Association between maternal schizophrenia and risk of serious asthma exacerbations in childhood.

Background And Hypothesis: While maternal schizophrenia is linked to chronic childhood medical conditions, little is known about the risk of acute asthma exacerbations among children whose mothers have schizophrenia. This population-based study used health data for all of Ontario, Canada to evaluate whether having a mother with schizophrenia was associated with increased risk of asthma exacerbations.

Study Design: The study cohort included 385,989 children diagnosed with asthma from age 2 years onward, followed from the time of their asthma diagnosis up to a maximum of age 19 years.

Challenges in institutional ethical review process and approval for international multicenter clinical studies in lower and middle-income countries: the case of PARITY study.

Background: One of the greatest challenges to conducting multicenter research studies in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is the heterogeneity in regulatory processes across sites. Previous studies have reported variations in requirements with a lack of standardization in the Institutional Review Board (IRB) processes between centers, imposing barriers for approval, participation, and development of multicenter research.

Objectives: To describe the regulatory process, variability and challenges faced by pediatric researchers in LMICs during the IRB process of an international multicenter observational point prevalence study (Global PARITY).

A self-efficacy enhancement alcohol reduction intervention for men on-remand in prison: the APPRAISE feasibility pilot RCT.

Background: As many as 70% of remand prisoners have admitted to being under the influence of alcohol when committing the crime leading to their imprisonment. Providing support and advice regarding alcohol consumption can be effective in some groups of people. There is little evidence regarding this for men on remand in prison.

Assessing Receptor Activation in 2D and 3D Cultured Hepatocytes: Responses to a Single Compound and a Complex Mixture.

Responding to global standards and legislative updates in Canada, including Bill S-5 (2023), toxicity testing is shifting towards more ethical, methods. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell cultures, limited in replicating the complex environment, have prompted the development of more relevant three-dimensional (3D) spheroidal hepatocyte cultures. This study introduces the first 3D spheroid model for McA-RH7777 cells, assessing xenobiotic receptor activation, cellular signaling, and toxicity against dexamethasone and naphthenic acid (NA)-fraction components; NAFCs.

WNT5A is a putative epi-driver of prostate cancer metastasis to the bone.

Background: Current diagnostic tools are unable to distinguish low-grade indolent prostate cancer (PrCa) from that with a propensity to become metastatic and/or lethal. Recent evidence suggests that reprogramming of the transcriptome may drive the metastatic phenotype, and that this reprogramming is controlled, at least in part, by epigenetic changes to the DNA of cancer cells, including methylation. These changes, referred to as 'epigenetic drivers,' have previously been associated with cancer cell survival.