Workforce nurturing: an approach to improving wellbeing, burnout and professional fulfilment among Australian doctors.

Objective: To assess the workplace drivers of professional fulfilment, burnout and perceived impact of workplace issues on wellbeing in doctors working in a regional Australian hospital, following a 6-month period of comprehensive workforce nurturing strategies.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey combined both qualitative feedback and quantitative measures of wellbeing including the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index to assess professional fulfillment and burnout and a workplace issues inventory to assess the relative perceived influence on work-related wellbeing.

Results: Survey responses from 124 doctors comprised approximately 60% (n=74) prevocational doctors, 12% (n=15) registrars and 28% (n=35) specialist doctors.

Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the F2RL1 gene with clinical and inflammatory characteristics of patients with asthma.

Background: Proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2) is a G-protein coupled receptor associated with many inflammatory diseases, including asthma. We have shown an association between PAR-2 expression in peripheral blood monocytes and asthma severity as well as blood PAR-2 mRNA level and lung function. Since F2RL1 (the gene encoding PAR-2) polymorphisms affect PAR-2 expression, we hypothesize they may affect asthma severity.

Not the norm: Face likeness is not the same as similarity to familiar face prototypes.

Face images depicting the same individual can differ substantially from one another. Ecological variation in pose, expression, lighting, and other sources of appearance variability complicates the recognition and matching of unfamiliar faces, but acquired familiarity leads to the ability to cope with these challenges. Among the many ways that face of the same individual can vary, some images are judged to be better of familiar individuals than others.

Corticosteroids for the management of cancer-related fatigue in adults with advanced cancer.

Background: Fatigue is the most commonly reported symptom in people with advanced cancer. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is pervasive and debilitating, and can greatly impact quality of life (QoL). CRF has a highly variable clinical presentation, likely due to a complex interaction of multiple factors.

The rs579459 ABO gene polymorphism and risk of incident cardiovascular events in obstructive sleep apnea: a pilot study.

Purpose: We have previously shown that the TT genotype (rs579459 location of the ABO gene) is significantly associated with circulating levels of e-selectin in patients with suspected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We hypothesized that this genotype would be associated with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: Patients with suspected OSA who had a full diagnostic polysomnogram from 2003 to 2011 were recruited; CV events occurring within 8 years of polysomnography were identified by linkage to provincial health databases.

An exploration of instructors' and students' perspectives on remote delivery of courses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world-wide pivot to remote learning due to the exogenous shocks of COVID-19 across educational institutions has presented unique challenges and opportunities. This study documents the lived experiences of instructors and students and recommends emerging pathways for teaching and learning strategies post-pandemic. Seventy-one instructors and 122 students completed online surveys containing closed and open-ended questions.

Cholinergic Synapse Pathway Gene Polymorphisms Associated With Late-Phase Responses in Allergic Rhinitis.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is characterized by an early-phase response (EPR), and in a subgroup of individuals, a late-phase response (LPR). We sought to investigate polymorphisms in cholinergic synapse pathway genes, previously associated with late-asthmatic responses, in the LPR. Twenty healthy participants and 74 participants with AR underwent allergen exposure using the Environmental Exposure Unit.

Circulating levels of cell adhesion molecules and risk of cardiovascular events in obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cell adhesion molecules (CAM) are increased in OSA and CAM are also implicated in the development of CVD.

Research Question: Do CAM (ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selectin) have prognostic value in identifying risk of cardiovascular events in OSA?

Study Design And Methods: Patients with suspected OSA referred for a polysomnogram provided a fasting blood sample.

Functional Polymorphism in the Gene Associated With Tuberculosis Susceptibility.

Background: Nuclear transcription factor erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2), encoded by , functions as a key transcription factor and regulates expression of antioxidant genes. Our study aimed to investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms of with tuberculosis (TB) and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and the underlying causal mechanisms.

Methods: 1950 unrelated Chinese Han participants were included in our two independent study groups.

Multiple-image arrays in face matching tasks with and without memory.

Previous research has shown that exposure to within-person variability facilitates face learning. A different body of work has examined potential benefits of providing multiple images in face matching tasks. Viewers are asked to judge whether a target face matches a single face image (as when checking photo-ID) or multiple face images of the same person.

Mild catalytic defects of tert rs61748181 polymorphism affect the clinical presentation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disorder of accelerated lung aging. Multiple pieces of evidence support that the aging biomarker short telomeres, which can be caused by mutations in telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), contribute to COPD pathogenesis. We hypothesized that short telomere risk-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TERT, while not able to drive COPD development, nonetheless modify the disease presentation.

Contrast Negation Impairs Sorting Unfamiliar Faces by Identity: A Comparison With Original (Contrast-Positive) and Stretched Images.

Recognition of unfamiliar faces is difficult in part due to variations in expressions, angles, and image quality. Studies suggest shape and surface properties play varied roles in face learning, and identification of unfamiliar faces uses diagnostic pigmentation/surface reflectance relative to shape information. Here, participants sorted photo-cards of unfamiliar faces by identity, which were shown in their , , and forms, to examine the utility of diagnostic shape and surface properties in sorting unfamiliar faces by identity.

Polymorphisms in the airway epithelium related genes CDHR3 and EMSY are associated with asthma susceptibility.

Background: As a main line of defense of the respiratory tract, the airway epithelium plays an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. CDHR3 and EMSY were reported to be expressed in the human airway epithelium. Although previous genome-wide association studies found that the two genes were associated with asthma susceptibility, similar observations have not been made in the Chinese Han population.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity, Body Mass Index, and Circulating Levels of Cellular Adhesion Molecules.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity, body mass index (BMI), and circulating levels of inflammatory adhesion molecules (intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and E-selectin).

Methods: A cross-sectional clinical cohort study on all consecutive adults referred to the University of British Columbia (UBC) Sleep Laboratory for a polysomnogram (PSG) for suspected OSA provided a morning blood sample. Samples were analyzed with multiplex immune assay (MilliporeSigma, CA) to assess the levels of adhesion molecules.

Association of heme oxygenase-1 single nucleotide polymorphisms with susceptibility to tuberculosis in Chinese Han population.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease, caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, which is associated with oxidative stress and the induction of host antioxidants to counteract this response. The heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) single nucleotide polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with many critical diseases. Our purpose was to investigate the association of HO-1 single nucleotide polymorphisms with the susceptibility to tuberculosis in Chinese Han population.

A thymic stromal lymphopoietin polymorphism may provide protection from asthma by altering gene expression.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified associations of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs1837253 in the thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) gene with asthma, allergic disease and eosinophilia. The TSLP gene encodes two isoforms, long and short, and previous studies have indicated functional differences between these two isoforms.

Objective: We investigated the expression of these TSLP isoforms in response to a pro-inflammatory signal, and the role of the rs1837253 genotype in gene isoform regulation.

Discrimination and recognition of faces with changed configuration.

Subtle metric differences in facial configuration, such as between-person variation in the distances between the eyes, have been used widely in psychology to explain face recognition. However, these studies of configuration have typically utilized unfamiliar faces rather than the familiar faces that the process of recognition ultimately seeks to explain. This study investigates whether face recognition relies on the metric information presumed in configural theory, by manipulating the interocular distance in both unfamiliar and familiar faces.

Immunomodulatory function of the cystic fibrosis modifier gene BPIFA1.

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by a progressive decline in lung function due to airway obstruction, infection, and inflammation. CF patients are particularly susceptible to respiratory infection by a variety of pathogens, and the inflammatory response in CF is dysregulated and prolonged. BPI fold containing family A, member 1 (BPIFA1) and BPIFB1 are proteins expressed in the upper airways that may have innate immune activity.

Association of the variant rs5743557 with susceptibility to tuberculosis.

Background: Toll-like receptor 1 (TLR1) and TLR6 play important roles in the innate immune response against (M.TB) via interactions with TIR domain-containing adaptor protein (TIRAP) and myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MYD88). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of and polymorphisms with susceptibility to latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and tuberculosis (TB).