by Alberto Arias-Pérez  , Daniel Ramírez-Torres  , María E. Rodríguez  , Silvia Portela-Bens  , Emilio García-Suarez  , Manuel A. Merlo  , Aglaya García-Angulo  , Ismael Cross  , Thomas Liehr  and Laureana Rebordinos

Received: 31 July 2018;  Published: 24 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804044

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that play a very important role in gene expression by regulating mRNA cleavage and translation. The Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup 1858), is a flatfish species that shows great potential for marine aquaculture. Nevertheless, the existence of sexual dysfunction of males reared in captivity, high larval mortality, and diseases have hampered its production. The integration of sequence information with data on chromosomal physical location is useful f [...]

by Albena Staynova  , Ljubomira Hadjiiska  , Valeria Hadjidekova  and Rositsa Hristova

Received: 14 August 2018;  Published: 22 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804043

Background: The purpose of study was to assess the cytogenetic effect of chronic low dose radiation exposure of nuclear power plant workers using the micronucleus centromere assay. This method allows the differentiation between centromere-positive micronuclei containing whole chromosome and centromere-negative micronuclei containing acentric fragment pointing to clastogenic action of ionizing radiation. Methods: The effect of low dose occupational exposure was estimated in 32 nuclear power plant workers using in si [...]

by Adayabalam S. Balajee

Received: 26 August 2018;  Published: 19 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804042

The technique of in situ hybridization (ISH) using radioactively labeled DNA probes was first described in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The first use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was reported in 1980s where RNA labeled with a fluorophore at the 3’ end was used to detect specific DNA sequences. Since then, the technique has undergone various modifications for detecting single genes, chromosomes and whole genomes on various targets such as interphase nucleus, prematurely condensed chromosomes [...]

by Paul M. Valliant  , Charlotte Aelick  , Amber Sinclair  and Joseph M. Caswell

Received: 07 August 2018;  Published: 18 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1804015

Background: Previous research has indicated the attitudes that others have toward older adults play an important role in their well-being. The current study contributes to the literature because it evaluates attitudes toward older adults. Methods: The participants included Caucasian and Indigenous people residing in Northern Ontario. All participants were asked to complete a demographics questionnaire and the Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (KAOP). Results: Results indicated that Indigenous participants h [...]

by Ruth Prieto  and Jose M Pascual

Received: 11 September 2018;  Published: 15 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1804012

The optimal treatment of craniopharyngiomas (CPs) represents a neurosurgical challenge, the major reason being their close relationship with the hypothalamus and the third ventricle (3V) boundaries. Nevertheless, CPs are generally defined as “suprasellar” lesions, an inexplicit and frequently defective term. Despite being heterogeneous lesions, CPs are actually characterized by repeating pathological patterns which depend on their point of origin along the pituitary-hypothalamic axis. Surgical plan in tailoring the [...]

by Chenggong Han  , Hancong Tang  , Shuyuan Lou  , Yuan Gao  , Min Ho Cho  and Shili Lin

Received: 23 May 2018;  Published: 14 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804041

Whole genome profiling of differential DNA methylation between diseased and normal samples has significant implications in research to understand the role of epigenetic regulations of cells. In recent years, the development of bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq)-based molecular technology has enabled the measurement of DNA methylation at a nucleotide resolution throughout the genome. Given the availability of this new type of DNA methylation data, certain features challenge traditional analytical methods such as the Fish [...]

by Ethan G. Lester  , Amy R. Murrell  and Dickson E. Dickson

Received: 19 June 2018;  Published: 14 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1804026

Background: Mindfulness meditation (MM) is an increasing area of interest for health professionals and the general public alike. Beneficial outcomes are associated with this practice; however, definitions of mindfulness and meditation are varied, and anecdotal accounts suggest that people hold conceptions about the constructs. Furthermore, mindfulness has been incorporated into therapeutic modalities without much consideration for context, including the client’s previous experiences with and understanding of MM. To [...]

by Parisa Gazerani

Received: 09 May 2018;  Published: 10 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804040

Interactions between genetic and environmental factors in migraine are well known and can potentially determine an individual’s susceptibility to disease and responsiveness to treatment. Consequently, several epigenetic studies have been conducted to determine if and how genes are activated or inactivated in response to a diverse range of environmental migraine triggers. The results, in turn, have helped elucidate how these factors can promote or inhibit migraine progression or therapeutic response and can guide de [...]

by Chrisann Fahy  and Lisa Hollis-Sawyer

Received: 19 January 2018;  Published: 10 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1804014

Background: The growing aging population requires care support resources which engage older adults in many different aspects of human functioning and experiences [1]. The purpose of this applied research project was to develop, and pilot test a holistic enrichment program manual used with Institutionalized Residential Care Facilities (IRCF) that encompasses motor skill, social, cognitive and self- enrichment outcomes, and to pilot test the enrichment program manual to be both cost-effective and a time savings to IR [...]

by Marcel Allbritton  and Carrie Heeter

Received: 30 July 2018;  Published: 09 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1804025

We propose a framework for understanding meditation that can support greater scientific rigor in reporting meditation research, and selecting meditation health interventions. There is no consistent and thorough framework for describing meditation research interventions. This impedes rigor of meditation research design and interpretation of findings. This also limits meaningful comparisons across research studies. The audience for this article includes researchers, meditation experts, healthcare professionals, and t [...]

by Bruce Walmsley  and Lynne McCormack

Received: 23 June 2018;  Published: 08 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1804013

Background: Minimal research investigates negative and positive perspectives of wellbeing in families, when a member with dementia is limited in their speech, or speech is absent. Methods: Seeking to explore this phenomenon further, semi-structured interviews sought negative and positive subjective interpretations from 27 family carers (mild to profound dementia). Interviews explored the participants' experience of changing relational and social engagement when a family member lives with dementia. Data were analyse [...]

by Paul A. Barclay  and Clint A. Bowers

Received: 27 July 2018;  Published: 07 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1804024

(1) Background: Meditation is a common intervention for college students suffering from issues with anxiety. Due to this popularity, several meditation-based video games have been released which can be used to supplement or motivate meditation practice. However, these tools are not often given scrutiny in a laboratory setting before being released to the public. Our lab conducted a brief feasibility pilot study to investigate Meditation Deathmatch, an open-source meditation video game aimed at stimulating meditatio [...]

by Stefania Policicchio  , Emma L Dempster  and Therese M Murphy

Received: 20 June 2018;  Published: 06 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804039

Suicide is the second leading cause of death globally among young people and the tenth leading cause of death across all ages. Approximately 800,000 people die by suicide every year representing a significant global health burden. Despite this burden, the molecular pathology of suicide remains poorly understood. A number of recent studies have shown that epigenetic alterations are associated with suicidal behaviour. These epigenetic mechanisms, which act to regulate gene expression via modifications to DNA, histone [...]

by Zhenya Tang  , Jun Gu  , Guilin Tang  and L. Jeffrey Medeiros

Received: 22 July 2018;  Published: 03 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1804038

Because of its’ simplicity, reliability and cost-effectiveness, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a major technology that is widely applied in clinical diagnosis, especially for hematologic malignancies, even in the era of next-generation sequencing (NGS). In the Clinical Cytogenetics Laboratory at MD Anderson Cancer Center, over 15,000 FISH tests are performed each year, including approximately 1,000 BCR-ABL1 and 500 MYC FISH tests, respectively. In this chapter, we introduce the quality assurance/quali [...]

by Holly Hazlett-Stevens

Received: 20 April 2018;  Published: 29 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1804023

Background: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an evidence-based intervention developed to teach mindfulness meditation to a wide range of patients. Although the efficacy of MBSR has been established for a variety of medical and psychiatric conditions, measured outcomes rarely include physical symptoms related to anxiety, depression, and/or stress. The current study presents a secondary analysis of data obtained from patients seeking MBSR for symptoms of anxiety, depression, and/or other stress-related co [...]

by Wasim A. Dar

Received: 03 September 2018;  Published: 29 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1803021

liver transplantation

by Michael K. McMullen

Received: 09 July 2018;  Published: 28 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1803022

The metabolism of fructose by the liver produces uric acid and elevated serum uric acid levels are an independent risk factor for hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. Fructose occurs in fruits and fruit juices, honey as well as in the sweeteners sucrose (common white sugar) and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Dietary fructose may be considered a naturally occurring toxin because it is largely metabolised by the liver with little fructose reaching the systemic blood circulation. Uric acid i [...]

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 Tiffany Field

Received: 28 April 2018;  Published: 25 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1803012

This narrative review is based on literature searches of PubMed and PsycINFO using the terms online dating in older adults. The papers that met inclusion criteria include content analyses of online dating profiles and interviews with online dating individuals. The issues that emerged from this literature included online versus off-line advantages and disadvantages, online profile characteristics that differ by age and gender and online use problems. Online versus off-line dating older adults have reputedly experien [...]

by Methee Phumthum  and Henrik Balslev

Received: 25 April 2018;  Published: 24 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1803020

Background: Diabetes is a metabolic disorder and a serious global health problem. Over 400 million people suffer from diabetes and it is estimated that the number will dramatically increase in the future. The cost of diabetes treatment for individual patients is very high. However, traditional knowledge could be used to support conventional diabetes treatments. Here, we identify medicinal plants that have been used as treatments for diabetes based on Thai ethnobotanical knowledge. Methods: We present a literature r [...]

by Ashley Rosenberg  , Gilles Dongmo  , Pallavi Yadav  , Nathaniel Lee  and Kunal Yadav

Received: 13 August 2018;  Published: 21 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1803020

Even though renal ectopia is common, there have been very few reports of these kidneys being used for transplantation. The concerns with using such kidneys are subnormal function, ureteral anomalies and complications and anomalous arterial supply which makes arterial reconstruction challenging. Majority of reports are for use in living donor transplantation where good preoperative imaging is available. There is very scant literature reporting use of ectopic pelvic kidneys from deceased donors. We report a case of a [...]

by Hans Rhode  , Thomas Liehr  , Nadezda Kosyakova  , Martina Rinčić  and Shaymaa S. Hussein Azawi

Received: 30 July 2018;  Published: 19 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1803037

(1) Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in human and the fourth leading cause of adult man’s death. Murine tumor cell lines have been established as a model system for CRC, but their cytogenetic properties have so far been only poorly understood. (2) Methods: The two murine colon tumor cell lines CMT-93 and CT26 (also called CT26.WT, CT-26 or CT-26 WT) were investigated in this study by molecular cytogenetic methods, i.e. by multicolor-fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH), muri [...]

by Wolf-Dieter Heiss

Received: 02 July 2018;  Published: 19 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1803011

Gliomas originating from glial cells comprise about 30% of all primary central nervous system tumors and 80% of malignant brain tumors. Gliomas differ in their biological activity and are categorized according to grades, from benign to malignant with high recurrence rates. For diagnosis, location and extent of the tumor is assessed by CT and MRI, but for grading, additional parameters are necessary: contrast enhanced CT and MRI reveal damage of the blood–brain barrier, perfusion-weighted MRI shows regional blood su [...]

by Mitsuko Hirosawa  , Koji Hayakawa  , Kunio Shiota  and Satoshi Tanaka

Received: 05 July 2018;  Published: 17 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1803036

Histone modifications play an important role in the control of DNA-based processes by altering the structure and function of chromatin. O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification is a form of post-translational modification of proteins that affects the serine (Ser)/threonine (Thr) residues. This process is controlled by a single pair of enzymes, i.e. O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA). Recent evidence indicates the existence of O-GlcNAc modification of histones, with 16 histone O-GlcNAc site [...]

by Maria Kontodiou  , Vassilis Paspaliaris  , Themistoklis Dagklis  , Elisavet Siomou  , Ahmed Hamid Al-Rikabi  , Kalliopi Tsita  , Theano Stavroulaki  , Andreas Pampanos  , Apostolos Zavlanos  , Georgios Papaioannou  , Ioannis Papoulidis  , Loretta Thomaidis  and Emmanouil Manolakos

Received: 30 May 2018;  Published: 16 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1803035

Background: Small supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMC) are structurally abnormal chromosomes, and their characterization exclusively by banding cytogenetics is almost impossible. Multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization approaches for their characterization are effective but expensive and time-consuming. Recently, the application of molecular karyotyping has resulted in improving the characterization of sSMC. Methods: Molecular karyotyping was used for the identification of a sSMC in this study. Results: In [...]