Estimating the Risks and Benefits of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Generator Replacement: A Systematic Review.

Background: Every 4-7 years an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) pulse generator must be replaced surgically. This procedure is not without risk. In some cases, the risk versus benefit ratio may be against replacement.

Adult-Onset Type 1 Diabetes: A Qualitative Study of Decision-Making Needs.

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease resulting from insulin deficiency and must be carefully managed to prevent serious health complications. Diabetes education and management strategies usually focus on meeting the decision-making needs of children and their families, but little is known about the decisional needs of people with adult-onset type 1 diabetes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the diabetes-related decision-making needs of people diagnosed with adult-onset type 1 diabetes.

Evaluation of the Rectal Cancer Patient Decision Aid: A Before and After Study.

Background: In rectal cancer surgery, low anterior resection and abdominoperineal resection have equivocal impact on overall quality of life. A rectal cancer decision aid was developed to help patients weigh features of options and share their preference.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a patient decision aid for mid to low rectal cancer surgery on the patients' choice and decision-making process.

Cancer symptom management in the home: A scoping review.

The aim of this scoping review was to examine interventions used by nurses in the home setting for symptom management of adults with cancer. Databases were searched (CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, EBM Reviews, Joanna Briggs Institute EBP) with key words , and . Out of 390 identified citations, five met the inclusion criteria.

Patient Decision Aids: A Case for Certification at the National Level in the United States.

Patient decision aids enable patients to be better informed about the potential benefits and harms of their healthcare options. Certification of patient decision aids at the national level in the United States is a critical step towards responsible governance-primarily as a quality measure that increases patients' safety, as mandated in the U.S.

A systematic review on the association between inflammatory genes and cognitive decline in non-demented elderly individuals.

Cognitive impairment, or decline, is not only a feature of Alzheimer׳s disease and other forms of dementia but also normal ageing. Abundant evidence from epidemiological studies points towards perturbed inflammatory mechanisms in aged individuals, though the cause-effect nature of this apparent relationship is difficult to establish. Genetic association studies focusing on polymorphism in and around inflammatory genes represent a viable approach to establish whether inflammatory mechanisms might play a causal role in cognitive decline, whilst also enabling the identification of specific genes potentially influencing specific cognitive facets.

A translational systems biology approach in both animals and humans identifies a functionally related module of accumbal genes involved in the regulation of reward processing and binge drinking in males.

Background: The mesolimbic dopamine system, composed primarily of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area that project to striatal structures, is considered to be the key mediator of reinforcement-related mechanisms in the brain. Prompted by a genome-wide association meta-analysis implicating the Ras-specific guanine nucleotide-releasing factor 2 (RASGRF2) gene in the regulation of alcohol intake in men, we have recently shown that male Rasgrf2(-/-) mice exhibit reduced ethanol intake and preference accompanied by a perturbed mesolimbic dopamine system. We therefore propose that these mice represent a valid model to further elucidate the precise genes and mechanisms regulating mesolimbic dopamine functioning.

Hybrid quantum logic and a test of Bell's inequality using two different atomic isotopes.

Entanglement is one of the most fundamental properties of quantum mechanics, and is the key resource for quantum information processing (QIP). Bipartite entangled states of identical particles have been generated and studied in several experiments, and post-selected or heralded entangled states involving pairs of photons, single photons and single atoms, or different nuclei in the solid state, have also been produced. Here we use a deterministic quantum logic gate to generate a 'hybrid' entangled state of two trapped-ion qubits held in different isotopes of calcium, perform full tomography of the state produced, and make a test of Bell's inequality with non-identical atoms.

In for a penny, in for a pound: the effect of pre-engaging healthcare organizations on their subsequent participation in trials.

Background: Participant recruitment in clinical trials is often challenging. Building partnerships with healthcare organizations during proposal development facilitates access to the community and may influence its subsequent organization participation and participant recruitment. We aimed to assess how pre-engaging directors of homecare organizations influenced organization participation in a subsequent trial.

Noncognitive Indicators as Critical Predictors of Students' Performance in Dental School.

Dental educators have traditionally prioritized cognitive indicators (especially undergraduate grade point average and Dental Admission Test scores) in choosing students for admission to dental school. These indicators' role in predicting academic outcomes, including coursework and examination success, is well documented. However, noncognitive predictors including conscientiousness, self-discipline, achievement-striving, task orientation, deliberation, resilience, and situational judgment have also been identified.

Choosing treatment and screening options congruent with values: Do decision aids help? Sub-analysis of a systematic review.

Objective: To understand how well patients make value congruent decisions with and without patient decision aids (PtDAs) for screening and treatment options, and identify issues with its measurement and evaluation.

Methods: A sub-analysis of trials included in the 2014 Cochrane Review of Decision Aids. Eligible trials measured value congruence with chosen option.

Evidence of an IFN-γ by early life stress interaction in the regulation of amygdala reactivity to emotional stimuli.

Introduction: Since numerous studies have found that exposure to early life stress leads to increased peripheral inflammation and psychiatric disease, it is thought that peripheral immune activation precedes and possibly mediates the onset of stress-associated psychiatric disease. Despite early studies, IFNγ has received little attention relative to other inflammatory cytokines in the context of the pathophysiology of affective disorders. Neuroimaging endophenotypes have emerged recently as a promising means of elucidating these types of complex relationships including the modeling of the interaction between environmental factors and genetic predisposition.

Patient and family experiences with accessing telephone cancer treatment symptom support: a descriptive study.

Purpose: Assess patient and family member experiences with telephone cancer treatment symptom support.

Methods: Descriptive study guided by the Knowledge-to-Action Framework. Patients and family members who received telephone support for a cancer treatment symptom within the last month at one of three ambulatory cancer programs (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec) were eligible.

Impact of patient decision aids on appropriate and timely access to hip or knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of patient decision aids (PtDA) compared to usual education on appropriate and timely access to total joint arthroplasty in patients with osteoarthritis.

Method: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with patients undergoing orthopedic screening. Control and intervention arms received usual education; intervention arm also received a PtDA and a surgeon preference report.

The CREATE Method for Expressing Continuous Outcome Data in Absolute Terms for Use in Patient Treatment Decision Aids: A Validation Study.

Background: Patient decision aids (PtDAs) supplement advice from health care professionals by communicating the absolute risk or benefit of treatment options (i.e., X/100).

Impact of an interprofessional shared decision-making and goal-setting decision aid for patients with diabetes on decisional conflict--study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Competing health concerns present real obstacles to people living with diabetes and other chronic diseases as well as to their primary care providers. Guideline implementation interventions rarely acknowledge this, leaving both patients and providers feeling overwhelmed by the volume of recommended actions. Interprofessional (IP) shared decision-making (SDM) with the use of decision aids may help to set treatment priorities.

Predictors of Energy Compensation during Exercise Interventions: A Systematic Review.

Weight loss from exercise-induced energy deficits is usually less than expected. The objective of this systematic review was to investigate predictors of energy compensation, which is defined as body energy changes (fat mass and fat-free mass) over the total amount of exercise energy expenditure. A search was conducted in multiple databases without date limits.

Patients or volunteers? The impact of motivation for trial participation on the efficacy of patient decision Aids: a secondary analysis of a Cochrane systematic review.

Background: Efficacy of patient decision aids (PtDAs) may be influenced by trial participants' identity either as patients seeking to benefit personally from involvement or as volunteers supporting the research effort.

Aim: To determine if study characteristics indicative of participants' trial identity might influence PtDA efficacy.

Methods: We undertook exploratory subgroup meta-analysis of the 2011 Cochrane review of PtDAs, including trials that compared PtDA with usual care for treatment decisions.

Cultural adaptation of a shared decision making tool with Aboriginal women: a qualitative study.

Background: Shared decision making (SDM) may narrow health equity gaps experienced by Aboriginal women. SDM tools such as patient decision aids can facilitate SDM between the client and health care providers; SDM tools for use in Western health care settings have not yet been developed for and with Aboriginal populations. This study describes the adaptation and usability testing of a SDM tool, the Ottawa Personal Decision Guide (OPDG), to support decision making by Aboriginal women.

Decision coaching using the Ottawa family decision guide with parents and their children: a field testing study.

Background: Although children can benefit from being included in health decisions, little is known about effective interventions to support their involvement. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of decision coaching guided by the Ottawa Family Decision Guide with children and parents considering insulin delivery options for type 1 diabetes (insulin pump, multiple daily injections, or standard insulin injections).

Methods: Pre-/post-test field testing design.

Improving Decision making On Location of Care with the frail Elderly and their caregivers (the DOLCE study): study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: One of the toughest decisions faced by elderly people is whether to stay at home or move to a care facility. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of training interprofessional home-care teams in shared decision making combined with a decision aid on the proportion of elderly people who report being active in the decision-making process regarding whether to stay at home or move to a care facility.

Methods/design: We propose a multicenter cluster randomized trial conducted with home-care interprofessional teams in the Province of Quebec with 2 data collection phases: before and after the intervention.