University of Saskatchewan

About: University of Saskatchewan is a education organization based out in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 25021 authors who have published 52579 publications receiving 1483049 citations. The organization is also known as: USask.

Risk assessment with young offenders: A meta-analysis of three assessment measures.

Abstract: The current investigation is a meta-analysis of the predictive accuracy of three well-known forensic instruments used to appraise risk with young offenders: youth adaptations of the Level of Service Inventory and Psychopathy Checklist and the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk for Youth. Through several avenues, 49 potentially suitable published and unpublished studies (across 44 samples representing 8,746 youth) were identified and evaluated for inclusion. Predictive accuracy for general, nonviolent, violent, and sexual recidivism was examined for the three sets of measures. Mean weighted correlations for each of the three measures were significant in the prediction of general, nonviolent, and violent recidivism, with no single instrument demonstrating superior prediction. Separate analyses of specific young offender groups further supported the predictive accuracy of youth adaptations of the Level of Service Inventory among male, female, Aboriginal, and non-Aboriginal youth. Implications regarding t...

FRAX underestimates fracture risk in patients with diabetes

Abstract: The study objective was to determine whether diabetes is a risk factor for incident hip or major osteoporotic fractures independent of FRAX. Men and women with diabetes (N = 3,518) and non-diabetics (N = 36,085) age ≥50 years at the time of BMD testing (1990-2007) were identified in a large clinical database from Manitoba, Canada. FRAX probabilities were calculated and fracture outcomes to 2008 were established via linkage with a population-based data repository. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine if diabetes was associated with incident hip fractures or major osteoporotic fractures after controlling for FRAX risk factors. Mean 10-year probabilities of fracture were similar between groups for major fractures (diabetic 11.1 ± 7.2 vs. non-diabetic 10.9 ± 7.3, p-value = 0.116) and hip fractures (diabetic 2.9 ± 4.4 vs. non-diabetic 2.8 ± 4.4, p-value = 0.400). Diabetes was a significant predictor of subsequent major osteoporotic fracture (HR 1.61 [95% CI; 1.42-1.83]) after controlling for age, sex, medication use, and FRAX risk factors including BMD. Similar results were seen after adjusting for FRAX probability directly (HR 1.59 [95% CI; 1.40-1.79]). Diabetes was also associated with significantly higher risk for hip fractures (p-value < 0.001). Higher mortality from diabetes attenuated but did not eliminate the excess fracture risk. FRAX underestimated observed major osteoporotic and hip fracture risk in diabetics (adjusted for competing mortality), but demonstrated good concordance with observed fractures for non-diabetics. We conclude that diabetes confers an increased risk of fracture that is independent of FRAX derived with BMD. This suggests that diabetes might be considered for inclusion in future iterations of FRAX. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Decreased Endogenous Production of Hydrogen Sulfide Accelerates Atherosclerosis

Abstract: Background—Cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) produces hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the cardiovascular system. The deficiency of CSE in mice leads to a decreased endogenous H2S level, an age-dependent increase in blood pressure, and impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. To date, there is no direct evidence for a causative role of altered metabolism of endogenous H2S in atherosclerosis development. Methods and Results—Six-week-old CSE gene knockout and wild-type mice were fed with either a control chow or atherogenic paigen-type diet for 12 weeks. Plasma lipid profile and homocysteine levels, blood pressure, oxidative stress, atherosclerotic lesion size in the aortic roots, cell proliferation, and adhesion molecule expression were then analyzed. CSE-knockout mice fed with atherogenic diet developed early fatty streak lesions in the aortic root, elevated plasma levels of cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hyperhomocysteinemia, increased lesional oxidative stress and adhesion molecule expres...

Mutant Prevention Concentrations of Fluoroquinolones for Clinical Isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Abstract: The mutant prevention concentration (MPC) represents a threshold above which the selective proliferation of resistant mutants is expected to occur only rarely. A provisional MPC (MPC pr ) was defined and measured for five fluoroquinolones with clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae . Based on their potential for restricting the selection of resistant mutants, the five fluoroquinolones, in descending order, were found to be moxifloxacin > trovafloxacin > gatifloxacin > grepafloxacin > levofloxacin. For several compounds, 90% of about 90 clinical isolates that lacked a known resistance mutation had a value of MPC pr that was close to or below the serum levels that could be attained with a dosing regimen recommended by the manufacturers. Since MPC pr overestimates MPC, these data identify moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin as good candidates for determining whether MPC pr can be used as a guide for choosing and eventually administering fluoroquinolones to significantly reduce the development of resistance.