Gender differences in the association between adherence to healthy diet principles and adherence to cardiopreventive medication among adults from Québec (Canada).

Adherence to healthy diet principles and to cardiopreventive medication, both key behaviors in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, is known to differ between women and men. Whether these adherence behaviors are differentially related among women and men has never been thoroughly assessed. The objective was to assess gender differences in the association between adherence to healthy diet principles and to cardiopreventive medication in adults free of CVD.

Motion-less depth-selective optogenetic probe using tapered fiber and an electrically tuneable liquid crystal steering element.

A miniature electrically tuneable liquid crystal component is used to steer light from -1° to +1° and then to inject into a simple tapered fiber. This allows the generation of various propagation modes, their leakage, and selective illumination of the surrounding medium at different depth levels without using mechanical movements nor deformation. The performance of the device is characterized in a reference fluorescence medium (Rhodamine 6G) as well as in a mouse brain (medullary reticular formation and mesencephalic locomotor regions) during in-vivo experiments as a proof of concept.

Developmental exposure to legacy environmental contaminants, medial temporal lobe volumes and spatial navigation memory in late adolescents.

Exposure to lead, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been causally linked to spatial memory deficits and hippocampal changes in animal models. The Inuit community in Northern Canada is exposed to higher concentrations of these contaminants compared to the general population. This study aimed to 1) investigate associations between prenatal and current contaminant exposures and medial temporal brain volumes in Inuit late adolescents; 2) examine the relationship between these brain structures and spatial memory; and 3) assess the mediating role of brain structures in the association between contaminant exposure and spatial memory.

Species-specific mercury speciation in billfishes and its implications for food safety monitoring and dietary advice.

Humans are exposed to toxic methylmercury mainly by consuming marine fish, in particular top predator species like billfishes or tunas. In seafood risk assessments, mercury is assumed to be mostly present as organic methylmercury in predatory fishes; yet high percentages of inorganic mercury were recently reported in marlins, suggesting markedly different methylmercury metabolism across species. We quantified total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in muscle of four billfish species from the Indian and the Pacific oceans to address this knowledge gap.

Bone Turnover Markers Predict Changes in Bone Mineral Density in Men Treated with Abaloparatide: Results from ATOM.

Early increases in bone turnover markers (BTMs) in response to anabolic therapy correlate with 18-month bone mineral density (BMD) increases in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; however, this relationship has not been assessed in men. In this analysis, the correlation between changes from baseline in fasting intact serum procollagen type I N propeptide (PINP) and serum carboxy-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months and percent increase from baseline in BMD at 12 months in men from the randomized phase 3 ATOM study (NCT03512262) were evaluated using Pearson's correlation coefficients. The uncoupling index (UI), a measure of the balance between markers of bone formation (PINP) and bone resorption (CTX), with positive UI favoring bone formation, was calculated.

Considering the impact of vaccine communication in the COVID-19 pandemic among adults in Canada: A qualitative study of lessons learned for future vaccine campaigns.

We aimed to understand how experiences with vaccine-related information and communication challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted motivations and behaviors among Canadian adults regarding future vaccines. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants purposively selected to ensure diversity in age, sex at birth, self-identified gender, and region. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis; findings were mapped to the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model focusing on factors affecting vaccine hesitancy and uptake.

Development and usability testing of a multifaceted intervention to reduce low-value injury care.

Background: Multifaceted interventions that address barriers and facilitators have been shown to be most effective for increasing the adoption of high-value care, but there is a knowledge gap on this type of intervention for the de-implementation of low-value care. Trauma is a high-risk setting for low-value care, such as unnecessary diagnostic imaging and the use of specialized resources. The aim of our study was to develop and assess the usability of a multifaceted intervention to reduce low-value injury care.

Foot orthosis design for children with Charcot-Marie-Tooth and impact on gait.

Background: Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) is a progressive disease resulting in distal sensory deficit and muscular weakness. As the disease progresses, most children develop a cavovarus foot deformity. Foot orthoses (FO) are widely prescribed in CMT to support the foot and improve gait, but there is a lack of guidelines for their conception.

Impact of vitamin C on the reduction of opioid consumption for acute musculoskeletal pain: A double-blind randomized control pilot study.

Introduction: Recent evidence has shown that vitamin C has analgesic and opioid sparing properties in immediate postoperative context. However, this has never been studied for acute musculoskeletal (MSK) emergency department (ED) injuries. The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a randomized placebo-controlled study to determine the opioid sparing and analgesic effect of vitamin C compared to placebo, in acute MSK injured ED patients.

Loss of Hoxa5 function affects Hox gene expression in different biological contexts.

Hoxa5 plays numerous roles in development, but its downstream molecular effects are mostly unknown. We applied bulk RNA-seq assays to characterize the transcriptional impact of the loss of Hoxa5 gene function in seven different biological contexts, including developing respiratory and musculoskeletal tissues that present phenotypes in Hoxa5 mouse mutants. This global analysis revealed few common transcriptional changes, suggesting that HOXA5 acts mainly via the regulation of context-specific effectors.

First-Trimester Soluble fms-like Tyrosine Kinase 1 (sFlt-1) for the Prediction of Preterm Preeclampsia.

While soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) is used to predict preeclampsia (PE) and its severity in late pregnancy, we aimed to clarify its role in early pregnancy. Using prospective cohorts, we estimated the association between sFlt-1, adjusted for gestational age, and preterm PE. sFlt-1 was significantly decreased in the first trimester, mostly before the 13th week, and significantly increased in the third trimester in those who developed preterm PE and particularly early-onset PE.

Studies of the FBT family transporters in Leishmania infantum by gene deletion and protein localization.

The protozoan parasite Leishmania has a large family of major facilitator membrane proteins part of the Folate Biopterin Transporter (FBT) family. The chromosome 10 of Leishmania has a cluster of 7 FBT genes including the S-Adenosyl methionine (AdoMet) transporter and the functionally characterized folate transporters FT1 and FT5. Six of the 7 FBT proteins coded by this locus are located at the plasma membrane as determined by gene fusions with the green fluorescent protein.

Fundamental Neurochemistry Review: Lipids across microglial states.

The capacity of immune cells to alter their function based on their metabolism is the basis of the emerging field of immunometabolism. Microglia are the resident innate immune cells of the central nervous system, and it is a current focus of the field to investigate how alterations in their metabolism impact these cells. Microglia have the ability to utilize lipids, such as fatty acids, as energy sources, but also alterations in lipids can impact microglial form and function.

Context matters: How to research vaccine attitudes and uptake after the COVID-19 crisis.

The pandemic dramatically accelerated research on vaccine attitudes and uptake, a field which mobilizes researchers from the social sciences and humanities as well as biomedical and public health disciplines. The field has the potential to contribute much more, but the growth in research and the deeper connections between disciplines brings challenges as well as opportunities. This perspective article assesses the recent development of the field, exploring progress whilst emphasizing that not enough attention has been paid to national and local contexts.

Impact of robust optimization on patient specific error thresholds for high dose rate prostate brachytherapy source tracking.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of catheter shift errors and determine patient specific error thresholds (PSETs) for different high dose rate prostate brachytherapy (HDRPBT) plans generated by different forms of inverse optimization.

Methods: Three plans were generated for 50 HDRPBT patients and PSETs were determined for each of the 3 plans. Plan 1 was the original Oncentra Prostate (v4.

Automatic plan selection using deep network-A prostate study.

Background: Recently, high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy treatment plans generation was improved with the development of multicriteria optimization (MCO) algorithms that can generate thousands of pareto optimal plans within seconds. This brings a shift, from the objective of generating an acceptable plan to choosing the best plans out of thousands.

Purpose: In order to choose the best plans, new criteria beyond usual dosimetrics volumes histogram (DVH) metrics are introduced and a deep learning (DL) framework is added as an automatic plan selection algorithm.

Stunting and academic trajectory in urban settings of Burkina Faso.

Background: Impaired growth in childhood can lead to poor cognitive development and low school performance. However, literature on the effects of stunting on school trajectory is very limited. The primary objective of this research was to estimate the age at which children start school according to levels of height-for-age z-score (stunting).

Multimodal response-predictor analysis for three non-invasive brain stimulation protocols.

Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) methods such as paired associative stimulation (PAS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) are used to modulate cortical excitability and reduce symptoms in a variety of psychiatric disorders. Recent studies have shown significant inter-individual variability in the physiological response to these techniques when they are applied over the hand representation of primary motor cortex (M1). The goal of the present study was to identify neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, and neurochemical baseline characteristics that may predict response to commonly used NIBS protocols using data from a previously published study (Therrien-Blanchet et al.

ProPickML: Advancing Clinical Diagnostics with Automated Peak Picking in Label-Free Targeted Proteomics.

In targeted proteomics utilizing Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM), the precise detection of specific peptides within complex mixtures remains a significant challenge, particularly due to noise and interference in chromatograms. Existing methodologies, such as isotopic labeling and scoring algorithms, offer partial solutions but are constrained by high run times and elevated false discovery rates. To address these limitations, we have developed ProPickML a machine learning-based tool designed to accurately identify peptide peaks across diverse data sets, independent of the assumed presence of the peptide.

Breaking sedentary behavior among university students: the interest of incorporating cycling desks concurrently with an academic task at light intensity.

: University students experience ≈ 9 h of sitting/day, which may support interventions like active desks. University students ( = 24) Method: Randomized crossover trial aimed to compare effects of sitting (SED), low and moderate-intensity cycling desks (CD; CD) concurrent to an academic task (30-minute video + written exam). Selective visual attention (Tobii Glasses 2) was measured throughout the intervention, and workload (NASA-TLX) and anxiety (POMS-SF) were assessed before and after the video and post-exam.

N-Phenyl ureidobenzenesulfonates, a novel class of human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitors inducing differentiation and apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia cells.

N-Phenyl ureidobenzensulfonates (PUB-SOs) are a novel family of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitors. Herein, we investigate the potential of PUB-SOs to induce acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell differentiation and apoptosis. To that end, we screened our chemolibrary to select the most potent PUB-SOs based on their antiproliferative activity and their ability to arrest the cell progression of AML cells in the S phase.

Feasibility of interventions to increase HPV vaccination acceptability and coverage in school-based programs: Findings from a pilot study in Quebec, Canada.

Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have been offered in Quebec schools to 4th-grade (9-10 years old) girls since 2008 and boys since 2016. HPV vaccine coverage does not reach the 90 % target in many regions. This project evaluated the feasibility and the acceptability of interventions to improve HPV vaccine acceptability and coverage in school-based programs.