Vision outcomes in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Background: Previous studies demonstrated that children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are more likely to have vision impairments. However, existing human clinical and epidemiological investigations are few and include limited sample sizes. This study aimed to explore the association between ophthalmologic abnormalities and FASD in a sample of 5-7 year old children in the general population.

Electrowetting-Induced Coalescence of Sessile Droplets in Viscous Medium.

Manipulating the coalescence of microdroplets has recently gained enormous attention in digital microfluidics and biological and chemical industries. Here, coalescence between two sessile droplets is induced by spreading them due to electrowetting. The electrocoalescence dynamics is investigated for a wide range of operating parameters such as electrowetting number, Ohnesorge number, driving frequency, and drop to surrounding medium viscosity ratio.

The increasing incidence of stage IV cervical cancer in the USA: what factors are related?

Objective: Cervical cancer (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)) stage IVA-B (distant stage) is a rare diagnosis with an approximate 5 year survival rate of 17% and with limited treatment options. The objective of this study was to determine the trends in distant stage cervical cancer in the USA and identify possible factors related to these trends.

Methods: Data were obtained from the United States Cancer Statistics program from 2001 to 2018.

The Role of Diet Compared to Physical Activity on Women's Cancer Mortality: Results From the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Among women in the United States, cancer is the second leading cause of death. Prior studies have examined how lifestyle factors, such as diet and physical activity, influence cancer mortality. However, few have evaluated if diet or physical activity has a stronger protective effect for cancer mortality.

Comparison of depressive symptoms and inflammation between sexual minorities and heterosexuals using NHANES study of 8538 participants.

The present study aims to compare the rate of depressive symptoms and inflammation levels between sexual minorities and heterosexuals. Data were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2005 to 2010. Depressive-related symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scoring system.

Increasing incidence of uterine carcinosarcoma: A United States Cancer Statistics study.

•The incidence of uterine carcinosarcoma increased over the past 17 years.•Black women in the South ages 70-74 had the highest incidence.•Uterine carcinosarcoma increased annually by 2.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run.

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection.

Connecting Data to Value: An Operating Model for Healthcare Advanced Analytics.

Artificial intelligence offers the promise to revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered in the future. To capitalize on the value of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, organizations must focus on building organizational capabilities. This report shares an operating model for insight and change in healthcare comprising six key components: analytics technology and operations, data governance, change and automation, advanced analytics and insights, analytics literacy and strategy and relationship management.

Connecting Data to Insight: A Pan-Canadian Study on AI in Healthcare.

Across Canada, healthcare leaders are exploring the potential of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to transform the healthcare system. This report shares a summary of the current state of healthcare analytics across major hospitals and public healthcare agencies in Canada. We present information on the current level of investment, data governance maturity, analytics talent and tools and models being leveraged across the nation.

Outstanding micro-endemism in New Caledonia: More than one out of ten animal species have a very restricted distribution range.

New Caledonia is a biodiversity hotspot, with an extremely high number of endemic species with narrow distribution ranges that are at high risk of extinction due to open-cast nickel mining, invasive species and seasonal man-induced fires. Mentions of micro-endemism permeate the literature on the biota of this archipelago. However, so far there has been no research comparing distribution range in different animal groups.

Updating the Phylogenetic Dating of New Caledonian Biodiversity with a Meta-analysis of the Available Evidence.

For a long time, New Caledonia was considered a continental island, a fragment of Gondwana harbouring old clades that originated by vicariance and so were thought to be locally ancient. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies dating diversification and geological data indicating important events of submergence during the Paleocene and Eocene (until 37 Ma) brought evidence to dismiss this old hypothesis. In spite of this, some authors still insist on the idea of a local permanence of a Gondwanan biota, justifying this assumption through a complex scenario of survival by hopping to and from nearby and now-vanished islands.

Evaluation of a nanotechnology-based approach to induce gene-expression in human THP-1 macrophages under inflammatory conditions.

Macrophages orchestrate the initiation and resolution of inflammation by producing pro- and anti-inflammatory products. An imbalance in these mediators may originate from a deficient or excessive immune response. Therefore, macrophages are valid therapeutic targets to restore homeostasis under inflammatory conditions.

IT Downtime – A Cultural Shift.

With the mounting evidence of benefits and incentives to digitize clinical information, healthcare organizations are increasingly reliant on information technology (IT) to deliver services. This reliance warrants organizational awareness and preparedness for IT downtimes such that in times of system outages, staff can continue to perform their work. At University Health Network (UHN), the responsibility of IT downtime preparedness does not lie solely with IT: the combination of organizational preparedness, incident management and a standardized recovery model has enabled UHN to handle major IT downtimes.

Catalogue of Dictyoptera from Syria and neighbouring countries (Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan).

This study is a catalogue of Dictyoptera (Mantodea, Isoptera and Blattaria) from five Eastern Mediterranean countries (Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan). There are 75 species of Dictyoptera known to occur in these countries. These species belong to 15 families (eight of Mantodea, four of Isoptera and three of Blattaria).

Changes in actin dynamics and F-actin structure both in synaptoneurosomes of LRRK2(R1441G) mutant mice and in primary human fibroblasts of LRRK2(G2019S) mutation carriers.

Converging evidence suggests that the Parkinson's disease-linked leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) modulates cellular function by regulating actin dynamics. In the present study we investigate the role of LRRK2 in functional synaptic terminals of adult LRRK2-knockout and LRRK2(R1441G)-transgenic mice as well as in primary fibroblasts of LRRK2(G2019S) mutation carriers. We show that lack of LRRK2 decreases and overexpression of mutant LRRK2 age-dependently increases the effect of the actin depolymerizing agent Latrunculin A (LatA) on the synaptic cytoskeleton.

Changes in matrix metalloprotease activity and progranulin levels may contribute to the pathophysiological function of mutant leucine-rich repeat kinase 2.

Increasing evidence suggests that Parkinson's disease (PD)-linked Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) has a role in peripheral and brain-resident immune cells. Furthermore, dysregulation of the anti-inflammatory, neurotrophic protein progranulin (PGRN) has been demonstrated in several chronic neurodegenerative diseases. Here we show that PGRN levels are significantly reduced in conditioned medium of LRRK2(R1441G) mutant mouse fibroblasts, leukocytes, and microglia, whereas levels of proinflammatory factors, like interleukin-1β and keratinocyte-derived chemokine, were significantly increased.

Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 functionally interacts with microtubules and kinase-dependently modulates cell migration.

Recent studies indicate that the Parkinson's disease-linked leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) modulates cytoskeletal functions by regulating actin and tubulin dynamics, thereby affecting neurite outgrowth. By interactome analysis we demonstrate that the binding of LRRK2 to tubulins is significantly enhanced by pharmacological LRRK2 inhibition in cells. Co-incubation of LRRK2 with microtubules increased the LRRK2 GTPase activity in a cell-free assay.

Real-time operational feedback: daily discharge rate as a novel hospital efficiency metric.

Background: Part of delivering quality care means providing it in a timely, efficient manner. Improving the efficiency of care requires measurement. The selection of appropriate indicators that are valid and responsive is crucial to focus improvement initiatives.

Smoothing inpatient discharges decreases emergency department congestion: a system dynamics simulation model.

Background: Timely access to emergency patient care is an important quality and efficiency issue. Reduced discharges of inpatients at weekends are a reality to many hospitals and may reduce hospital efficiency and contribute to emergency department (ED) congestion.

Objective: To evaluate the daily number of ED beds occupied by inpatients after evenly distributing inpatient discharges over the course of the week using a computer simulation model.

Understanding hospital and emergency department congestion: an examination of inpatient admission trends and bed resources.

Objective: Patients in the emergency department (ED) who have been admitted to hospital (inpatient "boarders") are associated with ED overcrowding. They are also a symptom of a hospital-wide imbalance between demand and supply of resources. We analyzed the trends of inpatient admissions, ED boarding volumes, lengths of stay and bed resources of 3 major admitting services at our teaching institution.

How much do operational processes affect hospital inpatient discharge rates?

Background: The objective of this study is to determine the effect of day of the week, holiday, team admission and rotation schedules, individual attending physicians and their length of coverage on daily team discharge rates.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the General Internal Medicine (GIM) inpatient service at our institution for years 2005 and 2006, which included 5088 patients under GIM care.

Results: Weekend discharge rate was more than 50% lower compared with reference rates whereas Friday rates were 24% higher.

Electronic inpatient whiteboards: improving multidisciplinary communication and coordination of care.

Objectives: Effective and timely communication of information is essential for quality patient care. Information and communication technology tools have the potential to transform and enable health care processes to be more accurate, timely, and integrated. This study describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an electronic whiteboard in a General Internal Medicine (GIM) inpatient unit of an acute care hospital.

Predictors of protocol adherence in a pediatric asthma clinical trial.

Background: Declining protocol adherence can threaten the validity of a clinical trial.

Objective: We sought to explore patient and family factors important for protocol adherence in the 133 patients followed at one of the 8 Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) clinical centers. Difficulties with timely return of diary cards (diary card problem), with keeping or frequently rescheduling appointments (appointment problem), and with commitment to all aspects of the trial (commitment problem) were tracked prospectively during the treatment phase of CAMP, which ranged from 20 to 40 months at the time of the analysis.