Beyond Persistence: Increasing the Representation of Women Faculty and Leaders in Academic Surgery

In demanding tripartite roles, faculty at Academic Health Sciences Centres provide surgeon training and patient care, while seeking discovery through research and innovation. The persistent imbalance of women in academic surgery has been empirically evident and an intense topic of discussion for decades, yet solutions remain elusive. There has been increasing analysis and scrutiny of the factors affecting women in this domain, while highlighting the disconnect between the current state and our affirmed belief in gender equity in both education and medicine. My Organizational Improvement Plan is focussed on the recognition and resolution of barriers and biases impeding the appointment and promotion of women into faculty and leadership positions in the Department of Surgery at an Ontario University. It will explore the literature; outline theoretical underpinnings (critical theory, feminist theory, social cognition theory); and provide insight into the realm of implicit bias. It will engage authentic and transformative leadership and propose the use of appreciative inquiry as a change implementation framework for an integrated solution. This scholarly work aligns with an overriding public sentiment advocating for change of a social justice nature. Although my doctoral work is limited in scope to women in academic surgery for manageability reasons, it has the potential for scaling and broader application to address inequities that continue to exist for all equity-deserving groups. This is more than the right thing to do. We have a responsibility and obligation in health care and education to pursue equity and social justice

Treatment with EUK-134 Enhance Anabolic Akt/mTOR/p70S6kinase Pathways, Protecting Against Muscle Atrophy in the Rat Soleus in a 7 Day Hindlimb Unloading

Muscle atrophy occurs with mechanical unloading, disease and aging. Mechanical unloading occurs with bedrest, microgravity, and casting/immobilization, all of which elicit the unloading-induced phenotype: (a) reduction of muscle fiber cross-section area (CSA) and (b) a shift from slow-twitch to fast-twitch muscle fibers. Unloading-induces muscle fiber atrophy appears to be a consequence of both decrease in contractile protein synthesis combined with increased protein catabolism. Oxidative stress has been cited as potential contributing factor to the unloading phenotype, although the mechanisms remain unresolved and controversial. We recently reported that a superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetic (EUK-134) reduced muscle atrophy, fiber-type shift, and pro-catabolic signaling. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that EUK-134 would attenuate loss in a canonical, pro-anabolic signaling pathway involving phosphorylation of Akt, mTOR, and p70S6K and would ameliorate muscle fiber atrophy after seven-days hindlimb unloading. Male Fisher-344 rats were divided into three groups: ambulatory control group (CON, N=11), 7 days of hindlimb unloading plus saline injections (HU, n=11), or 7 days of hindlimb unloading plus 3 mg/kg/day EUK-134 (HU-EUK, n=9). The soleus muscles from both hindlimbs were dissected for histochemistry and immunoflorescence analyses. The soleus muscle of the HU group exhibited a decrease in CSA compared to the CON group, while soleus muscle fiber CSA from HU-EUK group was greater than the HU group, but lower than CON. Furthermore, the HU group displayed a partial shift from slow-twitch to fast-twitch, an effect attenuated by EUK-134. The ratio of phosphorylated Akt to total Akt was significant lower in the HU group compared to the CON group. However, the p-Akt/Akt was significantly higher in the HU-EUK group vs. HU group, but lower than the CON. The ratio of phosphorylated m-TOR to total m-TOR from the HU group was not different than controls. However, the ratio of p-mTOR/mTOR was a significantly higher in the EUK group compared to the CON group. Moreover, the HU group displayed a decrease in phosphorylation of p70S6Kinase, while but treatment with EUK-134 enhanced phosphorylation of p70S6Kinase. Therefore, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that EUK-134 protects anabolic signaling in the unloaded rat soleus

Análise dos Alertas Sobre os Dispositivos Médicos Emitidos pela Agência Portuguesa do Medicamento: Delineando o Propósito de Novas Recomendações Regulatórias

Introduction: Medical devices are healthcare technologies with a significantly growing market worldwide. This study aims to analyze medical device alerts issued by the Portuguese Medicines Agency, INFARMED, I.P. during 2017, as well as to identify the respective regulatory actions and to suggest additional recommendations. Material and Methods: All alerts on medical device alerts publicly available in the website of INFARMED, I.P. were identified and analyzed, including actions taken. Additionally, reports on medical devices from the Portuguese national competent authorities were compared with reports from other European Union member states such as Germany. Results: A total of 32 safety alerts were identified: 18 (56%) related with devices without identified records of commercialization in Portugal, six (19%) related with devices voluntarily withdrawn from the market, such as counterfeit products, and eight (25%) categorized as ‘other’. In both Portugal and Germany, 0.28 and 4.53 reports of national competent authorities per million inhabitants were identified, respectively. Diverse regulatory actions were taken, such as six compulsory indications to not acquire or use devices. Discussion: Considering that the European Union is an open market where citizens should have equal access to medical devices, the Portuguese system of medical device safety alerts seems to be functioning normally. The identified safety alerts seemed relevant, with Portugal registering a proportionally slightly lower number of alerts when compared with higher sales volume markets, which may be explained by an underreporting of this type of problems. Further studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results, although the development of databases comprising data on patients using medical devices is recommended in order to generate automatic email and text message alerts. Conclusion: A limited number of safety alerts on medical devices was identified in Portugal, with few reported cases of counterfeit or falsified devices. The Portuguese Medicines Agency contributes to the citizens’ access to quality medical devices, by issuing safety alerts, recommendations and mandatory market withdrawals for unsuitable or unsafe medical devices.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) project UID/DTP/04567/2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Serving for a Better World : Selected Proceedings of the 2012 Michigan Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference

https://commons.emich.edu/mitesol/1002/thumbnail.jp

The Indirect Effects of Cultural Values on Ethical Decision Making via Utilitarian Ethical Orientation

We examined whether utilitarian ethical orientation mediates the relationships between three cultural values, long-term orientation, activity orientation, and universalism, and ethical decision making (EDM). To understand their role as antecedents to EDM, cultural values were examined at the individual level of analysis. Results indicated that act and rule utilitarian orientations significantly mediated the effects of universalism on EDM. When coupled with act utilitarian orientation, universalism accounted for 50% of the variability in ethical decisions compared to only 30% when coupled with rule utilitarian orientation. Implications for management practices and business ethics in multicultural and international corporations are discussed

\u3ci\u3eTransforming Learning: Teaching & Advocacy\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eESL at the Crossroads\u3c/i\u3e: Selected Proceedings of Both the 2009 and 2010 Michigan Teachers of English Speakers of Other Languages Conferences Grand Rapids,Michigan, October 9-10, 2009 and Ypsilanti, Michigan, October 1-2, 2010

https://commons.emich.edu/mitesol/1000/thumbnail.jp

Taming the Social Network Jungle: From Web 2.0 to Social Media

The authors explore various Web 2.0, social media as well as communication networks developments. Web 2.0 is defined and viewed as a paradigm shift. They examine how the vast amount and huge variety of information on the Web is attempted to be organized, sorted, ordered, tagged and classified. The nature and role of social networking sites are addressed, especially asking how businesses might find a role here. Moreover, the authors ask how one might reach and connect with Web 2.0 customers and what strategy businesses might pursue. Online shopping communities are explored and opportunities for retailers are identified. Lastly, questions and issues are raised about the implementation of Web 2.0 and the bottom line, i.e. an attempt to see what some businesses are doing in this context and how they embrace Web 2.0 technologies and applications. Conclusions highlighting four predictions for the future of social networking and social media are offered