The Mortality of Adults With Sickle Cell Disease at a Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center.

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common hemoglobinopathy in North America. The life expectancy of SCD has extended into adulthood with screenings, preventative care, and hydroxyurea. However, comorbidities arise as adults with SCD age, leading to early mortality.

The Use of eDNA Metabarcoding to Detect and Identify Phytophthora in Water Samples.

We describe a protocol to amplify DNA barcodes of known and unknown taxa of Phytophthora and related plant pathogenic oomycetes from a range of environments. The methods focus on sampling pathogen propagules from water using in situ sampling and filtration equipment and buffers that enable efficient storage and DNA extraction for later downstream processing.

Comprehensiveness in Primary Care: A Scoping Review.

Unlabelled: Policy Points Efforts to address a perceived decline of comprehensiveness in primary care are hampered by the absence of a clear and common understanding of what comprehensiveness means. This scoping review mapped two domains of comprehensiveness (breadth of care and approach to care) as well as a set of factors that enable comprehensive practice. The resulting conceptual map supports greater clarity for future use of the term comprehensiveness, facilitating more precisely targeted research, practice, and policy efforts to improve primary care systems.

Integrating Fitness Equipment in Persistent Traumatic Stress Environments for Reducing Drug Overdoses.

According to a 2024 report from the World Health Organization, substance use disorders have contributed to more than 3 million annual deaths worldwide. Combining outdoor fitness equipment in persistent traumatic stress environments can lead to a reduction of accidental drug overdoses. Individuals who experience complex post-traumatic stress disorders are susceptible to substance use disorders.

Early career family physician perspectives on their residency experience and practice choices in Canada: a qualitative study.

Background: Though there are more family physicians in Canada than ever before, and residency programs are expanding, gaps in access to comprehensive care remain. This study aimed to describe and understand the role residency training experiences played in shaping practice choices, including the provision of comprehensive community-based care, among early career family physicians.

Methods: A secondary analysis of sixty-three (63) qualitative interviews was conducted on data from a larger mixed method study on practice patterns and choices of early career Canadian family physicians.

Acoustically shaped DNA-programmable materials.

Recent advances in DNA nanotechnology allow for the assembly of nanocomponents with nanoscale precision, leading to the emergence of DNA-based material fabrication approaches. Yet, transferring these nano- and micron-scale structural arrangements to the macroscale morphologies remains a challenge, which limits the development of materials and devices based on DNA nanotechnology. Here, we demonstrate a materials fabrication approach that combines DNA-programmable assembly with actively driven processes controlled by acoustic fields.

Pre-analytical challenges from adsorptive losses associated with thiamine analysis.

Thiamine (vitamin B1) is an essential vitamin serving in its diphosphate form as a cofactor for enzymes in the citric acid cycle and pentose-phosphate pathways. Its concentration reported in the pM and nM range in environmental and clinical analyses prompted our consideration of the components used in pre-analytical processing, including the selection of filters, filter apparatuses, and sample vials. The seemingly innocuous use of glass fiber filters, glass filter flasks, and glass vials, ubiquitous in laboratory analysis of clinical and environmental samples, led to marked thiamine losses.

Quantum Defect Sensitization via Phase-Changing Supercharged Antibody Fragments.

Quantum defects in single-walled carbon nanotubes promote exciton localization, which enables potential applications in biodevices and quantum light sources. However, the effects of local electric fields on the emissive energy states of quantum defects and how they can be controlled are unexplored. Here, we investigate quantum defect sensitization by engineering an intrinsically disordered protein to undergo a phase change at a quantum defect site.

Health Equity: Access to Outdoor Fitness Equipment.

Adequate outdoor fitness equipment is essential for physical activity in lower income neighborhoods. San Francisco, CA, in the United States will be highlighted as a city with a large death rate, which could be improved by installing, promoting, and allowing access to fitness equipment. More than 2700 accidental overdose deaths have occurred since the year 2019, with a projected cumulative death rate expected to exceed 3000 human lives by the end of 2023.

Centering Patient and Clinician Voices in Developing Tools to Address Pain Related School Impairment: A Phase I Study of a Virtual Reality School Simulation for Children and Adolescents with Chronic Pain.

Building on growing evidence supporting virtual reality (VR) interventions for pain management, this study describes the process of developing vReal-School (vRS), a VR-based school simulation for children and adolescents with chronic pain and associated school impairment. Following guidelines for developing user-centered VR interventions, initial phases of intervention development focus on understanding and incorporating patient and clinician perspectives when designing this digital health tool. Phase I entailed focus groups with patients undergoing intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment (IIPT).

Factors influencing practice choices of early-career family physicians in Canada: a qualitative interview study.

Background: Comprehensiveness of primary care has been declining, and much of the blame has been placed on early-career family physicians and their practice choices. To better understand early-career family physicians' practice choices in Canada, we sought to identify the factors that most influence their decisions about how to practice.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using framework analysis.

Phenotyping Pain in Patients With Fibrous Dysplasia/McCune-Albright Syndrome.

Context: Pain is a poorly managed aspect in fibrous dysplasia/McCune-Albright syndrome (FD/MAS) because of uncertainties regarding the clinical, behavioral, and neurobiological underpinnings that contribute to pain in these patients.

Objective: Identify neuropsychological and neurobiological factors associated with pain severity in FD/MAS.

Design: Prospective, single-site study.

Computational modeling of ventricular-ventricular interactions suggest a role in clinical conditions involving heart failure.

The left (LV) and right (RV) ventricles are linked biologically, hemodynamically, and mechanically, a phenomenon known as ventricular interdependence. While LV function has long been known to impact RV function, the reverse is increasingly being realized to have clinical importance. Investigating ventricular interdependence clinically is challenging given the invasive measurements required, including biventricular catheterization, and confounding factors such as comorbidities, volume status, and other aspects of subject variability.

Enhancing Intracellular Optical Performance and Stability of Engineered Nanomaterials via Aqueous Two-Phase Purification.

Supramolecular hybrids of DNA and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been introduced in numerous biosensing applications due to their unique optical properties. Recent aqueous two-phase (ATP) purification methods for SWCNTs have gained popularity by introducing specificity and homogeneity into the sensor design process. Using murine macrophages probed by near-infrared and Raman microscopies, we show that ATP purification increases the retention time of DNA-SWCNTs within cells while simultaneously enhancing the optical performance and stability of the engineered nanomaterial.

Evaluating the Discriminatory Ability of the Sickle Cell Data Collection Program's Administrative Claims Case Definition in Identifying Adults With Sickle Cell Disease: Validation Study.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) was first recognized in 1910 and identified as a genetic condition in 1949. However, there is not a universal clinical registry that can be used currently to estimate its prevalence. The Sickle Cell Data Collection (SCDC) program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, funds state-level grantees to compile data within their states from various sources including administrative claims to identify individuals with SCD.

The Telehealth Tradeoff: A Multimethod Study of the Benefits and Challenges Associated With Maintaining Treatment Outcomes Using a Hybrid Model of Pediatric Intensive Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic required intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment (IIPT) programs to shift to virtual models of care. This study used a multimethod approach to examine outcomes of a pediatric hybrid IIPT program (50% in-person treatment and 50% synchronous video-based telehealth) and assessed staff experiences while treating within this model.

Materials And Methods: Patients (M=14.

Contouring in the optic plane improves the accuracy of computed tomography-based segmentation of the optic pathway.

Canine optic pathway structures are often contoured on CT images, despite the difficulty of visualizing the optic pathway with CT using standard planes. The purpose of this prospective, analytical, diagnostic accuracy study was to examine the accuracy of optic pathway contouring by veterinary radiation oncologists (ROs) before and after training on optic plane contouring. Optic pathway contours used as the gold standard for comparison were created based on expert consensus from registered CT and MRI for eight dogs.

Nanosensor-based monitoring of autophagy-associated lysosomal acidification in vivo.

Autophagy is a cellular process with important functions that drive neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. Lysosomal hyperacidification is a hallmark of autophagy. Lysosomal pH is currently measured by fluorescent probes in cell culture, but existing methods do not allow for quantitative, transient or in vivo measurements.

Dietary factors potentially impacting thiaminase I-mediated thiamine deficiency.

Fish population declines from thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency have been widespread in ecologically and economically valuable organisms, ranging from the Great Lakes to the Baltic Sea and, most recently, the California coast. Thiamine deficiencies in predatory fishes are often attributed to a diet of prey fishes with high levels of thiamine-degrading (e.g.

Development and Validation of the Scale for Pain Self-Efficacy (SPaSE) in German and English Languages for Children and Adolescents.

No validated measure for pain self-efficacy in children and adolescents is currently available in the German language, and existing English versions have limitations. This study used a thorough development process to create the Scale for Pain Self-Efficacy (SPaSE) in both German and English languages. Scale development was based on self-efficacy theory, adapting items from existing self-efficacy measures, and review of patients' perspectives.

Clinical Assessment of Mechanical Allodynia in Youth With Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Development and Preliminary Validation of the Pediatric Tactile Sensitivity Test of Allodynia (Pedi-Sense).

Youth with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) commonly experience mechanical allodynia and disability. Assessment of mechanical allodynia is typically binary (present or absent), making it difficult to assess the quality and degree of mechanical allodynia before and after treatment. This study developed and validated the Pediatric Tactile Sensitivity Test of Allodynia (Pedi-Sense) to provide an easy way for rehabilitation clinicians to evaluate mechanical allodynia before and after intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment.

Repeat Detector: versatile sizing of expanded tandem repeats and identification of interrupted alleles from targeted DNA sequencing.

Targeted DNA sequencing approaches will improve how the size of short tandem repeats is measured for diagnostic tests and preclinical studies. The expansion of these sequences causes dozens of disorders, with longer tracts generally leading to a more severe disease. Interrupted alleles are sometimes present within repeats and can alter disease manifestation.

Influences on intentions for obstetric practice among family physicians and residents in Canada: an explorative qualitative inquiry.

Background: Many family medicine residency graduates indicate a desire to provide obstetric care, but a low proportion of family physicians (FPs) provide obstetric care within their practice. This suggests personal preference alone may not account for the low proportion of FPs who ultimately provide full obstetric care. If decisionmakers plan to augment the number of FPs providing obstetric care, barriers to the provision of such care must first be identified.