Primary care in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: Lessons from Ontario.

Objective: To understand the role of primary care in the COVID-19 pandemic to provide insight into its functioning and inform potential reforms.

Composition Of The Committee: The now dissolved Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (Science Table) was formed in July 2020 to provide decision makers and the public with a synthesis of rapidly evolving evidence related to COVID-19. The Science Table was based at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and supported by Public Health Ontario.

Clinical Characteristics of Virologically Confirmed Respiratory Syncytial Virus in English Primary Care: Protocol for an Observational Study of Acute Respiratory Infection.

Background: There are gaps in our understanding of the clinical characteristics and disease burden of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among community-dwelling adults. This is in part due to a lack of routine testing at the point of care. More data would enhance our assessment of the need for an RSV vaccination program for adults in the United Kingdom.

Chemical and temporal manipulation of early steps in protein assembly tunes the structure and intermolecular interactions of protein-based materials.

The Drosophila intrinsically disordered protein Ultrabithorax (Ubx) undergoes a series of phase transitions, beginning with noncovalent interactions between apparently randomly organized monomers, and evolving over time to form increasingly ordered coacervates. This assembly process ends when specific dityrosine covalent bonds lock the monomers in place, forming macroscale materials. Inspired by this hierarchical, multistep assembly process, we analyzed the impact of protein concentration, assembly time, and subphase composition on the early, noncovalent stages of Ubx assembly, which are extremely sensitive to their environment.

Social Category Modulation of the Happy Face Advantage.

The size of the happy face advantage-faster categorization of happy faces-is modulated by interactions between perceiver and target social categories, with reliable happy face advantages for ingroups but not necessarily outgroups. The current understanding of this phenomenon is constrained by the limited social categories typically used in experiments. To better understand the mechanism(s) underpinning social category modulation of the happy face advantage, we used racially more diverse samples of perceivers and target faces and manipulated the intergroup context in which they appeared.

Neonatal mortality in 2001-2017 in France: A cause-specific and spatiotemporal analysis.

Background: In France, the infant mortality rate had a long period of decline, but it stopped decreasing after 2010 and then rose. Neonatal mortality is a large part of infant mortality. The aim of this study was thus to describe its main changes, by cause of death and gestational age, and the main changes in socio-spatial distribution, from 2001 to 2017.

[The place of invasive approaches to the treatment of low back pain].

The prevalence of chronic low back pain is high and rising. Chronic low back pain is «non-specific» in approximately 90 % of cases. In addition to age, risk factors include smoking, obesity, physical and psychological stress, as well as demographic factors.

Increased functional potency of multi-edited CAR-T cells manufactured by a non-viral transfection system.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy represents a breakthrough for the treatment of hematological malignancies. However, to treat solid tumors and certain hematologic cancers, next-generation CAR-T cells require further genetic modifications to overcome some of the current limitations. Improving manufacturing processes to preserve cell health and function of edited T cells is equally critical.

The MyLungHealth study protocol: a pragmatic patient-randomised controlled trial to evaluate a patient-centred, electronic health record-integrated intervention to enhance lung cancer screening in primary care.

Introduction: Early lung cancer screening (LCS) through low-dose CT (LDCT) is crucial but underused due to various barriers, including incomplete or inaccurate patient smoking data in the electronic health record and limited time for shared decision-making. The objective of this trial is to investigate a patient-centred intervention, MyLungHealth, delivered through the patient portal. The intervention is designed to improve LCS rates through increased identification of eligible patients and informed decision-making.

Systematic optimisation of crude buccal swab lysate protocols for use with the ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit.

The ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep kit has not been thoroughly tested with crude buccal swab lysates in large-scale population studies using massively parallel sequencing (MPS). Commonly used lysis buffers for swabs intending to undergo direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are SwabSolution™ and STR GO! Lysis Buffers, and these have been successfully used to generate population data using capillary electrophoresis (CE) systems. In this study, we investigated the performance and optimisation of SwabSolution™ and STR GO! lysates with the ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep workflow and addressed the challenge of failed MPS profiles in initial trials.

Impact of diabetes mellitus on postoperative complications in patients undergoing pancreatic surgery.

Background: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols decrease postoperative complications, but data on their effect on diabetic patients undergoing pancreatectomy are scarce. This study assessed whether diabetes mellitus (DM) was a morbidity predictor after pancreatectomy within an ERAS program.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including all patients who underwent pancreatectomy (2012-2022) and followed an ERAS pathway was performed.

Novel Inhibitors for MDM2-MDM4 E3 Ligase Potently Induce p53-Indepedent Apoptosis in Drug-Resistant Leukemic Cells.

MDM2 and MDM4 are major negative regulators of tumor suppressor p53. Beyond regulating p53, MDM2 possesses p53-independent activity in promoting cell cycle progression and tumorigenesis via its RING domain ubiquitin E3 ligase activity. MDM2 and MDM4 form heterodimer polyubiquitin E3 ligases via their RING domain interaction.

H-F cross-polarization magic angle spinning dynamic nuclear polarization NMR investigation of advanced pharmaceutical formulations.

A new 3.2 mm H-F-X magic angle spinning dynamic nuclear polarization NMR (MAS DNP-NMR) probe was developed with a unique coil design with separate radiofrequency channels for H excitation and C or F detection to enable acquisition of H-F cross-polarization (CP) MAS experiments, direct-detected F spectra with proton decoupling, and acquisition on C with simultaneous double decoupling on the H and 19F channels as well as H-F-C double-CP experiments under low temperature MAS DNP conditions. We use these sequences to study AZD2811, which is an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), in its pure dry state as well as in its corresponding drug delivery formulation consisting of drug-loaded polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs).

A matter of complexity? The role of the dorsal posterior parietal cortex in processing changes in spatial information across time.

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is an associative neocortical region that integrates multiple streams of information and is implicated in spatial cognition and decision making. In some cases, however, the PPC is not required for these functions. One possibility is that the PPC is recruited when spatial complexity is high.

Mortality prediction after major surgery in a mixed population through machine learning: a multi-objective symbolic regression approach.

Introduction: Understanding 1-year mortality following major surgery offers valuable insights into patient outcomes and the quality of peri-operative care. Few models exist that predict 1-year mortality accurately. This study aimed to develop a predictive model for 1-year mortality in patients undergoing complex non-cardiac surgery using a novel machine-learning technique called multi-objective symbolic regression.

CONVENIENCE SAMPLING FOR PANDEMIC SURVEILLANCE OF SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2 IN CHILDREN IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.

We assessed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 seroprevalence on residual blood samples for pediatric COVID-19 surveillance: 2263 samples were collected during routine outpatient visits (<18 years, April 2020-August 2021). Seroprevalence increased over time, coinciding with or preceding virus circulation in the community and with or preceding pediatric severe COVID-19 hospitalization peaks. Residual blood sample seroprevalence may be a useful surveillance tool in future outbreaks.

PlomBOX: a low cost bioassay for the sensitive detection of lead in drinking water.

This paper reports the design of a biosensor for sensitive, low-cost measurement of lead in drinking water. The biosensor uses a genetically-modified strain of Escherichia coli, which serves as both signal amplifier and reporter of lead in water, measured via colour change. We developed the PlomBOX measurement platform to image this colour change and we demonstrate its capability to detect concentrations as low as the World Health Organisation upper limit for drinking water of 10 ppb.

Small-molecule MMRi36 induces apoptosis in p53-mutant lymphomas by targeting MDM2/MDM4/XIAP for degradation.

Rituximab combined with systemic chemotherapy significantly improves the rate of complete response in B-cell lymphomas. However, acquired rituximab resistance develops in most patients leading to relapse. The mechanisms underlying rituximab resistance are not well-understood.

Effect of ketamine on anxiety: findings from the Ketamine for Adult Depression Study.

Background: Anxiety disorders and treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (TRD) are often comorbid. Studies suggest ketamine has anxiolytic and antidepressant properties.

Aims: To investigate if subcutaneous racemic ketamine, delivered twice weekly for 4 weeks, reduces anxiety in people with TRD.

First Report of sp. Causing Downy Mildew of Stock () in Ohio.

, commonly known as stock, is a flowering plant species in the Brassicaceae popularly used as a cut flower due to its fragrant, long-lasting blooms. In September 2023, stock 'Iron White' plants displaying symptoms and signs of downy mildew were observed within a high tunnel in a cut flower farm in Franklin Co., OH.

Enhanced fetal hemoglobin production via dual-beneficial mutation editing of the HBG promoter in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells for β-hemoglobinopathies.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia patients with elevated gamma globin (HBG1/G2) levels exhibit mild or no symptoms. To recapitulate this natural phenomenon, the most coveted gene therapy approach is to edit the regulatory sequences of HBG1/G2 to reactivate them. By editing more than one regulatory sequence in the HBG promoter, the production of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) can be significantly increased.

A dual-adaptive stochastic reinforcement chimp optimization algorithm for fire detection and multidimensional problem solving.

Chimp optimization algorithm (CHOA) is a recently developed nature-inspired technique that mimics the swarm intelligence of chimpanzee colonies. However, the original CHOA suffers from slow convergence and a tendency to reach local optima when dealing with multidimensional problems. To address these limitations, we propose TASR-CHOA, a twofold adaptive stochastic reinforced variant.

Safety outcomes of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression in clinical settings and development of the ketamine side effect tool-revised (KSET-R).

Background: Ketamine and its derivates (e.g. esketamine) are increasingly used in clinical settings for treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Emergence of Omicron FN.1 a descendent of BQ.1.1 in Botswana.

Botswana, like the rest of the world, has been significantly impacted by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In December 2022, we detected a monophyletic cluster of genomes comprising a sublineage of the Omicron variant of concern (VOC) designated as B.1.

Increase of niche filling with increase of host richness for plant-infecting mastreviruses.

Now that it has been realized that viruses are ubiquitous, questions have been raised on factors influencing their diversity and distribution. For phytoviruses, understanding the interplay between plant diversity and virus species richness and prevalence remains cardinal. As both the amplification and the dilution of viral species richness due to increasing host diversity have been theorized and observed, a deeper understanding of how plants and viruses interact in natural environments is needed to explore how host availability conditions viral diversity and distributions.