Expeller-Pressed Canola () Meal Modulates the Structure and Function of the Cecal Microbiota, and Alters the Metabolome of the Pancreas, Liver, and Breast Muscle of Broiler Chickens.

The inoculation of one-day-old broiler chicks with the cecal contents from a mature broiler breeder resulted in a highly diverse and uniform cecal bacterial community. CM did not affect feed consumption, weight gain, nor the richness, evenness, or diversity of the cecal bacterial community. However, the structure of the bacterial community was altered in birds fed the CM diet.

Altered resting brain connectivity in persistent cancer related fatigue.

There is an estimated 3 million women in the US living as breast cancer survivors and persistent cancer related fatigue (PCRF) disrupts the lives of an estimated 30% of these women. PCRF is associated with decreased quality of life, decreased sleep quality, impaired cognition and depression. The mechanisms of cancer related fatigue are not well understood; however, preliminary findings indicate dysfunctional activity in the brain as a potential factor.

Pilot clinical study of the effects of ginger root extract on eicosanoids in colonic mucosa of subjects at increased risk for colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a significant cause of mortality. Inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX) and thus prostaglandin E2, are promising CRC preventives, but have significant toxicities. Ginger has been shown to inhibit COX, to decrease the incidence and multiplicity of adenomas, and decrease PGE2 concentrations in subjects at normal risk for CRC.

Effect of ginger root on cyclooxygenase-1 and 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase expression in colonic mucosa of humans at normal and increased risk for colorectal cancer.

Elevated tissue levels of prostaglandin E2, produced by cyclooxygenase (COX), are an early event in colorectal cancer (CRC). Data suggest the efficacy of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as cancer preventives, in the inhibition of COX activity; however, side effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory pose unacceptable limitations. Ginger has been reported to have anti-inflammatory activities with significant CRC preventive potential.

Phase II study of the effects of ginger root extract on eicosanoids in colon mucosa in people at normal risk for colorectal cancer.

Inhibitors of COX indicate that upregulation of inflammatory eicosanoids produced by COX, and in particular prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)), are early events in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). Ginger has shown downregulation of COX in vitro and decreased incidence/multiplicity of adenomas in rats. This study was conducted to determine if 2.

Preliminary examination of the efficacy and safety of a standardized chamomile extract for chronic primary insomnia: a randomized placebo-controlled pilot study.

Background: Despite being the most commonly used herbal for sleep disorders, chamomile's (Matricaria recutita) efficacy and safety for treating chronic primary insomnia is unknown. We examined the preliminary efficacy and safety of chamomile for improving subjective sleep and daytime symptoms in patients with chronic insomnia.

Methods: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial in 34 patients aged 18-65 years with DSM-IV primary insomnia for ≥ 6-months.

The SF-36 physical and mental health factors were confirmed in cancer and HIV/AIDS patients.

Background And Objective: This study assesses the extent to which the RAND-36/SF-36 items measure physical and mental health (PH and MH), as implied by existing summary scoring systems.

Methods: A total of 1,714 heterogeneous cancer and HIV/AIDS patients were recruited from five institutions. Of these, 56% were women; 81% Caucasians; and about 10% were from each of the major cancer types and HIV/AIDS.

Defining higher order dimensions of self-reported health: further evidence for a two-dimensional structure.

We illustrate a method for understanding the extent to which a pool of fairly diverse health status questions can be examined for their dimensionality, by first fitting the data to a unidimensional measurement model, then examining item fit and residual factor analysis to determine the pattern of deviations from unidimensionality. We simultaneously administered five questionnaires to 1,714 people with cancer and HIV disease and combined all responses into one analysis. Item responses were cocalibrated onto one presumed underlying construct, often referred to as health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

The Smell Identification Test as a measure of olfactory identification ability in schizophrenia and healthy populations: a Rasch psychometric study.

This study examines University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT; R. L. Doty, 1995) performance in 133 controls and 54 chronic, medicated outpatients with schizophrenia (SZ) using item-response theory modeling.

The talking touchscreen: a new approach to outcomes assessment in low literacy.

Purpose: Cancer patients who are deficient in literacy skills are particularly vulnerable to experiencing different outcomes due to disparities in care or barriers to care. Outcomes measurement in low literacy patients may provide new insight into problems previously undetected due to the challenges of completing paper-and-pencil forms.

Description Of Study: A multimedia program was developed to provide a quality of life assessment platform that would be acceptable to patients with varying literacy skills and computer experience.

Comparing traditional and Rasch analyses of the Mississippi PTSD Scale: revealing limitations of reverse-scored items.

This study examined whether Rasch analysis could provide more information than true score theory (TST) in determining the usefulness of reverse-scored items in the Mississippi Scale for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (M-PTSD). Subjects were 803 individuals in inpatient PTSD units at 10 VA sites. TST indicated that the M-PTSD performed well and could be improved slightly by deleting one item.

Using a Rasch scale to characterize the clinical features of patients with a clinical diagnosis of uncertain, probable, or possible Alzheimer disease at intake.

Objective: This study examined the clinical features of patients with clinical diagnoses of probable Alzheimer disease (AD), possible AD, and uncertain.

Design: Case study comparing three groups of AD patients diagnosed at their initial visit to an Alzheimer outpatient clinic.

Setting: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine's Center for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders (CADRD) assessment sites (20) in rural Illinois.

Construction of measures from many-facet data.

An extension to the Rasch model for fundamental measurement is described in which there is parameterization not only for examinee ability and item difficulty but also for judge severity. Variants of this model are discussed and judging plans reviewed. Its use and characteristics are explained by an application of the model to an empirical testing situation.

Development of a functional movement scale for infants.

The increasing survival rate of infants with a complicated birth and perinatal history generated the need for a test of functional motor performance with the capability of identifying children under four months of age with delayed development which could be addressed with physical therapy. This paper describes a Rasch analysis of the psychometric qualities of the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) for the purpose of reducing the length of the test while maintaining its precision as a measurement device. Following analysis of fit statistics, item-to-total correlations, redundancy of item difficulty measures, and consideration of clinically-relevant features of test items from analysis of 1732 tests, the TIMP was reduced from 59 to 42 items forming a functional motor scale for prematurely born infants.

Validity of the Test of Infant Motor Performance for prediction of 6-, 9- and 12-month scores on the Alberta Infant Motor Scale.

The Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) is a test of functional movement in infants from 32 weeks' post-conceptional age to 4 months postterm. The purpose of this study was to assess in 96 infants (44 females, 52 males) with varying risk, the relation between measures on the TIMP at 7, 30, 60, and 90 days after term age and percentile ranks (PR) on the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS). Correlation between scores on the TIMP and the AIMS was highest for TIMP tests at 90 days and AIMS testing at 6 months (r=0.

Development of an index of physical functional health status in rehabilitation.

Objective: To describe (1) the development of an index of physical functional health status (FHS) and (2) its hierarchical structure, unidimensionality, reproducibility of item calibrations, and practical application.

Design: Rasch analysis of existing data sets.

Setting: A total of 715 acute, orthopedic outpatient centers and 62 long-term care facilities in 41 states participating with Focus On Therapeutic Outcomes, Inc.

Measurement characteristics of the Functional Independence Measure.

Clinicians and researchers recognize the need for measures offunctional status that possess linear properties and are reliable and valid. Rasch rating scale analysis provides the means for converting raw scores from functional assessment tools to linear measures for which measurement error can be quantified. The extent to which clinicians perceive patients who are undergoing rehabilitation after stroke as similarto other patient groups was investigated using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM).