Attracting and Retaining the Highly Skilled in Medium-sized City-regions of Ontario: The Role of the Built Environment

This study set out to address the out-migration of highly skilled individuals from medium-sized city-regions in Ontario. In today’s knowledge-based economy, city-regions that are able to attract, develop and retain valuable human capital have a distinct advantage that is crucial to economic growth. Using mixed qualitative methods, involving a policy document analysis and in-depth interviews with recent graduates, this study seeks to understand to what extent and in what ways policies of key institutions seek to attract and retain post-secondary graduates in medium-sized city-regions in Ontario? Does the built environment play a role in these policies? This study revealed that young professionals are primarily attracted to city-regions on the basis of employment opportunities, continuing education, and proximity to family and friends. Elements of the built environment are important in terms of overall attractiveness of the city, yet they are not significant factors guiding the mobility of the highly educated

Comprehensive Age-Friendly Community Planning Framework

Planners, urban designers and policy-makers are continuously shifting their planning approach to accommodate the latest planning lens. Each approach addresses different planning issues, presents new concepts and sets new priorities; however, little attention is given to determine whether these ideas overlap and whether there are efficiencies in tying these concepts together. This study sought to determine to what extent age-friendly community planning overlaps or is similar to established planning frameworks and evaluate whether there is merit in developing joint policies. Age-friendly communities (AFC) have become particularly important today with the aging baby-boom generation and the resulting increase in demand for supportive and enabling physical and social environments that help compensate for the physical and cognitive changes associated with ageing (World Health Organization, 2007). Despite the growth of this movement, planners and policy makers have been faced with a number of challenges with integrating age-friendly initiatives into mainstream planning due to the lack of differentiation from other well-known planning frameworks and the competing demands for financial resources and human capital (Miller et al., 2011; Cerda & Bernier, 2013; Golant, 2014). These challenges raise the following research questions: 1) To what extent do established planning principles overlap with age-friendly community planning principles? 2) Is there value in working towards a unified planning framework that incorporates age-friendly community planning principles and established planning principles? These research questions were addressed using a multi-phased qualitative approach, which entailed: a policy document analysis using the City of Waterloo as a case study and in-depth interviews with planning professionals from across Ontario. This study revealed that there is an overlap and similarities between age-friendly community planning and established planning frameworks, specifically: accessibility planning, Smart Growth, transit-oriented development, universal design, healthy communities, sustainable communities, New Urbanism and complete communities. The planning professionals viewed this overlap as policy alignment as these policies support and reinforce each other. Alternatively, several planners suggested that AFC should be regarded as a subset of other planning frameworks, rather than its own distinct planning approach. As such, planners would look at all their planning decisions, regardless of the planning framework, through an age-friendly lens. Despite the overlap, most planning professionals were cautious about creating a comprehensive planning approach due to the: sheer size of the approach, diversity of community contexts, challenges associated with public participation and difficulties coordinating the various stakeholders and jurisdictions. A number of supplementary findings were uncovered through the in-depth interviews that provided key insight into the strengths and weaknesses of current age-friendly community planning initiatives across Ontario and lay the foundation for this study’s policy recommendations. This study recommends: 1) providing additional funding for the implementation of AFC plans; 2) offering additional resources for small and remote communities; 3) expanding existing AFC resources; 4) mandating AFC policies into provincial legislation; 5) facilitating communication and coordination between the lower tier and upper tier municipalities; and 6) seeking greater involvement from planners in AFC initiatives

Gene targeted therapeutics for liver disease in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) is a 52 kDa serine protease inhibitor that is synthesized in and secreted from the liver. Although it is present in all tissues in the body the present consensus is that its main role is to inhibit neutrophil elastase in the lung. A1AT deficiency occurs due to mutations of the A1AT gene that reduce serum A1AT levels to <35% of normal. The most clinically significant form of A1AT deficiency is caused by the Z mutation (Glu342Lys). ZA1AT polymerizes in the endoplasmic reticulum of liver cells and the resulting accumulation of the mutant protein can lead to liver disease, while the reduction in circulating A1AT can result in lung disease including early onset emphysema. There is currently no available treatment for the liver disease other than transplantation and therapies for the lung manifestations of the disease remain limited. Gene therapy is an evolving field which may be of use as a treatment for A1AT deficiency. As the liver disease associated with A1AT deficiency may represent a gain of function possible gene therapies for this condition include the use of ribozymes, peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) and RNA interference (RNAi), which by decreasing the amount of aberrant protein in cells may impact on the pathogenesis of the condition

Left-invariant optimal control problems of the Engel group: classification, stability, and integration

Expected release date-April 202

Node-Negative Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: Pathological Staging and Survival in 1765 Consecutive Cases

IntroductionThis study aimed to evaluate prognostic factors in patients with node-negative non-small cell lung cancer and to assess revised International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer staging recommendations for this group.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 1765 consecutive pathologically node-negative patients treated by surgical resection between 1984 and 2007 was performed. Survival analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method. The independence of prognostic factors was analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling.ResultsThe median age of patients was 68 years, and the average length of follow-up was 6.3 years. Perioperative mortality was 1.7%. The median survival was 6.5 years, with a 56% of the cohort surviving 5 years. Factors associated with poorer prognosis were male gender (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.30, p = <0.001), age (HR: 1.04 per year of increase, p < 0.001), limited resection (HR: 1.30, p = 0.002) tumor size (HR: 1.10 per 10 mm increase, p < 0.001), large cell histopathological cell type (HR: 1.35, p < 0.001), and positive resection margins (HR: 1.58, p = 0.002). T stage was a superior predictor of survival than tumor size (p < 0.001). There was no difference in survival by T-stage descriptor within stage T2 or T3.ConclusionsIn surgically treated, node-negative non-small cell lung cancer, revised International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer staging criteria stratify survival well. Age, gender, and extent of resection are also important predictors of survival. Current T-stage descriptor groupings are appropriate

Brain cell reservoirs of latent virus in presymptomatic HIV-infected individuals

We detected HIV-1 DNA in pure populations of perivascular macrophages, parenchymal microglia, and astrocytes, isolated using laser microdissection from brain tissue of five untreated individuals who died in the presymptomatic stage of infection from non-HIV causes. HIV-1 DNA was detected in the three cell populations, most consistently in perivascular macrophages, without evidence of productive infection. The percentage of PCR reactions detecting HIV-1 DNA in perivascular macrophages correlated inversely with peripheral blood CD4 counts. These findings demonstrate that brain cell reservoirs of latent HIV-1 exist before pathological HIV encephalitis and suggest that perivascular macrophage trafficking of latent virus into the brain increases with immunosuppression

An evaluation study of the dining area in thirty families

One of the most debated subjects in house planning in recent years has been the question of the importance of a separate room which is devoted only to dining purposes. While the kitchen, living room, bedrooms and bathrooms apparently are indispensable, the dining room has been omitted entirely or combined with other rooms in many homes which have been built recently. One can hardly justify a room which is used only one to two hours a day or just when company is present if economy is to be considered. Because of the flexibility of the furniture used, the dining area, whether it be a separate room in the house or an alcove off the living room or the kitchen, can be one of the most important rooms for family living. In many families today mealtime is about the only time when family members are together. For other than dining purposes, many families have found that the table can be used by Johnnie to work on his school lessons or stamp collection, for Mother to cut out a dress, or for Father to prepare his business reports. Group activities such as playing games, parties and children's play can be successfully carried on in this area. With a sofa bed in this room, the dining area can double as a second living room or as a guest room

Increased deep grey matter functional connectivity of poststroke hNSC implanted ipsilesional putamen

No abstract available

Perioperative Laboratory Abnormalities in Gynecologic Oncology Surgical Patients

Background: Laboratory blood testing incurs financial costs and the blood draws can increase discomfort, yet minimal data exists regarding routine testing in gynecologic oncology surgical patients. Additionally, an increasing number of gynecologic oncology surgeries are performed via a laparoscopic approach. Thus, further investigation into perioperative laboratory testing for gynecologic oncology patients is warranted. An increasing number of gynecologic oncology surgeries are performed via a laparoscopic approach. Thus, further investigation into perioperative laboratory testing for gynecologic oncology patients is warranted. Objective: The aims of this study were (1) to evaluate the frequency and etiology of perioperative laboratory test abnormalities in patients undergoing laparoscopic and laparotomy surgery in a gynecologic oncology service, and (2) to establish an evidence-based algorithm to reduce unnecessary laboratory testing. Materials and Methods: A single-institution retrospective study was completed, investigating laparoscopic and laparotomic surgeries over 4 years. Information on preoperative and postoperative laboratory data, surgical parameters, perioperative interventions, and patient demographics was collected. Quality-assurance data were reviewed. Data were tabulated and analyzed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 22. A Student's t-test was used to test for group differences for continuous variables with equal variance, the Mann-Whitney?U test for continuous variables when unequal variance was detected, and Pearson's ?2 was used to investigate categorical variables of interest. p-Values 98% of patients underwent at least one preoperative and postoperative laboratory test, totaling 8060 preoperative and 5784 postoperative results. The laparoscopy group was significantly less likely to have postoperative metabolic abnormalities or to undergo perioperative blood transfusion. Patients taking an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor, angiotensin-II?receptor blocker, or diuretic were significantly more likely to have elevated creatinine preoperatively (odds ratio [OR]: 5.0; p?Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140101/1/gyn.2015.0106.pd