The impact of arthritis and joint pain on individual healthcare expenditures: findings from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), 2011.

Background: Joint pain, including back pain, and arthritis are common conditions in the United States, affecting more than 100 million individuals and costing upwards of $200 billion each year. Although activity limitations associated with these disorders impose a substantial economic burden, this relationship has not been explored in a large U.S.

High-precision analysis of W/W and W/W by negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry: Per-integration oxide corrections using measured O/O.

Here we describe a new analytical technique for the high-precision measurement of W/W and W/W using negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry (N-TIMS). We improve on the recently reported method of Trinquier et al. (2016), which described using Faraday cup collectors coupled with amplifiers utilizing 10 Ω resistors to continuously monitor the O/O of WO and make per-integration oxide corrections.

Competing causes of death in the head and neck cancer population.

Purpose/objectives: The increasing survivorship of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) comes with a risk of death from other causes, known as competing causes. The demographics of HNSCC are also evolving with increasing incidence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) associated tumors. This study describes competing causes of death for the HNSCC population compared to the general population and identifies associated risk factors.

Clinical Factors and Expenditures Associated With ICD-9-CM Coded Trauma for the U.S. Population: A Nationally Representative Study.

Background: There is a lack of information on annual healthcare expenditures both per person and for the U.S. population associated with trauma, as identified by International Classification of Disease Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes.

A Population Pharmacokinetic Model for Cr EDTA to Estimate Renal Function.

Background And Objectives: Cr EDTA clearance (CL) from plasma is used to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR). We propose that current methods for analysing the raw Cr EDTA measurements over-simplifies the disposition of Cr EDTA and therefore could produce biased GFR estimates. The aim of this study was to develop a population pharmacokinetic model for Cr EDTA disposition and to compare model-predicted GFR to other methods of estimating renal function.

Psychotherapy for Depression in Older Veterans Via Telemedicine: Effect on Quality of Life, Satisfaction, Treatment Credibility, and Service Delivery Perception.

Objective: To analyze the impact of telepsychology and same-room care on functioning, satisfaction, and perception of care based on a noninferiority trial of psychotherapy delivered via telemedicine or same-room care to elderly patients with depression.

Methods: 241 elderly patients with depression (meeting DSM-IV diagnostic criteria) were randomly assigned to either telemedicine (n = 120) or same-room treatment (n = 121) between April 1, 2007, and July 31, 2011. The primary outcomes included quality of life (36-item Short Form Survey [SF-36]), satisfaction (Charleston Psychiatric Outpatient Satisfaction Scale), treatment credibility, and service delivery perception scores obtained at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 3 months, and 12 months.

The association of cumulative discrimination on quality of care, patient-centered care, and dissatisfaction with care in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Aims: Discrimination is linked to negative health outcomes, but little research has investigated how the cumulative effect of discrimination impacts perceptions of care. This study investigated the influence of cumulative perceived discrimination on quality of care, patient-centeredness, and dissatisfaction with care in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Six hundred two patients from two primary care clinics in Charleston, SC.

Geographic variation in access among adults with kidney disease: evidence from medical expenditure panel survey, 2002-2011.

Background: To understand geographic variation in access to care over time in patients with kidney disease.

Methods: We analyzed 4404 (weighted sample of 4,251,129) adults with kidney disease from the United States using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey over 10 years. Three dependent variables were created to investigate variation in access: usual source of care, overall medical access to care, which took into account usual source of care, ability to get care, and delay in care, and prescription access, which took into account ability to get prescriptions and delay in getting prescriptions.

Pathways for the relationship between diabetes distress, depression, fatalism and glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the mechanism by which depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and diabetes fatalism together influence diabetes outcomes using structured equation modeling.

Methods: 615 adults with type 2 diabetes were recruited from two primary care clinics in the southeastern United States. Psychosocial factors found to be associated with diabetes outcomes were measured using validated questionnaires.

Patient-Centered Care, Glycemic Control, Diabetes Self-Care, and Quality of Life in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: The Affordable Care Act places a newfound emphasis on patient-centered medical home and patient-centered care (PCC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between PCC, diabetes self-care, glycemic control, and quality of life (QOL) in a sample of adults with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Six hundred fifteen patients were recruited from two adult primary care clinics in the southeastern United States.

Renal functional responses in diabetic nephropathy following chronic bilateral renal denervation.

Renal innervation operates in conjunction with the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system (RAS) to control tubular reabsorption of sodium and water. This relationship remains unexplored in diabetic nephropathy. This study investigates the effects of acute RAS inhibition and chronic renal denervation on renal function in diabetic rats.

Oncocytoma of the Submandibular Gland: Diagnosis and Treatment Based on Clinicopathology.

. Submandibular oncocytomas are rare benign salivary gland neoplasms. They are typically found in Caucasian patients aged 50-70 years with no gender preference.

Trajectory of cost overtime after psychotherapy for depression in older Veterans via telemedicine.

Background: Little evidence exists regarding the costs of telemedicine, especially considering changes over time. This analysis aimed to analyze trajectory of healthcare cost before, during, and after a behavioral activation intervention delivered via telepsychology and same-room delivery to elderly Veterans with depression.

Methods: 241 participants were randomly assigned into one of two study groups: behavioral activation for depression via telemedicine or via same-room treatment.

Amiloride modifies the progression of lithium-induced renal interstitial fibrosis.

Aim: Long-term administration of lithium has been associated with the development of a chronic interstitial fibrosis in addition to nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI). Earlier studies have demonstrated that amiloride, by blocking the epithelial sodium channel ENaC and thus preventing lithium uptake into the principal cells of the collecting ducts, can partially reverse lithium-induced NDI. However, there are no long-term studies examining whether or not amiloride also modifies the progressive chronic interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy often evident with long-term lithium exposure.

High-precision molybdenum isotope analysis by negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry.

Procedures for the separation, purification, and high-precision analysis of mass-independent isotopic variations in molybdenum (Mo) using negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry are reported. Separation and purification of Mo from silicate and metal matrices are achieved using a two-stage anion exchange chromatographic procedure. Molybdenum is ionized as the MoO species using a double filament assembly.

Siderophile element systematics of IAB complex iron meteorites: New insights into the formation of an enigmatic group.

Siderophile trace element abundances and the Re-Os isotopic systematics of the metal phases of 58 IAB complex iron meteorites were determined in order to investigate formation processes and how meteorites within chemical subgroups may be related. Close adherence of Re-Os isotopic data of most IAB iron meteorites to a primordial isochron indicates that the siderophile elements of most members of the complex remained closed to elemental disturbance soon after formation. Minor, presumably late-stage open-system behavior, however, is observed in some members of the sLM, sLH, sHL, and sHH subgroups.

Comorbid depression is differentially associated with longitudinal medication nonadherence by race/ethnicity in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The aim of the study was to examine whether depression impacts medication nonadherence (MNA) over time and determine if race has a differential impact on MNA in patients with type 2 diabetes and comorbid depression.Generalized estimating equations were used with a longitudinal national cohort of 740,197 veterans with type 2 diabetes. MNA was the main outcome defined by <80% medication possession ratio for diabetes medications.

Refinement of high precision Ru isotope analysis using negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry.

A refined method for the isolation, purification, and high precision measurement of Ru isotope compositions in natural samples by negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry (N-TIMS) is reported. After chemical purification of Ru using ion exchange chromatography and microdistillation techniques, the Ru isotopic composition is measured as RuO- via N-TIMS. Data are corrected for oxide interferences using the simultaneously measured oxygen isotope composition, and subsequently for mass fractionation using an exponential law.

Preservation of Earth-forming events in the tungsten isotopic composition of modern flood basalts.

How much of Earth's compositional variation dates to processes that occurred during planet formation remains an unanswered question. High-precision tungsten isotopic data from rocks from two large igneous provinces, the North Atlantic Igneous Province and the Ontong Java Plateau, reveal preservation to the Phanerozoic of tungsten isotopic heterogeneities in the mantle. These heterogeneities, caused by the decay of hafnium-182 in mantle domains with high hafnium/tungsten ratios, were created during the first ~50 million years of solar system history, indicating that portions of the mantle that formed during Earth's primary accretionary period have survived to the present.

mHealth Interventions in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.

The purpose of this review was to determine whether mHealth interventions were effective in low- and middle-income countries in order to create a baseline for the evidence to support mHealth in developing countries. Studies were identified by searching Medline on 02 October 2014 for articles published in the English language between January 2000 and September 2014. Inclusion criteria were: 1) written in English, 2) completion of an mHealth intervention in a low or middle-income country, 3) measurement of patient outcomes, and 4) participants 18 years of age or older.

Report on the 13th symposium on invertebrate neurobiology held 26-30 August 2015 at the Balaton Limnological Institute, MTA Centre for ecological research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Tihany, Hungary.

This report summarizes the lectures and posters presented at the International Society for Invertebrate Neurobiology's 13th symposium held 26-30 August 2015, at the Balaton Limnological Institute, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Tihany, Hungary. The symposium provided an opportunity for scientists working on a range of topics in invertebrate neurobiology to meet and present their research and discuss ways to advance the discipline.

New high-speed centre of mass method incorporating background subtraction for accurate determination of fluorescence lifetime.

We demonstrate an implementation of a centre-of-mass method (CMM) incorporating background subtraction for use in multifocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy to accurately determine fluorescence lifetime in live cell imaging using the Megaframe camera. The inclusion of background subtraction solves one of the major issues associated with centre-of-mass approaches, namely the sensitivity of the algorithm to background signal. The algorithm, which is predominantly implemented in hardware, provides real-time lifetime output and allows the user to effectively condense large amounts of photon data.