Analyzing the Effect of Mental Illnesses on the Sentencing Outcomes for Canadian Youth Under the YCJA

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), the Canadian legislation that governs the youth justice system, has numerous provisions that consider the unique needs of youth from all different backgrounds to ensure their sentencing outcomes are based on what is best for the youth. With high rates of young people in the justice system experiencing mental illnesses, among the provisions included in this legislation are specific considerations and guidance for criminal justice officials when a young person who has a mental illness is involved. However, it is unclear whether the guidelines judges are expected to follow achieve the legislation’s aim of reducing sentencing disparities for youth with mental illnesses. Using a dataset of 250 youth court cases, the current study uses multiple regression techniques to examine differences in sentencing outcomes and sentence length for youth with and without mental illnesses. Importantly, individual youth case characteristics (e.g., age, offence seriousness) and judicial factors informed by the YCJA (e.g., rehabilitation, accountability) will be controlled for in the models to determine whether youth with mental illnesses continue to receive disproportionately more severe and longer sentences after controlling for key legal and extralegal factors. If analyses show that youth with mental illnesses continue to receive disproportionately longer and more severe sentences, the findings may suggest that the YCJA, as written, may not effectively reduce overrepresentation of youth with mental illnesses in custodial sentences. Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Stephanie Wiley, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser Universit

Forensic Genealogy: A Tool in DNA Analysis

DNA is the basic unit of which differentiates one individual to the next. Short Tandem Repeats and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms are two locations of DNA that have been the most successful in DNA analysis. Unique DNA profiles can be created so that interpretations can be made about the individual who contributed to the DNA sample. Systems like STRmix are currently being employed to give unbiased assumptions about the DNA profiles. There are several different statistical approaches in assigning probabilities to DNA evidence, likelihood ratio and random match probability are two common approaches. After assumptions are made, comparisons can be made between DNA profiles to find related familial members due to similarities in DNA profiles. Maternal kinship can be considered based on the mitochondrial DNA while paternal kinship is based on the inheritance of the Y chromosome. The Golden State Killer was a famous case that opened the door of applying forensic genetics and consumer genealogy sites to investigations. The future of forensic genealogy is endless, but first policies must be put out in place to protect the privacy of individuals DN

Navigating the Online Tutorial Frontier: From Design to Deployment & Beyond

As we all have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching is a vital part of creating an open future of learning environments in higher education. Asynchronous online information literacy tutorials can engage and support online and face-to-face library users, and the planning and design process can take many forms. Librarians do not have to be instructional designers, have funding, or be accessibility experts to create engaging, online research tutorials. In this session, a panel of academic and online learning librarians from across the country will discuss creating tutorials with a variety of tools, budgets, and timelines. H5P, LibWizard, Articulate, and homegrown systems will be among the tools discussed. Speakers will present on the planning and implementation process of the tutorials, as well as accessibility considerations. Specific accessibility frameworks will be discussed, such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and WCAG 2.0, as well as free tools and checklists librarians can use to test accessibility. Panelists will share a variety of assessment strategies, including using student workers for usability testing, linking to form assessments, web analytics, and user surveys. In an increasingly digital world, it is essential for academic librarians to be able to create effective and engaging asynchronous learning materials to connect patrons with information literacy concepts. Participants will leave this session ready to jump into their online learning future and make quality content without overthinking it

Zoologijos Sodas

50\u27x50\u27 glass house in Palm Springs

DSL ligand endocytosis physically dissociates Notch1 heterodimers before activating proteolysis can occur

Cleavage of Notch by furin is required to generate a mature, cell surface heterodimeric receptor that can be proteolytically activated to release its intracellular domain, which functions in signal transduction. Current models propose that ligand binding to heterodimeric Notch (hNotch) induces a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) proteolytic release of the Notch extracellular domain (NECD), which is subsequently shed and/or endocytosed by DSL ligand cells. We provide evidence for NECD release and internalization by DSL ligand cells, which, surprisingly, did not require ADAM activity. However, losses in either hNotch formation or ligand endocytosis significantly decreased NECD transfer to DSL ligand cells, as well as signaling in Notch cells. Because endocytosis-defective ligands bind hNotch, but do not dissociate it, additional forces beyond those produced through ligand binding must function to disrupt the intramolecular interactions that keep hNotch intact and inactive. Based on our findings, we propose that mechanical forces generated during DSL ligand endocytosis function to physically dissociate hNotch, and that dissociation is a necessary step in Notch activation

All-Cause Mortality in Women With Severe Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders

The postpartum period is associated with a high risk of psychiatric episodes. The authors studied mortality in women with first-onset severe psychiatric disorders following childbirth and compared their mortality rates with those in women from the background population including other female psychiatric patients (mothers and childless women)

The development of a sustainability assessment indicator and its response to management changes as derived from salmon lice dispersal modelling

Aquaculture is providing an increasingly larger proportion of the world’s protein for human consumption; however, its environmental impact is a bottleneck for sustainable expansion. In Norway, the government has enacted a framework where salmon lice-induced mortality in wild salmonid populations is used for assessing the environmental sustainability in production zones. Direct measurements of the level of lice-induced mortality on wild salmonids are difficult to acquire, thus comprehensive sustainability assessments are based on a set of evidence-based proxies. One such proxy is the infestation pressure from a bio-hydrodynamic model, from which we develop an index that summarize the sustainability of aquaculture in terms of lice infestation. This index is based on the proportion of areas with elevated lice loads, and is a novel approach used to investigate how sustainability could be achieved through scenario testing of different management strategies. The analyses identified a mismatch between legal and sustainable lice levels, but also a beneficial effect of reducing lice levels on farms. This study’s approach demonstrated how bio-hydrodynamic models might be used to assess sustainability and to predict the necessary reduction of lice larvae from farms to classify the entire Norwegian aquaculture industry as environmentally sustainable.publishedVersio

How prepared are pharmacists to provide over-the-counter naloxone? The role of previous education and new training opportunities

and Aims: Opioid overdose can be reversed with timely administration of naloxone. In Australia, naloxone was rescheduled from prescription only (S4) to pharmacist only over-the-counter (OTC, S3) in February 2016, increasing access for the general public. A key barrier to naloxone supply by pharmacists is a lack of knowledge, highlighting the role of pharmacist education. Community pharmacists' education, experience, and training preferences related to naloxone provision, overdose, and substance use disorder were examined.Online survey data from a national sample of Australian pharmacists on their educational preferences regarding naloxone and overdose prevention, and prior training on substance use disorder (n = 595) was analyzed using bivariate and multivariate regression analysis. Data from qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews with pharmacists about OTC naloxone provision (n = 21) was analyzed using thematic analysis.Most pharmacists (81%, n = 479) were willing to be trained in opioid overdose prevention, with greater willingness to attend training associated with younger age, being female, fewer years of practice, not having attended previous education on substance use disorder, and higher confidence in issues relating to substance use disorder. Qualitative interviews confirmed community pharmacists' willingness to attend training but analysis revealed low awareness, knowledge, and confidence about naloxone and preventing opioid overdose. Most pharmacists preferred online training or webinars.Most community pharmacists in Australia are willing to attend training on providing naloxone and preventing opioid overdose. There are opportunities to develop and expand the online presence of training, guidelines, and education materials to facilitate the expanded supply of OTC naloxone

Identification of alsterpaullone as a novel small molecule inhibitor to target group 3 medulloblastoma

© Impact Journals, LLC. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Advances in the molecular biology of medulloblastoma revealed four genetically and clinically distinct subgroups. Group 3 medulloblastomas are characterized by frequent amplifications of the oncogene MYC, a high incidence of metastasis, and poor prognosis despite aggressive therapy. We investigated several potential small molecule inhibitors to target Group 3 medulloblastomas based on gene expression data using an in silico drug screen. The Connectivity Map (C-MAP) analysis identified piperlongumine as the top candidate drug for non-WNT medulloblastomas and the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor alsterpaullone as the compound predicted to have specific antitumor activity against Group 3 medulloblastomas. To validate our findings we used these inhibitors against established Group 3 medulloblastoma cell lines. The C-MAP predicted drugs reduced cell proliferation in vitro and increased survival in Group 3 medulloblastoma xenografts. Alsterpaullone had the highest efficacy in Group 3 medulloblastoma cells. Genomic profiling of Group 3 medulloblastoma cells treated with alsterpaullone confirmed inhibition of cell cycle-related genes, and down-regulation of MYC. Our results demonstrate the preclinical efficacy of using a targeted therapy approach for Group 3 medulloblastomas. Specifically, we provide rationale for advancing alsterpaullone as a targeted therapy in Group 3 medulloblastoma.This study was supported by the Canadian Cancer Society (Grant #2011-70051), the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States, the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, Meagan’s Walk, b.r.a.i.n.child and the Wiley Fund at the Hospital for Sick Children.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New Pathogenesis Mechanisms and Translational Leads Identified by Multidimensional Analysis of Necrotizing Myositis in Primates

A fundamental goal of contemporary biomedical research is to understand the molecular basis of disease pathogenesis and exploit this information to develop targeted and more-effective therapies. Necrotizing myositis caused by the bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes is a devastating human infection with a high mortality rate and few successful therapeutic options. We used dual transcrip-tome sequencing (RNA-seq) to analyze the transcriptomes of S. pyogenes and host skeletal muscle recovered contemporaneously from infected nonhuman primates. The in vivo bacterial transcriptome was strikingly remodeled compared to organisms grown in vitro, with significant upregulation of genes contributing to virulence and altered regulation of metabolic genes. The transcriptome of muscle tissue from infected nonhuman primates (NHPs) differed significantly from that of mock-infected animals, due in part to substantial changes in genes contributing to inflammation and host defense processes. We discovered significant positive correlations between group A streptococcus (GAS) virulence factor transcripts and genes involved in the host immune response and inflammation. We also discovered significant correlations between the magnitude of bacterial virulence gene expression in vivo and pathogen fitness, as assessed by previously conducted genome-wide transposon-directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS). By integrating the bacterial RNA-seq data with the fitness data generated by TraDIS, we discovered five new pathogen genes, namely, S. pyogenes 0281 (Spy0281 [dahA]), ihk-irr, slr, isp, and ciaH, that contribute to necrotizing myositis and confirmed these findings using isogenic deletion-mutant strains. Taken together, our study results provide rich new information about the molecular events occurring in severe invasive infection of primate skeletal muscle that has extensive translational research implications. IMPORTANCE Necrotizing myositis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes has high morbidity and mortality rates and relatively few successful therapeutic options. In addition, there is no licensed human S. pyogenes vaccine. To gain enhanced understanding of the molecular basis of this infection, we employed a multidimensional analysis strategy that included dual RNA-seq and other data derived from experimental infection of nonhuman primates. The data were used to target five streptococcal genes for pathogenesis research, resulting in the unambiguous demonstration that these genes contribute to pathogen-host molecular interactions in necrotizing infections. We exploited fitness data derived from a recently conducted genome-wide transposon mutagenesis study to discover significant correlation between the magnitude of bacterial virulence gene expression in vivo and pathogen fitness. Collectively, our findings have significant implications for translational research, potentially including vaccine efforts.Peer reviewe