We collected over 50 million tweets referencing COVID-19 to understand the public's gendered disc... more We collected over 50 million tweets referencing COVID-19 to understand the public's gendered discourses and concerns during the pandemic. We filtered the tweets based on English language and among three gender categories: men, women, and sexual and gender minorities. We used a mixed-method approach that included topic modelling, sentiment analysis, and text mining extraction procedures including words' mapping, proximity plots, top hashtags and mentions, and most retweeted posts. Our findings show stark differences among the different genders. In relation to women, we found a salient discussion on the risks of domestic violence due to the lockdown especially towards women and girls, while emphasizing financial challenges. The public discourses around SGM mostly revolved around blood donation concerns, which is a reminder of the discrimination against some of these communities during the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Finally, the discourses around men were focused on the high death rates and the sentiment analysis results showed more negative tweets than among the other genders. The study concludes that Twitter influencers can drive major online discussions which can be useful in addressing communication needs during pandemics.
From “nobody's clapping for us” to “bad moms”: COVID‐19 and the circle of childcare in Canada
Gender, Work & Organization, 2021
The COVID‐19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of childcare to national economies in genera... more The COVID‐19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of childcare to national economies in general and women's economic participation in particular, spurring renewed interest in childcare policy in many countries that have implemented lockdowns. This paper adopts a circle of care framework to analyzes how COVID‐19 has affected paid childcare, unpaid childcare and other paid work, and the relationship between these sectors. Analysis is grounded in the lived experiences of parents and childcare educators, documented through 16 semi‐structured interviews during the initial lockdown (March–June 2020) in British Columbia, Canada. Experiences from educators suggest their safety was not prioritized, and that their contributions were undervalued and went unrecognized. Mothers, who provided the majority of unpaid care, not only lost income due to care demands, but struggled to access necessities, with some reporting increased personal insecurity. Those attempting to work from home also e...
Julia Smith, an intern at Dick White Referrals, invites Companion readers to consider a dyspnoeic... more Julia Smith, an intern at Dick White Referrals, invites Companion readers to consider a dyspnoeic German Shepherd Dog
Patients weigh risks and benefits when making treatment decisions. Despite this, relatively few s... more Patients weigh risks and benefits when making treatment decisions. Despite this, relatively few studies examine the behavioral patterns underpinning these decisions. Moreover, individual differences in these patterns remain largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to test a probability discounting model to explain the independent influences of risks and benefits when patients make hypothetical treatment decisions. Furthermore, we examine how individual differences in this probability discounting function are associated with patient demographics, clinical characteristics, disease knowledge, neuropsychiatric status, and adherence. Two hundred eight participants with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) indicated their likelihood (0-100%) of taking a hypothetical medication as the probability of mild side effects (11 values from .1 to 99.9%) and reported medication efficacies (11 values from .1 to 99.9%) varied systematically. They also completed a series of questionnai...
How patients with multiple sclerosis weigh treatment risks and benefits
Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, Jul 1, 2018
Although the effectiveness and risks of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies are established, relati... more Although the effectiveness and risks of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies are established, relatively little is known about how these benefits and risks are perceived and weighed by patients. This risk-benefit trade-off is important for clinicians, industry, and regulators to consider when determining which therapies to develop, approve for clinical use, and recommend to individual patients. The primary objective of the present study was to describe individual differences in how MS patients weigh risks and benefits when making treatment decisions. Two hundred ninety patients with MS completed tasks assessing their willingness to take a hypothetical disease-modifying therapy (DMT) at varying levels of efficacy, side effect probability, and side effect severity. Patients also completed questionnaires assessing MS knowledge, medication beliefs, health care climate, and disease severity. Patients with a primary progressive course reported increased DMT willingness compared to patients w...
The illicit tobacco trade accounts for 10% of the global cigarette market and results in US$31 bi... more The illicit tobacco trade accounts for 10% of the global cigarette market and results in US$31 billion in lost tax revenues annually. Despite legal prosecution of tobacco companies, and the introduction of new policy responses, the trade has reached an all-time high. Previous research documents how transnational tobacco companies have sought to influence government responses to the illicit trade in various countries through multiple means, including influencing of news media framing. This paper extends this analysis to Canada where the illicit trade is particularly problematic in scale and political complexity. Articles in Canadian newspapers, published from 2010-2015, were systematically searched (n = 177) and analysed to identify dominant frames, frame sponsors and policy positions related to the illicit tobacco trade. The results show that the most common frames present the issue in ways favourable to the industry. The most common non-governmental sponsors of these frames frequently have links to the tobacco industry, which are rarely disclosed. Findings indicate the need for Canadian media to be critical in its use of data sources amid industry efforts to shape public policy, and the importance of reframing policy discussions in public health terms based on independent evidence.
This paper examines the formation of the Women’s Studies Department at Simon Fraser University. W... more This paper examines the formation of the Women’s Studies Department at Simon Fraser University. While the struggle to establish this, the first credit Women’s Studies program in Canada, was a significant part of the second wave women’s movement and a crucial step towards achieving the broader goal of reinserting women back into academic discourse, in many disciplines the study of women continues to remain peripheral to “traditional” areas of inquiry. This paper will argue that although the establishment of the Women’s Studies department was a monumental achievement for women at the time and has undoubtedly greatly improved the status of women’s voices within academic research, it is not enough. What is required now is the incorporation of these voices into the mainstream disciplines; the ideal being an academic world that fully reflects the pluralistic society in which we live.
Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy, 2017
Managed care pharmacy is a growing field, but there are still limited educational opportunities a... more Managed care pharmacy is a growing field, but there are still limited educational opportunities available in pharmacy school core curricula. Students often seek self-directed learning opportunities to further explore the field. To (a) evaluate practicality and effectiveness of a student-designed managed care pharmacy elective and (b) determine emerging best practices for design and sustainability of peer-led, self-directed courses. A managed care elective course was designed as a student, peer-led course during the 2012-2013 school year at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. As the course evolved, coordinators evaluated the effectiveness and sustainability of a student-led elective. The course required students to select a managed care topic of interest and deliver a discussion-based presentation. Teleconferencing was used to maximize participation and flexibility of pharmacist delegates from local managed care organizations who provided industry insight and expert ment...
LANARK is a novel of splits. Much of Alasdair Gray’s work is occupied by dualism; be itwithin a c... more LANARK is a novel of splits. Much of Alasdair Gray’s work is occupied by dualism; be itwithin a character, inherent to the narrative, or drawn clearly in his visual art, his work often exists in its opposing balances. Lanark is also complicated by its parts being strewn about within its cover’s confines: Books One and Two are encased by Books
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), Jan 3, 2015
The widely used posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL) has established reliability ... more The widely used posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL) has established reliability and validity, but it does not differentiate posttraumatic symptom frequency from intensity as elements of posttraumatic symptom severity. Thus, the PCL in its existing form may not provide a comprehensive appraisal of posttraumatic symptomatology. Because of this, we modified the PCL to create the PCL-I/F that measures both frequency and intensity of PTSD symptoms via brief self-report. To establish validity and internal consistency of the PCL-I/F, we conducted a pilot study comparing PCL-I/F scores to structured diagnostic interview for PTSD (the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale [CAPS]) in a male combat veteran sample of 92 participants. Statistically significant correlations between the PCL-I/F and the CAPS were found, suggesting initial validation of the PCL-I/F to screen and assess frequency and intensity of combat-related PTSD symptoms. Implications are discussed for screening and ...
A healthy young man presented with cardiac tamponade. He underwent pericardial window and biopsy ... more A healthy young man presented with cardiac tamponade. He underwent pericardial window and biopsy revealed chronic inflammation. Two years later, he presented with respiratory failure. CT of the thorax revealed prominent anterior mediastinal mass abutting the brachiocephalic vein consistent with thymic tumour. Open lung biopsy revealed metastatic intermediate-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma with lymphangitic spread. Corticosteroids were started for palliation. He made a remarkable improvement clinically and radiologically in 2 days of starting steroids. Thymic neuroendocrine carcinomas are very aggressive and the clinical presentation is varied and atypical. Our patient presented with cardiac tamponade. Malignancy should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained cardiac tamponade. The other important point illustrated by our case is the dramatic response to the steroids. Treatment of metastases of any tumour of thymic origin with steroids could be an option when more ...
Annals of clinical psychiatry : official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, 2013
Development of novel treatment approaches for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)... more Development of novel treatment approaches for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is critical, given the increasing prevalence of PTSD in veterans returning from war zone deployment. Established preclinical research using protein synthesis inhibitors (such as sirolimus) to interfere with fear memory reconsolidation provides a compelling rationale for investigation in humans. This double-blind, placebo-controlled translational pilot study examined the effects of pairing reactivation of a trauma memory with a single administration of sirolimus on the frequency and intensity of PTSD symptoms in male combat veterans. Primary analyses found no significant differences between treatment groups on any of the clinical or physiologic outcome measures. In an exploratory analysis of a subsample of post-Vietnam-era veterans who had more recent combat trauma, PTSD symptom scores fell significantly more in these veterans than in controls. The post-Vietnam-era veteran findings sugge...
Uterine wall tension is thought to be an important determinant of the onset of labor in pregnant ... more Uterine wall tension is thought to be an important determinant of the onset of labor in pregnant women. We characterize human uterine wall tension using ultrasound from the second trimester of pregnancy until parturition and compare preterm, term and twin pregnancies. A total of 320 pregnant women were followed from first antenatal visit to delivery during the period 2000-2004 at the John Hunter Hospital, NSW, Australia. The uterine wall thickness, length, anteriorposterior diameter and transverse diameter were determined by serial ultrasounds. Subjects were divided into three groups: women with singleton pregnancies and spontaneous labor onset, either preterm or term and women with twin pregnancies. Intrauterine pressure results from the literature were combined with our data to form trajectories for uterine wall thickness, volume and tension for each woman using the prolate ellipsoid method and the groups were compared at 20, 25 and 30 weeks gestation. Uterine wall tension followed an exponential curve, with results increasing throughout pregnancy with the site of maximum tension on the anterior wall. For those delivering preterm, uterine wall thickness was increased Pv0:05 compared with term. For twin pregnancies intrauterine volume was increased compared to singletons (Pv0:001), but wall thickness was not. There was no evidence for increased tension in those delivering preterm or those with twin gestations. These data are not consistent with a role for high uterine wall tension as a causal factor in preterm spontaneous labor in singleton or twin gestations. It seems likely that hormonal differences in multiple gestations are responsible for increased rates of preterm birth in this group rather than increased tension.
Background and Purpose — In premature infants, many of whom experience ischemic brain insults, th... more Background and Purpose — In premature infants, many of whom experience ischemic brain insults, the environment of rearing influences cognitive outcome. We developed a model to evaluate the effect of rearing conditions on learning after unilateral cerebral hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in 7-day-old (P7) rats. We hypothesized that neonatal handling would benefit rats recovering from an episode of HI. Methods — Seventeen litters of P7 Long-Evans rats underwent either HI (right carotid ligation followed by 1.5 hours in 8% O 2 ) or control procedures. From P8 to P14, randomized litters were either handled (15 minutes of separation from dam per day) or nonhandled. After P55, learning was tested in the Morris water maze. To evaluate injury severity, hippocampal, cortical, and striatal volumes were measured. Results — In water-maze performance, ANCOVA revealed an interaction between handling and severity of hippocampal damage. Among HI rats, handled rats learned faster when hippocampal damage was m...
Human myometrium develops phasic contractions during labor. Phosphorylation of caldesmon (h-CaD) ... more Human myometrium develops phasic contractions during labor. Phosphorylation of caldesmon (h-CaD) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2) has been implicated in development of these contractions, however the phosphoregulation of these proteins is yet to be examined during periods of both contraction and relaxation. We hypothesized that protein phosphorylation events are implicated in the phasic nature of myometrial contractions, and aimed to examine h-CaD and ERK 1/2 phosphorylation in myometrium snap frozen at specific stages, including; (1) prior to onset of contractions, (2) at peak contraction and (3) during relaxation. We aimed to compare h-CaD and ERK 1/2 phosphorylation in vitro against results from in vivo studies that compared not-in-labor (NIL) and laboring (L) myometrium. Comparison of NIL (n = 8) and L (n = 8) myometrium revealed a 2-fold increase in h-CaD phosphorylation (ser-789; P = 0.012) during onset of labor in vivo, and was associated with significantly up-regulated ERK2 expression (P = 0.022), however no change in ERK2 phosphorylation was observed (P = 0.475). During in vitro studies (n = 5), transition from non-contracting tissue to tissue at peak contraction was associated with increased phosphorylation of both h-CaD and ERK 1/2. Furthermore, tissue preserved at relaxation phase exhibited diminished levels of h-CaD and ERK 1/2 phosphorylation compared to tissue preserved at peak contraction, thereby producing a phasic phosphorylation profile for h-CaD and ERK 1/2. h-CaD and ERK 1/2 are phosphorylated during myometrial contractions, however their phospho-regulation is dynamic, in that h-CaD and ERK 1/2 are phosphorylated and dephosphorylated in phase with contraction and relaxation respectively. Comparisons of NIL and L tissue are at risk of failing to detect these changes, as L samples are not necessarily preserved in the midst of an active contraction.
In the history of public health, HIV/AIDS is unique; it has widespread and long‐lasting demograph... more In the history of public health, HIV/AIDS is unique; it has widespread and long‐lasting demographic, social, economic and political impacts. The global response has been unprecedented. AIDS exceptionalism ‐ the idea that the disease requires a response above and beyond “normal” health interventions ‐ began as a Western response to the originally terrifying and lethal nature of the virus. More recently, AIDS exceptionalism came to refer to the disease‐specific global response and the resources dedicated to addressing the epidemic. There has been a backlash against this exceptionalism, with critics claiming that HIV/AIDS receives a disproportionate amount of international aid and health funding.This paper situations this debate in historical perspective. By reviewing histories of the disease, policy developments and funding patterns, it charts how the meaning of AIDS exceptionalism has shifted over three decades. It argues that while the connotation of the term has changed, the epidem...
Dietary interventions have been found to be an egective method of reducing total and LDL-choleste... more Dietary interventions have been found to be an egective method of reducing total and LDL-cholesterol, thereby reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. Incorporating soy protein in the diet may be one way of reducing cholesterol levels (Anderson et al. 1999). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the sensory attributes of oatmeal mufins after adding soy protein. The research study compared a control product (A), using all-purpose flour with two variations. For one variation (Product B) soy protein flour was substituted for all-purpose flour and the second variation (Product C) contained soy protein flour in place of allpurpose flour and water was added. Seventy-five subjects participated in the study. All products were served in a randomized and balanced order. The subjects used a standard nine-point hedonic
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