Publications by authors named "Norman P"

Studies have shown that those high in anxiety were at increased risk for alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tension reduction theory points to anxiety sensitivity (AS) as a potential risk factor. Drinking to cope may further increase this risk.

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An automatic code generated C++/HIP/CUDA implementation of the (auxiliary) Fock, or Kohn-Sham, matrix construction for execution in GPU-accelerated hardware environments is presented. The module is developed as part of the quantum chemistry software package VeloxChem, employing localized Gaussian atomic orbitals. The performance and scaling characteristics are analyzed in view of the specific requirements for self-consistent field optimization and response theory calculations.

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Burnout in healthcare workers is a global issue, with Emergency Medicine (EM) particularly impacted. Many countries have tried implementing wellness initiatives to reduce burnout and improve wellness. This paper summarizes interventions implemented in Canada to-date with the aim of supporting the design of wellness interventions in EDs globally.

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  • Effective care for critically ill patients in ICU relies on collaboration and communication among healthcare teams, but medication errors during transitions to hospital wards can negatively impact patient outcomes.
  • A qualitative study with focus groups aimed to identify necessary changes and develop a theory-informed intervention package to enhance medication safety among ICU patients transitioning to wards.
  • The intervention package comprises seven core components for improving medication management, grounded in behavioral change techniques, with specific mechanisms for how each component will enhance patient safety.
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Objective: Behavioral intentions are one of the strongest predictors of health behavior. The current research explored the factors predicting action in those with already strong intentions (i.e.

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Feline hyperthyroidism (FHT) is a debilitating disease affecting > 10% of elderly cats. It is generally characterised by chronic elevation of thyroid hormone in the absence of circulating TSH. Understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of FHT is currently limited.

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Poor health is a key reason for early exit from the labour market. Few studies have explored how the health of local populations is related to occupational differences in employment outcomes among older people. Our study used data for England and Wales from the ONS Longitudinal Study linked with 2001 Census measures of the health of the older working age population at local authority level.

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  • Genetic variation in immune responses, particularly related to HLA and KIR genes, influences how First Nations peoples are affected by infectious diseases.
  • HLA-A24:02 and the KIR3DL1 receptor have evolved in First Nations populations, showcasing a significant adaptation through natural selection.
  • The KIR3DL1114 allele, unique to Oceania, demonstrates a strong interaction with HLA-A24:02, which enhances immune response, thus highlighting the importance of immunogenetic studies in understanding disease susceptibility.
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  • Childhood psoriasis can lead to stigma and reduced quality of life for both children and their parents, particularly during the transition to adolescence.!
  • The study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to gather insights from interviews with parent-child pairs, revealing themes about shifting responsibilities, social stigma, and challenges in treatment management.!
  • Findings suggest that the emotional and social impacts of psoriasis intensify during adolescence, indicating a need for psychological support strategies, like mindfulness-based CBT, to help families cope with the associated stress and fear of stigmatization.!
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  • The human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has high genetic diversity, making traditional reference-based alignment methods for DNA sequence assembly less effective.
  • MHConstructor is a new tool that uses a short-read, de novo assembly algorithm specifically for MHC data, allowing for improved assembly in large population studies.
  • This pipeline is unique in offering a reproducible, alignment-free method for analyzing MHC sequences, making it more accessible for researchers.
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  • * It achieves a high level of completeness, closing 92% of previous assembly gaps and fully assembling complex regions, including 1,852 complex structural variants and 1,246 human centromeres.
  • * The findings lead to significant improvements in genotyping accuracy and enable the detection of over 26,000 structural variants per sample, enhancing the potential for future disease association research.
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  • KIR interactions with HLA class I are important for NK cell responses to viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
  • In a study comparing COVID-19 patients to a control group, a higher frequency of the KIR3DL3*00802 gene variant was found in those with COVID-19, suggesting a link to increased susceptibility.
  • Conversely, the HLA-Bw4 variant, which interacts with KIR3DL1, was less frequent in COVID-19 patients, indicating it might offer some protection against the virus.
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  • Questions remain about the role of race and geographic ancestry in biomedical research, particularly how they can enhance matching algorithms for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) in stem cell transplants from donor registries.
  • Analysis of self-reported racial and ancestral data from over 100,000 U.S. bone marrow donors shows discrepancies among these measures; using both race and geographic ancestry together yields the best fit for HLA genetic ancestry.
  • The findings suggest that while direct matching for transplants doesn't use these data, incorporating both race and geographic ancestry is valuable for improving predictions of HLA compatibility in donor registries.
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Objectives: Appearance concerns following burn injuries are common. Psychological factors are important in maintaining such concerns. However, there is a lack of longitudinal or prospective research investigating their development.

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  • This study investigates the early experiences of appearance concerns in burn victims, focusing on psychological flexibility and self-compassion.
  • Fifteen adults, interviewed within three months post-burn, revealed three main themes: a need for social connection, distress from feeling different, and avoidance/self-criticism related to their appearance issues.
  • The findings suggest that internalized societal and gender standards exacerbate these concerns, pointing to the need for early interventions like acceptance and commitment therapy to foster healthier coping strategies.
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As most women now reaching the age for cervical cancer screening (24.5 years old) in the UK will be HPV vaccinated, their current perspectives on screening can inform effective interventions to increase screening uptake (and thus, early detection). Twenty-four interviews were conducted with women aged 24-30 years old to explore their views on cervical cancer screening ( = 12 attendees and  = 12 non-attendees).

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  • The "innate-like" T cell compartment, referred to as T, consists of diverse T cells that bridge innate and adaptive immunity and is analyzed using advanced techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing.
  • In human blood, most T cells exhibit an effector program driven by unique transcription factors, contrasting with conventional T cells, while varied developmental stages are observed in thymic T cells.
  • Unlike mice, human T cells do not form multiple effector subsets but show a mix of type 1 and type 17 effector potential, revealing key differences in immune regulation between species.
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  • Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent among hemodialysis patients, but there's a lack of clear guidelines for its monitoring and treatment.
  • A study of 697 patients found that increasing levels of 25(OH)D3 were linked to reduced levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and phosphate, especially when levels were between 25 and 75 nmol/L.
  • The study concluded that treating vitamin D in these patients appears safe and correlated with lower PTH, but more research is needed to see if these biochemical improvements lead to better clinical outcomes.
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  • The study investigated the link between 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and the risk and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
  • Researchers recruited 4,673 participants, finding that higher 25(OH)D levels were associated with a reduced likelihood of being diagnosed with AAA, with a significant decrease in odds noted in both Queensland and Western Australia.
  • However, among participants with small AAA, those with higher vitamin D levels experienced faster AAA growth, suggesting a paradox where high vitamin D is linked to both lower diagnosis rates and quicker aneurysm expansion, warranting further investigation.
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  • Many burn survivors have concerns about their appearance, but there's not enough research on psychological support for these worries early on.
  • A study with 15 adults revealed that while early psychological interventions are seen as beneficial when delivered by experienced therapists, participants also faced challenges like reluctance to seek help and time constraints.
  • Implementing these early interventions in routine burn care could help make them more accepted and integrated into recovery processes.*
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Similar to national trends, in Illinois, fatal opioid overdoses have risen. Black men (35+) outrank all other racial subgroups for the highest rate of fatal opioid overdoses in the state. To address this, Prevention First and the Illinois Department of Human Services developed a public health education campaign to support increasing enrollment in recovery services, with a focus on Black men (35+).

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Background: The implementation of intervention programs in Emergency Departments (EDs) is often fraught with complications due to the inherent complexity of the environment. Hence, the exploration and identification of barriers and facilitators prior to an implementation is imperative to formulate context-specific strategies to ensure the tenability of the intervention.

Objectives: In assessing the context of four EDs prior to the implementation of SurgeCon, a quality improvement program for ED efficiency and patient satisfaction, this study identifies and explores the barriers and facilitators to successful implementation from the perspective of the healthcare providers, patients, researchers, and decision-makers involved in the implementation.

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Introduction: Genetic predisposition to autoimmune encephalitis with antibodies against N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is poorly understood. Given the diversity of associated environmental factors (tumors, infections), we hypothesized that human leukocyte antigen () and killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (), two extremely polymorphic gene complexes key to the immune system, might be relevant for the genetic predisposition to anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Notably, KIR are chiefly expressed by Natural Killer (NK) cells, recognize distinct HLA class I allotypes and play a major role in anti-tumor and anti-infection responses.

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  • Genetic and non-genetic factors like graft-versus-host disease and viral infections significantly impact immune reconstitution after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
  • A study of 54 HSCT recipients revealed a noticeable decrease in T-cell receptor (TCR) diversity over time, linked to cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation, which altered TCR composition and clonality.
  • CMV reactivation led to changes in natural killer (NK) cell populations, increasing certain types while decreasing others, suggesting CMV may promote the growth of specific T and NK cells to help establish a new immune repertoire.
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