Clinical manifestations of reported Lyme disease cases in Ontario, Canada: 2005-2014.

Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector-borne disease in Ontario, Canada. We describe the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of LD in Ontario and examine trends in the incidence of non-disseminated and disseminated LD. LD surveillance data from the integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) from 2005-2014 were mapped to symptoms according to syndrome groups (erythema migrans (EM), flu-like, cardiac, neurologic or arthritic) and disease stages (early localized, early disseminated or late disseminated).

Systematic review and network meta-analysis of resective surgery for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) versus selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH) on seizure-free outcome in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, using both direct and indirect evidence from the literature.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched for original research articles and systematic reviews comparing ATL versus SAH, and ATL or SAH versus medical management (MM). The outcome was seizure freedom at 12 months of follow-up or longer.

Nivolumab in the Treatment of Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Cost-Utility Analysis.

Introduction: Nivolumab improves overall survival and health-related quality of life compared with everolimus in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). This study assesses the cost-utility of nivolumab from the Canadian health care payer perspective.

Materials And Methods: To evaluate the cost-utility of nivolumab, a Markov cohort model that incorporated data from the phase 3 CheckMate-025 trial and other sources was developed.

The interaction between homatropine and optical blur on choroidal thickness.

Purpose: To analyse the short-term interaction between a short period of myopic and hyperopic defocus and the muscarinic antagonist homatropine upon the choroidal thickness and ocular biometrics of healthy subjects.

Methods: Thirty young adults (15 myopes and 15 emmetropes) aged 18-35 years had subfoveal choroidal thickness (ChT) and ocular biometry measurements taken before, 30 min, and 60 min following the introduction of monocular optical blur (0.00 D, +3.

Efficacy of Utilizing Argon Plasma Coagulation for Weight Regain in Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Patients: a Multi-center Study.

Background: Endoscopic approaches exist for targeting weight regain after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), including endoscopic suturing, clipping, and sclerotherapy. Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is a noncontact electrocoagulation method, and when used in RYGB patients, it has shown reduction in the diameter of the gastrojejunal anastomosis.

Objectives: To study the effectiveness of APC for weight regain in terms of weight loss for RYGB patients, from eight bariatric centers.

Factors associated with human West Nile virus infection in Ontario: a generalized linear mixed modelling approach.

Background: West Nile Virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that has become established in North America. Risk for human infection varies geographically in accordance with climate and population factors. Though often asymptomatic, human WNV infection can cause febrile illness or, rarely, neurologic disease.

Clinical and functional impact of recurrent mutations in mantle cell lymphoma.

mutations are present in 7.8% of patients with MCL and are significantly more frequent at relapse. mutations reduce expression of the S1PR1 receptor, which mediates migration towards the tissue-to-blood egress factor S1P in MCL.

Mixed-species RNAseq analysis of human lymphoma cells adhering to mouse stromal cells identifies a core gene set that is also differentially expressed in the lymph node microenvironment of mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients.

A subset of hematologic cancer patients is refractory to treatment or suffers relapse, due in part to minimal residual disease, whereby some cancer cells survive treatment. Cell-adhesion-mediated drug resistance is an important mechanism, whereby cancer cells receive survival signals interaction with e.g.

Folding and assembly defects of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency-related variants in the E1α subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) bridges glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. In human, PDC deficiency leads to severe neurodevelopmental delay and progressive neurodegeneration. The majority of cases are caused by variants in the gene encoding the PDC subunit E1α.

Development and validation of the mastocytosis activity score.

Background: Mastocytosis is a heterogeneous disease characterized by a clonal expansion of mast cells in various organs. The vast majority of patients suffer from signs and symptoms caused by mediator release from mast cells. Although the disease burden is high, there is currently no specific and validated instrument to measure and monitor signs and symptoms in patients with mastocytosis.

Increasing sensitivity of methane emission measurements in rice through deployment of 'closed chambers' at nighttime.

This study comprises field experiments on methane emissions from rice fields conducted with an Eddy-Covariance (EC) system as well as test runs for a modified closed chamber approach based on measurements at nighttime. The EC data set covers 4 cropping seasons with highly resolved emission rates (raw data in 10 Hz frequency have been aggregated to 30-min records). The diel patterns were very pronounced in the two dry seasons with peak emissions at early afternoon and low emissions at nighttime.

Diabetic macular oedema treated with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor - 2-4 years follow-up of visual acuity and retinal thickness in 566 patients following Danish national guidelines.

Purpose: To investigate long-term functional and anatomical outcomes, discontinuation patterns, drug switching and rates of nonimprovement in patients treated with ranibizumab pro re nata (PRN) regimen for diabetic macular oedema (DME) according to the Danish national guidelines.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 566 eyes in 566 patients with centre-involved DME who started intravitreal treatment with ranibizumab between January 2011 and December 2013 in the Greater Copenhagen region. Data were retrieved from a database and patient records between January 2011 and March 2016 and analysed using mixed-model statistics.

Clinical decision analysis in perinatology.

Clinical decision-making in perinatology involves trade-offs between two intricately related individuals - mother and fetus. Decision-making in perinatology is challenging due to competing interests of the mother and the fetus. Although decision analytic methods are increasingly used to develop processes for clinical and cost-effectiveness analyses in perinatology, there are no guidelines on the conduct and reporting of decision analysis studies that takes into account the complexities of the mother-fetus dyad.

Vectors for Expression of Signal Peptide-Dependent Proteins in Baculovirus/Insect Cell Systems and Their Application to Expression and Purification of the High-Affinity Immunoglobulin Gamma Fc Receptor I in Complex with Its Gamma Chain.

Integral membrane proteins play a central role in various cellular functions and are important therapeutic targets. However, technical challenges in the overexpression and purification of membrane proteins often represent a limiting factor for biochemical and structural studies. Here, we constructed a set of vectors, derivatives of MultiBac vectors that can be used to express proteins with a cleavable N-terminal signal peptide in insect cells.

Health-related quality of life in persons with West Nile virus infection: a longitudinal cohort study.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) infections are predominantly asymptomatic, although almost 1% become neuroinvasive and debilitating. We describe the impact of neuroinvasive and non-neuroinvasive disease on patient health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: Short Form 36 questionnaire data came from a Canadian WNV cohort (Loeb 2008) of 154 patients followed for up to three years.

Impact of Pneumococcal Vaccination on Pneumonia Hospitalizations and Related Costs in Ontario: A Population-Based Ecological Study.

Background: In Ontario, Canada, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) was approved for infants in 2001 and became part of the publicly funded routine immunization schedule in 2005. We assessed the population-level impact of PCV on pneumonia hospitalizations and related costs.

Methods: We used the difference-in-differences approach to evaluate the impact of pneumococcal vaccination on pneumonia hospitalizations and related costs, using nonpneumonia hospitalization as the control condition.

Cost-utility Analysis: Thiopurines Plus Endoscopy-guided Biological Step-up Therapy is the Optimal Management of Postoperative Crohn's Disease.

Background: Postoperative recurrence of Crohn's disease is common. This study sought to assess whether the postoperative management should be based on biological therapy alone or combined with thiopurines and whether the therapy should be started immediately after surgery or guided by either endoscopic or clinical recurrence.

Methods: A Markov model was developed to estimate expected health outcomes in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs in Canadian dollars (CAD$) accrued by hypothetical patients with high recurrence risk after ileocolic resection.

Field efficacy and safety of fluralaner solution for administration in drinking water for the treatment of poultry red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) infestations in commercial flocks in Europe.

Background: Welfare concerns, production losses caused by Dermanyssus gallinae, the poultry red mite (PRM), and widespread mite resistance to environmentally applied acaricides continue to drive an urgent need for new and effective control measures. Fluralaner is a novel systemic acaricide developed to address that need. A series of field studies was initiated to investigate the safety and efficacy of a fluralaner solution (10 mg/ml) administered in drinking water at a dose rate of 0.

The effective mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddies without compromising yield by early-season drainage.

Global rice production systems face two opposing challenges: the need to increase production to accommodate the world's growing population while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Adaptations to drainage regimes are one of the most promising options for methane mitigation in rice production. Whereas several studies have focused on mid-season drainage (MD) to mitigate GHG emissions, early-season drainage (ED) varying in timing and duration has not been extensively studied.

Hemoglobin polymerization via disulfide bond formation in the hypoxia-tolerant turtle Trachemys scripta: implications for antioxidant defense and O transport.

The ability of many reptilian hemoglobins (Hbs) to form high-molecular weight polymers, albeit known for decades, has not been investigated in detail. Given that turtle Hbs often contain a high number of cysteine (Cys), potentially contributing to the red blood cell defense against reactive oxygen species, we have examined whether polymerization of Hb could occur via intermolecular disulfide bonds in red blood cells of freshwater turtle Trachemys scripta, a species that is highly tolerant of hypoxia and oxidative stress. We find that one of the two Hb isoforms of the hemolysate HbA is prone to polymerization in vitro into linear flexible chains of different size that are visible by electron microscopy but not the HbD isoform.

Epidemiologic and clinical parameters of West Nile virus infections in humans: a scoping review.

Background: Clinical syndromes associated with West Nile virus (WNV) infection range from fever to neuroinvasive disease. Understanding WNV epidemiology and disease history is important for guiding patient care and healthcare decision-making. The objective of this review was to characterize the existing body of peer-reviewed and surveillance literature on WNV syndromes and summarize epidemiologic and clinical parameters.

Subclonal analysis in a lobular breast cancer with classical and solid growth pattern mimicking a solid-papillary carcinoma.

Recently, a new variant of invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC) with solid-papillary-like growth pattern has been described. We present a case of ILBC with solid-papillary-like growth pattern in the main tumour mass and classical invasive lobular growth pattern in adjacent satellite foci. The two tumour components were subjected to comprehensive molecular analyses.

Expression of Flp Protein in a Baculovirus/Insect Cell System for Biotechnological Applications.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Flp protein is a site-specific recombinase that recognizes and binds to the Flp recognition target (FRT) site, a specific sequence comprised of at least two inverted repeats separated by a spacer. Binding of four monomers of Flp is required to mediate recombination between two FRT sites. Because of its site-specific cleavage characteristics, Flp has been established as a genome engineering tool.