Predictors of objectively measured medication nonadherence in adults with heart failure.

Background: Medication nonadherence rates are high. The factors predicting nonadherence in heart failure remain unclear.

Methods And Results: A sample of 202 adults with heart failure was enrolled from the northeastern United States and followed for 6 months.

Chemerin and adiponectin contribute reciprocally to metabolic syndrome.

Obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are considered chronic inflammatory states. Chemerin, a novel adipokine, may play an important role in linking MetS and inflammation. We investigated the association of chemerin with inflammatory markers and with characteristics of MetS in apparently healthy overweight and obese adults.

The views of patients and healthy volunteers on participation in clinical trials: an exploratory survey study.

Background And Aims: This study was conducted to investigate the views of patients and healthy volunteers on participation in clinical trials.

Methods: A total of 291 clinical trial participants, including 140 patients and 151 healthy volunteers, were recruited from four university hospital-affiliated clinical trial centers among 15 Korean regional clinical trial centers in South Korea where the levels of information and care were sufficient to meet the global standard. Participants were recruited from phase I trials or bioequivalence tests, a short term hospitalization under close monitoring in the clinical trial centers, or from phase II, III or IV trials occurring in both wards and outpatient clinics.

Do cognitive perceptions influence CPAP use?

Objective: Nonadherence to CPAP increases health and functional risks of obstructive sleep apnea. The study purpose was to examine if disease and treatment cognitive perceptions influence short-term CPAP use.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study included 66, middle-aged (56.

Down-regulation of Bcl-2 is mediated by NF-κB activation in Helicobacter pylori-induced apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells.

Objective: Bcl-2 family is involved in the regulation of apoptosis. NF-κB activation is associated with either the expression of Bcl-2 or down-regulation of Bcl-2 depending on cell types and stimuli. Previously, we showed NF-κB activation, decrease in the level of Bcl-2, and apoptosis in Helicobacter pylori (H.

Sucking patterns and behavioral state in 1- and 2-day-old full-term infants.

Objective: To provide a comprehensive analysis of the temporal structure of sucking in full-term neonates.

Design: Descriptive study.

Setting: Newborn nursery in a city teaching institution.

Drug disposition in obesity and protein-energy malnutrition.

Clinical response to medication can differ between patients. Among the known sources of variability is an individual's nutrition status. This review defines some pharmacokinetic terms, provides relevant body size metrics and describes the physiologic influences of protein-energy malnutrition and obesity on drug disposition.

Middle-aged women's awareness of cholesterol as a risk factor: results from a national survey of Korean Middle-aged Women's Health Awareness (KomWHA) study.

Background: Dyslipidemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), is more prevalent in middle-aged women than in men of the same age in Korea. This study, the first national survey that focused on cholesterol in Korean women, aimed to: (1) assess their awareness and knowledge of cholesterol, (2) evaluate their risk reduction behavior, and (3) examine differences in these variables among geographical regions in Korea.

Methods: A questionnaire survey study was conducted in a randomly selected national sample of 1304 Korean women, aged 40-64 years in 3 geographic regions.

Ethnicity and spirituality in breast cancer survivors.

Introduction: Many women are incorporating spirituality as a way of coping with cancer. However, few studies have examined the role of spirituality in mood and quality of life among breast cancer survivors from different ethnic groups.

Methods: One hundred and seventy-five women who had completed treatment for breast cancer participated in in-depth interviews about their experiences.

The benefits of prayer on mood and well-being of breast cancer survivors.

Objectives: Prayer is becoming more widely acknowledged as a way to cope with cancer. The goal of this study was to compare differences in use of prayer between breast cancer survivors from different ethnic groups and examine how use of prayer is related to mood and quality of life.

Methods: This study used a mixed methods design.

Attitudes antecedent to transition to self-management of a chronic genetic disorder.

Marfan syndrome (MFS) is the exemplar of chronic genetic disorders that require multiorgan system management by health care providers (HCPs) and lifelong self-management by affected individuals. This article describes the ways to facilitate transition to self-management (TSM) by the adolescent with MFS. This thematic content analysis uses data collected for a larger grounded theory investigation of TSM of a chronic genetic disorder in adolescents and focuses on the system issues related to transition.

Adolescents' transition to self-management of a chronic genetic disorder.

Self-management of chronic illness requires acquisition of self-care skills such as seeking knowledge, adhering to recommendations, practicing healthy behaviors, and life-long self-surveillance. This article describes the core problem and psychosocial processes by which parents transfer, and children take on, the responsibility for managing a chronic genetic condition. Individuals with Marfan syndrome (MFS), their parents, and health care providers were the sources of empirical data.

A pilot study: evaluation of a psychosocial program for women with gynecological cancers.

Ovarian cancer is the fourth highest cause of cancer deaths in the US. Psychosocial issues may be prevalent among these women. This study examined the efficacy of a gynecological cancer resource program.

Neurobiology of cocaine-induced organic brain impairment: contributions from functional neuroimaging.

The present review is directed at imparting the current knowledge regarding functional neuroimaging as a tool for enhancing the understanding of cerebrophysiologic and neurobehavioral consequences of stimulant abuse. Stimulants like cocaine are capable of inducing clinically significant neurocognitive impairment through direct action on the brain, and indirectly through other organs that influence cerebral physiology. Neurochemical dysregulation including profound effects on the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems have substantial physiological and neurobehavioral consequences.

Racial differences in social support and mental health in men with HIV infection: a pilot study.

The mediating role of social support in the mental health and behaviours of persons coping with life-threatening chronic illness is of potentially great importance in determining the quality of life of persons with HIV infection (PWHs). As part of a biracial pilot study of the ways black and white men manage the stresses of sexually acquired HIV infection, we have examined the relationship between social support and mental health and behaviours. Forty homosexual/bisexual men (20 white and 20 black) attending a Detroit hospital-based HIV outpatient clinic were recruited for the study and underwent physical and mental health (HSCL-59 and NIMH DIS interview), behavioural and psychosocial evaluations, and a neuropsychologic screening test battery.

HIV-related symptoms and psychological functioning in a cohort of homosexual men.

The authors administered the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale to 4,954 homosexual men in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study. HIV antibody status at enrollment was a less important predictor of psychological distress than were reported physical symptoms. Multivariate analysis showed an association between a high score on each CES-D Scale component and the number of self-reported possible AIDS- or HIV-related symptoms, perceived lymphadenopathy, and absence of "someone to talk to about serious problems.