The association between alcohol retail access and health care visits attributable to alcohol for individuals with and without a history of alcohol-related health-care use.

Background And Aims: Alcohol retail access is associated with alcohol use and related harms. This study measured whether this association differs for people with and without heavy and disordered patterns of alcohol use.

Design: The study used a repeated cross-sectional analysis of health administrative databases.

Geographic clustering of cannabis stores in Canadian cities: A spatial analysis of the legal cannabis market 4 years post-legalisation.

Introduction: Following the legalisation of non-medical cannabis in 2018, the number of cannabis stores in Canada has rapidly expanded with limited regulation on their geographic placement. This study characterised the clustering of cannabis stores in Canadian cities and evaluated the association of clustering with provincial policy and sociodemographic variables.

Methods: Cross-sectional spatial analysis of cannabis store density in dissemination areas ('neighbourhoods', n = 39,226) in Canadian cities in September 2022.

Outcomes in Clinical Subgroups of Patients With Alcohol-Related Hospitalizations.

Importance: Alcohol-related hospitalizations are common and associated with significant cost to the health care system. We have a limited understanding of the characteristics of individuals who experience alcohol-related hospitalizations, which limits our capacity to prioritize those at the highest risk of postdischarge harm.

Objective: To identify and characterize the clinical subgroups of individuals who are hospitalized for alcohol-related harms.

Characterizing the clinical subgroups of individuals who present to the emergency department for alcohol-related harms in Ontario, Canada: A latent class analysis.

Alcohol-related emergency department (ED) visits are common and associated with adverse clinical outcomes, including premature mortality. This population-based retrospective cohort study identified clinically distinct subgroups of individuals who experience alcohol-related ED visits and characterized differences in the risk of adverse outcomes between them. 73,658 individuals who experienced an alcohol-related ED visit in Ontario, Canada between 2017 and 2018 were identified.

The Impacts of Selling Alcohol in Grocery Stores in Ontario, Canada: A Before-After Study.

Objective: From 2015 to 2019, the Government of Ontario expanded privatized sales of alcohol, licensing 450 grocery stores to sell beer, cider, and wine. The impacts of a nearby grocery store gaining an alcohol license on adults' alcohol use in Ontario are examined, including whether impacts differed by gender.

Method: Data from 2015-2019 Canadian Community Health Survey participants in Ontario (age ≥ 20 years), living within 1,000 m and 1,500 m of grocery stores that gained a license to sell alcohol and propensity-matched controls were included (1,000 m = 14,052, 1,500 m = 30,486).

Outpatient psychiatric service use is associated with a reduced risk of 1-year readmission and mortality following alcohol-related hospitalizations: A historical cohort study.

Introduction: Alcohol-related hospitalizations are common and associated with high rates of short-term readmission and mortality. Providing rapid access to physician-based mental health and addiction (MHA) services post-discharge may help to reduce the risk of adverse outcomes in this population. This study used population-based data to evaluate the prevalence of outpatient MHA service use following alcohol-related hospitalizations and its association with downstream harms.

Access to legal cannabis market in Canada over the four years following non-medical cannabis legalisation.

Introduction: An increasing number of countries are inthe process of legalising non-medical cannabis. We described how the legal market has changed over the first 4 years following legalisation in Canada.

Methods: We collected longitudinal data on operating status and location of all legal cannabis stores in Canada for the first 4 years following legalisation.

Changes in health service use due to alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals with and individuals without pre-existing alcohol-related medical diagnoses.

Objective: To compare changes in outpatient and acute care visits due to alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic between individuals with and those without a history of alcohol-related health service use (AHSU).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of health administrative data in Ontario, Canada. The Ontario population was stratified into those with and those without 1+ health service encounter(s) due to alcohol in the past 2 years.

Associations Between the Physical Availability of Alcohol and Alcohol Use: Regional Variation Across 15 Major Cities in Ontario, Canada.

Objective: Rates of alcohol use and alcohol-related harms increase with greater alcohol availability. However, regional differences in sociodemographic characteristics and built environment may affect this association. This study evaluated the association between off-premise alcohol availability and alcohol use in Ontario, Canada, and the degree to which this association varies between cities.

Understanding the association between neighbourhood socioeconomic status and grocery store alcohol sales following market liberalization in Ontario, Canada.

Objectives: In 2015, Ontario partially deregulated alcohol sales by allowing grocery stores to sell alcohol. The purpose of this study was to evaluate (1) whether neighbourhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) impacted the likelihood that a grocery store began selling alcohol, and (2) whether increases in alcohol retail availability following deregulation differed between neighbourhoods based on SES.

Methods: This was a repeated cross-sectional analysis of 1062 grocery stores in 17,096 neighbourhoods in urban Ontario.

Clarifying rural-urban disparities in alcohol-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations in Ontario, Canada: A spatial analysis.

Purpose: Rates of alcohol-related harm are higher in rural versus urban Canada. This study characterized the spatial distribution and regional determinants of alcohol-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations in Ontario to better understand this rural-urban disparity.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional spatial analysis of rates of alcohol-related ED visits and hospitalizations by Ministry of Health subregion (n = 76) in Ontario, Canada between 2016 and 2019.

Rural-urban disparities in post-discharge outcomes following alcohol-related hospitalizations in Ontario, Canada: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Limited access to mental health and addiction (MHA) services in rural areas may increase the risk of recurrent alcohol-related harm among rural, relative to urban, residents. This study evaluated (1) rural-urban differences in clinical trajectories following alcohol-related hospitalizations and (2) whether limited access to MHA services mediates an increased risk of adverse post-discharge outcomes in rural areas.

Methods: This was a population-based retrospective cohort study of individuals in Ontario, Canada, who experienced an alcohol-related hospitalization between 2016 and 2018.

Predictors of 1-year mortality after adult lung transplantation: Systematic review and meta-analyses.

Background: Prognostic factors in lung transplantation are those variables that are associated with transplant outcomes. Knowledge of donor and recipient prognostic variables can aid in the optimal allocation of donor lungs to transplant recipients and can also inform post-operative discussions with patients about prognosis. Current research findings related to prognostic factors in lung transplantation are inconsistent and the relative importance of various factors is unclear.

Prevalence of Mental Health and Addiction Service use Prior to and During Incarceration in Provincial Jails in Ontario, Canada: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Individuals with mental illness and addiction are overrepresented in prisons. Few studies have assessed mental health and addiction (MHA)-related service use among individuals experiencing incarceration using health administrative data and most focus on service use after prison release. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of MHA-related service use in the 5 years prior to and during incarceration.

Hazardous alcohol use and alcohol-related harm in rural and remote communities: a scoping review.

Alcohol use is a major risk factor for death and disease worldwide and alcohol-related harms appear to be more prevalent in rural and remote, relative to urban, communities. This Review synthesised international research on rural-urban disparities in hazardous and harmful alcohol use and risk factors for these outcomes within rural and remote communities. 280 studies from 49 countries were included in the Scoping Review.

Rapid Generation of Human Neuronal Cell Models Enabling Inducible Expression of Proteins-of-interest for Functional Studies.

CRISPR-Cas9 technology has transformed the ability to edit genomic sequences and control gene expression with unprecedented ease and scale. However, precise genomic insertions of coding sequences using this technology remain time-consuming and inefficient because they require introducing adjacent single-strand cuts through Cas9 nickase action and invoking the host-encoded homology-directed repair program through the concomitant introduction of large repair templates. Here, we present a system for the rapid study of any protein-of-interest in two neuronal cell models following its inducible expression from the human safe harbor locus.

The impact of psychiatric comorbidity on treatment discontinuation among individuals receiving medications for opioid use disorder.

Background: Psychiatric illness complicates the clinical course of opioid use disorder (OUD) including treatment using medication for OUD (MOUD). The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between psychiatric comorbidity and MOUD discontinuation, stratified by whether the client dropped out of treatment or whether MOUD was terminated by the addiction facility.

Methods: The study population consisted of individuals with OUD receiving MOUD.

BAG5 Promotes Alpha-Synuclein Oligomer Formation and Functionally Interacts With the Autophagy Adaptor Protein p62.

Molecular chaperones are critical to maintaining intracellular proteostasis and have been shown to have a protective role against alpha-synuclein-mediated toxicity. Co-chaperone proteins regulate the activity of molecular chaperones and connect the chaperone network to protein degradation and cell death pathways. Bcl-2 associated athanogene 5 (BAG5) is a co-chaperone that modulates proteostasis by inhibiting the activity of Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and several E3 ubiquitin ligases, resulting in enhanced neurodegeneration in models of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Alcohol use and alcohol-related harm in rural and remote communities: protocol for a scoping review.

Introduction: Alcohol-related harm is a major public health concern and appears to be particularly problematic in rural and remote communities. Evidence from several countries has shown that the prevalence of harmful alcohol use and alcohol-attributable hospitalisations and emergency department visits are higher in rural and remote communities than in urban centres. The extents of this rural-urban disparity in alcohol-related harm as well as the factors that mediate it are poorly understood.

Utility of the INTERMACS profile at the time of assessment for heart transplant.

The Interagency Registry of Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) profiles are associated with mortality in heart failure patients undergoing ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation and heart transplantation (HTx). We assessed the prognostic value of the INTERMACS profile at the time of assessment for HTx or durable VAD implantation as bridge to candidacy (BTC). A total of 503 consecutive patients considered for HTx or VAD between 2006 and 2016 were included.

Bcl-2-associated athanogene 5 (BAG5) regulates Parkin-dependent mitophagy and cell death.

As pathogenic Parkin mutations result in the defective clearance of damaged mitochondria, Parkin-dependent mitophagy is thought to be protective against the dopaminergic neurodegeneration observed in Parkinson's disease. Recent studies, however, have demonstrated that Parkin can promote cell death in the context of severe mitochondrial damage by degrading the pro-survival Bcl-2 family member, Mcl-1. Therefore, Parkin may act as a 'switch' that can shift the balance between protective or pro-death pathways depending on the degree of mitochondrial damage.

Risk Factors for 1-Year Graft Loss After Kidney Transplantation: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background And Objectives: With expansion of the pool of kidney grafts, through the use of higher-risk donors, and increased attention to donor management strategies, the 1-year graft survival rate is subject to change. It is, therefore, useful to elucidate 1-year graft survival rates by dissecting the characteristics of the low-risk and high-risk kidney transplant cases. The objective of our study was to evaluate factors purported to influence the risk of 1-year graft loss in kidney transplant recipients.

Predictors of 1-year mortality in adult lung transplant recipients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Upon surviving the first year post-lung transplantation, recipients can expect a median survival of 8 years. Within the first year, graft failure and multi-organ failure (possibly secondary to graft failure) are common causes of mortality. To better understand the prognosis within the first year, we plan on conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies addressing the association between the patient, donor, and transplant operative factors and graft loss 1-year post-lung transplant.

Parkinsonism due to A53E α-synuclein gene mutation: Clinical, genetic, epigenetic, and biochemical features.

Background: SNCA mutations cause autosomal dominant parkinsonism and inform our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of synucleinopathies. The most recently identified mutation, p.Ala53Glu (A53E), has only been observed in Finland.