iSODA: A Comprehensive Tool for Integrative Omics Data Analysis in Single- and Multi-Omics Experiments.

Thanks to the plummeting costs of continuously evolving omics analytical platforms, research centers collect multiomics data more routinely. They are, however, confronted with the lack of a versatile software solution to harmoniously analyze single-omics and interpret multiomics data. We have developed iSODA, a web-based application for the analysis of single- and multiomics data.

Challenges for switching central nervous system and psychiatric medication products: A review of the literature.

Background: Switching between versions of medication products happens commonly despite challenges in achieving bioequivalence and therapeutic equivalence. Central nervous system and psychiatric drugs, especially those that are technically demanding to manufacture and have complex pharmacokinetic properties, such as long-acting injectables (LAIs), pose particular challenges to bioequivalence and safe and efficacious drug switching.

Aims: To assess whether drugs deemed "bioequivalent" are truly interchangeable in drug switching.

International Medical Graduates in Academic Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Objective: To assess the research productivity, career advancement, grant funding, and scholarly impact of international medical graduates (IMGs) in academic cardiothoracic surgery.

Summary Background Data: Physician shortages undermine patient care and risk exacerbating inequities, especially in cardiothoracic surgery, which may lose a quarter of its workforce by 2050-the most substantial reduction in surgery. IMGs could help alleviate these shortages, but there is limited data about their academic experiences.

Remote Ischemic Conditioning Attenuates Transneuronal Degeneration and Promotes Stroke Recovery via CD36-Mediated Efferocytosis.

Background: Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) has been implicated in cross-organ protection in cerebrovascular disease, including stroke. However, the lack of a consensus protocol and controversy over the clinical therapeutic outcomes of RIC suggest an inadequate mechanistic understanding of RIC. The current study identifies RIC-induced molecular and cellular events in the blood, which enhance long-term functional recovery in experimental cerebral ischemia.

Prediction of inpatient mortality in hospitalised children in low- and middle-income countries: An external validation of paediatric mortality risk scores.

Background: Risk prediction tools for acutely ill children have been developed in high- and low-income settings, but few are validated or incorporated into clinical guidelines. We aimed to assess the performance of existing paediatric early warning scores for use in low- and middle-income countries using clinical data from a recent large multi-country study in Africa and South-Asia.

Methods: We used data (children across three nutritional strata) from the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Network cohort study (n = 3101).

Enter the Matrix: Fibroblast-immune cell interactions shape extracellular matrix deposition in health and disease.

Fibroblasts, non-hematopoietic cells of mesenchymal origin, are tissue architects which regulate the topography of tissues, dictate tissue resident cell types, and drive fibrotic disease. Fibroblasts regulate the composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM), a 3-dimensional network of macromolecules that comprise the acellular milieu of tissues. Fibroblasts can directly and indirectly regulate immune responses by secreting ECM and ECM-bound molecules to shape tissue structure and influence organ function.

A regional program evaluation of the Stanford Chronic Pain Self-Management Program in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

Background: Health care providers often struggle to treat patients with chronic pain. One potential solution is to facilitate access to programs and tools that develop patients' skills and confidence in managing their own care.

Aims: This study aimed to describe the uptake of the Chronic Pain Self-Management Program (CPSMP) in Eastern Ontario and evaluate the effectiveness of the program in the acquisition of knowledge, confidence, and skills required to manage chronic pain, as measured by the Patient Activation Measure (PAM).

Conditions favoring phagotrophy can lead to larger cell sizes in some freshwater mixoplankton.

Cell size is a critical regulator of many metabolic processes in protists. We explored whether body size and abundances vary consistently in phytoplankton capable of both autotrophy and heterotrophy (mixoplankton) by manipulating environmental stoichiometric conditions in a mesocosm experiment. We applied two allochthonous subsidy treatments: high C: nutrient ratios (leaves) should favour bacterivory through phagotrophy, while low ratios (insects) should favour autotrophy.

Assessing coastal zooplankton in the St. Lawrence estuary: spatio-temporal patterns of taxonomic and functional biodiversity.

Biodiversity assessment promotes information on the state of an ecosystem. Zooplankton, as a sentinel group at the basis of aquatic food webs, are, thus, an important component to monitor for ecosystem conservation and management. For the first time, we characterized biodiversity of coastal zooplankton along the shallow Northern shoreline of the lower St.

Impact of disease manifestations on first biologic drug survival in axial spondyloarthritis: a real-life Canadian study.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of extramusculoskeletal manifestations (EMMs) and peripheral musculoskeletal features on first biologic drug survival in subjects with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). The secondary objective was to evaluate the impact of reasons for treatment discontinuation.

Methods: A total of 593 axSpA patients from the SpondyloArthritis Research Consortium of Canada initiating a first biologic drug were identified between 2003 and 2023.

Double Fortified Salt Containing Iodine and Folic Acid and Triple Fortified Salt Containing Iodine, Folic Acid, and Vitamin B Are Acceptable to Ethiopian Women of Reproductive Age.

Recognizing the broader accessibility of iodized salt compared to wheat flour, the Ethiopian government is considering fortification of iodized salt with folic acid, and possibly vitamin B, to address the high incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs) in Ethiopia. To prepare for this program, we assessed practices related to edible salt procurement and consumption, and the acceptability of novel salts fortified with iodine and folic acid (double-fortified salt, DFS) or iodine, folic acid, and vitamin B (triple-fortified salt, TFS) compared to iodized salt (IS). We surveyed 840 women of reproductive age in urban (Addis Ababa) and rural (Gimbichu Woreda) areas to describe their salt preferences and practices and used a three-point hedonic scale to evaluate the sensory acceptability of fine and coarse forms of DFS, TFS, and IS for color, taste, aroma, texture and overall acceptability.

Comment on "Discovery of a polyketide carboxylate phytotoxin from a polyketide glycoside hybrid by β-glucosidase mediated ester bond hydrolysis" by X. Wang, D.-K. Kong, H.-R. Zhang, Y. Zou, , 2024, , 17183.

We challenge the conclusion that the β-glucosidase in question directly catalyses hydrolysis of the substrate ester linkage. Rather we propose that this enzyme performs a normal glucoside hydrolysis and that the released aglycone undergoes rearrangement with formation of a quinone methide-like species through spontaneous cleavage of the ester.

Pregnancy-Associated Myocardial Infarction in Alberta: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Cardiac disease is the leading cause of maternal mortality in developed countries, and myocardial infarction (MI) is an important cause of pregnancy-associated morbidity and mortality. These infrequent, but very serious, events are not optimally described in the medical literature.

Objectives: This study describes a 15-year consecutive, retrospective cohort of confirmed pregnancy-associated MIs (PAMIs) identified in Alberta, Canada (2003-2017).

Medium-Term Effects of Increased Water Intake and Head-Up Sleep on Cardiovascular Health.

Background: Whether medium-term increased water intake alone, or in combination with co-adjuvant nonexercise interventions aimed to expand blood volume (BV), improve the human cardiovascular phenotype and cardiorespiratory fitness remains unexplored.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the medium-term impact of increased (+40%) fluid (water) intake (IFI) or IFI plus head-up sleep (IFI + HUS) on BV and the cardiovascular phenotype in healthy individuals.

Methods: Healthy adults (n = 35, age 42 ± 18 years, 51% female) matched by sex, age, body composition, physical activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness were randomly allocated to IFI or IFI + HUS for 3 months.

Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for Chronic Neuropathic Pain: A Health Technology Assessment.

Background: Chronic neuropathic pain is a major health problem that adversely affects people's physical and mental well-being, as well as their quality of life. Percutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) may offer a minimally invasive option earlier in the treatment continuum for adults with chronic neuropathic pain that is refractory to conventional medical management. We conducted a health technology assessment of PNS for adults with chronic neuropathic pain, which included an evaluation of effectiveness, safety, cost-effectiveness, the budget impact of publicly funding PNS, and patient preferences and values.

Hybrid repair of aortic aneurysm in a patient with a congenital pelvic kidney.

We describe a patient with an asymptomatic infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm. Treatment decisions were complicated by the presence of a left congenital pelvic kidney supplied by two renal arteries originating from the proximal common iliac arteries bilaterally and respiratory status that was prohibitive to open repair. A hybrid surgical repair was performed with a bifurcated aortic endograft and parallel grafting to revascularize the pelvic renal arteries.

Complex staged hybrid repair of extent II thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm secondary to type A aortic dissection.

Despite advancements in surgical techniques and critical care, managing complications of type A and B aortic dissections remains challenging. Common morbidities include paraplegia, renal failure, stroke, and intestinal ischemia. Risks are especially high in extensive repairs, such as Crawford extent II thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms, and in older patients or those with heart failure, poor pulmonary function, or renal disease.

HealthCare Access Barrier (HCAB) framework for the barriers to cancer care during conflicts: perspective from Iraq.

The Iraqi population has lived under four decades of conflicts, warfare and political instability. The health consequences of the protracted conflict continue to persist. This work critically analyses Iraq's barriers to delivering and accessing cancer care during the conflicts that Iraq passed through from 1980 to 2017.

Sex and authorship in global cancer research.

Introduction: Research is an essential pillar of cancer control and key in shaping regional cancer control agendas. Imbalances in science and technology in terms of lack of female participation have been well documented. However, there is little evidence about country-level female participation in cancer research.

Comparison of standard-dose and reduced-dose treatment of metastatic prostate cancer with enzalutamide, apalutamide or darolutamide: a rapid review.

Objective: To review the efficacy and safety of low-dose versus standard-dose enzalutamide, apalutamide or darolutamide treatment for metastatic prostate cancer.

Methods And Analysis: Keyword searches in MEDLINE and EMBASE up to 1 June 2023, with forward and backward citation searches of potentially relevant studies. Studies were included if primary outcome data were reported for patients with metastatic prostate cancer who had received reduced doses of enzalutamide, apalutamide or darolutamide.