is usually the initial diagnosis, at the expense of bipolar disor

is usually the initial diagnosis, at the expense of bipolar disorder. We will have to revise and broaden the definition of bipolar disorder; this will have a great impact on rates of prevalence and comorbidity and on treatment. Estimates of the burden and costs of the disorder will have to be corrected upwards. This process could take at least, another 10 years. The forthcoming DSM-V and ICD-11 may not, yet, be in a position to solve the serious diagnostic problem, because the data for the necessary revision are sparse. The second, SAR405838 eternal,

problem remains, “what is a case?”107-109 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical on the continuum on hypomania scales/checklists from healthy to ill. No definitive answer to this question has yet. been found. However, this is nothing to be ashamed of: in medicine the norms for pathological blood pressure have changed repeatedly. A clear cutoff is probably always to a certain extent, questionable, neglecting the normal interindividual Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical variation of the population. It is conceptually important, to add dimensional measures for depression, hypomania, and anxiety to the categorical approach Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in classifying mood disorders110 and not, base expensive biological and clinical research exclusively on diagnostic

categories whose definitions have a short, halflife. Finally, we need long-term treatment studies focusing on the potential effects of mood stabilizers and atypical neuroleptics against dementia, suicide, and vascular mortality. Selected abbreviations and acronyms ADHD attention deficit-hyperactivity Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical disorder BPD bipolar disorder

MDD major depressive disorder MDE major depressive episode SUD substance-use disorder
Community and clinic-based studies have documented a high lifetime prevalence of psychiatric and medical comorbidity in bipolar disorder. For example, the National Comorbidity Survey reported that 95 % of respondents with bipolar disorder also met, criteria for three or more additional lifetime psychiatric disorders.1,2 In keeping with the view that Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical individuals with bipolar disorder are susceptible to comorbid general medical disorders, the Canadian Community Health Survey documented significantly higher rates of cardiometabolic, respiratory, neurological, and infectious disorders in individuals with bipolar disorder.3 The hazardous effects of psychiatric and medical comorbidity provide the impetus for timely detection, diagnosis, treatment, and management of comorbidity in the bipolar population. For example, co-occurring disorders in bipolar disorder arc associated with MTMR9 more severe subtypes (eg, mixed states), an earlier age at. onset, an intensification of symptoms, poor symptomatic and functional recovery, suicidal behavior, diminished response to pharmacological treatment, decreased quality of life, as well as an unfavorable course and outcome.1,4-6 Moreover, mortality studies indicate that medical comorbidity (eg, cardiovascular disease) is the most, frequent, specific cause of premature mortality in the bipolar population.

Stockings of Cambridge The participant is shown two displays cont

Stockings of Cambridge The participant is shown two displays containing three colored balls. There is a row of numbered boxes along the bottom of the screen. The test administrator first demonstrates to the participant how to use the balls in the lower display to copy the pattern in the upper display, and completes Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical one demonstration problem, where the solution requires one move. The participant must then complete three further problems, one each of two moves, three moves, and four moves. Next the participant is shown further problems and

must work out in their head how many moves the solutions to these problems require, then touch the appropriate box at the bottom of the screen to Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical indicate their response. Stockings of Cambridge primarily measures executive function. Outcome measures were problems solved on first choice (the number of problems which were solved on the subject’s first choice), with a higher score being better; mean choices to correct (the

mean number of unique box choices that the subject made on each problem to make the correct choice), with a lower score being better; Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical latency to first choice (measured from the appearance of the balls on the screen until the box was touched), with a lower score being better; and latency to correct (measured from the appearance of the balls on the screen until the correct box was touched), with a lower score being better. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Clinical measures The clinical symptom ratings included the PANSS consisting of 7 items for positive symptoms, 7 items for negative symptoms and 16 items for evaluation of general psychopathology, used in combination with and the ‘The Structured Clinical Interview PANSS’ (SCI-PANSS) [Kay et al. 1987, 1991]. Statistical analysis All analyses were

performed as completers analyses and intention-to-treat analyses, using the last observation carried forward (LOCF) principle. Participants were classified according to study drug, for example, sertindole versus Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical olanzapine. All participants receiving at least one drug dose and completing at least one SAHA HDAC cell line cognitive test were included in the intention-to-treat analysis (LOCF). Due to a very low inclusion number in the study, only descriptive analyses with mean scores were conducted. The Mann–Whitney Parvulin U test was employed. To reduce the risk of type II errors, a correction was applied to the standard p < 0.05 significance criterion. The Bonferroni correction was judged to be too conservative in an explorative study with respect to the risk of type I errors. We selected p < 0.01 as a reasonable significance criterion. The study was approved by the Danish Medicines Agency, Data Protection Agency and the Regional Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics of North Jutland.

In this context, we can estimate the number of patients applicabl

In this context, we can estimate the number of patients applicable for exon skipping therapy from the Leiden database (http://www.dmd.nl) (16). It is estimated that around 70% of patients with deletions can be treated by check details single exon skipping, rising to 90% if multi-exon skipping can be achieved (Table

​(Table1).1). Multi-exon skipping has been demonstrated in vivo in mdx mice (25) and dystrophic dogs (Yokota et al., unpublished observation). Interestingly, deletion of exons 45-55 is associated with a milder phenotype than other smaller in-frame deletions within the exon 45-55 range Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (Table ​(Table2)2) (26). Therefore, multi-exon skipping targeting exon 45-55 may well ameliorate the clinical phenotype of patients with in-frame deletions within this region, whether DMD or BMD. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical In this context, the population of patients for whom exon skipping therapy is appropriate is probably larger than formally estimated. Even when patients would be theoretically treatable by single exon skipping, multi-exon skipping may well

be a better option if the resulting truncated protein is more functional. This “multi-exon skipping” strategy is likely to be attractive to pharmaceutical companies since the oligo cocktail can be regarded as “a single drug”, requiring only a single toxicology study. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical And, as suggested recently by Beroud et al., multi-exon skipping of exon 45-55 could rescue up to 63% of DMD patients (3). In addition, exon skipping for duplication was recently demonstrated in human cells (27), and around 80% of DMD cases with duplication mutations are also potentially treatable (25). A recent report by Kesari et al. using MLPA analysis, indicates that the population of BMD with duplication mutations

is higher than previously expected, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical suggesting that in-frame duplications often yield partially functional dystrophin protein, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and, therefore, that many out-of-frame duplications may be amenable to the exon skipping approach by targeting only a part of the duplicated region (Kesari et al., unpublished observations). Similarly, a considerable number of patients with splice site mutations could also be treated with AOs. For example, a dog model of DMD, Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy (GRMD) or Canine X-linked Muscular Dystrophy (CXMD) harbors a mutation in intron 6, which leads to the loss of exon 7 from Thymidine kinase mRNA. We have recently shown that a cocktail of morpholinos targeting exon 6 and exon 8 can restore reading frame and dystrophin expression body-wide after systemic injections (Yokota et al., unpublished observations). Exon skipping therapy could also be applicable for many other types of mutation such as small deletions/insertions, missense mutations, and more complicated rearrangements, although extent of functional recovery after exon skipping might vary among targeted exons since some in-frame mutations lead to DMD rather than BMD, in contravention to the reading frame rule (discussed below). Table 1 Single exon skipping vs.

The lack of significant toxicology effects in a second model may

The lack of significant toxicology effects in a second model may provide a higher level of comfort that EXPAREL does not pose a significant health risk especially after single dose administration. These studies however draw attention to the potential complications which may occur whenever bupivacaine in any form is used. 5. Conclusion Taken together, the data demonstrate that rabbits are more susceptible to bupivacaine toxicity than dogs. EXPAREL was well tolerated Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in dogs during twice weekly administration for a total of 8 doses over the course of the study (cumulative NOAEL dose = 240mg/kg). In this species, there

was no indication of local or systemic complications over the course of the study. In contrast, a NOAEL was not identified in rabbits. Acknowledgment The primary author Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is a consultant for Pacira Pharmaceuticals,

Inc. Abbreviations Bsol: Bupivacaine HCl solution CNS: Central nervous system CV: Cardiovascular DEPC: Dierucoylphosphatidylcholine EXPAREL (DB): Bupivacaine extended-release liposome injection using multivesicular DepoFoam technology GCs: Multinucleated giant cells HEM: Hemorrhage iv: Intravenous Macs: Macrophages MPF: Methyl Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical paraben free NOAEL: No-observable adverse effect level NV: Neovascularisation PK: Pharmacokinetics sc: Subcutaneous(ly) SD: Standard deviation VMs: Vacuolated (foamy) macrophages.
Nitric oxide (NO) is a free-radical gas and one of the smallest endogenous molecules with the ability to function as a chemical messenger, particularly in cells of the vascular endothelium and immune and neural systems. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical NO plays a critical role in regulating a diverse range of physiological processes, including cellular differentiation Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and apoptosis [1–10]. Medical and scientific interest in NO has grown exponentially since 1992, when it was nominated “Molecule of

the Year.” Its documented physiological impacts are ever-expanding [11]. Until 1987, NO was known solely as a dangerous atmospheric pollutant generated by industrial processes and automotive engines and as a potential carcinogen [12, 13]. However, by the end of 1987, the discovery of NO synthesis in mammalian cells revealed that this molecule exerts physiological effects, until many of which still have not been completely characterized [8, 13]. This discovery led to a rapid increase in research focused on NO [14–22]. NO is now known as one of the most important mediators of intra- and extracellular processes and is a major target of the pharmaceutical industry [12]. Endogenous NO is produced enzymatically by three distinct nitric oxide synthases via L-arginine conversion. The NO generated by each enzyme differs considerably in its pattern of expression and regulation, likely reflecting site-specific functions [13, 23]. These functions selleck chemicals result in both beneficial and detrimental outcomes [12].

57, beta= 75, t=6 58, P< 001) Reliability The re-test reliabilit

57, beta=.75, t=6.58, P<.001). Reliability The re-test reliability of the Y-BOCS (r=.82, P<.001), OCI-R (r=.84, P<.001) and BDI-SF (r=.84, P<.001) were satisfactory (retest reliability was determined with scores

from the waitlist only). The two scales correlated significantly at the first point in time (r=.56, P<.001). Subjective appraisal Table II provides data on the patients' subjective appraisal regarding the myMCT The vast majority found the manual useful and adequate for self-administration; 85% of the patients found the myMCT superior to other self-help programs. Approximately two Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical out of three patients reported a symptom decline due to the myMCT However, half of the patients stated that they did not find the time to study the manual intensively. 25.9% performed exercises over a timespan Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of at least 14 days, whereby only two patients (7.4%) performed the exercises every day. The largest group (55.5%) performed the exercises for 7 to 14 days. The rest (18.5%) spend less than seven Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical days performing the exercises. Table II Subjective appraisal of the myMCT (n=27). Patients were also asked why they had not regularly performed the exercises. Lack of time (n=6) and that contents were partly known (n=5) were noted most frequently. 77% of the sample claimed that they

would continue to use the myMCT Discussion The present trial asserts that myMCT is a feasible and effective self-help approach to treat patients with OCD. Medium to strong effect sizes in favor of myMCT were obtained for the Y-BOCS and OCI-R total scores. A fine-grained analysis showed that the decline was especially owing Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to a decrement on the Y-BOCS obsessions and the OCI-R obsessing

subscales. Depression also Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical declined significantly for those who read the e-book. Benefits for compulsions were small and nonsignificant (d=.20). Since the initial release we expanded the myMCT manual with a chapter on exposure which will likely positively impact on compulsions. Rolziracetam In retrospect, two thirds of the patients reported a symptom decline due to myMCT and the manual was deemed useful and comprehensive. The overwhelming majority (85%) found the myMCT more useful than other selfhelp books. While these findings are encouraging, they clearly fall behind the response rates obtained in formal clinician-administered psychotherapeutic PS-341 cost studies,5,6 which mirrors prior results on self- versus therapistdirected exposure and response prevention.34 Patients in the myMCT group who refrained from reading the manual had fewer symptoms and possibly less leidensdruck.46 Before turning to possible implications, some limitations need to be acknowledged.

Patients from the familial group did not differ from controls Th

Patients from the familial group did not differ from controls. This study confirms the work of McNeil et al100 showing that, decreased hippocampal volume in schizophrenia is in part, a consequence of early environmental damage and points toward one causal mechanism, ie, severe OCs lead to hypoxia, which causes left, hippocampal

(and other cerebral) damage. This work contrasts with other studies that found that the unaffected relatives of people with schizophrenia have decreased hippocampal volume.101-103 It may be that the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical discrepancy lies in whether or not it was just the hippocampus or the hippocampal-amygdal complex that was measured. Other early environmental effects A slight, increase in risk for schizophrenia exists among Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical individuals born in late winter/early

spring.104,105 These results point towards an etiological agent acting during gestation, birth, or early TSA HDAC childhood rather than around the time of onset. While some studies suggested this seasonal effect could be secondary to exposure to influenza in the uterus during winter ,45,106,107 other research failed to find such a link.108 Intrauterine Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical rubella infection has also been put forward as a potential risk factor for schizophrenia:40,109 Buka et al110 studied blood samples of mothers of 27 cases with psychosis and 54 matched controls as part of the Providence Collaborative Perinatal Project. Maternal blood samples collected during pregnancies in the early sixties were retrieved and analyzed for evidence of perinatal pathogens capable of affecting brain development. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The offspring of mothers who had elevated levels of IgG and IgM immunoglobulins and antibodies to herpes simplex type 2 during pregnancy were at increased risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses in adulthood. Other potential early hazards described are maternal malnutrition,111 maternal

diabetes mellitus,112 and maternal stress.“113,114 Finally, Rantakallio et al115 and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Westergaard et al108 demonstrated that the window of opportunity for risk-increasing insults is wider than was previously thought, as those exposed to childhood viral central nervous system (CNS) infections were five times more likely to develop schizophrenia than those not exposed. There is also some evidence that brain injury in and childhood may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia.116 What the simple neurodevelopmental model fails to explain Why does damage occurring in early life cause symptoms only decades later? Brain maturation is a prolonged process that continues until well after adolescence, so one possible explanation for the late onset of symptoms is that lesions could lie silent until maturation affects the neuronal circuits that were deviant, but normally not fonctional, in chilhood.

56 In patients responding to 3 months of drug treatment, but show

56 In patients responding to 3 months of drug treatment, but showing residual symptoms of OCD, a greater improvement of OCD symptoms after addition of behavior therapy for 6 months versus continuation of drug treatment alone was shown, and significantly more patients achieved remission.57 However, no control condition for behavior therapy was used. Also, a switch to CBT Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical should be considered. In a waitlist-controlled open trial, patients with a history of an inadequate response to multiple serotonin

reuptake medications in adequate doses were treated with 15 sessions of outpatient CBT, incorporating exposure and ritual prevention.58 OCD symptoms decreased significantly and gains Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical were maintained over 6 months. Further studies with more elaborate designs are needed. Although a meta-analysis of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for OCD59 found highest effect

sizes for combined treatment, no clear advantage for the combination of serotonergic antidepressants and CBT was detected in the individual controlled trials published so far.60 MK-2206 chemical structure augmentation with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical or switch to other drugs Numerous further drugs have been studied for augmentation or in monotherapy for the treatment of OCD, but so far, none of these approaches described below has reached sufficient empirical evidence to become recommended in treatment guidelines.24 However, some of these drugs seem promising for further study and may be attempted in OCD patients, who were refractory to treatments with superior current evidence. Glutamatergic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical agents are among the most exciting

new candidates in the treatment of OCD.14,15 In an open-label augmentation trial with memantine, an N-methyl-Daspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor antagonist, a meaningful improvement of symptoms was seen in nearly half of the patients, who had failed to respond to treatment with an SSRI for at least 3 months.61 Case reports of refractory OCD patients successfully treated with an augmentation of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical memantine were published previously62,63 Interestingly, adjunctive glycine (an NMDA glutamate receptor agonist) was also tested in a small double-blind placebo-controlled trial and approached efficacy for treatment of OCD symptoms.64 For the glutamate-modulating agent riluzole, which was added to existing psychopharmacotherapy in treatment-resistant OCD patients, significant antiobsessional see more effects were observed in an open-label trial.65 Also, amantadine (another NMDA antagonist) could be a useful drug for the treatment of OCD according to preclinical findings,66 but human studies are so far missing. Augmentation with topiramate, among other actions an oc-amino-3-hydroxyl5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionate (AMPA) glutamate receptor antagonist, in treatment-resistant OCD patients may be beneficial.

We showed no alteration in their melatonin secretion (plasma leve

We showed no alteration in their melatonin secretion (plasma level or circadian profiles) which strongly suggests that ELF-EMF do not have cumulative effects on melatonin secretion in humans, and thus clearly rebuts the melatonin hypothesis that

a decrease in blood melatonin concentration (or a disruption in its secretory pattern) explains the occurrence of clinical disorders or cancers possibly related to ELF-EMF.125 Table IIIa. Magnetic field reports on a melatonin secretion decrease Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in humans. Mel, melatonin; aMT6s, 6 sulfatoxymelatonin; M, male; F: female; MF, magnetic field; NG, not given Table IIIb. Magnetic field reports on the lack of effect on melatonin secretion in humans. Mel, melatonin; Pl, plasma; Ser, serum; Sal, saliva; aMT6s, 6 sulfatoxymelatonin; M, male; F, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical female; BMI, body mass index; MF, magnetic field; RF, radio frequency; NG, not … ELF-EMF effects on cortisol and corticosterone In contrast to the number of studies on the effects of ELF-EMF on melatonin secretion, few data are available in the literature on the pituitary adrenal axis. The hormones under

study (corticosterone for rats, cortisol for other mammals), exposure characteristics (short- and long-term), and timing and duration of exposure Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (1 to 6 months) in different animal species are detailed in Table IV. Table IV. Effects of EMF on cortisol or corticosterone secretion in different animal species. Pl, plasma; Se, serum; NG, not given While the majority of papers failed to find any effect,131-137 others have

reported either an increase in the hormonal concentrations138-144 or a decreased concentration.145 The results of these studies are thus Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical inconsistent and contradictory. Comparison between studies revealed that the discrepancy in the results might be due in part to the difference in the animal species used (rabbit, ewe lambs, cows, rats, or mice), class of age, and duration and intensity of exposure. Another Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical factor that should be taken into account is that glucorticoids (ie, cortisol or corticosterone) levels are sensitive to many stressors that might affect hormone levels. It is well known that handling or bleeding animals increase corticosterone, a stress marker, and it is thus important those to ensure that any external confounding stressor has to be controlled. Overall, these data suggest that no consistent effects have been seen in the stress-related hormones of the pituitary-adrenal axis in a variety of CHIR-99021 research buy mammalian species. Data on ELF-EMF effects on cortisol in humans are scarce. We have found 7 papers on the matter (Table V).109,124,146-149 All of these papers report only on short exposure of adult volunteers to ELF-EMF, and all failed to find any effect. Table V. Magnetic field reports on cortisol secretion in humans. Ser, serum; Pl, plasma; M, male; F, female; MF, magnetic field Conclusion We are all exposed to electric and magnetic fields of weak intensity.

4 3 Multi-Dimensional MS-Based Shotgun Lipidomics The multi-dime

4.3. Multi-Dimensional MS-Based Shotgun Lipidomics The multi-dimensional MS (MDMS)-based shotgun lipidomics platform maximally exploits the unique chemistries inherent in distinct lipid classes to identify and quantify individual lipid species after direct infusion [4,10,48]. For example, MDMS-based

shotgun lipidomics utilizes a multiplexed extraction approach that exploits differential hydrophobicity or differential chemical stability under acidic or basic conditions to separate and/or enrich differential lipid classes by liquid/liquid partitioning or by multiplexed chemistries [10]. MDMS-based shotgun lipidomics also exploits the differential charge Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical properties to achieve selective ionization of differential Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical lipid classes under multiplexed infusion conditions that allow intrasource separation of lipids in different classes or categories [49]. In addition, MDMS-based shotgun lipidomics exploits the uniqueness of individual lipid classes to identify and quantify lipids in specific lipid

classes. Examples include quantification Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of cardiolipins through use of the unique doubly-charged molecular ions resulting from the presence of two phosphate EGFR signaling pathway moieties present in cardiolipin resulting in M + 0.5 isotopologue patterns [50]; identification and quantification of phosphoethanolamine-containing lipid species Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical by the specific derivatization of primary amine with fluorenylmethoxylcarbonyl (Fmoc) chloride [51]. MDMS-based shotgun lipidomics utilizes the principle of building block analysis for identification of individual lipid species by employing two powerful MS/MS techniques Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (i.e., PIS and NLS)

in a mass-ramp fashion [10]. Specifically, PIS or NLS of the fragment ion(s) resulting from the head group or the neutral loss of the head group building block identifies the lipid class of interest, and PIS or NLS of fatty acyl building blocks identifies the individual first lipid species in the class. The class-specific diagnostic ions are also exploited for lipid quantification. In contrast to the other two shotgun lipidomics platforms, MDMS-based shotgun lipidomics quantifies the identified individual lipid species using a two-step procedure that incorporates not only exogenously added, pre-selected internal standards, but also endogenous lipid species that are quantifiable accurately in a full MS survey scan. Specifically, in the first step, the platform employs a full MS scan acquired after intrasource separation and the pre-selected internal standard of the class of interest for quantification of lipid species that are abundant and not overlapped with lipid species from other classes.

Moreover, participants’ ability to generate reports of patient hi

Moreover, participants’ ability to generate reports of patient history and clinical data in an average of 42.9 and 54.8 seconds, respectively, represents an even more dramatic improvement over existing records systems. Staff members indicated that generating a comprehensive report of the clinical activities over the course of a Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical month or more using the existing paper registers could take up to 15 hours. Interestingly, although the average time needed to locate the appointment using DataPall was very similar in absolute terms between trained and untrained users, the difference in distribution between the two groups is statistically

significant at the p<0.01 level, indicating that training played a marginal but negative role on performance. We attribute this unexpected Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical result to the increased caution with which trained users approached the task; their increased knowledge of the program caused them to take additional precautions while using it. The mean SUS of 77.5 lies significantly above the widely accepted threshold of 70 for

a passable product [21]. Moreover, there was not a statistically significant difference between the ratings of trained and untrained users, indicating that training and/or experience with the system has little or no impact on usability assessments. The SUS did present some unique challenges for some Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical participants. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical While all participants spoke English, their native language, Chichewa, lacks grammatical qualifiers which limits the cultural relevancy of a Likert scale. Some participants questioned the difference between “agree” and “strongly agree” (and vice versa for disagree). However, the consistency of survey responses Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical indicates that the confusion did not significantly GW3965 cell line affect the results of the SUS. The absence of integration of palliative care with existing

health care systems in the majority of sub-Saharan African countries impels palliative care facilities to seek funding independently from donors and granters. However, lack of reliable quantitative statistics documenting the care provided severely curtails the competitiveness of such applications. Moreover, the difficulty associated with maintaining Bay 11-7085 comprehensive records of care given by palliative care providers underlies the difficulty in developing an evidence base of clinical data for palliative care in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, extant paper records tend to be cumbersome to back-up. DataPall addresses these issues by allowing providers to track the care that they provide for patients and providing a straightforward way to back-up patient data to a computer and to a flash drive. The comprehensive reports generated about the activities of a unit can also assist researchers as they seek to build a stronger evidence base for palliative care in the region.