Publications by authors named "McDonald L"

Objective: Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) refers to the presence of visual hallucinations occurring secondary to visual impairment. The aim of this study was to understand the phenomenology of CBS in children and assess the emotional impact and support needs of patients and their families.

Design: Semistructured qualitative interview study.

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Natural bodybuilding competitions involve periods of low energy availability (EA) combined with resistance training and high-protein diets to achieve extreme leanness. This study tracked a drug-free bodybuilder adopting evidence-based nutrition practices during 18 weeks of contest preparation. We measured endocrine function, resting energy expenditure, respiratory exchange ratio, body composition, resting heart rate, oral temperature, mood, and strength performance.

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In 1992, the American Orthopaedic Association-Japanese Orthopaedic Association (AOA-JOA) Traveling Fellowship was created to develop and enhance collaboration between the Japanese and American orthopaedic communities. The fellowship is geared to early-career surgeons and fosters clinical and cultural exchange between members of the 2 countries. In 2024, the fellows hailed from around the United States: Kelly K.

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Nearly a decade after the National Academy of Medicine released the "Improving Diagnosis in Health Care" report, diagnostic errors remain common, often leading to physical, psychological, emotional, and financial harm. Despite a robust body of research on potential solutions and next steps, the translation of these efforts to patient care has been limited. Improvement initiatives are still narrowly focused on selective themes such as diagnostic stewardship, preventing overdiagnosis, and enhancing clinical reasoning without comprehensively addressing vulnerable systems and processes surrounding diagnosis.

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Importance: Multiplex molecular syndromic panels for diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) lack clinical data supporting their use in routine clinical care. They also have the potential to exacerbate inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.

Objective: To describe the frequency of unspecified multiplex testing in administrative claims with a primary diagnosis of UTI in the Medicare population over time, to assess costs, and to characterize the health care professionals (eg, clinicians, laboratories, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) and patient populations using these tests.

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Introduction: One of the many challenges in diagnosing bleeding disorders is distinguishing between normal and abnormal bleeding symptoms. Letstalkperiod.ca is an educational website that includes an online self-administered bleeding assessment tool (Self-BAT) which is a validated screening tool that enables patients to independently determine their bleeding scores (BS).

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Background And Aims: Prone positioning is commonly applied to improve gas exchange in mechanically ventilated patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Whilst prone positioning is effective, specific complications may arise. We aimed to assess the prevalence of specific complications related to prone positioning in patients mechanically ventilated for COVID-19-related ARDS.

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The overarching purpose of carbon accounting is to reduce carbon emissions to meet net-zero targets and minimize the impact of climate change. However, the plethora of methods and approaches used means that products and systems sometimes cannot easily be compared. The mix of regional and life cycle-based systems can mean that we lack global oversight of our emissions and impact.

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  • Prisons in Victoria, Australia, have implemented a statewide nurse-led model of care since 2015 to enhance hepatitis C testing and treatment among inmates, crucial for elimination efforts.
  • From 2015 to 2021, 3,133 DAA treatment courses were prescribed to 2,768 inmates, with a significant increase in prescriptions over the years and a median age of treated individuals being 39.
  • The program achieved a 93% success rate in sustained viral response (SVR12), demonstrating the effectiveness of decentralized, nurse-led initiatives in tackling hepatitis C in high-prevalence settings like prisons.
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Background: The district nurse is identified as a keyworker in community based palliative care. However, a dearth of research exists on trainees' views and understanding of adopting the role upon qualification.

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the understanding and perceptions of district nurse trainees in relation to the palliative care key worker role.

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  • Nivolumab combined with relatlimab and ipilimumab has been approved for treating advanced melanoma based on clinical trials, but no direct comparison of the two treatments existed, leading to an indirect comparison using patient-level data.
  • The study utilized inverse probability of treatment weighting to balance patient characteristics and compared various outcomes like progression-free survival and treatment-related adverse events, finding both regimens had similar efficacy.
  • Nivolumab plus relatlimab showed a better safety profile, with fewer severe side effects and treatment discontinuations than nivolumab plus ipilimumab, although some subgroup analyses suggested varying results.
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Although antibiotics remain a cornerstone of modern medicine, the issues of widespread antibiotic resistance and collateral damage to the microbiome from antibiotic use are driving a need for drug developers to consider more tailored, patient-directed products to avoid antibiotic-induced perturbations of the structure and function of the indigenous microbiota. This perspective summarizes a cascade of microbiome health effects that is initiated by antibiotic-mediated microbiome disruption at an individual level and ultimately leads to infection and transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens across patient populations. The scientific evidence behind each of the key steps of this cascade is presented.

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The most effective health communication builds from evidence-based best practices and theory. In practice, health campaigns rely on considerations often under-discussed in health communication, such as consistent agency-style client service, image management, and community coalition-building. Health outcome progress often requires change at multiple levels, from individual cognition and behavior to policy creation.

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Interactions of karst aquifer sediments with organic contaminants or microplastics (MPs) have received relatively little attention even though the susceptibility of karst aquifers to contamination and their ability to store and transport sediment is well documented. Studies using polystyrene microspheres as surrogate tracers for bacteria transport in karst systems have generally observed low recovery of microspheres and attributed this to microsphere adsorption onto aquifer sediments. In addition to being used as surrogate tracer for bacteria, microspheres have the potential to be used as surrogate material for organic contaminants and MPs.

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Antimicrobial resistance in healthcare-associated bacterial pathogens and the infections they cause are major public health threats affecting nearly all healthcare facilities. Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections can occur when colonizing pathogenic bacteria that normally make up a small fraction of the human microbiota increase in number in response to clinical perturbations. Such infections are especially likely when pathogens are resistant to the collateral effects of antimicrobial agents that disrupt the human microbiome, resulting in loss of colonization resistance, a key host defense.

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Objective: With same-day online alcohol sales increasing, there is a need to study their regulation. Test purchasing of alcohol home delivery was conducted to measure compliance with regulations for identification checks and unattended deliveries in two Australian jurisdictions (Perth, Western Australia, and Geelong, Victoria), which have differing regulations.

Method: Alcohol orders for same-day or rapid (<2 hours) delivery on Friday and Saturday nights were made by research assistants ages 18-24 years in Perth ( = 34) and Geelong ( = 29).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination among 37 nursing home residents, highlighting the importance of this high-risk group.
  • Researchers measured antibody levels and memory B cell responses to evaluate the impact of vaccinations and infections over time.
  • Results indicated that while vaccination boosts the immune response, there is a decline in antibody levels over time, and individuals who get infected after vaccination show lower antibody levels compared to those who remain uninfected.
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The differential diagnosis for anisocoria is broad and ranges from benign to life-threatening causes. Often, patients with new onset anisocoria present to their primary care physician, an urgent care center, or an emergency room. As such, it is important for non-ophthalmologist physicians to be familiar with its common causes.

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  • The study aimed to identify predictors of multiple recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections (mrCDI) in adults at the time they first present with an initial CDI (iCDI).
  • Of 18,829 patients with iCDI, 4.7% developed mrCDI, with older age, recent hospitalization, chronic hemodialysis, and nitrofurantoin use being significant risk factors.
  • Findings suggest that patients at higher risk for mrCDI may benefit from early interventions to prevent further recurrences, potentially improving clinical management strategies.
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Diminished hip labral size and tissue quality may be a predictor of poor patient outcomes when a non-augmented primary labral repair is performed. Labral augmentation is an option for patients with hypoplastic or degenerative labral tissue. The optimal graft for augmentation has yet to be identified, and biomechanical research shows no difference in force to suction-seal disruption between dermal allograft and iliotibial band allograft when used to augment the labrum.

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Within the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, many processes impart forensic signatures. Oxygen-stable isotopes (δO values) of uranium-bearing materials have been theorized to provide the processing and geolocational signatures of interdicted materials. However, this signature has been minimally utilized due to a limited understanding of how oxygen isotopes are influenced during uranium processing.

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