Promoting Safety: Behavioural Emergency Response during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, patients with and without pre-existing mental health diagnoses will either be admitted to the hospital as patients under investigation for COVID-19 or patients positive for COVID-19. A safe and timely response is required for patients exhibiting escalating behaviours (e.g.

Evaluation of the expression levels of BRAF mRNA in primary tumors of thyroid cancer using an ultrasensitive mutation assay.

Background: The BRAF gene encodes for the mutant BRAF protein, which triggers downstream oncogenic signaling in thyroid cancer. Since most currently available methods have focused on detecting BRAF mutations in tumor DNA, there is limited information about the level of BRAF mRNA in primary tumors of thyroid cancer, and the diagnostic relevance of these RNA mutations is not known.

Methods: Sixty-two patients with thyroid cancer and non-malignant thyroid disease were included in the study.

Transthoracic echocardiography and mortality in sepsis: analysis of the MIMIC-III database.

Purpose: While the use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in the ICU is rapidly expanding, the contribution of TTE to altering patient outcomes among ICU patients with sepsis has not been examined. This study was designed to examine the association of TTE with 28-day mortality specifically in that population.

Methods And Results: The MIMIC-III database was employed to identify patients with sepsis who had and had not received TTE.

The psychiatry-integrated nurse practitioner role in hemodialysis: An opportunity to provide nurse practitioner care between the interface of psychiatry and hemodialysis.

The mental health of patients living with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is an important aspect of their care. According to national survey data, depressive disorders affect about 9% of the North American population (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, Merikangas, & Walters, 2005). A review of psychological distress and depression across the spectrum of chronic kidney disease indicates that the prevalence of depression in ESKD is reported to be about four times that of the general population and it is associated with adverse outcomes including low quality-of-life ratings, graft failure, and death after renal transplantation (Zalai, Szeifert, & Novak, 2012).

MAPK inhibitors induce serine peptidase inhibitor Kazal type 1 (SPINK1) secretion in BRAF V600E-mutant colorectal adenocarcinoma.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway plays a central role in colorectal cancers (CRC). In particular, BRAF V600E-mutant tumors, which represent around 10% of CRCs, are refractory to current therapies. Overexpression and secretion of serine peptidase inhibitor Kazal type 1 (SPINK1) are observed in around 50% of CRCs, and its serum level can be used as a biomarker for poor prognosis.

No Tissue Expression of KRAS or BRAF Mutations in 61 Adult Patients Treated for Esophageal Atresia in Early Childhood.

Background:  Previous studies have reported an association among esophageal atresia (EA), Barrett's esophagus, and esophageal adenocarcinoma later in life.

Objective:  The objective of the article is to evaluate KRAS and BRAF mutations as potential genetic markers for early detection of malignant transformation, we used an ultrasensitive technique to detect tissue expression of KRAS and BRAF mutations in endoscopic biopsies from 61 adult patients under follow-up after treatment for EA.

Materials And Methods:  RNA was extracted from 112 fresh-frozen endoscopic tissue biopsies from 61 adult patients treated for EA in early childhood.

Extendable blocking probe in reverse transcription for analysis of RNA variants with superior selectivity.

Here we provide the first strategy to use a competitive Extendable Blocking Probe (ExBP) for allele-specific priming with superior selectivity at the stage of reverse transcription. In order to analyze highly similar RNA variants, a reverse-transcriptase primer whose sequence matches a specific variant selectively primes only that variant, whereas mismatch priming to the alternative variant is suppressed by virtue of hybridization and subsequent extension of the perfectly matched ExBP on that alternative variant template to form a cDNA-RNA hybrid. This hybrid will render the alternative RNA template unavailable for mismatch priming initiated by the specific primer in a hot-start protocol of reverse transcription when the temperature decreases to a level where such mismatch priming could occur.

Comparison Between a Typical Undergraduate Psychiatry Program in China and Canada--an Approach to Inform Psychiatry Education Reform in China.

Objective: Psychiatry as a field and undergraduate psychiatry education (UPE) specifically have historically been in the periphery of medicine in China, unlike the relatively central role they occupy in the West. During the current economic reform, Chinese undergraduate medical education (UME) is undergoing significant changes and standardization under the auspices of the national accreditation body. A comparative study, using Bereday's comparative education methodology and Feldmann's evaluative criteria as theoretical frameworks, to gain understanding of the differences and similarities between China and the West in terms of UPE can contribute to the UME reform, and specifically UPE development in China, and promote cross-cultural understanding.

Psychiatry clerkship core curriculum renewal: assessing the shift to larger-group learning.

Background/objective: A curriculum renewal of the third-year psychiatry clerkship rotation at University of Toronto Medical School resulted in a shift from case-based, small-group teaching at multiple teaching sites to the delivery of core material in a larger-group format. The authors examine the effects of this change in curriculum delivery.

Method: Student examination performance and student evaluations of the clerkship rotation and teaching were compared for the years before and after adoption of the updated, larger-group format curriculum.

Teaching to Teach in Toronto.

Objective: The training objectives for postgraduate education in the United States and Canada both state that teaching skills should be formally developed during training. This article reviews the development of the Teaching-to-Teach program at the University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry, the current curriculum, evaluation, and future directions of the program. The authors highlight some of the challenges encountered and discuss ideas for implementation of similar programs in diverse training settings.