Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

About: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is a healthcare organization based out in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Breast cancer. The organization has 7689 authors who have published 15236 publications receiving 523019 citations. The organization is also known as: Sunnybrook.

The effect of prenatal antidepressant exposure on neonatal adaptation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract: Objective: Conflicting reports on potential risks of antidepressant exposure during gestation for the infant have been reported in the literature. This systematic review and meta-analysis on immediate neonatal outcomes were conducted to clarify what, if any, risks are faced by infants exposed to antidepressants in utero. Subanalyses address known methodological limitations in the field. Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched from their start dates to June 2010. Various combinations of keywords were utilized including, but not limited to, depressive/mood disorder, pregnancy/pregnancy trimesters, antidepressant drugs, and neonatal effects. Study Selection: English language and cohort and casecontrol studies reporting on a cluster of signs defined as poor neonatal adaptation syndrome (PNAS) or individual clinical signs (respiratory distress and tremors) associated with pharmacologic treatment were selected. Of 3,074 abstracts reviewed, 735 articles were retrieved and 12 were included in this analysis. Data Extraction: Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed the quality of the articles. Results: Twelve studies were retrieved that examined PNAS or the signs of respiratory distress and tremors in the infant. There was a significant association between exposure to antidepressants during pregnancy and overall occurrence of PNAS (odds ratio [OR] = 5.07; 95% CI, 3.25‐7.90; P < .0001). Respiratory distress (OR = 2.20; 95% CI, 1.81‐2.66; P < .0001) and tremors (OR = 7.89; 95% CI, 3.33‐18.73; P < .0001) were also significantly associated with antidepressant exposure. For the respiratory outcome, studies using convenience samples had significantly higher ORs (Q1 = 5.4, P = .020). No differences were found in any other moderator analyses. Conclusions: An increased risk of PNAS exists in infants exposed to antidepressant medication during pregnancy; respiratory distress and tremors also show associations. Neonatologists need to be prepared and updated in their management, and clinicians must inform their patients of this risk.

MicroRNA miR-199a-3p regulates cell proliferation and survival by targeting caveolin-2.

Abstract: Recent advances in the study of microRNAs indicate that they have an important role in regulating cellular activities such as proliferation, morphogenesis, apoptosis and differentiation by regulating the expression of various genes. MiR-199a-3p is highly expressed in hair follicles and in some tumor cells, suggesting its participation in tumor progression, but it is significantly underexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and in bladder cancer. The mechanism underlying these effects is not yet known. Here, we dissect the effects of miR-199a-3p on YPEN-1 endothelial cells, and MDA-MB-231 and MT-1 breast cancer cell lines. We found that expression of miR-199a-3p promotes proliferation and survival of endothelial cells as well as breast cancer cells. Remarkably, miR-199a-3p inhibited both endogenous caveolin-2 activity and exogenous caveolin-2 activity, which was confirmed by a reporter construct bearing the 3′-untranslated region of caveolin-2. However, overexpression of caveolin-2 completely counteracted the enhancement of miR-199a-3p-mediated activities on cell proliferation, survival and sensitivity of tumor cells to anticancer drugs. Our findings suggest that MiR-199a-3p targeting of caveolin-2 might have an important role in breast cancer tumor progression, making it a potential candidate for intervention in cancer.

Method and apparatus for obtaining quantitative temperature measurements in prostate and other tissue undergoing thermal therapy treatment

Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus for monitoring a thermal effect of a conformal thermal treatment to diseased tissue in a target volume. The method includes acquiring a reference image of the volume containing the diseased tissue at a first position of the device, determining a baseline temperature distribution of the reference image, acquiring an image of the volume containing the diseased tissue while delivering a treatment to the volume, performing a phase subtraction between the image and the reference image to determine a change in phase between the image and the reference image and determining a current spatial temperature distribution in the volume containing the diseased tissue.

Amorphous selenium and its alloys from early xeroradiography to high resolution X‐ray image detectors and ultrasensitive imaging tubes

Abstract: We describe the progress in the science and technology of stabilized a-Se from its early use in xerography and xeroradiography to its present use in commercial modern flat panel X-ray imagers and ultrasensitive video tubes which utilize impact ionization of drifting holes. Both electrons and holes can drift in stabilized a-Se, which is a distinct advantage since X-ray photogeneration of charge carriers occurs throughout the bulk of the photoconductive layer. An a-Se photoconductor has to be operated at high fields to ensure that the photogeneration efficiency is sufficiently large to provide reasonable X-ray sensitivity. However, at high fields, the dark current is unacceptably large in simple metal/a-Se/metal devices, and special multilayer device structures need to be designed. The dark current decays with time and increases with the nominal applied field. The reduction of the dark current to a tolerable level was one of the key factors that lead to the commercialization of a-Se X-ray detectors. We discuss the origin of the dark current, and highlight some of the current challenges in the design of next generation detectors. We also discuss the origin of impact ionization in a-Se, and its fruitful utilization in ultrasensitive imaging devices, including the Harpicon, which are likely to lead to new high detective quantum efficiency detectors.