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Feature Story: University of Regina establishes Project Resilience to support students affected by war
No full textZohra Zahir is a PhD candidate with the Faculty of Science at the University of Regina. After living in other, larger cities like Kabul and Delhi, she fell in love with how peaceful Regina is. However, she often thinks about her family members, including five siblings, who live in her home country of Afghanistan.
With students like Zahir in mind, the University of Regina has created a fund to support students affected by war, or other forms of political violence, in their home countries so they may continue their studies at the U of R. Project Resilience will establish scholarships, provide emergency funds, and deliver other supports for these students and their families.Staffn
Ethical challenges regarding emerging digital technologies in virtual nursing care and practice [Evidence brief]
No full textEvidence briefThe Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in collaboration with the Future Skills CentreFacultyye
Feature Story: UR International celebrates Winter 2022 exchange students
No full textUR International is celebrating the successful completion of the semester for the first cohort of in-person, inbound exchange students since before the pandemic.
The Winter 2022 semester saw 80 students from over 20 countries join the U of R campus community both in-person and virtually.
Every semester, UR International welcomes a diverse range of students from all corners of the world to study on exchange and take part in a wide range of activities and cultural programs to explore and get involved in the U of R campus community.Staffn
Assessing the Perceptions and Impact of Critical Incident Stress Management Peer Support among Firefighters and Paramedics in Canada
No full textRelative to the general population, public safety personnel (PSP) appear at an increased risk of developing mental health challenges as a result of repeated exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs). To help mitigate the impact of PPTEs on PSP mental health, many PSP agencies have implemented diverse peer support despite limited empirical evidence. The current study was designed to expand the empirical evidence surrounding peer support by investigating one of the most widely used and structured peer support resources: Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Specifically, the current study with integrated firefighters and paramedics assessed (a) the prevalence of mental disorders; (b) perceptions of high fidelity CISM peer support; and (c) the comparative associations of CISM with high fidelity (n = 91) versus unknown fidelity (n = 60) versus no CISM (n = 64) and mental health. Results indicated that (a) mental disorders are prevalent among PSP irrespective of gender, age, and years of service; (b) participants perceived CISM peer support as offering beneficial and valuable tools (e.g., skills and coping strategies); and (c) high fidelity CISM environments offer some mental health benefits to individuals who screen positive for alcohol use disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Overall, the current study offers novel information that can inform future directions for evidence-based peer support and policy decisions designed to support the mental health of PSP.This research was funded by an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Futures Grant (#095244776) as awarded by the Alberta Government.Facultyye
Feature Story: Smudging for Beginners
No full textEvery Thursday, around 12 noon, since late October, a handful of people have gathered at the ta-tawâw Student Centre to take part in a practice that is integral to Indigenous ceremony - a smudge.
The weekly event was the idea of Keenan Cummings, program co-ordinator for the Centre. Cummings, who begins each session with an explanation about the practice, also oversees each smudge.Staffn
A Study of Visually Linked Keywords to Support Exploratory Browsing in Academic Search
No full textWhile the search interfaces used by common academic digital libraries pro- vide easy access to a wealth of peer-reviewed literature, their interfaces pro- vide little support for exploratory browsing. When faced with a complex search task (such as one that requires knowledge discovery), exploratory browsing is an important first step in an exploratory search process. To more effectively support exploratory browsing, we have designed and implemented a novel academic digital library search interface (KLink Search) with two new features: visually linked keywords and an interactive workspace. To study the potential value of these features, we have conducted a controlled laboratory study with 32 participants, comparing KLink Search to a baseline digital library search interface modelled after that used by IEEE Xplore. Based on subjective opinions, objective performance, and behavioural data, we show the value of adding lightweight visual and interactive features to academic digital library search interfaces to support exploratory browsing.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant held by the first author (RGPIN- 2017-06446)Facultyye
Feature Story: Federal government provides $20 million to U of R for PTSI research and treatment
No full textPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic, public safety personnel (PSP) and frontline health-care workers were already disproportionately at risk of post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) relative to the general population. The significantly increased pressure on these Canadians imposed by the pandemic amplified the frequency, severity, and complexity of the potentially psychologically traumatic events they were exposed to. This has left PSP and frontline workers with even higher rates of PTSI.Staffn
COVID-19 Vaccination and Public Health Countermeasures on Variants of Concern in Canada: Evidence From a Spatial Hierarchical Cluster Analysis
No full text
Background
There is mounting evidence that the third wave of COVID-19 incidence is declining, yet variants of concern (VOCs) continue to present public health challenges in Canada. The emergence of VOCs has sparked debate on how to effectively control their impacts on the Canadian population.
Objective
Provincial and territorial governments have implemented a wide range of policy measures to protect residents against community transmission of COVID-19, but research examining the specific impact of policy countermeasures on the VOCs in Canada is needed. Our study objective was to identify provinces with disproportionate prevalence of VOCs relative to COVID-19 mitigation efforts in provinces and territories in Canada.
Methods
We analyzed publicly available provincial- and territorial-level data on the prevalence of VOCs in relation to mitigating factors, summarized in 3 measures: (1) strength of public health countermeasures (stringency index), (2) the extent to which people moved about outside their homes (mobility index), and (3) the proportion of the provincial or territorial population that was fully vaccinated (vaccine uptake). Using spatial agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis (unsupervised machine learning), provinces and territories were grouped into clusters by stringency index, mobility index, and full vaccine uptake. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the prevalence of VOCs (Alpha, or B.1.1.7; Beta, or B.1.351; Gamma, or P.1; and Delta, or B.1.617.2 variants) across the clusters.
Results
We identified 3 clusters of vaccine uptake and countermeasures. Cluster 1 consisted of the 3 Canadian territories and was characterized by a higher degree of vaccine deployment and fewer countermeasures. Cluster 2 (located in Central Canada and the Atlantic region) was typified by lower levels of vaccine deployment and moderate countermeasures. The third cluster, which consisted of provinces in the Pacific region, Central Canada, and the Prairies, exhibited moderate vaccine deployment but stronger countermeasures. The overall and variant-specific prevalences were significantly different across the clusters.
Conclusions
This “up to the point” analysis found that implementation of COVID-19 public health measures, including the mass vaccination of populations, is key to controlling VOC prevalence rates in Canada. As of June 15, 2021, the third wave of COVID-19 in Canada is declining, and those provinces and territories that had implemented more comprehensive public health measures showed lower VOC prevalence. Public health authorities and governments need to continue to communicate the importance of sociobehavioural preventive measures, even as populations in Canada continue to receive their primary and booster doses of vaccines.
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Cardiac cycle timing intervals in acute COVID-19 and recovered COVID-19 with sustained symptoms
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina, xiii, 130, p.Research is available to show that COVID-19 can result in both acute and sustained cardiac damage. Acute cardiac damage may be due to elevated inflammatory responses and can result in ischemia, which can lead to impairments in the cardiac cycle timing events. The purpose of this project was threefold: 1) to characterise cardiac cycle timing intervals in patients with COVID-19, 2) to understand the mechanisms that compromise cardiac function in post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS)/long COVID, and 3) to identify unique cardiac dysfunction which can occur due to COVID-19 as compared to cardiac and respiratory disease. First, case studies showed that daily observation of cardiac function provided detailed information about the overall dynamic changes by which cardiac dysfunction occurs, and thus can be beneficial study on a case by-case basis, day-to-day during acute infection. The literature review supports the findings of altered cardiac mechanics and suggests that right ventricular dysfunction, along with global longitudinal strain and diastolic dysfunction are common findings in patients with PACS/long COVID, and a more severe acute myocardial injury during the index hospitalization appears to exacerbate cardiac function on follow-up. Finally, a Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA showed that participants with COVID-19 and sustained symptoms present with elevated systolic time and decreased IVCT in comparison to acute COVID-19, and those with respiratory and cardiac disease. These are reflected by decreases in heart, diastolic, and systolic performance indices (HPI, DPI and SPI, respectively), thereby showcasing a unique cardiac dysfunction in patients with sustained symptoms from COVID-19. Future research must consider the details of cardiac complications during the acute infection period and relate this to the cardiac function in patients with long COVID during a mid- and long-term follow-up.Studentye
Effectiveness of Saskatchewan Government Insurance 2014 Traffic Safety Initiatives on Reducing Casualties
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Statistics, University of Regina. xviii, 132 p.Before 2014, Saskatchewan experienced a very high number of traffic collisions
that resulted in higher deaths and injuries to drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
The year 2012 marked an especially tragic year with 183 people killed in traffic collisions
in Saskatchewan, a significant increase compared to the previous three-year,
considerable the prior three-year average of 158 could not normal typical as a result
of the worsening state of road safety in Saskatchewan.
A Special Committee on Traffic Safety was formed to enhance road safety by
examining the dominant factors that cause traffic collisions in the province: impaired
driving, distracted driving, excessive speed, intersection safety, and wildlife collisions.
The Committee was also charged to make recommendations highlighting education
and public awareness issues related to traffic safety. In 2013, the Special Committee on
Traffic Safety made a list of recommendations, including stricter penalties for impaired
driving, photo speed enforcement, expanding and enhancing traffic enforcement, and
introducing new measures to deal with distracted driving and speeding.
In 2014, Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), acting on these recommendations,
launched several initiatives introduced and introduced two new law enforcement
units, with a total of 60 police officers dedicated to traffic safety enforcement. This
research work examined the before and after effect of the initiative’s effectiveness by
SGI in 2014. Relevant data were extracted collected from the SGI’s Traffic Accident
Information System (TAIS) and through a bi-annual Traffic Safety Monitor (TSM)
survey. Socio-economic variables used in the analyses were from Statistics Canada.
The analyses were carried out using statistical tools such as SAS Programming and
RStudio. Na¨ıve Simple before and after technique was first used to analyze the data,
after which Intervention Analysis was used for a more robust result. In conducting the
intervention analysis, Negative Binomial (NB) and Generalized Estimating Equation
(GEE) were used to analyze the data variables. In the end, this research identified
the most effective initiative and recommended how the initiatives could be improved
to obtain maximum efficiency in safety as targeted.
The Simple Before and After analysis returned a very high reduction of about
40% in traffic casualties. Intervention Analysis, which took into consideration several
covariates, confirmed the existence of reductions in collision casualties but with
a smaller percentage change of 20%. It can be inferred from these two analytical
approaches that the initiatives introduced by SGI in 2014 have has positive impacts
on traffic safety in the province.Studentye