by Randye J. Semple  and Christine Burke

Received: 20 August 2018;  Published: 04 January 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1901001

Background: Research support for a variety of health benefits of mindfulness-based interventions for adults is robust. These include management of stress, anxiety, and depression; as a supportive treatment for eating disorders, PTSD, and psychosis; improved sleep; chronic pain management; support for tobacco, alcohol, and substance abstinence; and as adjunctive treatments for serious or chronic medical illnesses such as HIV, cancer, and heart conditions. As is typical with newer interventions, mindfulness intervent [...]

by Rahul Abhyankar  , Divya Mella  and Edward Pan

Received: 12 November 2018;  Published: 04 January 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1901018

Objective: To report a unique case of cerebellopontine angle glioblastoma with concurrent spinal cord involvement. Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignancy of the central nervous system (CNS), comprising 46.6% of all CNS malignancies. By anatomic location, cerebellopontine angle (CPA) GBMs are exceedingly rare. To our knowledge, the following case represents the tenth reported case of CPA GBM and the first with a corresponding spinal cord tumor on presentation. Methods: Retrospective cha [...]

by Marcel Tomaszewski  and Philip Wong

Received: 22 August 2018;  Published: 03 January 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.1901013

There is evidence to suggest that older livers regenerate less well and display cellular senescence. Additionally, elderly patients with certain liver diseases have a less favourable course. Chronic liver disease, amongst the elderly, has a significant negative effect upon quality of life and functional independence. Frailty, commonly encountered in geriatric patients, remains a significant negative predictor of physical, psychological, functional and survival outcomes in chronic liver disease. Despite advances in [...]

by David C. Gaston  and Marwan M. Azar

Received: 14 November 2018;  Published: 29 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1804037

The approach to diagnosing fungal infections following solid organ transplantation (SOT) is patient-specific. An assessment of an individual’s risk for particular infections, also understood as the pre-test probability, should guide appropriate diagnostic testing whereas diagnostic stewardship is needed to produce interpretable, actionable and cost-sensitive results. This review provides a cognitive framework for practitioners aiming to diagnose fungal infections in recipients of SOT, taking into consideration the [...]

by Camila Sandoval  , Colleen A Lambo  and Michael Carey Satterfield

Received: 01 June 2018;  Published: 28 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804058

Understanding the pathophysiology of disease can be an essential step to determining where and how to intervene for preventive or corrective health. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) has been defined in livestock species as impaired gestational development of a fetus or its parts [1]. This broad category of ailments described by low fetal weight is accompanied by susceptibility to adult onset of chronic disease through fetal programming of numerous organ systems and their functions. This concern affects humans [...]

by J. Kim Penberthy  , Dinesh Chhabra  , Nina Avitabile  , J. Morgan Penberthy  , Ngan Le  , Yiqin Roger Xu  , Seara Mainor  , Natalie Schiavone  , Paul Katzenstein  , Janet E Lewis  and Leslie Hubbard

Received: 18 April 2018;  Published: 28 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1804039

Over the past few decades, there have been minimal advances in effective new behavioral or psychotherapeutic interventions for people living with autoimmune diseases such as systematic lupus erythematosus. This is problematic due to the severe, debilitating and potentially life-threatening nature of these diseases. Mindfulness based interventions, such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, have demonstrated effectiveness in a wide range of patient populations and we hypothesize such treatment would also benefit pa [...]

by Joseph V. Pergolizzi  , Robert Taylor  , Robert B. Raffa  and Jo Anne LeQuang

Received: 27 July 2018;  Published: 28 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1804038

Background: The leaves of Mitragyna speciosa (kratom), a tropical tree that is indigenous to Southeast Asia, have been used traditionally to increase stamina, as a digestive aid, and as an analgesic. Kratom use is now increasingly popular in the rest of the world because of easy availability through the Internet and real, or perceived, views of efficacy and safety. Methods: PubMed and MedLine searches were conducted of published articles available in English. Results: Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are the pr [...]

by Jeremy M. Quintana  , Alexandra L. Stinchcomb  , Jessica H. Kostyo  , Blair M. Robichaud  , Michael A. Plunk  and Robert R. Kane

Received: 08 October 2018;  Published: 28 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1804036

Islet transplantation has proven to be a viable treatment for individuals suffering from both Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1D) and chronic pancreatitis. However, a variety of challenges limit the effectiveness of this procedure by reducing the number of islets that survive the harvesting and transplantation processes. Increasing islet survival would increase the long-term effectiveness of the procedure and allow this technique to be used in more patients. A number of factors have been shown to improve the outcomes of [...]

by Whitney Rabacal  , Emily Rayens  and Karen Norris

Received: 02 November 2018;  Published: 27 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804057

Pneumocystis causes life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised populations. More recently it has been implicated as a co-factor in a number of chronic lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), severe asthma, and cystic fibrosis (CF). In this review, we will examine the current literature regarding Pneumocystis and lung diseases in the HIV-infected patients and non-HIV immunocompromised populations, and the barriers to prophylaxis and treatment in these patients. Trimethoprim sulfame [...]

by HIrotaka Yamamoto  , Maiko Kisino  , Shunichi Nakamura  and Kastutoshi Tokushige

Received: 12 November 2018;  Published: 27 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.1804012

Objective: Elastography is a non-invasive examination method that can estimate the extent of liver fibrosis, measured as liver stiffness (LS). We examined the relationship between gastro-esophageal varices and the LS and how to predict esophageal varices and varices bleeding by LS. Methods: From 2014 to 2016, we conducted a retrospective study of 138 subjects, all of whom were patients with chronic liver disease, including NAFLD, alcoholic liver disease, primary biliary cholangitis, viral hepatitis, and others. LS [...]