Empowering patients with comorbid diabetes and hypertension through a multi-component intervention of mobile app, health coaching and shared decision-making: Protocol for an effectiveness-implementation of randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Diabetes and hypertension are prevalent and costly to the health system. We have developed a mobile app (EMPOWER app) which enables remote monitoring and education through personalised nudges. We aim to study the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention comprising the EMPOWER mobile app with health coaching and shared decision-making for diabetes and hypertension.

FUS Contributes to Nerve Injury-Induced Nociceptive Hypersensitivity by Activating NF-κB Pathway in Primary Sensory Neurons.

Dysregulation of pain-associated genes in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is considered to be a molecular basis of neuropathic pain genesis. Fused in sarcoma (FUS), a DNA/RNA-binding protein, is a critical regulator of gene expression. However, whether it contributes to neuropathic pain is unknown.

Assessing the Readability of Anesthesia-Related Patient Education Materials from Major Anesthesiology Organizations.

Introduction: The National Institutes of Health (NIH), American Medical Association (AMA), and the US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) recommend that patient education materials (PEMs) be written between the 4th to 6th grade reading level to ensure readability by the average American. In this study, we examine the reading levels of online patient education materials from major anesthesiology organizations.

Methods: Readability analysis of PEMs found on the websites of anesthesiology organizations was performed using the Flesch Reading Ease score, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook, New Dale-Chall test, Coleman-Liau Index, New Fog Count, Raygor Readability Estimate, the FORCAST test, and the Fry Score.

Integrated care teams in primary care improve clinical outcomes and care processes in patients with non-communicable diseases.

Introduction: Primary care physicians face the increasing burden of managing multimorbidities in an ageing population. Implementing an integrated care team (ICT) with defined roles and accountability to share consultation tasks is an emerging care model to address this issue. This study compared outcomes with ICT versus usual care for patients with multimorbidities in primary care.

EMPOWERing Patients With Diabetes Using Profiling and Targeted Feedbacks Delivered Through Smartphone App and Wearable (EMPOWER): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial on Effectiveness and Implementation.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) poses huge burden and cost on the healthcare system. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions that incorporate wearables may be able to improve diabetes self-management. The aim of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of personalized educational and behavioral interventions delivered through an EMPOWER mobile application (app) among patients with T2DM.

Process- and Outcome-Based Financial Incentives to Improve Self-Management and Glycemic Control in People with Type 2 Diabetes in Singapore: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Sub-optimally controlled diabetes increases risks for adverse and costly complications. Self-management including glucose monitoring, medication adherence, and exercise are key for optimal glycemic control, yet, poor self-management remains common.

Objective: The main objective of the Trial to Incentivize Adherence for Diabetes (TRIAD) study was to determine the effectiveness of financial incentives in improving glycemic control among type 2 diabetes patients in Singapore, and to test whether process-based incentives tied to glucose monitoring, medication adherence, and physical activity are more effective than outcome-based incentives tied to achieving normal glucose readings.

Deimmunized Lysostaphin Synergizes with Small-Molecule Chemotherapies and Resensitizes Methicillin-Resistant to β-Lactam Antibiotics.

There is an urgent need for novel agents to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections, such as multidrug-resistant (MRSA). Desirable properties for new antibiotics include high potency, narrow species selectivity, low propensity to elicit new resistance phenotypes, and synergy with standard-of-care (SOC) chemotherapies. Here, we describe analysis of the antibacterial potential exhibited by F12, an innovative anti-MRSA lysin that has been genetically engineered to evade detrimental antidrug immune responses in human patients.

Impact of specialized oral nutritional supplement on clinical, nutritional, and functional outcomes: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial in community-dwelling older adults at risk of malnutrition.

Background & Aims: The world's over-65 population is expanding rapidly, and the risk of malnutrition is prevalent in this population. Meeting nutritional needs is a recognized strategy to reduce and address multiple debilitating adverse health outcomes associated with malnutrition. The objective of this randomized, controlled trial was to determine the effects of oral nutritional supplement (ONS) containing beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB), along with dietary counseling, on health outcomes in community-dwelling older adults at risk of malnutrition.

Factors associated with muscle mass in community-dwelling older people in Singapore: Findings from the SHIELD study.

Objectives: Aging is associated with low muscle mass and has been linked to adverse health outcomes. The objectives of this cross-sectional study were: (1) to describe anthropometry, body composition, appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI; appendicular skeletal muscle mass/height2), and prevalence of low ASMI in older people with normal nutritional status (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool score = 0); (2) to determine factors associated with ASMI, and odds ratios of having low ASMI.

Methods: SHIELD is a study of community-dwelling older people aged 65 years and above in Singapore.

Clinical Outcomes After Physical Therapy Treatment for Secondary Lymphedema After Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and approximately 33% of survivors will develop lymphedema. Untreated lymphedema may be limb threatening or cause substantial functional limitations. The purpose of this case report is to detail the physical therapy (PT) management and outcomes for a patient with right upper extremity and breast lymphedema.

Improving immediate newborn care practices in Philippine hospitals: impact of a national quality of care initiative 2008-2015.

Objective: To determine whether intrapartum and newborn care practices improved in 11 large hospitals between 2008 and 2015.

Design: Secondary data analysis of observational assessments conducted in 11 hospitals in 2008 and 2015.

Setting: Eleven large government hospitals from five regions in the Philippines.

Factors Associated with Health Insurance Status in an Asian American Population in New York City: Analysis of a Community-Based Survey.

Background: Immigrants comprise approximately 13% of the US population and 33% lack health coverage. Asian Americans are the fastest growing immigrant group; many lack a usual source of care. This study examines factors associated with health insurance among Asian American immigrants living in New York City.

Bilateral prosthetic hip joint infections associated with a Psoas abscess. A Case Report.

Introduction: Psoas abscess is a recognized but under-diagnosed complication of prosthetic hip joint infections.

Case Report: We report a case of a 68-year-old man with right and left hip arthroplasties performed 22 and 14 years ago, respectively, who presented with non-specific symptoms and was subsequently diagnosed with left psoas abscess on CT scan. Drainage of the psoas abscess was complicated by the formation of a discharging sinus connected to the left hip.

Nonanesthesia magnetic resonance enterography in young children: feasibility, technique, and performance.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the effectiveness and cost savings of a nonanesthesia approach to magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) in 14 young pediatric patients (age 4-7 years) with clinically suspected early-onset inflammatory bowel disease using an MRE protocol.

Methods: MRE was performed using a combination of an abbreviated imaging protocol, magnetic resonance imaging video goggles, and Child Life Services support. MRE results were correlated with both colonoscopy and pathology results using Pearson correlation coefficient.

Prevalence and correlates of latent tuberculosis infection among employees of a high security prison in Malaysia.

Objectives: Although prison employees share the same tuberculosis (TB) risk environment with prisoners, the magnitude of TB problems among prison employees is unknown in most resource-limited prisons. This survey was conducted to investigate the prevalence and correlates of tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity among employees in Malaysia's largest prison.

Methods: Consented, full-time prison employees were interviewed using a structured questionnaire that included sociodemographic data, history of working in the correctional system and TB-related risk.

Hidradenocarcinoma of the finger.

Hidradenocarcinoma is a rare adnexal neoplasm representing the malignant counterpart of hidradenoma derived from eccrine sweat glands. Misdiagnosis of this disease is common due to the wide variety of histological patterns and rarity of this malignancy. We report an 87-year-old man presenting with a rare case of biopsy-proven hidradenocarcinoma of the finger.

Role of NADH shuttles in glucose-induced insulin secretion from fetal beta-cells.

The NADH shuttle system, which transports the substrate for oxidative metabolism directly from the cytosol to the mitochondrial electron transport chain, has been shown to be essential for glucose-induced activation of mitochondrial metabolism and insulin secretion in adult beta-cells. We examined the role of these shuttles in the fetal beta-cell, which is immature in being unable to secrete insulin in response to glucose. The activity and concentration of the two key enzymes of the NADH shuttles, mitochondrial glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase (mGPDH) and mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (mMDH), were eight- and threefold lower, respectively, in fetal compared with adult rat islets.