Changing Delay Discounting and Impulsive Choice: Implications for Addictions, Prevention, and Human Health.

Delay discounting describes the tendency to devalue delayed consequences or future prospects. The degree to which an individual discounts delayed events appears trait-like in that it is stable over time and across functionally similar situations. Steeply discounting delayed rewards is correlated with most substance-use disorders, the severity of these disorders, rates of relapse to drug use, and a host of other maladaptive decisions impacting human health.

Early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma in the modern era: simulation modelling to delineate long-term patient outcomes.

We developed a novel simulation model integrating multiple data sets to project long-term outcomes with contemporary therapy for early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (ESHL), namely combined modality therapy (CMT) versus chemotherapy alone (CA) via F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography response-adaption. The model incorporated 3-year progression-free survival (PFS), probability of cure with/without relapse, frequency of severe late effects (LEs), and 35-year probability of LEs. Furthermore, we generated estimates for quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and unadjusted survival (life years, LY) and used model projections to compare outcomes for CMTversusCA for two index patients.

Clinical characteristics of pediatric HIV-1 patients treated with first-line antiretroviral therapy in Vietnam: a nested case-control study.

Objectives: Over the past decades, Vietnam has made great strides in reducing the rate of mortality in HIV-related deaths, due to increased access of antiretroviral therapy (ART); however, given the significantly high level of treatment failure (TF), it is essential to identify markers that describe the failure of ART in HIV-1 infected children.

Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted with clinical data collected from 101 HIV-infected children [26 TF and 75 treatment success (TS)] at National Hospital of Pediatrics, Vietnam (2008-2012).

Results: The results showed that certain factors including height, weight, vaccination with Hepatitis B, and platelet were significantly different between TF and TS before starting the treatment.

The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace I: Substitutability as a Function of the Price of Conventional Cigarettes.

Introduction: Behavioral economic studies of nicotine product consumption have traditionally examined substitution between two products and rarely examined substitution with more products. Increasing numbers of tobacco products available for commercial sale leads to more possible cross-product interactions, indicating a need to examine substitution in more complex arrangements that closely mirror the tobacco marketplace.

Methods: The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) is an experimental online store that displays pictures, information, and prices for several tobacco products.

High Prevalence of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Adolescents Undergoing Bariatric Surgery.

Background & Aims: Little is known about the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among severely obese adolescents or factors that determine its development. We investigated the prevalence of NAFLD in a multicenter cohort of adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery and the factors associated with it.

Methods: We enrolled 242 adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery between March 2007 and February 2012 at 5 tertiary care centers into a multicenter, prospective observational cohort study.

Disease specific therapies in leukodystrophies and leukoencephalopathies.

Leukodystrophies are a heterogeneous, often progressive group of disorders manifesting a wide range of symptoms and complications. Most of these disorders have historically had no etiologic or disease specific therapeutic approaches. Recently, a greater understanding of the pathologic mechanisms associated with leukodystrophies has allowed clinicians and researchers to prioritize treatment strategies and advance research in therapies for specific disorders, some of which are on the verge of pilot or Phase I/II clinical trials.

NSAID-avoidance education in community pharmacies for patients at high risk for acute kidney injury, upstate New York, 2011.

Introduction: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are frequently associated with community-acquired acute kidney injury (AKI), a strong risk factor for development and progression of chronic kidney disease. Using access to prescription medication profiles, pharmacists can identify patients at high risk for NSAID-induced AKI. The primary objective of this analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of a community pharmacy-based patient education program on patient knowledge of NSAID-associated renal safety concerns.

Longitudinally extensive optic neuritis in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.

Background: Neuomyelitis optica, sarcoid, and multiple sclerosis can all cause optic neuritis. Further means of distinguishing the causes of optic neuritis among these etiologies would be valuable for the clinician.

Methods: This is a retrospective, cohort study from a single university based hospital and neuro-ophthalmology clinic.

Defining Patient-Centricity: Opportunities, Challenges, and Implications for Clinical Care and Research.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), created and funded by the Affordable Care Act, is charged with bringing the patient perspective to clinical research design and the outcomes that are studied. However, there is no consensus definition of "patient-centeredness" or "patient-centricity." This paper distinguishes between the terms and describes an infrastructure for supporting the concept of patient-centricity.

Psychotropic medications and informed consent: a review.

Background: There is increasing concern about the safety of various psychotropic medications within the scientific community, as evidenced by the number of black-box warnings issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and "Dear Doctor" letters sent by pharmaceutical companies. Health-care providers need to be mindful of the increasing ethical, legal, and financial risks associated with prescribing these medications.

Methods: The English language literature was searched using Medline and the Internet using relevant terms such as "black-box warning," "malpractice," "off-label prescribing," "informed consent," "medications and pregnancy," and with specific medication names, and appropriate articles and information were selected.

Insuring the uninsured: A student-run initiative to improve access to care in an urban community.

Context: There are 44 million uninsured Americans. Lack of insurance creates a major barrier for the poor and near poor to get adequate medical attention. A portion of these are eligible for insurance and either do not know they are eligible or have difficulty navigating the application process.

A review of antioxidants and Alzheimer's disease.

Background: In this article, we review a diverse body of research and draw conclusions about the usefulness, or lack there-of, of specific antioxidants in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: The National Library of Medicine's database was searched for the years 1996-2004 using the search terms "Alzheimer's, anti-oxidants, antioxidants."

Results: Over 300 articles were identified and 187 articles were selected for inclusion based on relevance to the topic.

Local ecological factors, ultrafine particulate concentrations, and asthma prevalence rates in Buffalo, New York, neighborhoods.

Previous to this study various healthcare utilization studies and house-to-house surveys had shown that Buffalo's west side had a high utilization rate for asthma and high asthma prevalence in comparison with neighboring communities. The relative contributions of traffic-related pollution and personal and local ecological factors to the high asthma rates were still unknown. To investigate the potential roles of personal home environmental factors and local ecological factors in variations of asthma prevalence in Buffalo neighborhoods, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of a systematic random sample of 2000 households in the city of Buffalo, New York, with a response rate of 80.

Flexor superficialis abductor transfer with carpal tunnel release for thenar palsy.

Purpose: In patients with advanced chronic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) the ability of the thumb to abduct and perform functional opposition is impaired greatly, primarily because of denervation and paralysis of the abductor pollicis brevis muscle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of transfer of the flexor digitorum superficialis to the abductor pollicis brevis for restoration of thumb abduction in thenar paralysis caused by advanced chronic CTS.

Methods: Fifty patients (51 hands) with advanced CTS and loss of thumb abduction had a flexor digitorum superficialis transfer (37 small, 10 ring, 4 middle finger donors) to the abductor pollicis brevis with simultaneous carpal tunnel release (49 of 51 endoscopic).

Imaging in head and neck oncology.

Evaluation of head and neck cancer with imaging is a topic that is far more extensive than can be covered in this article. The main reason for head and neck imaging is to evaluate the true extent of disease to best determine surgical and therapeutic options. This process includes evaluation of the size, location, and extent of tumor infiltration into surrounding vascular and visceral structures.

Swallowing disorders post orotracheal intubation in the elderly.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and recovery time of swallowing dysfunction after prolonged endotracheal intubation in critically ill elderly patients compared to a younger cohort.

Design: This was a prospective, interventional, clinical study set in a medical intensive care unit in a university-affiliated hospital.

Subjects: The study involved 42 consecutive elderly patients (>/=65 years old) and 42 controls (<65 years) matched for severity of illness requiring endotracheal intubation for more than 48 h.

Effects of direct current electric fields on cell migration and actin filament distribution in bovine vascular endothelial cells.

Electric fields exceeding 1 V/cm occur during wound healing, morphogenesis, and tumor growth, and such fields have been shown to induce directional migration of a variety of different cells. However, the mechanism by which electric fields direct cell movement is not yet understood, and the effects on vascular endothelial cells are entirely unknown. We demonstrate that cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells migrate toward the cathode of an applied electric field.

Differential effect of NGF and EGF on ERK in neuronally differentiated PC12 cells.

The purpose of this study was to examine ERK enzymatic activity after neuronal differentiation and to determine if the intracellular enzyme continues to be responsive to changes in extracellular NGF. The results demonstrate that long-term NGF maintains ERK activity above normal resting levels, but that it is also greatly reduced from that achieved rapidly after NGF stimulation. Withdrawal of NGF reduces ERK activity further.