This pilot study aims explore the health literacy and medication adherence found among African Americans and Latinos with hypertension receiving care at Hamilton Health Center in Harrisburg PA. We also aim to determine the feasibility of the iPad or smartphone as a tool for accessing health related information among African American and Latino patients with hypertension receiving care at clinics at Hamilton Health Center in Harrisburg PA. The expected outcomes of this project are to obtain a better understand of the literacy levels and adherence behaviors of African Americans and Latinos in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The findings from this study will provide valuable insights into the health management behaviors of this community and determine if there is a need to develop a mobile health application for the management of hypertension.

We will investigate the effects of the hormone angiotensin-(1-7) on energy expenditure in patients with obesity.

This is an outpatient study that requires a screening visit, and if eligible, one study visit in the Clinical Research Center within the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The screening visit will take about one hour and includes a brief physical examination and medical history, urine pregnancy test if female and of childbearing potential, measurement of heart rhythm, collection of blood samples, and measurements of body composition. If eligible based on the results of the screening visit, participants will be invited to participate in one study visit that will take about four hours. Participants will complete food recall and activity questionnaires prior to the study visit and asked not to change eating or physical activity patterns. A urine pregnancy test will be given for females of childbearing potential. Participants will lie down on a bed and a catheter (small plastic tube) will be placed in a vein in each arm to draw blood samples and to give study medications. Equipment will then be placed to measure heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and the amount of oxygen in the blood. After placing this equipment, participants will be allowed to rest for at least 20 minutes. Resting energy expenditure will then be measured by asking participants to breathe through a canopy placed over their head that is connected to a metabolic cart for 45 minutes. Blood samples will be taken to measure hormones influencing resting energy expenditure. Participants will then receive either angiotensin-(1-7) or normal saline (salt water) through the catheter in the arm for up to two hours. Angiotensin-(1-7) is a substance that the body produces naturally; however, in this form, it is considered experimental, which means the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it for this use. Participants will receive either angiotensin-(1-7) or normal saline. The treatment will be randomly assigned meaning that it is determined purely by chance, and neither the participant nor study investigators will know which treatment is received. Blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, and oxygen in the blood will be measured continuously while giving angiotensin-(1-7) or normal saline. During the last 45 minutes of the treatment, resting energy expenditure will be measured again and additional blood samples taken. Participants will also have the option of allowing for a small piece of fat to be taken from under the skin in the abdominal region (fat tissue biopsy). Participants will then be allowed to recover for at least 20 minutes and then all equipment will be removed. After the study visit, a nurse will contact participants to check on general well-being and answer any questions.

$25 per hour; additional $75 for fat tissue biopsy

This study will help us learn more about how type 1 diabetes occurs and provides monitoring to individuals at risk. In addition, the study will help us identify people who may be eligible for prevention trials. The study is divided into two parts: Screening and Monitoring. During screening, participants with a 1st degree relative who has type 1 diabetes will be tested for diabetes-related autoantibodies in the blood. Autoantibodies are proteins that are made by the body’s immune system. If autoantibodies are present, it could mean that cells in the pancreas which produce insulin are damaged. Certain kinds of autoantibodies can be found in the blood years before type 1 diabetes occurs. If the screening blood tests show that a participant has the autoantibodies, they will be asked to have an Eligibility visit to determine if you can participate in the Monitoring part of the study.

screened for Type 1 diabetes antibodies

To find out the kind of support someone newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes will need following diagnosis.

Only 50% of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) recover insulin secretion function after 3 months of initial diagnosis, and this phase is called partial remission (PR) of T1D, also called "Honeymoon phase". During this PR phase of T1D, patients recover the ability to secrete more than 50% of their insulin secretion function. This phase of PR typically lasts no longer than 6 or up to12 months, and has been frequently defined as requiring exogenous insulin below 0.5 units per kilogram per day, and hemoglobin A1C is typically below 7.5%. Most recently the use of a coefficient called IDAA1C ≤ 9 has became more accepted as the methodology to determine the development of partial clinical remission of T1D (honeymoon phase). Prior data published by the SEARCH study (national epidemiological study) showed that youth with prolonged honeymoon phase had higher intake of omega -3 fatty acids, vitamin D intake and leucine intake than those youth without prolonged honeymoon phase of T1D. Currently, there are not approved medications to prolong this phase of partial remission of type 1 diabetes, however inducing PR in youth with T1D could potentially decrease the risk of multi-organ damage caused by chronic severe hyperglycemia associated to the chronic hyperglycemia related to T1D.We aim to perform a case- multiple control study between youth with prolonged partial remission phase of T1D after one year of diagnosis, and compare these youths with multiple controls matched by age, gender, race, and puberty stage to study the potential protective factors associated to the development of prolonged partial remission of T1D.

Participants will be approached at their routine Pediatric diabetes clinic appointment. If participants agrees to be in the research, informed consent/assent will be reviewed and signed by all parties. Participant's parent/guardian will be asked to complete a questionnaire. The participant's glucose machine/insulin pump will be downloaded for study purposes. Participant will undergo a fingerstick and a blood draw to collect specific lab values as outlined in the consent.

$35.00

This study seeks to explore the perception and experiences of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients about how their interaction with their provider at diagnosis led to their uptake of diabetes education.

The primary objective of this study is to examine, via online focus groups, the perceptions that are held by potentially-eligible subjects in the PSH DPP program in regard to the importance of physical exercise, particularly within the context of diet, social connectivity, and stress reduction. These perspectives will then be used to help develop, test, and refine additional motivational text messages that can be used in a text messaging intervention. Participants will receive a $25.00 gift card.

Hormones are molecules that deliver signals throughout the body. They influence behavior, sleep, hunger, stress, and virtually all other aspects of life. This study seeks to better understand several of these functions, specifically how hormones affect specific aspects of human behavior and psychology, as well as speech production. Following an initial lab visit, subjects will participate in the remainder of the study (~5 weeks) at home via the internet. On a daily basis, they will collect urine samples for hormone analysis, saliva samples for analysis of oral micro-organisms, and will submit voice samples for analysis of speech (e.g. measuring voice pitch and loudness). They will then complete an online survey designed to collect information about their behavior, and attitudes over the previous 24 hours. Subjects receive compensation for their participation.

- Pre-sampling lab visit to sign a consent form and receive training- A series of ~42 daily at-home sample (urine, saliva) collection & online surveys- Weekly lab visits for sample dropoff- The expected amount of time for participating in the study is 12 hours and 30 minutes in total (~5 to 6 weeks).

$212