Reciprocal Peer Support for Post-partum Patients with Diabetes: A Needs Assessment for the Diabetes Buddy Program

While peer support has been investigated in multiple clinical contexts, its application to the postpartum setting is unknown. The aim was to assess acceptability of a postpartum peer support program for women with diabetes. Observational survey-based needs assessment of forty low-income women with diabetes, receiving care at a major medical institution. Mean age and gravidity were 30.7 years and 3.15 ± 1.67 respectively. 45 % expressed interest in a “buddy.” There was no significant difference between groups desiring and not desiring this program. A majority of respondents desired telephone, text messaging, and in-person contacts (79.2, 72.1, 83.8 %), with 72.5 % of patients desiring diabetes-related activities during clinic waiting time. Many women desire a postpartum diabetes reciprocal peer program for support outside of clinician visits. Patients are receptive to educational services during their wait and outside of clinic time, a potentially valuable opportunity to share important health information.     

Burden of illness among patients with severe aplastic anemia who have had insufficient response to immunosuppressive therapy: a multicenter retrospective chart review study

Annals of Hematology - This study assessed treatment patterns and healthcare resource utilization (HRU) of patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) with insufficient response to immunosuppressive...     

Increasing Perceptions of Self-Worth in Preadolescents Diagnosed with ADHD

Purpose: To test the effectiveness of a school-based, nurse-facilitated support group in increasing perceptions of scholastic competence, social acceptance, behavioral conduct, perceived athletic competence, perceived physical appearance, and perceived global self-worth in preadolescents diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Design: A quasi-experimental design with 65 preadolescents diagnosed with ADD or ADHD in an upper-middle class community in the United States.
Methods: Participants randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group completed Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children instrument at the beginning of the study and 4 weeks later. Students in the experimental condition participated in a school-nurse facilitated support group which met twice weekly for 4 weeks.
Findings: Participants in the support group had increased scores on each of the six subscales, with significant increases on four of the subscales, including perceived social acceptance, perceived athletic competence, perceived physical appearance, and perceived global self-worth.
Conclusion: Participation in a school-based, nurse-led support group was positively associated with perception of self-worth in preadolescents diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.     

Ferrocene-containing cationic lipids for the delivery of DNA: oxidation state determines transfection activity.

The ability of two redox-active, ferrocene-containing cationic lipids [11-(ferrocenylundecyl)trimethylammonium bromide (FTMA) and bis(11-ferrocenylundecyl)dimethylammonium bromide (BFDMA)] to transfect mammalian cells was investigated. This study sought to determine the range of conditions over which these lipids were capable of transfecting cells and whether the oxidation state of the ferrocenyl groups in these materials could be used to influence the extent of transfection. Experiments conducted in the COS-7 cell line demonstrated that reduced and oxidized FTMA were substantially cytotoxic and did not transfect cells. Subsequent experiments conducted using BFDMA and reporter plasmids encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and firefly luciferase demonstrated that BFDMA was able to transfect cells. However, the extent of transfection depended significantly upon both the concentration of BFDMA and the oxidation state of the lipid. Quantitative characterization of cytotoxicity and gene expression demonstrated that a window of concentration existed over which reduced BFDMA was non-cytotoxic and yielded high levels of transfection, but over which electrochemically oxidized BFDMA yielded very low (background) levels of transfection. Characterization of lipoplexes using dynamic light scattering demonstrated that reduced and oxidized BFDMA formed small aggregates (ca. 90 to 250nm) at concentrations of lipid ranging from 2 to 10 microM. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the oxidation state of BFDMA, which can be controlled electrochemically, can be used to control the extent of cell transfection. These results could form the basis of transfection procedures that exploit the redox behavior of ferrocene-containing lipids to achieve active spatial and temporal control over transfection using electrochemical methods.     

Restriction fragment length polymorphism of human mitochondrial DNA in a sample population from Apulia (Southern Italy)

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of human mitochondrial DNA was analysed in a sample of 87 subjects from Apulia (South Italy) by the restriction enzymes Hpa I, Bam HI, Hae II, Msp I, Ava II, and Hinc II using total blood cell DNA probed by human mtDNA from placenta. Five BamHI morphs were observed, two of which are new ( Bam HI-4 and -5), as well as one new Ava II morph ( Ava II-28). The association Bam HI-4/ Ava II-28 enables us to demonstrate for the first time two polymorphic Bam HI sites present together in the same mtDNA molecule. In agreement with historical data the Apulian sample has been shown to be the most heterogeneous Italian population so far tested.     

Synthesis of TPH-13, a new tridecapeptide from Phyllomedusa rohdei

The synthesis of TPH-13 (Glp-Glu-Lys-Pro-Tyr-Trp-Pro-Pro-Pro-Ile-Tyr-Pro-Met-OH), a tridecapeptide isolated from the skin of the South American frog Phyllomedusa rohdei, is described and alternative approaches are discussed.     

Aerobic exercise training fails to lower hypertriglyceridemia levels in persons with advanced HIV-1 infection.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether blood lipid and lipoprotein concentrations varied in 5 men with advanced HIV-1 infection after 12 months of aerobic exercise training. Prior to exercise, the mean baseline cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) serum concentration were each lower, and mean baseline triglyceride concentration was higher compared to a healthy population norm. Consistent exercise training for 12 months failed to significantly (p > .05) alter cholesterol or HDL-C. Triglyceride concentration was significantly (p < .05) elevated above baseline (63 mg/dL) regardless of exercise compliance. The results suggest that long-term exercise training cannot correct lipid profile abnormality, particularly hypertriglyceridemia, common to individuals with advanced HIV-1 infection.     

Intratemporal vascular tumors: detection with CT and MR imaging

The diagnostic contributions of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging were compared in 12 patients with benign intratemporal vascular tumors (hemangioma or vascular malformation). The tumors included six in the internal acoustic canal and six in the geniculate ganglion region. Clinical and histologic correlations were made. Two of the six patients with tumors in the internal acoustic canal underwent CT, and both required gas cisternography to show the tumor. Five patients in that group underwent MR imaging, and all five studies showed the tumor. All six patients with geniculate ganglion tumors underwent CT. Results in one study were questionable, and five showed the tumor. Five patients in this group underwent MR imaging, but the MR findings were positive in only two cases. MR imaging should therefore be performed before CT in the evaluation of facial nerve dysfunction, as it demonstrated all tumors in the internal acoustic canal and some in the geniculate ganglion region. If MR findings are negative, CT should then be performed to rule out a possible geniculate ganglion lesion.