2,318 results match your criteria: "Lakehead University; Northern Ontario School of Medicine. chris.mushquash@lakeheadu.ca.[Affiliation]"

The reliability and validity of the Postpartum Partner Support Scale among Chinese women.

Midwifery

September 2024

Department of Child Health Care, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital College of Clinical Medicine for Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350001, China.

Background: The benefits of partner support have been well documented for maternal and child health and wellbeing. Chinese women who practice traditional postpartum rituals may lack support during the confinement and often rely heavily on their partners. Currently, there is no validated measure to assess postpartum partner support in China.

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Background: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a depressive disorder affecting 5%-8% of people with menstrual cycles. Despite evidence that facial emotion detection is altered in depressive disorders, with enhanced detection of negative emotions (negativity bias), minimal research exists on premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of premenstrual dysphoric disorder symptoms and the premenstrual phase on accuracy and intensity at detection of facial emotions.

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Malaria-causing protozoa of the genus Plasmodium have exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data from P.

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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is still a serious global health issue that has a substantial impact on death and illness rates. The goal of primary prevention strategies is to lower the risk of developing CAD. Nevertheless, current methods usually rely on simple risk assessment instruments that might overlook significant individual risk factors.

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PAAD: Panelization algorithm for architectural designs.

PLoS One

June 2024

School of Health Policy and Management, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Due to the competitive nature of the construction industry, the efficiency of requirement analysis is important in enhancing client satisfaction and a company's reputation. For example, determining the optimal configuration of panels (generally called panelization) that form the structure of a building is one aspect of cost estimation. However, existing methods typically rely on rule-based approaches that may lead to suboptimal material usage, particularly in complex designs featuring angled walls and openings.

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Integrating transformers and many-objective optimization for drug design.

BMC Bioinformatics

June 2024

Department of Computer Science, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada.

Background: Drug design is a challenging and important task that requires the generation of novel and effective molecules that can bind to specific protein targets. Artificial intelligence algorithms have recently showed promising potential to expedite the drug design process. However, existing methods adopt multi-objective approaches which limits the number of objectives.

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Background: German-speaking mothers have breastfeeding rates below the international breastfeeding recommendations. Previous research has found that breastfeeding self-efficacy is an important and modifiable predictor of breastfeeding outcomes, thus improving breastfeeding rates. The Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF) is used in many countries to assess maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy.

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Microscopic epibionts on molluscan shells are a component of the biodiversity of intertidal coastal areas. Because molluscan shells are discrete habitats for the epibiont community, and the molluscan basibionts belong to the local community, epibiont diversity can be evaluated hierarchically by basibiont categories including species. To evaluate the structure of epibiont diversity and effects of taxonomic resolution on the evaluation, epibionts on molluscan shells and inert surfaces were investigated at three geographically distant sites in Japan.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Rural communities face worse health outcomes than urban areas, mainly due to limited access to healthcare, highlighting the importance of medical education in those settings to increase rural physician supply.
  • - Pre-clerkship medical students participated in mandatory rural placements, where they gained insights into rural generalism primarily through interactions with rural physician faculty, emphasizing the role of effective precepting in their learning experience.
  • - The findings suggest that sociocultural learning theory explains how students learn during these placements, while place-based education theory can enhance the curriculum; thus, training preceptors effectively is crucial for positive student experiences.
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  • Habitat loss is a major factor in species extinction, but gradual habitat changes can allow individuals some adaptive advantages in finding better opportunities.
  • The study explores Adaptive Dispersal Strategy Landscapes, revealing that individuals in high-density populations often have limited adaptive advantage to leave their declining habitats, as better habitats are already occupied.
  • Experiments on meadow voles showed that while they preferred richer foraging areas, they did not permanently relocate, supporting the theoretical predictions about habitat selection and highlighting the need for better understanding ecological impacts of habitat loss.
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Halloysite nanotubes enhanced polyimide/oxidized-lignin nanofiber separators for long-cycling lithium metal batteries.

Int J Biol Macromol

July 2024

State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Key Laboratory of Pulp & Paper Science and Technology of Shandong Province/Ministry of Education, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan 250353, China. Electronic address:

The high energy density and robust cycle properties of lithium-ion batteries contribute to their extensive range of applications. Polyolefin separators are often used for the purpose of storing electrolytes, hence ensuring the efficient internal ion transport. Nevertheless, the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion batteries is constrained by its limited interaction with electrolytes and poor capacity for cation transport.

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Evolutionary history shapes variation of wood density of tree species across the world.

Plant Divers

May 2024

Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Forest Resources and Silviculture, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.

The effect of evolutionary history on wood density variation may play an important role in shaping variation in wood density, but this has largely not been tested. Using a comprehensive global dataset including 27,297 measurements of wood density from 2621 tree species worldwide, we test the hypothesis that the legacy of evolutionary history plays an important role in driving the variation of wood density among tree species. We assessed phylogenetic signal in different taxonomic (e.

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Background: This study aims to identify unique metabolomics biomarkers associated with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and develop an accurate diagnostics model using tree-based machine learning (ML) algorithms integrated with bioinformatics techniques.

Methods: Univariate and multivariate analyses such as fold change, a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and Partial Least-Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) were used to identify biomarker metabolites that showed significant concentration in T2D patients. Three tree-based algorithms [eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), and Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost)] that demonstrated robustness in high-dimensional data analysis were used to create a diagnostic model for T2D.

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Background: Lignin is an intricate phenolic polymer found in plant cell walls that has tremendous potential for being converted into value-added products with the possibility of significantly increasing the economics of bio-refineries. Although lignin in nature is bio-degradable, its biocatalytic conversion is challenging due to its stable complex structure and recalcitrance. In this context, an understanding of strain's genomics, enzymes, and degradation pathways can provide a solution for breaking down lignin to unlock the full potential of lignin as a dominant valuable bioresource.

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In recent decades, the development of new drugs has become increasingly expensive and inefficient, and the molecular mechanisms of most pharmaceuticals remain poorly understood. In response, computational systems and network medicine tools have emerged to identify potential drug repurposing candidates. However, these tools often require complex installation and lack intuitive visual network mining capabilities.

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Background: Being aware of the possibility of becoming pregnant shortly after childbirth before the resumption of the menstrual period is often overlooked but remains a significant contributor to unintended pregnancies and may lead to maternal and neonatal comorbidities. Exploring the extent of awareness and associated factors could help tailor more interventions toward reducing the rates of short-interval unplanned pregnancies.

Objective: This study explores the extent to which Ghanaian women are aware of the possibility of becoming pregnant shortly after childbirth before the resumption of the menstrual period and its associated factors.

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Background: The effective elimination of encapsulated bacteria like type a (Hia) relies on immune mechanisms such as complement-mediated opsonophagocytosis by neutrophils in coordination with opsonization by anti-capsular antibodies. This study evaluated if Hia could activate the immune response through neutrophils and if these responses differed between encapsulated versus unencapsulated or invasive versus non-invasive strains.

Methods: HL-60-derived neutrophil-like cells (dHL-60), differentiated with 1.

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Article Synopsis
  • The paper explores how biofilms colonize microplastics in aquatic environments, detailing bacterial traits and the environmental factors influencing biofilm formation.
  • Biofilms provide microplastics with advantages like nutrient access and increased resistance to stress while altering their physical and chemical properties.
  • The research emphasizes the complex interactions between biofilms and microplastics, highlighting their combined impact on pollutant behaviors and the accumulation of heavy metals, calling for more investigation into their environmental risks and management.
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Changing cannabis legislation in Canada and a longitudinal look at "regular" cannabis use in patients with eating disorders.

Psychiatry Res

July 2024

Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address:

Regular cannabis use (CU), defined as "weekly or more often", is associated with a number of negative mental health outcomes. In the last decade, Canada legalized first medical and then recreational CU. Despite higher prevalence in mental health populations, little research has documented changes in frequency of CU with progressive legalization of cannabis.

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Introduction: Preconception care is the provision of behavioural, social or biomedical interventions to women and couples prior to conception. To date, preconception research has primarily focused on maternal health, despite the male partner's contribution before birth to both short-term and long-term child outcomes. The objectives of the reviews are: (1) to identify, consolidate and analyse the literature on paternal preconception health on pregnancy and intrapartum outcomes, and (2) to identify, consolidate and analyse the literature on paternal preconception health on postpartum and early childhood outcomes.

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The Canadian Congenital Anomalies Surveillance Network was established in 2002 to address gaps in the national surveillance of congenital anomalies (CAs) and support the sustainability of high-quality, population-based, CA surveillance systems within provinces and territories. This paper highlights the methodologies of each local CA surveillance system, noting similarities and variabilities between each system, to contribute to enhanced national CA surveillance efforts.

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Background: Boreal regions are warming at more than double the global average, creating opportunities for the northward expansion of agriculture. Expanding agricultural production in these regions will involve the conversion of boreal forests to agricultural fields, with cumulative impacts on soil microbial communities and associated biogeochemical cycling processes. Understanding the magnitude or rate of change that will occur with these biological processes will provide information that will enable these regions to be developed in a more sustainable manner, including managing carbon and nitrogen losses.

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Article Synopsis
  • Most marine microalgae are usually grown in coastal areas, but this 185-day study successfully cultivated Nannochloropsis oceanica inland using new photobioreactors (PBRs) of varying sizes.
  • A 700-liter PBR showed better adaptability to seasonal changes and produced nearly equal lipid content compared to smaller 150-liter PBRs, suggesting good performance in colder temperatures.
  • The study found that the average production cost of N. oceanica was about $11.89 per kg, which is significantly lower than the market price of $20.19 per kg; smaller PBRs were noted to be more cost-effective for energy prices.
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  • The study investigated the link between prior BCG treatments for bladder cancer and COVID-19 infection severity.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 348 patients with high-risk bladder cancer from two Canadian centers to track COVID-19 outcomes.
  • Findings showed that neither intravesical BCG nor infantile BCG vaccination had a significant impact on the incidence of COVID-19 among these patients.
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