Psychosocial Function in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Social Participation is Associated With Cognitive Performance in Multiple Domains.

Psychosocial function is associated with cognitive performance cross-sectionally and cognitive decline over time. Using data from the COMPASS-ND study, we examined associations between psychosocial and cognitive function in 126 individuals with mild cognitive impairment, an at-risk group for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Psychosocial function was measured using questionnaires about mental health, social support, and social engagement.

Understanding Perceptions of Hepatitis C and Its Management Among People with Experience of Incarceration in Quebec, Canada: A Qualitative Study Guided by the Common Sense Self-Regulation Model.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) disproportionately affects certain sub-populations, including people with experience of incarceration (PWEI). Little is known about how perceptions of HCV and treatment have changed despite simplifications in testing and treatment in carceral settings. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with people living with or having a history of HCV infection released from Quebec provincial prison.

Factors influencing direct breastfeeding of preterm infants in neonatal wards and the provision of breastfeeding support: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review will be to synthesize the qualitative evidence on factors that influence direct breastfeeding of preterm infants in neonatal wards and the provision of breastfeeding support.

Introduction: Breastmilk is critical for the health of preterm neonates, and infants who directly feed at the breast are more likely to receive breastmilk exclusively for longer periods. Direct breastfeeding is associated with improved maternal coping and development of maternal identity.

Iron Regulatory Protein 2 (IRP2) Deficiency Is Protective Against Resistive Breathing-induced Pulmonary Inflammation.

Iron regulatory protein 2 (IRP2), a post-transcriptional regulator of cellular iron metabolism has been associated with susceptibility to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Resistive breathing (RB) is the hallmark of the pathophysiology of obstructive airway diseases, especially during exacerbations, where increased mechanical stress is imposed on the lung. We have previously shown that RB, through tracheal banding, mimicking severe airway obstruction, induces pulmonary inflammation and injury in previously healthy mice.

Factors Associated with Transgender-Based Discrimination Among and Transgender Women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Purpose: Transgender-based discrimination is associated with poor mental health, unemployment, and poverty. and transgender women (trans women) frequently experience transgender-based discrimination, but associated factors are understudied. Our objective was to identify the factors associated with transgender-based discrimination among trans women from Brazil.

Do Risk Factors for HCC Impact the Association of CT/MRI LIRADS Major Features With HCC? An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.

Guidelines suggest the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) may not be applicable for some populations at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, data assessing the association of HCC risk factors with LI-RADS major features are lacking. To evaluate whether the association between HCC risk factors and each CT/MRI LI-RADS major feature differs among individuals at-risk for HCC.

PTSD Coach as an early mobile intervention to improve cancer-related anxiety and psychosocial oncology uptake in patients newly diagnosed with head and neck cancer: pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: This pilot study aimed to provide supportive evidence for the feasibility of conducting a full-scale intervention trial with patients newly diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC). This included assessing the acceptability and potential usefulness of the PTSD Coach mobile app as an early self-management intervention that gives information about anxiety symptoms, offers self-assessment of symptoms with feedback, tools to self-manage anxiety, and connects to support.

Methods: A three-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted.

Assessing Adherence to the PRISMA-DTA Guideline in Diagnostic Test Accuracy Systematic Reviews: A Five-Year Follow-up Analysis.

Background: We evaluated reporting of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) systematic reviews using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)-DTA and PRISMA-DTA for abstracts.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE for recent DTA systematic reviews (September 2023-Mar 2024) to achieve a sample size of 100. Analyses evaluated adherence to PRISMA-DTA (and abstracts), on a per-item basis.

Widespread gene-environment interactions shape the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Genome-wide association studies performed in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have uncovered various loci significantly associated with susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease severity. However, the underlying -regulatory genetic factors that contribute to heterogeneity in the response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and their impact on clinical phenotypes remain enigmatic. Here, we used single-cell RNA-sequencing to quantify genetic contributions to -regulatory variation in 361,119 peripheral blood mononuclear cells across 63 COVID-19 patients during acute infection, 39 samples collected in the convalescent phase, and 106 healthy controls.

An adaptive enrichment design using Bayesian model averaging for selection and threshold-identification of predictive variables.

Precision medicine is transforming healthcare by offering tailored treatments that enhance patient outcomes and reduce costs. As our understanding of complex diseases improves, clinical trials increasingly aim to detect subgroups of patients with enhanced treatment effects. Biomarker-driven adaptive enrichment designs, which initially enroll a broad population and later restrict to treatment-sensitive patients, are gaining popularity.

Reproducible protein quantitation of 270 human proteins at increased depth using nanoparticle-based fractionation and multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry with stable isotope-labelled internal standards.

Here we show that when using a mix of 274 light synthetic peptide standards (NAT) as surrogates for 270 human plasma proteins, as well as stable isotope-labelled standards (SIS) as normalizers (both from MRM Proteomics Inc.) for targeted quantitative analysis by liquid chromatography multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (LC/MRM-MS), the Seer Proteograph™ platform allowed for the enrichment and absolute quantitation of up to an additional 62 targets (median) compared to two standard proteomic workflows without enrichment, representing an increase of 44%. The nanoparticle-based fractionation workflow resulted in improved reproducibility compared to a traditional proteomic workflow with no fractionation (median 8.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of radiofrequency renal denervation for uncontrolled hypertension in Canada.

Aims: Catheter-based radiofrequency renal denervation (RF RDN) is an interventional treatment for uncontrolled hypertension. This analysis explored the therapy's lifetime cost-effectiveness in a Canadian healthcare setting.

Materials And Methods: A decision-analytic Markov model was used to project health events, costs, and quality-adjusted life years over a lifetime horizon.

The Spiral of Attention, Arousal, and Release: A Comparative Phenomenology of Jhāna Meditation and Speaking in Tongues.

Buddhist Jhāna meditation and the Christian practice of speaking in tongues appear wildly distinct. These spiritual techniques differ in their ethical, theological, and historical frames and seem, from the outside, to produce markedly different states of consciousness-one a state of utter calm and the other of high emotional arousal. Yet, our phenomenological interviews with experienced practitioners in the USA found significant points of convergence.

Impact of a national dementia research consortium: The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA).

The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) was created by the Canadian federal government through its health research funding agency, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), in 2014, as a response to the G7 initiative to fight dementia. Two five-year funding cycles (2014-2019; 2019-2024) have occurred following peer review, and a third cycle (Phase 3) has just begun. A unique construct was mandated, consisting of 20 national teams in Phase I and 19 teams in Phase II (with research topics spanning from basic to clinical science to health resource systems) along with cross-cutting programs to support them.

A comprehensive experience-based framework of actionable priorities to enhance Canada's health and social care system: discussions with older persons, clinicians, managers, and decision-makers using nominal group technique.

Background: Existing frameworks of older persons' experiences in health and social care systems are usually based on single stakeholder perspectives and focused on limited aspects that are independent from one another. This study aimed to describe such experiences from the perspective of diverse stakeholders and develop a comprehensive experience-based framework for actionable priorities to enhance Canada's health and social care system.

Methods: We adapted a nominal group technique with a qualitative approach.

Formulating recommendations to improve care for persons living with dementia: deliberative dialogues with multiple stakeholders in the province of Quebec, Canada.

Background: Persons living with dementia and their care partners encounter many challenges within the health and social care system, including lack of information, support, counselling, and access to community services, as well as significant staff turnover in home care services. The objective of this study was to work with multiple stakeholders to formulate relevant and feasible recommendations to improve care for persons living with dementia and their care partners in Quebec, Canada.

Methods: We conducted deliberative dialogues in the context of a large mixed methods study on the care of persons living with dementia and care partners.

Building Timely Consensus Among Diverse Stakeholders: An Adapted Nominal Group Technique.

Purpose: Building timely consensus among diverse stakeholders is important in primary health care research. Consensus can be obtained using the nominal group technique which includes 5 steps: (1) introduction and explanation; (2) silent generation of ideas; (3) sharing ideas; (4) discussion; and (5) voting and ranking. The main challenges in using this technique are a lack of representation of different stakeholder opinions and the amount of time taken to reach consensus.

RapidBrachyIVBT: A dosimetry software for patient-specific intravascular brachytherapy dose calculations on optical coherence tomography images.

Background: Coronary artery disease is the most common form of cardiovascular disease. It is caused by excess plaque along the arterial wall, blocking blood flow to the heart (stenosis). A percutaneous coronary intervention widens the arterial wall with the inflation of a balloon inside the lesion area and leaves behind a metal stent to prevent re-narrowing of the artery (restenosis).

Association of support group leader experience with Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network Support group Leader EDucation Program outcomes: Secondary analysis of a two-arm parallel partially nested randomized controlled trial.

Introduction/objective: The Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network Support group Leader EDucation Program was found in a randomized controlled trial to substantially improve leader self-efficacy. Whether the program is effective for leaders with different levels of experience, including candidate leaders with no prior experience and leaders with ⩽3 years experience or ⩾4 years experience, is not known. The objective of the present post hoc secondary analysis was to evaluate outcomes by leader experience, age, and education.