Publications by authors named "BEST L"

Objective: Hyponatremia after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is common, however the incidence, and association with vasospasm, morbidity, and mortality, has yet to be defined. We aimed to identify incidence of hyponatremia after aSAH, and quantify its association with measurable outcomes.

Methods: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted (PROSPERO ID CRD42022363472).

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Mason bees, subgenus Osmia Panzer (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), are economically and ecologically significant pollinators. In eastern North America, the rapid spread of 2 non-native species from Asia, Osmia cornifrons Radoszkowski and Osmia taurus Smith, has coincided with declines in native Osmia populations, raising concern about the effects of further exotic arrivals. Here we investigate the recent establishment in British Columbia, Canada of the European orchard bee, Osmia cornuta Latreille, previously thought to be limited to Europe and its periphery.

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REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterised by dream-enacting behaviour with loss of muscle atonia during REM sleep and is a prodromal feature of α-synucleinopathies like Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. Although cortical-to-subcortical connectivity is well-studied in RBD, cerebellar and subcortical nuclei reciprocal connectivity is less established. Nonetheless, it could be relevant since RBD pathology involves brainstem structures with an ascending gradient.

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Objective: Lifestyle is an important determinant of health. The intervention allows mental health clinicians to address lifestyle during routine mental health encounters.

Method: Clinicians were taught how to encourage consumers to learn more about lifestyle and health; consider their own lifestyle and health using a self-rated health and wellness questionnaire (HAWQ) and helped them decide which out of six health domains (physical, mental and social activity, healthy eating, mental wellbeing and positive thinking) should be improved in small, sustainable steps using a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed) goal-setting template.

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Background: American Indian populations have experienced marked disparities in respiratory disease burden. Extracellular vesicle-encapsulated microRNAs (EV-miRNAs) are a novel class of biomarkers that may improve recognition of lung damage in indigenous populations in the United States.

Research Question: Are plasma EV-miRNAs viable biomarkers of respiratory health in American Indian populations?

Study Design And Methods: The Strong Heart Study is a prospective cohort study that enrolled American Indian patients aged 45 to 74 years.

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Article Synopsis
  • Selenium is a crucial nutrient that can have negative health effects at both low and high levels, prompting research into how it affects DNA methylation and related diseases in a specific population (American Indians).
  • In a study involving 1,357 participants, researchers measured urinary selenium levels and conducted DNA methylation analysis, identifying five key CpG sites significantly associated with these levels.
  • The results showed only minor changes in DNA methylation linked to urinary selenium, indicating that its health impacts might involve mechanisms beyond just DNA methylation alterations.
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Although previous research has linked disordered eating to physical activity involvement, more recent studies suggest that sports participation may be protective against disordered eating; however, due to inconsistent findings on how physical activity affects disordered eating and limited research comparing types of physical activity across weight control behaviours, our aim was to validate physical activity categorization across disordered eating components in both men and women. In this online study, 209 men and 539 women completed questionnaires assessing various components of disordered eating and overall physical activity participation. Pearson correlation coefficients, independent samples t-tests, multiple response crosstabulations, and linear regressions were calculated to achieve the aims of this study.

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  • AI communities experience uranium exposure from abandoned mines and contaminated water, but dietary impacts are under-researched.
  • The study assessed urinary uranium levels among American Indians from different regions, finding geographical variations and specific dietary factors influencing uranium levels in urine.
  • Results showed higher uranium levels were linked to organ meat and cereals, particularly in North Dakota and South Dakota, while some foods like fries and chips were associated with lower levels; dietary factors accounted for just 1.71% of variability in urinary uranium.
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Beckwith-Wiedemann spectrum (BWSp) is caused by genetic and epigenetic alterations on chromosome 11 that regulate cell growth and division. Considering the diverse phenotypic landscape in BWSp, the characterization of the CDKN1C molecular subtype remains relatively limited. Here, we investigate the role of CDKN1C in the broader BWSp phenotype.

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Background: Although COVID-19 infection has been associated with a number of clinical and environmental risk factors, host genetic variation has also been associated with the incidence and morbidity of infection. The CRP gene codes for a critical component of the innate immune system and CRP variants have been reported associated with infectious disease and vaccination outcomes. We investigated possible associations between COVID-19 outcome and a limited number of candidate gene variants including rs1205.

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Although DNA methylation data yields highly accurate age predictors, little is known about the dynamics of this quintessential epigenomic biomarker during lifespan. To narrow the gap, we investigate the methylation trajectories of male mouse colon at five different time points of aging. Our study indicates the existence of sudden hypermethylation events at specific stages of life.

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Objective: To investigate hypothalamic atrophy and its clinical correlates in multiple system atrophy (MSA) in-vivo.

Background: MSA is characterized by autonomic dysfunction and parkinsonian/cerebellar manifestations. The hypothalamus regulates autonomic and homeostatic functions and is also involved in memory and learning processes.

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Background And Objectives: Ghana's older adult population is growing rapidly and is projected to double by 2050. It is well-documented that social, health, and housing factors influence segmented aging trajectories that lead to disparate rates of disability. However, little is known about how the intersection of place (i.

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Background: Chronic arsenic exposure has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease; diabetes; cancers of the lung, pancreas and prostate; and all-cause mortality in American Indian communities in the Strong Heart Study.

Objective: The Strong Heart Water Study (SHWS) designed and evaluated a multilevel, community-led arsenic mitigation program to reduce arsenic exposure among private well users in partnership with Northern Great Plains American Indian Nations.

Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the SHWS arsenic mitigation program over a 2-y period on ) urinary arsenic, and ) reported use of arsenic-safe water for drinking and cooking.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease with the major symptoms comprising loss of movement coordination (motor dysfunction) and non-motor dysfunction, including gastrointestinal symptoms. Alterations in the gut microbiota composition have been reported in PD patients vs. controls.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic kidney disease significantly impacts global health, particularly among individuals of African ancestry and those in the Americas, who are often excluded from genetic studies.
  • A comprehensive meta-analysis involving over 145,000 individuals from these groups led to the discovery of 41 significant genetic loci associated with kidney function, two of which hadn't been previously identified across any ancestry group.
  • The study emphasizes the importance of diverse populations in genetic research for better understanding kidney disease and suggests that multi-ancestry polygenic scores can improve predictive capabilities and clinical applications.
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Background: Identifying lipidomic markers of diet quality is needed to inform the development of biomarkers of diet, and to understand the mechanisms driving the diet- coronary heart disease (CHD) association.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify lipidomic markers of diet quality and examine whether these lipids are associated with incident CHD.

Methods: Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we measured 1542 lipid species from 1694 American Indian adults (aged 18-75 years, 62% female) in the Strong Heart Family Study.

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  • Inorganic arsenic exposure may heighten the risk of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality by contributing to accelerated aging, which can be gauged through specific DNA methylation measures.
  • The study, conducted with American Indian adults, assessed three epigenetic aging measures (PhenoAge, GrimAge, DunedinPACE) to see how they mediated the effects of arsenic on cardiovascular health outcomes.
  • Findings revealed that higher urinary arsenic levels correlated with older biological ages in GrimAge and faster aging in DunedinPACE, indicating a significant link between arsenic exposure, accelerated aging, and increased cardiovascular risks.
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Objectives: To examine the associations of dietary Mg intake with inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6)), and the interaction of dietary Mg intake with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs3740393, a SNP related to Mg metabolism and transport, on CRP and IL-6 among American Indians (AIs).

Methods: This cross-sectional study included AI participants (n = 1,924) from the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS). Mg intake from foods and dietary supplements was ascertained using a 119-item Block food frequency questionnaire, CRP and IL-6 were measured from blood, and SNP rs3740393 was genotyped using MetaboChip.

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Individuals who identify as a sexual minority, including those who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), face barriers to healthcare as well as increased discrimination, stigmatization, and negative experiences during healthcare use. Further, few healthcare providers have education and training focused on the specific healthcare needs of individuals who are part of a sexual minority group. Given the limited research on Canadian healthcare access for sexual minorities, our purpose was to use data ( > 2,800) from the 2015-16 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) to investigate the perceptions of healthcare access for LGB and non-LGB Canadians.

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The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess whether treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in patients who have undergone bariatric surgery reduces gallstone formation. A systematic literature search was performed using electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science, PROSPERO, Google Scholar and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry platform). RCTs without restrictions on study language, year, status of publication and patient's age were used.

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The impact of cancer extends beyond treatment and evaluating the adverse psychological effects in survivors is important. We examined: (1) the relationship between diagnosis, relapse, and subjective well-being using a short and a holistic measure of well-being, including comparisons between our sample and established norms; (2) if reported physical symptoms were related to components of subjective well-being; and (3) if increased psychological flexibility predicted overall subjective well-being. In total, 316 survivors completed online questionnaires to assess cancer, physical health (Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale-R; ESAS-R), subjective well-being (Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving; CIT; Satisfaction with Life Scale; SWLS) and psychological flexibility (Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy).

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The proper communication of clinically actionable findings to participants of genetic research entails important ethical considerations, but has been challenging for a variety of reasons. We document an instance of the return of individual genetic results in the context of a very rural American Indian community, in hopes of providing insight to other investigators about potentially superior or inferior courses of action. This was a case/control study of asthma among 324 pediatric participants.

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Background: Fine particulate matter (PM) exposure is a known risk factor for numerous adverse health outcomes, with varying estimates of component-specific effects. Populations with compromised health conditions such as diabetes can be more sensitive to the health impacts of air pollution exposure. Recent trends in PM in primarily American Indian- (AI-) populated areas examined in previous work declined more gradually compared to the declines observed in the rest of the US.

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