To evaluate regional brain volume differences using MRI in people with radiologically isolated syndrome(pwRIS) and healthy controls(HCs)
Environments that promote use of active transport (walking, biking, and public transport use) are known as "active living environments" (ALE). Using a Canadian national sample, our aim was to determine if ALEs were associated with mental health outcomes, including depressive symptoms, and mood and anxiety disorders. Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey from 2015-2016 was used for demographic characteristics and mental health outcomes (<i>n</i> ≈ 110,000). This data was linked to datasets from the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium, reporting ALE and social and material deprivation. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using standard dichotomized scores of 5+ (mild) and 10+ (moderate/severe) from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Self-reported diagnosed mood and anxiety disorders were also included. Logistic regression was used to determine the association of mental health outcomes with four classes of ALE. The analysis included adjustments for social and material deprivation, age, sex, chronic conditions, marital status, education, employment, income, BMI, and immigrant status. No association between any mental health outcome and ALE were observed. While the benefits of ALE to physical health are known, these results do not support the hypothesis that more favorable ALE and increased use of active transport is associated with better mental health outcomes.
Abstract Background The emergence of COVID‐19 (SARS‐CoV‐2) as a novel coronavirus in late 2019 necessitated public health measures that have impacted the provision of care for people living with dementia and their families. The rapid shift to virtual care across health and social care sectors meant that providers did not have the opportunity to benefit from an evidence‐based understanding about how and which services can safely and effectively be delivered virtually prior to public health measures being implemented. Additionally, isolation resulting from social distancing may be harming well‐being for families as formal and informal supports become less accessible. Method To understand lived experiences and necessary changes in models of care delivery for people living with dementia during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Canada, we remotely interviewed 20 dyads of people living with dementia and their care partners who normally attend a dementia specialty clinic in Calgary, Alberta, during a period where essential businesses were closed and health care had abruptly transitioned to telemedicine. Participants were 50% female and a majority of clinic patients in the dyad had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (75%). A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview and field note data. Result Themes regarding virtual service provision emerged through the iterative qualitative data analysis: (1) continuation of community‐based services for care partners and families delivered in innovative ways to meet support needs during the pandemic; (2) guidance in adapting to technology to enable accessible and effective treatment in a virtual care environment; (3) adapting the process and structure of virtual appointments to operationalize critical information provision while maintaining dignity for the person living with dementia. Conclusion The rapid move to virtual healthcare has influenced how and when people access health services. Health system innovation in the way we structure service models and care provision can mitigate barriers to maintaining high quality virtual health care for people living with dementia. In‐depth understandings of how health systems can provide high‐quality care in new virtual settings is key to maintaining quality of life for community‐dwelling people living with dementia and care partners in times of public health emergencies.
"Vaping" refers to the inhalation of aerosols produced in devices that heat liquid solutions. The aerosols may contain various additives, flavours, nicotine and other drugs such as cannabis. Nicotine is the most common psychoactive substance in vaping devices (or e-cigarettes) in Canada. While vaping has been viewed primarily as a cessation method or harm reduction strategy for smokers of combustible tobacco cigarettes, a new pattern is becoming evident in adolescents and youth (age 15-24) in Canada. In this age group, vaping is reported in increasing frequencies among those who have never smoked. This suggests the possible emergence of a de novo pattern of substance use and suggests the emergence of an unmet treatment need, vaping cessation. The mental health implications of vaping are largely unknown but available data suggest that vaping is associated with mental health changes similar to those seen with combustible tobacco cigarettes. Understanding the mental health impact of "vaping" will be challenging and research is needed. An important message from the smoking literature is that data from randomized cessation trials may be especially valuable because of complex issues of temporality and confounding connected to observational data.
Third-generation aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole (ATZ) and letrozole (LTZ) are widely used to treat estrogen receptor-positive ER+ breast cancers in postmenopausal women. Investigating their ability to coordinate metals could lead to the emergence of a new category of anticancer drug candidates with a broader spectrum of pharmacological activities. In this study, a series of ruthenium (II) arene complexes bearing the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole was synthesized and characterized. Among these complexes, [Ru(<i>η</i> <sup>6</sup> <i>-</i>C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>)(PPh<sub>3</sub>)(<i>η</i> <sup>1</sup> <i>-</i>ATZ)Cl]BPh<sub>4</sub> (<b>3</b>) was found to be the most stable in cell culture media, to lead to the highest cellular uptake and <i>in vitro</i> cytotoxicity in two ER+ human breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and T47D), and to induce a decrease in aromatase activity in H295R cells. Exposure of zebrafish embryos to complex <b>3</b> (12.5 μM) did not lead to noticeable signs of toxicity over 96 h, making it a suitable candidate for further <i>in vivo</i> investigations.
Read moreKeywords access to care, barriers to treatment, e-mental health, telepsychiatry, psychotherapy, mental health services
Read moreWe aimed to examine rates of breast and cervical cancer screening in women with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID), including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) versus a matched cohort with IMID; and examine the association of psychiatric comorbidity with screening in these populations. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in Manitoba, Canada using administrative data. We identified women with IBD, MS and RA, and controls without these IMID matched on age and region. Annually, we identified individuals with any active mood/anxiety disorder. Using physician claims, we determined the proportion of each cohort who had cervical cancer screening within three-year intervals, and mammography screening within two-year intervals. We modeled the difference in the proportion of the IMID and matched cohorts who underwent mammography; and pap tests using log-binomial regression with generalized estimating equations, adjusting for sociodemographics, comorbidity and immune therapy use. We tested for additive interactions between cohort and mood/anxiety disorder status. During 2006-2016, we identified 17,230 women with IMID (4,623 with IBD, 3,399 with MS, and 9,458 with RA) and 85,349 matched controls. Having an IMID was associated with lower (-1%) use of mammography; however, this reflected a mixture of more mammography in the IBD cohort (+2.9%) and less mammography in the MS (-4.8 to -5.2%) and RA (-1.5%) cohorts. Within the IBD, MS and RA cohorts, having an active mood/anxiety disorder was associated with more mammography use than having an inactive mood/anxiety disorder. The MS and RA cohorts were less likely to undergo Pap testing than their matched cohorts. In the absence of an active mood/anxiety disorder, the IBD cohort was more likely to undergo Pap testing than its matched cohort; the opposite was true when an active mood/anxiety disorder was present. Among women with an IMID, mood/anxiety disorder influence participation in cancer screening.
Read moreNo abstract available.
Read moreBackgroundExisting association between mental disorders and suicidality is mostly based on cross- sectional studies, using clinical samples.
 Objective and methodsWe examined the patterns of association between mental disorders and subsequent suicide in a representative sample of the Canadian household population. This is a retrospective cohort study that used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2002 linked to the Death Database 2000-2011 and the Hospitalization Database 1999/2000-2012/2013) (N=27,000). Mental disorders (past-year major depressive episodes (MDE), bipolar disorders (BPD), anxiety disorders (AD), and substance-dependent (SD)) were diagnosed in the survey data using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Subsequent suicide events (deaths/hospitalizations for suicide attempts) were identified using ICD-10-CA codes. Time-to-event data were analyzed using competing-risk regression models, adjusting for age, sex, marital status, and educational attainment. Due to the violation of the proportional hazard assumption, the models were stratified into two strata. Sampling weights were used to ensure representation of the target population.
 ResultsOf 27,000 respondents, mental disorders were diagnosed in 15.0% respondents and 0.4% had suicide events. Each mental disorder was significantly associated with an increased risk of suicide. The strength of association between mental disorder and suicide weakened over-time for MDE, SD, but not for BPD and AD. For example, using the time-to-event cut-off 4-year, the hazard ratio (HR) for MDE was 6.02 (95% CI=2.65,13.68) in the first 4-year, whereas, it was 2.03 (95% CI=0.91,4.53) after 4-year. The HRs of suicide for BPD were 16.95 (95% CI=6.88,41.75) and 15.81 (95% CI=5.89,42.45) before and after 4-year.
 Conclusions/ImplicationsFindings reflect improvement of suicide-risk over-time for people with MDE and SA and the persisting risk for people with BPD and AD. Our findings underscore the importance of early management of mental disorders for effective suicide prevention, and requirement of longer-term follow-up for people with BPD and AD.
Read moreStress in the healthcare sector is an important concern, with worrying trends in provider burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and lower mental health. Importantly, provider stress is also connected to patient care, with recent research on Canada's opioid crisis finding that compassion satisfaction and burnout are linked to the perpetuation of negative attitudes and behaviours towards people with opioid use problems. In 2017, the Fraser Health Authority developed a training program for direct service providers designed to address this important connection-a mental health and resiliency program based in the principles of trauma-informed practice and care. This article reports the results of an evaluation of this program. Findings suggest that embedding resiliency and self-compassion within trauma-informed training programs is a promising approach for cultural change in healthcare practice. Leaders are encouraged to explore how such a model may be implementable for their own organizations and departments.
Read moreThese findings highlight the importance of managing depression and ASM side effects for improving health outcomes of patients requiring treatment with ASMs. Intervention programs aimed at improving HRQOL of patients with epilepsy need to target these potential mediators.
Read moreIn this paper, we report a dispersion-eliminated coded-aperture light field (DECALF) imaging system based on digital micromirror devices. Using a dual-DMD design to compensate for dispersion in the entire visible spectrum, the DECALF imaging system captures 1280×1024×5×5 (𝑥, 𝑦, θ,φ) color light field images at 20 Hz. Using three-dimensional (3D) color scenes, we experimentally demonstrate multi-perspective viewing and digital refocusing by DECALF imaging system.
Read moreManaging psychiatric comorbidity effectively may reduce utilization in RA.
Read moreThese findings do not support the idea that postsecondary students have worse mental health than nonstudents of similar age. The perception of a crisis may arise from greater help-seeking behavior, diminishing stigma, or increasing mental health literacy. Regardless, the observance of these trends provide an opportunity to address a previously latent issue.
Read moreCoded-aperture light field (CALF) imaging can record four-dimensional information of incident light rays with a high angular resolution while retaining a camera’s full pixel count. However, existing systems are limited by either imaging speeds and image contrasts of liquid-crystal spatial light modulators or by severe dispersion to broadband light of digital micromirror devices (DMDs), both of which hinder CALF’s widespread applications. Here, we overcome these limitations by developing dispersion-eliminated (DE) CALF imaging. Using a dual-DMD design to compensate for dispersion in the entire visible spectrum, the DECALF imaging system captures <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>1280</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>1024</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi>x</mml:mi> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>y</mml:mi> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>θ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>φ</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> </mml:math> color light field images at 20 Hz. Using static and dynamic three-dimensional (3D) color scenes, we experimentally demonstrate multi-perspective viewing, digital refocusing, and 3D tracking of the DECALF imaging system. We also apply it to the imaging and analyses of escape behaviors of freely moving normal and disease-model zebrafish.
Read moreIn this study, five ruthenium arene complexes with fluorene-bearing N,N-(1) and N,O-(2) donor Schiff base ligands were synthesized and fully characterized. Cationic ruthenium complexes 3[X], ([Ru(η<sup>6</sup>-C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>)(Cl)(fluorene-N[double bond, length as m-dash]CH-pyridine)][X] (where X = BF<sub>4</sub>, PF<sub>6</sub>, BPh<sub>4</sub>), were obtained by reacting ligand 1 with [Ru(η<sup>6</sup>-C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>)Cl<sub>2</sub>]<sub>2</sub> in the presence of NH<sub>4</sub>X salts, whereas neutral complex 4, Ru(η<sup>6</sup>-C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>)(Cl)(fluorene-N[double bond, length as m-dash]CH-naphtholate), was isolated by reacting ligand 2 with the same precursor. It was possible to obtain a cationic version of the latter, 5[BF<sub>4</sub>], by reacting 4 with AgBF<sub>4</sub> in the presence of pyridine. All compounds were fully characterized by NMR and HR-ESI-MS whereas some of them were also analyzed by single crystal X-ray analysis. Their in vitro antiproliferative activity was also assessed in human breast cancer cell lines, notably MCF-7 and T47D. Complex 4 and its cationic counterpart 5[BF<sub>4</sub>] were found to be the most cytotoxic compounds of the series (IC<sub>50</sub> = 6.2-16.2 μM) and displayed higher antiproliferative activities than cisplatin in both cell lines. It was found that 5[BF<sub>4</sub>] undergoes a ligand exchange reaction and readily converts to 4 in the presence of 0.1 M NaCl, explaining the similarity in their observed cytotoxicities. Whereas 3[BF<sub>4</sub>] and 3[PF<sub>6</sub>] were found inactive at the tested concentrations, 3[BPh<sub>4</sub>] displayed a considerable cytotoxicity (IC<sub>50</sub> = 16.7-27.8 μM). Notably, 3[BPh<sub>4</sub>], 4 (and 5[BF<sub>4</sub>]) were active against T47D, a cisplatin resistant cell line. Interestingly, 4 (16.4 μM) was found to be less cytotoxic than 3[BPh<sub>4</sub>] and cisplatin (6.6 and 7.9 μM, respectively) in breast healthy cells (MCF-12A). However, in comparison to 4 and cisplatin (at 10 μM), a lower in vivo toxicity was observed for complex 3[BPh<sub>4</sub>] on the development of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos.
Read moreAdolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is a spinal deformity that affects approximately 3 percent of human adolescents. Although the etiology and molecular basis of AIS is unclear, several genes such as POC5 have been identified as possible causes of the condition. In order to understand the role of POC5 in the pathogenesis of AIS, we investigated the subcellular localization of POC5 in cilia of cells over-expressing either the wild type (wt) or an AIS-related POC5 variant POC5A429V. Mutation of POC5 was found to alter its subcellular localization and to induce ciliary retraction. Furthermore, we observed an impaired cell-cycle progression with the accumulation of cells in the S-phase in cells expressing POC5A429V. Using immunoprecipitation coupled to mass spectrometry, we identified specific protein interaction partners of POC5, most of which were components of cilia and cytoskeleton. Several of these interactions were altered upon mutation of POC5. Altogether, our results demonstrate major cellular alterations, disturbances in centrosome protein interactions and cilia retraction in cells expressing an AIS-related POC5 mutation. Our study suggests that defects in centrosomes and cilia may underlie AIS pathogenesis.
Read morePublication in the conference proceedings of EUSIPCO, Aalborg, Denmark, 2010
Read moreThe use of BZD is more common in people with IBD than in population controls. Strategies to reduce the use of BZDs in persons with IBD and to offer alternative management strategies for M/ADs, sleep disorders, and other symptomatic concerns are needed.
Read more
