Peer mentoring program through a digital platform for people with systemic sclerosis: A feasibility study.

Objective: People with systemic sclerosis (SSc or scleroderma), a rare chronic autoimmune disease, often face significant physical and emotional challenges. Peer mentoring, where someone with similar lived experiences offers guidance and support, shows promise in enhancing the well-being of recipients and may benefit individuals with systemic sclerosis. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and potential health effects of peer mentoring through a digital platform for people with systemic sclerosis.

Diagnosis and management of ADHD: a pediatric perspective on practice and challenges in Switzerland.

Background: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in childhood. In Switzerland, the complex diagnosis and treatment are being carried out by adolescent-/child psychiatrists, and pediatricians. Guidelines recommend a multimodal therapy for patients with ADHD.

Bioactivation of Quinolines in a Recombinant Estrogen Receptor Transactivation Assay Is Catalyzed by N-Methyltransferases.

Hydroxylation of polyaromatic compounds through cytochromes P450 (CYPs) is known to result in potentially estrogenic transformation products. Recently, there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of alternative pathways such as aldehyde oxidases (AOX) or N-methyltransferases (NMT) in bioactivation of small molecules, particularly N-heterocycles. Therefore, this study investigated the biotransformation and activity of methylated quinolines, a class of environmentally relevant N-heterocycles that are no native ligands of the estrogen receptor (ER), in the estrogen-responsive cell line ERα CALUX.

Migration of aluminum from food contact materials to food-a health risk for consumers? Part I of III: exposure to aluminum, release of aluminum, tolerable weekly intake (TWI), toxicological effects of aluminum, study design, and methods.

Background: In spite of the prevalence of aluminum in nature, no organism has been found to date which requires this element for its biological functions. The possible health risks to human beings resulting from uptake of aluminum include detrimental effects to the hemopoietic system, the nervous system and bones. Aluminum is used in many fields and occurs in numerous foodstuffs.

Migration of aluminum from food contact materials to food-a health risk for consumers? Part II of III: migration of aluminum from drinking bottles and moka pots made of aluminum to beverages.

Background: Drinking bottles and stove-top moka pots made of aluminum have become very popular. Storing drinks in bottles and preparing coffee in a moka pot may result in the migration of aluminum to the beverage.

Results/conclusions: In a systematic study of aluminum drinking bottles, it has been shown that drinking a mixture of apple juice and mineral water in an aluminum bottle may reach 86.

Migration of aluminum from food contact materials to food-a health risk for consumers? Part III of III: migration of aluminum to food from camping dishes and utensils made of aluminum.

Background: When cooking on a barbecue grill, consumers often use aluminum grill pans. For one, the pan catches the fats and oils that would drip into the embers causing the formation of potentially noxious smoke, and the pan also protects the food from being burned by direct heat from the coals. In addition, new aluminum products for use in ovens and grills are becoming increasingly popular.

Trial of prevention and reduction of obesity through active living in clinical settings: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The efficacy of physical activity with a healthful diet to reduce obesity is established; however, little is known about the translation of effective lifestyle strategies for obesity reduction in primary care settings.

Methods: We assessed the effectiveness of a 2-year behaviorally based physical activity and diet program implemented entirely within clinical practices to reduce obesity. A total of 490 sedentary, obese adults were randomized to usual care (n = 241) or to the behavioral intervention (n = 249).

Applying the stages of change to multiple low-fat dietary behavioral contexts. An examination of stage occupation and discontinuity.

Consuming a diet lower in total fat is important for the prevention of many chronic diseases. Individual and population-based programs targeting this behavior must be theoretically grounded and consider the context within which dietary behavior change may be attempted. To identify the factors differentiating stage of readiness to follow a low-fat diet, a sample (N=1216) of adults was surveyed using 4 different staging algorithms to assess stages of change and associated social-cognitive variables (pros, cons, and temptation).

Readiness to shop for low-fat foods: a population study.

Background: Stages of change are related to dietary fat consumption. Few studies have examined stage occupation within the context of purchasing low-fat foods.

Objective: To determine the stage-prevalence of individuals for purchasing low-fat foods; identify the frequency of misclassification into action and maintenance (A/M) stages for purchasing for low-fat foods; and explain the demographic and cognitive-variable differences between pseudo (or false positive) A/M and true A/M individuals.

Prevention and Reduction of Obesity through Active Living (PROACTIVE): rationale, design and methods.

The Prevention and Reduction of Obesity through Active Living (PROACTIVE) is a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a behaviourally based physical activity and diet composition programme to prevent and reduce obesity and related comorbidities in a primary healthcare setting. 491 abdominally obese men and women 25-75 years of age who were patients of primary care physicians were randomly assigned to either a usual care group (N = 242) or a behavioural intervention group (N = 249). Those in usual care received general advice from the physician regarding the merits of physical activity and a healthy diet as a strategy for obesity reduction.

Preferential involvement of CX chemokine receptor 4 and CX chemokine ligand 12 in T-cell migration toward melanoma cells.

Our previous analysis of the role of chemokines in T lymphocyte trafficking toward human tumor cells revealed the migration of a melanoma patient's cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) toward autologous tumor cells, resulting in tumor cell apoptosis, in an organotypic melanoma culture. CTL migration was mediated by CX chemokine receptor (CXCR) 4 expressed by the CTL and CX chemokine ligand (CXCL) 12 secreted by the tumor cells, as evidenced by blockage of CTL migration by antibodies to CXCL12 or CXCR4, high concentrations of CXCL12 or small molecule CXCR4 antagonist. Here, we present the results of T cell migration in one additional melanoma patient and T cell and tumor cell analyses for CXCR4 and CXCL12 expression, respectively, in 12 additional melanoma patients, indicating the preferential role of CXCR4 and CXCL12 in CTL migration toward melanoma cells.

Human leukocyte antigen-A2-restricted CTL responses to mutated BRAF peptides in melanoma patients.

Mutated BRAF (BRAF(V600E)) is a potential immunotherapeutic target for melanoma because of its tumor specificity and expression in the majority of these lesions derived from different patients. BRAF(V600E) is expressed intracellularly and not on the cell surface, therefore providing a target for T cells but not B cells. Demonstration of patients' T cell responses to BRAF(V600E) would suggest the feasibility of active specific immunotherapy targeting the mutation in these patients.

Is stress management training a useful addition to physician advice and nicotine replacement therapy during smoking cessation in women? Results of a randomized trial.

Purpose: To determine whether a stress management (SM) program could improve cessation rates when added to usual care (UC) among women attempting to quit smoking.

Design: Randomized controlled trial conducted during a 12-month period.

Setting: Smoking cessation clinics located within two tertiary care centers in Ottawa, Ontario.

Biologic and prognostic significance of dermal Ki67 expression, mitoses, and tumorigenicity in thin invasive cutaneous melanoma.

Purpose: Tumor cell proliferation is a central feature of melanoma progression. In this study, we characterized three biomarkers of proliferation (Ki67 expression, dermal mitotic rate [MR], and tumorigenicity) in thin (< or = 1.00 mm) primary cutaneous melanomas and examined their association with prognosis.

A tumorigenic subpopulation with stem cell properties in melanomas.

Recent studies suggest that cancer can arise from a cancer stem cell (CSC), a tumor-initiating cell that has properties similar to those of stem cells. CSCs have been identified in several malignancies, including those of blood, brain, and breast. Here, we test whether stem cell-like populations exist in human melanomas.

Predicting exercise stage transitions over two consecutive 6-month periods: a test of the theory of planned behaviour in a population-based sample.

Objectives: To predict exercise stage transitions over two consecutive 6-month periods using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It was hypothesized that different social cognitive constructs would predict different stage transitions.

Design: Prospective and longitudinal in order to predict multiple stage transitions over time.

Measuring chronic patients' feelings of being a burden to their caregivers: development and preliminary validation of a scale.

Background: Burden on caregivers has been extensively studied, but the patient's own feelings of being a burden have rarely been examined. Such feelings may lead to distress and can complicate relations with the caregiver. This report describes the development and preliminary validation of a scale to measure patient-perceived burden.

Treatment of painful peripheral neuropathy.

Treatment of neuropathic pain is the primary focus of management for many patients with painful peripheral neuropathies. Antidepressants and anticonvulsants are the two medication classes most widely studied and represent first-line agents in the management of neuropathic pain. The number of pharmacologic agents and interventional procedures that have shown effectiveness in the treatment of neuropathic pain continues to expand.

Development and evaluation of patient-centered software for a weight-management clinic.

Objective: To describe a weight-management clinic software system and to report on its preliminary evaluation.

Research Methods And Procedures: The software system standardizes the collection of relevant patient information from an initial medical assessment, weekly clinic visits, and laboratory testing protocol of a medically supervised proprietary meal-replacement program in a university-based referral clinic. It then generates monthly patient feedback reports with graphs of clinical and laboratory parameters to support a patient-centered approach to weight management.

Exercise and the transtheoretical model: a longitudinal test of a population sample.

Background: The purpose of this study was to test the ability of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) to predict exercise stage transition of individuals in a large, untreated-population-based, random sample of Canadian adults (18-65 years of age) over two consecutive time periods.

Methods: Assessments of TTM's stage of exercise behavior change, self-efficacy, pros, cons, experiential processes, and behavioral processes were made at baseline (time 1), 6 months (time 2), and 1 year (time 3). Six hundred eighty-three men and women, identified through random-digit telephone dialing, completed all measures across the three time points.

Exercise behavior in a community sample with diabetes: understanding the determinants of exercise behavioral change.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors associated with exercise behavior among adults with diabetes.

Methods: Exercise behavior (stage of exercise readiness and energy expenditure) and potential determinants were measured on a subsample (n = 46) of adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes from a randomized population-based telephone survey. Participants were assessed at baseline and at a 6-month follow-up.

Psychologic distress among spouses of patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation.

Objective: The goal of this study was to identify common sources of distress in spouses of patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation and to compare spouses classified as being in distress and those classified as nondistressed on demographic variables, their experiences of stress, coping strategies employed, marital intimacy, and level of family functioning. The study aimed to describe the needs of spouses with respect to possible interventions.

Design: A cross-sectional analysis was used.

Extracellular matrix interactions during the in vivo degradation of collagen membranes in the rat skin: immunohistochemical distribution of collagen types IV, V, and VI.

The role of collagen implant material (CIM) in periodontology is of considerable interest to the clinical dentist because of the capacity of connective tissue (CT) regeneration and partial prevention of epithelial cell migration onto the root surface. The aim of this study was to demonstrate alterations of the CT matrix after the use of CIM in subcutaneous pockets in the rat skin. We used 15 rats in this study.