Exploring Older Adult Cancer Survivors' Digital Information Needs: Qualitative Pilot Study.

Background: Older adults (aged >65 years) are disproportionately affected by cancer at a time when Canadians are surviving cancer in an unprecedented fashion. Contrary to persistent ageist assumptions, not only do the majority of older adult cancer survivors use digital health technologies (DHTs) regularly, such technologies also serve as important sources of their health information. Although older adults' transition to cancer survivorship is connected to the availability and provision of relevant and reliable information, little evidence exists as to how they use DHTs to supplement their understanding of their unique situation to manage, and make decisions about, their ongoing cancer-related concerns.

Macrocycle-based PROTACs selectively degrade cyclophilin A and inhibit HIV-1 and HCV.

Targeting host proteins that are crucial for viral replication offers a promising antiviral strategy. We have designed and characterised antiviral PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) targeting the human protein cyclophilin A (CypA), a host cofactor for unrelated viruses including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). The PROTAC warheads are based on fully synthetic macrocycles derived from sanglifehrin A, which are structurally different from the classical Cyp inhibitor, cyclosporine A.

Cortical Neurotransmitters Measured by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Change Following Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injury.

 GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. In response to injury within the central nervous system, GABA promotes cortical plasticity and represents a potential pharmacological target to improve functional recovery. However, it is unclear how GABA changes in the brain after traumatic brachial plexus injuries (tBPIs) which represents the rationale for this pilot study.

Factors associated with time to return to horse racing following a clavicle fracture in jockeys competing in Great Britain: A review and analysis of medical records.

Purpose: Competitive horse racing is the second largest sport in Great Britain by spectator attendance, employability, and revenue. It is a lucrative yet hazardous sport, with high injury rates, particularly from falls. Clavicular fractures are one of the most common injuries reported, yet their management, especially regarding return to racing, is under-researched.

Unveiling shared genetic regulators of plant architectural and biomass yield traits in sorghum.

Sorghum is emerging as an ideal genetic model for designing high-biomass bioenergy crops. Biomass yield, a complex trait influenced by various plant architectural characteristics, is typically regulated by numerous genes. This study aimed to dissect the genetic regulators underlying fourteen plant architectural traits and ten biomass yield traits in the Sorghum Association Panel across two growing seasons.

Patterns of social support among older adults with cancer and associations with patient-reported outcomes: A latent class analysis.

Introduction: Social support can play an important role in the care of older adults living with cancer. However, different patterns of social support, such as emotional, instrumental, informational, appraisal, and giving support need to be considered to facilitate adjustments to cancer. This study aimed to explore the distinct patterns of social support among older adults with cancer and examine the socio-demographic variables and patient-reported outcomes that may be associated with patterns of social support.

Osteosarcoma cells depend on MCL-1 for survival, and osteosarcoma metastases respond to MCL-1 antagonism plus regorafenib in vivo.

Osteosarcoma is the most common form of primary bone cancer, which primarily afflicts children and adolescents. Chemotherapy, consisting of doxorubicin, cisplatin and methotrexate (MAP) increased the 5-year osteosarcoma survival rate from 20% to approximately 60% by the 1980s. However, osteosarcoma survival rates have remained stagnant for several decades.

Erythroblast enucleation at a glance.

Erythroid enucleation, the penultimate step in mammalian erythroid terminal differentiation, is a unique cellular process by which red blood cells (erythrocytes) remove their nucleus and accompanying nuclear material. This complex, multi-stage event begins with chromatin compaction and cell cycle arrest and ends with generation of two daughter cells: a pyrenocyte, which contains the expelled nucleus, and an anucleate reticulocyte, which matures into an erythrocyte. Although enucleation has been compared to asymmetric cell division (ACD), many mechanistic hallmarks of ACD appear to be absent.

Comparative Population Genomic Diversity and Differentiation in Trapdoor Spiders and Relatives (Araneae, Mygalomorphae).

Although patterns of population genomic variation are well-studied in animals, there remains room for studies that focus on non-model taxa with unique biologies. Here we characterise and attempt to explain such patterns in mygalomorph spiders, which are generally sedentary, often occur as spatially clustered demes and show remarkable longevity. Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data were collected for 500 individuals across a phylogenetically representative sample of taxa.

An integrative characterization of proline cis and trans conformers in a disordered peptide.

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) often contain proline residues that undergo cis/trans isomerization. While molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have the potential to fully characterize the proline cis and trans subensembles, they are limited by the slow timescales of isomerization and force field inaccuracies. NMR spectroscopy can report on ensemble-averaged observables for both the cis-proline and trans-proline states, but a full atomistic characterization of these conformers is challenging.

An anodic stripping voltammetric approach for total mercury determination in sea sponges from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Mercury pollution from ongoing crude oil refining and waste disposal activities threatens aquatic ecosystems and human health in the Niger Delta. Mercury monitoring exercise in this region is challenging due to the high cost of traditional instruments and the complexity of marine samples. This research presents a novel analytical method using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) with a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to determine mercury levels in sea sponges from the Niger Delta.

A molecular phylogeny of the Petaluridae (Odonata: Anisoptera): A 160-Million-Year-Old story of drift and extinction.

Petaluridae (Odonata: Anisoptera) is a relict dragonfly family, having diverged from its sister family in the Jurassic, of eleven species that are notable among odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) for their exclusive use of fen and bog habitats, their burrowing behavior as nymphs, large body size as adults, and extended lifespans. To date, several nodes within this family remain unresolved, limiting the study of the evolution of this peculiar family. Using an anchored hybrid enrichment dataset of over 900 loci we reconstructed the species tree of Petaluridae.

Persistent plastic: Insights from seawater weathering and simulated whale gut.

Single-use plastics make up 60-95 % of marine plastic pollution, including common commodity films used for packaging and bags. Plastic film breaks down as a function of environmental variables like wave action, wind, temperature, and UV radiation. Here, we focus on how films degrade in cold waters across depths, time, and simulated mammal digestion.

Delocalized quinolinium-macrocyclic peptides, an atypical chemotype for CNS penetration.

Macrocyclic drugs can address an increasing range of molecular targets but enabling central nervous system (CNS) access to these drugs has been viewed as an intractable problem. We designed and synthesized a series of quinolinium-modified cyclosporine derivatives targeted to the mitochondrial cyclophilin D protein. Modification of the cation to enable greater delocalization was confirmed by x-ray crystallography of the cations.

Association between tissue loss type and amputation risk among Medicare patients with concomitant diabetes and peripheral arterial disease.

Objective: Prior studies have described risk factors associated with amputation in patients with concomitant diabetes and peripheral arterial disease (DM/PAD). However, the association between the severity and extent of tissue loss type and amputation risk remains less well-described. We aimed to quantify the role of different tissue loss types in amputation risk among patients with DM/PAD, in the context of demographic, preventive, and socioeconomic factors.

Population-level gene expression can repeatedly link genes to functions in maize.

Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) can provide single gene resolution for candidate genes in plants, complementing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) but efforts in plants have been met with, at best, mixed success. We generated expression data from 693 maize genotypes, measured in a common field experiment, sampled over a 2-h period to minimize diurnal and environmental effects, using full-length RNA-seq to maximize the accurate estimation of transcript abundance. TWAS could identify roughly 10 times as many genes likely to play a role in flowering time regulation as GWAS conducted data from the same experiment.

Systematic Review Assessing Quality of the Survey Literature in Surgery.

Introduction: The use of survey methodology in surgical research has proliferated in recent years, but the quality of these surveys and of their reporting is understudied.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of surgical survey literature (January 2022-July 2023) via PubMed in July 2023. Articles which (1) reported data gleaned from a survey, (2) were published in an English language journal, (3) targeted survey respondents in the United States or Canada, and (4) pertained to general surgery specialties were included.

Simplifying medication regimens for residents of aged care facilities: Pharmacist and physician use of a structured five-step medication simplification tool.

Background: Pharmacist-led medication regimen simplification using a structured approach can reduce unnecessary medication regimen complexity in residential aged care facilities (RACFs), but no studies have investigated simplification by different health professionals, nor the extent to which simplification is recommended during comprehensive medication reviews.

Objectives: To compare medication regimen simplification opportunities identified by pharmacists, general medical practitioners (GPs), and geriatricians and to determine if pharmacists identified simplification opportunities during routinely conducted comprehensive medication reviews in RACFs for these same residents.

Methods: Three pharmacists, three GPs and three geriatricians independently applied the Medication Regimen Simplification Guide for Residential Aged CarE (MRS GRACE) to medication data for 83 residents taking medications at least twice daily.

Assessing early feasibility of a novel innovation to increase consumer partnership capability within an Australian health innovation organisation using a mixed-method approach.

Objective: Engagement-capable health organisations recognise that consumer engagement (also known as patient engagement, consumer engagement, patient and public involvement) must occur at every level of the organisation if it is to be meaningful and genuine. Despite this aspiration, health organisations struggle to adopt, implement, and embody consumer engagement capability in a way that has yielded impact. The Partner Ring (PR) is an embedded model for building staff capability for consumer partnerships.

Integrating genomics into Canadian oncology nursing policy: Insights from a comparative policy analysis.

Aim: To learn from two jurisdictions with mature genomics-informed nursing policy infrastructure-the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK)-to inform policy development for genomics-informed oncology nursing practice and education in Canada.

Design: Comparative document and policy analysis drawing on the 3i + E framework.

Methods: We drew on the principles of a rapid review and identified academic literature, grey literature and nursing policy documents through a systematic search of two databases, a website search of national genomics nursing and oncology nursing organizations in the US and UK, and recommendations from subject matter experts on an international advisory committee.