Effects of a home visiting nurse intervention versus care as usual on individual activities of daily living: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Home visiting nurses (HVNs) have long been part of home and community-based care interventions designed to meet the needs of functionally declining older adults. However, only one of the studies including HVNs that have demonstrated successful impacts on Activities of Daily Living (ADL) has reported how those interventions affected individual ADLs such as bathing, instead reporting the effect on means of various ADL indices and scales. Reporting impacts on means is insufficient since the same mean can consist of many different combinations of individual ADL impairments.

The intersection of patient complexity, prescriber continuity and acute care utilization.

Background: Care continuity is considered a critical characteristic of high-performing health systems. Few studies have examined the continuity of medication management of complex patients, who often have multiple providers and complex medication regimens.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize patient factors associated with having more prescribers and the association between number of prescribers and acute care utilization.

Stimulation of feeding by three different glucose-sensing mechanisms requires hindbrain catecholamine neurons.

Previous work has shown that hindbrain catecholamine neurons are required components of the brain's glucoregulatory circuitry. However, the mechanisms and circuitry underlying their glucoregulatory functions are poorly understood. Here we examined three drugs, glucosamine (GcA), phloridzin (Phl) and 5-thio-d-glucose (5TG), that stimulate food intake but interfere in different ways with cellular glucose utilization or transport.

Misoprostol vaginal insert for induction of labor: a delivery system with accurate dosing and rapid discontinuation.

Labor induction and cervical ripening are widely utilized and new methods are constantly being investigated. Prostaglandins have been shown to be effective labor induction agents and, in particular, were compared with other prostaglandin preparations; vaginal misoprostol used off-label was associated with reduced failure to achieve vaginal delivery. The challenge is to provide this medication with the correct dosing for this indication and with the ability to discontinue the medication if needed, all while ensuring essential maternal and neonatal safety.

Maternal choline supplementation differentially alters the basal forebrain cholinergic system of young-adult Ts65Dn and disomic mice.

Down syndrome (DS), trisomy 21, is a multifaceted condition marked by intellectual disability and early presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathological lesions including degeneration of the basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) system. Although DS is diagnosable during gestation, there is no treatment option for expectant mothers or DS individuals. Using the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS that displays age-related degeneration of the BFCN system, we investigated the effects of maternal choline supplementation on the BFCN system in adult Ts65Dn mice and disomic (2N) littermates at 4.

Home health care nurse perceptions of geriatric depression and disability care management.

Purpose Of The Study: Psychosocial interventions alone or combined with antidepressant medication can effectively treat mild to moderate geriatric depression. However, most home health care patients with depression and disability do not receive these interventions. Moreover, relatively little is known about home health care nurse views about depression management.

Detection and isolation of Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 from a small backyard swine herd in Colorado.

Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 A(H1N1)pdm09 was first confirmed in pigs in the United States in October 2009. In November 2010, lungs and intestines from 2 York piglets from a small, privately owned herd were submitted to the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. The submitting veterinarian reported rapid weight loss and signs of pneumonia in the piglets.

Real-world utilization patterns and outcomes of colesevelam hcl in the ge electronic medical record.

Background: In randomized controlled trials (RCTs), colesevelam HCI, added to other anti-diabetic therapy, reduced hemoglobin A1C by approximately 0.3% to 0.4% over 16- to 26-weeks compared with an increase of approximately 0.

Misoprostol vaginal insert and time to vaginal delivery: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of a 200-microgram misoprostol vaginal insert with a 10-mg dinoprostone vaginal insert for reducing the time to vaginal delivery.

Methods: In a phase III, double-blind, multicenter study, women being induced with a modified Bishop score of 4 or less were randomly assigned to receive either a 200-microgram misoprostol vaginal insert or a 10-mg dinoprostone vaginal insert. Coprimary end points were time to vaginal delivery and rate of cesarean delivery.

Examining rectal carcinoids in the era of screening colonoscopy: a surveillance, epidemiology, and end results analysis.

Background: Little is known about the epidemiology of rectal carcinoids in the United States since the implementation of screening colonoscopy.

Objective: The goal of this study was to identify epidemiological differences between rectal and small intestinal carcinoids.

Design: This study was retrospective in design.

HES1, a target of Notch signaling, is elevated in canine osteosarcoma, but reduced in the most aggressive tumors.

Background: Hairy and enhancer of split 1 (HES1), a basic helix-loop-helix transcriptional repressor, is a downstream target of Notch signaling. Notch signaling and HES1 expression have been linked to growth and survival in a variety of human cancer types and have been associated with increased metastasis and invasiveness in human osteosarcoma cell lines. Osteosarcoma (OSA) is an aggressive cancer demonstrating both high metastatic rate and chemotherapeutic resistance.

The Cholesterol, Hypertension, And Glucose Education (CHANGE) study: results from a randomized controlled trial in African Americans with diabetes.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes account for one-third of the mortality difference between African American and white patients. We evaluated the effect of a CVD risk reduction intervention in African Americans with diabetes.

Methods: We randomized 359 African Americans with type 2 diabetes to receive usual care or a nurse telephone intervention.

Sex differences in the cholinergic basal forebrain in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.

In the Down syndrome (DS) population, there is an early incidence of dementia and neuropathology similar to that seen in sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD), including dysfunction of the basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) system. Using Ts65Dn mice, a model of DS and AD, we examined differences in the BFCN system between male and female segmentally trisomic (Ts65Dn) and disomic (2N) mice at ages 5-8 months. Quantitative stereology was applied to BFCN subfields immunolabeled for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) within the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band (MS/VDB), horizontal limb of the diagonal band (HDB) and nucleus basalis of Meynert/substantia innominata (NBM/SI).

Histologic characteristics and KIT staining patterns of equine cutaneous mast cell tumors.

Mast cell tumors are uncommon in horses and typically have a benign clinical course, but there are occasional reports of more aggressive behavior. The objective of this study was to review histologic features and KIT expression patterns of 72 previously diagnosed equine cutaneous mast cell tumors to determine if either is associated with clinical outcomes. Biopsy specimens were reviewed using histologic criteria derived from grading schemes, and KIT antibody expression patterns used in canine tumors and surveys were sent to referring veterinarians for follow-up clinical data.

Potential of best practice to reduce impacts from oil and gas projects in the Amazon.

The western Amazon continues to be an active and controversial zone of hydrocarbon exploration and production. We argue for the urgent need to implement best practices to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts associated with the sector. Here, we present a three-part study aimed at resolving the major obstacles impeding the advancement of best practice in the region.

Maternal choline supplementation improves spatial learning and adult hippocampal neurogenesis in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome.

In addition to intellectual disability, individuals with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit dementia by the third or fourth decade of life, due to the early onset of neuropathological changes typical of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Deficient ontogenetic neurogenesis contributes to the brain hypoplasia and hypocellularity evident in fetuses and children with DS. A murine model of DS and AD (the Ts65Dn mouse) exhibits key features of these disorders, notably deficient ontogenetic neurogenesis, degeneration of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs), and cognitive deficits.

A small molecule screen in stem-cell-derived motor neurons identifies a kinase inhibitor as a candidate therapeutic for ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease, characterized by motor neuron (MN) death, for which there are no truly effective treatments. Here, we describe a new small molecule survival screen carried out using MNs from both wild-type and mutant SOD1 mouse embryonic stem cells. Among the hits we found, kenpaullone had a particularly impressive ability to prolong the healthy survival of both types of MNs that can be attributed to its dual inhibition of GSK-3 and HGK kinases.

Using a novel coculture model to dissect the role of intramuscular lipid load on skeletal muscle insulin responsiveness under reduced estrogen conditions.

Reductions in estrogen function lead to adiposity and peripheral insulin resistance. Significant metabolic changes have been found in adipocytes and skeletal muscle with disruptions in the estrogen-signaling axis; however, it is unclear if intercellular communication exists between these tissues. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of isolated adipocytes cocultured with single adult skeletal muscle fibers (SMF) collected from control female (SHAM) and ovariectomized female (OVX) mice.

Roughness parameter selection for novel manufacturing processes.

This work proposes a method of roughness parameter (RP) selection for novel manufacturing processes or processes where little knowledge exists about which RPs are important. The method selects a single parameter to represent a group of highly correlated parameters. Single point incremental forming (SPIF) is used as the case study for the manufacturing process.

Orthotopic model of canine osteosarcoma in athymic rats for evaluation of stereotactic radiotherapy.

Objective: To develop an orthotopic model of canine osteosarcoma in athymic rats as a model for evaluating the effects of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) on osteosarcoma cells.

Animals: 26 athymic nude rats.

Procedures: 3 experiments were performed.

Remyelination reporter reveals prolonged refinement of spontaneously regenerated myelin.

Neurological diseases and trauma often cause demyelination, resulting in the disruption of axonal function and integrity. Endogenous remyelination promotes recovery, but the process is not well understood because no method exists to definitively distinguish regenerated from preexisting myelin. To date, remyelinated segments have been defined as anything abnormally short and thin, without empirical data to corroborate these morphological assumptions.