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

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

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

Interplay between Affinity and Valency in Effector Cell Degranulation: A Model System with Polcalcin Allergens and Human Patient-Derived IgE Antibodies.

This is the accepted, uncopyedited version of the manuscript. The definitive version was published in The Journal of Immunology August 28, 2019, ji1900509; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1900509Originally published in The Journal of Immunology. Bucaite G, Kang-Pettinger T, Moreira J, et al. Interplay between Affinity and Valency in Effector Cell Degranulation: A Model System with Polcalcin Allergens and Human Patient-Derived IgE Antibodies. J Immunol. 2019;203(7):1693-1700. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1900509 The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.An allergic reaction is rapidly generated when allergens bind and cross-link IgE bound to its receptor FcεRI on effector cells, resulting in cell degranulation and release of proinflammatory mediators. The extent of effector cell activation is linked to allergen affinity, oligomeric state, valency, and spacing of IgE-binding epitopes on the allergen. Whereas most of these observations come from studies using synthetic allergens, in this study we have used Timothy grass pollen allergen Phl p 7 and birch pollen allergen Bet v 4 to study these effects. Despite the high homology of these polcalcin family allergens, Phl p 7 and Bet v 4 display different binding characteristics toward two human patient-derived polcalcin-specific IgE Abs. We have used native polcalcin dimers and engineered multimeric allergens to test the effects of affinity and oligomeric state on IgE binding and effector cell activation. Our results indicate that polcalcin multimers are required to stimulate high levels of effector cell degranulation when using the humanized RBL-SX38 cell model and that multivalency can overcome the need for high-affinity interactions.This work was supported by Medical Research Council Grant G1100090. G.B. was supported by a studentship from the King’s Bioscience Institute and by the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Charity Prize Ph.D. Program in Biomedical and Translational Science. We acknowledge the support of the Centre for Biomolecular Spectroscopy, King’s College London, established with a Capital Award from the Wellcome Trust (Grant 085944)

Biological processes and links to the physics

Analysis of the temporal and spatial variability of biological processes and identification of the main variables that drive the dynamic regime of marine ecosystems is complex. Correlation between physical variables and long-term changes in ecosystems has routinely been identified, but the specific mechanisms involved remain often unclear. Reasons for this could be various: the ecosystem can be very sensitive to the seasonal timing of the anomalous physical forcing; the ecosystem can be contemporaneously influenced by many physical variables and the ecosystem can generate intrinsic variability on climate time scales. Marine ecosystems are influenced by a variety of physical factors, e.g., light, temperature, transport, turbulence. Temperature has a fundamental forcing function in biology, with direct influences on rate processes of organisms and on the distribution of mobile species that have preferred temperature ranges. Light and transport also affect the physiology and distribution of marine organisms. Small-scale turbulence determines encounter between larval fish and their prey and additionally influences the probability of successful pursuit and ingestion. The impact of physical forcing variations on biological processes is studied through long-term observations, process studies, laboratory experiments, retrospective analysis of existing data sets and modelling. This manuscript reviews the diversity of physical influences on biological processes, marine organisms and ecosystems and their variety of responses to physical forcing with special emphasis on the dynamics of zooplankton and fish stocks