Safer Opioid Supply programs: Hydromorphone prescribing in Ontario as a harm reduction intervention to combat the drug poisoning crisis.

Setting: The crisis of unregulated fentanyl-related overdose deaths presents a significant public health challenge. This article describes the implementation and evaluation of four Safer Opioid Supply programs (SSPs) in Ontario, one in London and three in Toronto.

Intervention And Implementation: SSPs aim to curtail overdose fatalities while connecting individuals using drugs to healthcare services.

Factors that impact the implementation of patient reported outcomes in routine clinical care for peripheral artery disease from the patient perspective.

Purpose: Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are well-suited for the longitudinal assessment of quality of life, including depression and physical limitations associated with peripheral artery disease (PAD) that are not routinely assessed in clinical care. This study was designed to gain the patient perspective to facilitate implementation of PROMs into clinical practice for PAD management.

Methods: Twenty-three patients with PAD at a single vascular surgery clinic were enrolled for a qualitative interview, July-December 2022.

Effects of isolation stress and voluntary ethanol exposure during adolescence on ethanol and nicotine co-use in adulthood using male rats.

Background: Alcohol use in adolescence may increase susceptibility to substance use disorders (SUDs) in adulthood. This study determined if voluntary ethanol (EtOH) consumption during adolescence, combined with social isolation, alters the trajectory of EtOH and nicotine intake during adulthood, as well as activating brain neuroinflammation.

Methods: Adolescent male isolate- and group-housed rats were given 0.

Salivary oxytocin changes and effect of the season in sows kept in different farrowing systems: Farrowing crate and farrowing pen with temporary crating.

Alternative farrowing systems that have been developed in recent years could have a positive effect on the welfare of sows during farrowing and lactation. Oxytocin measurements in saliva may provide information about positive animal welfare status. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in salivary oxytocin concentrations in sows during the lactation period in three different farrowing systems and in two different seasons.

Effect of Multidisciplinary Transitional Pain Service on Health Care Use and Costs Following Orthopedic Surgery.

Background: Opioid use disorder is a significant cause of morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. A transitional pain service (TPS) approach to perioperative pain management has been shown to reduce opioid use among patients undergoing orthopedic joint surgery. However, whether TPS also leads to lower health care use and costs is unknown.

Postsurgical opioid prescribing among veterans using community care for orthopedic surgery at non-VA hospitals compared to a VA hospital with a transitional pain service: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The USA provides medical services to its military veterans through Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical centers. Passage of recent legislation has increased the number of veterans having VHA-paid orthopedic surgery at non-VHA facilities.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among veterans who underwent orthopedic joint surgery paid for by the VHA either at the Salt Lake City VHA Medical Center (VAMC) or at non-VHA hospitals between January 2018 and December 2021.

Long-term patient-reported outcomes among patients undergoing revascularization vs medical therapy for intermittent claudication.

Objective: Society for Vascular Surgery guidelines recommend revascularization for patients with intermittent claudication (IC) if it can improve patient function and quality of life. However, it is still unclear if patients with IC achieve a significant functional benefit from surgery compared with medical management alone. This study examines the relationship between IC treatment modality (operative vs nonoperative optimal medical management) and patient-reported outcomes for physical function (PROMIS-PF) and satisfaction in social roles and activities (PROMIS-SA).

Contribution of the medial entorhinal cortex to performance on the Traveling Salesperson Problem in rats.

In order to successfully navigate through space, animals must rely on multiple cognitive processes, including orientation in space, memory of object locations, and navigational decisions based on that information. Although highly-controlled behavioral tasks are valuable for isolating and targeting specific processes, they risk producing a narrow understanding of complex behavior in natural contexts. The Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP) is an optimization problem that can be used to study naturalistic foraging behaviors, in which subjects select routes between multiple baited targets.

Memory deficits and hippocampal cytokine expression in a rat model of ADHD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex behavioral disorder characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention, and deficits in working memory and time perception. While animal models have advanced our neurobiological understanding of this condition, there are limited and inconsistent data on working and elapsed time memory function. Inflammatory signaling has been identified as a key factor in memory and cognitive impairments, but its role in ADHD remains unclear.

The role of micro-RNAs in neuropathic pain-a scoping review.

Neuropathic pain can be caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system characterised by pathological neuro-immune alterations. At a molecular level, microRNAs (miRNAs) act as regulators of gene expression orchestrating both immune and neuronal processes. Thus, miRNAs may act as essential modulators of processes for the establishment and maintenance of neuropathic pain.

Column-free optical deconvolution of intrinsic fluorescence for a monoclonal antibody and its product-related impurities.

The quantification of monoclonal antibody (mAb) aggregates and fragments using high pressure liquid chromatography-size exclusion chromatography (HPLC-SEC) typically requires off-line measurements that are time-consuming and therefore not compatible with real-time monitoring. However, it has been crucial to manufacturing and process development, and remains the industrial standard in the assessment of product-related impurities. Here we demonstrate that our previously established intrinsic time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) approach can be used to quantify the bioprocess critical quality attribute (CQA) of antibody product purity at various stages of a typical downstream process, with the potential to be developed for in-line bioprocess monitoring.

'I don't chase drugs as much anymore, and I'm not dead': Client reported outcomes associated with safer opioid supply programs in Ontario, Canada.

Introduction: The ongoing opioid overdose crisis, which has killed over 30,000 people in Canada since 2016, is driven by the volatility of an unregulated opioid drug supply comprised primarily of fentanyl. The Canadian government has recently funded safer opioid supply (SOS) programs, which include off-label prescriptions of pharmaceutical-grade opioids to high risk individuals with the goal of reducing overdose deaths.

Methods: In 2021, we examined the implementation and adaption of four SOS programs in Ontario.

Predictors of Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation among Patients with Severe Obesity.

Background: There is an increasing prevalence of obesity among patients who develop end-stage renal disease and require dialysis. While referrals for arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) among patients with class 2-3 obesity (i.e.

Witnessing light-driven entanglement using time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering.

Characterizing and controlling entanglement in quantum materials is crucial for the development of next-generation quantum technologies. However, defining a quantifiable figure of merit for entanglement in macroscopic solids is theoretically and experimentally challenging. At equilibrium the presence of entanglement can be diagnosed by extracting entanglement witnesses from spectroscopic observables and a nonequilibrium extension of this method could lead to the discovery of novel dynamical phenomena.

Enhanced Thermal Stability and Reduced Aggregation in an Antibody Fab Fragment at Elevated Concentrations.

The aggregation of protein therapeutics such as antibodies remains a major challenge in the biopharmaceutical industry. The present study aimed to characterize the impact of the protein concentration on the mechanisms and potential pathways for aggregation, using the antibody Fab fragment A33 as the model protein. Aggregation kinetics were determined for 0.

Postsurgical Opioid Use Among Veterans Discharged to Skilled Care Facilities Compared to Veterans Discharged to Home After Orthopedic Surgery.

Objectives: To compare opioid use patterns among Veterans who were discharged to a skilled care facility vs home after orthopedic surgery at a VA hospital.

Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of Veterans who had orthopedic surgery at the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center (VAMC) between January 2018 and December 2021 and were followed by a transitional pain service. The principal outcome of interest was the time to stop opioid use after discharge from the hospital.

Breaking the vicious circle-the Asthma Referral Identifier (ReferID) tool.

Asthma is associated with a significant burden of disease, especially for patients with severe or uncontrolled asthma. Many patients with severe asthma still receive treatment in primary care settings and despite the availability of effective options, inadequate asthma treatment remains a concern, particularly the use of systemic corticosteroids to treat exacerbations and severe asthma. Around the world, many patients are stuck in a vicious circle of misdiagnosis, undertreatment, and poor understanding of disease severity and management.

Impact of frailty on risk of long-term functional decline following vascular surgery.

Objective: Frailty is a clinical syndrome associated with slow recovery after vascular surgery. However, the degree and length of functional impairment frail patients experience after surgery is unclear. The objective of this study was to prospectively measure changes in functional status among frail and non-frail patients undergoing a spectrum of different vascular surgery procedures.

Mucins MUC5AC and MUC5B Are Variably Packaged in the Same and in Separate Secretory Granules.

MUC5AC (mucin 5AC, oligomeric gel-forming) and MUC5B (mucin 5B, oligomeric gel-forming) are the predominant secreted polymeric mucins in mammalian airways. They contribute differently to the pathogenesis of various muco-obstructive and interstitial lung diseases, and their genes are separately regulated, but whether they are packaged together or in separate secretory granules is not known. To determine the packaging of MUC5AC and MUC5B within individual secretory granules in mouse and human airways under varying conditions of inflammation and along the proximal-distal axis.

Complete opioid cessation after surgery improves patient-reported pain measures among chronic opioid users.

Background: Preoperative chronic opioid use is common, but it is unclear whether complete opioid tapering can be achieved postoperatively without adversely affecting pain control and quality of life. This study was designed to assess the association between complete opioid tapering after surgery and patient-reported outcomes for pain intensity and pain interference.

Methods: We identified chronic opioid use patients undergoing a spectrum of nonemergency surgical procedures at a single Veterans Affairs medical institution between December 2017 and 2021.

Welfare and Performance of Post-Weaning Sows and Piglets Previously Housed in Farrowing Pens with Temporary Crating on a Spanish Commercial Farm: A Pilot Study.

The study investigated the effect of farrowing environment on the weaning adaptability of sows and piglets. One farrowing crate (FC) and two farrowing pens with temporary crating (TC: SWAP and JLF15) were compared. Sixty-four sows and 663 piglets were followed until 5 days post-weaning.

Patient-reported physical function as a preoperative predictor of recovery after vascular surgery.

Objective: Preoperative risk assessment in vascular surgery often relies on the clinical subjectivity of providers and assessment tools with poor discrimination. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) may provide a more objective assessment of an individual's own health status before surgery and ability to recover after a vascular procedure. We designed this study to determine whether PROMs assessed for physical function (PROM-PF) prior to vascular surgery could be used to predict patient risk for postoperative complications and delayed recovery.

Combining Immunocytokine and Activated NK Cells as a Platform for Enhancing Graft-Versus-Tumor Effects Against GD2 Murine Neuroblastoma.

Management for high-risk neuroblastoma (NBL) has included autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) and anti-GD2 immunotherapy, but survival remains around 50%. The aim of this study was to determine if allogeneic HSCT could serve as a platform for inducing a graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect against NBL with combination immunocytokine and NK cells in a murine model. Lethally irradiated C57BL/6 (B6) x A/J recipients were transplanted with B6 bone marrow on Day +0.

Medial entorhinal cortex lesions produce delay-dependent disruptions in memory for elapsed time.

Our memory for time is a fundamental ability that we use to judge the duration of events, put our experiences into a temporal context, and decide when to initiate actions. The medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), with its direct projections to the hippocampus, has been proposed to be the key source of temporal information for hippocampal time cells. However, the behavioral relevance of such temporal firing patterns remains unclear, as most of the paradigms used for the study of temporal processing and time cells are either spatial tasks or tasks for which MEC function is not required.