Publications by authors named "Fine N"

Article Synopsis
  • The study explores using multi-phase Computed Tomography Angiography (mpCTA) for better assessing cardiac health before transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and predicting patient outcomes.
  • Researchers analyzed mpCTAs from 205 patients and found that 96% could be assessed, with specific deformation measurements indicating higher risks of complications like heart failure or death.
  • The findings suggest that advanced 4D modeling techniques can predict outcomes post-TAVR effectively, and further validation in multiple centers is planned.
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Aims: Patients visiting the emergency department (ED) or hospitalized for heart failure (HF) are at increased risk for subsequent adverse outcomes, however effective risk stratification remains challenging. We utilized a machine-learning (ML)-based approach to identify HF patients at risk of adverse outcomes after an ED visit or hospitalization using a large regional administrative healthcare data system.

Methods And Results: Patients visiting the ED or hospitalized with HF between 2002-2016 in Alberta, Canada were included.

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Objective: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthritis associated with psoriasis. Adding to studies focused on the role of T cells and macrophages, we sought to investigate the systemic activation of leukocytes in PsA.

Methods: We assessed the activation state of leukocyte populations, including polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and monocyte/macrophages, in blood and synovial fluid (SF) by multicolour flow cytometry.

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Neurofeedback (NF) has emerged as a promising avenue for demonstrating process-related neuroplasticity, enabling self-regulation of brain function. NF targeting the amygdala has drawn attention to therapeutic potential in psychiatry, by potentially harnessing emotion-regulation processes. However, not all individuals respond equally to NF training, possibly owing to varying self-regulation abilities.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study looks at different types of cells in the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) of the knee and how they change with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), gender, and obesity.
  • Researchers used advanced techniques to analyze over 80,000 cell nuclei from both healthy and KOA patients.
  • They discovered that certain cells behave differently based on these conditions, and they found important differences in the way fibroblast cells act in people with different body types.
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  • Tafamidis is an expensive treatment for transthyretin amyloidosis cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) that shows positive outcomes, but predicting long-term effectiveness remains challenging.
  • A study analyzed 139 ATTR-CM patients to identify baseline factors, such as age and renal function, linked to mortality and hospitalization, regardless of whether they received tafamidis.
  • Key findings suggest that factors like renal function and frailty are critical indicators of adverse outcomes in ATTR-CM patients, which can help in better assessing treatment eligibility.
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  • Pre-clinical studies indicated that adding doxycycline to treatments could benefit patients with AL amyloidosis, but a recent trial found no improvement in progression-free survival when doxycycline was added to the CyBorD regimen.
  • This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of doxycycline alongside bortezomib-containing regimens (BCRs) in newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis patients, particularly those with cardiac issues, compared to patients receiving BCR alone.
  • The results showed that there was no significant difference in treatment outcomes, such as overall response rates and time to response, between the groups receiving BCR alone and those receiving BCR with doxycycline (BCR-D).
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Clinical assessment of distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) instability has been shown to be unreliable among experienced hand surgeons in the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of this study was to test the reliability of assessing DRUJ stability in European surgeons outside the UK. Four participants (eight wrists) with four unstable and four stable DRUJs as measured with a proven jig were assessed by 34 surgeons (22 men and 12 women) with a mean age of 43 years (range 29-61).

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Article Synopsis
  • Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) primarily impacts older adults with various chronic health issues, leading to significant physical and emotional difficulties.
  • New drugs show promise in early treatment stages, prompting a need for thorough assessments of patients' functional abilities and quality of life.
  • Incorporating comprehensive geriatric assessment tools into standard care can help identify early signs of frailty and improve management strategies for older ATTR-CA patients.
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Background: Peripheral Intravenous Cannulas (PIVCs) are frequently utilised in the Emergency Department (ED) for delivery of medication and phlebotomy. They are associated with complications and have an associated cost to departmental resources. A growing body of international research suggests many of the PIVCs inserted in the ED are unnecessary.

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  • Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR CA) is gaining attention as a cause of heart failure among older adults, and Tc-pyrophosphate imaging is crucial for diagnosis but is subjective and time-consuming.
  • This study tested a deep learning method for automatically measuring Tc-pyrophosphate activity using CT maps, leading to improved efficiency and diagnostic accuracy.
  • Results showed that cardiac pyrophosphate activity (CPA) and volume of involvement (VOI) had excellent predictive performance for ATTR CA, correlating with an increased risk of cardiovascular events.
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Numerous studies have explored the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the hippocampus and the amygdala because both regions are implicated in the disorder's pathogenesis and pathophysiology. Nevertheless, those key limbic regions consist of functionally and cytoarchitecturally distinct substructures that may play different roles in the etiology of PTSD. Spurred by the availability of automatic segmentation software, structural neuroimaging studies of human hippocampal and amygdala subregions have proliferated in recent years.

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  • The study aimed to compare cardiovascular characteristics and outcomes between male and female patients with idiopathic non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (NICM).
  • Researchers analyzed data from the Cardiovascular Imaging Registry of Calgary, finding that females exhibited higher heart function measures and less fibrosis than males but had similar rates of adverse outcomes over time.
  • Despite sex differences in heart structure and function, both sexes had comparable long-term prognoses for NICM, indicating that underlying mechanisms might differ, but outcomes do not.
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Article Synopsis
  • A 43-year-old man was diagnosed with severe heart failure caused by high-risk light chain cardiac amyloidosis.
  • He received chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant, which successfully led to complete hematologic response.
  • Follow-up cardiac MRI showed steady improvement in heart function and a decrease in disease burden over time.
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Exposure to repeated sexual trauma, particularly during childhood, often leads to protracted mental health problems. Childhood adversity is specifically associated with complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presentation, which is particularly tenacious and treatment refractory, and features severe emotion dysregulation. Augmentation approaches have been suggested to enhance treatment efficacy in PTSD thus integrating first-line psychotherapy with mechanistically informed self-neuromodulation procedures (i.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tafamidis has been shown to improve survival rates in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), but its specific impact on cardiac function was unclear, prompting further investigation.
  • The study analyzed data from the ATTR-ACT clinical trial, involving 436 patients with ATTR-CM, to compare cardiac function measures over 30 months between those receiving tafamidis and a placebo.
  • Results indicated that patients treated with tafamidis experienced less deterioration in key cardiac function metrics, suggesting a potential benefit of the drug in managing cardiac issues related to ATTR-CM.
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Article Synopsis
  • - CARS (Cardiac Amyloidosis Registry Study) is a multicenter project launched in 2019 to study the natural history and treatment of cardiac amyloidosis, involving patients across the U.S. from 1997 to 2025.
  • - As of February 2023, 1415 patients have been enrolled, with 82% diagnosed with transthyretin (ATTR) and 18% with light chain (AL) amyloidosis, highlighting a diverse cohort that includes a significant portion of Black participants.
  • - The study aims to address important clinical questions about cardiac amyloidosis and improve comparisons of treatment options, with plans for future international collaboration to enhance its findings.
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  • - A study evaluated the effects of stannous fluoride dentifrice, compared to sodium fluoride, on inflammation and oral microbiome in individuals with experimental gingivitis.
  • - Results showed that stannous fluoride significantly reduced bleeding, inflammatory markers, and harmful bacteria levels while improving neutrophil counts and immune responses.
  • - The findings suggest that stannous fluoride dentifrice can help decrease gingival inflammation and positively influence oral health, presenting a potential preventative treatment against gum disease.
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Neutrophils are essential for host defense against (). The neuro-repellent, SLIT2, potently inhibits neutrophil chemotaxis, and might, therefore, be expected to impair antibacterial responses. We report here that, unexpectedly, neutrophils exposed to the N-terminal SLIT2 (N-SLIT2) fragment kill extracellular more efficiently.

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