Implantation et faisabilité d’ateliers d’éducation nutritionnelle et culinaire en oncologie pédiatrique

Problématique : La majorité des patients en oncologie pédiatrique expérimente des perturbations de l’alimentation parmi lesquelles les changements de goût ou les nausées sont fréquents. Le projet VIE (Valorisation, Implication, Éducation) propose des ateliers familiaux sur l’alimentation pendant les traitements de cancer. Les buts de ce travail sont de: 1) implanter 6 ateliers éducatifs permettant de répondre aux besoins des patients en oncologie pédiatrique et de prévenir les complications à long terme et 2) évaluer la faisabilité de l’intervention. Nous proposons que les ateliers sont faisables dans cette population et augmenteront de la perception d’acquisition de connaissances chez les parents. Méthodologie : La phase d’implantation a pris place entre mars 2018 et mars 2019 durant laquelle un atelier était proposé hebdomadairement. La satisfaction et la perception d’acquisition des connaissances et d’utilité perçue par les participants ont été documentées par un questionnaire développé pour répondre aux objectifs spécifiques du projet. Un sondage a été administré auprès des familles après 9 mois d’implantation. Une analyse de contenu hybride a été effectuée avec les données qualitatives à partir du modèle d’implantation de Steckler & Linnan. Les données quantitatives sont présentées sous forme de statistiques descriptives. Résultats : Le taux de participation aux ateliers a été faible (29% ont été présentés). Les barrières des parents réfèrent à une accessibilité sous-optimale reliée à des contraintes médicales et logistiques. Les thématiques des ateliers perçues comme les plus utiles pour les parents référaient à celles qui avaient un lien avec la condition médicale de l’enfant. Plus de 65% des répondants au sondage ont mentionné que des capsules vidéo sur le web seraient le mode de présentation optimal de l’information. Conclusion : La faisabilité de l’intervention s’est avérée limitée. Ainsi, il n’a pas été possible d’évaluer l’efficacité de l’intervention à améliorer les connaissances. L’évaluation de l’implantation a mis en lumière la portée limitée des ateliers et le contexte particulier des barrières limitant la participation des familles. Suite à ces résultats, les ateliers ont été mis disponibles sous forme de courts vidéos en ligne. Nous croyons que cela permettra d’adresser les barrières d’accès énoncées par les familles puis de permettre une évaluation éventuelle de l’impact de l’intervention.Background: Perturbations of food intake are common in children with cancer and are often caused by changes in the sense of taste and nausea. The VIE (Valorization, Implication, Education) project proposes family-based nutrition and cooking education workshops during the cancer treatments. Process evaluation during implementation allows to assess if the intervention was delivered as planned and to determine its barriers and facilitators. The objectives of this project were to: 1) implement 6 educational workshops that address families’ challenges in pediatric oncology and prevent the long-term sequelae, 2) assess the feasibility of the intervention. We propose that workshops are feasible in this population and that they will increase participants’ perception of knowledge acquisition. Methodology: The implementation phase included a weekly workshop during 1 year from March 2018 to March 2019. Participants’ satisfaction and perception of knowledge acquisition and of utility were documented with a questionnaire specifically developed in line with the study objectives. A survey was administrated to families 9 months after the beginning of the implementation phase. Qualitative data were codified using hybrid content analysis based on the Steckler & Linnan concepts. Quantitative data were presented with descriptive statistics. Results: Participation to the workshops was low (29% were delivered). The main barriers for participation were related to a suboptimal access caused by the child’s medical condition and by parents’ logistic context. The themes that were perceived as the most useful by parents were related to the child’ specific medical condition. More than 65% of families stated that online video capsules would be the preferred mode of information delivery. Conclusion: Because the reach of the intervention was low, it was not possible to conclude on the efficacy of the workshops in increasing participants’ knowledge. We conclude that, under this format, the workshops are not feasible. Process evaluation allowed to emphasis the low reach of the workshops and the challenges related to the particular context experienced by families during childhood cancer treatment. According to our results, the workshops are now offered online as short video capsules. We believe that this will address the barriers encountered by families, provide a better access to information and evaluate of the impact of the intervention

BeaverCube: Coastal Imaging with VIS/LWIR CubeSats

BeaverCube is a student-built 3U CubeSat that has two main objectives: one science objective and one technology objective. The science goal of BeaverCube is to demonstrate that it is possible to develop and apply platforms that can leverage statistical relationships between temperature and co-varying bio-optical properties, such as light absorption by colored dissolved organic matter. The technology goal of BeaverCube is to demonstrate electrospray propulsion for CubeSats, enabling more coordinated and targeted science missions among multiple spacecraft. The science objective for BeaverCube involves measuring temperature and color, which are key oceanographic properties, through a low-cost platform. Temperature and salinity are used to determine the density of watermasses. This is then used to physically classify them. Thermohaline circulation is a part of large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. Thermohaline circulation plays an important role in supplying heat to the polar regions; it influences the rate of sea ice formation near the poles, which in turn affects other aspects of the climate system, such as the albedo, and thus solar heating, at high latitudes. Small- and meso-scale ocean features such as fronts and eddies canal so be identified and tracked solely using sea surface temperature properties. BeaverCube will track warm core rings on the Northeastern section of the US coast, one of the regions in the world that is heating the fastest due to climate change. Wide geospatial coverage with near-simultaneous measurements of thermal and bio-optical ocean properties by a CubeSat has the potential to address many important oceanographic questions for both basic science and Naval applications. The majority of space-borne optical oceanographic parameters observed from CubeSats rely on atmospheric corrections to provide useful data. BeaverCube will both obtain data and help determine to what extent supplemental data will still be required for atmospheric corrections. BeaverCube will make sea surface and cloud top temperature measurements using three cameras: one visible and two FLIR Boson LWIR cameras. In-situ measurements will be coordinated with an array of ocean buoys to support calibration and validation. The student team successfully tested the LWIR camera on a high-altitude balloon launch in November 2019 to an altitude of 110,000 feet, demonstrating the imaging functionality in a near-space environment. The technology goal for BeaverCube is to demonstrate the operation of the Tiled Ionic Liquid Electrospray (TILE2) propulsion technology from Accion Systems, Inc. for orbital maneuvering. BeaverCube will be deployed in Low Earth Orbit from the International Space Station. The plan is to change the altitude of BeaverCube by 480 meters using 50 micro-Newtons of thrust, detected by an onboard GPS receiver. With a goal of launching in late 2020 or early 2021, BeaverCube passed Critical Design Review in Spring 2020, with subsystems designed and procured, including components from AAC Clyde Space (power), ISIS (ADCS), Near Space Launch (BlackBox with GlobalStar simplex radio and NovAtel GPS), and others (OpenLST radio and Raspberry Pi based C&DH board). Assembly and integration prior to environmental testing are planned for late summer 2020

Salve Regina Arboretum Ten Year Plan to Reach Level III Accreditation

The Salve Regina University Arboretum, located in Newport, Rhode Island is currently registered as a Level II arboretum and is intertwined with the city of Newport Arboretum. The university now has intentions to reach Level III status, as part of a ten-year plan. This plan was developed by the students of the Spring 2018 BIO 255: Conservation Biology course, instructed by Dr. Jameson Chace, Associate Professor of biology at Salve Regina University. As part of a curriculum geared towards civic engagement, the class focused on creating and optimizing strategies that can be applied to the ten-year plan. These strategies were applied to the plan categorically: a team to inventory the current tree collection; a team to develop formal educational programming; a team for informal educational programming; a team to establish goals for conservation initiative related to the arboretum; a team dedicated to research related to arboreta; and a team to develop a list of species of special interest to add to the arboretum in the coming years. In the following document, each team’s strategies for the ten-year plan are outlined. Each of the components of this plan incorporate means to fulfill the conditions to meet Level III arboretum status so that the arboretum can apply for official registration. The aforementioned teams were tasked with designing a foundation on which to work up from. This includes formal educational programming to be applied to classroom settings and informal educational programming which can be applied to community outreach-based settings. The teams that worked to strengthen the arboretum’s mission of conservation focused on researching trees that can fit into the current landscape while providing some sort of benefit to the surrounding flora/fauna. Further, many of the species of interest, such as the chestnut, hold historical value to the greater Rhode Island region. In all, the Salve Regina Arboretum must achieve a total of 500 unique species of trees and woody plants as part of its efforts to apply for Level III status. In addition to the programming and research performed so far by the student teams, the arboretum must also hire a curator to manage the programming and to oversee the arboretum as a whole. Additionally, the arboretum must continue to actively collaborate with other arboreta and should encourage scientific research. It is important to recognize that the Salve Regina University Arboretum has already been utilized in the field of microbiology and has gained some attention at the university as a resource for further research and investigation. This ten year plan, along with resources within in it, is designed to provide a list of potential guidelines and ideas that can be applied for the arboretum’s benefit and growth. The Salve Regina University arboretum is a continually growing and developing part of the greater Newport, Rhode Island community, and will continue to strengthen its mission and that of the university which oversees its success.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/bio255_arboretum/1000/thumbnail.jp

A collaborative model to implement flexible, accessible and efficient oncogenetic services for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer : the C-MOnGene study

Medical genetic services are facing an unprecedented demand for counseling and testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) in a context of limited resources. To help resolve this issue, a collaborative oncogenetic model was recently developed and implemented at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval; Quebec; Canada. Here, we present the protocol of the C-MOnGene (Collaborative Model in OncoGenetics) study, funded to examine the context in which the model was implemented and document the lessons that can be learned to optimize the delivery of oncogenetic services. Within three years of implementation, the model allowed researchers to double the annual number of patients seen in genetic counseling. The average number of days between genetic counseling and disclosure of test results significantly decreased. Group counseling sessions improved participants' understanding of breast cancer risk and increased knowledge of breast cancer and genetics and a large majority of them reported to be overwhelmingly satisfied with the process. These quality and performance indicators suggest this oncogenetic model offers a flexible, patient-centered and efficient genetic counseling and testing for HBOC. By identifying the critical facilitating factors and barriers, our study will provide an evidence base for organizations interested in transitioning to an oncogenetic model integrated into oncology care; including teams that are not specialized but are trained in genetics

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements