Study Design and Baseline Characteristics of ALIGN, a Randomized Controlled Study of Atrasentan in Patients With IgA Nephropathy.

Introduction: Endothelin A (ETA) receptor activation is a driver of proteinuria, kidney inflammation, and fibrosis in IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Atrasentan, a selective ETA receptor antagonist, has potential to reduce proteinuria and preserve kidney function in IgAN. ALIGN (NCT04573478) is a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of atrasentan in patients with IgAN at high risk of kidney function loss.

Friedreich Ataxia: An (Almost) 30-Year History After Gene Discovery.

In the late 1800s, Nikolaus Friedreich first described "degenerative atrophy of the posterior columns of the spinal cord," noting its connection to progressive ataxia, sensory loss, and muscle weakness, now recognized as Friedreich ataxia (FRDA). Renewed interest in the disease in the 1970s and 80s by the Quebec Cooperative Group and by Anita Harding led to the development of clinical diagnostic criteria and insights into associated biochemical abnormalities, although the primary defect remained unknown. In 1988, Susan Chamberlain mapped FRDA's location on chromosome 9.

Neonatal Encephalopathy: Novel Phenotypes and Genotypes Identified by Genome Sequencing.

Background And Objectives: Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is characterized by an abnormal level of consciousness with or without seizures in the neonatal period. It affects 1-6/1,000 live term newborns. We applied genome sequencing (GS) in term newborns with NE to investigate the underlying genetic causes.

Early Postpartum Metabolic Heterogeneity Among Women Who Progressed to Type 2 Diabetes After Gestational Diabetes: A Prospective Cohort.

Aims: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) poses a significant risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and exhibits heterogeneity. However, understanding the link between different types of post-GDM individuals without diabetes and their progression to T2D is crucial to advance personalised medicine approaches.

Materials And Methods: We employed a discovery-based unsupervised machine learning clustering method to generate clustering models for analysing metabolomics, clinical, and biochemical datasets.

Neuromuscular Ultrasound Training in Neuromuscular Fellowship Programs in Canada: Minding the Gap.

Introduction/aims: Neuromuscular ultrasound (NMUS) is gaining prominence as a valuable tool for diagnosing neuromuscular disorders at the point of care. Neuromuscular disorder diagnostic criteria guidelines have begun incorporating NMUS findings. As interest grows, fellowship programs must consider incorporating training into their curricula.

International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Long-Chain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids.

Position Statement: The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) presents this position based on a critical examination of the literature surrounding the effects of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (ω-3 PUFA) supplementation on exercise performance, recovery, and brain health. This position stand is intended to provide a scientific foundation for athletes, dietitians, trainers, and other practitioners regarding the effects of supplemental ω-3 PUFA in healthy and athletic populations. The following conclusions represent the official position of the ISSN: Athletes may be at a higher risk for ω-3 PUFA insufficiency.

Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality associated with mental disorders: a population-based cohort study.

Mental disorders are associated with elevated mortality rates and reduced life expectancy. However, it is unclear whether these associations differ by socioeconomic position (SEP). The aim of this study was to explore comprehensively the role of individual-level SEP in the associations between specific types of mental disorders and mortality (due to all causes, and to natural or external causes), presenting both relative and absolute measures.

Exploring integrated tertiary care for children from Nunavut: experiences of families and healthcare providers at the Aakuluk clinic in Ottawa, Canada.

Children from circumpolar regions must travel long distances to southern tertiary care centres for specialised care. While there are initiatives underway to support care closer to home, medical travel remains a necessity for many families. The Aakuluk clinic has been operating since 2019 at a tertiary hospital in Ottawa, Canada, to provide care to children from Nunavut.

Biochar boost: revolutionizing functionalization of a difficult material.

The challenge with synthetically modified biochars is that they are notoriously difficult to characterize, and a new characterization approach that circumvents the challenges posed by overlapping bands in IR spectra is needed. We report multinuclear NMR approaches successful in the easy identification and quantification of covalently-bound functional groups on the biochar surface using P{H} CPMAS NMR spectroscopy.

Assessing candidate DLX-regulated genes in the first pharyngeal arch of chick embryos.

Background: Insights into the development and evolution of asymmetrical jaws will require an understanding of the gene regulatory networks that underpin the differential morphogenesis of the maxillary and mandibular domains of the first pharyngeal arch in a variety of gnathostomes. While a robust relationship has been demonstrated between jaw patterning and the Endothelin-Dlx gene axis, much less is known of the next level of genes in the jaw patterning hierarchy.

Results: Several genes, whose expression depends on Dlx5 and/or Dlx6, have been identified in mice.

Five-Year Outcomes of a School-Based Personality-Focused Prevention Program on Adolescent Substance Use Disorder: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

Objective: Rates of substance use disorders (SUDs) remain significantly above national targets for health promotion and disease prevention in Canada and the United States. This study investigated the 5-year SUD outcomes following a selective drug and alcohol prevention program targeting personality risk factors for adolescent substance misuse.

Methods: The Co-Venture trial is a cluster randomized trial involving 31 high schools in the greater Montreal area that agreed to conduct annual health behavior surveys for 5 years on the entire 7th grade cohort of assenting students enrolled at the school in 2012 or 2013.

Considering Sex/Gender-Based Violence as a Form of Hate: The Invisibility of Sex and Gender.

Globally, there is no shortage of examples demonstrating lethal and non-lethal violence motivated, at least in part, by a hatred of women and girls because of their sex or gender. Such violence is not a new phenomenon. Despite this, there remains little consideration of sex/gender-based violence (S/GBV) motivated by hatred in the hate/bias crime literature, including a recent comprehensive review published in this journal.

An exploratory qualitative assessment of patient and clinician perspectives on patient-reported outcome measures and disease-modifying therapies in adults with spinal muscular atrophy.

Objective: To understand patient, caregiver, and clinician perspectives on patient-reported outcome measures, critical functional domains, and disease-modifying therapies in adult spinal muscular atrophy.

Design: An exploratory qualitative single-site study.

Patients: Ten adults with spinal muscular atrophy and two clinicians participated in semi-structured interviews.

Stakeholder perspectives on implementation of internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy in physical medicine rehabilitation setting using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

Introduction: Despite the growing evidence for the effects of tailored internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) programmes for those receiving physical rehabilitation, there is a lack of implementation of these programmes in a clinical or community setting. The aim of the current study was to evaluate barriers and facilitators of implementing an ICBT programme into a physical medicine rehabilitation setting.

Methods: Stakeholders with expertise in physical medicine rehabilitation were recruited (n = 25) including: 16 clinicians, 4 administrators, 3 persons with lived experience, and 2 care partners.

Masking in Active Comparator Designs in Pharmacovigilance: A Retrospective Bias Analysis on the Spontaneous Reporting of Thiazolidinediones and Cardiovascular Events.

Introduction: Masking is a reporting bias where drug safety signals are muffled by elevated reporting of other medications in spontaneous reporting databases. While the impact of masking is often limited, its effect when using restricted designs, such as active comparators, can be consequential.

Methods: We used data from the US Food and Drugs Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (1999Q3-2013Q3) to study masking in a real-world example.

A Mobile App-Based Gratitude Intervention's Effect on Mental Well-Being in University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Gratitude interventions are used to cultivate a sense of gratitude for life and others. There have been mixed results of the efficacy of gratitude interventions' effect on psychological well-being with a variety of populations and methodologies.

Objectives: The objective of our study was to test the effectiveness of a gratitude intervention smartphone app on university students' psychological well-being.

Lost Highways: An Examination of the Question of Risk Involved in Sexual Homicides of Hitchhiking Victims.

Despite cultural references to the dangers of hitchhiking, particularly for sexual homicide, no published research investigates these incidents from both an offender and crime scene perspective. Using the Sexual Homicide International Database (SHIelD), we explore lifestyle risk by comparing sexual homicide cases involving hitchhiking victims to those involving victims engaged in sex trade work. The results, based on the use of bivariate and multivariate statistics, indicate that offenders view hitchhiking victims as opportunities for confinement without physical restraint, often engaging in sexual acts and theft.

Synaptic Targets and Cellular Sources of CB1 Cannabinoid Receptor and Vesicular Glutamate Transporter-3 Expressing Nerve Terminals in Relation to GABAergic Neurons in the Human Cerebral Cortex.

Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) regulates synaptic transmission through presynaptic receptors in nerve terminals, and its physiological roles are of clinical relevance. The cellular sources and synaptic targets of CB1-expressing terminals in the human cerebral cortex are undefined. We demonstrate a variable laminar pattern of CB1-immunoreactive axons and electron microscopically show that CB1-positive GABAergic terminals make type-2 synapses innervating dendritic shafts (69%), dendritic spines (20%) and somata (11%) in neocortical layers 2-3.

Re-Imagining the Patient Panel: Introducing Lived Experiences of Psychosis into the Pre-clerkship Psychiatry Curriculum of a Canadian Medical School.

The involvement of people with lived experience (patients) in medical education offers a unique opportunity for students and residents to access personal and collective knowledge about the lived experience of health, ill health, and medical care. Involvement also has the potential to elevate the role of people with lived experience and their knowledge within medicine by providing a model for meaningful collaboration and partnership. However, involvement has been critiqued by critical disability scholars for its potential to harm without leading to meaningful change in professional knowledge or practice.