by Taylor Lawrence  and Therese M. Murphy

Received: 29 October 2018;  Published: 19 December 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804055

Telomeres are TTAGGG repeats located at the end of chromosomes that maintain DNA stability. Telomere length (TL) has been widely implicated as a marker of biological age, and is associated with several human diseases, including depression, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Twin studies and cohort studies estimate heritability of TL between 78-82%. Moreover, several genomic loci which influence TL have been identified. Despite the success of genetic studies in furthering our understanding of telomere biology, ident [...]

by Simonetta Bernardini  , Francesca Bechini  , Giulia Braccesi  , Franco Cracolici  , Rosaria Ferreri  , Roberto Pulcri  and Andrea Serafini

Received: 30 September 2018;  Published: 17 April 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1902024

Since 2011, the Tuscany Regional Authority has been funding the use of Integrated Medicine (IM) in a clinical setting in Pitigliano Hospital, with the aim of testing the true efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a hospital setting. The clinical setting also comprises the Manciano rehabilitation facility whose services include post-stroke rehabilitation. This study aims to establish if IM helps to improve the rehabilitation performance of stroke patients. The study compared 212 patients divide [...]

by Geeta Pokhrel  , Hongmei Gu  , Douglas J. Gardner  and Shane O'Neill

Received: 07 December 2021;  Published: 09 February 2022;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2201003

This study is expanding the previous studies that were focused on the material properties and transportation costs of the two alternative feedstocks for manufacturing wood-plastic composites (WPCs): wood flour and pellets. Besides the material properties and cost analysis, life-cycle assessment (LCA) is equally important to assess the environmental impacts of these two alternative wood feedstocks to manufacture WPCs and gain the knowledge of influences from the manufacturing and transportation processes. The main g [...]

by Maurizio Gabrielli  , Veronica Ojetti  , Marcello Candelli  , Luca Santarelli  , Antonio Gasbarrini  and Francesco Franceschi

Received: 18 August 2020;  Published: 09 February 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2101087

Celiac disease (CD) is a common gluten-related enteropathy that presents several extra-intestinal manifestations. Migraine is globally recognized as one of the most diffuse primary headaches. The present paper aims to review the current evidence on the possible association between CD and migraine. Both adults and children having CD exhibit a high prevalence of migraine. However, screening for CD in an unselected population of migraineurs demonstrated contrasting results. Brain imaging may reveal cerebral calcificat [...]

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 Alexander Henn  and Maija-Liisa Mattinen

Received: 08 March 2019;  Published: 26 April 2019;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.1902001

Technical lignins from the biorefinery, pulp, and paper industries are largely underutilized, even though this aromatic and randomly structured biopolymer could be an interesting raw material for advanced applications in addition to bulk daily goods. Recently, colloidal lignin particles (CLPs) have gained much of the research interests due to the attractive multi-functional properties of the biopolymer. Utilization of lignin in nanoparticulate morphology resolves most of the drawbacks when using lignin (heterogenei [...]

by Madalina Neacsu  , Susan E. Anderson  , Pola Verschoor  , Nicholas J. Vaughan  , Graham W. Horgan  , Toine Hulshof  , Sylvia H. Duncan  , Susan Duthie  and Wendy R. Russell

Received: 08 October 2021;  Published: 17 December 2021;  doi: 10.21926/rpn.2104002

Wheat bran cereals are an important source of dietary fibre. The aim of the study was to investigate if a high intake (120 g) of fibre rich breakfast cereal (which delivers the UK Government guidelines for fibre intake in one serving but is three-fold higher than the manufacturers recommended serving) has additional potential health benefits compared to the recommended serving (40 g, containing 11 g of dietary fibre). To assess this, the study determined the short chain fatty acid (SCFA) profiles in human faecal, u [...]

by Hideya Mizuno  , Ayako Taketomi  and Toshikatsu Nakabayashi

Received: 27 June 2018;  Published: 27 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1803021

St. John’s wort (SJW), or Hypericum perforatum, is a perennial herb that is used to treat depression in several countries. Based on the available evidence, it can be hypothesized that SJW would also have beneficial prophylactic and therapeutic effects in patients with metabolic syndrome. In this review, we summarize and discuss the best designed studies that have investigated the effects of SJW extract on adipocyte differentiation, the inflammatory process, and glucose metabolism, all of which are relevant to [...]

by Sima Farpour  , David Smithard  and Hamid reza Farpour

Received: 14 November 2019;  Published: 20 February 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2001109

Dysphagia is a term that is used for the difficulty in moving liquid/food from mouth to the stomach. Dysphagia is very common in elders, which makes them susceptible to malnutrition, infection, institutionalization, and death. Consequently, it is categorized as a geriatric syndrome. Therefore, multidisciplinary teams need to work together to determine the correct etiology and implement an appropriate care plan. Oral care is crucial in managing dysphagia and dental hygienists and dentists serve as the key members. I [...]

by Rachel Mills  , Louisa Jackman  , Mithila Mahesh  and Ian James

Received: 12 December 2018;  Published: 11 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1901032

Background: Research suggests that the use of lies and deception is prevalent within dementia care settings, despite ongoing debates raised about the ethics of this approach. There has been increasing exploration of when and why deceptive practices should be used, but the lack of clarity as to what constitutes a lie has caused difficulty in ensuring that lies are used ethically. The aim of this study was to widen our understanding of the key dimensions that underpin the use of lies, and further to use this informat [...]