by Aadharshini Ganesh  , Nisha Gupta  , Prosenjit Saha  and Pallab Bhattacharya

Received: 31 January 2023;  Published: 08 May 2023;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2302020

Energy storage devices (ESD) including batteries, and supercapacitors are becoming progressively imperative in the transition to a renewable energy future, as they enable the integration of intermittent renewable sources into the grid and provide backup power during outages. There are already reviews available on various energy storage materials and systems. However, the challenges in the choice of suitable materials and fabrication technology are yet to establish for the commercialization of affordable and efficie [...]

by Adefemi Adebisi Alade  and Ahmed Ibrahim

Received: 22 September 2022;  Published: 09 January 2023;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2301003

Performance evaluations of wood and other lignocellulosic-based composites involve complex scenarios of several factors such as material heterogeneity and geometry that often leads to complicated, expensive, and time-consuming experimental procedures. Hence, the application of computational modeling and simulation is desirable to mitigate these biocomposites’ performance testing challenges. This review paper, therefore, presents an outlook on the finite element method (FEM) application in probing performance charac [...]

by Ashley Schumaker  , Richard Gomez  , Sofia Rojasova  , Cassidy Muir  , Katie Bukiri  , Clinton Korneffel  , Aparna Sharma  , Murali Rao  and Edwin Meresh

Received: 25 February 2021;  Published: 25 May 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2102099

The complete spectrum of neuropsychiatric effects of SARS-CoV-2 acute respiratory distress syndrome has yet to be fully appreciated, particularly in intubated patients. Manifestations including delirium and catatonia need to be considered in intubated COVID-19 patients. Medications known to exhibit neuroprotective effects, like valproate, can assist in agitation related to sedative withdrawal during extubation. This case series reports on the management of agitation, delirium, and catatonia in COVID-19 patients dur [...]

by James Farag  and Silvana Marasco

Received: 13 February 2019;  Published: 08 April 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1902060

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) improve quality of life in end-stage heart failure patients but a frequent complication is Right heart failure (RHF) causing significant morbidity and mortality. This review article discusses key issues that need to be considered in the assessment and clinical management of RHF in LVAD patients including the use of Right Ventricle (RV) support devices and off-label LVADs as temporary or permanent RV support.

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 Joseph P. Green  , Steven Jay Lynn  , Olivia J. Green  , Victoria R. Bradford  and Rouhangiz Rasekhy

Received: 18 February 2020;  Published: 11 May 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2002029

Since Charcot [1], researchers and theorists have associated hypnotic responsiveness with dissociation. However, contemporary researchers have typically not documented impressive or statistically significant correlations between the most commonly used measure of dissociation, the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II [2, 3] and hypnotic responsiveness. We examined the ability of two measures of non-pathological dissociation, which have received scant attention in the hypnosis literature, the Wessex Dissociation Scale ( [...]

by Laura S. Kabiri  , Amanda M. Perkins-Ball  , Cassandra S. Diep  , Uma Kelavkar  and Augusto X. Rodriguez

Received: 17 December 2021;  Published: 15 March 2022;  doi: 10.21926/rpn.2201009

Most children do not meet physical activity guidelines, and school-based programs often fail to increase physical activity levels. However, there has been no intervention pairing college mentors with elementary students to date. The purpose of this paper is to report the feasibility and acceptability, both quantitative and qualitative, of an undergraduate-mentored running program designed to increase physical activity in elementary students. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to evaluate the feasib [...]

by Maïté Van Hentenryck  , Zhanzhuo Li  , Philip M. Murphy  and Agnieszka Czechowicz

Received: 24 November 2021;  Published: 08 July 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2203162

The ability to successfully transplant cells and organs from a donor into an immunologically disparate recipient is one of the greatest treatment advances in the history of medicine. Nevertheless, acute and chronic rejection, graft versus host disease, and the inability to identify suitable donors continue to be challenges and limit broader application of cell and organ transplantation to the many patients that could benefit. Immunosuppression before and after allogeneic transplant has been found to dramatically im [...]

by Kristy Lui  , Darlene Yee-Melichar  and Emiko Takagi

Received: 31 October 2018;  Published: 08 April 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1902046

This research review sought to examine the patterns of engagement in advance care planning (ACP) and utilization of end-of-life (EoL) care treatment services including, but not limited to hospice care, in distinct older Asian American ethnic groups. The review of existing research suggested evidence that empirical studies about different older subpopulations of Asian Americans remains scarce. This research analysed 30 small-scale studies on older Asian Americans’ attitudes and engagement in EoL care planning. The r [...]

by Rui Wang  , Omar M. Basha  , Husain E. Ashkanani  , Bingyun Li  and Badie I. Morsi

Received: 19 August 2024;  Published: 21 November 2024;  doi: 10.21926/jept.2404022

CO2 capture processes using five chemical solvents were modeled in Aspen Plus V.12.1 for the capture of over 90% CO2 from a 456 ton/hour split flue gas stream containing 12.02 mol% CO2 emitted by the Longview 780 MW power plant (West Virginia, USA). Since the flue gas contained 33.10 ppmv SO2 and 35.47 ppmv NO2, a gas polishing process, using deionized water (DIW), was included in the model for complete scrubbing of SO2 and NO2 from the raw flue gas before the CO2 capture process. The five chemicals used for CO2 ca [...]

by Robert J. Brent

Received: 31 July 2019;  Published: 10 October 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1904079

Background: The 2018 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures special report includes two new guidelines for measuring dementia symptoms. The first requires that a biomarker (biological factor) be added to a doctor's clinical judgment of the cause of symptoms when determining whether dementia is present. The second involves identifying four stages of dementia: normal cognition, preclinical, MCI and dementia. Now only those with defining brain pathologies and significant symptoms will be judged to be persons with stage [...]

by Igor Val Danilov  and Sandra Mihailova

Received: 24 January 2022;  Published: 18 May 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2202122

Studies in the field of neuroscience have shown that the neural network responsible for numeracy overlaps with the visual and spatial processing regions. Other studies in psychology also highlighted an association of visual-spatial processing with mathematical competence at the early stages of development. These findings suggest that research on the size of the focal area of attention (consciousness) can contribute to understanding the development of numeracy. In this case study, we verified the hypothesis of devel [...]

by Jin-Ho Lee  , Florence Laure Djiki Tchetgna  , Matthias Krufczik  , Eberhard Schmitt  , Christoph Cremer  , Felix Bestvater  and Michael Hausmann

Received: 14 September 2018;  Published: 19 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.1901064

Background: Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) has become routine for bio-medical research and medical diagnosis, thereby offering a variety of probes and ready-to-use kits that fulfil requirements for many applications. However, conventional FISH relies on chemical and/or thermal denaturation to improve target accessibility and uses huge amounts of DNA that needs to be bonded to the target site. COMBinatorial Oligo-nucleotide FISH (COMBO-FISH) offers possibilities to circumvent these shortcomings. Methods: [...]

by Mrudula Munagala  and Anita Phancao

Received: 31 August 2017;  Published: 11 January 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1801007

Heart transplant remains the gold standard therapy for patients with end stage heart disease and offers improved survival and quality of life. Significant progress has been achieved in improving one-year mortality after heart transplantation. Nonetheless, long-term graft survival has not changed significantly over the past few decades. Long term survival of heart transplant recipients is limited by chronic rejection, cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), and malignancy. CAV is a major contributor for graft failure [...]

by Gabriel Santos Viana  , Jorge Álef Estevam Lau Bomfim  , Gabriel Pereira da Silva  , José Faustino Souza de Carvalho Filho  , Miriam Sanae Tokumoto  , Fernando Cesário Rangel  and Rosenira Serpa da Cruz

Received: 30 June 2022;  Published: 13 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/cr.2203026

Technological development made in the field of biomass application allows synthesizing several high-value products, such as furfuraldehyde. Furfural, produced through sequential hydrolysis and dehydration reactions from biomass, is considered a platform molecule and a precursor of several other chemicals and biofuels that are generated following reactions such as hydrogenation, hydrodeoxygenation, and decarboxylation. This review aims to reveal the environmental-friendly mechanisms followed for producing furfural d [...]

by Meir Djaldetti

Received: 21 March 2023;  Published: 13 July 2023;  doi: 10.21926/rpn.2303011

Ellagic acid (EA) the principal polyphenol of pomegranate (Punicca granatum) is renowned for its beneficial therapeutic activity in several diseases including cancer. Studies have shown that EA exerts a carcinopreventive effect on many cancer cells, inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and limiting neovascularization and cell migration. In animal models, EA could reduce tumor development, number and size. Research detected that EA exerts its activity on cancer cells through several signaling pathways, without [...]

by Oyovwi Mega Obukohwo  , Oyelere Abosede Oreoluwa  , Odewale O. Comfort  and Afolabi Opeyemi Olanike

Received: 24 March 2024;  Published: 20 June 2024;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2402246

Infertility affects millions globally, with 10-15% of couples experiencing unexplained cases. Despite advancements in medicine, the cause remains unknown, causing emotional distress. Recent research suggests a genetic basis for this issue. This review aims to provide a better understanding of the underlying genetic factors contributing to unexplained infertility and potentially identify genetic markers that could aid in the diagnosis and treatment of this condition. A literature review was conducted to understand t [...]

by Laura Suarez  , Reem M.A. Shafi  and Maria I. Lapid

Received: 14 May 2019;  Published: 16 September 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1903074

Background: Dementia is a progressive and debilitating condition that affects millions of patients in the United States with an enormous impact on healthcare costs, caregivers, and society. Patients with dementia often experience dementia-related neuropsychiatric disturbances, commonly known as Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) and more recently Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in dementia. These symptoms include verbal and physical agitation, aggression, disinhibition, affect lability, apathy [...]

by Emma G. Norris  , Diane Dalecki  and Denise C. Hocking

Received: 22 March 2020;  Published: 21 July 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2003018

Ultrasound is emerging as a promising tool for both characterizing and fabricating engineered biomaterials. Ultrasound-based technologies offer a diverse toolbox with outstanding capacity for optimization and customization within a variety of therapeutic contexts, including improved extracellular matrix-based materials for regenerative medicine applications. Non-invasive ultrasound fabrication tools include the use of thermal and mechanical effects of acoustic waves to modify the structure and function of extracell [...]

by Suzie Jokic  , Nicole Jacqueline Albrecht  and Sue Erica Smith

Received: 15 July 2018;  Published: 23 January 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1901004

Background: Adult learners often engage in formal education because they want to create changes in their lives and are determined to succeed in their chosen field. However, they also come with emotional "baggage" of early educational experiences, frequently have to deal with a multitude of competing demands, have financial strain, may face a lack of support, illness and/or injury. In addition, they are often dealing with the challenges of unfamiliar academic work, competing deadlines and initially lack basic academ [...]

by Elizabeth M. Goldberg  , Cameron J. Gettel  , Kelsey Hayes  , Renee R. Shield  and Kate M. Guthrie

Received: 21 August 2019;  Published: 10 October 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1904078

Background: Three million US emergency department (ED) visits occur for falls each year. The mortality of falls is increasing and only one fourth of older adults report their fall to their primary care provider, suggesting that valuable preventative opportunities are missed. A fall prevention intervention initiated in the ED immediately after a fall has the potential to reduce subsequent falls, but ED providers lack the time and resources to complete fall risk assessments on their patients. GAPcare, the Geriatric A [...]

by Mikhail Batanov-Gaukhman

Received: 10 November 2023;  Published: 26 June 2024;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2402014

The article aims to develop the stochastic interpretation of quantum mechanics by E. Nelson based on balancing the intra-systemic contradiction (i.e., antisymmetry) between “order” and “chaos”. For the set task, it is proposed to combine two mutually opposite system-forming principles: “the principle of least action” and “the principle of maximum entropy” into one, the “principle of averaged efficiency extremum”. In a detailed consideration of the averaged states of a chaotically wandering particle, the time-indepe [...]

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 Joseph V. Pergolizzi  , Aaron Tabor  , Jo Ann LeQuang  , Michael Annabi  and Hani Annabi

Received: 05 June 2019;  Published: 05 November 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.1904062

Background: The ketogenic diet (KD) was developed in the 1920s as a treatment for pediatric epilepsy and is emerging as a possible treatment option for certain mental health disorders. There is a link between certain mental health disorders and epilepsy, suggesting some commonality among underlying mechanisms. Methods: The literature relating to mental disorders and the KD is sparse. The authors attempt to a narrative review of the existing literature to show that there may be validity to studying the KD as a treat [...]

by Leonel Pereira  and Ana Valado

Received: 06 March 2024;  Published: 10 May 2024;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2402223

This review explores the potential of compounds derived from red algae (Rhodophyta) as promising neuroprotective agents for treating neurodegenerative disorders. Red algae, abundant in marine environments, contain bioactive compounds with diverse chemical structures and functionalities. Sulfated polysaccharides, primarily agar and carrageenans, stand out as the predominant and widely utilized compounds derived from red algae. Additionally, red algae harbor a spectrum of potential molecules such as essential fatty a [...]