Exploring the decisional needs of patients living with subacromial pain syndrome: A qualitative needs assessment study.

Background: There are a variety of different treatments for patients living with subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS). All treatments have small to moderate effect sizes, and it is challenging when healthcare practitioners and patients need to decide on which treatment options to choose. The aim of this study was to explore and understand the decisional needs of patients with SAPS, to inform and support the decision-making process.

A Canadian real-world, multi-center, prospective, observational study assessing the treatment duration, the treatment sequence, and the overall survival for patients treated with endocrine therapy ± targeted therapy in HR + HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Purpose: Understanding real-world treatment patterns and their effectiveness in HR + HER2- advanced breast cancer (aBC) in Canadian patients.

Patient And Methods: This was a multi-center, observational, prospective cohort study including men and pre-/peri-/postmenopausal women with HR + HER2- aBC receiving endocrine therapy (ET) or ET + targeted therapy (ET + TT). The primary objective was duration of treatment (DOT) with ET and ET + TT.

Newborn screening for common genetic variants associated with permanent hearing loss: Implementation in Ontario and a review of the first 3 years.

Purpose: Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) programs using audiometric techniques alone are limited in ability to detect non-congenital childhood permanent hearing loss (PHL). In 2019, Ontario launched universal newborn screening (NBS) for PHL risk factors: congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) and 22 common variants in GJB2 and SLC26A4. Here we describe our experience with genetic risk factor screening.

Access to CARe: A Narrative of Real-World Medical Decision-Making to Access Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a potentially life-saving treatment for children with relapsed/refractory B-cell hematologic malignancies, and remains an important investigational therapy for other childhood cancers. Yet, access to this class of therapies remains suboptimal through both commercial use and clinical trials, especially in children, adolescents, and young adults. Using a series of case-based discussions, we outline guidance on real-world medical decision-making, and offer potential solutions to enhancing access to CAR T-cell therapy as a treatment modality.

Conducting Pairwise and Network Meta-analyses in Updated and Living Systematic Reviews: a Scoping Review Protocol.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review will be to describe existing guidance documents or studies reporting on the conduct of meta-analyses in updated systematic reviews (USRs) or living systematic reviews (LSRs).

Introduction: The rapid increase in the medical literature poses a substantial challenge in keeping systematic reviews up to date. In LSRs, a review is updated with a pre-specified frequency or when some other signalling criterion is triggered.

Red blood cell utilization in patients with sickle cell disease: A Canadian single-center experience.

Background: Red blood cell (RBC) utilization in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) in Canada is poorly defined. This study describes RBC utilization in an SCD cohort at a single Canadian center.

Study Design And Methods: All adults with SCD who received care at the Ottawa Hospital between January 2006 and May 2019 were included, and followed until December 2021.

The Association between Pregnancy Complications and Long-Term Maternal Cardiometabolic Health in the MIREC Cohort Study.

Context: During pregnancy, women who experience certain pregnancy complications show elevations in biomarkers of inflammation and insulin resistance; however, few studies have examined these cardiometabolic biomarkers in the decade following pregnancy.

Objective: To examine the association between pregnancy complications and cardiometabolic biomarkers 9 years postpartum including: blood pressure, blood lipids, body fat percentage, insulin resistance (glucose, insulin, proinsulin, C-peptide, HOMA-IR, HbA1c, leptin, adiponectin) and inflammation (hs-C-reactive protein).

Methods: Using data from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) cohort study (2008-2021) we determined 3 groups of pregnancy complications: 1) hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) (n=35); any pregnancy complication in the index pregnancy, defined as preterm birth, HDP, impaired glucose tolerance or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (n=55); or self-reported recurrence of one of these pregnancy complications (n=19).

Association of HIV infection and hospitalization among mpox cases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Mpox is a viral zoonotic disease that has seen a resurgence in recent years, with outbreaks reaching beyond its traditional endemic zones in Central and West Africa to parts of Europe and North America. The relationship between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and mpox outcomes, particularly hospitalization rates, remains underexplored despite the known immunosuppressive effects of HIV. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the association between HIV infection and the likelihood of hospitalization in mpox cases.

Canadian Association of Radiologists Cancer Diagnostic Imaging Referral Guideline.

The Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) Cancer Expert Panel is made up of physicians from the disciplines of radiology, medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, family medicine/general practitioner oncology, a patient advisor, and an epidemiologist/guideline methodologist. The Expert Panel developed a list of 29 clinical/diagnostic scenarios, of which 16 pointed to other CAR guidelines. A rapid scoping review was undertaken to identify systematically produced referral guidelines that provide recommendations for one or more of the remaining 13 scenarios.

Primary care in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: Lessons from Ontario.

Objective: To understand the role of primary care in the COVID-19 pandemic to provide insight into its functioning and inform potential reforms.

Composition Of The Committee: The now dissolved Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (Science Table) was formed in July 2020 to provide decision makers and the public with a synthesis of rapidly evolving evidence related to COVID-19. The Science Table was based at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and supported by Public Health Ontario.

Benzene-induced hematotoxicity enhances the self-renewal ability of HSPCs in Mll-Af9 mice.

Patients with benzene-induced leukemia undergo a continuous transformation from myelosuppression to malignant proliferation. However, the underlying mechanisms in this process remain unknown. Our previous studies have shown that the pathways involved in self-renewal capacity of bone marrow (BM) cells in Mll-Af9 mice exposed to benzene for life are significantly activated after severe blood toxicity.

Data management and sharing.

Guided by the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), responsible data sharing requires well-organized, high-quality datasets. However, researchers often struggle with implementing Data Management and Sharing Plans (DMSPs) due to lack of knowledge on how to do this, time constraints, legal, technical and financial challenges, particularly concerning data ownership and privacy. While patients support data sharing, researchers and funders may hesitate, fearing the loss of intellectual property or competitive advantage.

Associations between water exposure and the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a matched case-control study.

Objective: Previous studies have hinted at an association between water exposure and the development of ALS. However, proximity measures to these water sources have been limited to questionnaires or large buffers due to a lack of fine geospatial measures. They also do not distinguish the various classes of hydrographic features.

Smartphone Thermal Imaging as an Adjunct to Identify Free Flap Perforators and Assisting Flap Design: A Pilot Study.

Background: The main technique for identification of free flap perforator vessels is Doppler sonography, which is not always accurate, user dependent and affected by the patient's body habitus.

Methods: Adult patients undergoing head and neck resection and free flap reconstruction at two academic institutions were enrolled. Doppler sonography was used to identify perforators, and were marked using a skin marker.

Associations of reverse triiodothyronine serum levels with anxiety, depression, and health related quality of life after experiencing acute ischemic stroke.

Aim: This study intended to explore associations of reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) with emotional disturbances and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after experiencing acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

Materials And Methods: Serum samples from individuals with AIS were collected on admission to three Lithuania stroke centers and investigated for free tetraiodothyronine, free triiodothyronine (fT3), rT3, and thyroid stimulating hormone levels. At discharge, emotional disturbance was evaluated using the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale (HADS), and HRQoL using the EQ-5D-5L scale.

The Influence of Migration Timing and Local Conditions on Reproductive Timing in Arctic-Breeding Birds.

For birds breeding in the Arctic, nest success is affected by the timing of nest initiation, which is partially determined by local conditions such as snow cover. However, conditions during the non-breeding season can carry over to affect the timing of breeding. We used tracking and breeding data from 248 individuals of 8 species and subspecies of Arctic-breeding shorebirds to estimate how the timing of nest initiation is related to local conditions like snowmelt phenology versus prior conditions, measured by the timing and speed of migration.

Review and meta-analysis of gene expression biomarkers predictive of chemical-induced genotoxicity in vivo.

There is growing recognition across broad sectors of the toxicology community that gene expression biomarkers have the potential to identify genotoxic and nongenotoxic carcinogens through a weight-of-evidence approach, providing opportunities to reduce reliance on the 2-year bioassay to identify carcinogens. In August 2022, a workshop within the International Workshops on Genotoxicity Testing (IWGT) was held to critically review current methods to identify genotoxicants using various 'omics profiling methods. Here, we describe the findings of a workshop subgroup focused on the state of the science regarding the use of biomarkers to identify chemicals that act as genotoxicants in vivo.

Seasonal role of a specialist predator in rodent cycles: Ermine-lemming interactions in the High Arctic.

The exact mechanisms behind population cycles remain elusive. An ongoing debate centers on whether predation by small mustelids is necessary and sufficient to generate rodent cycles, as stipulated by the specialist predator hypothesis (SPH). Specifically, the SPH predicts that the predator should respond numerically to the abundance of its prey with a delay of approximately one year, leading to delayed density-dependence in the dynamics of the prey population.

Mapping provider and consumer voices using the AACTT framework: a focus group study of advance care planning.

Background: The provision of healthcare is complex. When evidence-practice gaps are identified, interventions to improve practice across multi-level systems are required. These interventions often consist of multiple interacting components and behaviours.

Early age of dog exposure is negatively associated with atopic dermatitis: A comprehensive analysis.

Background: Currently, whether exposure to pets is a protective factor for atopic dermatitis (AD) is controversial.

Objective: To investigate the association of pet exposure in early life with the incident AD.

Methods: This study was based on PRISMA.

Calretinin-expressing neurons in the basal forebrain specifically contact granule cells in the olfactory bulb and modulate odor learning.

GABAergic neurons in basal forebrain (BF) nuclei project densely to all layers of the mouse main olfactory bulb (OB), the first relay in odor information processing. However, BF projection neurons are diverse and the contribution of each subtype to odor information processing is not known. In the present study, we used retrograde and anterograde tracing methods together with whole-brain light-sheet analyses, patch-clamp recordings coupled with optogenetic and chemogenetic approaches during spontaneous odor discrimination, and go/no-go odor discrimination/learning tests to characterize the synaptic targets in the OB of BF calretinin-expressing (CR+) GABAergic cells and to reveal their functional implications.

Influence of DOAC Levels and Thrombin Generation on Postoperative Bleeding [SONAR]: A Nested Case-Control Study.

A DOAC concentration threshold above which an impact on surgical hemostasis starts to occur is unknown. Thrombin generation assays (TGAs) provide a measure of the coagulation phenotype. This study aimed to determine whether preoperative TGA parameters are associated with postoperative bleeding, and whether this is partly due to residual DOAC levels.

Disitamab vedotin in preclinical models of HER2-positive breast and gastric cancers resistant to trastuzumab emtansine and trastuzumab deruxtecan.

Background: Most HER2-positive breast or gastric cancers eventually become resistant to the approved anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) and trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd). Disitamab vedotin (DV) is a novel anti-HER2 ADC that binds to a different epitope on HER2 compared to trastuzumab. We assessed the efficacy of DV in breast and gastric cancer cell lines and xenografts, including tumor models resistant to T-DM1 and T-DXd.

Outcomes of a Population-Based Congenital Cytomegalovirus Screening Program.

Importance: Detection of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection has previously relied on targeted screening programs or clinical recognition; however, these approaches miss most cCMV-infected newborns and fail to identify those infants who are asymptomatic at birth but at risk for late-onset sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: To determine the feasibility of using routinely collected newborn dried blood spots (DBS) in a population-based cCMV screen to identify infants at risk for hearing loss and describe outcomes of infants screened.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This diagnostic study of a population-based screening program in Ontario, Canada, took place from July 29, 2019, to July 31, 2023.

Loneliness, social isolation, and living alone: a comprehensive systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of mortality risks in older adults.

Loneliness, social isolation, and living alone are significant risk factors for mortality, particularly in older adults. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify their associations with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in older adults, broadening previous research by including more social factors. Comprehensive searches were conducted in PubMed, APA PsycINFO, and CINAHL until December 31, 2023, following PRISMA 2020 and MOOSE guidelines.