Development and Application of the Metalloprotease Activity Multiplexed Bead-Based Immunoassay (MAMBI).

Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc-dependent endopeptidases that cleave various proteins to regulate normal and diseased cellular functions, and as such, they play significant roles in human tissue development, homeostasis, and the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cancers, endometriosis, arthritis, etc. Most MMPs are produced as zymogenic latent enzymes that must be cleaved to activate their catalytic regions, and localized endogenous protein inhibitors further regulate activity. Accordingly, they operate within recursive networks to degrade extracellular matrix proteins and regulate cell signaling by cleaving growth factors and receptors at the cell surface and in the local pericellular environment.

OrgaQuant: Human Intestinal Organoid Localization and Quantification Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks.

Organoid cultures are proving to be powerful in vitro models that closely mimic the cellular constituents of their native tissue. Organoids are typically expanded and cultured in a 3D environment using either naturally derived or synthetic extracellular matrices. Assessing the morphology and growth characteristics of these cultures has been difficult due to the many imaging artifacts that accompany the corresponding images.

Morphophysiology of forage peanut submitted to different intensities of defoliation on grazing with sheep.

The aim was to monitor the growth, the dry mass accumulation curve, and the structural photosynthetic components of forage peanut pasture, in different intensities of defoliation in sheep rotational stocking. Experimental area of Arachis pintoi (cv. Amarillo) had 0.

Cultural adaptation of an existing children's weight management programme: the CHANGE intervention and feasibility RCT.

Background: Excess weight in children is a continuing health issue. Community-based children's weight management programmes have had some effect in promoting weight loss. Families from minority ethnic communities are less likely to complete these programmes but, to date, no programmes have been culturally adapted to address this.

Cultural adaptation of a children's weight management programme: Child weigHt mANaGement for Ethnically diverse communities (CHANGE) study.

Background: Childhood obesity prevalence continues to be at high levels in the United Kingdom (UK). South Asian children (mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin) with excess adiposity are at particular risk from the cardiovascular consequences of obesity. Many community-based children's weight management programmes have been delivered in the UK, but none have been adapted for diverse cultural communities.

Trajectories of body mass index, from adolescence to older adulthood, and pancreatic cancer risk; a population-based case-control study in Ontario, Canada.

Purpose: Pancreatic cancer has the highest fatality rate of all cancers. Adulthood obesity is an established risk factor for pancreatic cancer; however, life-course obesity is not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) trajectories throughout the life-course and pancreatic cancer risk.

Family medicine residents' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and clinical practices related to environmental health: Multi-program survey.

Objective: To assess family medicine residents' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and clinical practices related to environmental health (EH).

Design: Two-part study with questionnaire construction using a modified Delphi method, and a Web-based questionnaire administered to family medicine residents between November 2015 and January 2016.

Setting: All Canadian family medicine programs (for questionnaire construction) and 4 Ontario family medicine training programs (for questionnaire administration).

Validity of self-reported recall of anthropometric measures in early life: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Overweight and obesity in early life are risk factors for many adult-onset chronic diseases. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of self-reported recall of early life anthropometric measures. A systematic review was conducted by searching four electronic databases (PubMed, ProQuest, EMBASE, and MEDLINE).

Analysis of an Integrated Human Multiorgan Microphysiological System for Combined Tolcapone Metabolism and Brain Metabolomics.

Human-on-a-chip systems are rapidly advancing due to the availability of human stem cells from a variety of tissues, but publications have utilized mostly simple methods of biochemical analysis. Here, we apply mass spectrometry to a sophisticated multiorgan human-on-a-chip system for the comprehensive study of tolcapone metabolite profiling and metabolomics. The developed human-on-a-chip includes seven interacting microphysiological systems (MPSs), brain, pancreas, liver, lung, heart, gut, and endometrium, with a mixer chamber for systemic circulation and tolcapone dose.

Normative comparison standards for measures of cognition in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA): Does applying sample weights make a difference?

Large-scale studies present the opportunity to create normative comparison standards relevant to populations. Sampling weights applied to the sample data facilitate extrapolation to the population of origin, but normative scores are often developed without the use of these sampling weights because the values derived from large samples are presumed to be precise estimates of the population parameter. The present article examines whether applying sample weights in the context of deriving normative comparison standards for measures of cognition would affect the distributions of regression-based normative data when using data from a large population-based study.

Co-transcriptional Loading of RNA Export Factors Shapes the Human Transcriptome.

During gene expression, RNA export factors are mainly known for driving nucleo-cytoplasmic transport. While early studies suggested that the exon junction complex (EJC) provides a binding platform for them, subsequent work proposed that they are only recruited by the cap binding complex to the 5' end of RNAs, as part of TREX. Using iCLIP, we show that the export receptor Nxf1 and two TREX subunits, Alyref and Chtop, are recruited to the whole mRNA co-transcriptionally via splicing but before 3' end processing.

Insights on multimorbidity and associated health service use and costs from three population-based studies of older adults in Ontario with diabetes, dementia and stroke.

Background: Most studies that examine comorbidity and its impact on health service utilization focus on a single index-condition and are published in disease-specific journals, which limit opportunities to identify patterns across conditions/disciplines. These comparisons are further complicated by the impact of using different study designs, multimorbidity definitions and data sources. The aim of this paper is to share insights on multimorbidity and associated health services use and costs by reflecting on the common patterns across 3 parallel studies in distinct disease cohorts (diabetes, dementia, and stroke) that used the same study design and were conducted in the same health jurisdiction over the same time period.

The Association Between Self-Reported and Performance-Based Physical Function With Activities of Daily Living Disability in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Background: Physical function limitations precede disability and are a target to prevent or delay disability in aging adults. The objective of this article was to assess the relationship between self-report and performance-based measures of physical function with disability.

Methods: Baseline data (2012-2015) from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (n = 51,338) was used.

Perspective: The promise of multi-cellular engineered living systems.

Recent technological breakthroughs in our ability to derive and differentiate induced pluripotent stem cells, organoid biology, organ-on-chip assays, and 3-D bioprinting have all contributed to a heightened interest in the design, assembly, and manufacture of living systems with a broad range of potential uses. This white paper summarizes the state of the emerging field of "multi-cellular engineered living systems," which are composed of interacting cell populations. Recent accomplishments are described, focusing on current and potential applications, as well as barriers to future advances, and the outlook for longer term benefits and potential ethical issues that need to be considered.

Combining volunteers and primary care teamwork to support health goals and needs of older adults: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Background: The Health TAPESTRY (Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: STRengthening QualitY) intervention was designed to improve primary care teamwork and promote optimal aging. We evaluated the effectiveness of Health TAPESTRY in attaining goals of older adults (e.g.

Multimorbidity Frameworks Impact Prevalence and Relationships with Patient-Important Outcomes.

Objectives: To explore how different frameworks and categories of chronic conditions impact multimorbidity (defined as two or more chronic conditions) prevalence estimates and associations with patient-important functional outcomes.

Design: Baseline data from a population-based cohort study.

Setting: National sample of Canadians.

Pediatric Cardiac MR Imaging:: Practical Preoperative Assessment.

Prevalence of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) is rapidly increasing due to continuous advancements in diagnostic techniques and medical or surgical treatment approaches. Along with cardiac computed tomography angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) serves as a fundamental imaging modality for pre-surgical planning in patients with CHD, as CMR allows for the evaluation of cardiac and great vessel anatomy, biventricular function, flow dynamics, and tissue characterization. This information is essential for risk-assessment and optimal timing of surgical interventions.

Community paramedicine: A systematic review of program descriptions and training.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the types of community paramedicine programs and the training for each.

Methods: A systematic review of MEDLINE, Embase, grey literature, and bibliographies followed a search strategy using common community paramedicine terms. All studies published in English up to January 22, 2018, were captured.

Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Treatment-Refractory Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis: Position Statement from the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, disabling, immune-mediated, demyelinating and degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Approved disease-modifying therapies may be incompletely effective in some patients with highly active relapsing disease and high risk of disability. The use of immunoablative or myeloablative therapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) has been investigated in retrospective studies, clinical trials, and meta-analyses/systematic reviews as an approach to address this unmet clinical need.

Multimorbidity predicts functional decline in community-dwelling older adults: Prospective cohort study.

Objective: To determine if multimorbidity is associated with functional status, and to assess if multimorbidity predicts declining functional status over a 5-year time frame, after accounting for baseline functional status and other potential confounding factors.

Design: Analysis of an existing population-based cohort study.

Setting: Manitoba.

The Canadian longitudinal study on aging as a platform for exploring cognition in an aging population.

We present descriptive information on the cognitive measures used in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) Comprehensive Cohort, relate this to information on these measures in the extant literature, and identify key considerations for their use in research and clinical practice. The CLSA Comprehensive Cohort is composed of 30,097 participants aged 45-85years at baseline who provided a broad range of sociodemographic, physical, social, and psychological health information via questionnaire and took part in detailed physical and cognitive assessments. Cognitive measures included: the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test - immediate and 5-min delayed recall, Animal Fluency, Mental Alternation Test (MAT), Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), Stroop Test - Victoria Version, Miami Prospective Memory Test (MPMT), and a Choice Reaction Time (CRT) task.

Influences on clinical decision-making during a community placement: reflections of a student nurse.

High quality care is dependent on good clinical judgement and often-complex decision making. Nurses need to be able to justify and defend their clinical decisions. In this article, a third-year nursing student reflects on an incident from a community placement involving a collaborative clinical decision.

Feasibility of extracellular volume quantification using dual-energy CT.

ObjectiveTo assess the feasibility of dual energy CT (DECT) to derive myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) and detect myocardial ECV differences without a non-contrast acquisition, compared to single energy CT (SECT). MethodsSubjects (n = 35) with focal fibrosis (n = 17), diffuse fibrosis (n = 10), and controls (n = 9) underwent non-contrast and delayed acquisitions to calculate SECT-ECV. DECT-ECV was calculated using the delayed acquisition and the derived virtual non-contrast images.