Contributions of Brain Microstructures and Metabolism to Visual Field Loss Patterns in Glaucoma Using Archetypal and Information Gain Analyses.

Purpose: To investigate the contributions of the microstructural and metabolic brain environment to glaucoma and their association with visual field (VF) loss patterns by using advanced diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and clinical ophthalmic measures.

Methods: Sixty-nine glaucoma and healthy subjects underwent dMRI and/or MRS at 3 Tesla. Ophthalmic data were collected from VF perimetry and optical coherence tomography.

Diagnostic yield of serial SARS-CoV-2 testing in hospitalized patients.

Background: The detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) varies depending on the time since exposure and is highest around the time of symptom onset. It is conceivable that patients who are incubating SARS-CoV-2 may screen negative at admission and develop transmissible but undetected asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic disease while in hospital. The incidence of COVID-19 in Montreal, Canada started to increase in December 2020.

Finding distinctions between oral cancer and periodontitis using saliva metabolites and machine learning.

Objective: The aim of this research is the study of metabolic pathways related to oral cancer and periodontitis along with development of machine-learning model for elucidation of these diseases based on saliva metabolites of patients.

Methods: Data mining, metabolomic pathways analysis, study of metabolite-gene networks related to these diseases. Machine-learning and deep-learning methods for development of the model for recognition of oral cancer versus periodontitis, using patients' saliva.

Relationship between dietary patterns and COPD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Findings from previous studies reporting on the associations between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and various dietary patterns have been inconsistent. This review aims to summarise the evidence on the strength of the association between dietary patterns and the prevalence and incidence of COPD.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of seven databases between 1 January 1980 and 30 November 2019.

Validation of concurrent preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic and monogenic disorders, structural rearrangements, and whole and segmental chromosome aneuploidy with a single universal platform.

Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) has been successfully applied to reduce the risk of miscarriage, improve IVF success rates, and prevent inheritance of monogenic disease and unbalanced translocations. The present study provides the first method capable of simultaneous testing of aneuploidy (PGT-A), structural rearrangements (PGT-SR), and monogenic (PGT-M) disorders using a single platform. Using positive controls to establish performance characteristics, accuracies of 97 to >99% for each type of testing were observed.

18F-DCFPyL PET/CT in Oncocytoma.

A 76-year-old man with biochemical failure after primary radiotherapy for prostate cancer had no malignant disease detected on Tc-MDP bone scan and diagnostic CT. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a type II transmembrane glycoprotein, is overexpressed in prostate cancer cells. The PSMA-targeted F-DCFPyL PET/CT demonstrated lymph node disease and photopenic defects in the left kidney associated with a cyst and biopsy-proven oncocytoma.

Addictive Eating and Its Relation to Physical Activity and Sleep Behavior.

The obesity epidemic has led to the exploration of factors contributing to its etiology. Addictive eating, physical activity, and sleep behaviors have all been independently associated with obesity, and recent research suggests plausible interrelationships between food addiction, physical activity, and sleep. This study aims to investigate the relationship between food addiction with physical activity and sleep behavior.

Computational modeling and design of a new open clip surgical instrument.

This research introduces a new surgical clip instrument with improved mechanism to apply the metal clips to patient's vessel/tissues in the surgical operations. The improved clip delivery system has been designed and developed in the instrument to improve the clip distal move from clip channel into jaw guide track and resolve the problems of clip accidental shooting out when clip is being loaded into jaw pair by compression spring that has been normally used in some current surgical clip instruments. With this improvement, this new surgical open clip instrument can prevent patient's vessels and tissues from being damaging because the distal move of clips is well controlled without clip drop-off incident.