Indigenous City - Decolonizing and Indigenizing Urban Studies Education

This research project sought to raise and engage with big questions about how Indigenous people around the world are working to transform the municipal systems that have been imposed on their lands, while looking closely at the local context of Vancouver. This means not taking the city at face value, or as a given. It’s a radical questioning of this system as a legitimate form of government imposed on Indigenous people’s lands. The approach is to ask who has authority to make and shape places? By what means did they assume that authority? The courses created here are designed to ask: What are other narratives of Vancouver? What are the consequences of erasure and displacement, and how can we transform that

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Making happyland : the spectacularization and purification of downtown Vancouve

Downtown Vancouver is becoming a spectacular place. Reflecting dominant trends found in many restructuring Canadian cities, its landscape has become increasingly aestheticized, privatized, consumption-based, and regulated. Since the late-1960s, boosters have worked to strengthen Vancouver's position in the international scene by staging it as a world class city, an inviting and exciting destination. To attract desired publics, downtown has been framed as the alluring gateway, the spectacular centre, the glittering jewel of Vancouver. Making this convivial centre—which I call Happyland—has involved remaking and reimaging downtown to 'upgrade' its perceived 'decay'. Like many North American central cities in the 1960s, with the advent of suburbanization and general economic decline, downtown Vancouver's role as the major shopping and entertainment centre of 'respectable' citizens seriously waned. New landscapes took shape as into the marginalizing spaces new publics made their places and inscribed their cultures. Parts of downtown became widely stigmatized as degraded and neglected, as taken over by 'undesirables'. Thus, making Happyland has largely been about 'civilizing' downtown—involving not only dramatic redevelopment, but also heavy marketing and increased policing. I read the remaking of downtown—Robson and Granville Streets in particular—by analyzing the changing landscape, local media, City decisions, place marketing, and the voices of various actors from multiple sources, including personal interviews. While the dominant narrative celebrates an urban renaissance, I argue that downtown is being purified, whereby a tightly scripted order is being fixed in which certain people, cultures, signs are 'out of place' and subjected to increasing levels of regulation. In particular, street youth have been identified as 'pests' who 'spoil' the desired clean, ordered, happy image. I see the demonization of street youth as reflecting wider relations of power. I argue that the narrative of Happyland, the dominant public culture being fixed downtown excludes other narratives, experiences, visions. Street youth narratives—from personal interviews and their own writings in a local 'zine—are testimony of this diversity. I argue that for this city and society to be truly inclusive and livable, as the rhetoric claims, such voices of citizens have to be given space and validity.Arts, Faculty ofGeography, Department ofGraduat

Blanketing the City with Arts and Culture. Below the Radar podcast

In Vancouver, discussions surrounding arts and culture are imperative, especially in relation to continued efforts towards decolonization. Indigenous Arts and Culture Planner for the City of Vancouver Kamala Todd tackles this topic with her work, including her contributions to the new cultural plan: Culture | Shift: Blanketing the city in arts and culture. Kamala previously worked as the Aboriginal Social Planner with the City of Vancouver, and continues her work as a cultural advisor and filmmaker. In this episode, Kamala shares what steps the city has taken, and what more needs to be done, to combat the ever-present consequences of colonization. Keywords: SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, Below the Radar, Am Johal, Kamala Todd, City of Vancouver, Indigenous, Arts and Culture, podcast, fil

Shaping Vancouver 2019: What\u27s Happening to Heritage?

When we think of our city as a whole, it is important that it sustains a strong sense of identity for the diversity of people who live here. One important use of heritage would be to present the multiple layers of stories across the city so that we can experience the areas of Vancouver in a variety of ways. The recent City of Vancouver Arts and Culture Plan proposes actions for the incorporation of new approaches to both intangible and tangible heritage. For the purposes of ongoing cultural vitality, redress and equity, it also proposes integration of intangible heritage into the City’s existing heritage program which up to now has mainly focused on the preservation of buildings. This idea is consistent with best practices in heritage where it is not a standalone silo but approached as a part of culture, integrated into city planning for the purposes of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Our final talk for 2019 will look at the opportunity for how a new City-wide plan might carve out a larger role for heritage and integrate current heritage thinking into a wide range of the City’s social aims. &nbsp

Decolonizing the City: The Future of Indigenous Planning in Vancouver

On September 25, 2019, SFU\u27s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, the PIBC South Coast Chapter and the Vancouver City Planning Commission hosted a panel that explored the work of Indigenous planners in Vancouver. The discussion looked at what it takes to strengthen relations and create new practices and policies with Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, and with urban Indigenous communities, from a City of Vancouver context. Panelists will reflect on what reconciliation means for city planning, how Indigenous Planning in Vancouver has changed over time, and what Indigenous rights means for urban planning today. The panel was moderated by Ginger Gosnell-Myers, Decolonization Strategist, Urban Planner, and Researcher. Our panel consisted of: · Cha\u27an Dtut (Rena Soutar), Reconciliation Planner, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation · Kamala Todd, Indigenous Arts and Culture Planner, City of Vancouver  · Spencer Lindsay, Indigenous Social Planner, City of Vancouver Khelsilem (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw), Spokesperson and elected councillor, Squamish Nation Council, who was our rapporteur. &nbsp

Impaired activation of platelets lacking protein kinase C-θ isoform

Protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms have been implicated in several platelet functional responses, but the contribution of individual isoforms has not been thoroughly evaluated. Novel PKC isoform PKC-θ is activated by glycoprotein VI (GPVI) and protease-activated receptor (PAR) agonists, but not by adenosine diphosphate. In human platelets, PKC-θ–selective antagonistic (RACK; receptor for activated C kinase) peptide significantly inhibited GPVI and PAR-induced aggregation, dense and α-granule secretion at low agonist concentrations. Consistently, in murine platelets lacking PKC-θ, platelet aggregation and secretion were also impaired. PKC-mediated phosphorylation of tSNARE protein syntaxin-4 was strongly reduced in human platelets pretreated with PKC-θ RACK peptide, which may contribute to the lower levels of granule secretion when PKC-θ function is lost. Furthermore, the level of JON/A binding to activated αIIbβ3 receptor was also significantly decreased in PKC-θ−/− mice compared with wild-type littermates. PKC-θ−/− murine platelets showed significantly lower agonist-induced thromboxane A2 (TXA2) release through reduced extracellular signal–regulated kinase phosphorylation. Finally, PKC-θ−/− mice displayed unstable thrombus formation and prolonged arterial occlusion in the FeCl3 in vivo thrombosis model compared with wild-type mice. In conclusion, PKC-θ isoform plays a significant role in platelet functional responses downstream of PAR and GPVI receptors

Integrated molecular and multiparametric MRI mapping of high-grade glioma identifies regional biologic signatures

Abstract Sampling restrictions have hindered the comprehensive study of invasive non-enhancing (NE) high-grade glioma (HGG) cell populations driving tumor progression. Here, we present an integrated multi-omic analysis of spatially matched molecular and multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) profiling across 313 multi-regional tumor biopsies, including 111 from the NE, across 68 HGG patients. Whole exome and RNA sequencing uncover unique genomic alterations to unresectable invasive NE tumor, including subclonal events, which inform genomic models predictive of geographic evolution. Infiltrative NE tumor is alternatively enriched with tumor cells exhibiting neuronal or glycolytic/plurimetabolic cellular states, two principal transcriptomic pathway-based glioma subtypes, which respectively demonstrate abundant private mutations or enrichment in immune cell signatures. These NE phenotypes are non-invasively identified through normalized K2 imaging signatures, which discern cell size heterogeneity on dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC)-MRI. NE tumor populations predicted to display increased cellular proliferation by mean diffusivity (MD) MRI metrics are uniquely associated with EGFR amplification and CDKN2A homozygous deletion. The biophysical mapping of infiltrative HGG potentially enables the clinical recognition of tumor subpopulations with aggressive molecular signatures driving tumor progression, thereby informing precision medicine targeting