Hamilton is a city of dichotomies. Its dense inner-city and sprawling suburbia constitute a unique microcosm of larger, global wealth inequalities. The entrenchment of poverty has rippling effects on healthcare access and outcomes both within Hamilton and globally, exacerbating discrepancies in the social determinants of health between high-income and low-income populations. Despite having universal healthcare, Canada inadequately addresses healthcare concerns in low-income and homeless populations nationwide and, notably, within Hamilton.
{"title":"Sounding the Alarm: The Code Red Project and Poverty’s Grip on Healthcare","authors":"Florence Deng, Liza Nooristani, Aarani Selvaganesh","doi":"10.15173/m.v1i44.3617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/m.v1i44.3617","url":null,"abstract":"Hamilton is a city of dichotomies. Its dense inner-city and sprawling suburbia constitute a unique microcosm of larger, global wealth inequalities. The entrenchment of poverty has rippling effects on healthcare access and outcomes both within Hamilton and globally, exacerbating discrepancies in the social determinants of health between high-income and low-income populations. Despite having universal healthcare, Canada inadequately addresses healthcare concerns in low-income and homeless populations nationwide and, notably, within Hamilton.","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"58 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140507277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anjana Sudharshan, Breanna Khameraj, David Budincevic, Negar Halabian
Lay summaries exist to bridge the gap that separates the scientific community from the general public. To foster improved science communication, this study examined the overall quality and readability of published lay summaries across peer-reviewed journals. We obtained 200 lay summaries published in four science journals: eLife, PLOS Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), and the Journal of Hepatology. Over 900 students across three semesters participated as raters of each summary using a rubric developed to assess the overall quality, accuracy, and accessibility of lay summaries across these journals. The Flesch Reading Ease formula was used to determine the readability of the highest and lowest scoring summaries from each journal. eLife and the Journal of Hepatology had the highest and lowest mean scores for overall quality of 15.6 and 11.7 out of 20, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in accuracy and accessibility found across all journals (p<0.0001). eLife had the highest scoring lay summary for readability. The differences in and lack of consistent scoring across journals with the rubric indicate that deficits exist in the overall quality and readability of published lay summaries. These findings may support the development of guidelines that incorporate elements of the rubric used to write effective lay summaries.
{"title":"Sharing Science Made Simple: Exploring the Quality and Readability of Published Lay Summaries","authors":"Anjana Sudharshan, Breanna Khameraj, David Budincevic, Negar Halabian","doi":"10.15173/m.v1i44.3621","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/m.v1i44.3621","url":null,"abstract":"Lay summaries exist to bridge the gap that separates the scientific community from the general public. To foster improved science communication, this study examined the overall quality and readability of published lay summaries across peer-reviewed journals. We obtained 200 lay summaries published in four science journals: eLife, PLOS Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), and the Journal of Hepatology. Over 900 students across three semesters participated as raters of each summary using a rubric developed to assess the overall quality, accuracy, and accessibility of lay summaries across these journals. The Flesch Reading Ease formula was used to determine the readability of the highest and lowest scoring summaries from each journal. eLife and the Journal of Hepatology had the highest and lowest mean scores for overall quality of 15.6 and 11.7 out of 20, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in accuracy and accessibility found across all journals (p<0.0001). eLife had the highest scoring lay summary for readability. The differences in and lack of consistent scoring across journals with the rubric indicate that deficits exist in the overall quality and readability of published lay summaries. These findings may support the development of guidelines that incorporate elements of the rubric used to write effective lay summaries. ","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140508158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In 2016, Canada introduced Bill C-14, the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Act, providing an end-of-life care option for a rapidly increasing number of Canadians. MAiD includes active and passive methods, known as voluntary euthanasia – administered by a designated medical professional – and assisted suicide – the provision of medication by a medical professional to self-administer. The House of Commons and Senate passed Bill C-14 following The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Carter v Canada. This case challenged the prohibition of physician-assisted death, decreeing it an infringement on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
{"title":"Ongoing Debate on Medically-Assisted Death in Canada","authors":"Ruhani Khattra, Olivia Kim, Jia Lu","doi":"10.15173/m.v1i44.3619","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/m.v1i44.3619","url":null,"abstract":"In 2016, Canada introduced Bill C-14, the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Act, providing an end-of-life care option for a rapidly increasing number of Canadians. MAiD includes active and passive methods, known as voluntary euthanasia – administered by a designated medical professional – and assisted suicide – the provision of medication by a medical professional to self-administer. The House of Commons and Senate passed Bill C-14 following The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Carter v Canada. This case challenged the prohibition of physician-assisted death, decreeing it an infringement on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140508162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In 2019, nearly 5 million deaths worldwide were attributed to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), underscoring its profound threat to global public health. AMR causes traditional antibiotics to lose effectiveness against bacterial infections due to the emergence of resistant bacteria. Consequently, phage therapy, which employs bacteria viruses to combat bacterial infections, has become a potential solution. Phages can enhance antibiotic sensitivity by targeting bacterial mutants, influencing the evolution of populations and impacting receptors responsible for antibiotic efflux from cells. Despite the advantages, several limitations to the use of bacteriophages exist. Phage-Antibiotic Synergy (PAS) may address these limitations. PAS describes the phenomenon of improved antimicrobial effect caused by stimulated phage replication in the presence of sublethal concentrations of antibiotics. Phage-antibiotic therapy has effectively reduced the emergence of phage-resistant and antibiotic-resistant strains simultaneously.
{"title":"Phage Therapy as an Emerging Antibiotic Alternative","authors":"Riyad Asgarali, Om Thakar, Bob-Shen Yan","doi":"10.15173/m.v1i44.3618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/m.v1i44.3618","url":null,"abstract":" \u0000In 2019, nearly 5 million deaths worldwide were attributed to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), underscoring its profound threat to global public health. AMR causes traditional antibiotics to lose effectiveness against bacterial infections due to the emergence of resistant bacteria. Consequently, phage therapy, which employs bacteria viruses to combat bacterial infections, has become a potential solution. Phages can enhance antibiotic sensitivity by targeting bacterial mutants, influencing the evolution of populations and impacting receptors responsible for antibiotic efflux from cells.\u0000Despite the advantages, several limitations to the use of bacteriophages exist. Phage-Antibiotic Synergy (PAS) may address these limitations. PAS describes the phenomenon of improved antimicrobial effect caused by stimulated phage replication in the presence of sublethal concentrations of antibiotics. Phage-antibiotic therapy has effectively reduced the emergence of phage-resistant and antibiotic-resistant strains simultaneously.","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"31 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140506587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rabies is a lethal zoonotic disease responsible for the deaths of 60,000 people annually. Rabies virus (RABV) is a lyssavirus prototype with a mortality rate of nearly 100% after symptom onset. Following an incubation period of 1-3 months after exposure, hosts develop encephalitis leading to two possible symptomatologies. A clinical presentation of RABV is encephalitic rabies, characterised by hydrophobia, agitation, and hypersalivation. Alternatively, RABV may also present as paralytic rabies, characterised by muscle weakness and paralysis. Both types eventually result in a comatose state followed by death. Despite mass vaccination campaigns in developing nations aiming to reduce infection across mammalian populations, the virus continues to gain prevalence in novel species and geographic areas, proving to be a threat of increasing magnitude.
{"title":"Rabies","authors":"Angela Hong, Anya Kylas","doi":"10.15173/m.v1i44.3615","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/m.v1i44.3615","url":null,"abstract":"Rabies is a lethal zoonotic disease responsible for the deaths of 60,000 people annually. Rabies virus (RABV) is a lyssavirus prototype with a mortality rate of nearly 100% after symptom onset. Following an incubation period of 1-3 months after exposure, hosts develop encephalitis leading to two possible symptomatologies. A clinical presentation of RABV is encephalitic rabies, characterised by hydrophobia, agitation, and hypersalivation. Alternatively, RABV may also present as paralytic rabies, characterised by muscle weakness and paralysis. Both types eventually result in a comatose state followed by death. Despite mass vaccination campaigns in developing nations aiming to reduce infection across mammalian populations, the virus continues to gain prevalence in novel species and geographic areas, proving to be a threat of increasing magnitude.","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140508211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) is an electrode-mediated method of non-invasive electrical stimulation. Its ability to modulate vestibular neuronal activity through electrical currents makes it a coveted diagnostic and therapeutic tool for vestibular and neurodegenerative disorders. Although more robust clinical research is needed before wide-spread implementation, GVS shows promise as a safe, cost-effective, and accessible therapeutic tool for neurological rehabilitation.
{"title":"Currents of Change: Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation","authors":"Parth Arora, Zahra Tauseef","doi":"10.15173/m.v1i44.3616","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/m.v1i44.3616","url":null,"abstract":"Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) is an electrode-mediated method of non-invasive electrical stimulation. Its ability to modulate vestibular neuronal activity through electrical currents makes it a coveted diagnostic and therapeutic tool for vestibular and neurodegenerative disorders.\u0000Although more robust clinical research is needed before wide-spread implementation, GVS shows promise as a safe, cost-effective, and accessible therapeutic tool for neurological rehabilitation.","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"5 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140508331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Perinatal Mental Health in Hamilton and Montreal","authors":"","doi":"10.35493/medu.43.22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35493/medu.43.22","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76314760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
α-GalCer is well-known as an exogenous glycolipid mediator for potent iNKT response. 6,13 α-GalCer(Bf), an α-GalCer compound, is produced at various sites within humans, ABSTRACT Alpha-Galactosylceramide (α-GalCer, KRN7000) is an exogenous glycolipid ligand that is presented by CD1d molecules in antigen-presenting cells (APCs). It activates invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, characterized by semi-invariant T cell receptors (TCRs), which often leads to further downstream activation of the immune system. For example, iNKT cells release cytokines that regulate myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) to promote tumor suppression. This critical review aims to clarify the observed effects of α-GalCer by examining recent studies, ranging from in vitro experiments with mice to in vivo clinical trials with humans. Within the current literature, α-GalCer has demonstrated beneficial effects toward tumour suppression. Most pre-clinical studies evaluating α-GalCer have seen success in suppressing tumour growth and increasing patient lifespan, although clinical trials yield inconclusive results. For example, the use of α-GalCer comes with severe limitations, including the induction of immune cell anergy amongst other unwanted side effects. Future studies and trials will be necessary to evaluate the full potential of α-GalCer. Nonetheless, α-GalCer may be a promising agent in combating cancer.
{"title":"α-GalCer, an α-Candidate in Tumour Suppression","authors":"Stephanie Aleluya","doi":"10.35493/medu.43.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35493/medu.43.14","url":null,"abstract":"α-GalCer is well-known as an exogenous glycolipid mediator for potent iNKT response. 6,13 α-GalCer(Bf), an α-GalCer compound, is produced at various sites within humans, ABSTRACT Alpha-Galactosylceramide (α-GalCer, KRN7000) is an exogenous glycolipid ligand that is presented by CD1d molecules in antigen-presenting cells (APCs). It activates invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, characterized by semi-invariant T cell receptors (TCRs), which often leads to further downstream activation of the immune system. For example, iNKT cells release cytokines that regulate myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) to promote tumor suppression. This critical review aims to clarify the observed effects of α-GalCer by examining recent studies, ranging from in vitro experiments with mice to in vivo clinical trials with humans. Within the current literature, α-GalCer has demonstrated beneficial effects toward tumour suppression. Most pre-clinical studies evaluating α-GalCer have seen success in suppressing tumour growth and increasing patient lifespan, although clinical trials yield inconclusive results. For example, the use of α-GalCer comes with severe limitations, including the induction of immune cell anergy amongst other unwanted side effects. Future studies and trials will be necessary to evaluate the full potential of α-GalCer. Nonetheless, α-GalCer may be a promising agent in combating cancer.","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84939751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Healthcare Barriers of Sex Work","authors":"","doi":"10.35493/medu.43.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35493/medu.43.10","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22813,"journal":{"name":"The Meducator","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86405856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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