The effects of age, fitness, and health on the passive stiffness of the intact low back and its impact on seated work in a healthy, working, female population.

Age is associated with increased tissue stiffness and a higher risk of low back pain, particularly in older, sedentary workers who spend long periods sitting. This study explored how trunk stiffness changes with age and its relationship with posture during prolonged sitting in a sample of 37 women aged 20-65 years. Age was assessed as both Chronological Age and Fitness Age, with trunk stiffness measured using a passive trunk flexion apparatus.

Factors involved in the development of hospital-acquired conditions in older patients in acute care settings: a scoping review.

Background: Older patients hospitalized in acute care settings are at significant risk of presenting hospital-acquired conditions. Healthcare professionals should consider many factors involved in the development of such conditions, including factors related to the patients, as well as those related to the processes of care and the structure of hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe and identify the factors involved in the development of hospital-acquired conditions in older patients in acute care settings.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Clinical Impact of Prophylactic Quinolones with Adjuvant Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Instillation for Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer.

Background And Objective: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) reduces disease recurrence and progression in intermediate- and high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). BCG-associated adverse events during instillations are common, leading to treatment cessation. Prophylactic use of quinolones in conjunction with BCG instillations is one approach for reducing BCG-associated adverse events.

Social inclusion programming for older adults living in age-friendly cities: a scoping review.

Objectives: Creating age-friendly cities (AFCs) is essential for supporting older adults' well-being. The WHO's 2007 guide outlines key features of AFCs, including social inclusion. Despite increasing numbers of AFC programmes, diverse experiences of ageing are often overlooked.

Investigating the implementation of a Trial of Labour After Caesarean (TOLAC) delivery bundle with respect to decreasing caesarean delivery rates: a multisite quality improvement initiative.

Objectives: To study the effect of implementing a Trial of Labour After Caesarean (TOLAC) delivery bundle with respect to decreasing caesarean delivery rates across five hospitals.

Design: Prospective quality improvement study.

Setting: Five Canadian hospital sites participated, two academic centres and three community hospitals, with annual delivery rates ranging from 2500 to 7500 per site.

Comparison of the effectiveness of intra-infrapatellar fat pad and intra-articular glucocorticoid injection in knee osteoarthritis patients with Hoffa's synovitis: protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: The infrapatellar fat pad and synovium are the sites of immune cell infiltration and the origin of proinflammation. Studies have shown that Hoffa's synovitis may be a sign of early-stage osteoarthritis (OA). However, there have been no effective interventions specifically for Hoffa's synovitis.

Peripheral Artery Disease Centres of Excellence in Canada - A Call to Action.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is responsible for a significant burden of morbidity and mortality in Canada. Despite the publication of recent guidelines outlining the diagnosis and management of PAD, delivery of care continues to be fragmented. With a growing number of medical and surgical techniques available, Centres of Excellence are a natural evolution in the advancement of care for patients living with PAD.

Anaphylaxis definition, overview, and clinical support tool: 2024 consensus report.

Background: The 2006 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease/Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (NIAID/FAAN) anaphylaxis criteria are widely used in clinical care and research. In 2020, the World Allergy Organization (WAO) published modified criteria that have not been uniformly adopted. Different criteria contribute to inconsistent care and research outcomes.

Non-atherosclerotic coronary causes of myocardial infarction in women.

Ischemic heart disease is the most common cardiovascular cause of death in women worldwide. Obstructive coronary atherosclerosis is the primary cause of myocardial infarction (MI), however, non-atherosclerotic mechanisms of MI, such as spontaneous coronary artery dissection, vasospasm, microvascular dysfunction, embolization, inflammation, coronary anomalies, infectious and infiltrative causes are increasingly being recognized. Emerging data suggest that women are two to five times more likely to have an MI in the absence of coronary atherosclerosis compared to men, but they continue to remain underdiagnosed and undertreated, partly due to underdiagnosis and limited understanding of these mechanisms.

A conserved chaperone protein is required for the formation of a non-canonical type VI secretion system spike tip complex.

Type VI secretion systems (T6SS) are dynamic protein nanomachines found in Gram-negative bacteria that deliver toxic effector proteins into target cells in a contact-dependent manner. Prior to secretion, many T6SS effector proteins require chaperones and/or accessory proteins for proper loading onto the structural components of the T6SS apparatus. However, despite their established importance, the precise molecular function of several T6SS accessory protein families remains unclear.

Cup-Cage Reconstruction for Pelvic Discontinuity: Encouraging Long-Term Survival.

Background: Pelvic discontinuity (PD) poses a difficult challenge in revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA). There is a paucity of evidence assessing five- to ten-year outcomes of cup cages for PD. This study aimed to review the survivorship and outcomes of cup-cage constructs for PD.

An investigation of the mechanism of adjacent segment disease in a porcine spine model.

Background: Fusion changes the biomechanics of the spine leading to the potential development of adjacent segment disease. Despite many studies on adjacent segment disease, it is largely unknown how spinal fixation affects the mechanical properties of the adjacent disc. The purpose of this study was to assess whether axial compression causes mechanical disruption to the annulus when the caudal spinal level is immobilized or injured.

Developing a Profile of Canadian Children With Cerebral Palsy Who Require Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Purpose: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most prevalent motor disability affecting children. Many children with CP have significant speech difficulties and require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to participate in communication. Despite demonstrable benefits, the use of AAC systems among children with CP remains constrained, although research in Canada is lacking.

Treatment outcomes among children and adolescents with extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and pre-XDR tuberculosis: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and pre-XDR- tuberculosis (TB) account for approximately a third of pediatric MDR-TB cases globally. Clinical management is challenging; recommendations are based on limited evidence. We assessed the clinical outcomes for children and adolescents treated for XDR-and pre-XDR-TB.

Specialty-specific Evaluation of Virtual care Outcomes: A retrospective QUality and safety analysis (S-EVOQUe).

The objective was to compare specialty-specific 7- and 30-day outcomes between virtual care visits and in-person visits which occurred during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Using administrative data from provincial databases in Ontario, ambulatory care visits occurring virtually and in-person during specific timeframes within the pandemic were analyzed. Virtual care visits were matched with corresponding in-person visits based on multiple baseline patient characteristics.

Benzodiazepine-Free Cardiac Anesthesia for Reduction of Postoperative Delirium: A Cluster Randomized Crossover Trial.

Importance: Delirium is common after cardiac surgery and associated with adverse outcomes. Intraoperative benzodiazepines may increase postoperative delirium but restricting intraoperative benzodiazepines has not yet been evaluated in a randomized trial.

Objective: To determine whether an institutional policy of restricted intraoperative benzodiazepine administration reduced the incidence of postoperative delirium.

Perturbation of peptidoglycan recycling by anti-folates and design of a dual-action inhibitor.

Unlabelled: Peptidoglycan (PG) is an important bacterial macromolecule that confers cell shape and structural integrity, and is a key antibiotic target. Its synthesis and turnover are carefully coordinated with other cellular processes and pathways. Despite established connections between the biosynthesis of PG and the outer membrane, or PG and DNA replication, links between PG and folate metabolism remain comparatively unexplored.

Neural Sensitivity to Ambiguous Social Exclusion Reflects Information Processing Bias in Midadolescents With Higher Levels of Aggression.

Aggression is commonly associated with increased experiences of peer rejection and maladaptive social information processing biases throughout development. Little is known about the neural correlates of peer rejection that might underlie social information processing biases, and whether these neural correlates are common or different across early- and mid-adolescents on a continuum of aggression. Using the Cyberball task, we examined mediofrontal theta (4-7 Hz) event-related EEG spectral power during conditions of explicit and ambiguous social exclusion in 117 participants (57 early adolescents, ages 10-12 years, and 60 mid-adolescents, ages 14-16 years).

Impact of atrial fibrillation on productivity in working-age patients: an analysis of Swiss-AF prospective cohort study data.

Aims: We aimed to explore atrial fibrillation (AF)-induced productivity losses in working-age atrial fibrillation patients and to estimate atrial fibrillation-related indirect costs.

Methods: Between 2014 and 2017, the Swiss Atrial Fibrillation prospective cohort study (Swiss-AF) enrolled 217 working-age patients with documented atrial fibrillation. Self-reported changes in professional activity and the reasons thereof were descriptively analysed over 8 years of follow-up or until patients reached the retirement age.

Biologic Therapies for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Despite limited breakthroughs in COPD pharmacotherapy, recent trials have shown promising results for biologics in COPD patients. However, robust evidence synthesis in this area is currently lacking.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL from inception to July 17, 2024, to identify randomized trials of biologic medications in patients with COPD.

"When you're in the office, it means you managed to get somewhere": An interpretive descriptive study of the perceptions of adolescents accessing primary care for mental health services.

Objective: Primary care offers an entry point into the health care system for adolescents experiencing mental illnesses. This study explored the perceptions of adolescents with an anxiety or mood disorder accessing primary care for mental health services.

Methods: Qualitative interpretive descriptive design was employed.

A systematic review of systematic reviews comparing simple trapeziectomy versus trapeziectomy with ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition for trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis.

Background: The outcomes of simple trapeziectomy (T) versus trapeziectomy with ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition (LRTI) for trapeziometacarpal (TMC) osteoarthritis have been compared in several systematic reviews (SRs) with conflicting results across the various outcomes studied. Despite a lack of conclusions regarding the superiority of one treatment versus the other, LRTI remains the most popular surgical option. This raises the questions of whether published SRs are of high methodological quality, and whether discordant conclusions can be attributed to differences in methodologic quality.

Immediate Versus Delayed Mobilization After Cubital Tunnel Release Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

It is unknown whether early mobilization after cubital tunnel decompression improves functional outcomes without increasing complication risks. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of early mobilization compared to delayed mobilization of the elbow after ulnar nerve decompression. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies comparing adults who received early mobilization or late mobilization were included.