by Michal Kawka  , Tamara MH Gall  and Long R Jiao

Received: 25 February 2019;  Published: 05 June 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.1902022

Background: Severe necrotising pancreatitis (SNP) is characterised by high mortality, severe complications and bad prognosis despite progress in understanding of aetiology and progression of the disease. Traditionally, necrotic changes were removed by open necrosectomy but the paradigm has shifted towards more conservative management and minimally-invasive surgical procedures. However, there is still no consensus on the best management pathway. Minimally-invasive procedures percutaneous drainage, endoscopic transl [...]

by Gilles R. G. Monif

Received: 06 January 2019;  Published: 04 June 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.1902021

Using the therapeutic intervention points identified by the Hruska Postulate, the probability of curing Crohn’s disease through destroying the anti-MAP template is discussed.

by Gary Stanton

Received: 22 March 2019;  Published: 04 June 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1902034

A 16 year old girl was evaluated for intractable hiccups for 6 six months, with a prior negative clinical and laboratory evaluation, and without any improvement with a variety of folk and medicinal therapies. A single treatment session of auriculotherapy produced a full clinical remission.

by Soo Liang Ooi  and Sokcheon Pak

Received: 29 May 2019;  Published: 31 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1902033

The Landscape of Current Meditation Research: An Overview to the Special Issue on “Health Benefits of Meditation”

by Terence Seedsman

Received: 29 January 2019;  Published: 24 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1902055

The history surrounding the notion of ‘informed consent’ is provided in the interest of setting a framework for the emergence of an ethics of aged care. Informed consent negligence is seen as a breach of duty involving potential litigation through the legal concept of ‘failure to warn’. Respect for the autonomy of older persons is highlighted as a cornerstone of care by medical professionals and family members. There remains the challenge, however, of caring for older people who do not have full decision-making cap [...]

by Lauren E. Guerriero  and Bruce F. O'Hara

Received: 12 February 2019;  Published: 24 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1902031

Meditation describes a large variety of traditions that are extremely variable, but all include the conscious focus or awareness of attention. By maintaining their attention, meditators experience both acute and long-term changes in physiology, anatomy, and cognitive performance. The literature shows that the type of performance benefits may depend on the specific type of mental training. During meditation practice there is a documented increase in neuronal coordination and slowing of neuronal firing across many re [...]

by James David Adams, Jr.

Received: 24 May 2019;  Published: 24 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1902032

Highlights of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Nervous System Conditions: An Interview with Dr. James David Adams, Jr.

by Gopalakrishnan Loganathan  , Michael G. Hughes  , Gregory L. Szot  , Kate E. Smith  , Abid Hussain  , Daniel R. Collins  , Michael L. Green  , Francis E. Dwulet  , Stuart K. Williams  , Klearchos K. Papas  , Robert C. McCarthy  and Appakalai N. Balamurugan

Received: 29 March 2019;  Published: 24 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1902064

Background: Purified bacterial collagenase and protease enzymes are commonly used to recover human islets from clinical grade pancreata for subsequent clinical islet transplantation. The high cost of purified enzymes can be prohibitive for recovering human islets from research pancreata used for translational research or pre-clinical studies. In this study, we successfully isolated islets from human research pancreata using enriched collagenase products supplemented with BP Protease (DE Collagenase 800 or Collagena [...]

by Laurence Pougnet  , Gilles Nevez  and Solène Le Gal

Received: 17 December 2018;  Published: 22 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1902080

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is the most frequent AIDS-defining disease among HIV-infected individuals in developed countries, and also affects immunocompromised non-HIV patients. Experimental studies on rodent models carried out in the early eighties have shown that Pneumocystis spp. can be transmitted via the airborne route. Unfortunately, this mode of acquisition and transmission has long been overlooked by physicians because PCP in immunosuppressed patients was considered to result from reactivation of a latent [...]

by Athina Chasapi  , Konstantinos Balampanis  , Anna Tanoglidi  , Eleni Kourea  , George I. Lambrou  , Vaia Lambadiari  , Fotios Kalfarentzos  , Erifili Hatziagelaki  , Maria Melachrinou  and Georgia Sotiropoulou-Bonikou

Received: 28 January 2019;  Published: 22 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.1902020

(1) Background: A great number of inflammatory mediators and metabolic biomarkers have been shown to contribute to the development and progression of obesity-induced pathologies, including insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Many of those mediators are either targets or activators of nuclear factor-κappa B (NF-κB), which is a key transcription factor and plays a pivotal role in the homeostasis and the regulation of inflammatory signaling pathways in the liver. (2) Methods: Our study po [...]