Publications by authors named "MACDONALD J"

Background: Ageism and stigma reduce the quality of life of older adults living with dementia. However, there is a paucity of literature addressing the intersection and combined effects of ageism and stigma of dementia. This intersectionality, rooted in the social determinants of health (ie, social support and access to health care), compounds health disparities and is, therefore, an important area of inquiry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aims: Treatment adherence is key to the efficacy of exclusive enteral nutrition [100% EN] in active Crohn's disease [CD], but there are no biomarkers to objectively estimate this. We explored faecal parameters as biomarkers of compliance with 100% EN, and subsequently developed and validated the Glasgow Exclusive Enteral Nutrition Index of Compliance [GENIE].

Methods: Healthy adults replaced all [100% EN] or part [85% EN, 50% EN, 20% EN] of their diet with a formula for 7 days.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • O-GlcNAcase (OGA) is a crucial enzyme that removes O-GlcNAc modifications from proteins, and its dysfunction is linked to diseases like cancer.
  • A study identified a cancer-related mutation in OGA that alters its interactions and hydrolysis of O-GlcNAc, specifically affecting a protein called PDLIM7 and promoting cancer cell growth.
  • This research highlights a new mechanism of cancer progression involving OGA's role in regulating the p53-MDM2 pathway, providing insights for future biomedical applications while maintaining O-GlcNAc balance in cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how father's trait anger affects parenting stress during the toddler years, especially focusing on how bonding with the child mediates this relationship.
  • - Research involved 177 Australian fathers and assessed factors like trait anger, father-infant bonding, and various aspects of parenting stress.
  • - Findings show that 'patience and tolerance' in father-infant bonding can mitigate the negative effects of father trait anger on parenting stress, highlighting the importance of interventions to improve both areas for better family dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As length of stay after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) continues to shorten, interventions that may reduce early postoperative pain and complications must be studied. Peripheral nerve block is being explored as a potential means of improving pain management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of adductor canal block (ACB) on postoperative outcomes for patients undergoing TKA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Due to their prevalence worldwide, the β-lactamases CTX-M and plasmid-mediated CMY-2 are important antimicrobial resistance enzymes in a clinical setting. While culture- and PCR-based detection methods exist for these targets, they are time consuming and require specialist equipment and trained personnel to carry out.

Methods: In this study, three rapid diagnostic single-plex and a prototype triplex assay were developed, using recombinase polymerase amplification with lateral flow detection (RPA-LF), and tested for their sensitivity and specificity using two isolate DNA panels ( = 90 and  = 120 isolates).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study examines the genetic factors contributing to the risk of different cancers by analyzing data from 12 genome-wide association studies, involving nearly 910,000 participants.
  • Researchers discovered 15 new cancer susceptibility loci and found that some genetic variants are shared between multiple cancer types, despite much of the heritability being specific to individual cancers.
  • The findings indicate the importance of using larger sample sizes for more effective cross-cancer analyses, which could unveil additional genetic regions linked to increased cancer risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and disruption of normal bony architecture are the characteristics of osteopenia and osteoporosis and in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) may cause failure of trabecular ingrowth. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of reduced BMD on outcomes following primary elective THA.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 650 elective THAs with a DEXA scan in their electronic health record (EHR) from 2011 to 2020 was conducted at an urban, academic center and a regional, health center.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Representative enrollment of racial and ethnic minoritized populations in biomedical research ensures the generalizability of results and equitable access to novel therapies. Previous studies on pediatric clinical trial diversity are limited to subsets of journals or disciplines. We aimed to evaluate race and ethnicity reporting and representation in all US pediatric clinical trials on ClinicalTrials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Most children with leukemia and lymphoma experience febrile neutropenia. These are treated with empiric antibiotics that include β-lactams and/or vancomycin. These are often administered for extended periods, and the effect on the resistome is unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The pantropic emergence of severe dengue disease can partly be attributed to the co-circulation of different dengue viruses (DENVs) in the same geographical location. Effective monitoring for circulation of each of the four DENVs is critical to inform disease mitigation strategies. In low resource settings, this can be effectively achieved by utilizing inexpensive, rapid, sensitive and specific assays to detect viruses in mosquito populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As nanomaterials become more prevalent in both industry and medicine, it is crucial to fully understand their health risks. One area of concern is the interaction of nanoparticles with proteins, including their ability to modulate the uncontrolled aggregation of amyloid proteins associated with diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes, and potentially extend the lifetime of cytotoxic soluble oligomers. This work demonstrates that two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and CO isotope labeling can be used to follow the aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) in the presence of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with single-residue structural resolution.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Personality reliably predicts life outcomes ranging from social and material resources to mental health and interpersonal capacities. However, little is known about the potential intergenerational impact of parent personality prior to offspring conception on family resources and child development across the first thousand days of life. We analysed data from the Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study (665 parents, 1030 infants; est.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Wildlife trafficking, whether local or transnational in scope, undermines sustainable development efforts, degrades cultural resources, endangers species, erodes the local and global economy, and facilitates the spread of zoonotic diseases. Wildlife trafficking networks (WTNs) occupy a unique gray space in supply chains-straddling licit and illicit networks, supporting legitimate and criminal workforces, and often demonstrating high resilience in their sourcing flexibility and adaptability. Authorities in different sectors desire, but frequently lack knowledge about how to allocate resources to disrupt illicit wildlife supply networks and prevent negative collateral impacts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Accurate and timely diagnosis of Nipah virus (NiV) requires rapid, inexpensive, and robust diagnostic tests to control spread of disease. Current state of the art technologies are slow and require laboratory infrastructure that may not be available in all endemic settings. Here we report the development and comparison of three rapid NiV molecular diagnostic tests based on reverse transcription recombinase-based isothermal amplification coupled with lateral flow detection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Effective medical therapies for patients with microscopic colitis (MC) who fail budesonide are lacking. However, conducting randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in MC has been challenging due to small sample sizes. Understanding placebo responses can help inform more efficient future trials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: A multi-site randomized controlled trial was carried out between 2015 and 2019 to evaluate the impacts on quality of life of an intradialytic exercise programme for people living with chronic kidney disease. This included a qualitative process evaluation which gave valuable insights in relation to feasibility of the trial and of the intervention in the long-term. These can inform future clinical Trial design and evaluation studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Modern bottom-up synthesis to nanocrystalline solid-state materials often lacks the reasoned product control that molecular chemistry boasts from having over a century of research and development. In this study, six transition metals including iron, cobalt, nickel, ruthenium, palladium, and platinum were reacted with the mild reagent didodecyl ditelluride in their acetylacetonate, chloride, bromide, iodide, and triflate salts. This systematic analysis demonstrates how rationally matching the reactivity of metal salts to the telluride precursor is necessary for the successful production of metal tellurides.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is a highly effective surgery. However, poor nutritional status has been associated with worse outcomes. In orthopedics, nutrition status is commonly evaluated using serum albumin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Mental health disorders are ranked globally as the single largest contributor to non-fatal ill-health. Social support can be a means of reducing and managing depression. However, depression can also impact on a person's level of social support.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The murder of George Floyd triggered a broad social response and noticeable shift in public opinion of policing. Since policing is dependent upon public cooperation, a question is whether the shift in opinion had an effect on police calls-for-service. Data from Los Angeles and New York City are evaluated using a regression discontinuity design.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF