Implementation of a Technology-Enabled Diabetes Self-Management Peer Coaching Intervention for Patients With Poorly Controlled Diabetes: Quasi-Experimental Case Study.

Background: Patients with diabetes experience worse health outcomes and greater health care expenditure. Improving diabetes outcomes requires involved self-management. Peer coaching programs can help patients engage in self-management while addressing individual and structural barriers.

Patient and caregiver perspectives on causes and prevention of ambulatory adverse events: multilingual qualitative study.

Context: Ambulatory adverse events (AEs) affect up to 25% of the global population and cause over 7 million preventable hospital admissions around the world. Though patients and caregivers are key actors in promoting and monitoring their own ambulatory safety, healthcare teams do not traditionally partner with patients in safety efforts. We sought to identify what patients and caregivers contribute when engaged in ambulatory AE review, focusing on under-resourced care settings.

First malaria in pregnancy followed in Philippine real-world setting: proof-of-concept of probabilistic record linkage between disease surveillance and hospital administrative data.

Background: Although the Philippines targets malaria elimination by 2030, it remains to be a disease that causes considerable morbidity in provinces that report malaria. Pregnant women residing in endemic areas are a vulnerable population, because in addition to the risk of developing severe malaria, their pregnancy is not followed through, and the outcome of their pregnancy is unknown. This study determined the utility of real-world data integrated with disease surveillance data set as real-world evidence of pregnancy and delivery outcomes in areas endemic for malaria in the Philippines.

Usability and acceptability of virtual reality for chronic pain management among diverse patients in a safety-net setting: a qualitative analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand the usability and acceptability of virtual reality (VR) among a racially and ethnically diverse group of patients who experience chronic pain.

Materials And Methods: Using the Technology Acceptance Model theory, we conducted semistructured interviews and direct observation of VR use with English-speaking patients who experience chronic pain treated in a public healthcare system ( = 15), using a commercially available VR technology platform. Interviews included questions about current pain management strategies, technology use, experiences and opinions with VR, and motivators for future use.

Exploring factors driving macroplastic emissions of Mahiga Creek, Cebu, Philippines to the estuary.

Rivers function as a pathway for plastic pollution to enter the marine environment. This study presents one of the first field estimates of macroplastic emissions from the Mahiga Creek into its estuary. Thirty-minute plastic counting surveys were conducted for 31 days with the use of videos and a collecting trawl.

Analysis of Narrative Text in Evaluations of Continuing Medical Education Faculty by Gender.

This mixed-methods study examines the performance ratings and feedback received by female and male lecturers at national internal medicine conferences.

Hand stereotypies: Lessons from the Rett Syndrome Natural History Study.

Objective: To characterize hand stereotypies (HS) in a large cohort of participants with Rett syndrome (RTT).

Methods: Data from 1,123 girls and women enrolled in the RTT Natural History Study were gathered. Standard tests for continuous and categorical variables were used at baseline.

Voice and swallowing dysfunction in X-linked dystonia parkinsonism.

Objectives: To systematically characterize and describe voice and swallowing manifestations in patients with X-linked dystonia parkinsonism (XDP) and correlate with quality-of-life (QOL) measures.

Methods: Thirty-four patients with XDP with communication and swallowing difficulties underwent neurological examination, head and neck examination, nasopharyngoscopy, QOL surveys (Swallowing Quality of Life questionnaire [SWAL-QOL] and Voice Handicap Index [VHI]), and functional endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) to assess the extent of dysfunction.

Results: All patients showed high rates of lingual, oromandibular, and laryngeal dysfunction, as well as severe QOL changes in swallowing and communication ability.

IL-3-producing basophils are required to exacerbate airway hyperresponsiveness in a murine inflammatory model.

Background: Basophils are commonly associated with allergic responses because of their ability to produce large amounts of pro-Th2 cytokines and histamine. However, the mechanisms through which bone marrow-resident basophils (BMRB) become fully competent cytokine and histamine producers in response to IgE crosslinking are poorly understood. Here, we sought to determine the role of IL-3 in promoting pro-Th2 basophils.

Dissecting the Causal Mechanism of X-Linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism by Integrating Genome and Transcriptome Assembly.

X-linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism (XDP) is a Mendelian neurodegenerative disease that is endemic to the Philippines and is associated with a founder haplotype. We integrated multiple genome and transcriptome assembly technologies to narrow the causal mutation to the TAF1 locus, which included a SINE-VNTR-Alu (SVA) retrotransposition into intron 32 of the gene. Transcriptome analyses identified decreased expression of the canonical cTAF1 transcript among XDP probands, and de novo assembly across multiple pluripotent stem-cell-derived neuronal lineages discovered aberrant TAF1 transcription that involved alternative splicing and intron retention (IR) in proximity to the SVA that was anti-correlated with overall TAF1 expression.

Defining Hand Stereotypies in Rett Syndrome: A Movement Disorders Perspective.

Introduction: Hand stereotypies (HS) are a primary diagnostic criterion for Rett syndrome (RTT) but are difficult to characterize and quantify systematically.

Methods: We collected video on 27 girls (2-12 years of age) with classic RTT who participated in a mecasermin trial. The present study focused exclusively on video analyses, by reviewing two five-minute windows per subject to identify the two most common HS.

Treatment of ADCY5-Associated Dystonia, Chorea, and Hyperkinetic Disorders With Deep Brain Stimulation: A Multicenter Case Series.

ADCY5 mutations have been reported as a cause of early onset hyperkinetic movements associated with delayed motor milestones, hypotonia, and exacerbation during sleep. The movement disorder may be continuous or episodic, and can vary considerably in severity within families and in individuals. The authors report a case series of 3 patients with ADCY5 mutations treated with deep brain stimulation after unsuccessful medication trials.

Serotonin Is Involved in Autoimmune Arthritis through Th17 Immunity and Bone Resorption.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that results in a disabling and painful condition as it progresses to destruction of the articular cartilage and ankylosis of the joints. Although the cause of the disease is still unknown, evidence argues that autoimmunity plays an important part. There are increasing but contradictory views regarding serotonin being associated with activation of immunoinflammatory pathways and the onset of autoimmune reactions.

SkydancerPlex: A novel STR multiplex validated for forensic use in the hen harrier (Circus cyaneus).

The hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) is a bird of prey which is heavily persecuted in the UK because it preys on the game bird red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus). To help investigations into illegal killings of hen harrier, a STR multiplex kit containing eight short tandem repeat (STR) markers and a chromohelicase DNA binding protein 1 (CHD 1) sexing marker was developed. The multiplex kit was tested for species specificity, sensitivity, robustness, precision, accuracy and stability.

Beyond Dystonia-Parkinsonism: Chorea and Ataxia with ATP1A3 Mutations.

Mutations in the ATP1A3 gene (the α-3 subunit of the Na/K ATPase) are associated with rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism; alternating hemiplegia of childhood; and cerebellar ataxia, areflexia, pes cavus, optic atrophy, and sensorineural hearing loss (CAPOS syndrome). The authors report 3 cases with pleiotropic movement disorders, including a novel mutation in a patient who presented with ataxia and dysphagia. Case 1 had a history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and developed dysphagia, chorea, and limb dystonia after a febrile illness at age 12 years.

Decreased N-TAF1 expression in X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism patient-specific neural stem cells.

X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder involving a progressive loss of striatal medium spiny neurons. The mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration are not known, in part because there have been few cellular models available for studying the disease. The XDP haplotype consists of multiple sequence variations in a region of the X chromosome containingTAF1, a large gene with at least 38 exons, and a multiple transcript system (MTS) composed of five unconventional exons.

Histidine Decarboxylase Deficiency Prevents Autoimmune Diabetes in NOD Mice.

Recent evidence has highlighted the role of histamine in inflammation. Since this monoamine has also been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of type-1 diabetes, we assessed its effect in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse model. To this end, we used mice (inactivated) knocked out for the gene encoding histidine decarboxylase, the unique histamine-forming enzyme, backcrossed on a NOD genetic background.

TLR-induced cytokines promote effective proinflammatory natural Th17 cell responses.

Naive CD4 lymphocytes undergo a polarization process in the periphery to become induced Th17 (iTh17) cells. Using retinoic acid-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt)-gfp mice, we found that RORγt and the transcription factor promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) are valuable new markers to identify the recently described natural Th17 (nTh17) cell population. nTh17 cells are thymically committed to promptly produce large amounts of IL-17 and IL-22.

Serotonin is a key factor for mouse red blood cell survival.

Serotonin (5-HT) is a monoamine originally purified from blood as a vasoactive agent. In nonneuronal tissues, its presence is linked with the expression of tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1) that catalyzes the rate-limiting step of its synthesis. Targeted disruption in mice of the TPH1 gene results in very low levels of circulating 5-HT.