Publications by authors named "Ames M"

Purpose: Autistic youth are at heightened risk of mental health issues and face several barriers to accessing appropriate supports. A lack of available services is a common barrier that many autistic youth experience, with only 43% of autistic youth from the US who needed mental health services receiving them. Little is known about the availability of these mental health services in Canada, despite the high prevalence of mental health issues in autistic youth.

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Introduction: Adolescence represents a critical developmental period, with changes in emotional regulation capacities influencing physical and mental health. With less than 6% of Canadian youth currently meeting the 24-hour movement guidelines for physical activity, sleep and sedentary behaviour, there is an urgent need to understand the potential association between movement behaviours, physical literacy, emotional regulation and mental health during adolescence. Additionally, there is a need to better understand these associations among equity-deserving groups.

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Despite growing evidence linking lifestyle changes to disease reversal, lifestyle medicine (LM) is not widely practiced. Lack of clinician training and knowledge is cited as a barrier to LM adoption. This study measures changes in LM knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and practice behaviors following completion of a 5.

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Background: Furosemide, a commonly used diuretic, activates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in other species. Little is known about RAAS peptide activation in horses.

Hypothesis/objectives: To evaluate equilibrium analysis as a practical method for RAAS quantification in horses and describe the RAAS response to a single dose of furosemide.

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Background: Effects of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors enalapril and telmisartan on circulating RAAS in dogs with proteinuric chronic kidney disease (pCKD) are undescribed.

Objectives: To characterize the RAAS in untreated dogs with pCKD compared to healthy, life-stage- and sex-matched controls, and in dogs with pCKD after 30 days of treatment with enalapril or telmisartan.

Animals: Dogs with pCKD (n = 36) and healthy controls (n = 20).

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A negative association between physical activity and depressive symptoms is consistently reported within scientific literature and physical self-concept has been suggested to mediate this pathway. However, for whom these associations are strongest remains poorly understood, and little is known about how other psychosocial factors might be implicated. Consequently, we examined how various exercise motivations, specifically appearance, physical health, and mental health, might moderate the indirect effect of physical activity on depressive symptoms through physical self-concept.

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Chylopericardium is a rare entity in veterinary medicine. In this report we document the development of chylopericardium in two dogs undergoing chronic hemodialysis. An 11-year-old female spayed Labrador retriever (Case 1) presented with acute coughing and lethargy 2 months following initial dialysis catheter placement and initiation of dialysis therapy for severe azotemia.

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Inbred-hybrid breeding of diploid potatoes necessitates breeding lines that are self-compatible. One way of incorporating self-compatibility into incompatible cultivated potato () germplasm is to introduce the inhibitor gene (), which functions as a dominant inhibitor of gametophytic self-incompatibility. To learn more about diversity and function in wild species relatives of cultivated potato, we obtained gene sequences that extended from the 5'UTR to the 3'UTR from 133 individuals from 22 wild species relatives of potato and eight diverse cultivated potato clones.

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Introduction: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) recommending palonosetron for the prevention and management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) were adapted for use at our institution. Palonosetron was restricted for use in patients experiencing breakthrough CINV and receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) or undergoing stem cell transplant conditioning and in patients with refractory CINV receiving HEC. Given the significant cost of palonosetron, we aimed to determine the proportion of chemotherapy blocks where palonosetron use was discordant with the institutional policy or source CPG.

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This article describes an infant who developed a facial rash within minutes of eating certain foods. The rash resolved within 30 minutes. The patient was diagnosed with auriculotemporal syndrome or Frey syndrome, which is characterized by sweating or flushing in the preauricular area when the patient consumes certain foods, especially those that are acidic, sour, or spicy.

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Background: Lifestyle medicine (LM) is the use of therapeutic lifestyle changes (including a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern; regular physical activity; restorative sleep; stress management; avoidance of risky substances; and positive social connection) to prevent and treat chronic illness. Despite growing evidence, LM is still not widely implemented in health care settings. Potential challenges to LM implementation include lack of clinician training, staffing concerns, and misalignment of LM services with fee-for-service reimbursement, but the full range of factors facilitating or obstructing its implementation and long-term success are not yet understood.

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Endoxifen, a secondary tamoxifen metabolite, is a potent antiestrogen exhibiting estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) binding at nanomolar concentrations. Phase I/II clinical trials identified clinical activity of Z-endoxifen (ENDX), in endocrine-refractory metastatic breast cancer as well as ERα+ solid tumors, raising the possibility that ENDX may have a second, ERα-independent, mechanism of action. An unbiased mass spectrometry approach revealed that ENDX concentrations achieved clinically with direct ENDX administration (5 µM), but not low concentrations observed during tamoxifen treatment (<0.

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Background: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a disruptive behavioral disorder; however, increasing evidence emphasizes irritable mood as a primary symptom of ODD.

Objectives: This study investigated whether heterogeneous groups (classes) of individuals can be differentiated based on ODD sub-dimensions (irritability and defiance) or on overall ODD symptoms longitudinally. We also examine associations between ODD trajectory class and comorbid substance use (heavy episodic drinking, cannabis use), mental health (depression and anxiety) and behavioral symptoms (ADHD, aggression and substance use) in both adolescence and young adulthood (controlling for adolescent levels of each of these concerns).

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Public health measures (e.g., minimizing social interactions, social distancing, and mask wearing) have been implemented in Canada to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

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The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) consists of bioactive angiotensin peptides, enzymatic pathways, receptors, and the steroid hormone aldosterone. The RAAS regulates blood pressure, sodium, and electrolyte homeostasis and mediates pathologic disease processes. Within this system is an alternative arm that counterbalances the vasoconstrictive, sodium and water retentive, and pro-fibrotic and inflammatory effects of the classical arm.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tamoxifen (TAM) is used to treat estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, and its active metabolite, endoxifen (ENDX), is crucial for its effectiveness.* -
  • A new, validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed to accurately measure ENDX and its metabolites in patient plasma samples.* -
  • The method demonstrated high precision, accuracy, and recovery rates, making it suitable for use in clinical studies, including evaluating the effects of Z-ENDX treatment.*
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Background: The behavior of the comprehensive circulating renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) before to the onset of congestive heart failure remains largely unexplored.

Hypothesis/objectives: The classical and alternative RAS activity and aldosterone concentrations will be significantly higher in dogs with American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) stage B2 MMVD compared to normal dogs and dogs with ACVIM stage B1 MMVD.

Animals: One-hundred seventeen client-owned dogs (normal = 60; B1 = 31; B2 = 26).

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Autistic youth are at heightened risk for mental health issues, and pandemic-related stressors may exacerbate this risk. This study (1) described caregiver-reported youth mental health prior to and during the pandemic; and (2) explored individual, caregiver, and environmental factors associated with changes in autistic characteristics, social-emotional symptoms, and overall mental health. 582 caregivers of autistic children (2-18 years old) completed an online survey between June and July 2020 in which they provided demographic information, their child's pre-COVID and current mental health, autistic characteristics, and social-emotional symptoms.

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Endoxifen (ENDX) is an active metabolite of tamoxifen (TAM), a drug commonly used for the treatment of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer and metabolized by CYP2D6. Genetic or drug-induced reductions in CYP2D6 activity decrease plasma ENDX concentrations and TAM efficacy. It was proposed that direct oral administration of ENDX would circumvent the issues related to metabolic activation of TAM by CYP2D6 and increase patient response.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigated the effect of aldosterone breakthrough (ABT) on proteinuria reduction in dogs with chronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing treatment with renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors.
  • - Out of 56 dogs with CKD, 36% showed a significant reduction in proteinuria, while ABT was observed in 34% to 59% of dogs, depending on the criteria used, but it did not correlate with the proteinuria outcomes.
  • - The results suggest that while ABT is common among dogs treated with RAS inhibitors for CKD, it does not impact the effectiveness of proteinuria reduction; longer treatment duration was linked to better results.
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Although physical activity declined with social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, youth who engaged in more physical activity experienced fewer mental health problems. If and how physical activity maintained its protective role throughout the ongoing pandemic remains unclear. This study models associations between three types of physical activity (indoor, outdoor, with parents), affect regulation, and anxious and depressive symptoms in two independent adolescent samples (T1: Summer 2020; T2: Winter 2020/21).

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Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) leads to low serum concentrations of vitamin D metabolites. Thus, hypovitaminosis D associated with CKD might contribute to disease progression via increased concentration of renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) mediators.

Objectives: To evaluate whether supplementation with calcifediol affects equilibrium concentrations of selected mediators of the RAAS.

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To compare the prevalence and trajectories of risky health behaviors in sexual minority (SM; lesbian/gay/bisexual/questioning/asexual) versus heterosexual undergraduates across their first year of post-secondary. First-year undergraduates ( 704, =17.97 years, 24% SM) from a midsized Canadian university.

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