Publications by authors named "Linfah McQueen"

Background: Identify opportunities to improve syphilis screening by describing changes in patient characteristics and risk factors among individuals with syphilis and by comparing cases with and without an indication for syphilis screening.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used Colorado public health surveillance data to identify 8,326 syphilis diagnoses from 2011-2020. Demographics, clinical characteristics, and risk factors were compared across 2-year groups and between individuals with and without an indication for screening.

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In this study, we explored the relationship between developmental differences in gray matter structure and grammar learning ability in 159 Dutch-speaking individuals (8 to 25 yr). The data were collected as part of a recent large-scale functional MRI study (Menks WM, Ekerdt C, Lemhöfer K, Kidd E, Fernández G, McQueen JM, Janzen G. Developmental changes in brain activation during novel grammar learning in 8-25-year-olds.

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PET and SPECT studies in treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) have revealed significant alterations in regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) during clozapine treatment, which may vary according to the clinical response. Here, we used the more recent MRI approach of arterial spin labelling (ASL) to evaluate regional CBF in participants with TRS (N = 36) before starting treatment with clozapine compared to in healthy volunteers (N = 16). We then compared CBF in the TRS group, before and after 12 weeks of treatment with clozapine (N = 24); and examined the relationship of those differences against changes in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia (PANSS) scores over the treatment period.

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Data on the cost implications of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) use in type 1 diabetes (T1D) pregnancies in the United States are sparse. Drawing on associations identified in real-world evidence from a retrospective chart review at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, we conducted a cost-consequences analysis of CGM use versus self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), inclusive of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) spending. In the base-case analysis assuming per-label CGM use and per-guideline finger-stick frequency, the per-person cost was $16,254 for CGM versus $15,182 for SMBG.

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The dengue virus (DENV) NS5 protein plays a central role in dengue viral RNA synthesis which makes it an attractive target for antiviral drug development. DENV NS5 is known to interact with the stem-loop A (SLA) promoter at the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of the viral genome as a molecular recognition signature for the initiation of negative strand synthesis at the 3' end of the viral genome. However, the conformational dynamics involved in these interactions are yet to be fully elucidated.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to understand how various factors impact executive function (EF) impairments in individuals with type 2 diabetes, as EF issues can lead to worse health outcomes.
  • Using baseline data from a Medicaid trial, researchers analyzed the relationships between EF and several demographic, health, and psychosocial factors through statistical methods.
  • The findings highlighted six significant factors that correlate with EF impairment: age, education level, depression symptoms, comorbidity burden, diabetes-related distress, and future time orientation, emphasizing the importance of considering these when treating patients with diabetes.
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Morphogens choreograph the generation of remarkable cellular diversity in the developing nervous system. Differentiation of stem cells in vitro often relies upon the combinatorial modulation of these signaling pathways. However, the lack of a systematic approach to understand morphogen-directed differentiation has precluded the generation of many neural cell populations, and the general principles of regional specification and maturation remain incomplete.

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Purpose: Paediatric patients with heart failure requiring ventricular assist devices are at heightened risk of neurologic injury and psychosocial adjustment challenges, resulting in a need for neurodevelopmental and psychosocial support following device placement. Through a descriptive survey developed in collaboration by the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network and the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative, the present study aimed to characterise current neurodevelopmental and psychosocial care practices for paediatric patients with ventricular assist devices.

Method: Members of both learning networks developed a 25-item electronic survey assessing neurodevelopmental and psychosocial care practices specific to paediatric ventricular assist device patients.

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Antimicrobial-induced DNA damage, and subsequent repair via upregulation of DNA repair factors, including error-prone translesion polymerases, can lead to the increased accumulation of mutations in the microbial genome, and ultimately increased risk of acquired mutations associated with antimicrobial resistance. While this phenotype is well described in bacterial species, it is less thoroughly investigated amongst microbial fungi. Here, we monitor DNA damage induced by antifungal agents in the fungal pathogen , and find that commonly used antifungal drugs are able to induce DNA damage, leading to the upregulation of transcripts encoding predicted error-prone polymerases and related factors.

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  • The authors challenge the conclusion that online activation feedback enhances word recognition, as proposed by Magnuson et al. (2023), arguing that the TRACE model may not accurately reflect human word recognition.
  • They point out that the speed-up in word recognition could result from changes in other TRACE model parameters and that the model itself is suboptimal compared to Bayesian models.
  • The authors claim that the evidence supporting activation feedback is not robust and that alternative explanations exist for the data cited by Magnuson et al., suggesting that other feedback mechanisms may be more relevant for aiding word recognition.
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  • * The selectivity of the TiO layers is influenced by the oxidation process and the choice of titanium precursor, allowing for tailored band bending that promotes charge separation in crystalline silicon solar cells.
  • * Investigations reveal that the unique properties of the TiO layers stem from the fixed negative charges generated during their deposition, emphasizing the importance of a thin silicon oxide layer at the interface for chemical passivation and overall efficiency.
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Sexual violence is a worldwide issue that impacts many individuals, often with serious and long-lasting effects. Students represent a high-risk group for sexual violence on campuses. As a result, various government initiatives have called for Universities and Colleges to develop policies and sexual violence prevention initiatives.

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  • This research examines how body odors transfer to different textile fibers using a method that mimics liquid sweat, focusing on a variety of odorous volatile organic compounds.
  • A study was conducted using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry to measure the release of these compounds at different time intervals across six types of fabrics.
  • Results show that cellulosic fibers (like cotton) retain odors differently compared to synthetic fibers (like nylon and polyester), with variations in the intensity of ketones and aldehydes released over time.
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  • Microcystins from freshwater cyanobacteria pose risks to human and ecological health, necessitating innovative treatment technologies like TiO photocatalysis.
  • 3D Printing (3DP) allows for the immobilization of TiO, creating effective photocatalyst structures that can be adapted to different environments.
  • In experiments, TiO embedded in 3DP polylactic acid (PLA) significantly reduced microcystin half-lives, demonstrating its potential for practical applications in various light conditions.
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Police officers play a central role in attaining justice for sexual assault survivors. Disclosing sexual assault is critical to attain justice and foster support, yet survivors often experience negative interactions when disclosing sexual victimization to the police. Police officers' experiences investigating sexual assault have not been explored.

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  • Learning Health Networks (LHNs) have recently been integrated into transplantation, building on their two-decade evolution in medicine.
  • This paper reviews three LHNs focused on end-stage organ disease and their ability to adapt quickly to challenges, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Key aspects include the importance of patient and family engagement, collaboration with Transplant Families, common challenges faced, and how LHNs can enhance knowledge sharing to improve pediatric transplantation outcomes.
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Changes to body size and shape have been identified as potential adaptive responses to climate change, but the pervasiveness of these responses has been questioned. To address this, we measured body and appendage size from 5013 museum bird skins of 78 ecologically and evolutionary diverse Australian species. We found that morphological change is a shared response to climate change across birds.

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Photocatalysts can use visible light to convert CO into useful products. However, to date photocatalysts for CO conversion are limited by insufficient long-term stability and low CO conversion rates. Here we report hybrid photocatalysts consisting of conjugated polymers and a ruthenium(ii)-ruthenium(ii) supramolecular photocatalyst which overcome these challenges.

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  • Vein graft disease refers to the inflammation and atherosclerosis that affects saphenous vein grafts used in coronary artery bypass surgery over time.
  • The study employed a novel spatial transcriptomic analysis to explore how arterial blood flow affects gene expression in the long saphenous vein, identifying 413 significant genes that respond to haemodynamic changes.
  • Findings revealed key pathways related to inflammation and tissue remodeling that could serve as potential therapeutic targets to prevent vein graft disease in the future.
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Fish spawning location and behaviour can be challenging to detect, especially in deep water. Here we utilise two large acoustic telemetry datasets from western and mid Norway to study the vertical movement dimension of individual Atlantic cod Gadus morhua spawning behaviour in their natural habitats. The datasets comprise ~ 6 million depth detections from 644 sexed, mature cod, collected at seven different Norwegian coastal cod spawning grounds during 2017-2021.

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Objectives: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) contributes to poor reproductive health and is characterized by a displacement of Lactobacillus in the vaginal microbiome. However, treatment for BV is limited to antibiotics and half of the women treated experience recurrence within a year. THRIVE (The Study of Host-Bacterial Relationships and Immune Function in Different Vaginal Environments) is a prospective study in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which is designed to capture the daily variation of the microbiome and host mucosal immunity during treatment.

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Foodborne disease burden estimates inform public health priorities and can help the public understand disease impact. This article provides new estimates of the cost of U.S.

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The second-generation antipsychotic clozapine is used as a medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. It has previously been associated with epigenetic changes in pre-clinical rodent models and cross-sectional studies of treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Cross-sectional studies are susceptible to confounding, however, and cannot disentangle the effects of diagnosis and medication.

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Children and adults are excellent word learners. Increasing evidence suggests that the neural mechanisms that allow us to learn words change with age. In a recent fMRI study from our group, several brain regions exhibited age-related differences when accessing newly learned words in a second language (L2; Takashima et al.

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