Publications by authors named "Sophie Hu"

Background: We evaluated studies published in high-impact psychiatry journals to assess (1) the proportion that reported in articles whether they engaged people with lived experience; (2) the proportion that likely engaged people with lived experience; and, if engagement occurred, (3) stages of research (planning, conduct, interpretation, dissemination); and (4) engagement level (consult, involve, partner).

Methods: We searched PubMed on December 14, 2022, for articles in psychiatry journals with impact factor ≥ 10 and reviewed articles in reverse chronological order until 141 were included, based on pre-study precision estimation. We contacted authors to obtain information on engagement.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined changes in work status, financial adequacy, and preferences for remote versus in-office work among individuals with systemic sclerosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Conducted with 298 participants, findings revealed that most people's work status and financial well-being remained stable from April 2020 to August 2022, with only a few changes in employment.
  • Participants preferred flexible work arrangements, but most were required to work in a fixed, in-person setting, suggesting a need for more adaptable workplace policies to accommodate their conditions.
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Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare, complex autoimmune rheumatic disease with multiple factors that contribute to pain. People with SSc emphasize the effect pain has on their quality of life, but no studies have systematically examined the frequency and relative importance of different SSc pain sources, patterns of pain from different sources, and pain management experiences. Our objectives are to (1) develop a tool, jointly with researchers, health care providers, and patients, to map sources of pain in SSc, determine patterns of pain from different sources, and understand pain management experiences; and (2) administer the final tool version to participants in the large multinational Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN) Cohort.

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Differentiation of murine epidermal stem/progenitor cells involves the permanent withdrawal from the cell cycle, the synthesis of various protein and lipid components for the cornified envelope, and the controlled dissolution of cellular organelles and nuclei. Deregulated epidermal differentiation contributes to the development of various skin diseases, including skin cancers. With a genome-wide shRNA screen, we identified vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (VAMP2) as a critical factor involved in skin differentiation.

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Objective: To compare the utility of the Mild Behavioral Impairment-Checklist (MBI-C) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) to capture NPS in subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia.

Methods: In this cross-sectional memory clinic study, linear regression models compared MBI-C (n = 474) and NPI-Q (n = 1040) scores in relation to Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score.

Results: MBI prevalence was 37% in subjective cognitive decline, 54% in mild cognitive impairment, and 62% in dementia.

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Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept; it is increasingly being integrated into health care. As studies on attitudes toward AI have primarily focused on physicians, there is a need to assess the perspectives of students across health care disciplines to inform future curriculum development.

Objective: This study aims to explore and identify gaps in the knowledge that Canadian health care students have regarding AI, capture how health care students in different fields differ in their knowledge and perspectives on AI, and present student-identified ways that AI literacy may be incorporated into the health care curriculum.

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I hope you’re taking care and found some time to relax this summer. A new semester may mean a big transition—some folks are starting their graduate studies, re-entering clerkship, starting residency or entering a fellowship. For some, there will be little or no change at all; but just a continuation of one of the many phases of the physician-scientist training pathway.

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The Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada (CI) trainees across the country around the common goal of improving training conditions for those pursuing a career at the junction of research and medicine. Since then, the CI training landscape has shifted dramatically. The number of Canadian CI trainees enrolled totaling 289 MD-PhD trainees and 389 Clinical Investigator Program (CIP) trainees as of 2019 [1].

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Background: Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are dementia risk states, and potentially represent neurobehavioral and neurocognitive manifestations, respectively, of early stage neurodegeneration. Both MBI and SCD predict incident cognitive decline and dementia, are associated with known dementia biomarkers, and are both represented in the NIA-AA research framework for AD in Stage 2 (preclinical disease).

Objective: To assess the associations of MBI and SCD, alone and in combination, with incident cognitive and functional decline in a population of older adults.

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To identify knowledge gaps regarding new-onset agitation and impulsivity prior to onset of cognitive impairment or dementia the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment Neuropsychiatric Syndromes (NPS) Professional Interest Area conducted a scoping review. Extending a series of reviews exploring the pre-dementia risk syndrome Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI), we focused on late-onset agitation and impulsivity (the MBI impulse dyscontrol domain) and risk of incident cognitive decline and dementia. This scoping review of agitation and impulsivity pre-dementia syndromes summarizes the current biomedical literature in terms of epidemiology, diagnosis and measurement, neurobiology, neuroimaging, biomarkers, course and prognosis, treatment, and ongoing clinical trials.

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The 2019 Annual General Meeting and Young Investigators' Forum of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation / Société Canadienne de Recherche Clinique (CSCI/SCRC) and Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada / Association des Cliniciens-Chercheurs en Formation du Canada (CITAC/ACCFC) was held in Banff, Alberta on November 8-10th, 2019. The theme was "Positioning Early Career Investigators for Success: Strategy and Resilience". Lectures and workshops provided knowledge and tools to facilitate the attendees' development as clinician investigators.

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Message from the CITAC president To say that 2020 has been an unprecedented year is an understatement. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the major societal awakening on racial equity and justice have led us to reflect on our direction, goals and mission. Thanks to our talented and dedicated executive team, we were able to pivot our efforts and adapt to the changing landscape of research and advocacy.

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Background: Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are the primary tools to mitigate early spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; however, such policies are implemented variably at the federal, provincial or territorial, and municipal levels without centralized documentation. We describe the development of the comprehensive open Canadian Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention (CAN-NPI) data set, which identifies and classifies all NPIs implemented in regions across Canada in response to COVID-19, and provides an accompanying description of geographic and temporal heterogeneity.

Methods: We performed an environmental scan of government websites, news media and verified government social media accounts to identify NPIs implemented in Canada between Jan.

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Background: Assessing neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in older adults is important for determining dementia risk. Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is an at-risk state for cognitive decline and dementia, characterized by emergent NPS in later life. MBI has significantly higher dementia incidence than late life psychiatric conditions.

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Background: Machine learning (ML) is a promising technique for patient-specific prediction of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia development. Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) might improve the accuracy of ML models but have barely been used for this purpose.

Objectives: To investigate if baseline mild behavioral impairment (MBI) status used for NPS quantification along with brain morphology features are predictive of follow-up diagnosis, median 40 months later in patients with normal cognition (NC) or MCI.

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Mutations in () are common causes of familial Parkinson's disease (PD). Oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathogenesis of PD. Mutations in LRRK2 have been shown to increase susceptibility to oxidative stress.

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Epigenetic modifications, specifically DNA methylation, have been implicated in the development of this disease. Genetic variants of DNA methyltransferase 3b (DNMT3b), one of the most important DNA methyltransferases, were shown to be associated with PD in a Brazilian population.

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