Evaluating the Implementation and Impact of BRAF Reflex Mutation Testing in Melanoma, Lung, and Colorectal Cancers.

Background: Reflex molecular testing, the process of profiling specimens at diagnosis, is emerging in oncology, allowing for prompt therapy initiation, and potentially improving outcomes. This study evaluates the impact of reflex BRAF testing on treatment timelines and outcomes in melanoma, lung and colorectal cancers at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC).

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at the MUHC.

Purpose in life as a resilience factor for brain health: diffusion MRI findings from the Midlife in the U.S. study.

Introduction: A greater sense of purpose in life is associated with several health benefits relevant for active aging, but the mechanisms remain unclear. We evaluated if purpose in life was associated with indices of brain health.

Methods: We examined data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Neuroscience Project.

Draping in Dermatology: A Physician's Perspective.

Background: Patient dignity is a core component of medicine and health care, yet maintaining patient dignity can be challenging in clinical settings in dermatology, specifically during a total body skin examinations (TBSE) for appropriate assessment and diagnosis. A recent study evaluated patient perspectives in dermatology. The purpose of this study was to investigate current draping practices and perspectives from a physicians' perspective.

A case of drug-induced bullous pemphigoid secondary to immunotherapy treated with upadacitinib: A case report.

Bullous pemphigoid is an acquired autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease that can arise following exposure to systemic medication, referred to as drug-induced bullous pemphigoid. Drug-induced bullous pemphigoid is a rare but potentially serious immune-related adverse event that should be considered in patients with advanced malignancies undergoing immunotherapy, with immune checkpoint inhibitors emerging in particular as a well-documented drug association in drug-induced bullous pemphigoid. We present a 74-year-old female with recurrent metastatic programmed cell death-ligand 1-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck area who developed drug-induced bullous pemphigoid in the setting of immunotherapy with a novel immunoglobulin-like transcript 4 inhibitor (MK-4830) in combination with pembrolizumab.

Safety and efficacy of autologous cell vaccines in solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials.

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials to formally assess the safety and efficacy of autologous whole cell vaccines as immunotherapies for solid tumors. Our primary safety outcome was number, and grade of adverse events. Our primary efficacy outcome was clinical responses.

Multicenter Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance among Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Bloodstream Infections in Ghana.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Gram-negative bacteria-causing bloodstream infections (BSIs), such as and non-typhoidal (NTS), is a major public health concern. Nonetheless, AMR surveillance remains scarce in sub-Saharan Africa, where BSI treatment is largely empirical. The aim of the study was to determine the distribution and AMR patterns of BSI-causing NTS, , and other Gram-negative bacteria in Ghana.

Draping in Dermatology: A Patient's Perspective.

Background/objectives: Patient dignity is a core component of the Canadian health care system; however, there may be challenges to maintaining patient dignity in clinical settings requiring total body skin examination (TBSE) for adequate assessment and diagnosis. As standardized TBSE draping practices have not been investigated in a dermatology setting, we sought out to investigate subjective patient experiences of draping practices.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using a paper survey in dermatology hospital clinics over a 6-month period to 150 patients.

Perceived stress associations with hippocampal-dependent behavior and hippocampal subfield volume.

Background: Individual differences in stress appraisals influence trajectories of risk and resilience following exposure to chronic and acute stressors. Smaller hippocampal volume may contribute to elevated stress appraisals via deficient pattern separation, a process depending on dentate gyrus (DG)/CA3 hippocampal subfields. Here, we investigated links between perceived stress, DG/CA3 volume, and behavioral pattern separation to test hypothesized mechanisms underlying stress-related psychopathology.

Role of amygdala in stress-induced upregulation of airway IL-1 signaling in asthma.

Psychological stress, an important contributor to asthma morbidity, potentiates the immune response to allergen, but the brain mechanisms mediating this response are not fully understood. The amygdala is likely to play an important role, given its sensitivity to threat and connectivity with descending immune modulatory pathways. In this study, we recruited thirty asthmatic participants and examined glucose metabolism in the amygdala, using [F-18]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, during a laboratory stressor.

Individual variation in white matter microstructure is related to better recovery from negative stimuli.

The uncinate fasciculus is a white matter tract that may facilitate emotion regulation by carrying connections from the prefrontal cortex to regions of the temporal lobe, including the amygdala. Depression and anxiety are associated with reduced uncinate fasciculus fractional anisotropy (FA)-a diffusion tensor imaging measure related to white matter integrity. In the current study, we tested whether FA in the uncinate fasciculus is associated with individual differences in emotional recovery measured with corrugator supercilii electromyography in response to negative, neutral, and positive images in 108 participants from the Midlife in the US (MIDUS; http://midus.

Calcinosis Cutis as an Unsuspecting Complication of Hyperkalemia Treatment.

Calcinosis cutis is a known but rare complication from the extravasation of intravenous calcium preparations. Calcium gluconate is a commonly used medication to prevent cardiac arrhythmias in the setting of hyperkalemia and cardiac arrest during resuscitation and life support. Extravasation of calcium gluconate may result in skin necrosis and a bullous reaction in its most severe form, which should be promptly recognized so that treatment can be provided.

Safety and efficacy of autologous whole cell vaccines in hematologic malignancies: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Autologous cell vaccines use a patient's tumor cells to stimulate a broad antitumor response in vivo. This approach shows promise for treating hematologic cancers in early phase clinical trials, but overall safety and efficacy remain poorly described. We conducted a systematic review assessing the use of autologous cell vaccination in treating hematologic cancers.

An evidence-based guide to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination of patients on immunotherapies in dermatology.

Immune-mediated diseases and immunotherapeutics can negatively affect normal immune functioning and, consequently, vaccine safety and response. The COVID-19 pandemic has incited research aimed at developing a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine. As SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are developed and made available, the assessment of anticipated safety and efficacy in patients with immune-mediated dermatologic diseases and requiring immunosuppressive and/or immunomodulatory therapy is particularly important.

Higher resting-state BNST-CeA connectivity is associated with greater corrugator supercilii reactivity to negatively valenced images.

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) are hypothesized to be the output nodes of the extended amygdala threat response, integrating multiple signals to coordinate the threat response via outputs to the hypothalamus and brainstem. The BNST and CeA are structurally and functionally connected, suggesting interactions between these regions may regulate how the response to provocation unfolds. However, the relationship between human BNST-CeA connectivity and the behavioral response to affective stimuli is little understood.

Policy and Science for Global Health Security: Shaping the Course of International Health.

The global burden of infectious diseases and the increased attention to natural, accidental, and deliberate biological threats has resulted in significant investment in infectious disease research. Translating the results of these studies to inform prevention, detection, and response efforts often can be challenging, especially if prior relationships and communications have not been established with decision-makers. Whatever scientific information is shared with decision-makers before, during, and after public health emergencies is highly dependent on the individuals or organizations who are communicating with policy-makers.

Longitudinal Stability of Cognition in Early-Phase Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Does Cognitive Reserve Play a Role?

Background: Up to 70% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience cognitive impairment. Some remain cognitively intact despite advanced disease. Cognitive reserve (CR) theory postulates that individuals with higher levels of intellectual enrichment can tolerate more pathology than others before exhibiting cognitive impairment.

Augmentation of a wound response element accompanies the origin of a Hox-regulated Drosophila abdominal pigmentation trait.

A challenge for evolutionary research is to uncover how new morphological traits evolve the coordinated spatial and temporal expression patterns of genes that govern their formation during development. Detailed studies are often limited to characterizing how one or a few genes contributed to a trait's emergence, and thus our knowledge of how entire GRNs evolve their coordinated expression of each gene remains unresolved. The melanic color patterns decorating the male abdominal tergites of Drosophila (D.

Sexual Health of Adolescent Patients Admitted to a Psychiatric Unit.

Objective: To review sexual health screening practices during admission to an adolescent psychiatry unit.

Method: Retrospective chart review of randomly selected youth admitted over a one-year period (2013). Data extracted included demographics, reasons for admission, sexual health history, as well as any comorbid behaviours noted.

Behavioral and neural indices of affective coloring for neutral social stimuli.

Emotional processing often continues beyond the presentation of emotionally evocative stimuli, which can result in affective biasing or coloring of subsequently encountered events. Here, we describe neural correlates of affective coloring and examine how individual differences in affective style impact the magnitude of affective coloring. We conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging in 117 adults who passively viewed negative, neutral and positive pictures presented 2 s prior to neutral faces.

Wearable activity monitors in oncology trials: Current use of an emerging technology.

Background: Physical activity is an important outcome in oncology trials. Physical activity is commonly assessed using self-reported questionnaires, which are limited by recall and response biases. Recent advancements in wearable technology have provided oncologists with new opportunities to obtain real-time, objective physical activity data.