Publications by authors named "Johnston N"

Article Synopsis
  • - Blowflies are a diverse group with limited genomic information available, as only 16 species have publicly accessible genome assemblies, despite there being many more species known.
  • - The current genetic databases show significant gaps, with only about 16.5% of blowfly species represented in DNA barcodes, approximately 3% in mitogenomes, and less than 1% in complete genomes.
  • - The review emphasizes the need for more comprehensive genomic research across various blowfly subfamilies to improve studies related to their identification, evolution, and systematics.
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Background: Dyslipidaemia in patients with diabetes contributes to the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. We aimed to identify a dyslipidemic profile associated with both dysglycemia and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.

Methods: Study participants (n = 5050) were classified in three groups: normoglycemia, pre-diabetes, and diabetes.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Diagnosis and treatment of LPR can be challenging due to its diverse subtypes, but advanced monitoring techniques and specific therapies are available to tailor management plans.
  • * Ongoing research into LPR aims to improve understanding and develop new diagnostic and treatment strategies, including the use of pepsin inhibitors and comprehensive approaches to address laryngeal hypersensitivity.
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Breakthrough symptoms are thought to occur in roughly half of all gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients despite maximal acid suppression (proton pump inhibitor, PPI) therapy. Topical alginates have recently been shown to enhance mucosal defense against acid-pepsin insult during GERD. We aimed to examine potential alginate protection of transcriptomic changes in a cell culture model of PPI-recalcitrant GERD.

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  • Photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) is a technique that combines with ultrasound imaging to study blood flow and oxygen levels in the deep brain of small animals.
  • A new device called 3D-PAULM merges these technologies for non-invasive imaging capabilities, allowing researchers to study brain functions while preserving the integrity of the skull and scalp.
  • Using 3D-PAULM, researchers were able to assess the effects of ischemic stroke on mouse brains by measuring key parameters like blood perfusion, oxygen saturation, and flow velocity, which can help in understanding brain disorders.
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Background: Symptoms of emotional and physical stress near death may be related to previous experiences of trauma.

Objective: To investigate current evidence regarding the following: (1) Is previous trauma identified in people who are dying, and if so, how? (2) How is previous trauma associated with the experience of death/dying in people with or without cognitive impairment? and (3) What palliative care interventions are available to people with previous trauma at the end of life?

Design: This integrative review was conducted per Whittemore and Knafl's guidelines, which involves a stepped approach, specifically (1) problem identification, (2) literature search, (3) data evaluation, (4) data analysis and (5) presentation.

Methods: This integrative review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines.

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Background: Seafood allergy (SA), including allergy to shellfish (crustacean and mollusks) and fish, is among the 4 most common food allergies causing anaphylaxis, but there are limited data showing SA clinical management in different countries.

Objective: We sought to characterize a large cohort of patients with fish and shellfish allergy and to facilitate standardization of future care for this increasingly common allergic disease.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, observational, noninterventional study from 945 patients from 2015 to 2019 in 7 hospitals in the United States and the United Kingdom to evaluate SA.

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Patients suffering from a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) are mostly younger to middle-aged women. There are very few data to guide physicians and physiotherapists on recommendations about physical activity for these patients. Based on the few studies that are available, aerobic activity at moderate levels and weightlifting with light weights appears safe.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore sex differences in the prevalence of imaging-detected atherosclerosis in men and women, revealing that men are more likely to experience cardiovascular issues such as myocardial infarction.
  • Participants aged 50-65 from the SCAPIS study underwent advanced imaging, finding significantly higher rates of coronary and carotid atherosclerosis in men compared to women (e.g., 56.2% vs. 29.5% for coronary atherosclerosis).
  • Even after adjusting for factors like hypertension and diabetes, these sex differences in atherosclerosis prevalence persisted, indicating a greater cardiovascular risk for men, with older women showing comparable rates to younger men.
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The sweetpotato whitefly, MEAM1, is one of the most devastating pests of row-crop vegetables worldwide, damaging crops directly through feeding and indirectly through the transmission of many different viruses, including the geminivirus Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Y-tube olfactometer tests were conducted at different stages of TYLCV infection in tomatoes to understand how TYLCV affects behavior. We also recorded changes in tomato hosts' color and volatile profiles using color spectrophotometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

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Objective: To compare long-term cardiovascular (CV) outcomes between men and women with aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) by the type of valve implant.

Methods: The study population consisted of 14 123 non-selected patients with AS undergoing first-time AVR and included in the Swedish Web system for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-based care in Heart disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies (SWEDEHEART) registry during 2008-2016. Comparisons were made between men and women and type of valve implant (ie, surgical implantation with a mechanical (mSAVR) (n=1 966) or biological valve (bioSAVR) (n=9 801)) or by a transcatheter approach (TAVR) (n=2 356).

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Purpose: We aimed to identify whether social determinants of health (SDoH) are associated with the development of sepsis and assess the differences between individuals living within systematically disadvantaged neighbourhoods compared with those living outside these neighbourhoods.

Methods: We conducted a single-centre case-control study including 300 randomly selected adult patients (100 patients with sepsis and 200 patients without sepsis) admitted to the emergency department of a large academic tertiary care hospital in Hamilton, ON, Canada. We collected data on demographics and a limited set of SDoH variables, including neighbourhood household income, smoking history, social support, and history of alcohol disorder.

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We report a simple, inexpensive design of a fluorescence microscope with light-emitting diode (LED) excitation for detection of labeled and unlabeled microorganisms in mineral substrates. The use of deep UV (DUV) excitation with visible emission requires no specialized optics or slides and can be implemented easily and inexpensively using an oblique illumination geometry. DUV excitation (<280 nm) is preferable to near UV (365 nm) for avoidance of mineral autofluorescence.

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Autologous transplantation of null hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) is the only known cure for HIV-1 infection. However, this treatment is limited because of the rarity of -null matched donors, the morbidities associated with allogeneic transplantation, and the prevalence of HIV-1 strains resistant to CCR5 knockout (KO) alone. Here, we propose a one-time therapy through autologous transplantation of HSPCs genetically engineered to produce both CCR5 KO cells and long-term secretion of potent HIV-1 inhibiting antibodies from B cell progeny.

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Off-axis digital holographic microscopy (DHM) provides both amplitude and phase images, and so it may be used for label-free 3D tracking of micro- and nano-sized particles of different compositions, including biological cells, strongly absorbing particles, and strongly scattering particles. Contrast is provided by differences in either the real or imaginary parts of the refractive index (phase contrast and absorption) and/or by scattering. While numerous studies have focused on phase contrast and improving resolution in DHM, particularly axial resolution, absent have been studies quantifying the limits of detection for unresolved particles.

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Objectives: 17β-estradiol (E2) is a steroidal hormone with immunomodulatory functions that play a role in infectious and inflammatory diseases. E2 was recently identified as the leading upstream regulator of differentially expressed genes in a comparative RNA sequencing study of pediatric patients with otitis media (OM) versus OM-free counterparts and may therefore play a role in the inflammatory response to bacterial otopathogens during pediatric OM. This study examined the effect of E2 on bacterial-induced inflammatory cytokine expression in an in vitro pediatric OM model.

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This article reports on participants' experiences with long COVID-19 (LC) (symptoms, impact, healthcare use, and perceived needs) and satisfaction with a patient-oriented knowledge-sharing session organized by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, researchers, and a patient partner. Twenty-six participants completed a pre-session survey. On average, they were 21 months post-COVID-19 infection (SD 10.

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Objectives: Approximately 25% of Americans suffer from laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), a disease for which no effective medical therapy exists. Pepsin is a predominant source of damage during LPR and a key therapeutic target. Fosamprenavir (FOS) inhibits pepsin and prevents damage in an LPR mouse model.

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Cold water immersion (CWI) evokes the life-threatening reflex cold shock response (CSR), inducing hyperventilation, increasing cardiac arrhythmias, and increasing drowning risk by impairing safety behaviour. Repeated CWI induces CSR habituation (i.e.

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Background And Aims: This study analyzed the optimal biliary stenting strategy for palliation in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).

Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with CCA who underwent biliary drainage from 1997 to 2023. A per-patient analysis of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) rates, the median number of ERCPs, and overall survival (OS) and a per-procedure analysis of clinical success (CS), stent-specific adverse events (AEs), and mean time to repeat ERCP by stent type and laterality (unilateral and bilateral) are presented.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A group of 48 international experts used a modified Delphi process to review and reach a consensus on 48 statements regarding LPR, achieving agreement on 38 of them (79.2%) after three voting rounds.
  • * The consensus defines LPR as a disease caused by reflux of stomach contents affecting the upper aerodigestive tract, and highlights specific symptoms and diagnostic tools to aid clinicians in recognizing and diagnosing the condition.
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Rationale: Primary care access challenges are experienced by many communities. In several jurisdictions, including Canada, family physicians (FP) have the professional autonomy to organize their practice in alignment with professional and personal interests. Although system-level interventions are tremendously important, investment in upstream interventions associated with the medical education of graduating FPs is a promising strategy for ameliorating primary healthcare access challenges.

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Objective: Otitis media (OM) is among the most frequently diagnosed pediatric diseases in the US. Despite the significant public health burden of OM and the contribution research in culture models has made to understanding its pathobiology, a singular immortalized human middle ear epithelial (MEE) cell line exists (HMEEC-1, adult-derived). We previously developed MEE cultures from pediatric patients with non-inflamed MEE (PCI), recurrent OM (ROM), or OM with effusion (OME) and demonstrated differences in their baseline inflammatory cytokine expression and response to stimulation with an OM-relevant pathogen lysate and cytokines.

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Recombineering is an essential tool for molecular biologists, allowing for the facile and efficient manipulation of bacterial genomes directly in cells without the need for costly and laborious manipulations involving restriction enzymes. The main workhorses behind recombineering are bacteriophage proteins that promote the single-strand annealing (SSA) homologous recombination pathway to repair double-stranded DNA breaks. While there have been several reviews examining recombineering methods and applications, comparatively few have focused on the mechanisms of the proteins that are the key players in the SSA pathway: a 5'→3' exonuclease and a single-strand annealing protein (SSAP or "annealase").

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