Recent Advances in Pineoblastoma Research: Molecular Classification, Modelling and Targetable Vulnerabilities.

Pineoblastoma (PB) is a rare yet lethal pediatric brain cancer of the pineal gland, a small endocrine organ that secretes melatonin to regulate the circadian rhythm. For PB patients ≤5 years of age, the overall survival rate is approximately 15%; metastatic PB is incurable. Standard treatment, including surgical resection, radiation, and systemic chemotherapy, improves survival but compromises neurocognitive function.

Robust vs. Non-robust radiomic features: the quest for optimal machine learning models using phantom and clinical studies.

Purpose: This study aimed to select robust features against lung motion in a phantom study and use them as input to feature selection algorithms and machine learning classifiers in a clinical study to predict the lymphovascular invasion (LVI) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The results of robust features were also compared with conventional techniques without considering the robustness of radiomic features.

Methods: An in-house developed lung phantom was developed with two 22mm lesion sizes based on a clinical study.

Convergence of neurodegeneration and the arts: a conversation between researchers about stigma, co-creativity, and transformation.

Parkinson's disease and dementia are highly stigmatized, creating social exclusion and inequality by depriving persons living with these conditions of their human rights and threatening their health, well-being, and quality of life. Challenging the stigma associated with these conditions is a key public health priority across national and international settings, and arts-based approaches are advocated to achieve this. We are researchers who use artistic and creative media including documentary films, research-based theatre, dance, circus and graphic narrative to challenge dominant and oppressive cultural and social norms, and to imagine and affect inclusive, compassionate, and socially-just approaches to supporting people to live well with neurodegenerative conditions like dementia and Parkinson's.

Gender differences in exercise efficiency: the influence of adiposity during low-intensity cycling in healthy Lebanese university students.

Introduction: Low-intensity physical activity plays a key role in weight regulation, and reduced engagement in such activities is associated with rising obesity rates. This study explored the relationship between body fat distribution and exercise efficiency during low-intensity cycling, comparable to everyday life, focusing on adiposity in men and women.

Methods: Thirty participants (50% women and 50% men) underwent basal metabolic rate (BMR) measurements after an overnight fast.

Role of circulating tumor DNA in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15% of all breast cancers and carries a worse prognosis relative to other breast cancer subtypes. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in early-stage TNBC.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using Ovid Medline, Elsevier EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science Databases for publications up to 11/16/2023.

The Possibility Space Concept in Neuroscience: Possibilities, Constraints, and Explanations.

Although the brain is often characterized as a complex system, theoretical and philosophical frameworks often struggle to capture this. For example, mainstream mechanistic accounts model neural systems as fixed and static in ways that fail to capture their dynamic nature and large set of possible behaviors. In this paper, we provide a framework for capturing a common type of complex system in neuroscience, which involves two main aspects: (i) constraints on the system and (ii) the system's possibility space of available outcomes.

Supporting partnerships in knowledge mobilization: what existing implementation strategies can tell us.

Background: The need for partnership between knowledge producers and knowledge users to foster effective implementation is well-established in the implementation science literature. While many theories, models, and frameworks (TMF) have been developed to guide knowledge mobilization (KM) activities, seldom do these frameworks inform approaches for establishing and maintaining KM partnerships (i.e.

Lumbar round cell sarcoma in a 10-week-old rottweiler puppy.

Background: Spinal neoplasms are sparsely documented in juvenile dogs. Case reports and small case series have described nephroblastomas, primitive neuroectodermal tumours, gliomas, certain sarcomas, and osteochondromas, but round cell sarcomas have not previously been documented.

Case Presentation: This case report describes a 10-week-old female Rottweiler puppy with acute onset of progressive ataxia and pelvic limb lameness.

A theory of change for patient-initiated follow-up care in rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Timely, high-quality care is critical to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management. In Alberta, thousands of individuals with RA are waiting for care due to the resource-intensive nature of lifelong follow-ups and rheumatologist shortages. With 20-50% of routine follow-ups not leading to treatment changes or raising new concerns, many appointments may be avoidable if care were restructured.

Comprehensive cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light across FTD spectrum disorders.

Background: Therapeutic development for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is hindered by the lack of biomarkers that inform susceptibility/risk, prognosis, and the underlying causative pathology. Blood glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) has garnered attention as a FTD biomarker. However, investigations of GFAP in FTD have been hampered by symptomatic and histopathologic heterogeneity and small cohort sizes contributing to inconsistent findings.

Exploring the impact of myoelectric prosthesis controllers on visuomotor behavior.

Background: Prosthesis users often rely on vision to monitor the activity of their prosthesis, which can be cognitively demanding. This compensatory visual behaviour may be attributed to an absence of feedback from the prosthesis or the unreliability of myoelectric control. Unreliability can arise from the unpredictable control due to variations in electromyography signals that can occur when the arm moves through different limb positions during functional use.

Cardiometabolic risk factors and disease trends for atrial fibrillation in individuals with type 1 diabetes: a nationwide registry study.

Objective: To investigate standardized incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1DMM) compared with matched controls from the general population. Additionally, to examine optimal levels- and relative importance of risk factors associated with AF and numbers of risk factors necessary to reduce excess risk in individuals with T1DM.

Research Design And Methods: The study included individuals with T1DM between 2001 and 2019 and matched controls without T1DM.

Enhancement of plasma kallikrein specificity of antitrypsin variants identified by phage display and partial reversion.

Background: The naturally occurring variant Alpha-1 Antitrypsin M358R (AAT M358R), modified at the P1 position of the reactive center loop (RCL), shifts its inhibitory protease target from neutrophil elastase to multiple coagulation and contact proteases, including activated plasma kallikrein (Pka; KLKB1). Our aim was to increase the specificity of AAT M358R for Pka as a potential novel therapeutic agent to treat pathological swelling arising from elevated Pka levels in patients with Hereditary Angioedema.

Results: Two AAT M358R T7Select phage display libraries randomized at RCL positions P7-P3 and P2-P3' were iteratively probed with Pka.

Delayed viral clearance and altered inflammatory responses affect severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in aged mice.

Epidemiological investigations consistently demonstrate an overrepresentation of the elderly in COVID-19 hospitalizations and fatalities, making the advanced age as a major predictor of disease severity. Despite this, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms explaining how old age represents a major risk factor remain elusive. To investigate this, we compared SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes in young adults (2 months) and geriatric (15-22 months) mice.

Association between pre-existing chronic conditions and severity of first SARS-CoV-2 infection symptoms among adults living in Canada: a population-based survey analysis from January 2020 to August 2022.

Background: Individuals living with chronic conditions (CC) typically have a higher risk of more severe outcomes when exposed to infection. Although many studies have investigated the relationship between CCs and COVID-19 severity, they are generally limited to clinical or hospitalized populations. There is a need to estimate the impact of pre-existing CCs on the severity of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection symptoms among the general population.

Transdiagnostic internet cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and depressive symptoms in postnatal women: protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Nearly 20% of women will be confronted with anxiety or depressive disorders during the perinatal period and this may lead to adverse outcomes for both mother and child. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the psychological intervention with the most empirical support for the clinical management of anxiety and depressive disorders. Anxiety and depression frequently occur in women during the perinatal period, and there is growing evidence that internet-delivered CBT (iCBT) could be an acceptable and effective intervention.

Could the perception of effort help us unravel the potential of ""? A perspective article.

high may promote favourable physiological adaptations and improvement of exercise performance in normoxia following training at altitudes above 1500 m. Whether and how physiological adaptations to training high interact with the perception of effort remains unknown. This perspective article aims to carve out potential contributory effects of the perception of effort on performance changes following living low-training high interventions.

Association of Nutritional Status and Oral With Caries Status in Preschool Children in Manitoba.

To gain a greater understanding of the relationship between oral Veillonella, nutrition, and early childhood caries (ECC). A case-control design was used. A total of 158 children (83 with ECC, 75 caries-free) were recruited in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from March 2019 to November 2020.

Fundamental constraints on vertebrate life history are shaped by aquatic-terrestrial transitions and reproductive mode.

Vertebrate life histories evolve in response to selection imposed by abiotic and biotic environmental conditions while being limited by genetic, developmental, physiological, demographic and phylogenetic processes that constrain adaptation. Despite the well-recognized shifts in selective pressures accompanying transitions among environments, the conditions driving innovation and the consequences for life-history evolution remain outstanding questions. Here we compare the traits of vertebrates that occupy aquatic or terrestrial environments as juveniles to infer shifts in evolutionary constraints that explain differences in their life-history traits and thus their fundamental demographic rates.

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Balancing Technological Innovation With Health and Care Workforce Priorities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in healthcare, offering significant potential to address workforce challenges and improve patient outcomes. This perspective article presents a framework for responsible AI innovation, emphasising ethical governance, responsible leadership and a commitment to human-centred AI. It provides guidance for healthcare organisations to position AI as a strategic enabler, augmenting the health and care workforce and fostering sustainable, patient-centred advancements in healthcare.

Delineating inflammatory from non-inflammatory mechanisms for therapy optimization in psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is anatomically much more heterogeneous than rheumatoid arthritis, as, beyond synovitis, it often also involves enthesitis, peritendinitis, tenosynovitis, osteitis and periostitis. This heterogeneity currently precludes a gold standard for objectively defining resolution of inflammation following treatment, with enthesitis posing a particular challenge. Despite these difficulties, we apply lessons learned from rheumatoid arthritis to describe how patients with PsA and an inadequate response to therapy can be designated within two patient subgroups, characterized by persistent inflammatory PsA (PIPsA) and non-inflammatory PsA (NIPsA), respectively.

Factors underlying migratory timing of a seasonally migrating bird.

Bird migration has fascinated natural historians and scientists for centuries. While the timing of migration is known to vary by species, population, sex, and individual, identifying the cause of this variation can be challenging. Here we investigate factors underlying migratory timing in a long-distance migratory bird, the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypas trichas), using a population genomic approach.

Remission of alcohol use disorder following traumatic brain injury with focal orbitofrontal cortex hemorrhage: case report and network mapping.

Background: The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and its role in the regulation of urges/compulsion has been identified as a critical component of circuit-based addiction models. Building on such models, it was recently shown that brain lesions disrupting addictive behavior can be mapped to a common brain circuit.

Methods: We present a case of a 42-year-old woman with chronic treatment-refractory alcohol use disorder who experienced early remission following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) with focal left OFC intracerebral hemorrhage.

The distraction potential of driving a partially automated vehicle through a construction zone.

Partial driving automation is designed to control the vehicle's speed and acceleration without input from the human driver on the condition that the driver maintains alertness. These systems are promised to make driving more convenient and safer, especially in increasingly demanding road conditions such as construction zones. Despite this, little knowledge is available on how these systems are used in these accident-prone areas and the effect they may have on drivers' workload and glance allocation.

Early childhood adiposity, lifestyle and gut microbiome are linked to steatotic liver disease development in adolescents.

Background/objectives: To examine the relationship between early childhood adiposity, adolescent lifestyles, gut microbiota and steatotic liver disease (SLD) development in adolescents using data from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: We included 69 adolescents (14-17 years old) with SLD and 69 adolescents without SLD, matched for BMI-z scores, sex, and age, from the 13-year longitudinal cohort the "Growth and Obesity Cohort Study". Anthropometric data between the ages of 4 and 17 and lifestyle parameters (including diet and physical activity) at 14-17 years old were evaluated.