Designing a Mobile App for Individuals Recovering from an Opioid Addiction

Opioid use disorder is a growing issue and is associated with an increased risk of fatal overdose. A mobile application built upon user interviews and the evidence-based Community Reinforcement Model has the potential to decrease fatal overdoses and improve the recovery process. We conducted semi-structured interviews at a local methadone clinic to determine the user journey and technological opportunities. Based on existing models for substance abuse treatment and results of user interviews, we designed a mobile health application. This poster presents the journey of individuals recovering from an opioid addiction and main features of the mobile health application. The application is intended to be used in conjunction with local methadone clinics and health professionals. Further testing must be conducted to determine usability of current design.Informatio

Temple Mount Loyalists Society v. Police Commander of the Jerusalem Region

The petition concerned the Respondent’s refusal to permit the Petitioners to pray beside the western entrance to the Temple Mount (the Mughrabi Gate) on Jerusalem Day, out of concern that conducting prayer at that particular site would lead to a breach of public order. The High Court of Justice held: A. (1) The right to assemble and demonstrate is a basic human right in Israel. It is not an absolute right, but rather a relative right, and when it comes into conflict with other rights or interests, it must, at times, retreat in accordance with an appropriate balancing formula. (2) The appropriate balancing formula between the right to assemble and demonstrate, on one hand, and public safety, on the other, is that of “near certainty”. If harm to public safety in the form of physical injury to the assembled and the demonstrators is nearly certain, that probability is sufficient to justify the denial or restriction of the right to assemble and demonstrate. That is not the case when the harm to public safety is of a lesser degree of probability. B. (1) Every person in Israel enjoys freedom of conscience, belief, religion and worship as one of the fundamentals upon which the State of Israel is founded. (2) That freedom is partly anchored in sec. 83 of the Palestine Order in Council, 1922, while the other part constitutes one of the unwritten basic rights. By virtue of these laws – and in accordance with what is stated in the Declaration of Independence – every law and every power will be construed as recognizing freedom of conscience, belief, religion and worship. (3) Freedom of conscience, belief, religion and worship is a relative freedom that must be balanced against other rights and interests that are also worthy of protection, such as the right to property, both private and public, and freedom of movement. One of the interests that must be considered is that of public order and safety. (4) Freedom of conscience, belief, religion and worship is limited and classified to the extent required and necessary for the protection of public order and safety. Before taking any action that might infringe or restrict this right due to harm to public safety, it is proper that the police adopt every reasonable means at its disposal in order to prevent the harm to public safety without infringing the right to freedom of conscience, belief, religion and worship. C. (1) Even in circumstances in which it is possible to show a concern for public safety, but where actual harm to public safety cannot be proven as a certainty, the police must adopt all the reasonable measures, subject to its abilities, in order to remove or mitigate the said concern. The police must not be deterred by violent elements that seek to harm the realizing of human rights, and a hostile crowd should not be granted a veto over the exercise of basic legal rights. (2) Protecting freedom of conscience, belief, religion and worship is the duty of the police, but not its only duty. It must also protect other freedoms, as well as the freedom of conscience and religion of other people. D. (1) The influence of a threat to public safety upon the exercise of a basic constitutional right is not particular to freedom of conscience and religion. It is common to that right and similar rights, such as freedom of expression and the freedom to assemble and to demonstrate. (2) The principle is that freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the right to demonstrate must retreat before considerations of public safety only when the probability for harm to public safety is at the level of “near certainty”. It is proper that the “near certainty” test should also serve to establish the balancing formula between freedom of conscience, belief, religion and worship, on the one hand, and public safety on the other. Thus, similar rights will receive similar protection. E. (1) The Petitioners do not have a vested right to pray at the Mughrabi Gate under all circumstances and at any price. They have a right to pray at the Mughrabi Gate as long as that prayer will not create a nearly certain danger of harm to public safety. Such a danger does not exist under the circumstances of this matter. (2) The police must – in the framework of the forces at its disposal – also prepare to confront threats that are not nearly certain. The Respondent must examine the situation as it changes, and if it finds that holding prayer services at the Mughrabi Gate creates a new danger that was not previously present, it has the power to take new action

Effects of Corneal Transplant on Rates of Retinal Detachment

Introduction: Corneal transplant remains the gold standard treatment for irreversible corneal damage. The purpose of this study is to evaluate retinal detachment rates and clinical outcomes after penetrating keratoplasty (PK) and endothelial keratoplasty (EK). We hypothesized that corneal transplants would increase the rate of RD. Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized corneal transplant data from all surgical visits from PK or EK between April 1, 2012 and August 31, 2018. Individual charts were reviewed from patients who had a subsequent retinal detachment. Incidence of retinal detachment following PK or EK was the main outcome measured. Results: A total of 1,676 PKs and 2,292 EKs were performed for 3,069 patients during the study period. Fifty-four cases of retinal detachment occurred during the study period; forty-two cases occurred after PK and twelve cases occurred after EK. The rate of retinal detachment after EK (11 of 2,292; 0.5%) was significantly lower than that after PK (43 of 1,676; 2.6%) (p = 0.01). Additionally, the odds of developing retinal detachment after PK or EK performed in conjunction with anterior or pars plana vitrectomy were significantly higher than after either PK or EK alone (OR: 8.66; 95% CI: 2.98-25.18; p \u3c 0.001). Discussion: Overall rates of retinal detachment for individuals receiving either PK or EK were low. Rates of retinal detachment were significantly lower for EK compared to PK. These results support our hypothesis and can help patients make informed decisions on their surgical options and associated risks

Mechanism of Reovirus Double-Stranded Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis In Vivo and In Vitro

The complementary strands of reovirus double-stranded ribonucleic acid (ds RNA) are synthesized sequentially in vivo and in vitro. In both cases, preformed plus strands serve as templates for the synthesis of the complementary minus strands. The in vitro synthesis of dsRNA is catalyzed by a large particulate fraction from reovirus-infected cells. Treatment of this fraction with chymotrypsin or with detergents which solubilize cellular membranes does not alter its capacity to synthesize dsRNA. The enzyme or enzymes responsible for dsRNA synthesis remain sedimentable at 10,000 × g after these enzyme or detergent treatments, indicating their particulate nature. Pretreatment of this fraction with ribonuclease, however, abolishes its ability to catalyze dsRNA synthesis, emphasizing the single-stranded nature of the template and its location in a structure permeable to ribonuclease. In contrast, the newly formed dsRNA is resistant to ribonuclease digestion at low salt concentrations and hence is thought to reside within a ribonuclease-impermeable structure

Five hundred years of anthropogenic mercury: spatial and temporal release profiles

When released to the biosphere, mercury (Hg) is very mobile and can take millennia to be returned to a secure, long-term repository. Understanding where and when Hg was released as a result of human activities allows better quantification of present-day reemissions and future trajectories of environmental concentrations. In this work, we estimate the time-varying releases of Hg in seven world regions over the 500 year period, 1510–2010. By our estimation, this comprises 95% of all-time anthropogenic releases. Globally, 1.47 Tg of Hg were released in this period, 23% directly to the atmosphere and 77% to land and water bodies. Cumulative releases have been largest in Europe (427 Gg) and North America (413 Gg). In some world regions (Africa/Middle East and Oceania), almost all (>99%) of the Hg is relatively recent (emitted since 1850), whereas in South America it is mostly of older vintage (63% emitted before 1850). Asia was the greatest-emitting region in 2010, while releases in Europe and North America have declined since the 1970s, as recognition of the risks posed by Hg have led to its phase-out in commercial usage. The continued use of Hg in artisanal and small-scale gold mining means that the Africa/Middle East region is now a major contributor. We estimate that 72% of cumulative Hg emissions to air has been in the form of elemental mercury (Hg0), which has a long lifetime in the atmosphere and can therefore be transported long distances. Our results show that 83% of the total Hg has been released to local water bodies, onto land, or quickly deposited from the air in divalent (HgII) form. Regionally, this value ranges from 77% in Africa/Middle East and Oceania to 89% in South America. Results from global biogeochemical modeling indicate improved agreement of the refined emission estimates in this study with archival records of Hg accumulation in estuarine and deep ocean sediment

An Exploratory Examination of Delay Discounting in Women and Girls Diagnosed With an Eating Disorder

Those with eating disorders (ED) characterized by purging behaviors tend to show more impulsivity than those diagnosed with restrictive eating, who tend to show more compulsivity. Impulsive choice (i.e., a type of impulsivity) is a common factor among eating disorders that is less understood. Delay discounting is a measure of choice impulsivity, examining the decrease in value of delayed outcomes. In this exploratory study, we examined associations between eating disorder type, age and delay discounting among patients at a residential ED treatment center (N = 178). Our findings showed that those diagnosed with bulimia nervosa had higher delay discounting (i.e., more impulsivity) at intake compared to anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other eating types but there were no significant differences. Those diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, as well as those with ARFID and unspecified ED showed a preference for delayed rewards at discharge, but there were no significant differences among ED types. Moderation analyses showed that age, ED type, nor the interaction did not significantly predict delay discounting at intake or discharge. To conclude, those with bulimia nervosa demonstrate less impulsive choice at discharge from a residential ED treatment center. However, additional research is needed given the variability of sample sizes in this study

Scholarly activity as a selection criterion in the Canadian Residency Matching Service (CaRMS): A review of published criteria by internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics programs

Background: Undergraduate medical students seek as much information as possible as to how residency programs select candidates.  The Canadian Residency Matching Service (CaRMS) website is one of their primary sources of information. Students may be more competitive in the match if they know whether scholarly activity is used in the selection process by their preferred programs, as described on the CaRMS website.. Methods: For all 17 Canadian faculties of medicine, 2019 R1 entry internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics program descriptions were reviewed on the CaRMS website looking for keywords related to scholarly activity. Results: Forty-one percent of family medicine, 65% of internal medicine and 71% of pediatric programs explicitly stated having interest in applicants with scholarly experience. In Western Canada, 80% of internal medicine and 60% of pediatrics programs included scholarly activity in their CaRMS description of criteria considered in ranking applications. Similarly, in Ontario, 66% of internal medicine and 83% of pediatrics programs mentioned scholarly activity as a valuable quality. In Quebec 100% of family medicine and 50% of pediatrics programs include scholarly activity in their descriptions. Pediatrics and internal medicine programs (100%) in Atlantic Canada mentioned scholarly activities but neither of the two Atlantic Canada internal medicine programs mentioned scholarly activities. Conclusion: Undergraduate medical students can use this project to prioritize extracurricular activities and scholarly work to be competitive for application to family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics residency programs. &nbsp

Projects in Geospatial Data Analysis: Spring 2015

This document contains semester projects for students in CSCI 4380/7000 Geospatial Data Analysis (GSA). The course explores the technical aspects of programmatic geospatial data analysis with a focus on GIS concepts, custom GIS programming, analytical and statistical methods, and open source tools and frameworks