Publications by authors named "Leah Macdonald"

Laboratory test results are increasingly available to health consumers. Almost all test results are accompanied by a reference range to aid in interpretation. This study asked 25 non-healthcare providers to explain the term reference range.

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The desire to access personal and high-quality health information electronically is increasing, not only in Canada, but globally. With the advent of the COVID - 19 pandemic the desire and demand for telemedicine and timely access to personal health data such as online laboratory (lab) results has increased substantially. This study examines citizens' perspectives of being provided with high-quality information about a specific lab test (i.

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People are increasingly offered access to their personal health information (e.g., laboratory results, clinical notes, diagnostic imaging results).

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Article Synopsis
  • The crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) is a slow-moving creature with toxic spines that can cause serious health issues, including nausea and paralysis, due to its venom.
  • Researchers used brine shrimp to test the toxicity of COTS spine secretions and conducted histological and proteomic analyses to identify the proteins involved.
  • The findings revealed that COTS spines secrete several toxic proteins, including plancitoxins, and that the structure of the spines may help in distributing these toxins.
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Background: Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of health care consumers (ie, patients, citizens, and laypeople) with access to their laboratory results through portals. However, many portals are not designed with the consumer in mind, which can limit communication effectiveness and consumer empowerment.

Objective: We aimed to study design facilitators and barriers affecting consumer use of a laboratory results portal.

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The 21st century has brought forth unprecedented technological advances, such as the advent of portable digital devices [1]. This trend has also permeated the health care sector, with the introduction of digital health services, like providing citizens with access to their online laboratory (lab) results. This qualitative study will illustrate the patient journey, namely participant 16 (P16), to address the research question: what phases does a person go through when accessing their lab results online? The findings revealed that lab results were accessed from two types of devices a tablet (e.

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People are increasingly accessing their own laboratory (lab) results online. However, Canadians may be expected to use different systems to access their results, depending upon where they are tested (e.g.

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Laboratory (lab) test results are increasingly available online for patient review. However, there is a dearth of research with respect to users' information needs, goals, and information processing strategies. In this exploratory qualitative study, we interviewed a sample of (N = 25) online lab results users to understand their objectives and search targets.

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People are increasingly able to access their laboratory (lab) results using patient-facing portals. However, lab reports for citizens are often identical to those for clinicians; without specialized training they can be near impossible to interpret. In this study, we inspected a mobile health application (app) that converts traditional lab results into a citizen-centred format.

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Multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary health research is increasingly recognizing integrated knowledge translation (iKT) as essential. It is characterized by diverse research partnerships, and iterative knowledge engagement, translation processes and democratized knowledge production. This paper reviews the methodological complexity and decision-making of a large iKT project called Seniors - Adding Life to Years (SALTY), designed to generate evidence to improve late life in long-term care (LTC) settings across Canada.

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In mice a 50% calorie restriction (CR) for 28days attenuates sickness behavior after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and these mice demonstrate a central anti-inflammatory bias. This study examined the dose-dependent effect of CR on sickness behavior (fever, anorexia, cachexia) and peripheral immune markers post-LPS. Male Sprague-Dawley rats fed ad libitum or CR by 50% for 14, 21, or 28days were injected on day 15, 22, or 29 with 50μg/kg of LPS or saline (1mL/500g).

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Objective: To describe the long-term outcomes after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) and compare these with the published literature on bariatric surgery.

Background: Because obesity is a chronic disease, any proposed obesity treatment should be expected to demonstrate long-term durability to be considered effective. Yet for bariatric surgery, few long-term weight loss data are available.

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Due to previous work where we have demonstrated attenuated febrile responses post-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in calorie restricted (CR) rodents we aimed to explore metabolic rate and behavioral thermoregulation in these CR animals post-LPS. Male Sprague-Dawley rats fed ad libitum (AL) or restricted to 50% (CR50%) of the AL animals' food intake for 28 days were injected on the 29th day with 50 μg/kg of LPS. Core body temperature (T(b)), self-selected self-selected ambient temperature (T(a)), indirect calorimetry [to determine energy expenditure (EE) and respiratory quotient (RQ)] were measured in AL and CR animals for 8 hours post-LPS.

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Calorie restriction (CR) has been demonstrated to alter cytokine levels; however, its potential to modify sickness behavior (fever, anorexia, cachexia) has not. The effect of CR on sickness behavior was examined in male C57BL/6J mice fed ad libitum or restricted 25% (CR25%) or restricted 50% (CR50%) in food intake for 28 days and injected with 50 μg/kg of LPS on day 29. Changes in body temperature, locomotor activity, body weight, and food intake were determined.

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