Mixed Identity and Cultural Transmission : Narratives of Mixed-Blood Women from a First Nations Community

Ce mémoire de maîtrise porte sur l’implication de la « loi sur le membership et le droit de résidence à Kahnawà:ke » sur six femmes mixtes Mohawks de la communauté Mohawk de Kahnawà:ke. Nous utilisons une méthodologie de recherche qualitative pour analyser les récits de vie des participantes et leurs expériences en tant que personnes ayant un héritage culturel mixte. Dans ce contexte, nous explorons certains facteurs qui ont facilité ou atténué leur identité culturelle et leur sentiment d’appartenance. Nous explorons aussi la question de la transmission culturelle à la prochaine génération. Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que l’identité culturelle et les modes de vie Mohawk sont transmis de manière intergénérationnelle dans les familles des participantes. Dans cette étude, les femmes font des efforts tenaces pour se réapproprier leur culture et de créer un sentiment d’appartenance qui leur est propre. Ces récits détaillés des participantes s’ajoutent à la recherche canadienne sur l’identité mixte et la transmission culturelle dans un contexte autochtone.In this master’s thesis, I examine the implications of the Kahnawà:ke membership and residency law on six mixed-blood women from the Kahnawà:ke Mohawk community. With the use of qualitative research methodology, I analyze the participants’ narratives of their experiences with growing up racially mixed. In this context, I explore some of the factors that facilitated or mitigated their sense of cultural identity and belonging. I also explore the question of cultural transmission to the future generation. The findings from this study suggest that Mohawk cultural identity and ways of life are perpetuated intergenerationally in these women’s’ families. The participants make tenacious efforts to re-appropriate their culture and find ways to create their space of belonging. These participants’ detailed accounts add to the Canadian body of research on mixed-race identity and cultural transmission in an Indigenous context

Prolonged Leptospira Urinary Shedding in a 10-Year-Old Girl

We present a case of leptospirosis in a previously healthy girl following a trip to Costa Rica. While she was clinically asymptomatic, she had spirochetes cultured from her urine six weeks following her trip. Prolonged urinary shedding following infection with Leptospira is possible in humans and often has subtle manifestations in children

health

Handoff strategies in settings with hig

The costs outweigh the benefits: seeing side-effects online may decrease adherence to statins.

BackgroundThe prevalence of medical misinformation on the Internet has received much attention among researchers concerned that exposure to such information may inhibit patient adherence to prescriptions. Yet, little is known about information people see when they search for medical information and the extent to which exposure is directly related to their decisions to follow physician recommendations. These issues were examined using statin prescriptions as a case study.MethodsWe developed and used a tool to rank the quality of statin-related web pages based on the presence of information about side effects, clinical benefits, management of side effects, and misinformation. We then conducted an experiment in which students were presented with a hypothetical scenario in which an older relative was prescribed a statin but was unsure whether to take the medication. Participants were asked to search the web for information about statins and make a recommendation to this relative. Their search activity was logged using a web-browser add-on. Websites each participant visited were scored for quality using our tool, quality scores were aggregated for each participant and were subsequently used to predict their recommendation.ResultsExposure to statin-related benefits and management of side effects during the search was significantly associated with a higher probability of recommending that an older relative adhere to their physician's recommendation. Exposure to misinformation and side effects were not associated, nor were any other participant characteristics. Bigram analyses of the top reasons participants gave for their recommendation mirrored the statistical findings, except that among participants who did not recommend following the prescription order, myriad side effects were mentioned.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that units of information people see on health-related websites are not treated equally. Our methods offer new understanding at a granular level about the impact of Internet searches on health decisions regarding evidence-based recommended medications. Our findings may be useful to physicians considering ways to address non-adherence. Preventive care should include actively engaging patients in discussions about health information they may find on the web. The effectiveness of this strategy should be examined in future studies

Kavain, the Major Constituent of the Anxiolytic Kava Extract, Potentiates GABAA Receptors:Functional Characteristics and Molecular Mechanism

Extracts of the pepper plant kava (Piper methysticum) are effective in alleviating anxiety in clinical trials. Despite the long-standing therapeutic interest in kava, the molecular target(s) of the pharmacologically active constituents, kavalactones have not been established. γ-Aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAARs) are assumed to be the in vivo molecular target of kavalactones based on data from binding assays, but evidence in support of a direct interaction between kavalactones and GABAARs is scarce and equivocal. In this study, we characterised the functional properties of the major anxiolytic kavalactone, kavain at human recombinant α1β2, β2γ2L, αxβ2γ2L (x = 1, 2, 3 and 5), α1βxγ2L (x = 1, 2 and 3) and α4β2δ GABAARs expressed in Xenopus oocytes using the two-electrode voltage clamp technique. We found that kavain positively modulated all receptors regardless of the subunit composition, but the degree of enhancement was greater at α4β2δ than at α1β2γ2L GABAARs. The modulatory effect of kavain was unaffected by flumazenil, indicating that kavain did not enhance GABAARs via the classical benzodiazepine binding site. The β3N265M point mutation which has been previously shown to profoundly decrease anaesthetic sensitivity, also diminished kavain-mediated potentiation. To our knowledge, this study is the first report of the functional characteristics of a single kavalactone at distinct GABAAR subtypes, and presents the first experimental evidence in support of a direct interaction between a kavalactone and GABAARs

Dosimetric verification of helical tomotherapy for total scalp irradiation

Total scalp irradiation is a treatment technique used for a variety of supercial malignancies.Helical tomotherapy is an effective technique used for total scalp irradiation. Recent publishedwork has shown the TomoTherapy planning system to overestimate the supercial dose. In thisstudy, the supercial doses for a helical tomotherapy total scalp irradiation have been measured onan anthropomorphic phantom using radiochromic and radiographic lm as well as a new skindosimeter, the MOSkin. The supercial dose was found to be accurately calculated by the Tomo-Therapy planning system. This is in contrast to recent reports, probably due to a combination of thesmaller dose grid resolution used in planning and this particular treatment primarily consisting ofbeamlets tangential to the scalp. The supercial dose was found to increase from 33.6 to 41.2 Gyand 36.0 to 42.0 Gy over the rst 2 mm depth in the phantom in selected regions of the PTV,measured with radiochromic lm. The prescription dose was 40 Gy. The supercial dose was at theprescription dose or higher in some regions due to the bolus effect of the thermoplastic head maskand the head rest used to aid treatment setup. It is suggested that to achieve the prescription dose atthe surface 2 mm depth bolus or a custom thermoplastic helmet is use

GABA concentration-response curve parameters at various receptor subtypes derived from curve-fitting procedures.

<p>GABA concentration-response curve parameters at various receptor subtypes derived from curve-fitting procedures.</p

The pronounced effect of β3N265M point mutation on etomidate and propofol sensitivity.

<p>(A) Representative traces demonstrating the modulatory effect of 3 μM etomidate and 10 μM propofol on GABA EC₃ (<i>left</i>) and the agonist effect of 30 μM etomidate and 100 μM propofol relative to 10 mM GABA (<i>right</i>) at α1β3γ2L and α1β3N265Mγ2L GABA_ARs. (B) The modulatory and agonist effects of etomidate and propofol were markedly diminished at α1β3N265Mγ2L GABA_ARs. Data are normalised to current responses elicited by 10 mM GABA, and are presented as mean ± SEM. *** <i>p</i> < 0.001; **** <i>p</i> < 0.0001; unpaired <i>t</i> test (mutant <i>vs</i>. wild-type). Numbers above bars indicate number of experiments. GABA + ETO: GABA EC₃ + 3 μM etomidate; ETO: 30 μM etomidate; GABA + PRO: GABA EC₃ + 10 μM propofol; PRO: 100 μM propofol.</p