Referral patterns for common surgical procedures in Ontario: a cross-sectional population-level study.

Background: Little is known about the existing structure and function of referral networks in the prevalent referral system for specialized surgical care in Canada, which is based on direct physician referral to specialists in a largely unmanaged referral marketplace. Our objective was to describe and analyze the referral networks of referring physicians and surgeons for common surgical procedures in Ontario, to better understand potential barriers to single-entry models.

Methods: We analyzed referral networks for patients between referring physicians and surgeons for 9 common scheduled surgical procedures from 2016 to 2019 using administrative data sources in Ontario.

Specific radiation damage to halogenated inhibitors and ligands in protein-ligand crystal structures.

Protein-inhibitor crystal structures aid medicinal chemists in efficiently improving the potency and selectivity of small-molecule inhibitors. It is estimated that a quarter of lead molecules in drug discovery projects are halogenated. Protein-inhibitor crystal structures have shed light on the role of halogen atoms in ligand binding.

Complete genome sequence of type strain DSM33.

Here, we present the complete genome sequence of type strain DSM33, a model organism for microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation. This genome consists of a single 3.3-Mb chromosome and is an improvement upon draft genome sequences currently available in public databases.

Utility of p53 Immunohistochemical Staining for Risk Stratification of Mantle Cell Lymphoma.

Background: Inactivating mutations in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) are associated with poor prognosis. While next-generation sequencing (NGS) is the gold standard for assessing , p53 immunohistochemistry (IHC) is an orthogonal means of evaluating status that has not been well characterized in MCL. In this single tertiary care center laboratory study, we aimed to evaluate the concordance of p53 IHC with the status in cases of MCL in hopes of evaluating if the former could act as an accurate, timely and cost-effective way of risk stratifying these patients.

Reporting bias, not external focus: A robust Bayesian meta-analysis and systematic review of the external focus of attention literature.

Evidence has ostensibly been accumulating over the past 2 decades suggesting that an external focus on the intended movement effect (e.g., on the golf club during a swing) is superior to an internal focus on body movements (e.

A conceptual model for assessing the risk of unidentified pain.

Untreated or undertreated pain is well established as a significant problem, but unidentified pain is a distinct construct that still needs to be clearly modeled or fully described. This paper aims to develop a conceptual model of unidentified pain in humans with the goal of future development of an unidentified pain risk tool. A multi-phase process was employed consisting sequentially of 1) brainstorming followed by consensus building, 2) peer-review and publication of an integrative theoretical review protocol for "unidentified pain," 3) conduct of the integrative review, and 4) a repeated brainstorming session to identify areas of risk for unidentified pain to produce a conceptual model.

Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction Improves Patella Alta.

Background: Patellofemoral instability (PFI) is a common problem with various anatomic risk factors identified, including patella alta as one of the most powerful predictors. Given that the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) is the primary soft tissue stabilizer of the patella, a common procedure to treat recurrent patellar instability is MPFL reconstruction. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between MPFL reconstruction and patellar height.

Surgeon- and hospital-level variation in wait times for scheduled non-urgent surgery in Ontario, Canada: A cross-sectional population-based study.

Background: Canadian health systems fare poorly in providing timely access to elective surgical care, which is crucial for quality, trust, and satisfaction.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of surgical wait times for adults receiving non-urgent cataract surgery, knee arthroplasty, hip arthroplasty, gallbladder surgery, and non-cancer uterine surgery in Ontario, Canada, between 2013 and 2019. We obtained data from the Wait Times Information System (WTIS) database.

Postoperative opioid consumption patterns diverge between propensity matched patients undergoing traumatic and elective cervical spine fusion.

Background Context: Prolonged opioid therapy following spine surgery is an ongoing postoperative concern. While prior studies have investigated postoperative opioid use patterns in the elective cervical surgery patient population, to our knowledge, opioid use patterns in patients undergoing surgery for traumatic cervical spine injuries have not been elucidated.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare opioid use and prescription patterns in the postoperative pain management of patients undergoing traumatic and elective cervical spine fusion surgery.

Barriers and Unequal Access to Timely Molecular Testing Results: Addressing the Inequities in Cancer Care Delays across Canada.

Genomic medicine is a powerful tool to improve diagnosis and outcomes for cancer patients by facilitating the delivery of the right drug at the right dose at the right time for the right patient. In 2023, a Canadian conference brought together leaders with expertise in different tumor types. The objective was to identify challenges and opportunities for change in terms of equitable and timely access to biomarker testing and reporting at the education, delivery, laboratory, patient, and health-system levels in Canada.

Is Oncotype DX testing informative for breast cancers with low ER expression? A retrospective review from a biomarker testing referral center.

Purpose: It remains unclear whether patients with HER2-negative, low-estrogen receptor (ER-low)-positive early breast cancer (BC) benefit from Oncotype DX® (ODX) testing.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of cases referred for ODX testing over a seven-year period from a breast biomarker testing referral center (n = 854). For each case, we recorded the ODX Recurrence Score (RS) along with percentage of ER nuclear positivity and staining intensity on immunohistochemistry.

Optically Transparent Lead Halide Perovskite Polycrystalline Ceramics.

We utilize room-temperature uniaxial pressing at applied loads achievable with low-cost, laboratory-scale presses to fabricate freestanding CHNHPbX (X = Br, Cl) polycrystalline ceramics with millimeter thicknesses and optical transparency up to ∼70% in the infrared. As-fabricated perovskite ceramics can be produced with desirable form factors (i.e.

Exploiting Vector Pattern Diversity of Molecular Scaffolds for Cheminformatics Tasks in Drug Discovery.

Chemical diversity is challenging to describe objectively. Despite this, various notions of chemical diversity are used throughout the medicinal chemistry optimization process in drug discovery. In this work, we show the usefulness of considering exploited vectors during different phases of the drug design process to provide a quantitative and objective description of chemical diversity.

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Lightweight, low-cost metasurfaces and reflectarrays that are easy to stow and deploy are desirable for many terrestrial and space-based communications and sensing applications. This work demonstrates a lightweight, flexible metasurface platform based on flat-knit textiles operating in the cm-wave spectral range. By using a colorwork knitting approach called float-jacquard knitting to directly integrate an array of resonant metallic antennas into a textile, two textile reflectarray devices, a metasurface lens (metalens), and a vortex-beam generator are realized.