Canadian colorectal cancer screening programs: How do they measure up using the International Agency for Research on Cancer criteria for organized screening?

Background: Canada has one of the highest incidences of colorectal cancer (CRC) worldwide. CRC screening improves CRC outcomes and is cost-effective. This study compares Canadian CRC screening programs using essential elements of an organized screening program outlined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Investigating adaptive sport participation for adults aged 50 years or older with spinal cord injury or disease: A descriptive cross-sectional survey.

Context: Spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) can lead to health challenges that are exacerbated with aging. Adaptive sport is understood to provide health benefits for the SCI/D population. Prior literature investigating adaptive sport in this population pertains to adults with SCI/D who are <50 years of age.

Lead levels of new solvent-based household paints in Zimbabwe and Botswana: A preliminary study.

Background: Lead paint remains a major potential source of lead poisoning globally, but there has been no documentation on lead content in solvent paints available on the markets in Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Aim: To determine the lead content of solvent-based paints available on the market in Zimbabwe and Botswana and identify a need for a larger study to inform policy.

Methods: This pilot study was conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe, and Gaborone, Botswana.

Evaluation of thermal infrared imaging from uninhabited aerial vehicles for arboreal wildlife surveillance.

An important component of wildlife management and conservation is monitoring the health and population size of wildlife species. Monitoring the population size of an animal group can inform researchers of habitat use, potential changes in habitat and resulting behavioral adaptations, individual health, and the effectiveness of conservation efforts. Arboreal monkeys are difficult to monitor as their habitat is often poorly accessible and most monkey species have some degree of camouflage, making them hard to observe in and below the tree canopy.

Macronutrient content of donor milk from a regional human milk bank: variation with donor mother-infant characteristics.

Better understanding of the variation in macronutrient content of human donor milk (HDM) potentiates targeted nutrition for preterm babies. The present study describes the relationship of maternal age, parity, monthly lactation stage estimate (LSEm), daily volume of milk expressed (Vd), sex, gestation and birth weight z scores with macronutrient content of HDM. Multilevel mother-infant pair ID random intercept models were performed using the predictor variables above on the outcome HDM macronutrient content determined using mid-IR spectroscopy.

The direction after-effect is a global motion phenomenon.

Prior experience influences visual perception. For example, extended viewing of a moving stimulus results in the misperception of a subsequent stimulus's motion direction-the direction after-effect (DAE). There has been an ongoing debate regarding the locus of the neural mechanisms underlying the DAE.

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalopathy: a clinicopathological mimic of Crohn's disease.

Background: Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalopathy (MNGIE), due to mutations in TYMP, often presents with gastrointestinal symptoms. Two sisters, initially managed for Crohn's disease based upon clinical, imaging and pathological findings, were later found to have MNGIE. The cases provide novel clinicopathological insight, for two further reasons: both sisters remain ambulant and in employment in their late 20s and 30s; diagnosis in one sister was made after a suspected azathioprine-precipitated acute illness.

Marketing messages accompanying online selling of low/er and regular strength wine and beer products in the UK: a content analysis.

Background: Increased availability of low/er strength alcohol products has the potential to reduce alcohol consumption if they are marketed as substitutes for higher strength products rather than as additional products. The current study compares the main marketing messages conveyed by retailers and producers for low/er and regular strength wine and beer products.

Methods: A content analysis of the marketing messages stated (in text) or depicted (in image) for low/er and regular strength wines and beers sold online on the websites of the four main UK retailers (Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's, and Morrisons), and the producers of these products between February-March 2016.

Linking the psychosocial aetiology and neurobiology of unipolar depression.

Psychosocial factors are an important contributor to the aetiology of unipolar depression. This paper reviews the evidence for the contribution of different psychosocial factors, and provides an overview of the proposed neurobiological mechanisms underlying the link between psychosocial factors and depression. Implicated psychosocial factors fall into three interrelated groups: life events, socioeconomic status, and social support.

Inhibition of Poxvirus Gene Expression and Genome Replication by Bisbenzimide Derivatives.

Virus infection of humans and livestock can be devastating for individuals and populations, sometimes resulting in large economic and societal impact. Prevention of virus disease by vaccination or antiviral agents is difficult to achieve. A notable exception was the eradication of human smallpox by vaccination over 30 years ago.

Infection with Possible Novel Parapoxvirus in Horse, Finland, 2013.

A horse in Finland exhibited generalized granulomatous inflammation and severe proliferative dermatitis. After euthanization, we detected poxvirus DNA from a skin lesion sample. The virus sequence grouped with parapoxviruses, closely resembling a novel poxvirus detected in humans in the United States after horse contact.

Host-pathogen dynamics of squirrelpox virus infection in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris).

To improve our understanding of squirrelpox virus (SQPV) infection in the susceptible host, three red squirrels were challenged with wild-type SQPV via scarification of the hind-limb skin. All squirrels seroconverted to the infection by the end of the experiment (17 days post-challenge). Challenged animals suffered disease characterised by the development of multiple skin and oral lesions with rapid progression of skin lesions at the infection site by day 10 post-challenge.

Screening for diabetes in patients receiving second-generation atypical antipsychotics.

Purpose: Results of a study to assess adherence with a consensus statement for diabetes screening in patients receiving atypical antipsychotics and to evaluate the role of pharmacists in a patient-centered medical home in improving guideline adherence are presented.

Summary: For patients prescribed atypical antipsychotics, records were reviewed for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) testing within the past 12 months. If no HbA1c results were found within that time frame, physicians were sent an alert in the patient's electronic medical record requesting an HbA1c order.

Effects of pharmacy resident led education on resident physician prescribing habits associated with stress ulcer prophylaxis in non-intensive care unit patients.

Objective: Overutilization of stress ulcer prophylaxis in both critically and noncritically ill patients poses significant health risks and increases healthcare costs. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of education for appropriate stress ulcer prophylaxis prescribing by Family Medicine Resident Physicians.

Methods: The study evaluated the SUP prescribing and continuation or discontinuation of acid suppressive therapy upon discharge.

Effect of bacteriophage infection in combination with tobramycin on the emergence of resistance in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.

Bacteriophage infection and antibiotics used individually to reduce biofilm mass often result in the emergence of significant levels of phage and antibiotic resistant cells. In contrast, combination therapy in Escherichia coli biofilms employing T4 phage and tobramycin resulted in greater than 99% and 39% reduction in antibiotic and phage resistant cells, respectively. In P.

Urban Vegetation Cover and Vegetation Change in Accra, Ghana: Connection to Housing Quality.

The objectives are to (1) quantify, map, and analyze vegetation cover distributions and changes across Accra, Ghana, for 2002 and 2010; and (2) examine the statistical relationship between vegetation cover and a housing quality index (HQI) for 2000 at the neighborhood level. Pixel-level vegetation cover maps derived using threshold classification of 2002 and 2010 QuickBird normalized difference vegetation index images have very high overall accuracies and yield an estimate of 5.9 percent vegetation cover reduction over the study area between 2002 and 2010.

Health, Poverty, and Place in Accra, Ghana: Mapping Neighborhoods.

The overall objective of our research project is to understand the spatial inequality in health in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. We also utilize GIS technology to measure the association of adverse health and mortality outcomes with neighborhood ecology. We approached this in variety of ways, including multivariate analysis of imagery classification and census data.

Characterization of a novel poxvirus in a North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).

In 2009, a novel poxvirus was identified in a North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) from Yukon, Canada. Initial molecular analyses indicated that this virus was likely to be distinct from all other known mammalian poxviruses, including those previously associated with disease in tree squirrels--squirrel fibroma virus in North America and squirrelpox virus in the UK (UK SQPV). We characterize the Canadian squirrelpox virus (Canadian SQPV) using DNA sequence analysis and negative-contrast transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Connecting the Dots Between Health, Poverty and Place in Accra, Ghana.

West Africa has a rapidly growing population, an increasing fraction of which lives in urban informal settlements characterized by inadequate infrastructure and relatively high health risks. Little is known, however, about the spatial or health characteristics of cities in this region or about the spatial inequalities in health within them. In this article we show how we have been creating a data-rich field laboratory in Accra, Ghana, to connect the dots between health, poverty, and place in a large city in West Africa.

Assessing the Utility of Satellite Imagery with Differing Spatial Resolutions for Deriving Proxy Measures of Slum Presence in Accra, Ghana.

Little research has been conducted on how differing spatial resolutions or classification techniques affect image-driven identification and categorization of slum neighborhoods in developing nations. This study assesses the correlation between satellite-derived land cover and census-derived socioeconomic variables in Accra, Ghana to determine whether the relationship between these variables is altered with a change in spatial resolution or scale. ASTER and Landsat TM satellite images are each used to classify land cover using spectral mixture analysis (SMA), and land cover proportions are summarized across Enumeration Areas in Accra and compared to socioeconomic data for the same areas.

The effect of input data transformations on object-based image analysis.

The effect of using spectral transform images as input data on segmentation quality and its potential effect on products generated by object-based image analysis are explored in the context of land cover classification in Accra, Ghana. Five image data transformations are compared to untransformed spectral bands in terms of their effect on segmentation quality and final product accuracy. The relationship between segmentation quality and product accuracy is also briefly explored.