Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor signaling modifies the extent of diabetic kidney disease through dampening the receptor for advanced glycation end products-induced inflammation.

Glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone produced and released by cells of the gastrointestinal tract following meal ingestion. GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) exhibit kidney-protective actions through poorly understood mechanisms. Here we interrogated whether the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) plays a role in mediating the actions of GLP-1 on inflammation and diabetic kidney disease.

Patients' and providers' perspectives on the decision to undergo non-urgent egg freezing: a needs assessment.

Background: Previous research has demonstrated that patients have difficulty with the decision to undergo non-urgent egg freezing (EF). This study aimed to investigate the decisional difficulties and possible decisional support mechanisms for patients considering EF, and for their providers.

Methods: This qualitative study involved a needs assessment via individual interviews.

Environmental Sustainability: Waste Audit Comparison Operating Roomand In-Office Laryngeal Surgery.

Introduction: With vast improvements in imaging and endoscopic technology, there has been a massive shift towards in office procedures for various laryngeal disorders with significant health system and patient benefits. Another benefit which has yet to be investigated is the potential environmental effects and waste reduction of in-office laryngeal procedures over traditional operating room surgery.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to perform a waste audit and compare the results between operating room and in-office laser laryngeal surgery.

The role of ChatGPT in enhancing ENT surgical training - a trainees' perspective.

Objective: ChatGPT, developed by Open AI (November 2022) is a powerful artificial intelligence language model, designed to produce human-like text from user-written prompts. Prompts must give context-specific information to produce valuable responses. Otolaryngology is a specialist field that sees limited exposure during undergraduate and postgraduate education.

Trends in major adverse cardiac events and healthcare utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, Canada.

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Canada. The COVID-19 pandemic altered the usual care of ambulatory and acute cardiac patients. This study aimed to describe ASCVD-related clinical outcomes and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) patterns during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Alberta, Canada, relative to the three preceding years.

Prenatal opioid exposure and well-child care in the first 2 years of life: population-based cohort study.

Objectives: To quantify well-child visits by age 2 years and developmental screening at the 18-month enhanced well-child visit among children with prenatal opioid exposure (POE) and to identify factors associated with study outcomes.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Setting: Ontario, Canada.

Pioneering family physicians and the mechanisms for strengthening primary health care in India-A qualitative descriptive study.

India has one of the most unequal healthcare systems globally, lagging behind its economic development. Improved primary care and primary health care play an integral role in overcoming health disparities. Family medicine is a subset of primary care-delivered by family physicians, characterized by comprehensive, continuous, coordinated, collaborative, personal, family and community-oriented services-and may be able to fill these gaps.

Association of Dual-Task Gait Cost and White Matter Hyperintensity Burden Poststroke: Results From the ONDRI.

Background: Acute change in gait speed while performing a mental task [dual-task gait cost (DTC)], and hyperintensity magnetic resonance imaging signals in white matter are both important disability predictors in older individuals with history of stroke (poststroke). It is still unclear, however, whether DTC is associated with overall hyperintensity volume from specific major brain regions in poststroke.

Methods: This is a cohort study with a total of 123 older (69 ± 7 years of age) participants with history of stroke were included from the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative.

Where We Are and Where We Are Going in Nut Research.

Nuts have been part of the human diet for thousands of years [...

Reduced Serological Response to COVID-19 Booster Vaccine is Associated with Reduced B Cell Memory in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease; VARIATION [VAriability in Response in IBD AgainsT SARS-COV-2 ImmunisatiON].

Background And Aims: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] have an attenuated response to initial COVID-19 vaccination. We sought to characterize the impact of IBD and its treatment on responses after the third vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: This was a prospective multicentre observational study of patients with IBD [n = 202] and healthy controls [HC, n = 92].

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Posterior Element-Only Spinal Metastases: A First Report on Outcomes and Validation of Recommended Clinical Target Volume Delineation Practice.

Purpose: Spine stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) results in improved local control and pain response compared with conventional external beam radiation therapy. Consensus exists stipulating that magnetic resonance imaging-based delineation of the clinical target volume (CTV) is critical and based on spine segment sector involvement. The applicability of contouring guidelines to metastases involving the posterior elements alone remains to be validated, and the purpose of this report was to determine the patterns of failure and safety of treating posterior element metastases when the vertebral body (VB) was intentionally excluded from the CTV.

Patients' and providers' perspectives on non-urgent egg freezing decision-making: a thematic analysis.

Background: The decision to undergo non-urgent egg freezing (EF) is complex for patients and providers supporting them. Though prior studies have explored patient perspectives, no study has also included the separate perspectives of providers.

Methods: This qualitative study involved semi-structured individual interviews exploring the decision to undergo EF.

Positive Parenting and Early Childhood Cognition: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

This review examines the effectiveness of positive parenting interventions aimed at improving sensitivity, responsiveness, and/or non-harsh discipline on children's early cognitive skills, in four meta-analyses addressing general mental abilities, language, executive functioning, and pre-academics. The objectives are to assess the magnitude of intervention effectiveness and identify moderators of effectiveness. We include randomized controlled trials of interventions targeting positive parenting to improve cognition in children < 6 years.

Neuropsychiatric Symptom Burden across Neurodegenerative Disorders and its Association with Function.

Objective: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are prevalent in neurodegenerative disorders, however, their frequency and impact on function across different disorders is not well understood. We compared the frequency and severity of NPS across Alzheimer's disease (AD) (either with mild cognitive impairment or dementia), Cerebrovascular disease (CVD), Parkinson's disease (PD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and explored the association between NPS burden and function.

Methods: We obtained data from Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) that included following cohorts: AD ( = 111), CVD ( = 148), PD ( = 136), FTD ( = 50) and ALS ( = 36).

Providers' perspectives on the reproductive decision-making of BRCA-positive women.

Background: Reproductive decision-making is difficult for BRCA-positive women. Our objective was to assess the complexities of decision-making and identify decisional supports for patients and providers when discussing reproductive options prior to risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO).

Methods: This study was of qualitive design, using data collection via semi-structured interviews conducted from November 2018 to October 2020.

Development of the corpus callosum and cognition after neonatal encephalopathy.

Objective: Neonatal imaging studies report corpus callosum abnormalities after neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), but corpus callosum development and relation to cognition in childhood are unknown. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we examined the relationship between corpus callosum size, microstructure and cognitive and motor outcomes at early school-age children cooled for HIE (cases) without cerebral palsy compared to healthy, matched controls. A secondary aim was to examine the impact of HIE-related neonatal brain injury on corpus callosum size, microstructure and growth.

Psychotic Disorders in the Elderly: Diagnosis, Epidemiology, and Treatment.

This review covers the latest advances in our understanding of psychosis in the elderly population with respect to diagnosis, epidemiology, and treatment. Major topics of discussion include late life psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and delusional disorder as well as dementia-related psychosis. Clinical differences between early-onset and late-onset disorders are reviewed in terms of prevalence, symptomatology, and approach to treatment.