Impact of a methadone maintenance program on an Aboriginal community: a qualitative study

Abstract: Background: Methadone maintenance treatment programs implemented in Aboriginal communities have proven to be beneficial for the control of opioid addiction and its associated consequences, but the perceptions and opinions of different community members about these programs remain elusive. The goal of this study was to determine the perceptions of members of a First Nation community in New Brunswick, Canada, on the implementation of a methadone maintenance treatment program and its effects on the community. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using semistructured focus group discussions with 3 distinct groups composed of health care professionals and influential community members, patients in the methadone maintenance treatment program and community members at large. Thematic analysis of discussion transcripts was performed. Results: A total of 22 partipants were included in the 3 focus groups. All groups of participants expressed that patients in the program are stigmatized and marginalized. Discussions also revealed widespread misconceptions about the program. Participants associated the program with improvements in community-level outcomes and in parenting abilities of patients, but also with difficulties preserving family unity. Interpretation: Despite being culturally adapted to the community, elements surrounding the methadone maintenance treatment program in this First Nation community appear to be misunderstood and stigmatized. It may be beneficial to provide community education on these programs to assure community buy-in for the successful implementation of harm reduction programs in Aboriginal communities

Powerful winds in high-redshift obscured and red quasars

Quasar-driven outflows must have made their most significant impact on galaxy formation during the epoch when massive galaxies were forming most rapidly. To study the impact of quasar feedback, we conducted rest-frame optical integral field spectrograph (IFS) observations of three extremely red quasars (ERQs) and one type-2 quasar at z = 2–3, obtained with the NIFS and OSIRIS instruments at the Gemini North and W. M. Keck Observatory with the assistance of laser-guided adaptive optics. We use the kinematics and morphologies of the [O III] 5007 Å and H α 6563 Å emission lines redshifted into the near-infrared to gauge the extents, kinetic energies and momentum fluxes of the ionized outflows in the quasars host galaxies. For the ERQs, the galactic-scale outflows are likely driven by radiation pressure in a high column density environment or due to an adiabatic shock. The outflows in the ERQs carry a significant amount of energy ranging from 0.05 to 5  per cent of the quasar’s bolometric luminosity, powerful enough to have a significant impact on the quasar host galaxies. The outflows are resolved on kpc scales, the observed outflow sizes are generally smaller than other ionized outflows observed at high redshift. The high ratio between the momentum flux of the ionized outflow and the photon momentum flux from the quasar accretion disc and high nuclear obscuration makes these ERQs great candidates for transitional objects where the outflows are likely responsible for clearing material in the inner regions of each galaxy, unveiling the quasar accretion disc at optical wavelengths

First results from the JWST Early Release Science Program Q3D: Ionization cone, clumpy star formation and shocks in a z=3z=3 extremely red quasar host

Massive galaxies formed most actively at redshifts $z=1-3$ during the period known as `cosmic noon.' Here we present an emission-line study of an extremely red quasar SDSSJ165202.64+172852.3 host galaxy at $z=2.94$, based on observations with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) integral field unit (IFU) on board JWST. We use standard emission-line diagnostic ratios to map the sources of gas ionization across the host and a swarm of companion galaxies. The quasar dominates the photoionization, but we also discover shock-excited regions orthogonal to the ionization cone and the quasar-driven outflow. These shocks could be merger-induced or -- more likely, given the presence of a powerful galactic-scale quasar outflow -- these are signatures of wide-angle outflows that can reach parts of the galaxy that are not directly illuminated by the quasar. Finally, the kinematically narrow emission associated with the host galaxy presents as a collection of 1 kpc-scale clumps forming stars at a rate of at least 200 $M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. The ISM within these clumps shows high electron densities, reaching up to 3,000 cm$^{-3}$ with metallicities ranging from half to a third solar with a positive metallicity gradient and V band extinctions up to 3 magnitudes. The star formation conditions are far more extreme in these regions than in local star-forming galaxies but consistent with that of massive galaxies at cosmic noon. JWST observations reveal an archetypical rapidly forming massive galaxy undergoing a merger, a clumpy starburst, an episode of obscured near-Eddington quasar activity, and an extremely powerful quasar outflow simultaneously.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

First results from the JWST Early Release Science Program Q3D: The Warm Ionized Gas Outflow in z ~ 1.6 Quasar XID 2028 and its Impact on the Host Galaxy

Quasar feedback may regulate the growth of supermassive black holes, quench coeval star formation, and impact galaxy morphology and the circumgalactic medium. However, direct evidence for quasar feedback in action at the epoch of peak black hole accretion at z ~ 2 remains elusive. A good case in point is the z = 1.6 quasar WISEA J100211.29+013706.7 (XID 2028) where past analyses of the same ground-based data have come to different conclusions. Here we revisit this object with the integral field unit of the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as part of Early Release Science program Q3D. The excellent angular resolution and sensitivity of the JWST data reveal new morphological and kinematic sub-structures in the outflowing gas plume. An analysis of the emission line ratios indicates that photoionization by the central quasar dominates the ionization state of the gas with no obvious sign for a major contribution from hot young stars anywhere in the host galaxy. Rest-frame near-ultraviolet emission aligned along the wide-angle cone of outflowing gas is interpreted as a scattering cone. The outflow has cleared a channel in the dusty host galaxy through which some of the quasar ionizing radiation is able to escape and heat the surrounding interstellar and circumgalactic media. The warm ionized outflow is not powerful enough to impact the host galaxy via mechanical feedback, but radiative feedback by the AGN, aided by the outflow, may help explain the unusually small molecular gas mass fraction in the galaxy host.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Generation of Priority Research Questions to Inform Conservation Policy and Management at a National Level

Integrating knowledge from across the natural and social sciences is necessary to effectively address societal tradeoffs between human use of biological diversity and its preservation. Collaborative processes can change the ways decision makers think about scientific evidence, enhance levels of mutual trust and credibility, and advance the conservation policy discourse. Canada has responsibility for a large fraction of some major ecosystems, such as boreal forests, Arctic tundra, wetlands, and temperate and Arctic oceans. Stressors to biological diversity within these ecosystems arise from activities of the country's resource-based economy, as well as external drivers of environmental change. Effective management is complicated by incongruence between ecological and political boundaries and conflicting perspectives on social and economic goals. Many knowledge gaps about stressors and their management might be reduced through targeted, timely research. We identify 40 questions that, if addressed or answered, would advance research that has a high probability of supporting development of effective policies and management strategies for species, ecosystems, and ecological processes in Canada. A total of 396 candidate questions drawn from natural and social science disciplines were contributed by individuals with diverse organizational affiliations. These were collaboratively winnowed to 40 by our team of collaborators. The questions emphasize understanding ecosystems, the effects and mitigation of climate change, coordinating governance and management efforts across multiple jurisdictions, and examining relations between conservation policy and the social and economic well-being of Aboriginal peoples. The questions we identified provide potential links between evidence from the conservation sciences and formulation of policies for conservation and resource management. Our collaborative process of communication and engagement between scientists and decision makers for generating and prioritizing research questions at a national level could be a model for similar efforts beyond Canada

Extremely red quasars from SDSS, BOSS and WISE: classification of optical spectra

Quasars with extremely red infrared-to-optical colours are an interesting population that can test ideas about quasar evolution as well as orientation, obscuration and geometric effects in the so-called AGN unified model. To identify such a population we match the quasar catalogues of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) to the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to identify quasars with extremely high infrared-to-optical ratios. We identify 65 objects with r(AB)-W4(Vega)>14 mag (i.e., F_nu(22um)/F_nu(r) > ~1000). This sample spans a redshift range of 0.28<z<4.36 and has a bimodal distribution, with peaks at z~0.8 and z~2.5. It includes three z>2.6 objects that are detected in the W4-band but not W1 or W2 (i.e., W1W2-dropouts). The SDSS/BOSS spectra show that the majority of the objects are reddened Type 1 quasars, Type 2 quasars (both at low and high redshift) or objects with deep low-ionization broad absorption lines (BALs) that suppress the observed r-band flux. In addition, we identify a class of Type 1 permitted broad-emission line objects at z~2-3 which are characterized by emission line rest-frame equivalent widths (REWs) of >~150Ang , much larger than those of typical quasars. In particular, 55% (45%) of the non-BAL Type 1s with measurable CIV in our sample have REW(CIV) > 100 (150)Ang, compared to only 5.8% (1.3%) for non-BAL quasars in BOSS. These objects often also have unusual line ratios, such as very high NV/Ly-alpha ratios. These large REWs might be caused by suppressed continuum emission analogous to Type 2 quasars; however, there is no obvious mechanism in standard Unified Models to suppress the continuum without also obscuring the broad emission lines.Comment: 21 pages, 3 tables, 19 figures. Published in MNRAS. Moderate changes from the v

Spectropolarimetry of high-redshift obscured and red quasars

Spectropolarimetry is a powerful technique that has provided critical support for the geometric unification model of local active galactic nuclei. In this paper, we present optical (rest-frame UV) Keck spectropolarimetry of five luminous obscured (Type 2) and extremely red quasars (ERQs) at z~2.5. Three objects reach polarization fractions of >10% in the continuum. We propose a model in which dust scattering is the dominant scattering and polarization mechanism in our targets, though electron scattering cannot be completely excluded. Emission lines are polarized at a lower level than is the continuum. This suggests that the emission-line region exists on similar spatial scales as the scattering region. In three objects we detect an intriguing 90 degree swing in the polarization position angle as a function of line-of-sight velocity in the emission lines of Ly-alpha, CIV and NV. We interpret this phenomenon in the framework of a geometric model with an equatorial dusty scattering region in which the material is outflowing at several thousand km/sec. Emission lines may also be scattered by dust or resonantly. This model explains several salient features of observations by scattering on scales of a few tens of pc. Our observations provide a tantalizing view of the inner region geometry and kinematics of high-redshift obscured and extremely red quasars. Our data and modeling lend strong support for toroidal obscuration and powerful outflows on the scales of the UV emission-line region, in addition to the larger scale outflows inferred previously from the optical emission-line kinematics.Comment: 26 pages, MNRAS, in pres

L’entrée dans la phonétisation de l’écriture : le rôle des interactions sociales

What ways and means children work to progress in the acquisition of literacy ? The authors have builded a specific type of research's situation of writing production : two children are asked to perform the same writing production task together, in order to confront them to writing system principles.De quelle manière s’y prend le jeune enfant pour progresser dans son travail de construction de l’écrit ? Nous avons tenté de nous approcher d’un type de situation de recherche où les locuteurs pourraient interagir : pour cela, une situation de communication graphique amène les enfants à se confronter à plusieurs des principes de notre écriture et à manifester leurs conceptualisations relatives à ces principes. Cette situation est testée sur le moment où le jeune enfant prend conscience des relations entre marques graphiques et unités sonores.Besse Jean-Marie, Montésinos-Gelet Isabelle, Rouzaire Monique, Veilleux-Sourd Nadia. L’entrée dans la phonétisation de l’écriture : le rôle des interactions sociales. In: Les dossiers des sciences de l'éducation, N°1, 1999. Des enfants, des livres et des mots. pp. 69-80

Donor Age and Non-Relapse Mortality: Study of Their Association after HLA-Matched Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome

The purpose of this retrospective study was to study the correlation between donor age (DA) and non-relapse mortality (NRM) and relapse incidence (RI) among patients treated with allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (aHCT) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in a single Canadian center. Data from 125 consecutive patients transplanted with a matched related or unrelated donor between 2015 and 2020 were analyzed using multivariable models. After a median follow-up of 2.8 years, the cumulative incidences of NRM and relapse were 19% and 35% at 5 years. Despite being independently associated with NRM and relapse-free survival (RFS), DA was not associated with RI. The independent determinants of NRM in addition to DA were patient age and hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI), independently of donor kinship. The effect of DA on NRM was found to be significantly increased over the age of 50 years. DA was not associated with incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) but showed an association with the occurrence of chronic GVHD (cGVHD). In conclusion, younger donors should be favored to limit NRM and increase RFS in HLA-matched aHCT. The etiological mechanisms behind the association of DA with higher NRM remain to be elucidated