Publications by authors named "O'Brien E"

Background: Individual differences in children eating behaviours have been linked with childhood overweight and obesity. The determinants of childhood eating behaviours are influenced by a complex combination of hereditary and ecological factors. This study examines if key ecological predictors of childhood overweight; maternal socio-economic status (SES), children's screen time, and childcare arrangements, are associated with eating behaviours in children aged 5-years-old.

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Background: Preliminary evidence suggests that providing longer duration prescriptions at discharge may improve long-term adherence to secondary preventative cardiac medications among post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients. We implemented and assessed the effects of two hospital-based interventions-(1) standardized prolonged discharge prescription forms (90-day supply with 3 repeats for recommended cardiac medications) plus education and (2) education only-on long-term cardiac medication adherence among elderly patients post-MI.

Methods: We conducted an interrupted time series study of all post-MI patients aged 65-104 years in Ontario, Canada, discharged from hospital between September 2015 and August 2018 with ≥ 1 dispensation(s) for a statin, beta blocker, angiotensin system inhibitor, and/or secondary antiplatelet within 7 days post-discharge.

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Background: Many cuffless blood pressure (BP) measuring devices are currently on the market claiming that they provide accurate BP measurements. These technologies have considerable potential to improve the awareness, treatment, and management of hypertension. However, recent guidelines by the European Society of Hypertension do not recommend cuffless devices for the diagnosis and management of hypertension.

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Background: Women with high body mass indices are at risk of lower breastfeeding rates but the drivers of successful breastfeeding in this population are unclear.

Research Aim: We aimed to (a) explore the barriers and enablers to breastfeeding among women with high body mass indices and (b) map specific behaviors suitable for intervention across the antenatal to postpartum periods.

Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional qualitative study.

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Some misfolded protein conformations can bypass proteostasis machinery and remain soluble in vivo. This is an unexpected observation, as cellular quality control mechanisms should remove misfolded proteins. Three questions, then, are: how do long-lived, soluble, misfolded proteins bypass proteostasis? How widespread are such misfolded states? And how long do they persist? We address these questions using coarse-grain molecular dynamics simulations of the synthesis, termination, and post-translational dynamics of a representative set of cytosolic E.

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Objectives: This study aimed to report household catastrophic spending on surgery and the experiences of patients and families seeking surgical care in rural Haiti.

Design: The study used an explanatory, sequential mixed-methods approach. We collected both quantitative and qualitative data from the participants through interviews.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably disrupted nearly all aspects of daily life, including healthcare delivery and clinical research. Because pragmatic clinical trials are often embedded within healthcare delivery systems, they may be at high risk of disruption due to the dual impacts on the conduct of both care and research.

Methods: We collected qualitative data using multiple methods to characterize the impact of COVID-19 on the research activities of 14 active pragmatic clinical trials in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory.

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Unlabelled: The transcription factor Forkhead box M1 (FoxM1) is overexpressed in breast cancers and correlates with poor prognosis. Mechanistically, FoxM1 associates with CBP to activate transcription and with Rb to repress transcription. Although the activating function of FoxM1 in breast cancer has been well documented, the significance of its repressive activity is poorly understood.

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Lumbar drain insertion is a common procedure that is performed by anaesthesiologists, radiologists and neurosurgeons that is generally taught through supervised learning that can place patients at risk. We describe in detail the creation and considerations of a novel lumbar drain simulator designed to allow learners to rehearse the complete lumbar drain insertion procedure from start to finish. A lumbar drain simulator was designed with the goal of simulating drain placement on a patient including identifying physical landmarks, sterile field preparation, technical steps of the procedure, troubleshooting and securing and connecting the drainage system.

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Background: An understanding of the experience of patients with progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease (PF-ILD) is needed to select appropriate patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to evaluate treatment effect in clinical trials.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to develop a preliminary conceptual model of the symptoms experienced by patients with PF-ILD and the impacts the disease has on them. An online survey and consensus meetings were then conducted with 12-14 stakeholders (patients, clinicians, regulatory and payer advisors) to refine the conceptual model and critically appraise how key concepts should be measured by PROMs.

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Background: Left ventricular structure and function abnormalities may be an early marker of cardiomyopathy among African Americans with diabetes (DM) even in the absence of coronary artery disease (CAD), arrhythmia, valvular heart disease and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This study examined the association of prediabetes (PDM), DM and HbA1c with left ventricular structure and function among Jackson Heart Study (JHS) participants without traditional risk factors.

Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional analyses of the association of PDM, DM and HbA1c with, left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF), fractional shortening (LV FS), stroke volume index (SVI), cardiac index (CI), left ventricular end diastolic volume index (LVEDVI), left ventricular end systolic volume index (LVESVI), relative wall thickness (RWT), myocardial contraction fraction (MCF) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI).

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Background: The Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) is critically endangered. This subspecies has the lowest genetic variability and it is in regression. It belongs to Phasianidae family; therefore, the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) could be a good model for developing reproductive technologies for use in capercaillie populations with low availability of animals.

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A promising approach to combat Covid-19 infections is the development of effective antiviral antibodies that target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Understanding the structures and molecular mechanisms underlying the binding of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 can contribute to quickly achieving this goal. Recently, a cocktail of REGN10987 and REGN10933 antibodies was shown to be an excellent candidate for the treatment of Covid-19.

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Background: Moral injury has primarily been studied in combat veterans but might also affect healthcare workers (HCWs) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To compare patterns of potential moral injury (PMI) between post-9/11 military combat veterans and healthcare workers (HCWs) surveyed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Cross-sectional surveys of veterans (2015-2019) and HCWs (2020-2021) in the USA.

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Background: The literature regarding clinical olfaction, olfactory loss, and olfactory dysfunction has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, with an exponential rise in the past year. There is substantial variability in the quality of this literature and a need to consolidate and critically review the evidence. It is with that aim that we have gathered experts from around the world to produce this International Consensus on Allergy and Rhinology: Olfaction (ICAR:O).

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SignificanceDeep profiling of the plasma proteome at scale has been a challenge for traditional approaches. We achieve superior performance across the dimensions of precision, depth, and throughput using a panel of surface-functionalized superparamagnetic nanoparticles in comparison to conventional workflows for deep proteomics interrogation. Our automated workflow leverages competitive nanoparticle-protein binding equilibria that quantitatively compress the large dynamic range of proteomes to an accessible scale.

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Background: Conventional clinical risk scores and diagnostic algorithms are proving to be suboptimal in the prediction of obstructive coronary artery disease, contributing to the low diagnostic yield of invasive angiography. Machine learning could help better predict which patients would benefit from invasive angiography vs other noninvasive diagnostic modalities.

Objective: To reduce patient risk and cost to the healthcare system by improving the diagnostic yield of invasive coronary angiography through optimized outpatient selection.

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Background: The extent to which healthcare worker (HCWs) experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic vary by race or ethnicity after adjustment for confounding factors is not currently known.

Methods: We performed an observational prospective cohort study of 24,769 healthcare workers from 50 U.S.

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Dysregulation of innate immune signaling pathways is implicated in various hematologic malignancies. However, these pathways have not been systematically examined in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We report that AML hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) exhibit a high frequency of dysregulated innate immune-related and inflammatory pathways, referred to as oncogenic immune signaling states.

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SARS-CoV-2 accesses host cells via angiotensin-converting enzyme-2, which is also affected by commonly used angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), raising concerns that ACEI or ARB exposure may portend differential COVID-19 outcomes. In parallel cohort studies of outpatient and inpatient COVID-19-diagnosed adults with hypertension, we assessed associations between antihypertensive exposure (ACEI/ARB vs. non-ACEI/ARB antihypertensives, as well as between ACEI- vs.

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General practitioners (GPs) strive to use a patient centered approach to achieve shared decision making by integrating clinical evidence, clinical judgement, and patient priorities. In order to achieve this standard of care, GPs require relevant, up to date and high quality evidence. Currently there is a gap in the literature regarding the role of GP professional organisations internationally in producing and publishing evidence based guidance and clinical guidelines for GPs.

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Article Synopsis
  • CasX is a compact protein under 1,000 amino acids and differs from the more commonly used Cas9 and Cas12a as an RNA-guided nuclease.
  • Although capable of editing mammalian genomes, CasX is not as effective as Cas9.
  • Researchers improved CasX's DNA editing efficiency by modifying its structure and guide RNA, leading to the development of two new, more effective CasX genome editors.
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Evidence that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in DNA repair is accumulating, however, whether they can control DNA repair pathway choice is unknown. Here we show that the small Cajal body-specific RNA 2 (scaRNA2) can promote HR by inhibiting DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) and, thereby, NHEJ. By binding to the catalytic subunit of DNA-PK (DNA-PKcs), scaRNA2 weakens its interaction with the Ku70/80 subunits, as well as with the LINP1 lncRNA, thereby preventing catalytic activation of the enzyme.

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