Publications by authors named "Margaret Donahue"

Hippocampal region CA2 is essential for social memory processing. Interaction with social stimuli induces changes in CA2 place cell firing during active exploration and sharp wave-ripples during rest following a social interaction. However, it is unknown whether these changes in firing patterns are caused by integration of multimodal social stimuli or by a specific sensory modality associated with a social interaction.

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Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can cause impairments in spatial cognition and memory. The hippocampus is thought to support spatial cognition through the activity of place cells, neurons with spatial receptive fields. Coordinated firing of place cell populations is organized by different oscillatory patterns in the hippocampus during specific behavioral states.

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Hippocampal region CA2 is essential for social memory processing. Interaction with social stimuli induces changes in CA2 place cell firing during active exploration and sharp wave-ripples during rest following a social interaction. However, it is unknown whether these changes in firing patterns are caused by integration of multimodal social stimuli or by a specific sensory modality associated with a social interaction.

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Spatial working memory (SWM) is the ability to encode, maintain, and retrieve spatial information over a temporal gap, and relies on a network of structures including the medial septum (MS), which provides critical input to the hippocampus. Although the role of the MS in SWM is well-established, up until recently, we have been unable to use temporally precise circuit manipulation techniques to examine the specific role of the MS in SWM, particularly to distinguish between encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. Here, we test the hypothesis that the MS supports the maintenance of spatial information over a temporal gap using precisely timed optogenetic suppression delivered during specific portions of three different tasks, two of which rely on SWM and one that does not.

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Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between demographic variables, such as race and gender, and patient consent policy preferences for health information exchange as well as self-report by VHA enrollees of information continuity between Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and community non-VHA heath care providers.

Materials And Methods: Data were collected between March 25, 2016 and August 22, 2016 in an online survey of 19 567 veterans. Three questions from the 2016 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey, which addressed care continuity, were included.

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Health Information Exchange (HIE) between organizations is necessary to have more complete information and coordinate care. Given its nationwide footprint, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) connects and exchanges health information with a large number of organizations and consequently has a unique opportunity to experience most issues affecting clinical interoperability. The Veterans HIE Program manages these exchanges by focusing on patient engagement, provider adoption, partner relationship, technology platform, and performance.

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The Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA) is the primary standard for clinical document exchange in the United States. While document exchange is prevalent today, prior research has documented challenges to high quality, effective interoperability using this standard. Many electronic health records (EHRs) have recently been certified to a new version of the C-CDA standard as part of federal programs for EHR adoption.

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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veteran Health Information Exchange (VHIE, formerly Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, or VLER) had been deployed at all VA sites and used to exchange clinical information with private sector healthcare partners nationally.

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Care coordination across healthcare organizations depends upon health information exchange. Various policies and laws govern permissible exchange, particularly when the information includes privacy sensitive conditions. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) privacy policy has required either blanket consent or manual sensitivity review prior to exchanging any health information.

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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veteran Health Information Exchange (VHIE, formerly Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, or VLER) Retail Immunization Coordination Project established a partnership between VA and Walgreens to empower Veterans to elect to receive their immunizations at a local Walgreens, which might be located closer to their home than their nearest VA facility.

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As part of ongoing data quality efforts authors monitored health information retrieved through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) Health operation. Health data exchanged through the eHealth Exchange (managed by Healtheway, Inc.) between VA and external care providers was evaluated in order to test methods of data quality surveillance and to identify key quality concerns.

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Objective: To explore the experiences of family physicians and respiratory therapists in treating advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and their attitudes to the use of opioids for dyspnea in this context.

Design: Qualitative methodology using one-on-one semistructured interviews.

Setting: Southern New Brunswick (St Stephen to Sussex).

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Background: A recent national practice guideline recommends the use of opioids for the treatment of refractory dyspnea in patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We conducted two qualitative studies to explore the experiences of patients and family caregivers with opioids for refractory COPD-related dyspnea and the perspectives and attitudes of physicians toward opioids in this context.

Methods: Patients (n = 8; 5 men, 3 women), their caregivers (n = 12; 5 men, 7 women) and physicians (n = 28, 17 men, 11 women) in Nova Scotia participated in the studies.

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The human cost of advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for informal caregivers in Canada is mostly unknown. Formal care is episodic, and informal caregivers provide the bulk of care between exacerbations. While patients fear becoming burdensome to family, we lack relevant data against which to assess the validity of this fear.

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