At-a-glance - Bringing equity into the fold: a review of interventions to improve mental health.

In Canada, it is challenging to find examples of positive population mental health interventions that meet scientific standards of evidence. It is even more difficult to identify effective interventions that address health equity. The discrepancy between standards of evidence in the health sciences, and the evidence that can be gleaned from social experiments, is not new.

Between worst and best: developing criteria to identify promising practices in health promotion and disease prevention for the Canadian Best Practices Portal.

Introduction: In health promotion and chronic disease prevention, both best and promising practices can provide critical insights into what works for enhancing the healthrelated outcomes of individuals and communities, and how/why these practices work in different situations and contexts.

Methods: The promising practices criteria were developed using the Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC's) existing best practices criteria as the foundation. They were modified and pilot tested (three rounds) using published interventions.

Status report -- Identifying equity-focussed interventions to promote healthy weights.

Introduction: We developed screening criteria to identify population health interventions with an equity focus for inclusion on the Public Health Agency of Canada's Canadian Best Practices Portal. We applied them to the area of "healthy weights," specifically, obesity prevention.

Methods: We conducted a review of the literature and obtained input from expert external reviewers on changes to midstream environments.

Nanopore analysis of wild-type and mutant prion protein (PrP(C)): single molecule discrimination and PrP(C) kinetics.

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases associated with the conversion of cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) in the central nervous system into the infectious isoform (PrP(Sc)). The mechanics of conversion are almost entirely unknown, with understanding stymied by the lack of an atomic-level structure for PrP(Sc). A number of pathogenic PrP(C) mutants exist that are characterized by an increased propensity for conversion into PrP(Sc) and that differ from wild-type by only a single amino-acid point mutation in their primary structure.

Direct observation of translocation in individual DNA polymerase complexes.

Complexes of phi29 DNA polymerase and DNA fluctuate on the millisecond time scale between two ionic current amplitude states when captured atop the α-hemolysin nanopore in an applied field. The lower amplitude state is stabilized by complementary dNTP and thus corresponds to complexes in the post-translocation state. We have demonstrated that in the upper amplitude state, the DNA is displaced by a distance of one nucleotide from the post-translocation state.

Online resources to enhance decision-making in public health.

A virtual front door, the Canadian Best Practices Portal for Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention ("the Portal") provides access to evaluated community and population health interventions relevant to chronic disease prevention and health promotion. Designed to help Canadian public health practitioners and decision makers identify suitable interventions that they can adapt and replicate to meet their needs, the Portal is a highly accessible, easy to use and dynamic. It has a flexible search function and is supported by an extensive array of resources to inform policy and practice.

Long dwell-time passage of DNA through nanometer-scale pores: kinetics and sequence dependence of motion.

A detailed understanding of the kinetics of DNA motion though nanometer-scale pores is important for the successful development of many of the proposed next-generation rapid DNA sequencing and analysis methods. Many of these approaches require DNA motion through nanopores to be slowed by several orders of magnitude from its native translocation velocity so that the translocation times for individual nucleotides fall within practical timescales for detection. With the increased dwell time of DNA in the pore, DNA-pore interactions begin to play an increasingly important role in translocation kinetics.

Single-molecule bonds characterized by solid-state nanopore force spectroscopy.

Weak molecular interactions drive processes at the core of living systems, such as enzyme-substrate interactions, receptor-ligand binding, and nucleic acid replication. Single-molecule force spectroscopy is a remarkable tool for revealing molecular scale energy landscapes of noncovalent bonds, by exerting a mechanical force directly on an individual molecular complex and tracking its survival as a function of time and applied force. In principle, force spectroscopy methods can also be used for highly specific molecular recognition assays, by directly characterizing the strength of bonds between probe and target molecules.

Nanopore force spectroscopy on DNA duplexes.

Force spectroscopy can be applied using nanopores to study charged molecules such as nucleic acids. This technique can be used to study the binding energy of a DNA duplex by threading an anchored single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) probe molecule through a nanopore (having a diameter large enough to accommodate only a single strand) and allowing target DNA on the backside of the pore to hybridize to the probe. Electric potential can be used to apply a force to the charged ssDNA in a direction tending to translocate the duplex through the pore.

Forming an alpha-hemolysin nanopore for single-molecule analysis.

Nanopore analysis of single molecules can be performed by measuring the modulation in ionic current passing through the nanopore while an individual biomolecule such as DNA or RNA is resident in, translocating through, or otherwise interacting with the pore. The corresponding current signature has been shown to reveal properties of the biomolecule and information on its interactions with the pore. The alpha-hemolysin nanopore remains the pore of choice, particularly for single-molecule analysis of nucleic acids, because of its internal dimensions, hydrophilicity, and low-noise characteristics.

Nonexponential kinetics of DNA escape from alpha-hemolysin nanopores.

Throughput and resolution of DNA sequence detection technologies employing nanometer scale pores hinge on accurate kinetic descriptions of DNA motion in nanopores. We present the first detailed experimental study of DNA escape kinetics from alpha-hemolysin nanopores and show that anomalously long escape times for some events result in nonexponential kinetics. From the distribution of first-passage times, we determine that the energy barrier to escape follows a Poisson-like distribution, most likely due to stochastic weak binding events between the DNA and amino acid residues in the pore.

A new type of CO2 laser avoids power density loss due to absorption and the blooming effect by the CO2 gas environment.

The aim of this study was to compare the acute tissue effects of a standard CO2 laser (Ultrapulse 5000) with a new design (Ultrapulse 5000L) that utilizes a different carbon isotope (C13) in the rat uterine horn model. Following laparotomy, measured laser injuries were effected with the Ultrapulse 5000 or Ultrapulse 5000L lasers via a laparoscope using CO2 or air for insufflation. Serial sections of the lesions were, thereafter, obtained to evaluate depth and width of total injury, width of defect and thermal damage zone.

Removal of the ovarian surface epithelium from the rabbit ovary--a cause of adhesions following a standard injury.

To assess the effect of the removal of ovarian surface epithelium on repair, a standard injury was induced in the ovaries of 10 rabbits. In one ovary the surface cells were denuded, and in the other they were left intact. The effect on adhesion formation was assessed at 12 days.

Renal microangiopathy in the primary antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report with literature review.

We report the case of a 52-year-old male patient with recurrent thrombosis from 'primary antiphospholipid syndrome' who developed renal microangiopathy. Despite anticoagulant therapy with coumadin, serum creatinine progressively increased from 398 to 592 mumol/l and platelets decreased to 43,000. The patient responded to high-dose methylprednisolone and aspirin and the renal function improved.

The effect of intraovarian injection of oxytocin and vasopressin on ovulatory function and numbers of ovarian follicles.

Our findings support the clinical use of vasoconstrictor solution within the ovary to achieve hemostasis. This will allow the gynecologist to avoid the thermocoagulative injury to the ovary by replacing electrosurgery and laser surgery with sharp incision accompanied by vasoconstrictor injection.

Effect of hyaluronic acid on postoperative intraperitoneal adhesion formation in the rat model.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid solution in preventing intraperitoneal (IP) adhesions.

Design And Setting: The study design was prospective, randomized and blinded and involved 83 rats.

Interventions: Measured serosal injury was inflicted using a CO2 laser on the right uterine horn of the rat.

Percutaneous suction aspiration for osteomyelitis. Report of two cases.

The nucleotome, a recently developed instrument for percutaneous disc excision, was used for suction aspiration in two cases of osteomyelitis of the spine. The technique obtained significant amounts of pus, serosanguinous material, and tissue, which provided adequate samples for histologic examination and culture. Both patients obtained immediate relief of pain after a significant amount of pus and infected material was removed.

A comparative histologic study on the healing process after tissue transection. II. Carbon dioxide laser and surgical microscissors.

In a previous study we have demonstrated that tissue transection with a carbon dioxide laser produces less carbon and less foreign body reaction than electromicrosurgery. The purpose of this study was to compare the healing process subsequent to transection of the rat uterine horn with carbon dioxide laser and microscissors. Incisions were histologically examined on postoperative days 0, 4, 10, 14, and 21.

A comparative histologic study on the healing process after tissue transection. I. Carbon dioxide laser and electromicrosurgery.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate and compare histologic parameters of wound healing subsequent to a standard uterine incision with carbon dioxide laser and electromicrosurgery in the rat model. The following histologic parameters were assessed and scored: scar width; amount of particulate carbon and necrotic debris; number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, lymphocytes, histiocytes, and giant cells; and extent of edema, exudate, and collagen in the scar. The incisions were evaluated on postoperative days 0, 4, 7, 14, and 21.