Femtosecond Laser Assisted Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry: Toward Sub-ppq Detection Limits for Organic Molecules.

Ultrasensitive analysis of organic molecules is crucial for various fundamental research and applications. State-of-the-art techniques for this purpose can achieve detection limits of several hundred ppq (parts-per-quadrillion), while a higher sensitivity is pursued constantly. To achieve this goal, we develop femtosecond laser assisted chemical ionization for mass spectrometry.

[The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviewsDeclaración PRISMA 2020: una guía actualizada para la publicación de revisiones sistemáticas].

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, published in 2009, was designed to help systematic reviewers transparently report why the review was done, what the authors did, and what they found. Over the past decade, advances in systematic review methodology and terminology have necessitated an update to the guideline. The PRISMA 2020 statement replaces the 2009 statement and includes new reporting guidance that reflects advances in methods to identify, select, appraise, and synthesise studies.

Symptoms of depression (not anxiety) mediate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and compulsive sexual behaviors in men.

Objective: Childhood sexual abuse is associated with compulsive sexual behavior, depression, and anxiety in men. Furthermore, both depression and anxiety have been linked to compulsive sexual behaviors. However, whether anxiety and depression mediate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and compulsive sexual behaviors has yet to be tested.

Physicians' vs patients' global assessments of disease activity in rheumatology and musculoskeletal trials: A meta-research project with focus on reasons for discrepancies.

Background: In most rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), global assessments of disease activity by physicians and patients are 'anchor outcomes' in therapeutic trials evaluating whether a treatment is effective.

Objectives: To compare physicians' vs patients' global assessments of disease activity in RMD trials and explore reasons for discrepancies between them.

Methods: Eligible trials were sampled from systematic reviews of treatments for RMDs by using the Cochrane database of systematic reviews (i.

Incentivising use of structured language in biological descriptions: Author-driven phenotype data and ontology production.

Phenotypes are used for a multitude of purposes such as defining species, reconstructing phylogenies, diagnosing diseases or improving crop and animal productivity, but most of this phenotypic data is published in free-text narratives that are not computable. This means that the complex relationship between the genome, the environment and phenotypes is largely inaccessible to analysis and important questions related to the evolution of organisms, their diseases or their response to climate change cannot be fully addressed. It takes great effort to manually convert free-text narratives to a computable format before they can be used in large-scale analyses.

Comparing physical assessment with administrative data for detecting pressure ulcers in a large Canadian academic health sciences centre.

Objective: This study aimed to compare classification of pressure ulcers from administrative data with a gold standard assessment, specifically; pressure ulcers confirmed by an independent physical assessment performed by trained nurse surveyors.

Setting: A retrospective analysis of pooled cross-sectional samples of inpatients assessed across 3 consecutive prevalence surveys in a large academic health sciences centre between 2012 and 2013.

Participants: There were 2001 patients for whom physical and chart assessments were completed, and for whom a discharge abstract was also available at the time of analysis.

A Mixed Outbreak of Epidemic Typhus Fever and Trench Fever in a Youth Rehabilitation Center: Risk Factors for Illness from a Case-Control Study, Rwanda, 2012.

In August 2012, laboratory tests confirmed a mixed outbreak of epidemic typhus fever and trench fever in a male youth rehabilitation center in western Rwanda. Seventy-six suspected cases and 118 controls were enrolled into an unmatched case-control study to identify risk factors for symptomatic illness during the outbreak. A suspected case was fever or history of fever, from April 2012, in a resident of the rehabilitation center.

Perinatal Health of Women with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Comorbid Mental Illness.

Objective: Women with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have high rates of adverse perinatal outcomes. However, the perinatal health of women with co-occurring IDD and mental illness (dual diagnosis) is largely unknown. Our objectives were to 1) describe a cohort of women with dual diagnosis in terms of their social and health characteristics and 2) compare their risks for adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes to those of women with IDD only.

Performance Variability as a Predictor of Response to Aphasia Treatment.

Background: Performance variability in individuals with aphasia is typically regarded as a nuisance factor complicating assessment and treatment.

Objective: We present the alternative hypothesis that intraindividual variability represents a fundamental characteristic of an individual's functioning and an important biomarker for therapeutic selection and prognosis.

Methods: A total of 19 individuals with chronic aphasia participated in a 6-week trial of imitation-based speech therapy.

Distraction adds to the cognitive burden in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis (MS) causes numerous limitations in activities of daily living.

Objectives: To develop an improved method of cognitive assessment in people with MS using novel real-world distracters.

Methods: A sample of 99 people with MS and 55 demographically matched healthy controls underwent testing with the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Functioning in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS) and a modified version of the computerized Symbol Digit Modalities Test (c-SDMT).

Development of a Competence-Based Spine Surgery Fellowship Curriculum Set of Learning Objectives in Canada.

Study Design: Modified-Delphi expert consensus method.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop competence-based spine fellowship curricula as a set of learning goals through expert consensus methodology in order to provide an educational tool for surgical educators and trainees. Secondarily, we aimed to determine potential differences among specialties in their rating of learning objectives to defined curriculum documents.

The effects of galantamine and buspirone on sleep structure: Implications for understanding sleep abnormalities in major depression.

Rationale: The serotonergic and cholinergic systems are jointly involved in regulating sleep, but this balance is theorized to be disturbed in depressed individuals.

Objective: The goal of this study was to use biological probes in healthy participants, to model the serotonergic/cholinergic imbalance of depression and its associated abnormalities in sleep structure.

Methods: We tested 20 healthy female participants 18-30 years of age on four non-consecutive nights.

Systematic review of adverse health outcomes associated with high serum or red blood cell folate concentrations.

Background: To examine the relationship between reported high serum or red blood cell (RBC) folate status and adverse health outcomes.

Methods: We systematically searched PubMed/Medline and EMBASE (to May 2013), with no limits by study type, country or population, to identify studies reporting high folate concentrations in association with adverse health outcomes. Two reviewers screened studies and extracted data.

Characterization of an Enterococcus gallinarum Isolate Carrying a Dual vanA and vanB Cassette.

The ability of vancomycin resistance determinants to be horizontally transferred within enterococci species is a concern. Identification and characterization of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in a clinical isolate have a significant impact on infection control practices. In this study, we describe a clinical isolate of Enterococcus gallinarum exhibiting high-level resistance to vancomycin and teicoplanin.

Seroprevalence of hepatitis C and correlates of seropositivity among men who have sex with men in Vancouver, Canada: a cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: We sought to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Vancouver, Canada, and associations of risk behaviours with HCV serostatus.

Methods: We used data from the ManCount Study, a cross-sectional survey of MSM selected through a venue-based, time-location sampling method. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression modelling were used to determine correlates of HCV seropositivity.

Contact Cryoprobe Sterilization Practices: A Patient Quality and Safety Issue for Dermatologists.

Background: Cryotherapy is a commonly employed treatment modality in dermatology. There is literature to suggest that sterilization of the contact cryotherapy probe is needed for proper decontamination.

Objective: To determine the status on the usage and sterilization methods employed by dermatology staff and residents affiliated with an academic training centre in Ontario, Canada, with the overall goal of improving patient safety.

Effect of rapid HIV testing on HIV incidence and services in populations at high risk for HIV exposure: an equity-focused systematic review.

Objective: To assess the effects of rapid voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV on HIV incidence and uptake of HIV/AIDS services in people at high risk for HIV exposure.

Design: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data Sources: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, AIDSearch, LILACS, Global Health, Medline Africa, PsychInfo, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group Specialized Register and grey literature from 1 January 2001 to 5 June 2014 without language restriction.

Successful treatment of neonatal hemochromatosis as gestational alloimmune liver disease with intravenous immunoglobulin.

Neonatal hemochromatosis (NH) is a rare, often fatal disorder characterized by liver failure and hepatic and extrahepatic iron overload. Clinical manifestations can occur in utero or immediately after birth. Evidence suggests that most cases are due to a gestational disease with transplacental transfer of maternal IgG antibodies targeting the fetal liver resulting in immune injury.

Effect of sirolimus on malignancy and survival after kidney transplantation: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data.

Objective: To examine risk of malignancy and death in patients with kidney transplant who receive the immunosuppressive drug sirolimus.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data.

Data Sources: Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to March 2013.

Occipital Nerve Blocks for Pediatric Posttraumatic Headache: A Case Series.

Posttraumatic headache is one of the most common and disabling symptoms after traumatic brain injury. However, evidence for treating posttraumatic headache is sparse, especially in the pediatric literature. This retrospective chart review evaluated the use of occipital nerve blocks in adolescents treated for posttraumatic headache following mild traumatic brain injury, presenting to the Complex Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury clinic.

Attitudes and perceptions of parents and staff toward the rapid hydration protocol prior to chemotherapy in children.

The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario has implemented a rapid hydration protocol that may reduce the time required to achieve adequate hydration prior to chemotherapy. This study aims to assess parent satisfaction and the attitudes and perceptions of oncology staff with regard to the rapid hydration protocol. Patients who received both standard and rapid hydration were identified, and their parents were asked to rate the child's experiences on a 5-point Likert-type scale.

Reduction of noise in the neonatal intensive care unit using sound-activated noise meters.

Objectives: To determine if sound-activated noise meters providing direct audit and visual feedback can reduce sound levels in a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Design/methods: Sound levels (in dB) were compared between a 2-month period with noise meters present but without visual signal fluctuation and a subsequent 2 months with the noise meters providing direct audit and visual feedback.

Results: There was a significant increase in the percentage of time the sound level in the NICU was below 50 dB across all patient care areas (9.

Competency assessment of microbiology medical laboratory technologists in Ontario, Canada.

Accreditation in Ontario, Canada, requires that licensed clinical laboratories participate in external quality assessment (also known as proficiency testing) and perform competency evaluation of their staff. To assess the extent of ongoing competency assessment practices, the Quality Management Program--Laboratory Services (QMP-LS) Microbiology Committee surveyed all 112 licensed Ontario microbiology laboratories. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 21 questions that included yes/no, multiple-choice, and short-answer formats.