File of Uncertainties: Exploring student experience of applying decolonizing knowledge in practice

It is critical that nursing education programs in Canada respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to develop a course about the documented impacts of Indigenous-specific racism on the health outcomes of Indigenous people. Initiatives such as San’yas Anti-racism Indigenous Cultural Safety Education, courses on trauma-informed care, and required Indigenous health and history classes in nursing programs are providing a solid beginning. However, the effectiveness of this education requires interrogation. This mixed methods study aimed to identify barriers and supports to incorporating decolonizing and antiracist knowledge into nursing practice with Indigenous patients/clients. Fourth-year nursing students at a Canadian university who had completed a core course on the impacts of colonization and Indigenous-specific racism on Indigenous health and wellness in Canada were surveyed to explore their experience of applying this knowledge during their clinical rotations. Sixteen participants responded to an anonymous online survey consisting of three short-answer open-ended questions and six Likert-style questions about their experiences. The emergent narrative themes and Likert-scale data indicate that although the students valued the information provided in the class, they continued to feel cultural tension and uncertainty when caring for Indigenous clients. Prominent areas of uncertainty included applying knowledge to practice, student confidence in disrupting racist treatment of Indigenous patients by their healthcare colleagues and knowing how to approach sensitive client situations to avoid re-traumatization. This article discusses the study’s implications and identifies areas for future research. Résumé Il est essentiel que les programmes de formation en sciences infirmières au Canada répondent à l’appel de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation pour élaborer un cours traitant des impacts documentés du racisme spécifique aux Autochtones sur les résultats pour la santé des Peuples Autochtones. Des initiatives telles que San’yas Anti-Racism Indigenous Cultural Safety Education, des cours sur les soins tenant compte des traumatismes ainsi que des cours obligatoires sur la santé et l’histoire des Autochtones dans les programmes de sciences infirmières, constituent un bon point de départ. Cependant, l’efficacité de cette formation demande à être questionnée. Cette étude à méthodes mixtes visait à identifier les obstacles et les facteurs favorisant l’intégration des connaissances décolonisatrices et antiracistes dans la pratique infirmière avec les patients/clients autochtones. Des étudiantes en sciences infirmières de quatrième année d’une université canadienne qui avaient suivi un cours de base sur les impacts de la colonisation et du racisme spécifique aux Autochtones sur la santé et le bien-être des Autochtones au Canada ont participé à un sondage visant à explorer leur expérience d’application de ces connaissances lors de leurs stages cliniques. Seize participantes ont répondu au sondage anonyme en ligne composé de trois questions ouvertes à réponses courtes et de six questions de style Likert sur leurs expériences. Les thèmes narratifs émergents et les données de l’échelle de Likert indiquent que même si les étudiantes appréciaient les informations fournies en classe, elles continuaient à ressentir des tensions culturelles et de l’incertitude lorsqu’elles prodiguaient des soins à des clients autochtones. Les principaux domaines d’incertitude comprenaient l’application des connaissances à la pratique, la confiance des étudiantes à interrompre un comportement raciste à l’endroit de patients autochtones par leurs collègues et le fait de savoir comment aborder les situations sensibles des clients pour éviter un nouveau traumatisme. Cet article discute des implications de l’étude et identifie les domaines de recherche future

312-fs pulse generation from a passive C-band InAs/InP quantum dot mode-locked laser.

For the first time, we report femtosecond pulses from a passive single-section InAs/InP quantum-dot (QD) mode-locked laser (MLL) with the active length of 456 microm and ridge width of 2.5 microm at the C-band wavelength range. Without any external pulse compression, the transform-limited Gaussian-pulses are generated at the 92 GHz repetition rate with the 312 fs pulse duration, which is the shortest pulse from any directly electric-pumping semiconductor MLLs to our best knowledge. The lasing threshold injection current and external differential quantum efficiency are 17.2 mA and 38%, respectively. We have also investigated the working principles of the proposed QD MLLs

Systematic review of the relationship between 20m shuttle run performance and health indicators among children and youth

Objective This systematic review aimed to summarize research that assessed the associations between 20 m shuttle run test (20mSRT) performance and indicators of physiological, psychosocial and cognitive health among school-aged children and youth. Design Systematic review. Methods Five online databases were used to identify peer-reviewed studies published from 1980 to 2016. Studies were included if they matched these criteria: population (children and youth with a mean age of 5–17 years and/or in Grades 1–12), intervention/exposure (performance on the 20mSRT), and outcomes (health indicators: adiposity, cardiometabolic biomarkers, cognition, mental health, psychosocial health, self-esteem and physical self-perception, quality of life and wellbeing, bone health, musculoskeletal fitness, motor skill development, and injuries and/or harm). Narrative syntheses were applied to describe the results. A lack of homogeneity precluded a meta-analysis approach. Results Overall, 142 studies that determined an association between 20mSRT performance and a health indicator were identified, representing 319,311 children and youth from 32 countries. 20mSRT performance was favourably associated with indicators of adiposity, and some indicators of cardiometabolic, cognitive, and psychosocial health in boys and girls. Fewer studies examined the relationship between 20mSRT performance and measures of quality of life/wellbeing, mental health and motor skill development, and associations were generally inconsistent. The quality of the evidence ranged from very low to moderate across health indicators. Conclusion and Implications These findings support the use of the 20mSRT as a holistic indicator of population health in children and youth

La preuve psychologique devant les tribunaux : barrières communicationnelles et épistémiques = Psychological evidence in court: communicational and epidemic barriers

Le présent article vise à documenter les défis liés à la communication entre décideurs judiciaires et psychologues experts, leurs rôles différents et besoins respectifs de même que les difficultés des psychologues experts à traduire les connaissances en psychologie au profit de meilleures décisions judiciaires. Trois concepts psychologiques seront examinés plus attentivement : la dangerosité, la capacité parentale et le meilleur intérêt de l’enfant. Nous rappellerons les besoins de formation spécialisée à la lumière des défis identifiés ainsi que l’importance d’une utilisation éthique des connaissances dans le domaine de la psychologie pour éclairer les tribunaux. The present article discusses some pitfalls in regards to the communication between legal decision makers and forensic psychologists, their respective roles and needs and the difficulty in translating psychological knowledge in the courtroom. Three psychological concepts will be discussed in greater detail: dangerousness, best interests of the child and parenting capacity. We underline the importance of specialized training in regard to the pitfalls discussed in this article and of an ethical use of the knowledge in psychology to assist the court

A systematic review of compositional data analysis studies examining associations between sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity with health outcomes in adults

This systematic review determined if the composition of time spent in movement behaviours (i.e., sleep, sedentary behaviour (SED), light physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)) is associated with health in adults. Five electronic databases were searched in August 2019. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were peer-reviewed, examined community-dwelling adults, and used compositional data analysis to examine the associations between the composition of time spent in movement behaviours and health outcomes. Eight studies (7 cross-sectional, 1 prospective cohort) of >12 000 unique participants were included. Findings indicated that the 24-h movement behaviour composition was associated with all-cause mortality (1 of 1 analyses), adiposity (4 of 4 analyses), and cardiometabolic biomarkers (8 of 15 analyses). Reallocating time into MVPA from other movement behaviours was associated with favourable changes to most health outcomes and taking time out of SED and reallocating it into other movement behaviours was associated with favourable changes to all-cause mortality. The quality of evidence was very low for all health outcomes. In conclusion, these findings support the notion that the composition of movement across the entire 24-h day matters, and that recommendations for sleep, SED, and physical activity should be combined into a single public health guideline. (PROSPERO registration no.: CRD42019121641.) Novelty The 24-h movement behaviour composition is associated with a variety of health outcomes. Reallocating time into MVPA is favourably associated with health. Reallocating time out of SED is associated with favourable changes to mortality risk

Detection of Hepatitis E virus in swine using real-time RT-PCR

The zoonotic transmtsswn potential of Hepatitis E virus (HEY) is now widely recognized. Swine represents the main animal reservoir for this virus in many countries, including Canada. In recent years, different real-time RT-PCR assays were developed and proposed as reliable and sensitive detection methods. However, the quality of extracted RNA, presence of inhibitors and RN ase contamination of the samples may impact on the detection results obtained with these molecular methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of a sample process control (SPC) within a real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection ofHEV. This TaqMan multiplex assay was afterwards used to evaluate the viral load ofHEV in organs, tissues and excreta of normal pigs at slaughter. HEY RNA was detected in at least one sample from 14 out of the 43 animals tested (32.6 %). HEV was present in lymph nodes (25.6%), bladder (23.3%), liver (20.9%), bile (18.6%), feces (13.9%), tonsils (7.0%) and plasma (2.3%) but was undetected in loins

Rare-earth monosulfides as durable and efficient cold cathodes

In their rocksalt structure, rare-earth monosulfides offer a more stable alternative to alkali metals to attain low or negative electron affinity when deposited on various III-V and II-VI semiconductor surfaces. In this article, we first describe the successful deposition of Lanthanum Monosulfide via pulsed laser deposition on Si and MgO substrates and alumina templates. These thin films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and Kelvin probe measurements. For both LaS/Si and LaS/MgO thin films, the effective work function of the submicron thick thin films was determined to be about 1 eV from field emission measurements using the Scanning Anode Field Emission Microscopy technique. The physical reasons for these highly desirable low work function properties were explained using a patchwork field emission model of the emitting surface. In this model, nanocrystals of low work function materials having a orientation perpendicular to the surface and outcropping it are surrounded by a matrix of amorphous materials with higher work function. To date, LaS thin films have been used successfully as cold cathode emitters with measured emitted current densities as high as 50 A/cm2. Finally, we describe the successful growth of LaS thin films on InP substrates and, more recently, the production of LaS nanoballs and nanoclusters using Pulsed Laser Ablation.Comment: 61 pages, 24 figure

Effects of prenatal exercise on fetal heart rate, umbilical and uterine blood flow: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the influence of acute and chronic prenatal exercise on fetal heart rate (FHR) and umbilical and uterine blood flow metrics. Design Systematic review with random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression. Data sources Online databases were searched up to 6 January 2017. Study eligibility criteria Studies of all designs were included (except case studies) if published in English, Spanish or French, and contained information on the population (pregnant women without contraindication to exercise), intervention (subjective or objective measures of frequency, intensity, duration, volume or type of exercise, alone [“exercise-only”] or in combination with other intervention components [eg, dietary; “exercise + co-intervention”]), comparator (no exercise or different frequency, intensity, duration, volume and type of exercise) and outcomes (FHR, beats per minute (bpm); uterine and umbilical blood flow metrics (systolic:diastolic (S/D) ratio; Pulsatility Index (PI); Resistance Index (RI); blood flow, mL/min; and blood velocity, cm/s)). Results ‘Very low’ to ‘moderate’ quality evidence from 91 unique studies (n=4641 women) were included. Overall, FHR increased during (mean difference (MD)=6.35bpm; 95% CI 2.30 to 10.41, I2=95%, p=0.002) and following acute exercise (MD=4.05; 95% CI 2.98 to 5.12, I2=83%, p\u3c0.00001). The incidence of fetal bradycardia was low at rest and unchanged with acute exercise. There were no significant changes in umbilical or uterine S/D, PI, RI, blood flow or blood velocity during or following acute exercise sessions. Chronic exercise decreased resting FHR and the umbilical artery S/D, PI and RI at rest. Conclusion Acute and chronic prenatal exercise do not adversely impact FHR or uteroplacental blood flow metrics