Protocol for the Rural Engagement in Primary Care for Optimizing Weight Reduction (RE-POWER) Trial: Comparing three obesity treatment models in rural primary care.

Obesity disproportionately affects rural residents in the United States, and primary care has the potential to fill a major gap in the provision of weight management services for rural communities. The objective of this cluster-randomized pragmatic trial is to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of three obesity treatment models in rural primary care: the Intensive Behavior Therapy fee-for-service (FFS) model reimbursed by Medicare, a team-based model that recognizes the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) as a preferred delivery approach, and the centralized disease management (DM) model, in which phone-based counseling is provided outside of the primary care practice. We hypothesize that the PCMH and DM treatments will be more effective than FFS in reducing weight at 24 months.

Treatment Sequencing for Childhood ADHD: A Multiple-Randomization Study of Adaptive Medication and Behavioral Interventions.

Behavioral and pharmacological treatments for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were evaluated to address whether endpoint outcomes are better depending on which treatment is initiated first and, in case of insufficient response to initial treatment, whether increasing dose of initial treatment or adding the other treatment modality is superior. Children with ADHD (ages 5-12, N = 146, 76% male) were treated for 1 school year. Children were randomized to initiate treatment with low doses of either (a) behavioral parent training (8 group sessions) and brief teacher consultation to establish a Daily Report Card or (b) extended-release methylphenidate (equivalent to .

Comparative Cost Analysis of Sequential, Adaptive, Behavioral, Pharmacological, and Combined Treatments for Childhood ADHD.

We conducted a cost analysis of the behavioral, pharmacological, and combined interventions employed in a sequential, multiple assignment, randomized, and adaptive trial investigating the sequencing and enhancement of treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Pelham et al., 201X; N = 146, 76% male, 80% Caucasian). The quantity of resources expended on each child's treatment was determined from records that listed the type, date, location, persons present, and duration of all services provided.

Quantitative Comparison of the Antimicrobial Efficiency of Leaching versus Nonleaching Polymer Materials.

New antimicrobial materials will be more and more in the focus for hygienic and clinical disease control. Antimicrobial materials have to be distinguished in leaching and nonleaching materials. For many applications of antimicrobial materials on implants the use of nonleaching materials is essential.

Wet-Laid Meets Electrospinning: Nonwovens for Filtration Applications from Short Electrospun Polymer Nanofiber Dispersions.

Dispersions of short electrospun fibers are utilized for the preparation of nanofiber nonwovens with different weight area on filter substrates. The aerosol filtration efficiencies of suspension-borne nanofiber nonwovens are compared to nanofiber nonwovens prepared directly by electrospinning with similar weight area. The filtration efficiencies are found to be similar for both types of nonwovens.

Self-Organization of Gold Nanoparticle Assemblies with 3D Spatial Order and Their External Stimuli Responsiveness.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) with pyridyl end-capped polystyrenes (PS-4VP) as "quasi-monodentate" ligands self-assemble into ordered PS-4VP/AuNP nanostructures with 3D hexagonal spatial order in the dried solid state. The key for the formation of these ordered structures is the modulation of the ratio AuNP versus ligands, which proves the importance of ligand design and quantity for the preparation of novel ordered polymer/metal nanoparticle conjugates. Although the assemblies of PS-4VP/AuNP in dispersion lack in high dimensional order, strong plasmonic interactions are observed due to close contact of AuNP.

Addressing contact tracing challenges-critical to halting Ebola virus disease transmission.

Background: Delayed and ineffective contact tracing contributed to the extensive transmission of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the 2014-2015 West African outbreak. Understanding and addressing the challenges to implementing and managing contact tracing is essential to stopping EVD transmission and preventing large-scale EVD outbreaks in the future.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff members engaged in contact tracing activities in the affected West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, Nigeria, and Mali from September through December 2014.

Polymer Cages as Universal Tools for the Precise Bottom-Up Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles.

A template synthesis allows the preparation of monodisperse nanoparticles with high reproducibility and independent from self-assembly requirements. Tailor-made polymer cages were used for the preparation of nanoparticles, which were made of cross-linked macromolecules with pendant thiol groups. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared in the polymer cages in situ, by using different amounts of cages versus gold.

Stigma and Parenting Children Conceived From Sexual Violence.

Background And Objectives: Since armed conflict began in 1996, widespread sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in many sexual violence-related pregnancies (SVRPs). However, there are limited data on the relationships between mothers and their children from sexual violence. This study aimed to evaluate the nature and determinants of these maternal-child relationships.

Sacroiliac Coalition: First Description and Report of a Successful Resection.

Study Design Case report. Objective This report describes the first case of a sacroiliac coalition, its clinical features, the diagnostic difficulties, and the surgical treatment chosen in this case. Methods A 33-year-old man presented to our outpatient clinics complaining of severe left-sided low back pain with an intermitted nondermatomal radiation into the left thigh.

Membrane Processes.

This review, for literature published in 2014, contains information related to membrane processes for municipal and industrial applications. This review is a subsection of the Treatment Systems section of the annual Water Environment Federation literature review and covers the following topics: pretreatment, membrane bioreactor (MBR) configuration, design, nutrient removal, operation, industrial treatment, fixed film and anaerobic membrane systems, reuse, microconstituents removal, membrane technology advances, membrane fouling, and modeling. Other sub-sections of the Treatment Systems section that might relate to this literature review include: Biological Fixed-Film Systems, Activated Sludge and Other Aerobic Suspended Culture Processes, Anaerobic Processes, Water Reclamation and Reuse.

Synthesis and Enzymatic Degradation of Soft Aliphatic Polyesters.

Novel aliphatic enzymatically degradable polyesters with short alkyl side chains for tuning crystallinity are presented in this work. The intrinsic problem of aliphatic polyesters is their brittleness and tendency to crystallize. This was modulated by the synthesis of random copolyesters based on aliphatic linear monomers, adipic acid, 1,5-pentanediol and monomers with aliphatic branches, such as 2-butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol by polycondensation.

Living Composites of Electrospun Yeast Cells for Bioremediation and Ethanol Production.

The preparation of composites of living functional cells and polymers is a major challenge. We have fabricated such "living composites" by preparation of polymeric microtubes that entrap yeast cells. Our approach was the process of coaxial electrospinning in which a core containing the yeast was "spun" within a shell of nonbiodegradable polymer.

Hierarchical Micro-Nano Surface Topography Promotes Long-Term Maintenance of Undifferentiated Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells.

Understanding of stem cell-surface interactions and, in particular, long-term maintenance of stem cell pluripotency on well-defined synthetic surfaces is crucial for fundamental research and biomedical applications of stem cells. Here, we show that synthetic surfaces possessing hierarchical micro-nano roughness (MN-surfaces) promote long-term self-renewal (>3 weeks) of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) as monitored by the expression levels of the pluripotency markers octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4), Nanog, and alkaline phosphatase. On the contrary, culturing of mESCs on either smooth (S-) or nanorough polymer surfaces (N-surfaces) leads to their fast differentiation.

Genetic Characterization of Ten-Eleven-Translocation Methylcytosine Dioxygenase Alterations in Human Glioma.

The molecular mechanisms leading to brain tumors still remain unclear. Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence that epigenetic effects play crucial roles in tumor development and progression. Thereby, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) represents a further base modification of cytosine besides 5-methylcytosine (5mC).

Cell type-specific adaptation of cellular and nuclear volume in micro-engineered 3D environments.

Bio-functionalized three-dimensional (3D) structures fabricated by direct laser writing (DLW) are structurally and mechanically well-defined and ideal for systematically investigating the influence of three-dimensionality and substrate stiffness on cell behavior. Here, we show that different fibroblast-like and epithelial cell lines maintain normal proliferation rates and form functional cell-matrix contacts in DLW-fabricated 3D scaffolds of different mechanics and geometry. Furthermore, the molecular composition of cell-matrix contacts forming in these 3D micro-environments and under conventional 2D culture conditions is identical, based on the analysis of several marker proteins (paxillin, phospho-paxillin, phospho-focal adhesion kinase, vinculin, β1-integrin).

[The Compression Syndrome of Lumbar Arteries - Case Report of a Rare Disease Pattern].

Study Design: We present a monocentric analysis of the lumbar artery compression syndrome (LACS) in the form of a case report.

Objectives: Literature information was collected about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of this rare disorder in the context of the existing data.

Methods: The current medical literature includes only one report about three cases of LACS, collected over 20 years in France and Germany.

Targeting and Tailoring Health Communications in Breast Screening Interventions.

Background: Members of underrepresented minority (URM) groups are at higher risk of disproportionately experiencing greater breast cancer-related morbidity and mortality and thus, require effective interventions that both appropriately target and tailor to their unique characteristics.

Objectives: We sought to describe the targeting and tailoring practices used in the development and dissemination of three breast cancer screening interventions among URM groups.

Methods: Three national Community Network Programs (CNPs) funded by the National Cancer Institute have focused on breast cancer screening interventions as their major research intervention.

Fulfilling Ethical Responsibility: Moving Beyond the Minimal Standards of Protecting Human Subjects from Research Harm.

Problem: Rules for protecting human subjects, in place federally since 1974, have focused primarily on guarding against placing research subjects at social, physical, or psychological risk or violating their privacy and confidentiality. Nevertheless, high-risk communities are routinely subjected to "sins of omission," which limit access to potentially significant research opportunities and result in the absence of studies that could confer high degree of community beneficence.

Purpose Of Article: To describe "sins of omission" and provide examples from the Community Networks Program Centers (CNPC) to illustrate how community-based participatory research (CBPR) can prevent them.

Feasibility of combined surgical and endovascular carotid access for interventional treatment of ischemic stroke.

Background: Rapid recanalization of occluded vessels is crucial for good clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke. Endovascular treatment is usually performed via a transfemoral approach, but catheterization of the carotid arteries can be problematic in cases of difficult anatomy or vascular pathologies in some cases.

Objective: To describe our experience with a technique involving surgical access to the carotid artery and consecutive transcarotid endovascular thrombectomy in patients with acute stroke.

Loss of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and intratumoral heterogeneity as an epigenomic hallmark of glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant neoplasm with predominant astrocytic differentiation and the most frequent primary brain tumor of the adult. Here, we investigated 170 human GBM specimens deriving from 162 patients, as well as 66 healthy control tissue specimens deriving from 27 patients, and analyzed the amount of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in GBMs compared to normal brain and tumor infiltration zones. Additionally, we correlated the amount of 5hmC with two different proliferation markers, Ki67 and H3S10p.

Polymer/Nanoparticle Hybrid Materials of Precise Dimensions by Size-Exclusive Fishing of Metal Nanoparticles.

Polymer cages prepared by etching of gold nanoparticles from polymer templates by the "grafting around" method are designed for selective separation of metal nanoparticles. The separation process is demonstrated as a fast biphasic ligand exchange reaction. The high separation efficiency and size selectivity of the polymer cage is verified by comparison with the linear block copolymer.

Respondent-driven sampling to assess mental health outcomes, stigma and acceptance among women raising children born from sexual violence-related pregnancies in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Objectives: Assess mental health outcomes among women raising children from sexual violence-related pregnancies (SVRPs) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and stigma toward and acceptance of women and their children.

Design: Participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling.

Setting: Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012.

Living Composites of Bacteria and Polymers as Biomimetic Films for Metal Sequestration and Bioremediation.

Herein, we report on composite materials of biologically active microorganisms placed in a synthetic polymer matrix. These so-called "living composites" were utilized for gold sequestration (Micrococcus luteus) and bioremediation of nitrite (Nitrobacter winogradskyi) to demonstrate functionality. For the preparation of the living composites the bacteria were first encased in a water-soluble polymer fiber (poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA) followed by coating the fibers with a shell of hydrophobic poly(p-xylylene) (PPX) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD).