Isolated fascial compression of the recurrent motor branch of the median nerve: a case report.

Isolated compression of the recurrent motor branch (RMB) of the median nerve is not commonly reported. This report deals with a case of fascial band compression of the RMB of the median nerve with sparing of the sensory portion of the nerve in a single patient. The episode was precipitated by the subject was clearing fallen trees after an ice storm.

Elevated C-reactive protein is related to cognitive decline in older adults with cardiovascular disease.

Objectives: To prospectively relate C-reactive protein (CRP), a systemic marker of inflammation, to cognitive change over a 1-year follow-up period.

Design: Prospective 1-year follow-up.

Setting: Outpatient university medical setting.

Relative sensitivity of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging to cognitive function among nondemented individuals infected with HIV.

In the present study, we examined the relationships among cognitive function, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) brain metabolite indices measured in the basal ganglia, and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the caudate nucleus and the putamen in the earliest stages of HIV-related cognitive involvement. Participants included 22 HIV-positive individuals and 20 HIV-negative individuals. HIV-positive individuals performed significantly more poorly than the HIV-negative individuals on several cognitive measures.

Successful weight-loss maintenance in relation to method of weight loss.

This study examined the relation between method of weight loss and long-term maintenance among successful weight losers enrolled in a weight-loss maintenance trial. Participants were 186 adults (mean age = 51.6 +/- 10.

A randomized comparison of two motivationally enhanced Internet behavioral weight loss programs.

Purpose: Sixty-six women participated in this study, which compared two 16-week motivationally enhanced weight loss interventions. Both intervention groups, which are entitled "Minimal" and "Enhanced" throughout the description that follows, received a motivationally enhanced initial face-to-face weight loss session. The initial session was followed by a 16-week Internet behavioral weight loss program, which included a study website with weekly lessons, an online self-monitoring diary form, web links to related sites, and separate message boards.

Quantitative tractography metrics of white matter integrity in diffusion-tensor MRI.

We present new quantitative diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) tractography-based metrics for assessing cerebral white matter integrity. These metrics extend prior work in this area. Tractography models of cerebral white matter were produced from each subject's DTI data.

Effects of oral carbohydrate on autonomic nervous system counterregulatory responses during hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia and euglycemia.

The effects of oral carbohydrate on modulating counterregulatory responses in humans remain undecided. This study's specific aim was to determine the effects of oral carbohydrate on autonomic nervous system (ANS) and neuroendocrine responses during hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia and euglycemia. Nineteen healthy volunteers were studied during paired, single blind experiments.

Vascular and cognitive functions associated with cardiovascular disease in the elderly.

This study examines the relationship between systemic vascular function, neurocognitive performance, and structural brain abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) among geriatric outpatients with treated, stable cardiovascular disease and no history of neurological illness (n = 88, ages 56-85 years). Vascular function was assessed by cardiac ejection fraction and output, sequential systolic and diastolic blood pressures, flow mediated brachial artery reactivity (BAR), and carotid intima media thickness (IMT). White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI were quantified and examined relative to cognitive and vascular function.

Effects of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, fluoxetine, on counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia in healthy individuals.

Objective: Hypoglycemia commonly occurs in intensively-treated diabetic patients. Repeated hypoglycemia blunts counterregulatory responses, thereby increasing the risk for further hypoglycemic events. Currently, physiologic approaches to augment counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia have not been established.

Motivational interviewing in internet groups: a pilot study for weight loss.

Motivational interviewing is a technique for developing and maintaining motivation. This pilot study examined the feasibility and acceptability of motivational interviewing in online weight-loss treatment groups. Twenty women participated in the 8-week minimal contact intervention, received weekly e-mailed lessons, and were randomized to two online groups using motivational interviewing, either with or without a discussion of values.

Ways of coping and perceived stress in women with spinal cord injury.

Using a cross-sectional design, this research aimed to assess whether a three-factor model of Positive Reappraisal, Escape-Avoidance, and Seeking Social Support based on the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOCQ) appropriately depicts coping within a sample of women with spinal cord injury (SCI). Forty-four community-dwelling women with spinal cord injury were interviewed from two urban rehabilitation facilities in the Midwestern United States. The main outcome measures used were the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the WOCQ.

Segmentation of subtraction images for the measurement of lesion change in multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Lesion volume change (LVC) assessment is essential in monitoring MS progression. LVC is usually measured by independently segmenting serial MR imaging examinations. Subtraction imaging has been proposed for improved visualization and characterization of lesion change.

Vascular Health and Cognitive Function in Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease.

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that changes in vascular flow dynamics resulting from age and cardiovascular disease (CVD) would correlate to neurocognitive capacities, even in adults screened to exclude dementia and neurological disease. We studied endothelial-dependent as well as endothelial-independent brachial responses in older adults with CVD to study the associations of vascular responses with cognition. Comprehensive neurocognitive testing was used to discern which specific cognitive domain(s) correlated to the vascular responses.

Failure to meet weight loss expectations does not impact maintenance in successful weight losers.

Objective: The objective was to examine whether having a weight loss experience that lives up to one's expectations is related to maintenance in a group of successful weight losers participating in the STOP Regain trial.

Research Methods And Procedures: Participants (N = 314, 81% women, mean age, 51.3 +/- 10.

The childcare environment and children's physical activity.

Background: With increased numbers of children attending child care, this setting presents an ideal opportunity to promote physical activity and the early development of healthy behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the childcare environment and physical activity behavior of preschool children.

Methods: Aspects of the environment hypothesized to influence children's physical activity were assessed in 20 childcare centers using the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) instrument.

A pilot study testing the effect of different levels of financial incentives on weight loss among overweight employees.

Objective: To test the ability of two levels of modest financial incentives to encourage weight loss among overweight employees.

Methods: This study used a randomized design with measurements at baseline, 3, and 6 months and two levels of financial incentives ($7 and $14 per percentage point of weight lost). Payments were structured so that all participants had equal ability to obtain the incentives during the study period.

The influence of personality disorder indication, social support, and grief on alcohol and cocaine use among HIV-positive adults coping with AIDS-related bereavement.

Substance use is prevalent among HIV-positive adults and linked to a number of adverse health consequences; however little is known about risk and protective factors that influence substance use among HIV-positive adults coping with AIDS-related bereavement. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), male gender, diagnostic indications of antisocial and borderline personality disorders (PD), and grief severity were tested as risk factors, and social support as a protective factor, for alcohol and cocaine use among a diverse sample of 268 HIV-positive adults enrolled in an intervention for AIDS-related bereavement. Results indicated that the hypothesized model fit the study data.

Preparing Child Care Health Consultants to address childhood overweight: a randomized controlled trial comparing web to in-person training.

Objectives: Child care centers have recently become targets for overweight prevention efforts directed at young children. Child Care Health Consultants (CCHCs), who provide consultation to these centers, receive little training on the basic nutrition and physical activity principles important for the promotion of child healthy weight. Traditional approaches, such as in-person training, are limited in their ability to disseminate health information to a geographically diverse population of health professionals.

STOP regain: are there negative effects of daily weighing?

Several recent studies suggest that daily weighing is important for long-term weight control, but concerns have been raised about possible adverse psychological effects. The "STOP Regain" clinical trial provides a unique opportunity to examine this issue both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Successful weight losers (N = 314) were randomly assigned to a control or to a face-to-face or Internet intervention designed to help them maintain their weight loss and were then followed for 18 months.

Verbal working memory and atherosclerosis in patients with cardiovascular disease: an fMRI study.

Background And Purpose: Intimal-medial thickening (IMT) of the carotid wall is an accepted peripheral marker of atherosclerosis. It is associated with increased risk for myocardial infarction and stroke, and lower attention-executive-psychomotor functioning. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between IMT and brain activity during a verbal working memory (VWM) task in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Lower cardiac output is associated with greater white matter hyperintensities in older adults with cardiovascular disease.

Objectives: To preliminarily examine the association between cardiac output, a measure of systemic blood flow, and structural brain magnetic resonance imaging indices of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs).

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: University medical setting.

The relative contributions of brain, cerebrospinal fluid-filled structures and non-neural tissue volumes to occipital-frontal head circumference in subjects with autism.

An increased prevalence of macrocephaly defined by occipital-frontal circumference (OFC) is a consistent finding in autism. Several possible mechanisms have been proposed, the most compelling being early brain overgrowth. However, the proportion of non-neural tissues (NNT) that contribute to OFC has not been reported.

Type 1 diabetes: exercise and hypoglycemia.

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial demonstrated that tight control of diabetes management greatly reduces the risk of microvascular complications of diabetes. Unfortunately, tight control of blood glucose can also result in hypoglycemia, especially in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). It is now widely recognized that antecedent hypoglycemia can blunt neuroendocrine, autonomic nervous system (ANS), and metabolic counterregulatory responses to subsequent hypoglycemia.

A comparison of Internet and print-based physical activity interventions.

Background: Physical activity interventions tailored to individual characteristics and delivered via print produce greater increases in activity compared with nontailored interventions and controls. Using the Internet to deliver a tailored physical activity intervention offers an alternative to print that might be available to larger populations at a lower cost.

Methods: Participants (N=249 adults; mean [SD] age, 44.