Characteristics of supervised injection site clients and factors associated with requiring overdose intervention, Montreal, Canada, 2018-2022.

Background: Supervised injection sites (SIS) offer a hygienic environment in which people can inject drugs under observation; as such, these harm reduction services have been on the forefront of the overdose epidemic. We sought to understand factors predictive of an overdose requiring an emergency response intervention at SIS in Montréal, Canada.

Methods: We used administrative data from all four Montréal SIS from 1 March 2018 - 31 October 2022 to first calculate the rate of onsite overdose requiring intervention (e.

An implemented predictive coding model of lexico-semantic processing explains the dynamics of univariate and multivariate activity within the left ventromedial temporal lobe during reading comprehension.

During language comprehension, the larger neural response to unexpected versus expected inputs is often taken as evidence for predictive coding-a specific computational architecture and optimization algorithm proposed to approximate probabilistic inference in the brain. However, other predictive processing frameworks can also account for this effect, leaving the unique claims of predictive coding untested. In this study, we used MEG to examine both univariate and multivariate neural activity in response to expected and unexpected inputs during word-by-word reading comprehension.

Assessment of primary patency for femoropopliteal graft entrapment within the sartorius muscle.

Purpose: Blind tunneling of subfascial femoropopliteal bypass grafts may result in inadvertent graft passage through the sartorius. The purpose of this study was to determine whether intramuscular passage of femoropopliteal bypass grafts affects primary patency.

Methods: Patients undergoing femoropopliteal bypass at a Veterans Administration hospital and associated university medical center over a recent 13-year period who also had postoperative cross-sectional imaging adequate to determine graft location were examined.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers for Hypertension and Risk of Epilepsy.

Importance: Animal and human studies have suggested that the use of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) may be associated with a lower risk of incident epilepsy compared with other antihypertensive medications. However, observational data from the US are lacking.

Objective: To evaluate the association between ARB use and epilepsy incidence in subgroups of US patients with hypertension.

A predictive coding model of the N400.

The N400 event-related component has been widely used to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying real-time language comprehension. However, despite decades of research, there is still no unifying theory that can explain both its temporal dynamics and functional properties. In this work, we show that predictive coding - a biologically plausible algorithm for approximating Bayesian inference - offers a promising framework for characterizing the N400.

Artificial Intelligence to Predict Quality-of-Life Outcomes for Vascular Intervention of the Leg.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) tools created to enhance decision-making may have a significant impact on treatment algorithms for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). A Markov-based AI model was developed to predict optimal therapy based on maximization of calculated quality of life (cQoL), a patient-centered system of assessment designed to report outcomes directly linked to health-related quality of life.

Study Design: The AI model was prospectively interrogated immediately after individual interventions for PAD over a 12-year period to test predictive performance.

Health-care resource use among patients who use illicit opioids in England, 2010-20: A descriptive matched cohort study.

Background And Aims: People who use illicit opioids have higher mortality and morbidity than the general population. Limited quantitative research has investigated how this population engages with health-care, particularly regarding planned and primary care. We aimed to measure health-care use among patients with a history of illicit opioid use in England across five settings: general practice (GP), hospital outpatient care, emergency departments, emergency hospital admissions and elective hospital admissions.

Thiamine utilization and the lack of prescribing standardization: A critical examination.

Objectives: Thiamine is often prescribed for thiamine deficiency during hospitalization despite the lack of US-based clinical guidelines. This study aims to evaluate thiamine prescribing patterns and key characteristics associated with the deficiency to address gaps in care.

Methods: Data were obtained from electronic health records of hospitalized patients between September 1, 2021, and March 30, 2022.

The association between polypharmacy and health-related quality of life among non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients.

Background And Objective: The United States government spends over $85 billion annually on treating non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients with CKD are prescribed a multitude of medications to manage numerous comorbidities associated with CKD. Thus, this study aims to investigate the association between polypharmacy and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in non-dialysis CKD patients.

Effect of incarceration and opioid agonist treatment transitions on risk of hospitalisation with injection drug use-associated bacterial infections: A self-controlled case series in New South Wales, Australia.

Background: Transitional times in opioid use, such as release from prison and discontinuation of opioid agonist treatment (OAT), are associated with health harms due to changing drug consumption practices and limited access to health and social supports. Using a self-controlled (within-person) study design, we aimed to understand if these transitions increase risks of injection drug use-associated bacterial infections.

Methods: We performed a self-controlled case series among a cohort of people with opioid use disorder (who had all previously accessed OAT) in New South Wales, Australia, 2001-2018.

Dissociating the pre-activation of word meaning and form during sentence comprehension: Evidence from EEG representational similarity analysis.

During language comprehension, the processing of each incoming word is facilitated in proportion to its predictability. Here, we asked whether anticipated upcoming linguistic information is actually pre-activated before new bottom-up input becomes available, and if so, whether this pre-activation is limited to the level of semantic features, or whether extends to representations of individual word-forms (orthography/phonology). We carried out Representational Similarity Analysis on EEG data while participants read highly constraining sentences.

Multiple predictions during language comprehension: Friends, foes, or indifferent companions?

To comprehend language, we continually use prior context to pre-activate expected upcoming information, resulting in facilitated processing of incoming words that confirm these predictions. But what are the consequences of disconfirming prior predictions? To address this question, most previous studies have examined unpredictable words appearing in contexts that constrain strongly for a single continuation. However, during natural language processing, it is far more common to encounter contexts that constrain for multiple potential continuations, each with some probability.

Guidance on take-home naloxone distribution and use by community overdose responders in Canada.

Background: The increasing toxicity of opioids in the unregulated drug market has led to escalating numbers of overdoses in Canada and worldwide; takehome naloxone (THN) is an evidence-based intervention that distributes kits containing naloxone to people in the community who may witness an overdose. The purpose of this guidance is to provide policy recommendations for territorial, provincial and federal THN programs, using evidence from scientific and grey literature and community evidence that reflects 11 years of THN distribution in Canada.

Methods: The Naloxone Guidance Development Group - a multidisciplinary team including people with lived and living experience and expertise of drug use - used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument to inform development of this guidance.

Opioid Injection-Associated Bacterial Infections in England, 2002-2021: A Time Series Analysis of Seasonal Variation and the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Background: Bacterial infections cause substantial pain and disability among people who inject drugs. We described time trends in hospital admissions for injecting-related infections in England.

Methods: We analyzed hospital admissions in England between January 2002 and December 2021.