Human Rights and Social Wrongs: Math Problems With Humans : A Personal Response to Phillip Allott

Professor Phillip Allott of Cambridge University delivered seven two-hour lectures on human rights and social wrongs at the first annual Bertha Wilson Visitorship at Dalhousie Law School in September of 1992. Allott described the aim of the lecture series as an effort to discover how one might set about changing the course of history through the application of ideas in the form of law, with a view to reducing the amount of social evils in the world and increasing the sum of human happiness. Allott began the lecture series by describing two recent events that exemplify the social evil present in our world. The first is the story of a woman whose child is killed by a member of a warring faction in her country and about how she expresses her grief from this tragedy by turning to kill other children in the name of her cause. Allott identified this as the eternal and universal event which represents all wrongs in our society. The second event he described is the creation of a machine for which there is no need or basis in our society – the Sony smell-making machine. The willful blindness to humanity\u27s pressing basic needs and the lack of concern for the consequences of such technological growth represent society\u27s woeful lack of control. Allott stated that all we do as humans is an attempt to integrate three worlds. The natural world is the physical basis of existence and that not within our control. The social world is that created by us in order to survive. Consciousness is that which is unseen and within us. My response to Professor Allott entails a brief presentation of some of the feminist ideas that were missing from his review. My purpose is to show that we can begin to achieve a greater sum of human happiness if we transcend those structures of ideas that currently exclude women, as well as challenge the structure of gender itself

Quality Improvement Initiative Through Staff Development: Using Education to Increase Preoperative Handoff Communication

Abstract Background: Handoff communication is essential for patient safety, especially in the perioperative setting as a critical care environment. Preoperative communication between operating room nurses and preoperative room nurses was suboptimal in a local microsystem as evidenced by pre-intervention data collection where 82% of cases did not participate in handoff, 11% with partial adherence of policy and only 7% in full adherence. The global aim of this project was to improve the handoff communication between the preoperative nurse and operating room nurse in the surgical day center (SDC) within the chosen microsystem to promote patient safety and positive patient outcomes. The specific aim of this quality improvement project was to achieve 100% adherence with the facility handoff policy during the transition of care from surgical day center to the operating room by July 26, 2022. Methods: To develop and pursue a quality improvement initiative in this setting, the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework was utilized. A 5P assessment was performed on the microsystem and preoperative communication was isolated as an important area to improve. As the facility’s policy for handoff communication was already inclusive of best practice initiatives determined by literature review, educational materials were developed in order to promote adherence to the existing policy. Observation of this transition of care event also occurred both prior to and immediately following the distribution of materials. Staff surveys were also developed with the objective of determining the usefulness of the educational modules in the noted changes to adherence. Intervention: A recorded, educational presentation on the current policy of handoff communication was distributed via email by the nurse educator for the microsystem. Results: By July 14, 2022, post intervention data collection showed 52% of cases included handoff communication and 48%. However, other observations made during the time of data collection in addition to the few survey responses indicate that alternative factors may have contributed to the observed improvement. Conclusion: Although improvement was observed which reflects the ability of the microsystem to alter their process to better reflect best practice, there is still an opportunity for improved handoff communication. Increased prioritization of proper handoff communication per agency policy is necessary for sufficient change. By continuing to alter and improve this process, the microsystem can further prioritize patient safety

A Cholecystokinin B Receptor-Specific Aptamer Does Not Activate Receptor Signaling

Targeted nanoparticles which deliver effective doses of chemotherapeutic drugs directly to pancreatic tumors could improve treatment efficacy without the toxicities associated with systemic drug administration. One protein on tumor cells that can be targeted by nanoparticles is a G-protein coupled cell surface receptor, the cholecystokinin B receptor (CCKBR). Previously, we had shown that attaching the CCKBR ligand gastrin to the surface of nanoparticles can enhance their up-take by tumors. The drawback of using gastrin is that it can also activate the receptor, causing tumor cell growth. This study shows that a DNA aptamer that binds to the CCKBR and enhances nanoparticle up-take by tumors does not activate this receptor. PANC-1 cells, a cultured human pancreatic cancer cell line, were treated for 24 h with CCKBR aptamer 1153. Cell lysates were run on Bis-Tris gels, transferred to membranes, blocked in 5% BSA and incubated overnight with primary antibodies, including antibodies directly against phosphorylated-Akt (Ser473), total Akt, and beta-actin, a protein loading control. Although the CCKBR aptamer 1153 is internalized by pancreatic cancer cells in a receptor-mediated fashion, it does not stimulate cell proliferation. Because of this, we anticipate that it will not activate CCKBR signaling. If aptamer 1153 does not activate downstream receptor signaling, our future work will test whether the aptamer could be used to specifically direct drug-containing nanoparticles to tumors, making chemotherapy treatments for pancreatic cancer patients more effective with fewer off-target effects and toxicity

Attachment, Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction Among Survivors of Sexual Trauma

Survivors of sexual trauma often have unresolved attachment status, characterized by fears of abandonment, difficulty trusting others, and challenges establishing and maintaining close relationships (Bailey, Moran, & Pederson, 2007). Further, adolescents who experience sexual relations that are not grounded in a strong relationship experience increased vulnerability to depression and low self-esteem. This poster presentation will address the topic of attachment, sexual self-esteem, and life satisfaction for survivors of sexual trauma

The impact of an assessment toolkit on use of objective measurement tools in stroke rehabilitation.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a toolkit of psychometrically robust measurement tools, the Greater Manchester Assessment for Stroke Rehabilitation (G-MASTER) toolkit, on the use of measurement tools during stroke rehabilitation Design: Mixed methods cohort design using non-participant observation of multi-disciplinary team meetings and semi-structured interviews with members of the team over three months before and three months after implementation of the assessment toolkit. Development and implementation of the toolkit are also described. Setting: Ten in-patient stroke services in a large UK city. Subjects: Members of the participating multi-disciplinary stroke teams. Results: Before implementation standardised measures were seldom used in team meetings. After implementation, use of all measurement tools significantly increased (36% to 81% of occasions, P&lt;0.000). Staff were generally positive about the toolkit and felt it enabled more accurate problem identification, effective progress monitoring, timely decision-making, communication and promoted inter-team relationships. Conclusions: A toolkit of standardised measurement tools can be feasibly and acceptably implemented into stroke rehabilitation. It increases the use of measurement tools by the multi-disciplinary team and improves the processes and quality of care. </jats:sec