Assessing the effectiveness of enhanced psychological care for patients with depressive symptoms attending cardiac rehabilitation compared with treatment as usual (CADENCE): study protocol for a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Around 17% of people eligible for UK cardiac rehabilitation programmes following an acute coronary syndrome report moderate or severe depressive symptoms. While maximising psychological health is a core goal of cardiac rehabilitation, psychological care can be fragmented and patchy. This study tests the feasibility and acceptability of embedding enhanced psychological care, composed of two management strategies of proven effectiveness in other settings (nurse-led mental health care coordination and behavioural activation), within the cardiac rehabilitation care pathway.

Brain pathologies in extreme old age.

With an emphasis on evolving concepts in the field, we evaluated neuropathologic data from very old research volunteers whose brain autopsies were performed at the University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center, incorporating data from the Georgia Centenarian Study (n = 49 cases included), Nun Study (n = 17), and University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center (n = 11) cohorts. Average age of death was 102.0 (range: 98-107) years overall.

The rationale, design, and baseline characteristics of PREVENT-DM: A community-based comparative effectiveness trial of lifestyle intervention and metformin among Latinas with prediabetes.

Promotora Effectiveness Versus Metformin Trial (PREVENT-DM) is a randomized comparative effectiveness trial of a lifestyle intervention based on the Diabetes Prevention Program delivered by community health workers (or promotoras), metformin, and standard care. Eligibility criteria are Hispanic ethnicity, female sex, age ≥ 20 years, fluent Spanish-speaking status, BMI ≥ 23 kg/m(2), and prediabetes. We enrolled 92 participants and randomized them to one of the following three groups: standard care, DPP-based lifestyle intervention, or metformin.

Preventing excessive gestational weight gain among African American women: A randomized clinical trial.

Objective: Evidence is lacking regarding effective weight control treatments in pregnancy for ethnic minority women with obesity. This study evaluated whether a technology-based behavioral intervention could decrease the proportion of African American women with overweight or obesity who exceeded Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines for gestational weight gain.

Methods: We conducted a two-arm pilot randomized clinical trial.

Pathology test-ordering behaviour of Australian general practice trainees: a cross-sectional analysis.

Objective: In the context of increasing over-testing and the implications for patient safety, to establish the prevalence and nature of pathology test-ordering of GP trainees, and to describe the associations of this test-ordering.

Design: A cross-sectional analysis of data from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) cohort study.

Setting: Five of Australia's 17 general practice regional training providers, encompassing urban-to-very remote practices.

A Comparative Evaluation of Public Health Centers with Private Health Training Centers on Primary Healthcare Parameters in India: a Study by Data Envelopment Analysis Technique.

Background: The evaluation of primary healthcare services provided by health training centers of a private medical college has not been studied in comparison with government health facilities in Indian context. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is one such technique of operations research, which can be used on health facilities for identifying efficient operating practices and strategies for relatively efficient or inefficient health centers by calculating their efficiency scores.

Materials And Methods: This study was carried out by DEA technique by using basic radial models (constant ratio to scale (CRS)) in linear programming via DEAOS free online Software among four decision making units (DMUs; by comparing efficiency of two private health centers of a private medical college of India with two public health centers) in district Muzaffarnagar of state Uttar Pradesh.

A review of the bioactivity of coffee, caffeine and key coffee constituents on inflammatory responses linked to depression.

Coffee is a widely consumed beverage containing numerous biologically active constituents predominantly belonging to the polyphenol and alkaloid classes. It has been established that coffee has a beneficial effect on numerous disease states including depression. A number of prospective and retrospective cohort studies have assessed the effects of coffee consumption on the relative risk of developing major depressive disorder in humans.

Demographic risk factors impacting timely radiation therapy completion after breast conserving surgery.

Background: Radiotherapy completion (RTC) is critical to successful breast conserving treatment. Our aim was to identify patient groups at greatest risk of not achieving timely radiotherapy completion (TRTC) in an urban setting.

Methods: This observational cohort study used hospital registry data from 2004 to 2010 for female stage I and II breast conserving treatment patients to assess predictors of RTC and TRTC, defined as RTC of 35 to 49 days.

Interpersonal Functioning Among Treatment-Seeking Trans Individuals.

Objectives: Trans people have been found to have high levels of depression. In view of the association between interpersonal problems and depression and the importance of interpersonal skills to navigate the transition of trans people, this study aims to investigate the levels of interpersonal problems among treatment-seeking trans men and women and the role of depression in this association.

Method: A total of 104 patients from a UK gender identity clinic and 104 age- and gender-matched control participants completed self-report measures of interpersonal problems and general psychopathology, including depression.

Personality Structure Among Centenarians: The Georgia Centenarian Study.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: We demonstrate that observer-rated factor structure of personality in centenarians is congruent with the normative structure. Prevalence of cognitive impairment, which has previously been linked to changes in personality in younger samples, is high in this age group, requiring observer ratings to obtain valid data in a population-based context. Likewise, the broad range of cognitive functioning necessitates synthesis of results across multiple measures of cognitive performance.

Options for a Health System Researcher to Choose in Meta Review (MR) Approaches-Meta Narrative (MN) and Meta Triangulation (MT).

Two new approaches in systematic reviewing i.e. Meta-narrative review(MNR) (which a health researcher can use for topics which are differently conceptualized and studied by different types of researchers for policy decisions) and Meta-triangulation review(MTR) (done to build theory for studying multifaceted phenomena characterized by expansive and contested research domains) are ready for penetration in an arena of health system research.

Prevalence and associations of general practice nurses' involvement in consultations of general practitioner registrars: a cross-sectional analysis.

Objective: To establish prevalence and associations of general practice nurses' (GPNs) involvement in general practitioner (GP) registrars' consultations.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis from an ongoing cohort study of registrars' clinical consultations in five Australian states. Registrars recorded detailed data from 60 consecutive consultations per 6-month training term.

African American Patients' Psychosocial Support Needs and Barriers to Treatment: Patient Needs Assessment.

This study assessed adult patient's psychosocial support needs and treatment barriers in an urban diverse cancer center. A needs assessment was conducted with a convenience sample of adult oncology patients (n = 113; 71.7 % African American).

Travel Medicine Encounters of Australian General Practice Trainees-A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Travel medicine is a common and challenging area of clinical practice and practitioners need up-to-date knowledge and experience in a range of areas. Australian general practitioners (GPs) play a significant role in the delivery of travel medicine advice. We aimed to describe the rate and nature of travel medicine consultations, including both the clinical and educational aspects of the consultations.

Effect of practice management softwares among physicians of developing countries with special reference to Indian scenario by Mixed Method Technique.

Introduction: Currently, many cheaper "practice management software" (PMS) are available in developing countries including India; despite their availability and benefits, its penetration and usage vary from low to moderate level, justifying the importance of this study area.

Materials And Methods: First preferred reporting items for systematic-review and meta-analysis (2009) guidelines were considered; followed by an extensive systematic-review of available studies in literature related to developing countries, on key search term from main abstracting databases: PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO, BIO-MED Central, Cochrane Library, world CAT-library till 15 June 2014; where any kind of article whether published or unpublished, in any sort or form or any language indicating the software usage were included. Thereafter, meta-analysis on Indian studies revealing the magnitude of usage in Indian scenario by Open Meta-(analyst) software using binary random effects (REs) model was done.

Web-based textual analysis of free-text patient experience comments from a survey in primary care.

Background: Open-ended questions eliciting free-text comments have been widely adopted in surveys of patient experience. Analysis of free text comments can provide deeper or new insight, identify areas for action, and initiate further investigation. Also, they may be a promising way to progress from documentation of patient experience to achieving quality improvement.

Factors that affect willingness to donate blood for the purpose of biospecimen research in the Korean American community.

Objective: Biorepositories have been key resources in examining genetically-linked diseases, particularly cancer. Asian Americans contribute to biorepositories at lower rates than other racial groups, but the reasons for this are unclear. We hypothesized that attitudes toward biospecimen research mediate the relationship between demographic and healthcare access factors, and willingness to donate blood for research purposes among individuals of Korean heritage.

Utilisation of a lithium boryl as a reducing agent in low oxidation state group 15 chemistry: synthesis and characterisation of an amido-distibene and a boryl-dibismuthene.

The first examples of an amido-distibene, L(†)Sb[double bond, length as m-dash]SbL(†) (L(†) = -N(Ar(†))(SiPr(i)3), Ar(†) = C6H2{C(H)Ph2}2Pr(i)-2,6,4), and a boryl dibismuthene, {(DAB)B}Bi[double bond, length as m-dash]Bi{B(DAB)} (DAB = {(C6H3Pr(i)2-2,6)NCH}2, have been prepared by reaction of a lithium boryl complex, (THF)2LiB(DAB), with extremely bulky amido-group 15 dihalide precursor compounds. In these reactions, the lithium boryl acts as a boryl transfer reagent and/or a strong reducing agent.

Assessment of Smartphone Addiction in Indian Adolescents: A Mixed Method Study by Systematic-review and Meta-analysis Approach.

There is a considerable debate on addiction and abuse to Smartphone among adolescents and its consequent impact on their health; not only in a global context, but also specifically in the Indian population; considering that Smartphone's, globally occupy more than 50% of mobile phones market and more precise quantification of the associated problems is important to facilitate understanding in this field. As per PRISMA (2009) guidelines, extensive search of various studies in any form from a global scale to the more narrow Indian context using two key search words: "Smartphone's addiction" and "Indian adolescents" was done using websites of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, Global Health, Psyc-INFO, Biomed-Central, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, world library - World-Cat, Indian libraries such as National Medical Library of India from 1 January, 1995 to March 31, 2014 first for systematic-review. Finally, meta-analysis on only Indian studies was done using Med-Calc online software capable of doing meta-analysis of proportions.

Paradoxical effects of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine on docetaxel-induced toxicity in PC-3 and LNCaP prostate cancer cells.

Docetaxel was the first chemotherapeutic agent to increase survival time in patients with androgen-resistant prostate cancer. However, it provides only a modest increase in survival and is associated with significant toxicity. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify potential adjunct therapies.

Individual differences in susceptibility to large portion sizes among obese and normal-weight children.

Objective: Determine the association of children's susceptibility to large food portion sizes with appetite regulation and obesity.

Methods: Normal-weight and obese non-Hispanic black children (n = 100) aged 5-6 years were observed in four dinner conditions of varying portion size; portions of all foods (except milk) offered were: 100% (677 kcal), 150% (1015 kcal), 200% (1353 kcal), or 250% (1691 kcal) of those in the reference condition (100%). Condition order was randomly assigned to 2-4 children who ate together at each meal.

Did the Great Recession influence retirement plans?

The recent recession constitutes one of the macro forces that may have influenced workers' retirement plans. We evaluate a multilevel model that addresses the influence of macro-, meso-, and micro-level factors on retirement plans, changes in these plans, and expected retirement age. Using data from Waves 8 and 9 of the Health and Retirement Study (N=2,618), we find that individuals with defined benefit plans are more prone to change toward plans to stop work before the stock market declined, whereas the opposite trend holds for those without pensions.

Occupational stress among staff nurses: Controlling the risk to health.

Introduction: Nursing has been identified as an occupation that has high levels of stress. Job stress brought about hazardous impacts not only on nurses' health but also on their abilities to cope with job demands.

Objectives: This study aimed at finding out the degree of work-related stress among the staff nurses and various determinants, which have a impact on it.

A kinetic study of the CH2OO Criegee intermediate self-reaction, reaction with SO2 and unimolecular reaction using cavity ring-down spectroscopy.

Criegee intermediates are important species formed during the ozonolysis of alkenes. Reaction of stabilized Criegee intermediates with various species like SO2 and NO2 may contribute significantly to tropospheric chemistry. In the laboratory, self-reaction can be an important loss pathway for Criegee intermediates and thus needs to be characterized to obtain accurate bimolecular reaction rate coefficients.