Publications en libre accès financées par uOttawa // uOttawa-Financed Open Access Publications

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10393/19706

Les publications faisant partie de cette collection ont reçu un soutien financier de l'Université d'Ottawa en appui à la publication en libre accès.

Publications in this collection received financial support from the University of Ottawa for open access publishing.

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Dataset for worldwide survey of cerebrospinal total protein upper reference values
(2019) Bourque, Pierre R.; Brooks, John; Warman-Chardon, Jodi; Hegen, Harald; Deisenhammer, Florian; McCudden, Chris R.; Breiner, Ari
This article reports data pertaining to a worldwide web-based survey referenced in the publication “Adult CSF Total Protein: Higher upper reference limits should be considered worldwide ” (P.R. Bourque, et al., 2019). This survey was distributed to corresponding authors of the journal Neurology and the Journal of neurological sciences for the period of Jan–Dec 2017. The response rate was 36.9%. Additional results were collated through networking and national associations. There were 473 unique responses from clinical hospital laboratories in 69 countries: North America 178, South America 26, Europe 139, Africa 20, Asia 102 and Oceania 8. The upper reference limit for cerebrospinal fluid total protein ranged from 0.2 g/L to 0.8 g/L. 86.8% of the survey responses were 0.45 g/L or less. Data is presented separately for tertiary/academic and non-university/community centers.
Increasing Access to Medical Training With Three-Dimensional Printing: Creation of an Endotracheal Intubation Model
(2019) Park, Lily; Price-Williams, Steven; Jalali, Alireza; Pirzada, Kashif
Background: Endotracheal intubation (ETI) is a crucial life-saving procedure, where more than 2 failed attempts can lead to further complications or even death. Like all technical skills, ETI requires sufficient practice to perform adequately. Currently, the models used to practice ETI are expensive and, therefore, difficult to access, particularly in the developing world and in settings that lack a dedicated simulation center. Objective: This study aimed to improve access to ETI training by creating a comparable yet cost-effective simulation model producible by 3-dimensional (3D) printers. Methods: Open-source mesh files of relevant anatomy from BodyParts3D were modified through the 3D modeling programs Meshlab (ISTI-CNR) and Blender (Blender Foundation). Several prototypes with varying filaments were tried to optimize the ETI simulation. Results: We have created the novel 3D-printed pediatric ETI model for learners at all levels to practice this airway management skill at negligible costs compared with current simulation models. It is an open-source design available for all medical trainees. Conclusions: Revolutions in cost and ease of use have allowed home and even desktop 3D printers to become widespread. Therefore, open-source access to the ETI model will improve accessibility to medical training in the hopes of optimizing patient care.
Who tweets in academia? An overview of Twitter use in higher education
(2019) Jeong, Dahn; Jalali, Alireza
Higher education institutions are increasingly using social media as a platform of communication with students, faculty, other institutions and the public. Based on the movement of most universities actively engaging in having a presence on social media, we were interested in analyzing which faculty or school, in the same university, has the most active followship online and generates the most social media impact.
Canadian federal penitentiaries as obesogenic environments: a retrospective cohort study
(2018) Johnson, Claire; Chaput, Jean-Philippe; Diasparra, Maikol; Richard, Catherine; Dubois, Lise
Background: Very little is known about how incarceration influences a person's weight in Canada. We sought to determine how inmates' weights change during their incarceration in Canadian federal penitentiaries. Methods: We performed a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study to examine weight change in Canadian federal penitentiaries. To participate, inmates had to have been incarcerated for at least 6 months at the time of the study. Current anthropometric data were measured or taken from medical records, then compared with anthropometric data from the beginning of incarceration (mean followup of 5.0 ± 8.3 yr). We examined 3 outcomes: change in weight (kg), change in body mass index (BMI) and rate of weight change (kg/yr) during incarceration. Results: A total of 1420 inmates participated in this study. Almost three-quarters (73.0%, n = 1037)) of participants gained weight during incarceration. Inmates gained a median of 6.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.6–6.9) kg, and BMI increased by 2.0 (95% CI 1.8–2.2). Obesity rates increased by 71%, from 26.6% of participants (n = 378) on admission to 45.4% of participants at follow-up (n = 645). The proportion of inmates with a BMI in the normal range (18.5–24.9) decreased by 52%. Weight gain was found to be associated with older age, region (Ontario v. Atlantic), ethnicity (Aboriginal inmates showed the highest weight gain), longer incarceration, and longer total sentence. However, weight gain was not associated with sex, feeding system or spoken language. Interpretation: The Canadian correctional environment can be considered obesogenic, with most inmates experiencing undesirable and rapid weight gain during their incarceration. Rates of obesity increased dramatically during incarceration, and could put inmates at increased risk of obesity-related health problems.
Mass deworming to improve developmental health and wellbeing of children in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and network meta-analysis
(2017) Welch, Vivian A; Ghogomu, Elizabeth; Hossain, Alomgir; Awasthi, Shally; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Cumberbatch, Chisa; Fletcher, Robert; McGowan, Jessie; Krishnaratne, Shari; Kristjansson, Elizabeth; Sohani, Salim; Suresh, Shalini; Tugwell, Peter; White, Howard; Wells, George A
Background Soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis, considered among the neglected tropical diseases by WHO, affect more than a third of the world's population, with varying intensity of infection. We aimed to evaluate the effects of mass deworming for soil-transmitted helminths (with or without deworming for schistosomiasis or co-interventions) on growth, educational achievement, cognition, school attendance, quality of life, and adverse effects in children in endemic helminth areas. Methods We searched 11 databases up to Jan 14, 2016, websites and trial registers, contacted authors, and reviewed reference lists. We included studies published in any language of children aged 6 months to 16 years, with mass deworming for soil-transmitted helminths or schistosomiasis (alone or in combination with other interventions) for 4 months or longer, that reported the primary outcomes of interest. We included randomised and quasi-randomised trials, controlled before–after studies, interrupted time series, and quasi-experimental studies. We screened in duplicate, then extracted data and appraised risk of bias in duplicate with a pre-tested form. We conducted random-effects meta-analysis and Bayesian network meta-analysis. Findings We included 52 studies of duration 5 years or less with 1 108 541 children, and four long-term studies 8–10 years after mass deworming programmes with more than 160 000 children. Overall risk of bias was moderate. Mass deworming for soil-transmitted helminths compared with controls led to little to no improvement in weight over a period of about 12 months (0·09 kg, 95% credible interval [CrI] −0·09 to 0·28; moderate certainty evidence) or height (0·07 cm, 95% CrI −0·10 to 0·24; moderate certainty evidence), little to no difference in proportion stunted (eight fewer per 1000 children, 95% CrI −48 to 32; high certainty evidence), cognition measured by short-term attention (−0·23 points on a 100 point scale, 95% CI −0·56 to 0·14; high certainty evidence), school attendance (1% higher, 95% CI −1 to 3; high certainty evidence), or mortality (one fewer per 1000 children, 95% CI −3 to 1; high certainty evidence). We found no data on quality of life and little evidence of adverse effects. Mass deworming for schistosomiasis might slightly increase weight (0·41 kg, 95% CrI −0·20 to 0·91) and has little to no effect on height (low certainty evidence) and cognition (moderate certainty evidence). Our analyses do not suggest indirect benefits for untreated children from being exposed to treated children in the community. We are uncertain about effects on long-term economic productivity (hours worked), cognition, literacy, and school enrolment owing to very low certainty evidence. Results were consistent across sensitivity and subgroup analyses by age, worm prevalence, baseline nutritional status, infection status, impact on worms, infection intensity, types of worms (ascaris, hookworm, or trichuris), risk of bias, cluster versus individual trials, compliance, and attrition. Interpretation Mass deworming for soil-transmitted helminths with or without deworming for schistosomiasis had little effect. For schistosomiasis, mass deworming might be effective for weight but is probably ineffective for height, cognition, and attendance. Future research should assess which subset of children do benefit from mass deworming, if any, using individual participant data meta-analysis.
Comparison of geodetic and glaciological mass budgets for White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, Canada
(2016) THOMSON, LAURA I.; ZEMP, MICHAEL; COPLAND, LUKE; COGLEY, J. GRAHAM; ECCLESTONE, MILES A.
This study presents the first reanalysis of a long-term glacier mass-balance record in the Canadian Arctic. The reanalysis is accomplished through comparison of the 1960–2014 glaciological mass-balance record of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, with a geodetically derived mass change over the same period. The corrections applied to homogenize the two datasets, including adjusting for changes in hypsometry over the period of record and the generic differences between methods, are discussed along with the associated systematic and random errors of the two forms of mass-balance measurement. Statistical comparison of the two datasets reveals that within the error margin there is no significant difference between the average annual glaciological balance (–213 ± 28 mm w.e. a−1) and geodetic balance (–178 ± 16 mm w.e. a−1) at White Glacier over the 54 year record. The validity of this result, and the assumptions made in implementing the glaciological method, are critically assessed.
Optimal look back period and summary method for Elixhauser comorbidity measures in a US population-based electronic health record database
(2017) Fortin, Yannick; Crispo, James A.G.; Cohen, Deborah; McNair, Douglas; Mattison, Donald R.; Krewski, Daniel
Background: Comorbidity risk-adjustment tools are widely used in health database research to control for clinical differences between individuals, but they need to be validated a priori. This study aimed to identify the optimal parameters for predicting all-cause inhospital mortality using Quan’s enhanced Elixhauser comorbidity measures (ECMs) in the US-based Cerner Health Facts® (HF) electronic health record database. Methods: Health care recipients aged 18–89 years between 2002 and 2011 were included. Prevalent comorbidities recorded, 1) during the index encounter; 2) in the prior year; and 3) in the prior 2 years were identified using the ECMs. Multiple logistic regression models, with inhospital mortality at index and at 1 year as the predicted outcomes, were fitted with comorbidities summarized as binary indicators, total counts, or weighted scores for the three look back periods. Baseline variables included sex and age. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the competing models were compared with a non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test to identify the optimal parameters. Results: A sample of 3,273,298 unique health care recipients were included, of whom 31,298 (1.0%) and 50,215 (1.5%) died during the index encounter and within the 1-year follow-up, respectively. Models of comorbidity based on binary and weighted indicators had near-identical performance and were statistically better than the models based on total counts (p < 0.0001). Discrimination of inhospital mortality was highest with a look back period limited to the index encounter, while inhospital mortality at 1 year was best predicted with 1 year of look back (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: In Cerner HF, the binary and weighted methods for summarizing the Quan ECM were the best predictors of all-cause inhospital mortality at index and at 1 year. Observed differences in predictive performance between models with diagnostic ascertainment periods of up to 2 years of look back were statistically significant but not practically important.
Location-Aware Authorization Scheme for Emergency Response
(2016) Ghafghazi, Hamidreza; Elmougy, Amr; Mouftah, Hussein T.; Adams, Carlisle
Effective emergency (such as a hurricane, a building on fire, and so on) response requires accurate, relevant, timely, and location-aware information (e.g., environmental information, health records, and so on). Acquiring information in such critical situations encounters substantial challenges, such as large volume of data processing, unstructured data, privacy, authorized data access, and so forth. Among the issues, access authorization has received little attention. Existing solutions for data authorization either do not scale well or merely consider a Break-the-Glass concept in which a master key is provided to the first responders (FRs) to decrypt the corresponding ciphertext. This may not only enable unauthorized users to access information, but it may also overwhelm FRs by the large volume of accessible data. To jointly address the aforementioned issues, this paper proposes a location-aware authorization scheme that enables FRs to access information provided that they are within a predefined distance from data owners at the time of an emergency. We innovatively integrate attribute-based encryption with broadcast encryption to incorporate dynamic attributes (i.e., location and time) into an access policy. Such attributes act as filters to eliminate data irrelevant to an ongoing emergency. As a result, our scheme provides authorized access to accurate, relevant, timely, and location-aware information. We provide extensive security analysis and performance evaluations to demonstrate the effectiveness of our scheme. The analysis shows that the scheme imposes constant communication and decryption computation overheads. Furthermore, the proposed scheme is proven chosen plain-text attack selectively secure based on m-bilinear Diffie-Hellman exponent assumption. It also addresses the key escrow problem.
Trends in prostate biopsy in Ontario, 1992-2014: a cohort study
(2016) Lavallee, Luke T.; Breau, Rodney H.; Fergusson, Dean; van Walraven, Carl
Background: Prostate cancer is a substantial public health concern; however, in recent years, national guidelines have recommended against prostate cancer screening. We sought to determine if prostate biopsy incidence has changed over time in Ontario. We hypothesized that there has been a decrease in the incidence of prostate biopsy in recent years. Methods: This cohort study used population-based administrative databases from Ontario, Canada. We used a diagnostic code to identify if a patient received his first prostate biopsy between 1992 and 2012 (the last year for which records in the Ontario Cancer Registry were complete). Age-stratified and overall age-standardized incidences of prostate biopsy were determined. Changes over time in prostate biopsy incidence and the proportion of prostate biopsies that showed malignant disease were examined using negative binomial regression adjusting for patient age. Results: We identified 231 266 Ontario men aged 40 years and older who received their first prostate biopsy between 1992 and 2014. Up to 2007, biopsy incidence increased in younger men, but decreased in older men. After 2007, biopsy incidence decreased in all age groups, with the age-standardized overall biopsy incidence dropping from 480 per 100 000 in 2007 to 250 per 100 000 in 2014. A total of 84 149 (39%) incident biopsies showed malignant disease. The proportion of biopsies classified as showing malignant disease increased during the study period, from 25.6% in 1992 to 49.2% in 2010, and then decreased in all age groups. Interpretation: Previously increasing biopsy rates decreased significantly in recent years, suggesting that prostate cancer screening in Ontario may be changing.
Passing the Test? From Immigrant to Citizen in a Multicultural Country
(2018) Winter, Elke
Almost all Western countries have recently implemented restrictive changes to their citizenship law and engaged in heated debates about what it takes to become “one of us”. This article examines the naturalization process in Canada, a country that derives almost two thirds of its population growth from immigration, and where citizenship uptake is currently in decline. Drawing on interviews with recently naturalized Canadians, I argue that the current naturalization regime fails to deliver on the promise to put “Canadians by choice” at par with “Canadians by birth”. Specifically, the naturalization process constructs social and cultural boundaries at two levels: the new citizens interviewed for this study felt that the naturalization process differentiated them along the lines of class and education more than it discriminated on ethnocultural or racial grounds. A first boundary is thus created between those who have the skills to easily “pass the test” and those who do not. This finding speaks to the strength and appeal of Canada’s multicultural middle-class nation-building project. Nevertheless, the interviewees also highlighted that the naturalization process artificially constructed (some) immigrants as culturally different and inferior. A second boundary is thus constructed to differentiate between “real Canadians” and others. While not representative, the findings of this study suggest that the Canadian state produces differentiated citizenship at the very moment it aims to inculcate loyalty and belonging.
A Systematic Review of Interprofessional Collaboration for Obesity Management in Primary Care, A Focus on Dietetic Referrals
(2018) Aboueid, Stephanie; Pouliot, Catherine; Bourgeault, Ivy; Giroux, Isabelle
Impact of group practices on patients, physicians and healthcare systems: protocol for a scoping review
(2018) Zwiep, Terry M; Greenberg, Joshua A; Balaa, Fady; McIsaac, Daniel I; Musselman, Reilly P; Raiche, Isabelle; Williams, Lara; Moloo, Husein
Group practices have potential benefits for patients, physicians and healthcare systems. Although group practices have been around for many years, research in this area is lacking and generally is centred around the economic benefits that may be realised from group practice. The aim of this scoping review is to identify the impact that group practices have on patients, physicians and healthcare systems to guide further research in this area.
Hemolysis during and after 21 days of head-down-tilt bed rest
(2017) Trudel, Guy; Uhthoff, Hans K.; Laneuville, Odette
Hemoconcentration is observed in bed rest studies, descent from altitude, and exposure to microgravity. Hemoconcentration triggers erythrocyte losses to subsequently normalize erythrocyte concentration. The mechanisms of erythrocyte loss may involve enhanced hemolysis, but has never been measured directly in bed rest studies. Steady-state hemolysis was evaluated by measuring two heme degradation products, endogenous carbon monoxide concentration [CO] and urobilinogen in feces, in 10 healthy men, before, during, and after two campaigns of 21 days of 6° head-down-tilt (HDT) bed rest. The subjects were hemoconcentrated at 10 and 21 days of bed rest: mean concentrations of hemoglobin (15.0 ± 0.2 g/L and 14.6 ± 0.1 g/L, respectively) and erythrocytes (5.18 ± 0.06E6/μL and 5.02 ± 0.06E6/μL, respectively) were increased compared to baseline (all Ps < 0.05). In contrast, mean hemoglobin mass (743 ± 19 g) and number of erythrocytes (2.56 ± 0.07E13) were decreased at 21 days of bed rest (both Ps < 0.05). Indicators of hemolysis mean [CO] (1660 ± 49 ppb and 1624 ± 48 ppb, respectively) and fecal urobilinogen concentration (180 ± 23 mg/day and 199 ± 22 mg/day, respectively) were unchanged at 10 and 21 days of bed rest compared to baseline (both Ps > 0.05). A significant decrease in [CO] (-505 ppb) was measured at day 28 after bed rest. HDT bed rest caused hemoconcentration in parallel with lower hemoglobin mass. Circulating indicators of hemolysis remained unchanged throughout bed rest supporting that enhanced hemolysis did not contribute significantly to erythrocyte loss during the hemoconcentration of bed rest. At day 28 after bed rest, decreased hemolysis accompanied the recovery of erythrocytes, a novel finding.
Correction: Oral anticoagulant re-initiation following intracerebral hemorrhage in non-valvular atrial fibrillation: Global survey of the practices of neurologists, neurosurgeons and thrombosis experts
(2018) Xu, Yan; Shoamanesh, Ashkan; Schulman, Sam; Dowlatshahi, Dar; Al-Shahi Salman, Rustam; Moldovan, Ioana Doina; Wells, Philip Stephen; AlKherayf, Fahad
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191137.].
Patient understanding of discharge instructions in the emergency department: do different patients need different approaches?
(2018) Sheikh, Hasan; Brezar, Aleksandar; Dzwonek, Agata; Yau, Lawrence; Calder, Lisa A.
Previous studies have demonstrated that patients have poor understanding of the discharge instructions provided from the emergency department (ED). The aims of this study are to determine if patient factors, such as income and level of education, correlate with patient understanding of discharge instructions and to explore if different patient populations prefer different resources for receiving discharge instructions.
Fluid pressure and shear zone development over the locked to slow slip region in Cascadia
(2018) Audet, Pascal; Schaeffer, Andrew J
At subduction zones, the deep seismogenic transition from a frictionally locked to steady sliding interface is thought to primarily reflect changes in rheology and fluid pressure and is generally located offshore. The development of fluid pressures within a seismic low-velocity layer (LVL) remains poorly constrained due to the scarcity of dense, continuous onshore-offshore broadband seismic arrays. We image the subducting Juan de Fuca oceanic plate in northern Cascadia using onshore-offshore teleseismic data and find that the signature of the LVL does not extend into the locked zone. Thickening of the LVL down dip where viscous creep dominates suggests that it represents the development of an increasingly thick and fluid-rich shear zone, enabled by fluid production in subducting oceanic crust. Further down dip, episodic tremor, and slip events occur in a region inferred to have locally increased fluid pressures, in agreement with electrical resistivity structure and numerical models of fault slip.
Design of a glutamine substrate tag enabling protein labelling mediated by Bacillus subtilis transglutaminase
(2018) Oteng-Pabi, Samuel K.; Clouthier, Christopher M.; Keillor, Jeffrey W.
Transglutaminases (TGases) are enzymes that catalyse protein cross-linking through a transamidation reaction between the side chain of a glutamine residue on one protein and the side chain of a lysine residue on another. Generally, TGases show low substrate specificity with respect to their amine substrate, such that a wide variety of primary amines can participate in the modification of specific glutamine residue. Although a number of different TGases have been used to mediate these bioconjugation reactions, the TGase from Bacillus subtilis (bTG) may be particularly suited to this application. It is smaller than most TGases, can be expressed in a soluble active form, and lacks the calcium dependence of its mammalian counterparts. However, little is known regarding this enzyme and its glutamine substrate specificity, limiting the scope of its application. In this work, we designed a FRET-based ligation assay to monitor the bTG-mediated conjugation of the fluorescent proteins Clover and mRuby2. This assay allowed us to screen a library of random heptapeptide glutamine sequences for their reactivity with recombinant bTG in bacterial cells, using fluorescence assisted cell sorting. From this library, several reactive sequences were identified and kinetically characterized, with the most reactive sequence (YAHQAHY) having a kcat/KM value of 19 ± 3 μM-1 min-1. This sequence was then genetically appended onto a test protein as a reactive 'Q-tag' and fluorescently labelled with dansyl-cadaverine, in the first demonstration of protein labelling mediated by bTG.
Organizational Health Literacy: Review of Theories, Frameworks, Guides, and Implementation Issues
(2018) Farmanova, Elina; Bonneville, Luc; Bouchard, Louise
Organizational health literacy is described as an organization-wide effort to transform organization and delivery of care and services to make it easier for people to navigate, understand, and use information and services to take care of their health. Several health literacy guides have been developed to assist healthcare organizations with this effort, but their content has not been systematically reviewed to understand the scope and practical implications of this transformation. The objective of this study was to review (1) theories and frameworks that inform the concept of organizational health literacy, (2) the attributes of organizational health literacy as described in the guides, (3) the evidence for the effectiveness of the guides, and (4) the barriers and facilitators to implementing organizational health literacy. Drawing on a metanarrative review method, 48 publications were reviewed, of which 15 dealt with the theories and operational frameworks, 20 presented health literacy guides, and 13 addressed guided implementation of organizational health literacy. Seven theories and 9 operational frameworks have been identified. Six health literacy dimensions and 9 quality-improvement characteristics were reviewed for each health literacy guide. Evidence about the effectiveness of health literacy guides is limited at this time, but experiences with the guides were positive. Thirteen key barriers (conceived also as facilitators) were identified. Further development of organizational health literacy requires a strong and a clear connection between its vision and operationalization as an implementation strategy to patient-centered care. For many organizations, becoming health literate will require multiple, simultaneous, and radical changes. Organizational health literacy has to make sense from clinical and financial perspectives in order for organizations to embark on such transformative journey.
Gain optimization, bleaching, and e-beam structuring of IR-140 doped PMMA and integration with plasmonic waveguides
(2017) Amyot-Bourgeois, Maude; Keshmarzi, Elham Karami; Hahn, Choloong; Tait, R. Niall; Berini, Pierre
Management and Point-of-Care for Tobacco Dependence (PROMPT): a feasibility mixed methods community-based participatory action research project in Ottawa, Canada
(2018) Pakhale, Smita; Kaur, Tina; Charron, Catherine; Florence, Kelly; Rose, Tiffany; Jama, Sadia; Boyd, Robert; Haddad, Joanne; Alvarez, Gonzalo; Tyndall, Mark
To determine the feasibility of a Community-Based Participatory Tobacco Dependence Strategy (PROMPT) in the inner city population of Ottawa (Canada).

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