Development and preliminary testing of the psychosocial adjustment to hereditary diseases scale

Background: The presence of Lynch syndrome (LS) can bring a lifetime of uncertainty to an entire family as members adjust to living with a high lifetime cancer risk. The research base on how individuals and families adjust to genetic-linked diseases following predictive genetic testing has increased our understanding of short-term impacts but gaps continue to exist in knowledge of important factors that facilitate or impede long-term adjustment. The failure of existing scales to detect psychosocial adjustment challenges in this population has led researchers to question the adequate sensitivity of these instruments. Furthermore, we have limited insight into the role of the family in promoting adjustment. Methods: The purpose of this study was to develop and initially validate the Psychosocial Adjustment to Hereditary Diseases (PAHD) scale. This scale consists of two subscales, the Burden of Knowing (BK) and Family Connectedness (FC). Items for the two subscales were generated from a qualitative data base and tested in a sample of 243 participants from families with LS. Results: The Multitrait/Multi-Item Analysis Program-Revised (MAP-R) was used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PAHD. The findings support the convergent and discriminant validity of the subscales. Construct validity was confirmed by factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha supported a strong internal consistency for BK (0.83) and FC (0.84). Conclusion: Preliminary testing suggests that the PAHD is a psychometrically sound scale capable of assessing psychosocial adjustment. We conclude that the PAHD may be a valuable monitoring tool to identify individuals and families who may require therapeutic interventions

Geography Geo-Wiki in the classroom: Using crowdsourcing to enhance geographical teaching

Geo-Wiki is a crowdsourcing tool used to derive information, based on satellite imagery, to validate and enhance global land cover. Around 5000 users are registered, who contribute to different campaigns to collect data across various domains (e.g., agriculture, biomass, human impact, etc.). However, seeing the Earth's surface from above does not provide all of the necessary information for understanding what is happening on the ground. Instead, we need to enhance this experience with local knowledge or with additional information, such as geo-located photographs of surface features with annotation. The latest development in enhancing Geo-Wiki in this context has been achieved through collaboration with the University of Waterloo to set up a separate branch called Geography Geo-Wiki for use in undergraduate teaching. We provide the pedagogical objectives for this branch and describe two modules that we have introduced in first and third year Physical Geography classes. The majority of the feedback was positive and in, many cases, was part of what the student liked best about the course. Future plans include the development of additional assignments for the study of environmental processes using Geo-Wiki that would engage students in a manner that is very different from that of conventional teaching

The Canadian consortium for arctic data interoperability : an emerging polar information network

Established in 2015, the Canadian Consortium for Arctic Data Interoperability (CCADI) is an emerging initiative to develop an integrated Canadian arctic data anagement system that will facilitate information discovery, establish metadata and data sharing standards, enable interoperability among existing data infrastructures, and that will be accessible to a broad audience of users. Key to the CCADI vision are: standards and mechanisms for metadata interoperability and semantic interoperability; a distributed data exchange platform; streamlined data services with common entry, access, search, match, analysis, visualization and output tools; an intellectual property and sensitive data service; and data stewardship capacity. This will be a particularly challenging set of tasks given that the data planned for inclusion is multidisciplinary, in multiple types that range from sensor data to material artifacts, and, in some cases, confidential.publishedVersio

Hyperspectral versus multispectral imaging for submerged coral detection

10.1117/12.411667Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering4154145-152PSIS

Measuring and modeling water column effects on hyperspectral reflectance in a coral reef environment

10.1016/S0034-4257(02)00007-XRemote Sensing of Environment812-3300-308RSEE

Effects of the water column on hyperspectral reflectance of submerged coral reef features

Bulletin of Marine Science692685-699BMRS

Coral reef features: Multi- Vs. Hyper-Spectral characteristics

Sea Technology42263-7

Hyperspectral discrimination of healthy versus stressed corals using in situ reflectance

Journal of Coastal Research174850-858JCRS

The Polar Data Catalogue: Best Practices for Sharing and Archiving Canada^|^apos;s Polar Data

The Polar Data Catalogue (PDC) is a growing Canadian archive and public access portal for Arctic and Antarctic research and monitoring data. In partnership with a variety of Canadian and international multi-sector research programs, the PDC encompasses the natural, social, and health sciences. From its inception, the PDC has adopted international standards and best practices to provide a robust infrastructure for reliable security, storage, discoverability, and access to Canada’s polar data and metadata. Current efforts focus on developing new partnerships and incentives for data archiving and sharing and on expanding connections to other data centres through metadata interoperability protocols