Canadian health care providers' and education workers' hesitance to receive original and bivalent COVID-19 vaccines.

Background: The demand for COVID-19 vaccines has diminished as the pandemic lingers. Understanding vaccine hesitancy among essential workers is important in reducing the impact of future pandemics by providing effective immunization programs delivered expeditiously.

Method: Two surveys exploring COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in 2021 and 2022 were conducted in cohorts of health care providers (HCP) and education workers participating in prospective studies of COVID-19 illnesses and vaccine uptake.

A survey of management preferences for bladder exstrophy and cloacal anomalies among Canadian pediatric surgeons and urologists.

Purpose: This study examined the current referral patterns and preferences of Canadian Association of Paediatric Surgeons (CAPS) and Pediatric Urologists of Canada (PUC) members for management of bladder exstrophy and cloacal anomalies (BECA).

Methods: We invited CAPS and PUC members to participate in an online survey using RedCap. Demographic variables, years in practice, current referral patterns and local expertise at the participants' institution were collected.

Renal and non-renal response of ABC and SLC transporters in chronic kidney disease.

Introduction: The solute carrier (SLC) and the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamilies play essential roles in the disposition of small molecules (endogenous metabolites, uremic toxins, drugs) in the blood, kidney, liver, intestine, and other organs. In chronic kidney disease (CKD), the loss of renal function is associated with altered function of remote organs. As renal function declines, many molecules accumulate in the plasma.

Pkd1-targeted mutation reveals a role for the Wolffian duct in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Several life-threatening diseases of the kidney have their origins in mutational events that occur during embryonic development. In this study, we investigate the role of the Wolffian duct (WD), the earliest embryonic epithelial progenitor of renal tubules, in the etiology of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). ADPKD is associated with a germline mutation of one of the two Pkd1 alleles.

Brace treatment in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: risk factors for failure-a literature review.

Brace treatment is the most common nonoperative treatment for the prevention of curve progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The success reported in level 1 and 2 clinical trials is approximately 75%. The aim of this review was to identify the main risk factors that significantly reduce success rate of brace treatment.

Decision aid prototype development for parents considering adenotonsillectomy for their children with sleep disordered breathing.

Background: To describe the process involved in developing a decision aid prototype for parents considering adenotonsillectomy for their children with sleep disordered breathing.

Methods: A paper-based decision aid prototype was developed using the framework proposed by the International Patient Decision Aids Standards Collaborative. The decision aid focused on two main treatment options: watchful waiting and adenotonsillectomy.

From personal crisis care to convenience shopping: an interpretive description of the experiences of people with mental illness and addictions in community pharmacies.

Background: The role of community pharmacists is changing globally with pharmacists engaging in more clinically-oriented roles, including in mental health care. Pharmacists' interventions have been shown to improve mental health related outcomes but various barriers can limit pharmacists in their care of patients. We aimed to explore the experiences of people with lived experience of mental illness and addictions in community pharmacies to generate findings to inform practice improvements.

Measurement properties of tools measuring mental health knowledge: a systematic review.

Background: Mental health literacy has received great attention recently to improve mental health knowledge, decrease stigma and enhance help-seeking behaviors. We conducted a systematic review to critically appraise the qualities of studies evaluating the measurement properties of mental health knowledge tools and the quality of included measurement properties.

Methods: We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, and ERIC for studies addressing psychometrics of mental health knowledge tools and published in English.

The impact of underlying disease on fracture risk and bone mineral density in children with rheumatic disorders: A review of current literature.

Childhood rheumatic diseases are associated with negative impacts on the skeleton, related to both the underlying illness and complications of therapy. The effects of medications like corticosteroids are well recognized, leading to reductions in bone mineral density and bone strength and concomitant increases in bone fragility and fracture risk. The impact of factors directly attributable to the underlying disease is not as well recognized.

Community pharmacists' experiences in mental illness and addictions care: a qualitative study.

Background: Community pharmacists are accessible health care professionals who encounter people with lived experience of mental illness and addictions in daily practice. Although some existing research supports that community pharmacists' interventions result in improved patient mental health outcomes, gaps in knowledge regarding the pharmacists' experiences with service provision to this population remain. Improving knowledge regarding the pharmacists' experiences with mental illness and addictions service provision can facilitate a better understanding of their perspectives and be used to inform the development and implementation of interventions delivered by community pharmacists for people with lived experience of mental illness and addictions in communities.

Mental health literacy measures evaluating knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking: a scoping review.

Background: Mental health literacy has received increasing attention as a useful strategy to promote early identification of mental disorders, reduce stigma and enhance help-seeking behaviors. However, despite the abundance of research on mental health literacy interventions, there is the absence of evaluations of current available mental health literacy measures and related psychometrics. We conducted a scoping review to bridge the gap.

Pharmacists' performance in a telephone-based simulated patient study after a mental health capacity-building program.

Background: The More Than Meds program was developed to enhance community pharmacy based services for people with mental illness.

Objective: To evaluate the care of pharmacists who participated in this specific program using a telephone-based simulated patient with insomnia.

Methods: A trained actor used a simulated patient case scenario and telephoned pharmacists (i.

Dopamine modulation of rod pathway signaling by suppression of GABAC feedback to rod-driven depolarizing bipolar cells.

Reducing signal gain in the highly sensitive rod pathway prevents saturation as background light levels increase, allowing the dark-adapted retina to encode stimuli over a range of background luminances. Dopamine release is increased during light adaptation and is generally accepted to suppress rod signaling in light-adapted retinas. However, recent research has suggested that dopamine, acting through D1 receptors, could additionally produce a sensitization of the rod pathway in dim light conditions via gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type C receptors.

MicroResearch--Finding sustainable solutions to local health challenges in East Africa.

The urgent need in Africa for research capacity building has been recognized by African leaders and governments for many years. However, lack of large research funding opportunities has been seen as a major obstacle to improving research capacity in precisely those countries that need it the most. Microfinance has shown that a small infusion of capital can "prime the pump" to creative local economic productivity.

Not small adults: the emerging role of pediatric pain services.

Purpose: This review article explores the need for specialized pain care for children and adolescents and provides some historical context for our current knowledge base and clinical practice.

Principal Findings: Pediatric patients have specialized needs with respect to assessment and management of pain. Acute pain care is modified by developmental considerations in both these areas; chronic pain encompasses a wide range of complex developmental, social, and psychological factors requiring the skills of different health disciplines to provide the best care.

Respiratory syncytial virus-associated intensive care unit admission in children in Southern China.

Background: There are incomplete data on the global burden of viral lower respiratory tract infection, in particular the role of Respiratory Syncytial Virus, in children requiring health services.

Findings: In this study set in a large urban area of southern China from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2010, children 1 month to 14 years of age with RSV-associated "severe" or "very severe pneumonia" according to World Health Organization definitions, and meeting local criteria for admission to the pediatric intensive care unit, were followed for the course of their admission. The median age was 3 months and 79% (135/171) of children with RSV were under six months of age.

Idiopathic generalized epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (IGE-GTC): a population-based cohort with >20 year follow up for medical and social outcome.

Children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy with only generalized tonic-clonic seizures (IGE-GTC) were selected from the Nova Scotia Childhood Epilepsy population-based cohort. All were neurologically and intellectually normal with generalized spike-wave on EEG. Of the epilepsy cohort of 692, 40(5.

Home blood testing for celiac disease: recommendations for management.

Objective: To provide recommendations for the management of patients who inquire about the Health Canada-approved, self-administered home blood tests for celiac disease or who present with positive test results after using the self-testing kit

Sources Of Information: PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from January 1985 to April 2008, using the subject headings diagnosis of celiac disease and management or treatment of celiac disease. Guidelines for serologic testing and confirmation of diagnosis of celiac disease by the American Gastroenterological Association and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition are used in this review. Level 1 evidence was used.

Providing research results to participants: attitudes and needs of adolescents and parents of children with cancer.

Purpose: There is an increasing demand for researchers to provide research results to participants. Our aim was to define an appropriate process for this, based on needs and attitudes of participants.

Methods: A multicenter survey in five sites in the United States and Canada was offered to parents of children with cancer and adolescents with cancer.

Positive and negative regulatory mechanisms in high-affinity IgE receptor-mediated mast cell activation.

Mast cells are important effector cells in allergic inflammatory reactions. The aggregation of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRI) on the surface of mast cells initiates a complex cascade of signaling events that ultimately leads to the release of various mediators involved in allergic inflammation and anaphylactic reactions. The release of these mediators is tightly controlled by signaling pathways that are propagated through the cell by specific phosphorylation and dephosphorylation events.

Preventable and unpreventable causes of childhood-onset epilepsy plus mental retardation.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the causes of childhood epilepsy associated with mental retardation and determine whether these causes are preventable.

Methods: We selected all patients from the Nova Scotia population-based childhood epilepsy cohort (n = 692) who had mental retardation and had epilepsy onset between 1977 and 1985. Causes and family history were determined by chart review and caregiver interview after 18.