Structural firefighters are exposed to an array of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a result of incomplete combustion of both synthetic and natural materials. PAHs are found in both the particulate and vapor phases in the firefighting environment and are significantly associated with acute and chronic diseases, including cancer. Using a fireground exposure simulator (FES) and standing mannequins dressed in four different firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) conditions, each with varying levels of protective hood interface and particulate-blocking features, the efficacy of the hoods was assessed against the ingress of PAHs (specifically, naphthalene).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Evolving breast cancer treatments have led to improved outcomes but carry a substantial financial burden. The association of treatment costs with the cost-effectiveness of screening mammography is unknown.
Objective: To determine the cost-effectiveness of population-based breast cancer screening in the context of current treatment standards.
Objective: This systematic review update synthesized recent evidence on the benefits and harms of breast cancer screening in women aged ≥ 40 years and aims to inform the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care's (CTFPHC) guideline update.
Methods: We searched Ovid MEDLINE® ALL, Embase Classic + Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to update our searches to July 8, 2023. Search results for observational studies were limited to publication dates from 2014 to capture more relevant studies.
Womens Health (Lond)
December 2024
Background: In Canada, after completing their treatment at oncology centers in tertiary care facilities, most breast cancer patients are discharged and receive survivorship care from primary care providers (PCPs). Evidence-based guidelines exist to inform appropriate care for breast cancer survivor follow-up.
Objectives: This study analyzed the concordance of breast cancer survivorship follow-up care by PCPs with recommended guidelines at an academic Family Health Team (FHT) in Ottawa.
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are crucial for maintaining hematopoietic homeostasis and are localized within distinct bone marrow (BM) niches. While BM niches are often considered similar across different skeletal sites, we discovered that the alveolar BM (al-BM) in the mandible harbors the highest frequency of immunophenotypic HSCs in nine different skeletal sites. Transplantation assays revealed significantly increased engraftment from al-BM compared to femur, tibia, or pelvis BM, likely due to a higher proportion of alveolar HSCs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We aim to advance our understanding by examining voices related to employees' own interests and associated outcomes for employees and healthcare organizations. Patient safety reviews do not explore contextual factors such as organizational or professional cultures and regulatory environments in depth, and arguments for overcoming barriers to voice in health are underdeveloped. The research has largely developed in separate literature (various subdisciplines of management and the health field), and we outline the divergent emphases and opportunities for integration with the aim of investigating all relevant contextual factors and providing guidance on best practice informed by multiple disciplines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Birthing on Country principles in Australia have seen a revitalisation in midwifery care over the last decade with it being seen as a metaphor for the best start to life for First Nations peoples. This scoping review aimed to explore the extent of evidence of Australian First Nations women's experiences of out-of-hospital childbirth and the alignment with Birthing on Country principles to inform paramedic practice.
Methods: Four databases were searched including MEDLINE, CINAHL, EBSCOhost Health and Scopus utilising the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for Scoping Reviews.
Objectives: Whilst public health measures were effective in reducing COVID-19 transmission, unintended negative consequences may have occurred. This study aims to assess changes alcohol consumption and the heavy episodic drinking (HED) during the pandemic.
Methods: Data were from the Optimise Study, a longitudinal cohort of Australian adults September 2020-August 2022 that over-sampled priority populations at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, developing severe COVID-19 or experiencing adverse consequences of lockdowns.
Stud Health Technol Inform
November 2024
This paper presents the design, application, and results of experience-centered design sessions (ECD) involving nonverbal persons with dementia (PwD) and persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PwPIMD). This study is part of a larger interdisciplinary project dedicated to understanding the personhood of these persons within contexts of care and living. This study is grounded in the belief that sensory experiences and interactions can render their personhood visible, tangible, and accessible.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeople with a history of injecting drug use are a priority for eliminating blood-borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections. Identifying them for disease surveillance in electronic medical records (EMRs) is challenged by sparsity of predictors. This study introduced a novel approach to phenotype people who have injected drugs using structured EMR data and interactive human-in-the-loop methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: National estimates of tobacco use are reported by racial category after excluding all individuals who identify as Hispanic (e.g., non-Hispanic [NH], Black; NH-White).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOccup Med (Lond)
November 2024
Background: Understanding of hazardous alcohol drinking and insomnia among Australian ambulance personnel is limited. Australian ambulance organizations have strengthened their organizational human resource management (HRM) to promote their employees' healthy lifestyles, health and well-being.
Aims: To describe the prevalence of hazardous alcohol consumption and insomnia among Australian ambulance personnel and to explore their associations with the organizational HRM strength.
Modeling immune cell recruitment by liver endothelial cells in vitro is important to better understand the pathology of chronic inflammatory liver diseases and cancers. Here, we present a protocol for the study of monocyte transmigration across activated primary human liver endothelial cells, under physiological flow conditions. We describe primary endothelial cell isolation from human liver tissues and monocyte isolation from human blood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Breast cancer (BC) characteristics and outcomes in Canada related to race/ethnicity are not currently documented.
Methods: Age-specific and age-standardized BC incidence and mortality rates, age distribution of cases, proportions of stage, and molecular subtypes were calculated for women aged 20+, by race/ethnicity, using 2006 and 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort databases of linked census, cancer, and death data.
Results: In 47 105 BC cases, age-specific incidence rates were higher in Filipina (rate ratio (RR) = 1.
Objective: Cannabis is increasingly the first substance used by young people and research indicates that cannabis use may precede the onset of tobacco use. Little is known, however, about the role of cannabis use in stages of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) uptake and progression across young adulthood. This study examined the associations between past 30-day (P30D) cannabis use frequency and transitions in ENDS use among young adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe production of human body odor is the result of the action of commensal skin bacteria, including Staphylococcus hominis, acting to biotransform odorless apocrine gland secretions into volatile chemicals like thioalcohols such as 3-methyl-3-sulphanylhexan-1-ol (3M3SH). As the secreted odor precursor Cys-Gly-3M3SH contains a dipeptide, yet the final enzyme in the biotransformation pathway only functions on Cys-3M3SH, we sought to identify the remaining step in this human-adapted biochemical pathway using a novel coupled enzyme assay. Purification of this activity from S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo characterize the histologic and molecular subtype distribution of, and survival from, breast cancer (BC) among Canadian women overall, and by stage and age at diagnosis. Invasive BC cases from the Canadian Cancer Registry for women aged 15-99 years between 2012 and 2017 in Canada, excluding Quebec, were examined using pre-existing mortality linkages. Stage at diagnosis, molecular, and histologic subtypes, and 5-year net survival (NS) by age, subtype, and stage were determined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Social media use and vaping nicotine are highly prevalent in the daily lives of young adults, especially among Mexican-American college students. The excessive and compulsive use of social media platforms, coupled with the urge to stay continuously connected, can lead to problematic social media use. To date, no studies have explored the impact of problematic social media use on the daily patterns of vaping among this vulnerable population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of the study was to examine trajectories in hookah use behaviors across young adulthood and socio-demographic correlates of the trajectories. Data were drawn from Project M-PACT for the years 2014-2019. Participants were 5,220 college students aged 18 to 25 years at baseline.
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