From small to tall: breed-varied household pet dogs can be trained to detect Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a clinically diagnosed disease that carries a reported misdiagnosis rate of 10-20%. Recent scientific discoveries have provided evidence of volatile organic compounds in sebum that are unique to patients with PD. The primary objective of this study was to determine if companion dogs could be trained to distinguish between sebum samples provided by PD-positive patients and PD-negative human controls.

A game-based learning approach to sleep hygiene education: a pilot investigation.

Introduction: Sleep hygiene education (SHE) consists of environmental and behavioral practices primarily intended to reduce sleep problems. Currently considered ineffective as a stand-alone treatment, the manner in which the education is typically delivered may be ineffective for the acquisition of new knowledge. The purpose of this study was to determine if a more engaging teaching medium may improve the efficacy of sleep hygiene education.

Utility of VestAid to Detect Eye-Gaze Accuracy in a Participant Exposed to Directed Energy.

Introduction: The VestAid is a tablet-based application that provides feedback about a patient's eye/head movements during exercise after concussion. The goal of this case series was to determine if VestAid could be used to detect eye-gaze accuracy in a participant exposed to directed energy (DE).

Materials And Methods: The VestAid results of a participant with DE were compared to an age- and gender-matched healthy control, a participant post-concussion, and a participant with vestibular neuritis.

Developing a Mobile Patient-Reported Outcomes Version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Administration System to Capture Postradiation Toxicity in Oncology: Usability and Feasibility Study.

Background: Accurate self-reported symptomatic toxicity documentation via the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) is essential throughout cancer treatment to ensure safety and understand therapeutic efficacy. However, the capture of accurate toxicities from patients undergoing radiation therapy is challenging because this is generally provided only at the time of scheduled visits.

Objective: This study seeks to establish the usability and feasibility of a mobile PRO-CTCAE Administration System (mPROS) to capture toxicities related to radiation therapy.

VestAid: A Tablet-Based Technology for Objective Exercise Monitoring in Vestibular Rehabilitation.

(1) Background: Current vestibular rehabilitation therapy is an exercise-based approach aimed at promoting gaze stability, habituating symptoms, and improving balance and walking in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). A major component of these exercises is the adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and habituation training. Due to acute injury, the gain of the VOR is usually reduced, resulting in eye movement velocity that is less than head movement velocity.

Comprehensive Drug Screening of Whole Blood by LC-HRMS-MS in a Forensic Laboratory.

As the number of prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and drugs of abuse continue to increase, forensic laboratories are faced with the challenge of developing more comprehensive screening methods in order to detect them in whole blood samples. Another challenge faced by forensic laboratories is detecting and identifying novel synthetic compounds as they emerge and change. Traditional drug screening methods include enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and either gas or liquid chromatography paired with mass spectrometry (GC-MS or LC-MS-MS, respectively).

Midwifing the End of Life: Expanding the Scope of Modern Midwifery Practice to Reclaim Palliative Care.

Historically, midwives held an important role in society as cradle-to-grave practitioners who eased individuals, families, and communities through difficult transitions across the life span. In the United States, during the first half of the 20th century, physicians assumed care for people during birth and death, moving these elements of the human experience from homes into the hospital setting. These changes in practice resulted in a dehumanization of birth and death experiences and led to detachment from what it means to be human among members of society.

Lipopolysaccharide activates innate immune responses in murine intestinal myofibroblasts through multiple signaling pathways.

Myofibroblasts (MF) play an important role in intestinal wound healing. A compromised epithelial barrier exposes intestinal subepithelial MF to luminal bacterial products. However, responses of murine intestinal MF to bacterial adjuvants and potential roles of intestinal MF in innate immune responses are not well defined.

Gene expression patterns in experimental colitis in IL-10-deficient mice.

Background: While others have described gene expression patterns in humans with inflammatory bowel diseases and animals with chemically induced colitis, a genome-wide comparison of gene expression in genetically susceptible animals that develop spontaneous colitis has not been reported.

Methods: We used microarray technology to compare gene expression profiles in cecal specimens from specific pathogen-free IL10-deficient (IL10-/-) mice with colitis and normal wildtype (WT) mice. RNA isolated from ceca of IL10-/- and WT mice was subjected to microarray analysis.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 inhibits non-pathogenic Gram negative bacteria-induced NF-kappa B recruitment to the interleukin-6 gene promoter in intestinal epithelial cells through modulation of histone acetylation.

We have shown that non-pathogenic enteric Gram-negative Bacteroides vulgatus induces RelA phosphorylation, NF-kappaB activation, and proinflammatory gene expression in primary and intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) lines. We now demonstrate the transient induction of nuclear phospho-RelA (day 3) followed by persistent activation of phospho-Smad2 (days 3 and 7) in IEC from mucosal tissue sections of B. vulgatus-monoassociated rats, indicating that both NF-kappaB and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) signaling are induced in vivo following bacterial colonization.

Novel phenolic antioxidants as multifunctional inhibitors of inducible VCAM-1 expression for use in atherosclerosis.

A series of novel phenolic compounds has been discovered as potent inhibitors of TNF-alpha-inducible expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) with concurrent antioxidant and lipid-modulating properties. Optimization of these multifunctional agents led to the identification of 3a (AGI-1067) as a clinical candidate with demonstrated efficacies in animal models of atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia.