An ethnographic investigation of maternity healthcare experience of immigrants in rural and urban Alberta, Canada

Background: Canada is among the top immigrant-receiving nations in the world. Immigrant populations may face structural and individual barriers in the access to and navigation of healthcare services in a new country. The aims of the study were to (1) generate new understanding of the processes that perpetuate immigrant disadvantages in maternity healthcare, and (2) devise potential interventions that might improve maternity experiences and outcomes for immigrant women in Canada. Methods: The study utilized a qualitative research approach that focused on ethnographic research design and data analysis contextualized within theories of organizational behaviour and critical realism. Data were collected over 2.5 years using focus groups and in-depth semistructured interviews with immigrant women (n = 34), healthcare providers (n = 29), and social service providers (n = 23) in a Canadian province. Purposive samples of each subgroup were generated, and recruitment and data collection – including interpretation and verification of translations – were facilitated through the hiring of community researchers and collaborations with key informants. Results: The findings indicate that (a) communication difficulties, (b) lack of information, (c) lack of social support (isolation), (d) cultural beliefs, e) inadequate healthcare services, and (f) cost of medicine/services represent potential barriers to the access to and navigation of maternity services by immigrant women in Canada. Having successfully accessed and navigated services, immigrant women often face additional challenges that influence their level of satisfaction and quality of care, such as lack of understanding of the informed consent process, lack of regard by professionals for confidential patient information, short consultation times, short hospital stays, perceived discrimination/stereotyping, and culture shock. Conclusions: Although health service organizations and policies strive for universality and equality in service provision, personal and organizational barriers can limit care access, adequacy, and acceptability for immigrant women. A holistic healthcare approach must include health informational packages available in different languages/media. Health care professionals who care for diverse populations must be provided with training in cultural competence, and monitoring and evaluation programs to ameliorate personal and systemic discrimination

Constrained pre-equalization accounting for multi-path fading emulated using large RC networks: applications to wireless and photonics communications

Multi-path propagation is modelled assuming a multi-layer RC network with randomly allocated resistors and capacitors to represent the transmission medium. Due to frequency-selective attenuation, the waveforms associated with each propagation path incur path-dependent distortion. A pre-equalization procedure that takes into account the capabilities of the transmission source as well as the transmission properties of the medium is developed. The problem is cast within a Mixed Integer Linear Programming optimization framework that uses the developed nominal RC network model, with the excitation waveform customized to optimize signal fidelity from the transmitter to the receiver. The objective is to match a Gaussian pulse input accounting for frequency regions where there would be pronounced fading. Simulations are carried out with different network realizations in order to evaluate the sensitivity of the solution with respect to changes in the transmission medium mimicking the multi-path propagation. The proposed approach is of relevance where equalization techniques are difficult to implement. Applications are discussed within the context of emergent communication modalities across the EM spectrum such as light percolation as well as emergent indoor communications assuming various modulation protocols or UWB schemes as well as within the context of space division multiplexing

A new measurement of the K ± → π ±γγ decay at the NA48/2 experiment

The NA48/2 experiment at CERN collected two data samples with minimum bias trigger conditions in 2003 and 2004. A measurement of the rate and dynamic properties of the rare decay $K^\pm\to\pi^\pm\gamma\gamma$ from these data sets based on 149 decay candidates with an estimated background of $15.5\pm0.7$ events is reported. The model-independent branching ratio in the kinematic range $z=(m_{\gamma\gamma}/m_K)^2>0.2$ is measured to be ${\cal B}_{\rm MI}(z>0.2) = (0.877 \pm 0.089) \times 10^{-6}$, and the branching ratio in the full kinematic range assuming a particular Chiral Perturbation Theory description to be ${\cal B}(K_{\pi\gamma\gamma}) = (0.910 \pm 0.075) \times 10^{-6}$

Precise tests of low energy QCD from Ke4 decay properties

We report results from the analysis of the K\ub1 \u2192 pi+ pi 12 e\ub1 \u3bd (Ke4 ) decay by the NA48/2 collaboration at the CERN SPS, based on the total statistics of 1.13 million decays collected in 2003\u20132004. The hadronic form factors in the S- and P-wave and their variation with energy are obtained. The phase difference between the S- and P-wave states of the pion pion system is accurately measured and allows a precise determination of a00 and a02 , the I = 0 and I = 2 S-wave pion pion scattering lengths: a00 = 0.2220 \ub1 0.0128stat \ub1 0.0050syst \ub1 0.0037th , a02 = 120.0432 \ub1 0.0086stat \ub1 0.0034syst \ub1 0.0028th . Combination of this result with the other NA48/2 measurement obtained in the study of K\ub1 \u2192 pi0 pi0 pi\ub1 decays brings an improved determination of a00 and the first precise experimental measurement of a02, providing a stringent test ofChiral Perturbation Theory predictions and lattice QCD calculations. Using constraints based on analyticity and chiral symmetry, even more precise values are obtained: a00 = 0.2196 \ub1 0.0028stat \ub1 0.0020syst and a02 = 120.0444 \ub10.0007stat \ub1 0.0005syst \ub1 0.0008ChPT

Search for the dark photon in pi0 decays

Abstract A sample of 1.69 7 10 7 fully reconstructed \u3c0 0 \u2192 \u3b3 e + e 12 decay candidates collected by the NA48/2 experiment at \{CERN\} in 2003\u20132004 is analyzed to search for the dark photon ( A \u2032 ) production in the \u3c0 0 \u2192 \u3b3 A \u2032 decay followed by the prompt A \u2032 \u2192 e + e 12 decay. No signal is observed, and an exclusion region in the plane of the dark photon mass m A \u2032 and mixing parameter \u3b5 2 is established. The obtained upper limits on \u3b5 2 are more stringent than the previous limits in the mass range 9 \ua0 MeV / c 2 < m A \u2032 < 70 \ua0 MeV / c 2 . The NA48/2 sensitivity to the dark photon production in the K \ub1 \u2192 \u3c0 \ub1 A \u2032 decay is also evaluated

Identification and manipulation of tumor associated macrophages in human cancers

Evading immune destruction and tumor promoting inflammation are important hallmarks in the development of cancer. Macrophages are present in most human tumors and are often associated with bad prognosis. Tumor associated macrophages come in many functional flavors ranging from what is known as classically activated macrophages (M1) associated with acute inflammation and T-cell immunity to immune suppressive macrophages (M2) associated with the promotion of tumor growth. The role of these functionally different myeloid cells is extensively studied in mice tumor models but dissimilarities in markers and receptors make the direct translation to human cancer difficult. This review focuses on recent reports discriminating the type of infiltrating macrophages in human tumors and the environmental cues present that steer their differentiation. Finally, immunotherapeutic approaches to interfere in this process are discussed

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field