Canada's First National Oral Health Research Strategy (2024-2030).

Recent years have seen significant positive changes and developments in oral health-related policy and data on oral health and oral health care in Canada. Simultaneously, on the international stage, the momentum for oral health and related research continues to build. These changes have led to an initiative to create Canada's first National Oral Health Research Strategy (NOHRS), which was recently published by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (Allison and Rock 2024).

Nurses' experiences with virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study in primary care.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual care was used to deliver primary care services. Nurses contributed to primary care teams' capacity to deliver care virtually. This study explored nurses' roles in virtual care delivery in primary care and the barriers and facilitators that influenced their contributions.

Prion protein regulates invasiveness in glioblastoma stem cells.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumor driven by glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), which represent an appealing target for therapeutic interventions. The cellular prion protein (PrP), a scaffold protein involved in diverse cellular processes, interacts with various membrane and extracellular matrix molecules, influencing tumor biology. Herein, we investigate the impact of PrP expression on GBM.

Variation in Case Exposure During Internal Medicine Residency.

Importance: Variation in residency case exposure affects resident learning and readiness for future practice. Accurate reporting of case exposure for internal medicine (IM) residents is challenging because feasible and reliable methods for linking patient care to residents are lacking.

Objective: To develop an integrated education-clinical database to characterize and measure case exposure variability among IM residents.

A Framework for Developing an Integrated Shelter Health Model in a Mid-Sized Community: The Windsor Shelter Health Experience.

Windsor Shelter Health is an integrated program that offers comprehensive on-site medical services at shelters and drop-in centres for people experiencing homelessness in Windsor, ON. Although homelessness exists in most Canadian communities, there is more understanding of homelessness responses in larger urban centres. Windsor is a mid-sized border city in southwestern Ontario.

Investigating Task-Free Functional Connectivity Patterns in Newborns Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Background: Resting-state networks (RSNs), particularly the sensorimotor network, begin to strengthe in the third trimester of pregnancy and mature extensively by term age. The integrity and structure of these networks have been repeatedly linked to neurological health outcomes in neonates, highlighting the importance of understanding the normative variations in RSNs in healthy development. Specifically, robust bilateral functional connectivity in the sensorimotor RSN has been linked to optimal neurodevelopmental outcomes in neonates.

Synovial innate immune exhaustion is associated with worse pain in knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: Uncontrolled pain remains a major clinical challenge in the management of knee osteoarthritis (OA), the most common disabling joint disease. Worse pain is associated with synovial innate immune cell infiltration (synovitis), but the role of innate immune regulatory cells in pain is unknown. Our objective was to identify synovial innate immune cell subsets and pathophysiologic mechanisms associated with worse pain in patients with knee OA.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: A case report.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is a rare, fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by prion proteins. Patients often present with rapidly progressive dementia, ataxia, myoclonus, memory impairment, visual problems, and changes in personality. In this case report, we aimed to address the course of a 62 year old female who presented with progressive decline in cognitive function and died within 6 months of presentation.

Endovascular salvage of renal and common iliac artery malperfusion following inadvertent hybrid arch dissection stent deployment in the false lumen during repair of type A dissection.

This case report describes the endovascular management of a hybrid arch dissection stent inadvertently deployed in the false lumen during acute type A aortic dissection repair, resulting in renal and lower extremity malperfusion. Prompt identification and intervention are essential to minimize the morbidity and mortality associated with malperfusion. Various endovascular strategies exist to restore perfusion, and this case highlights a unique approach given the obliteration of the true lumen proximally and anatomy of the visceral ostia predominantly originating from the false lumen.

Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis: An International Delphi Consensus on Clinical Trial Design and Endpoints.

Background & Aims: Interventional clinical trials in ASUC are characterised by substantial heterogeneity due to a lack of consensus in several key areas of trial design - this impedes clinical research efforts to identify novel therapies. The objective of this initiative was to achieve the first consensus and provide clear position statements on ASUC trial design.

Methods: A modified Delphi consensus approach was employed with a panel of twenty clinicians with international representation and expertise in ASUC trial design and delivery.

Flexor hallucis longus and tibialis anterior: A synergistic relationship.

Flexor hallucis longus (FHL) is an important muscle of the foot and ankle during locomotion, contributing to hallux and plantar flexion. For optimal hallux flexion the ankle needs to be stabilized against plantar flexion which may require action of the dorsiflexors. Due to the deep location of the FHL contractile drive assessed by electromyography (EMG) has not been explored systematically.

Disparities in Vision-Related Functional Impairments Among Adults in the United States.

Purpose: To investigate the relationships between vision-related functional impairment (VFI) with sociodemographic and healthcare access factors in a representative sample of the United States population.

Methods: Data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were used. The NHIS involves responses from the U.

(Re)building the nervous system: A review of neuron-glia interactions from development to disease.

Neuron-glia interactions are fundamental to the development and function of the nervous system. During development, glia, including astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes, influence neuronal differentiation and migration, synapse formation and refinement, and myelination. In the mature brain, glia are crucial for maintaining neural homeostasis, modulating synaptic activity, and supporting metabolic functions.

Posterior-superior insula repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces experimental tonic pain and pain-related cortical inhibition in humans.

High frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the posterior-superior insula (PSI) may produce analgesic effects. However, the alterations in cortical activity during PSI-rTMS analgesia remain poorly understood. The present study aimed to determine whether tonic capsaicin-induced pain and cortical inhibition (indexed using TMS-electroencephalography) are modulated by PSI-rTMS.

Cold and vibration for children undergoing needle-related procedures: A non-inferiority randomized clinical trial.

The use of a rapid, easy-to-use intervention could improve needle-related procedural pain management practices in the context of the Emergency Department (ED). As such, the Buzzy device seems to be a promising alternative to topical anesthetics. The aim of this study was to determine if a cold vibrating device was non-inferior to a topical anesthetic cream for pain management in children undergoing needle-related procedures in the ED.

The problem of value change: Should advance directives hold moral authority for persons living with dementia?

As the prevalence of dementia rises, it is increasingly important to determine how to best respect incapable individuals' autonomy during end-of-life decisions. Many philosophers advocate for the use of advance directives in these situations to allow capable individuals to outline preferences for their future incapable selves. In this paper, however, I consider whether advance directives lack moral authority in instances of dementia.

Indigenous Elders' voices on health-systems change informed by planetary health: a qualitative and relational systems mapping inquiry.

Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge systems are increasingly being looked to for solutions regarding climate change, including within clinical health-care settings. Indigenous Elders specifically are noted knowledge keepers within their communities and are often looked to with great respect for their Land-based knowledges as they pertain to planetary health approaches. We sought to explore the views of health-systems change informed by planetary health within the circumpolar north from the perspective of Indigenous Elders.

Profiling mRNA encoding glucocorticoid receptor α in saliva: Relationship to hair cortisol levels in individuals aged 15-25 years.

Objective: We assessed levels of mRNA encoding two glucocorticoid receptor (GR) isoforms (GRα and GRβ) in saliva and examined their relationship with hair cortisol levels and dental caries experience.

Design: Adolescents and young adults were assessed for dental caries experience, and hair cortisol was measured by ELISA. RNA was extracted from whole saliva using TRIzol, followed by quantitative real-time PCR analysis of GRα, GRβ, and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH).

Towards U-Net-based intraoperative 2D dose prediction in high dose rate prostate brachytherapy.

Background: Poor needle placement in prostate high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) results in sub-optimal dosimetry and mentally predicting these effects during HDR-BT is difficult, creating a barrier to widespread availability of high-quality prostate HDR-BT.

Purpose: To provide earlier feedback on needle implantation quality, we trained machine learning models to predict 2D dosimetry for prostate HDR-BT on axial TRUS images.

Methods And Materials: Clinical treatment plans from 248 prostate HDR-BT patients were retrospectively collected and randomly split 80/20 for training/testing.