Predictors of psychiatric aftercare among formerly hospitalized adolescents.

Objective: Timely aftercare can be viewed as a patient safety imperative. In the context of decreasing inpatient length of stay (LOS) and known child psychiatry human resource challenges, we investigated time to aftercare for adolescents following psychiatric hospitalization.

Method: We conducted a population-based cohort study of adolescents aged 15 to 19 years with psychiatric discharge between April 1, 2002, and March 1, 2004, in Ontario, using encrypted identifiers across health administrative databases to determine time to first psychiatric aftercare with a primary care physician (PCP) or a psychiatrist within 395 days of discharge.

Off-label prescribing in palliative care - a cross-sectional national survey of palliative medicine doctors.

Background: Regulatory bodies including the European Medicines Agency register medications (formulation, route of administration) for specific clinical indications. Once registered, prescription is at clinicians' discretion. Off-label use is beyond the registered use.

The air quality health index and asthma morbidity: a population-based study.

Background: Exposure to air pollution has been linked to the exacerbation of respiratory diseases. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), developed in Canada, is a new health risk scale for reporting air quality and advising risk reduction actions.

Objective: We used the AQHI to estimate the impact of air quality on asthma morbidity, adjusting for potential confounders.

Differences in pathogenicity, response to vaccination, and innate immune responses in different types of ducks infected with a virulent H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus from Vietnam.

In a previous study, we found clear differences in pathogenicity and response to vaccination against H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI; HA dade 2.3.4) between Pekin (Anas platyrhynchos var.

Novel cytidine-based orotidine-5'-monophosphate decarboxylase inhibitors with an unusual twist.

Orotidine-5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (ODCase) is an interesting enzyme with an unusual catalytic activity and a potential drug target in Plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria. ODCase has been shown to exhibit unusual and interesting interactions with a variety of nucleotide ligands. Cytidine-5'-monophosphate (CMP) is a poor ligand of ODCase, and CMP binds to the active site of ODCase with an unusual orientation and conformation.

Bias-corrected estimator for intraclass correlation coefficient in the balanced one-way random effects model.

Background: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) are used in a wide range of applications. However, most commonly used estimators for the ICC are known to be subject to bias.

Methods: Using second order Taylor series expansion, we propose a new bias-corrected estimator for one type of intraclass correlation coefficient, for the ICC that arises in the context of the balanced one-way random effects model.

Constructing a minimum phylogenetic network from a dense triplet set.

For a given set L of species and a set T of triplets on L, we seek to construct a phylogenetic network which is consistent with T i.e. which represents all triplets of T.

Association between evidence-based standardized protocols in emergency departments with childhood asthma outcomes: a Canadian population-based study.

Objective: To determine whether children treated in emergency departments (EDs) with evidence-based standardized protocols (EBSPs) containing evidence-based content and format had lower risk of hospital admission or ED return visit and greater follow-up than children treated in EDs with no standardized protocols in Ontario, Canada.

Design: Retrospective population-based cohort study of children with asthma. We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate risk of outcomes.

The role of ondansetron in the management of cholestatic or uremic pruritus--a systematic review.

Context: Pruritus associated with hepatic or renal failure can be a troublesome symptom, refractory to treatment and associated with significant physical and emotional distress and a reduction in quality of life for patients already burdened with chronic disease. Serotonin has been implicated as a possible pathological mediator, and, therefore, 5HT(3) antagonists have been suggested as a possible therapeutic intervention.

Objectives: This review of the literature systematically explores the role of ondansetron in the management of cholestatic or uremic pruritus.

Clinical benefits of oral nutritional supplementation for elderly hip fracture patients: a single blind randomised controlled trial.

Background: malnutrition is an important risk factor for poor outcome in patients recovering after hip fracture surgery. This study aimed to investigate the clinical, nutritional and rehabilitation effects of an oral nutritional supplementation (ONS) in an inpatient rehabilitation setting.

Methods: this was an observer-blinded randomised controlled trial of elderly post-surgical proximal femoral fracture patients.

The adjunct effectiveness of diode laser gingivectomy in maintaining periodontal health during orthodontic treatment.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of diode laser gingivectomy as an adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal treatment in the management of periodontal health among patients receiving fixed orthodontic appliance therapy (FOAT).

Materials And Methods: Thirty patients undergoing FOAT with gingival enlargement were block randomized into two treatment groups. The test group received diode laser gingivectomy (940-nm diode laser, ezlase, Biolase Technology Inc) as an adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal treatment.

Describing and quantifying asthma comorbidity [corrected]: a population study.

Background: Asthma comorbidity has been correlated with poor asthma control, increased health services use, and decreased quality of life. Managing it improves these outcomes. Little is known about the amount of different types of comorbidity associated with asthma and how they vary by age.

Pan-Canadian REspiratory STandards INitiative for Electronic Health Records (PRESTINE): 2011 national forum proceedings.

In a novel knowledge translation initiative, the Government of Ontario's Asthma Plan of Action funded the development of an Asthma Care Map to enable adherence with the Canadian Asthma Consensus Guidelines developed under the auspices of the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS). Following its successful evaluation within the Primary Care Asthma Pilot Project, respiratory clinicians from the Asthma Research Unit, Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario) are leading an initiative to incorporate standardized Asthma Care Map data elements into electronic health records in primary care in Ontario. Acknowledging that the issue of data standards affects all respiratory conditions, and all provinces and territories, the Government of Ontario approached the CTS Respiratory Guidelines Committee.

Results from a community-based program evaluating the effect of changing smoking status on asthma symptom control.

Background: Cigarette smoking has been associated with accelerated decline in lung function, increased health services use and asthma severity in patients with asthma. Previous studies have provided insight into how smoking cessation improves lung function among asthma patients, however, fail to provide measurable asthma symptom-specific outcomes after smoking cessation. The objective of this study was to measure the effect of changing smoking status on asthma symptom control and health services use in adults with asthma.

Challenges for accurate and prompt molecular diagnosis of clades of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses emerging in Vietnam.

Forty-six chickens and 48 ducks were sampled from four Vietnamese poultry premises in 2009 infected with H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) clade 2.3.2 and 2.

Transition of chromatin status during the process of recovery from drought stress in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Changes in chromatin status are correlated with gene regulation of biological processes such as development and stress responses in plants. In this study, we focused on the transition of chromatin status toward gene repression during the process of recovery from drought stress of drought-inducible genes (RD20, RD29A and AtGOLS2) and a rehydration-inducible gene (ProDH). In response to drought, RNA polymerase II was recruited on the drought-inducible genes and rapidly disappeared after rehydration, although mRNA levels of these genes were maintained to some degree after rehydration, suggesting that the transcriptional activities of these genes were rapidly inactivated by rehydration treatment.

Follow-up care after an emergency department visit for asthma and subsequent healthcare utilization in a universal-access healthcare system.

Objectives: To describe the follow-up care within 28 days of an emergency department (ED) visit for asthma and to determine the association of follow-up visits within 28 days with ED re-visits and hospital admissions in the subsequent year.

Study Design: Population-based retrospective cohort study of children with asthma aged 2-17 years treated in an ED in Ontario, Canada between April 14, 2006 and February 28, 2009. Multiple linked health administrative datasets and Cox proportional hazard multivariable survival models were used to test the association of characteristics of 28-day follow-up visits with 1-year outcomes.

The disparity between patient and nurse symptom rating in a hospice population.

Background: Meticulous assessment, monitoring, and treatment of symptoms are key components of palliative care. The Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS) is a 0-10 numerical rating scale (NRS) used for self-report of sleep, appetite, nausea, bowels, breathing, fatigue, and pain. Ideally, symptom rating should be by self-report; however, the ratings are often completed by nurses.

Aftercare, emergency department visits, and readmission in adolescents.

Objective: U.S. and Canadian data demonstrate decreasing inpatient days, increasing nonurgent emergency department (ED) visits, and short supply of child psychiatrists.

An international initiative to create a collaborative for pharmacovigilance in hospice and palliative care clinical practice.

Background: Medication registration currently requires evidence of safety and efficacy from adequately powered phase 3 studies. Pharmacovigilance (phase 4 studies, postmarketing data, adverse drug reaction reporting) provide data on more widespread and longer term use. Historically, voluntary reporting systems for pharmacovigilance have had low reporting rates, relying on ad hoc reporting and retrospective chart reviews, or prospective registries have often been limited to specific drugs or clinical conditions.

An epigenetic integrator: new insights into genome regulation, environmental stress responses and developmental controls by histone deacetylase 6.

Histone acetylation ranks with DNA methylation as one of major epigenetic modifications in eukaryotes. Deacetylation of histone N-terminal tails is intimately correlated with gene silencing and heterochromatin formation. In Arabidopsis, histone deacetylase 6 (HDA6) is a well-studied histone deacetylase that functions in gene silencing.

The course of asthma activity: a population study.

Background: Unlike most chronic diseases, which tend to progress over time, asthma is known to persist, possibly resolve, and/or present with any combination of remissions and relapses. As a result, its course has been difficult to characterize and its prognosis difficult to predict.

Objective: To quantify the proportion of individuals with asthma who have active disease and, of those, the proportion who experience significant gaps in their asthma activity; and to determine factors associated with asthma activity.

Evaluation of lateral flow devices for identification of infected poultry by testing swab and feather specimens during H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in Vietnam.

Background: Evaluation of two commercial lateral flow devices (LFDs) for avian influenza (AI) detection in H5N1 highly pathogenic AI infected poultry in Vietnam.

Objectives: Determine sensitivity and specificity of the LFDs relative to a validated highly sensitive H5 RRT PCR.

Methods: Swabs (cloacal and tracheal) and feathers were collected from 46 chickens and 48 ducks (282 clinical specimens) and tested by both LFDs and H5 RRT PCR.