Psychometric Properties of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale Among Rural-Dwelling U.S. Women.

To decrease the high rates of mental health-related maternal morbidity and mortality among rural-dwelling women, it is critical to identify those experiencing postpartum depression (PPD) and provide necessary follow-up care. To effectively screen for PPD, clinicians must utilize instruments which account for context-specific factors and maintain validity across diverse populations. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is the most commonly used depression screening tool in perinatal settings, but has not been validated for use within rural American settings.

Health Equity and Perinatal Mental Health.

Purpose Of Review: Pregnancy and the postpartum period are vulnerable times to experience psychiatric symptoms. Our goal was to describe existing inequities in perinatal mental health, especially across populations, geography, and in the role of childbirth.

Recent Findings: People of color are at an increased risk for perinatal mental health difficulties and more likely to experience neglect, poor communication, and racial discrimination.

Direct purification and immobilization of his-tagged enzymes using unmodified nickel ferrite NiFeO magnetic nanoparticles.

Purification of valuable engineered proteins and enzymes can be laborious, costly, and generating large amount of chemical waste. Whilst enzyme immobilization can enhance recycling and reuse of enzymes, conventional methods for immobilizing engineered enzymes from purified samples are also inefficient with multiple-step protocols, regarding both the carrier preparation and enzyme binding. Nickel ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (NiFeO MNPs) offer distinct advantages in both purification and immobilization of enzymes.

Predictors of Postpartum Depression Among Women with Low Incomes in the United States.

Purpose: To evaluate the predictors of postpartum depression and to examine the effects of maternal racial identity on postpartum depression among women with low incomes in the United States.

Study Design And Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis using baseline data from the Baby's First Years study, including postpartum women living below the federal poverty line who were recruited from four diverse communities in the United States. Postpartum depression symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).

Knowledge of Postbirth Warning Signs and Postpartum Education Among Women in Ghana.

Objective: To assess the relationship between postpartum education and knowledge of postbirth warning signs among women in Ghana.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Tamale West Hospital in Tamale Metropolitan Area, Ghana.

Gold-iron oxide (Au/FeO) magnetic nanoparticles as the nanoplatform for binding of bioactive molecules through self-assembly.

Nanomedicine plays a crucial role in the development of next-generation therapies. The use of nanoparticles as drug delivery platforms has become a major area of research in nanotechnology. To be effective, these nanoparticles must interact with desired drug molecules and release them at targeted sites.

Discharge Readiness and Associated Factors Among Postpartum Women in Tamale, Ghana.

Ghana experiences a relatively high maternal mortality ratio, with the majority of maternal deaths occurring in the postpartum period. Discharge readiness is a reliable indicator of maternal health outcomes and involves a postpartum woman's perception of preparedness to leave the hospital following delivery. We measured the discharge readiness of postpartum women in Ghana through an institutional-based cross-sectional study involving 151 participants.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Dagbani Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale-New Mother.

The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale-New Mother (RHDS-NM), originally developed for use in English-speaking populations, is an instrument designed to measure women's perceptions of readiness for hospital discharge after birth. We translated and cross-culturally adapted the RHDS-NM into Dagbani and conducted reliability and validity assessments of the new Dagbani RHDS-NM in the Tamale Metropolitan Area, Ghana. The average scale-level content validity index was excellent at 1.

Antibacterial Activities of Ga(III) against Are Substantially Impacted by Fe(III) Uptake Systems and Multidrug Resistance in Combination with Oxygen Levels.

The continued emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), particularly multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria, are increasing threats driving the search for additional and alternative antimicrobial agents. The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized bacterial risk levels and includes among the highest priority, making this both a convenient model bacterium and a clinically highly relevant species on which to base investigations of antimicrobials. Among many compounds examined for use as antimicrobials, Ga(III) complexes have shown promise.

Localization of Coated Iron Oxide (FeO) Nanoparticles on Tomato Seeds and Their Effects on Growth.

Food demand due to the growing global population has been stretching the agriculture sector to the limit. This demands the cultivation of plants in shrinking land areas which makes the search for highly effective systems for plant nutrition and pest control important. In this context, the application of nanoparticles (NPs) in agriculture can have a transformative effect on food production techniques as it can enable the delivery of bioactive agents (including growth factors, pesticides, and fungicides) directly to plants.

A fetus coexisting with a complete hydatidiform mole with trisomy 9 of maternal origin.

A complete hydatidiform mole (CHM) coexisting with a viable fetus is a rare finding in pregnancies. Accurate diagnosis often relies on ultrasonographic, histopathological and molecular techniques in the definite diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge, a liveborn fetus coexisting with CHM with trisomy 9 has not been described.

Combining child social skills training with a parent early intervention program for inhibited preschool children.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of early intervention for anxiety in preschoolers through parent-education. The current study evaluated a six-session early intervention program for preschoolers at high risk of anxiety disorders in which a standard educational program for parents was supplemented by direct training of social skills to the children.

Methods: Seventy-two children aged 3-5 years were selected based on high behavioural inhibition levels and concurrently having a parent with high emotional distress.

Effects of multielectrode renal denervation on elevated sympathetic nerve activity and insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of renal denervation (RDN) on sympathetic nerve activity and insulin resistance in patients with metabolic syndrome.

Methods: Seventeen patients fulfilled at least four of five criteria for metabolic syndrome and under stable use of at least two antihypertensive drugs were randomized in 3 : 1 ratio to RDN (n = 13, 12 men, age: 58 ± 7 years) and control groups (n = 4, three men, age: 60 ± 5 years) and followed up for 3 months. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) at rest and during standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was assessed.

Renal Nerve Stimulation-Induced Blood Pressure Changes Predict Ambulatory Blood Pressure Response After Renal Denervation.

Blood pressure (BP) response to renal denervation (RDN) is highly variable and its effectiveness debated. A procedural end point for RDN may improve consistency of response. The objective of the current analysis was to look for the association between renal nerve stimulation (RNS)-induced BP increase before and after RDN and changes in ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) after RDN.

Diagnostic yield of array CGH in patients with autism spectrum disorder in Hong Kong.

Background: Chromosomal microarray offers superior sensitivity for identification of submicroscopic copy number variants (CNV) and it is advocated to be the first tier genetic testing for patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this regard, diagnostic yield of array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) for ASD patients is determined in a cohort of Chinese patients in Hong Kong.

Methods: A combined adult and paediatric cohort of 68 Chinese ASD patients (41 patients in adult group and 27 patients in paediatric group).

Persistent Increase in Blood Pressure After Renal Nerve Stimulation in Accessory Renal Arteries After Sympathetic Renal Denervation.

Blood pressure response to renal denervation is highly variable, and the proportion of responders is disappointing. This may be partly because of accessory renal arteries too small for denervation, causing incomplete ablation. Renal nerve stimulation before and after renal denervation is a promising approach to assess completeness of renal denervation and may predict blood pressure response to renal denervation.

A Fetus with Hb Bart's Disease Due to Maternal Uniparental Disomy for Chromosome 16.

We here report an unusual case of Hb Bart's (γ4) disease. Thalassemia screening of a couple showed that the wife was an α(0)-thalassemia (α(0)-thal) carrier and her husband's mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was normal. Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) was performed at 13 weeks' gestation for positive Down syndrome screening and chromosomal study of the cultured CVS showed a normal karyotype.

Thoracic Spinal Cord Stimulation for Heart Failure as a Restorative Treatment (SCS HEART study): first-in-man experience.

Background: Preclinical studies suggest that neuromodulation with thoracic spinal cord stimulation (SCS) improves left ventricular (LV) function and remodeling in systolic heart failure (HF).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a SCS system for the treatment of systolic HF.

Methods: We performed a prospective, multicenter pilot trial in patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III HF, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 20%-35%, and implanted defibrillator device who were prescribed stable optimal medical therapy.

Effects of multielectrode renal denervation on cardiac and neurohumoral adaptations in resistant hypertension with cardiac hypertrophy: an EnligHTN I substudy.

Objective: This EnligHTN I nonrandomized substudy investigated the effect of multielectrode renal denervation (RDN) on cardiac and neurohumoral adaptations.

Methods: Eighteen patients with true drug-resistant hypertension [age: 56 ± 10 years, 12 men, BMI: 33.6 ± 5.

The clinical impact of chromosomal microarray on paediatric care in Hong Kong.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical impact of chromosomal microarray (CMA) on the management of paediatric patients in Hong Kong.

Methods: We performed NimbleGen 135k oligonucleotide array on 327 children with intellectual disability (ID)/developmental delay (DD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and/or multiple congenital anomalies (MCAs) in a university-affiliated paediatric unit from January 2011 to May 2013. The medical records of patients were reviewed in September 2013, focusing on the pathogenic/likely pathogenic CMA findings and their "clinical actionability" based on established criteria.

Spread of X inactivation on chromosome 15 is associated with a more severe phenotype in a girl with an unbalanced t(X; 15) translocation.

We report on a baby girl with multiple congenital abnormalities, including cleft palate, intrauterine growth restriction, and double outlet right ventricle (DORV) with ventricular septal defect. She had an unbalanced chromosome translocation t (X;15) resulting in monosomy 15pter → p10 and trisomy Xq13.1 → q28.

Under-recognition of 22q11.2 deletion in adult Chinese patients with conotruncal anomalies: implications in transitional care.

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is a multi-systemic disorder with high phenotypic variability.

Whole-genome array CGH evaluation for replacing prenatal karyotyping in Hong Kong.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of whole-genome array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in prenatal diagnosis in Hong Kong.

Methods: Array CGH was performed on 220 samples recruited prospectively as the first-tier test study. In addition 150 prenatal samples with abnormal fetal ultrasound findings found to have normal karyotypes were analyzed as a 'further-test' study using NimbleGen CGX-135K oligonucleotide arrays.

A prenatal case of split-hand malformation associated with 17p13.3 triplication - a dilemma in genetic counseling.

Copy number gain of 17p13.3 has been shown to be associated with developmental delay/autism and Split-Hand-Foot malformation. We report a case of fetus with bilateral split-hand malformation detected on prenatal ultrasound.