health-seeking behavior is a driver of health disparities and is associated with hospitalization and readmission.

Sustainable Lignin-Reinforced Chitosan Membranes for Efficient Cr(VI) Water Remediation.

The pollution of aquatic environments is a growing problem linked to population growth and intense anthropogenic activities. Because of their potential impact on human health and the environment, special attention is paid to contaminants of emerging concern, namely heavy metals. Thus, this work proposes the use of naturally derived materials capable of adsorbing chromium (VI) (Cr(VI)), a contaminant known for its potential toxicity and carcinogenic effects, providing a sustainable alternative for water remediation.

Primary care patients' and providers' perspectives about an online weight management program integrated with population health management: Post-intervention qualitative results from the PROPS study.

Objective: To assess patients' and providers' attitudes about the online weight management program and population health management approach in the PROPS Study, which examined the effectiveness of these strategies in primary care.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 patients and nine providers. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed transcripts of the interviews to identify key themes.

Effectiveness of an Immersive Telemedicine Platform for Delivering Diabetes Medical Group Visits for African American, Black and Hispanic, or Latina Women With Uncontrolled Diabetes: The Women in Control 2.0 Noninferiority Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Medically underserved people with type 2 diabetes mellitus face limited access to group-based diabetes care, placing them at risk for poor disease control and complications. Immersive technology and telemedicine solutions could bridge this gap.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of diabetes medical group visits (DMGVs) delivered in an immersive telemedicine platform versus an in-person (IP) setting and establish the noninferiority of the technology-enabled approach for changes in hemoglobin A (HbA) and physical activity (measured in metabolic equivalent of task [MET]) at 6 months.

Development of a New Measure of Housing Security: The REDD-CAT Housing Security Measure.

Background: Housing security is a key social determinant of behavior related to health outcomes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a new patient-reported outcome measure that evaluates aspects of housing security for use in the Re-Engineered Discharge for Diabetes-Computer Adaptive Test (REDD-CAT) measurement system.

Design: Qualitative data, literature reviews, and cross-sectional survey study.

Development and calibration data for the Healthcare Access Item Bank: a new computer adaptive test for persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a new measure to evaluate the ability to receive medical services when needed among persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The Healthcare Access measure was developed using data from 225 persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus who completed an item pool comprised of 54 questions pertaining to their experience accessing healthcare services.

Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the retention of 45 items.

The Physical Activity Assessment of Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Using Accelerometer-Based Cut Points: Scoping Review.

Background: Incorporating physical activity into lifestyle routines is recommended for individuals with type 2 diabetes. Accelerometers offer a promising method for objectively measuring physical activity and for assessing interventions. However, the existing literature for accelerometer-measured physical activity among middle-aged and older adults with type 2 diabetes is lacking.

Embodiment Comfort Levels During Motor Imagery Training Combined With Immersive Virtual Reality in a Spinal Cord Injury Patient.

Brain-machine interfaces combining visual, auditory, and tactile feedback have been previously used to generate embodiment experiences during spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. It is not known if adding temperature to these modalities can result in discomfort with embodiment experiences. Here, comfort levels with the embodiment experiences were investigated in an intervention that required a chronic pain SCI patient to generate lower limb motor imagery commands in an immersive environment combining visual (virtual reality -VR), auditory, tactile, and thermal feedback.

Patient engagement and presence in a virtual world world diabetes self-management education intervention for minority women.

Objective: We aim to explore how users' experience of presence in a virtual world (VW) learning environment enhanced patient engagement in DSME/S programs conducted in an online VW platform with minority women with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We conducted an embedded, mixed methods study, using a convergent study design to analyze qualitative field notes and interview data and quantitative survey data gathered from the Women in Control 2.0 (WIC2) clinical trial participants.

Antimicrobial Activity of a Library of Thioxanthones and Their Potential as Efflux Pump Inhibitors.

The overexpression of efflux pumps is one of the causes of multidrug resistance, which leads to the inefficacy of drugs. This plays a pivotal role in antimicrobial resistance, and the most notable pumps are the AcrAB-TolC system (AcrB belongs to the resistance-nodulation-division family) and the NorA, from the major facilitator superfamily. In bacteria, these structures can also favor virulence and adaptation mechanisms, such as quorum-sensing and the formation of biofilm.

Salivary molecules of bone remodeling and tissue repair after head and neck radiotherapy.

Head and neck radiotherapy causes quantitative and qualitative changes in saliva. The objective of this case-control study was to evaluate the salivary biomarkers associated with bone remodeling and tissue repair in patients submitted to radiotherapy for head and neck cancer treatment, compared with non-irradiated individuals. Total unstimulated saliva was collected for ELISA assay analysis of receptor activator for nuclear factor κ B (RANK) and its ligand (RANK-L), osteoprotegerin, matrix metalloproteinase-9/ tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2, vascular endothelial growth factor, and epidermal growth factor.

Crizotinib Versus Conventional Chemotherapy in First-Line Treatment for ALK-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed type of cancer and the main cause of death from malignant neoplasms worldwide. One of the most recent discoveries in the context of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was the mutation of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase receptor (ALK). This genetic alteration is found in approximately 2-5% of NSCLC patients, and crizotinib was the first targeted therapy discovered for its first-line treatment.

Effect of an Online Weight Management Program Integrated With Population Health Management on Weight Change: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Online programs may help with weight loss but have not been widely implemented in routine primary care.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of a combined intervention, including an online weight management program plus population health management, with the online program only and with usual care.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cluster randomized trial with enrollment from July 19, 2016, through August 10, 2017, at 15 primary care practices in the US.

Erratum: Development of Poly(l-Lactic Acid)-Based Bending Actuators. 2020, , 1187.

The authors wish to make a change to their published paper [...

Development of Poly(l-Lactic Acid)-Based Bending Actuators.

This work reports on the development of bending actuators based on poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA)/ionic liquid (IL) blends, through the incorporation of 40% wt. of the 1-ethyl-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Emim][TFSI]) IL. The films, obtained by solvent casting at room temperature and 50 °C, were subjected to several post-thermal treatments at 70, 90, 120 and 140 °C, in order to modify the crystallinity of the films.

Integrating an online weight management program with population health management in primary care: Design, methods, and baseline data from the PROPS randomized controlled trial (Partnerships for Reducing Overweight and Obesity with Patient-centered Strategies).

Background: Scalable, low-cost weight management strategies are needed in primary care. We conducted a pragmatic, cluster-randomized controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of an online weight management program integrated with population health management support.

Methods: We adapted an online weight management program and integrated it with population health management support in 15 primary care practices (24 clinics).

Primary Care Patients' and Providers' Perspectives about an Online Weight Management Program: a Qualitative Study.

Background: Primary care providers (PCPs) often take the lead role in caring for patients with overweight and obesity; however, few PCPs counsel patients about weight loss. Online weight management programs that are integrated within primary care may help address this gap in care.

Objective: To identify perceptions of and experience with online weight management programs in general and with a proposed online program, to identify barriers to use, and to improve the design and content of our intervention, which included an online program plus population health management (PHM) support from primary care practices.

Relationships between nurses' empathy, self-compassion and dimensions of professional quality of life: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Job stress and burnout are common among healthcare professionals, and nurses in particular. In addition to the heavy workload and lack of recourses, nurses are also confronted with emotionally intense situations associated with illness and suffering, which require empathic abilities. Although empathy is one of the core values in nursing, if not properly balanced it can also have detrimental consequences, such as compassion fatigue.

Use of cystatin C and serum creatinine for the diagnosis of contrast-induced nephropathy in patients undergoing contrast-enhanced computed tomography at an oncology centre.

Objective: Our aim was to assess renal function using as laboratory measurements serum creatinine and cystatin C concentrations before and after administration of low-osmolarity (nonionic) iodinated contrast medium in patients with cancer undergoing computed tomography (CT).

Methods: This prospective study included 400 oncologic outpatients. Serum creatinine and cystatin C concentrations were measured before and 72 h after contrast administration.

Motor task performance under vibratory feedback early poststroke: single center, randomized, cross-over, controlled clinical trial.

Stroke rehabilitation is far from meeting patient needs in terms of timing, intensity and quality. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of an innovative technological tool, combining 3D motion analysis with targeted vibratory feedback, on upper-limb task performance early poststroke (<4 weeks). The study design was a two-sequence, two-period, randomized, crossover trial (NCT01967290) in 44 patients with upper-limb motor deficit (non-plegic) after medial cerebral artery ischemia.

The international standard ISO/TS 21872-1 to study the occurence of total and pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae in seafood: ITS improvement by use of a chromogenic medium and PCR.

During two surveys conducted in 2008 and 2009, the culture method described in the international standard ISO/TS 21872-1 was applied to the detection of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae in 112 living bivalve mollusc samples, with a chromogenic medium used in addition to the TCBS agar, as second selective isolation medium and for enumeration of V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae by surface inoculation.