Publications by authors named "David Foster"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) in older adults (≥ 65 years) utilizing Medicare claims data from 2014-2016.
  • Around 6.3% of the participants were found to be on LTOT, with significant links to age (especially over 85), having multiple health conditions, and substance use history.
  • Other factors influencing LTOT included the type of initial opioid prescribed (like long-acting opioids) and the length of the initial prescription, with longer supplies greatly increasing the likelihood of continuing opioid use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Spontaneous neural activity sequences are generated by the brain in the absence of external input , yet how they are produced remains unknown. During immobility, hippocampal replay sequences depict spatial paths related to the animal's past experience or predicted future . By recording from large ensembles of hippocampal place cells in combination with optogenetic manipulation of cortical input in freely behaving rats, we show here that the selection of hippocampal replay is governed by a novel self-avoidance principle.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to create a complex PK-PD model to understand how methotrexate polyglutamates in red blood cells affect disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Researchers used data from 117 RA patients to fit the model and performed simulations comparing two dosing regimens of methotrexate.
  • Results showed that a loading dose regimen significantly increased drug concentration and improved patient responses compared to standard dosing after 4 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sequenced reactivations of hippocampal neurons called replays, concomitant with sharp-wave ripples in the local field potential, are critical for the consolidation of episodic memory, but whether replays depend on the brain's reward or novelty signals is unknown. Here we combined chemogenetic silencing of dopamine neurons in ventral tegmental area (VTA) and simultaneous electrophysiological recordings in dorsal hippocampal CA1, in freely behaving male rats experiencing changes to reward magnitude and environmental novelty. Surprisingly, VTA silencing did not prevent ripple increases where reward was increased, but caused dramatic, aberrant ripple increases where reward was unchanged.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

While forest management commonly seeks to increase carbon (C) capture and sequestration, in some settings, a high density of C storage may be detrimental to other land uses and ecosystem services. We study a forested, drinking-water-supply watershed to determine the effects of forest management on C storage with the implicit understanding that greater storage of C will lead to increased quantity of carbon exported hydrologically into a source-water reservoir. Using a custom implementation of CBM-CFS3, a Canadian model to simulate C transformations and movement in forested systems, and a custom forest disturbance and management model, we simulate various management scenarios and their C outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The colours of surfaces in a scene may not appear constant with a change in the colour of the illumination. Yet even when colour constancy fails, human observers can usually discriminate changes in lighting from changes in surface reflecting properties. This operational ability has been attributed to the constancy of perceived colour relations between surfaces under illuminant changes, in turn based on approximately invariant spatial ratios of cone photoreceptor excitations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Inherited color vision deficiency affects red-green discrimination in about one in twelve men from European populations. Its effects have been studied mainly in primitive foraging but also in detecting blushing and breaking camouflage. Yet there is no obvious relationship between these specific tasks and vision in the real world.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Maxillary nerve blocks (MNBs) commonly facilitate dental surgeries in standing horses. The goal of this prospective, blinded, cross-over design trial including 15 client-owned horses was to evaluate 3 methods of sensory function testing for confirming a successful MNB. Testing was performed bilaterally before sedation, 5 min after sedation, and 15 and 30 min after MNB with 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Realistic images often contain complex variations in color, which can make economical descriptions difficult. Yet human observers can readily reduce the number of colors in paintings to a small proportion they judge as relevant. These relevant colors provide a way to simplify images by effectively quantizing them.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

mTORC1, the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1, is a key regulator of cellular physiology. The lipid metabolite phosphatidic acid (PA) binds to and activates mTORC1 in response to nutrients and growth factors. We review structural findings and propose a model for PA activation of mTORC1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic inflammatory condition mainly affecting genital skin. It causes distressing symptoms that impact daily quality of life (QoL). It causes progressive anatomical changes and a potential risk of cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The COVID-19 pandemic required collaboration to address vaccine hesitancy in populations of color. A large not-for-profit health system collaborated with a philanthropic organization and a technology company, using principles of community-based participatory research, to develop an outreach program aimed at increasing access to COVID-19 vaccines in two geographically distinct locations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Vulvodynia, vulvar pain of unknown origin lasting at least 3 months, affects 7% of American women. Dyspareunia, its frequent companion, renders sexual intercourse virtually impossible. Although few therapies are efficacious and rapid pain relief is rarely possible, there have been no sham/placebo-controlled studies of acupuncture for vulvodynia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Metabolic reprogramming is now considered a hallmark of cancer cells. KRas-driven cancer cells use glutaminolysis to generate the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate α-ketoglutarate via a transamination reaction between glutamate and oxaloacetate. We reported previously that exogenously supplied unsaturated fatty acids could be used to synthesize phosphatidic acid-a lipid second messenger that activates both mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Decades of rodent research have established the role of hippocampal sharp wave ripples (SPW-Rs) in consolidating and guiding experience. More recently, intracranial recordings in humans have suggested their role in episodic and semantic memory. Yet, common standards for recording, detection, and reporting do not exist.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Red-green color discrimination is compromised in anomalous trichromacy, the most common inherited color vision deficiency. This computational analysis tested whether three commercial optical filters with medium-to-long-wavelength stop bands increased information about colored surfaces. The surfaces were sampled from 50 hyperspectral images of outdoor scenes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Safety measurement in healthcare has largely focused on professionals, with few studies exploring patients' views on safety.
  • The King's Patient Safety Measure (KPSM) was developed and validated through a survey of 158 patients, which produced a reliable 13-item questionnaire.
  • The KPSM is effective for assessing patient safety perceptions and may serve as an early warning tool for identifying safety issues across diverse patient populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Vulvodynia is vulvar pain lasting at least 3-months without clear identifiable cause that may have other associated factors. The aim, to explore motivations of women participating in a double-blind randomized controlled trial of acupuncture for vulvodynia. Responses to the question: "" were analyzed using conceptual content analysis to identify patterns in motivation for study participation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Reallocations of time between daily activities such as sleep, sedentary behavior and physical activity are differentially associated with markers of physical, mental and social health. An individual's most desirable allocation of time may differ depending on which outcomes they value most, with these outcomes potentially competing with each other for reallocations. We aimed to develop an interactive app that translates how self-selected time reallocations are associated with multiple health measures.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is linked to higher rates of depression and anxiety, which can worsen RA outcomes, but the specific effects of each mental health condition on RA are not fully understood.* -
  • This study aimed to examine how comorbid depression and anxiety affect remission in RA patients, as well as how antidepressant use impacts RA treatment results.* -
  • Findings showed that depression significantly hampers remission and subjective patient outcomes in RA, while antidepressant treatment did not improve these outcomes, and anxiety alone did not significantly affect remission.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: To investigate and characterise the pharmacokinetics of febuxostat and the effect of the covariates of renal function and body size descriptors on the pharmacokinetics of the drug.

Methods: Blood samples (n = 239) were collected using sparse and rich sampling strategies from healthy (n = 9) and gouty (n = 29) subjects. Febuxostat plasma concentrations were measured by a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paleoenvironmental database features postglacial lake-sediment records from 31 study sites located across New England. The study sites span an environmental gradient from the cooler, northern and inland part of the region to the warmer, southern and coastal areas of New England. Sediment-core chronologies were determined using C dating, Pb analysis, and pollen evidence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a pharmacist-managed protocol for transitioning critically ill patients from intravenous (IV) to subcutaneous insulin.

Methods: This single-center, retrospective, observational study included patients admitted to the medical or surgical/trauma intensive care unit who received a continuous infusion of IV insulin from January 2019 to April 2021. Patients were excluded if they were less than 18 years old, pregnant, or incarcerated or received IV insulin for the diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state, calcium channel blocker or β-blocker overdose, or hypertriglyceridemia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF