Informing Alzheimer's Biomarker Communication: Concerns and Understanding of Cognitively Unimpaired Adults During Amyloid Results Disclosure.

Background: Biomarker results are increasingly disclosed in research and clinical settings, but less is known about how individuals interpret their results or concerns raised during the disclosure visit that may need to be addressed by clinicians to ensure appropriate disclosure.

Methods: Fifty-two cognitively unimpaired older adults aged 65 to 89 years old from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention, who had undergone an amyloid PET scan in the previous 18 months, were enrolled in the disclosure substudy. After ensuring psychological readiness, trained study clinicians disclosed amyloid PET results using a structured protocol.

Opportunities and challenges associated with the launch of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) in British Columbia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study to explore community pharmacists' perspectives.

Background: In February 2022, a novel antiviral for the treatment of COVID-19, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid), was approved by Health Canada and made available to patients in British Columbia (BC). BC community pharmacists did not prescribe nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, but dispensing involved a detailed assessment with close attention to drug-drug interactions and patient monitoring. As the nirmatrelvir/ritonavir service was unique in BC, and not all pharmacists participated in the program, it is important to evaluate the perspectives of all the pharmacists who were affected so that lessons learned from the program can inform future pandemic planning and government initiatives.

Impact of Ferulated Arabinoxylans from Maize Bran on Farinograph and Pasting Properties of Wheat Flour Blends.

This research explores the extraction of ferulated arabinoxylans (FAXs) from maize bran and their incorporation into wheat flour to assess their impact on rheological and pasting properties. Flour blends were prepared with FAX concentrations of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%, and these blends were then evaluated using farinograph, mixograph, micro-extensibility, and viscosity analyses. The results indicated that farinograph water absorption increased significantly ( ≤ 0.

Living fully, choosing wisely: Exploring patient-centred approaches to palliative care and MAiD - Part I.

With increasing numbers of individuals presenting with advanced cancer, strong recommendations for the integration of palliative care in oncology, and the availability and acceptance of medical assistance in dying, oncology nurses must be informed and prepared to provide patient-centred care in advanced cancer. This is part one of a two-part case report presenting an exploration of early palliative care and medical assistance in dying in the setting of advanced cancer. It focuses on the patient and family experience throughout the illness trajectory, from diagnosis to death, and incorporates some of the common challenges seen in supporting someone with advanced cancer.

Community-Based Pharmacists' Perspectives on Prescribing Authority for the Minor Ailments and Contraception Service in British Columbia.

Recent changes to legislation in British Columbia (BC) have expanded the scope of pharmacist-provided services to include pharmacist prescribing for minor ailments and contraception (PPMAC). The purpose of this study was to gather community-based pharmacists' perspectives on these changes to practice. This was a cross-sectional online survey study.

Barriers to obtaining and using interoperable information among non-federal acute care hospitals.

Objective: To understand barriers to obtaining and using interoperable information at US hospitals.

Materials And Methods: Using 2023 nationally representative survey data on US hospitals (N = 2420), we examined major and minor barriers to exchanging information with other organizations, and how barriers vary by hospital characteristics and methods used to obtain information. Using a series of regression models, we examined how hospital experiences with barriers relate to routine use of information at responding hospitals.

Improving tabular data extraction in scanned laboratory reports using deep learning models.

Objective: Medical laboratory testing is essential in healthcare, providing crucial data for diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, patients' lab testing results are often transferred via fax across healthcare organizations and are not immediately available for timely clinical decision making. Thus, it is important to develop new technologies to accurately extract lab testing information from scanned laboratory reports.

Continuous Associations between Remote Self-Administered Cognitive Measures and Imaging Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Easily accessible and self-administered cognitive assessments that can aid early detection for Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia risk are critical for timely intervention.

Objectives/design: This cross-sectional study investigated continuous associations between Mayo Test Drive (MTD) - a remote, self-administered, multi-device compatible, web-based cognitive assessment - and AD-related imaging biomarkers.

Participants/setting: 684 adults from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging and Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center participated (age=70.

Associations of Blood Pressure Trajectories with Subsequent Cognitive Decline, Dementia and Mortality.

Background: Hypertension may harm cognitive performance, but the potential correlates of longitudinal patterns of blood pressure (BP), especially diastolic BP (DBP), to cognition have been unclear.

Objectives: To examine long-term BP trajectories in relation to subsequent cognitive decline, incident dementia and all-cause mortality in the general population.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Estimating Socio-Economic Status for Alzheimer's Disease Trials.

Introduction: Metrics of a participant's socioeconomic status (SES) are not routinely collected or standardized in clinical trials. This omission limits the ability to evaluate the generalizability of trial results and restricts clinicians from confidently interpreting the efficacy of new treatments across important sub-populations.

Methods: We adapted an SES measure of social disparity; the Hollingshead Two Factor Index of Social Position, which combines education and occupation into a single metric.

Evaluating the Causal Effect of Type 2 Diabetes on Alzheimer's Disease Using Large-Scale Genetic Data.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) has a high comorbidity with type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, there is still some controversy over whether T2D has a causal impact on AD at present.

Objectives: We aimed to reveal whether T2D has a causal effect on AD using large-scale genetic data.

Performance of Plasma Biomarkers Combined with Structural MRI to Identify Candidate Participants for Alzheimer's Disease-Modifying Therapy.

Background: Recently, two monoclonal antibodies that lower amyloid plaques have shown promising results for the treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD). These treatments require the identification of cognitively impaired older adults with biomarker evidence of AD pathology using CSF biomarkers or amyloid-PET. Previous studies showed plasma biomarkers (plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and p-tau181) and hippocampal volume from structural MRI correlated with brain amyloid pathology.

From Fax to Secure File Transfer Protocol: The 25-Year Evolution of Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance in England.

The purpose of syndromic surveillance is to provide early warning of public health incidents, real-time situational awareness during incidents and emergencies, and reassurance of the lack of impact on the population, particularly during mass gatherings. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) currently coordinates a real-time syndromic surveillance service that encompasses 6 national syndromic surveillance systems reporting on daily health care usage across England. Each working day, UKHSA analyzes syndromic data from over 200,000 daily patient encounters with the National Health Service, monitoring over 140 unique syndromic indicators, risk assessing over 50 daily statistical exceedances, and taking and recommending public health action on these daily.

Interventions for tobacco use cessation in people living with HIV.

Background: The prevalence of tobacco use among people living with HIV (PLWH) is up to four times higher than in the general population. Unfortunately, tobacco use increases the risk of progression to AIDS and death. Individual- and group-level interventions, and system-change interventions that are effective in helping PLWH stop using tobacco can markedly improve the health and quality of life of this population.

Effect of intraoperative cold solution irrigation to reduce postoperative pain in knee osteoarthritis patients who underwent unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: To compare the postoperative pain score, opioid consumption, and blood loss in knee osteoarthritis patients who underwent unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty with and without intraoperative cold solution irrigation.

Method: In total, 70 knee osteoarthritis patients were randomly included in the study and allocated into 2 groups. The first group was irrigated intraoperatively with a cold solution and the second group was irrigated intraoperatively with a room-temperature solution.

Integrated Service Delivery Model in Primary Care to Improve Frailty in Older Malaysians: GeKo Integrated Service Delivery.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the implementation stage of Malaysia's GeKo-Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) model for frailty management in primary care and explore its effectiveness in improving frailty scores.

Methods: The implementation stage of Malaysia's first three GeKo- ISD clinics was assessed using the WHO-ICOPE (Integrated Care of the Older Persons) scorecard. This involved evaluating documents related to the GeKo services and conducting in-depth interviews with key informants identified from those documents.

Frailty Trajectories and Its Associated Factors in Japanese Older Adults.

Background: Associated factors for frailty development according to age group remain unclear.

Objectives: To identify frailty score trajectories among community-dwelling older Japanese individuals and examine their associated factors.

Design: 13-year longitudinal study.

Association of Finger Tapping Movements with Frailty Status in older Japanese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Finger tapping impairment and frailty share overlapping pathophysiology and symptoms in older adults, however, the relationship between each other has not been previously studied.

Objectives: To investigate how finger tapping movements correlate with frail status in older Japanese adults.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Data were from a cross-sectional study called the Cognition and Activity in Rural Environment of Hokkaido Senior Survey 2018.

The Shape Trail Test Is Sensitive in Differentiating Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Culture-neutral Five-minute Test.

Introduction: The Shape Trail Test (STT) was developed based upon the Trail Making Test, as a culture-neutral test for measuring processing speed and mental flexibility. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy and validity of this five-minute test for differentiating individuals with normal cognition (NC), subjective memory impairment (SMI), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Method: The study included 210 participants aged 50-80 years, with 70 participants in each group matched for age, education, and gender.