Harnessing the potential of community-based participatory research approaches in bipolar disorder.

Background: Despite the rapid growth in the sophistication of research on bipolar disorder (BD), the field faces challenges in improving quality of life (QoL) and symptom outcomes, adapting treatments for marginalized communities, and disseminating research insights into real-world practice. Community-based participatory research (CBPR)-research that is conducted as a partnership between researchers and community members-has helped address similar gaps in other health conditions. This paper aims to improve awareness of the potential benefits of CBPR in BD research.

A genetic factor associated with low final bone mineral density in children after a long-term glucocorticoids treatment.

Treatment with glucocorticoids is associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD). We performed a genome-wide association study to analyze interactive effects between genotypes and cumulative dose of prednisone (PD) over 4.3 years of follow-up period on the final BMD Z-scores in 461 white children from the Childhood Asthma Management Program.

Uses of strength-based interventions for people with serious mental illness: A critical review.

Background: For the past 3 decades, mental health practitioners have increasingly adopted aspects and tools of strength-based approaches. Providing strength-based intervention and amplifying strengths relies heavily on effective interpersonal processes.

Aim: This article is a critical review of research regarding the use of strength-based approaches in mental health service settings.

Hydroxychloroquine Serum Concentrations and Flares of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Longitudinal Cohort Analysis.

Objective: To study the relationship between serum hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) concentrations and flares of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a longitudinal cohort of patients.

Methods: Patients who fulfilled ≥4 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for SLE and had been treated with HCQ for >6 months were studied. Blood was assayed for HCQ levels by tandem mass spectrometry.

Effectiveness of motivational interviewing to reduce illicit drug use in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: Motivational interviewing (MI) is a commonly used intervention approach to promote reduction or cessation of substance abuse. Effects may be different for adolescents, so it is useful to assess the state of the evidence in this subpopulation. This paper aimed to assess evidence for MI effectiveness in adolescents.

Ivabradine (Corlanor) for Heart Failure: The First Selective and Specific I f Inhibitor.

Ivabradine (Corlanor) for heart failure: the first selective and specific I f inhibitor.

Acculturation, perceived discrimination, and psychological distress: Experiences of South Asians in Hong Kong.

Although migration itself may not compromise the mental health of immigrants, the acculturative process can involve highly stressful factors that are specific to immigrant and minority status. Using structural equation modeling, this study examined the relations between acculturation orientations, perceived discrimination, acculturative stress, and psychological distress among 229 Pakistani and 218 Nepalese migrants living in Hong Kong. Although the initial hypothesized model was not confirmed, a modified model with good fit indices showed that acculturation orientation mediated the relationships of perceived discrimination and acculturative stress with psychological distress.

Combined flame and solution synthesis of nanoscale tungsten-oxide and zinc/tin-oxide heterostructures.

Heterostructures of tungsten-oxide nanowires decorated with zinc/tin-oxide nanostructures are synthesized via a combined flame and solution synthesis approach. Vertically well-aligned tungsten-oxide nanowires are grown on a tungsten substrate by a flame synthesis method. Here, tetragonal WO(2.

Study protocol for a controlled trial of Strengths Model Case Management in mental health services in Hong Kong.

Introduction: Although strengths-based models are popular within recovery-oriented approaches, there is still a lack of conclusive research to guide how they should be implemented. A recent meta-analysis confirmed the lack of clarity in how this perspective is operationalised and that fidelity monitoring during the implementation process is lacking. Hence, there is a clear need to evaluate the feasibility of delivering and evaluating a clearly operationalised strengths-based intervention that incorporates fidelity checks to inform more definitive research.

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Multicenter Study of Adalimumab in Pediatric Patients With Enthesitis-Related Arthritis.

Objective: Enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) is a juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) category, primarily affecting entheses and peripheral joints. This study evaluated efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of adalimumab versus placebo in patients with ERA.

Methods: This is a phase III, multicenter, randomized double-blind study in patients ages ≥6 to <18 years with ERA treated with adalimumab (24 mg/m(2) , maximum dose 40 mg every other week) or placebo for 12 weeks, followed by up to 192 weeks of open-label adalimumab.

Understanding Low-Acuity Visits to the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Background: Canadian pediatric emergency department visits are increasing, with a disproportionate increase in low-acuity visits locally (33% of volume in 2008-09, 41% in 2011-12). We sought to understand: 1) presentation patterns and resource implications; 2) parents' perceptions and motivations; and 3) alternate health care options considered prior to presenting with low-acuity problems.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study at our tertiary pediatric emergency department serving two provinces to explore differences between patients with and without a primary care provider.

CTNNA3 and SEMA3D: Promising loci for asthma exacerbation identified through multiple genome-wide association studies.

Background: Asthma exacerbations are a major cause of morbidity and medical cost.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify genetic predictors of exacerbations in asthmatic subjects.

Methods: We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of acute asthma exacerbation in 2 pediatric clinical trials: the Childhood Asthma Management Program (n = 581) and the Childhood Asthma Research and Education (n = 205) network.

An ecological analysis of secondary school students' drug use in Hong Kong: A case-control study.

Background: Youth drug use is a significant at-risk youth behaviour and remains as one of the top priorities for mental health services, researchers and policy planners. The ecological characteristics of secondary school students' behaviour in Hong Kong are understudied.

Aim: To examine individual, familial, social and environmental correlates of drug use among secondary students in Hong Kong.

Genetic risk factors for decreased bone mineral accretion in children with asthma receiving multiple oral corticosteroid bursts.

Background: Long-term intermittent oral corticosteroid (OCS) use in children with asthma leads to significant decreases in bone mineral accretion (BMA).

Objective: We aimed to identify genetic factors influencing OCS dose effects on BMA in children with asthma.

Methods: We first performed a gene-by-OCS interaction genome-wide association study (GWAS) of BMA in 489 white participants in the Childhood Asthma Management Program trial who took short-term oral prednisone bursts when they experienced acute asthma exacerbations.

Drug metabolism and drug interactions: potential application to antituberculosis drugs.

Drug-drug interaction is an important element of modern drug development. In the case of antituberculosis drugs, which are frequently administered as combinations of multiple therapeutic agents, the potential for interactions between coadministered drugs and between new and existing drugs should be considered during the development of new antituberculosis drugs and combination regimens. The current understanding of drug-drug interactions involving the first-line antituberculosis drugs is reviewed in this article, along with the approaches that are used to prospectively delineate potential interactions during development of new therapies.

The risk and nature of flares in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: results from the ReACCh-Out cohort.

Objective: To describe probabilities and characteristics of disease flares in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to identify clinical features associated with an increased risk of flare.

Methods: We studied children in the Research in Arthritis in Canadian Children emphasizing Outcomes (ReACCh-Out) prospective inception cohort. A flare was defined as a recurrence of disease manifestations after attaining inactive disease and was called significant if it required intensification of treatment.

From the draining lymph node to the liver: the induction and effector mechanisms of malaria-specific CD8+ T cells.

Parasitic protozoa cause considerable disease in humans and, due to their intracellular life cycle, induce robust CD8(+) T cell responses. A greater understanding of the factors that promote and maintain CD8(+) T cell-mediated immunity against these pathogens is likely needed for the development of effective vaccines. Immunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites, the infectious stage of the malaria parasite transmitted by mosquitoes, is an excellent model to study these questions as CD8(+) T cells specific for a single epitope can completely eliminate parasite infection in the liver.

Whole-body MRI of juvenile spondyloarthritis: protocols and pictorial review of characteristic patterns.

Spondyloarthritides are a group of inflammatory rheumatological diseases that cause arthritis with a predilection for spinal or sacroiliac involvement in addition to a high association with HLA-B27. Juvenile spondyloarthritis is distinct from adult spondyloarthritis and manifests more frequently as peripheral arthritis and enthesitis. Consequently juvenile spondyloarthritis is often referred to as enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) subtype under the juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) classification criteria.

Absorption-ablation-excitation mechanism of laser-cluster interactions in a nanoaerosol system.

The absorption-ablation-excitation mechanism in laser-cluster interactions is investigated by measuring Rayleigh scattering of aerosol clusters along with atomic emission from phase-selective laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. For 532 nm excitation, as the laser intensity increases beyond 0.16  GW/cm^{2}, the scattering cross section of TiO_{2} clusters begins to decrease, concurrent with the onset of atomic emission of Ti, indicating a scattering-to-ablation transition and the formation of nanoplasmas.

Proteolytic Cleavage of the Plasmodium falciparum Circumsporozoite Protein Is a Target of Protective Antibodies.

Studies in animals and human volunteers demonstrate that antibodies against the repeat-region of the Plasmodium circumsporozoite protein (CSP) abrogate sporozoite infection. However, the realization that the N- and C- terminal regions flanking the repeats play essential roles in parasite infectivity raised the possibility that they could be targeted by protective antibodies. We characterized a monoclonal antibody (mAb5D5) specific for the N-terminus of the P.

Problem gambling and help seeking among Chinese international students: narratives of place identity transformation.

This article uses examples of problem gambling and help seeking among Chinese international students in New Zealand to demonstrate place identity transformation. Two-wave narrative interviews were conducted with 15 Chinese international students. Place identity among participants is shown to be a process that features the transformation of participants' identity.