Burden of infant group B disease and impact of maternal screening and antibiotic prophylaxis in Ontario, Canada: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Group B (GBS) significantly contributes to neonatal sepsis and meningitis, with varying disease rates reported globally and limited population-based data. We estimated infant GBS disease burden in Ontario, Canada and assessed the association of maternal GBS screening (35-37 weeks' gestation) and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) provision with infant disease rates.

Methods: Our population-based cohort study included pregnant individuals and their offspring from April 2012 to March 2018, utilising the provincial birth registry linked to health administrative data.

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine on intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes at a fertility center in Iraq: A prospective cohort study.

Background And Aims: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major public health problem that requires preventative vaccines. However, there is vaccine hesitancy among women of reproductive age in Iraq. This study aimed to investigate SARS-CoV-2 vaccination effects on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and related fertility parameters.

Exploring uptake of HIV/STI knowledge and safer sex-efficacy in an arts-based sexual health workshop among Northern and Indigenous adolescents in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Limited research has evaluated sexual health promotion projects with adolescents living in Arctic regions. The study objective was to examine changes in STI knowledge and safer sex efficacy among youth in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada who participated in arts-based sexual health workshops. We used a pre/post-test design with a convenience sample of students aged 13-18 years recruited from 17 NWT communities.

SNP-PCR genotyping links alterations in the GABAA receptor (GABRG3: rs208129) and RELN (rs73670) genes to autism spectrum disorder among peadiatric Iraqi Arabs.

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an increasing concern among the Iraqi Arab population. The genetic alterations that cause ASD are likely to converge at the synapse. This study investigated polymorphisms in the GABA receptor subunit (GABRG3) and the RELN gene as putative biomarkers of ASD in a pediatric population in Iraq.

The oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism rs2268491 and serum oxytocin alterations are indicative of autism spectrum disorder: A case-control paediatric study in Iraq with personalized medicine implications.

Background: Impairment of social functioning skills is a key hallmark of autism. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is a blood-based biomarker of social functioning, and a candidate for individualized treatment of ASD. The effects of OXT on the social brain are mediated by the OXT receptor (OXTR).

The clinicopathology and survival characteristics of patients with POLE proofreading mutations in endometrial carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is classified into four distinct molecular subgroups. Patients with polymerase epsilon exonuclease domain mutated (POLE-EDM) tumors have the best prognosis of all. This meta-analysis consolidated the clinicopathology variations reported in the POLE-mutant subtype and survival parameters in patients with EC.

The viral hepatitis B care cascade: A population-based comparison of immigrant groups.

Background And Aims: The global burden of viral hepatitis B is substantial, and monitoring infections across the care cascade is important for elimination efforts. There is little information on care disparities by immigration status, and we aimed to quantify disease burden among immigrant subgroups.

Approach And Results: In this population-based, retrospective cohort study, we used linked laboratory and health administrative records to describe the HBV care cascade in five distinct stages: (1) lifetime prevalence; (2) diagnosis; (3) engagement with care; (4) treatment initiation; and (5) treatment continuation.

Mismatch repair deficiency and clinicopathological characteristics in endometrial carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Loss of mismatch repair (MMR) occurs frequently in endometrial carcinoma (EC) and is an important prognostic marker. However, the frequency of MMR deficiency (D-MMR) in EC remains inconclusive. This systematic review and meta-analysis addressed this inconsistency and evaluated related clinicopathology.

Viral hepatitis C cascade of care: A population-level comparison of immigrant and long-term residents.

Background & Aims: Viral hepatitis C represents a major global burden, particularly among immigrant-receiving countries such as Canada, where knowledge of disparities in hepatitis C virus among immigrant groups for micro-elimination efforts is lacking. We quantify the hepatitis C cascades of care among immigrants and long-term residents prior to the introduction of direct-acting antiviral medications.

Methods: Using laboratory and health administrative records, we described the hepatitis C virus cascades of care in terms of diagnosis, engagement with care, treatment initiation, and clearance in Ontario, Canada (1997-2014).

Validating viral hepatitis B and C diagnosis codes: a retrospective analysis using Ontario's health administrative data.

Objective: We aimed to determine the criterion validity of using diagnosis codes for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) to identify infections.

Methods: Using linked laboratory and administrative data in Ontario, Canada, from January 2004 to December 2014, we validated HBV/HCV diagnosis codes against laboratory-confirmed infections. Performance measures (sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value) were estimated via cross-validated logistic regression and we explored variations by varying time windows from 1 to 5 years before (i.

The frequency of POLE-mutation in endometrial carcinoma and prognostic implications: a systemic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is classified into four distinct molecular subgroups including ultramutated DNA polymerase epsilon (POLE). POLE-mutated tumors have the best prognosis and are a promising target for immunotherapy. This meta-analysis consolidated the reported variation of POLE-mutant frequency and assessed prognostic value in EC.

Increased PTEN gene expression in patients with endometrial carcinoma from areas of high risk depleted uranium exposure.

Objective: Investigate PTEN gene expression and tumor aggressiveness in endometrial carcinoma specimens from patients living in either areas of depleted uranium [DU] pollution or unpolluted regions to determine any evidence for the effect of war pollution on the rising trends of cancer incidence in Iraq.

Results: Tumor PTEN gene expression was significantly increased in patients living in the areas of high risk DU exposure, in comparison to patient tumors from low risk areas [P = 0.001].

Spatial variations in ambient ultrafine particle concentrations and risk of congenital heart defects.

Background: Cardiovascular malformations account for nearly one-third of all congenital anomalies, making these the most common type of birth defects. Little is known regarding the influence of ambient ultrafine particles (<0.1 μm) (UFPs) on their occurrence.

Syndemic Factors Associated with Safer Sex Efficacy Among Northern and Indigenous Adolescents in Arctic Canada.

Background: Syndemic approaches explore the synergistic relationships between social and health inequities. Such approaches are particularly salient for the Northwest Territories, Canada, that experiences national social (food insecurity, intimate partner violence [IPV]) and health (sexually transmitted infections [STI]) disparities. Safer sex efficacy (SSE) includes knowledge, intention, and relationship dynamics that facilitate safer sex negotiation.

A population-based comparison of preterm neonatal deaths (22-34 gestational weeks) in France and Ontario: a cohort study.

Background: The management and outcomes of preterm births can vary greatly even among developed nations with the same access to medicine, technology and expertise. We aimed to compare aspects of obstetrical management and mortality for preterm infants in France and Ontario, Canada.

Methods: The Better Outcomes Registry & Network (BORN) Information System in Ontario and Épidémiologique sur les petits âges gestationnels (EPIPAGE-2) in France collected information on maternal demographics, obstetrical characteristics, obstetrical interventions and neonatal outcomes for infants born between 22 and 34 weeks gestation.

Spatiotemporal Variations in Ambient Ultrafine Particles and the Incidence of Childhood Asthma.

Little is known regarding the impact of ambient ultrafine particles (UFPs; <0.1 μm) on childhood asthma development. To examine the association between prenatal and early postnatal life exposure to UFPs and development of childhood asthma.

Examining Community Stability in the Face of Mass Extinction in Communities of Digital Organisms.

Digital evolution is a computer-based instantiation of Darwinian evolution in which short self-replicating computer programs compete, mutate, and evolve. It is an excellent platform for addressing topics in long-term evolution and paleobiology, such as mass extinction and recovery, with experimental evolutionary approaches. We evolved model communities with ecological interdependence among community members, which were subjected to two principal types of mass extinction: a pulse extinction that killed randomly, and a selective press extinction involving an alteration of the abiotic environment to which the communities had to adapt.

Paediatric tuberculosis among the foreign-born: utility of the Canadian TB immigration medical surveillance programme.

Background: There are few data on the utility of screening paediatric immigrants for tuberculosis (TB) in low TB burden countries.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of the Canadian immigration medical examination and TB Medical Surveillance (TBMS) for detecting paediatric TB disease.

Design: A 10-year population-based retrospective cohort study of foreign-born children (ages 0-10 years) and adolescents (ages 11-17 years) immigrating to Ontario, Canada, using linked immigration and public health databases.

Examining the effects of an obstetrics interprofessional programme on reductions to reportable events and their related costs.

There are many ways to account for the return on investment (ROI) in healthcare: improved communication, teamwork, culture, patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction, and clinical outcomes are but a few. Some of these are easier to quantify and associate to an intervention than others. What if the outcomes listed were not just independent results, but beget one another? In 2001, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada created the Managing Obstetrical Risk Efficiently (MORE) programme, to improve healthcare culture and patient outcomes in obstetrics by leveraging front-line ownership.

Prevalence of tuberculosis infection and disease in children referred for tuberculosis medical surveillance in Ontario: a single-cohort study.

Background: There are few data about the utility of the Canadian tuberculosis medical surveillance system for detecting tuberculosis in children and adolescents. We sought to assess the prevalence of tuberculosis infection and disease in children and adolescents referred by the tuberculosis medical surveillance program who were evaluated at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) tuberculosis program.

Methods: We retrospectively studied clinical records, radiographic findings and results of interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) of all children less than 18 years of age referred by the tuberculosis medical surveillance program and evaluated at SickKids between November 2012 and June 2016.

Effect modification of perinatal exposure to air pollution and childhood asthma incidence.

Perinatal exposure to ambient air pollution has been associated with childhood asthma incidence; however, less is known regarding the potential effect modifiers in this association. We examined whether maternal and infant characteristics modified the association between perinatal exposure to air pollution and development of childhood asthma.761 172 births occurring between 2006 and 2012 were identified in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Maternal exposure to ambient air pollution and risk of early childhood cancers: A population-based study in Ontario, Canada.

Background: There are increasing concerns regarding the role of exposure to ambient air pollution during pregnancy in the development of early childhood cancers.

Objective: This population based study examined whether prenatal and early life (<1year of age) exposures to ambient air pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide (NO) and particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤2.5μm (PM), were associated with selected common early childhood cancers in Canada.

Maternal Exposure to Aeroallergens and the Risk of Early Delivery.

Background: Daily changes in aeroallergens during pregnancy could trigger early labor, but few investigations have evaluated this issue. This study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to aeroallergens during the week preceding birth and the risk of early delivery among preterm and term pregnancies.

Methods: We identified data on 225,234 singleton births that occurred in six large cities in the province of Ontario, Canada, from 2004 to 2011 (April to October) from a birth registry.

Ambient air pollution and adverse birth outcomes: Differences by maternal comorbidities.

Background: Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution has been associated with adverse birth outcomes, but the potential modifying effect of maternal comorbidities remains understudied. Our objective was to investigate whether associations between prenatal air pollution exposures and birth outcomes differ by maternal comorbidities.

Methods: A total of 818,400 singleton live births were identified in the province of Ontario, Canada from 2005 to 2012.