Colchicine combination therapy increases treatment tolerance in patients with arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Arthritis seriously affects people's quality of life, and there is an urgent clinical need to improve the efficacy of medications as well as to reduce the adverse effects induced by treatment. Combined colchicine therapy is gradually being embraced in clinical care, but the evidence remains insufficient.

Methods: English databases were searched from the establishment to September 4, 2024.

Comparing subsampling strategies for metagenomic analysis in microbial studies using amplicon sequence variants versus operational taxonomic units.

The microbiome is increasingly regarded as a key component of human health, and analysis of microbiome data can aid in the development of precision medicine. Due to the high cost of shotgun metagenomic sequencing (SM-seq), microbiome analyses can be done cost-effectively in two phases: Phase 1-sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA, and Phase 2-SM-seq of an informative subsample. Existing research suggests strategies to select the subsample based on biological diversity and dissimilarity metrics calculated using operational taxonomic units (OTUs).

Neurogastroenterology and motility disorders in patients with cirrhosis.

Neurogastroenterology and motility disorders are complex gastrointestinal conditions that are prevalent worldwide, particularly affecting women and younger individuals. These conditions significantly impact the quality of life of people suffering from them. There is increasing evidence linking these disorders to cirrhosis, with a higher prevalence compared to the general population.

Association between recorded physical activity and cancer progression or mortality in individuals diagnosed with cancer in South Africa.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between progression and mortality in individuals with stage 1 cancer and their recorded physical activity before the diagnosis of the cancer.

Methods: We included 28 248 members with stage 1 cancers enrolled in an oncology programme in South Africa. Physical activity was recorded using fitness devices, logged gym sessions and participation in organised fitness events.

Economic Burden and Cost-Effectiveness of Management of Non-Infectious Uveitis: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To evaluate the economic burden and cost-effectiveness of interventions and management of non-infectious uveitis (NIU).

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases from inception to March 2023. Risk of bias assessments were conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools.

Short Term Estradiol Administration Does Not Restore Endothelin-B Receptor-Mediated Vasodilation in Postmenopausal Women.

The endothelin-B receptor (ETR) mediates vasodilation in young women, an effect that is absent in postmenopausal women. We have previously demonstrated that ETR-mediated vasodilation is regulated by estradiol (E) in young women; however, the impact of E on ETR function in postmenopausal women remains unknown. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that E exposure restores ETR-mediated dilation in postmenopausal women.

CAR/CSAR Practice Statement on Pelvic MRI for Endometriosis.

The Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) Endometriosis Working Group was tasked with providing guidance and benchmarks to ensure the quality of technique and interpretation for advanced imaging modalities associated with diagnosing endometriosis. Advanced pelvic ultrasound is essential in diagnosing and mapping pelvic endometriosis, but pelvic MRI serves as an excellent imaging tool in instances where access to advanced ultrasound is limited, or an alternative imaging modality is required. Despite the known utility of MRI for endometriosis, there is no consensus on imaging protocol and patient preparation in Canada.

Spike frequency adaptation in primate lateral prefrontal cortex neurons results from interplay between intrinsic properties and circuit dynamics.

Cortical neurons in brain slices display intrinsic spike frequency adaptation (I-SFA) to constant current inputs, while extracellular recordings show extrinsic SFA (E-SFA) during sustained visual stimulation. Inferring how I-SFA contributes to E-SFA during behavior is challenging due to the isolated nature of slice recordings. To address this, we recorded macaque lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) neurons in vivo during a visually guided saccade task and in vitro in brain slices.

The Effect of Intravascular Laser Irradiation of Blood on Serum Biomarkers and Clinical Outcome in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients: A Double-Blind Randomized Control Trial.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent degenerative joint disease globally, causing pain, stiffness, and disability. Intravascular laser irradiation of blood (ILIB) has been used for chronic pain and musculoskeletal disease. However, evidence on the clinical benefits and serum biomarkers post-ILIB therapy in knee OA is insufficient.

The Etiology of Total Knee Arthroplasty Failure Influences on Improvement in Knee Function: A Follow-Up Study.

Outcomes following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) revisions are variable, and it is hypothesized that the underlying cause of primary TKA failure impacts postoperative outcomes. This study analyzes the results of TKA revisions seven years after surgery, in relation to the etiology of primary failure and other influencing factors. A previous study conducted in 2013 examined the same cohort of patients three months after revision surgery.

School Closures on Bullying Experiences of Treatment-Seeking Children and Youth: The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic Within Ontario, Canada.

Amongst school-aged children and youth, bullying is a significant problem warranting further investigation. The current study sought to investigate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic waves and school closures on the bullying experiences of 22,012 children aged 4-18-years-old who were referred and assessed at mental health agencies in Ontario, Canada. Individual, familial, and mental health variables related to bullying experiences were also investigated.

A Snapshot of Peer Relationships in Children and Youth: Pre- Versus During COVID-19.

Strong peer relationships are an essential component of a healthy, happy, and long lifetime. Given that there is little understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on peer relationships, this study explored the effects of the COVID waves on peer relationships for clinically referred children and youth while controlling for age, sex, and income. 11,281 children and youth between the ages of 4 and 18 years, who were receiving services from mental health agencies across Ontario from January 2018-March 2022, were assessed using the interRAI ChYMH.

Diffusion and Kinetic Theory on Very Long Time and Large Space Scales.

This paper extends the concept of epitropy, as introduced in previous work, to capture the effects of extreme tail behavior arising naturally over very long time and large space scales. Epitropy has some qualities that parallel entropy, although it is not quite the same. Its function is to capture the effects of a probability distribution function (PDF) having only a finite populated domain, which was introduced to eliminate divergent moment integrals.

Age- and Sex-Based Developmental Biomarkers in Eye Movements.

Background: Eye movement research serves as a critical tool for assessing brain function, diagnosing neurological and psychiatric disorders, and understanding cognition and behavior. Sex differences have largely been under reported or ignored in neurological research. However, eye movement features provide biomarkers that are useful for disease classification with superior accuracy and robustness compared to previous classifiers for neurological diseases.

Increasing the Construct Validity of Computational Phenotypes of Mental Illness Through Active Inference and Brain Imaging.

After more than 30 years since its inception, the utility of brain imaging for understanding and diagnosing mental illnesses is in doubt, receiving well-grounded criticisms from clinical practitioners. Symptom-based correlational approaches have struggled to provide psychiatry with reliable brain-imaging metrics. However, the emergence of computational psychiatry has paved a new path not only for understanding the psychopathology of mental illness but also to provide practical tools for clinical practice in terms of computational metrics, specifically computational phenotypes.

Why do primates have view cells instead of place cells?

Hippocampal place cells that encode the spatial location of an individual during navigation are widely reported in rodents. However, studies in primates have instead reported hippocampal cells that encode views of the environment. Evolutionary adaptations for navigating during night and day may explain the divergence of hippocampal representations between species.

Diagnosing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: Positive predictive value of CSF JC virus quantitative PCR and importance of recognizing suggestive neuroimaging findings.

Objective: To determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of CSF John Cunningham virus (JCV) quantitative PCR (qPCR) for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), and highlight neuroimaging findings reported to be suggestive of this disease.

Methods: We reviewed patients at London Health Sciences Centre with a positive CSF JCV qPCR result. Patients were classified as true-positive if they had a clinico-radiographic presentation compatible with PML and no more likely alternative diagnosis.

Hepcidin modifies the relationship between anemia, erythrocyte indices, and neurocognitive performance in virally suppressed people with HIV.

Objective: Neurocognitive (NC) impairment in people with HIV (PWH) is associated with erythrocyte indices, which may serve as indicators of iron metabolism, inflammation, and related factors. Erythropoiesis requires iron, regulated by a multifaceted system of peptide hormones, including hepcidin. This study postulated that hepcidin might modify the relationship between erythrocyte indices and NC performance in PWH.

Chronic nicotine exposure induces molecular and transcriptomic endophenotypes associated with mood and anxiety disorders in a cerebral organoid neurodevelopmental model.

Introduction: Prenatal nicotine exposure (PNE) from maternal smoking disrupts regulatory processes vital to fetal development. These changes result in long-term behavioral impairments, including mood and anxiety disorders, that manifest later in life. However, the relationship underlying PNE, and the underpinnings of mood and anxiety molecular and transcriptomic phenotypes remains elusive.

A comparison of seasonal flexibility in pectoralis muscle fiber type and enzyme activity in migratory and resident sparrow species.

The pectoralis muscle in birds is important for flight and thermogenesis. In migratory songbirds this muscle exhibits seasonal flexibility in size, but whether this flexibility reflects changes in muscle fiber type has not been well documented. We investigated how seasonal changes in photoperiod affected pectoralis muscle fiber type and metabolic enzymes, comparing among three closely-related sparrow species: two seasonal migrants and one year-round, temperate climate resident.

The impact of oral contraceptive pill use on sympathetic transduction at rest in young females.

Although previous work has demonstrated that oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use does not affect resting muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), growing evidence indicates that it attenuates neurogenic vasoconstriction. Despite these advances, it remains unknown how OCP use affects the ability of MSNA to dynamically control vascular tone and arterial blood pressure (BP) on a beat-by-beat basis. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that, compared with naturally menstruating females (MC), those using OCPs will exhibit attenuated sympathetic vascular transduction at rest.

High Intensity Physician-Based Service Use for Mental Health Concerns in a General-Population Sample of Children and Youth: Utilisation des services de haute intensité dispensés par des médecins pour les problèmes de santé mentale dans un échantillon d'enfants et de jeunes de la population générale.

Objective: To examine factors associated with high intensity physician-based mental health care services in a population-based sample of children and youth in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Data from the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS) were linked at the person-level to longitudinal health administrative databases containing physician contacts in outpatient settings, emergency departments and hospitals. Our analytical sample (15.

User Experience of a Semi-Immersive Musical Serious Game to Stimulate Cognitive Functions in Hospitalized Older Patients: Questionnaire Study.

Background: Reminiscence therapy through music is a psychosocial intervention with benefits for older patients with neurocognitive disorders. Therapies using virtual or augmented reality are efficient in ecologically assessing, and eventually training, episodic memory in older populations. We designed a semi-immersive musical game called "A Life in Songs," which invites patients to immerse themselves in a past era through visuals and songs from that time period.

Voices from the clinic: a qualitative analysis of physiotherapy strategies in musculoskeletal care for knee osteoarthritis patients.

Background: Physiotherapy has emerged as an important health strategy to deliver lifestyle, exercise and physical activity for people with knee osteoarthritis. However, little is known about the extent to which physiotherapists adhere to clinical practice guidelines. This study aimed to explore the perspectives and care patterns of physiotherapists in Sydney, Australia on their delivery of knee osteoarthritis care and how this aligns with the 2019 Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) guidelines.

Implementation processes and capacity-building needs in Ontario maternal-newborn care hospital settings: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Maternal-newborn care does not always align with the best available evidence. Applying implementation science to change initiatives can help move evidence-informed practices into clinical settings. However, it remains unknown to what extent current implementation practices in maternal-newborn care align with recommendations from implementation science, and how confident nurses, other health professionals, and leaders are completing steps in the implementation process.