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.

Immunosuppressive Drugs in Early Limited Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis May Prevent Global Damage Accrual.

Objective: Organ damage in systemic sclerosis (SSc) in individual organs such as the lungs may be prevented by immunosuppressive drugs (IS). A new measure of global organ damage, the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium Damage Index (SCTC-DI), has allowed us to investigate whether IS may reduce global organ damage accrual in early SSc.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with < 2 years disease duration in Canadian and Australian SSc cohorts.

Outcomes of guidelines from health technology assessment organizations in community-based primary care: a systematic mixed studies review.

Background: Health technology assessment (HTA) organizations generate guidelines to inform healthcare practices toward improved health outcomes. This review sought to identify and classify outcomes of guidelines from HTA organizations within published research.

Methodology: We performed a systematic mixed studies review of empirical studies that (a) referred to a published guideline from an HTA organization and (b) reported an outcome resulting from a guideline.

Monte Carlo simulated correction factors for high dose rate brachytherapy postal dosimetry audit methodology.

Background And Purpose: Full-scatter conditions in water are impractical for postal dosimetry audits in brachytherapy. This work presents a method to obtain correction factors that account for deviations from full-scatter water-equivalent conditions for a small plastic phantom.

Material And Methods: A 16 × 8 × 3 cm phantom (PMMA) with a radiophotoluminescent dosimeter (RPLD) at the centre and two catheters on either side was simulated using Monte Carlo (MC) to calculate correction factors accounting for the lack of scatter, non-water equivalence of the RPLD and phantom, source model and backscatter for HDR Co and Ir sources.

Engagement of people with lived experience in studies published in high-impact psychiatry journals: meta-research review.

Background: We evaluated studies published in high-impact psychiatry journals to assess (1) the proportion that reported in articles whether they engaged people with lived experience; (2) the proportion that likely engaged people with lived experience; and, if engagement occurred, (3) stages of research (planning, conduct, interpretation, dissemination); and (4) engagement level (consult, involve, partner).

Methods: We searched PubMed on December 14, 2022, for articles in psychiatry journals with impact factor ≥ 10 and reviewed articles in reverse chronological order until 141 were included, based on pre-study precision estimation. We contacted authors to obtain information on engagement.

Master regulators of neurogenesis: the dynamic roles of Ephrin receptors across diverse cellular niches.

The ephrin receptors (EphRs) are the largest family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that are abundantly expressed in the developing brain and play important roles at different stages of neurogenesis ranging from neural stem cell (NSC) fate specification to neural migration, morphogenesis, and circuit assembly. Defects in EphR signalling have been associated with several pathologies including neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), intellectual disability (ID), and neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). Here, we review our current understanding of the complex and dynamic role of EphRs in the brain and discuss how deregulation of these receptors contributes to disease, highlighting their potential as valuable druggable targets.

Fall risk screening in older adults using the "CARE" frailty scale: The NuAge cohort results.

Background: "CARE" is an electronic health (e-health) application (app) which assesses frailty with its frailty module and risk of falls with its mobility module. This study examines and compares the risk of incident falls (i.e.

Mechanisms of Metal-Induced Hepatic Inflammation.

Purpose Of Review: Worldwide, there is an increasing prevalence of hepatic diseases. The most common diseases include alcoholic-associated liver disease (ALD), metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease/ metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MAFLD/MASH) and viral hepatitis. While there are many important mediators of these diseases, there is increasing recognition of the importance of the inflammatory immune response in hepatic disease pathogenesis.

On the path toward cervical cancer elimination in Canada: a national survey of factors influencing women's intentions to participate in human papillomavirus test-based primary cervical screening.

Background: HPV test-based primary cervical screening is replacing cytology in Canada. In other countries, women's unpreparedness and concerns hindered the transition and post-implementation screening uptake. We investigated psychosocial correlates of intentions of screening in eligible individuals to participate in HPV-based primary cervical screening.