Artificial intelligence research in Canadian hospitals: The development of metropolitan competencies.

This study explores the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Canadian hospitals from 2000 to 2021, focusing on metropolitan areas. We investigate how local public and private research ecosystems and links to national and international AI hubs influence the adoption of AI in healthcare. Our analysis shows that AI research outputs from public institutions have a significant impact on AI competences in hospitals.

Hepatitis E Virus in the United States and Canada: Is It Time to Consider Blood Donation Screening?

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis in the world and can lead to severe complications in immunocompromised individuals. HEV is primarily transmitted through eating pork, which has led to an increased in anti-HEV IgG seropositivity in the general population of Europe in particular. However, it can also be transmitted intravenously, such as through transfusions.

Narratives of crisis: From affective structures to adaptive functions.

This commentary focuses on affective structures and the main adaptive functions of shared narratives to fill the gaps of the Conviction Narrative Theory. The transmission of narratives among individuals in highly uncertain situations is irrevocably tainted by affects and anchored in collective memory. Narratives have important evolutionary functions for human beings under threat and act as the social glue that creates and strengthens social bonds among individuals.

The multidisciplinary management of a mechanical mitral valve thrombosis in pregnancy: a case report and review of the literature.

Background: The management of anticoagulation for mechanical heart valves during pregnancy poses a unique challenge. Mechanical valve thrombosis is a devastating complication for which surgery is often the treatment of choice. However, cardiac surgery for prosthetic valve dysfunction in pregnant patients confers a high risk of maternofetal morbidity and mortality.

Transfusion therapy of neonatal and paediatric patients: They are not just little adults.

Patient blood management (PBM) strategies are needed in the neonate and paediatric population, given that haemoglobin thresholds used are often higher than recommended by evidence, with exposure of children to potential complications without meaningful benefit. A literature review was performed on the following topics: evidence-based transfusions of blood components and pharmaceutical agents. Other topics reviewed included perioperative coagulation assessment and perioperative PBM.

Trajectories of opioid consumption from day of surgery to 28 days postoperatively: a prospective cohort study in patients undergoing abdominal, joint, or spine surgery.

Introduction: Descriptions of opioid use trajectories and their association with postsurgical pain and opioid consumption are limited. We hypothesized that trajectories of opioid consumption in the first 28 days following surgery would be associated with unique patterns of pain and duration of opioid use.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort of patients undergoing elective inpatient abdominal, joint, or spine surgery between June 2016 and June 2019 was studied.

Evaluation of A plasma for incompatible patients.

Background: Plasma transfusion is a critical treatment in managing bleeding patients. In an effort to make plasma immediately available in spite of the limited amount of AB plasma, providers have begun using A plasma in life-threatening emergencies. As this practice becomes widely adopted it is important to evaluate safety.

Drone versus ground delivery of simulated blood products to an urban trauma center: The Montreal Medi-Drone pilot study.

Background: Timely and safe distribution of quality blood products is a major challenge faced by blood banks around the world. Our primary objective was to determine if simulated blood product delivery to an urban trauma center would be more rapidly achieved by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) than by ground transportation. A secondary objective was to determine the feasibility of maintaining simulated blood product temperatures within a targeted range.

Strategies for Collaborative Consideration of Patients' Resuscitation Preferences.

Procedural treatment teams encounter patients with preoperative do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders who are seeking procedural interventions to improve their quality of life. is the professional discussion standard that seeks to engage patients or their surrogate decision makers in revisiting patient preferences for rescinding or maintaining a DNR order perioperatively. This article canvasses features of a required reconsideration discussion and guidelines for adhering to this standard.

Implementing an EHR-based Screening and Referral System to Address Social Determinants of Health in Primary Care.

Background: Social determinants affect health, yet there are few systematic clinical strategies in primary care that leverage electronic health record (EHR) automation to facilitate screening for social needs and resource referrals. An EHR-based social determinants of health (SDOH) screening and referral model, adapted from the WE CARE model for pediatrics, was implemented in urban adult primary care.

Objectives: This study aimed to: (1) understand the burden of SDOH among patients at Boston Medical Center; and (2) evaluate the feasibility of implementing a systematic clinical strategy to screen new primary care patients for SDOH, use EHR technology to add these needs to the patient's chart through autogenerated ICD-10 codes, and print patient language-congruent referrals to available resources upon patient request.

Microbial Degradation of Cellulosic Material and Gas Generation: Implications for the Management of Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste.

Deep geologic repositories (DGR) in Canada are designed to contain and isolate low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste. Microbial degradation of the waste potentially produces methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas. The generation of these gases increase rock cavity pressure and limit water ingress which delays the mobility of water soluble radionuclides.

Uranium dispersion from U tailings and mechanisms leading to U accumulation in sediments: Insights from biogeochemical and isotopic approaches.

Uranium contamination is a worldwide problem that grows proportionally to human demands for energy and armory. Understanding U cycling in the environment is of eminent interest, mostly concerning ecosystems directly impacted by point sources. In Bow Lake (Ontario, Canada), which is located adjacent to a former U mine, exceptionally high concentrations of U are related to U dispersion from tailings and biogeochemical processes such as biotic reduction and adsorption.

Simultaneous pH measurement in endocytic and cytosolic compartments in living cells using confocal microscopy.

Intracellular pH is tightly regulated and differences in pH between the cytoplasm and organelles have been reported(1). Regulation of cellular pH is crucial for homeostatic control of physiological processes that include: protein, DNA and RNA synthesis, vesicular trafficking, cell growth and cell division. Alterations in cellular pH homeostasis can lead to detrimental functional changes and promote progression of various diseases(2).

Microbial community structure in lake and wetland sediments from a high Arctic polar desert revealed by targeted transcriptomics.

While microbial communities play a key role in the geochemical cycling of nutrients and contaminants in anaerobic freshwater sediments, their structure and activity in polar desert ecosystems are still poorly understood, both across heterogeneous freshwater environments such as lakes and wetlands, and across sediment depths. To address this question, we performed targeted environmental transcriptomics analyses and characterized microbial diversity across three depths from sediment cores collected in a lake and a wetland, located on Cornwallis Island, NU, Canada. Microbial communities were characterized based on 16S rRNA and two functional gene transcripts: mcrA, involved in archaeal methane cycling and glnA, a bacterial housekeeping gene implicated in nitrogen metabolism.

Association between postoperative complications and clinical cancer outcomes.

Introduction: The treatment for a majority of solid organ tumors is surgical resection; 10-20 % of patients suffer a perioperative complication. Perioperative complications may contribute to cancer recurrence. This study examined the relationship between postoperative complications and risk-adjusted patient overall survival.

Distinct metabolic and vascular effects of dietary triglycerides and cholesterol in atherosclerotic and diabetic mouse models.

Cholesterol and triglyceride-rich Western diets are typically associated with an increased occurrence of type 2 diabetes and vascular diseases. This study aimed to assess the relative impact of dietary cholesterol and triglycerides on glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, atherosclerotic plaque formation, and endothelial function. C57BL6 wild-type (C57) mice were compared with atherosclerotic LDLr(-/-) ApoB(100/100) (LRKOB100) and atherosclerotic/diabetic IGF-II × LDLr(-/-) ApoB(100/100) (LRKOB100/IGF) mice.

Multidisciplinary trauma team care in Kandahar, Afghanistan: current injury patterns and care practices.

Multidisciplinary trauma care systems have been shown to improve patient outcomes. Medical care in support of the global war on terror has provided opportunities to refine these systems. We report on the multidisciplinary trauma care system at the Role III Hospital at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

Cardioprotective effects of glucose and insulin administration while maintaining normoglycemia (GIN therapy) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

Context: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is complicated by ischemia-reperfusion injury jeopardizing myocyte survival.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate whether glucose and insulin administration, while maintaining normoglycemia (GIN therapy) using a hyperinsulinemic-normoglycemic clamp technique, is cardioprotective in patients undergoing CABG.

Design And Setting: We conducted a randomized controlled trial at a tertiary care university teaching hospital.

Discordances among different tools used to estimate cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women.

Background: New cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are being recognized and suggested to be included in CVD risk stratification. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) are among these risk factors. However, CVD risk classification may be divergent when using different approaches.