MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Efficacy of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Guiding Radiofrequency Ablation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
No full textPurpose
The objective of this retrospective study is to evaluate the efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in guiding treatment of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and hepatic metastases with percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA).
Material and methods
From January 2010 to December 2015, a single-center retrospective review was conducted of all the RFAs performed at our institution. 295 RFA procedures were performed, 59 were CEUS-guided with a total of 49 patients (39 Males, average age 62.5 years (range: 32-87)) presenting with an average of 1.3 lesions. Pre-operative baseline imaging was performed with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Intra-operatively, CEUS images were compared to US images performed at the same RFA session to determine the ability of CEUS to increase the visualization of lesions. The efficacy of the treatment was evaluated with follow-up imaging for presence of residual or recurrent disease.
Results
Following administration of contrast agent, CEUS allowed for increased visualization in 54 (91.5%) of cases as indicated by increased flow signals or newly appeared signals. This enabled targeted treatment of the lesion, previously poorly appreciated on pre-operative imaging. With an average of 207 days of follow-up, 12 (20.3%) of the targeted lesions were incompletely treated or missed despite improved visualization as evidenced by reoccurrence on follow-up imaging. These lesions required re-intervention, which was subsequently successful in 100% of cases.
Conclusion
CEUS increases visualization and provides better characterization of hypervascular hepatic lesions not well appreciated on conventional US. Hence, this retrospective study suggests that contrast-enhanced ultrasound can be a promising adjunct to conventional image guided hepatic RFAs
* Indicates faculty mentor
Associations of personality traits and degree of religiosity in Judaism
No full textMost research in the field of personality and religion has either focused on common North American religions (e.g., Christianity) or compared personality traits across religions. Although Judaism has been included in these comparisons, our study is the first to investigate personality differences across sects of Judaism with increasing degrees of religiosity (ranging from Non-Practicing, Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, to Lubavitch) using the HEXACO Personality Inventory. Considering the prevalence of Judaism, it is important to acknowledge differences among individuals who practice it, as has been done with other major religions. In this study, we asked the following two research questions; (1) Do individuals who self-identify with certain sects of Judaism differ in personality? (2) Is the size of the city of residence associated with the degree of religiosity in Judaism? We used various social media outlets to administer the HEXACO Personality Inventory, the Religious Orientation Scale, and the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism to 186 self-identified Jewish individuals. Participantsranged in age from 18 to 74 and lived in different cities across North America. There were no significant differences in any of the personality scores across sects of Judaism, a result that is not consistent with previous research. We found no significant correlation between city size and degree of religiosity in Judaism. Future research could include a greater selection of sects within Judaism for participants to identify with, as well as the creation of a more accurate measurement of religiosity in relation to Judaism.
* Indicates faculty mentor
Existing Canadian Support Programs Available for Young Adult Survivors Suffering with Psychological Distress as a Consequence of Cancer
No full textThe present study examined the existing Canadian support programs that are available for young adult survivors suffering with psychological distress as a consequence of cancer. A content analysis was performed on a sample of 28 resources and their associated support programs, which were selected from a sample selection process that entailed multiple search strategies. Results showed that there are different support programs offered within Canada or that are accessible to Canadians via the internet, this being based on whether one is available to meet in person or not, whether one wishes to engage with peers or professionals, and whether one desires to engage in a target-specific program or a program that generally addresses the issue of psychological distress together with other issues associated with survivorship. These findings demonstrated the availability and type of support programs existing that address psychological distress within young adult cancer survivors.
Discipline: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Diane Symbalu
Keep it Simple: Using the BARR-2002R to Assess Risk for Violent Recidivism in a Police Context
No full textThe general criminality subscale and age at release item from the Static-2002R form the actuarial risk scale, Brief Assessment of Recidivism Risk-2002R (BARR-2002R), to predict violent and general recidivism among male sex offenders. Previous studies show that the BARR-2002R predicts violent and general recidivism significantly better than the Static-99R and Static-2002R with convicted sex offenders. Although the BARR-2002R, the Static-2002R, and its predecessor, the Static-99R, have been validated using convicted offender samples, only one recently published study has examined the predictive validity of the Static-99R and Static-2002R with non-convicted male perpetrators of sexual assault. The present study investigated the ability of the BARR-2002R to predict future violent offending of 290 perpetrators that were randomly sampled from police-referred sexual assault cases. Police cases were retrospectively coded for the Static-99R and Static-2002R, which includes the six items that comprise the BARR-2002R. Provincial and federal criminal records were used to code recidivism outcomes including presence, severity, frequency and imminence of future violence. The relationship between BARR-2002R scores and recidivism outcomes as well as the utility of the BARR-2002R as a risk tool for police officers who investigate sexual assault had not yet been examined. Results indicate that the BARR-2002R had very good predictive validity for future violent and general recidivism and higher scores were associated with increased frequency of post-index violent offences and decreased time until violent reoffending, though severity of future violence was not related to higher BARR-2002R scores. Implications for the use of the BARR-2002R in front-line work and directions for future research will be discussed.
Discipline: Psychology Honours
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sandy Jung
 
Midway to Nowhere: The Refugee Experience in Candide
No full textFrancois-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name, Voltaire, is considered by many to be a revolutionary thinker who symbolized many themes of the Enlightenment Era. Best known for his novel Candide, his writing may be seen as vulgar or genius, but it is certain to provoke a response in the mind of its reader. Tales of war predate written literature itself but until the Enlightenment Era, consisted mainly of heroic or patriotic themes. However, during the Age of Reason, in part thanks to the great philosophers of the eighteenth century like Voltaire, war came to be viewed in a new light. The novel Candide, is described by Madeleine Dobie as “the first true metadiscourse on the aims and effects of war” (2009). Voltaire wrote about war from a different perspective, describing it more accurately “as violence, suffering and carnage” (Dobie, 2009). While tales of heroes and great battles may be entertaining, in reality, they misrepresent the true nature of war. For every hero of war, there are thousands of innocent victims whose lives will never be the same. Voltaire along with “a number of eighteenth-century thinkers observed that while wars might serve the interests of the aristocratic elite, they inflict suffering and privation on members of lower social order” (Dobie 1852). Candide may be most commonly described as a satirical commentary on war, critiquing institutions of power, but perhaps its legacy is that Voltaire “showed war from the perspective of its victims and invited readers to empathize with their suffering” (Dobie 1853). Hundreds of years later, wars continue to rage and while the specifics of battles have changed, the stories of suffering experienced by non-combatants remain very similar. Since the Era of Enlightenment in which Voltaire wrote, more attention has been given to these innocent victims and the field of Refugee Studies has become part of academia. It can be argued that Candide is in fact, a novel that outlines the refugee experience and through the journey of Candide and his companions, Voltaire looks to evoke compassion in the reader for refugees of war.
Discipline: English
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Asma Saye
I am Powerful, I am Strong, and I am Somebody: An Analysis of Policies and Services for Marginalized Youth
No full textA literature review allowed for an in-depth analysis of the disconnect between social policies and social services that directly affected marginalized youth. The literature allowed for a deeper understanding of the micro and macro level factors that contribute to youth becoming marginalized and or potentially homeless. The factors that affected youth ranged from: poverty, mental health, substance abuse, racism, patriarchy, colonialism as well as others. This non-exhaustive list of micro and macro level factors often intersect, and can magnify the marginalization of youth. However, the literature demonstrated multiple themes that are critical in the positive development of youth. Engagement, resilience, and empowerment are the three themes that are discussed in being critical for marginalized youth achieving their goals. These themes need to be embedded not only in social programs but also in social policies. The Alberta Youth Plan is a provincial mandate that works collaboratively with communities and youth to end youth homelessness. Engagement, resilience, and empowerment that are discussed in the literature become evident within the Alberta Youth Plan. However, this mandate is coming to an end, and it is important to continue the efforts to end youth homelessness. This paper proposes a push for social change by outlining an organization to assist those youth that are marginalized. By using the literature and current policies, hope for all youth to create their own futures becomes very possible.
Discipline: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joanne Minake
The Socially Constructed Identity of Victims in the Past and Present
No full textVictims have always been a part of the criminalization process. In recent times the introduction of victimology and the victim’s rights movement has influenced the importance and awareness of victim’s roles and treatment within legislation and society. The identity of a victim, however, is not natural. It is socially constructed. In this paper I employ a critical victimological lens to examine how victims of crime have been seen and treated historically. The historical analysis focuses on the late 19th and 20th century when the views of victims began to dramatically shift. By analyzing this historical social construction one can see more clearly how this identity is always changing. We can see how this applied label affects not only how victims see themselves but how the perception of other individuals and current legislation affects them as well. I argue that this historical understanding is necessary to make sense of contemporary policies and treatment. In this essay I will answer how the identity of victim constructed and continuously being constructed.
Discipline: Sociology Honours
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Amanda Nelun
Cerebellar Lesions Impair Reflexive but not Voluntary Covert Attention: Preliminary Findings
No full textRecent research has revealed that the cerebellum is involved in much more than just motor output. Interestingly, functional neuroimaging studies and human lesion studies have discovered that the cerebellum has been reported to be involved in various cognitive roles such as language, emotion, and attention. Specifically, our lab is interested in aspects of attention such as reflexive and voluntary covert attention. Previously, a neuroimaging study from our lab showed increased activity in the left cerebellum for covert reflexive attention compared to covert voluntary attention. However, this idea has not been directly tested behaviorally in patients with cerebellar lesions. Therefore, the current study examined how 10 patients with cerebellar lesions performed on reflexive and voluntary covert attention tasks. The results indicated that the cerebellar patients have a slowed onset of inhibition of return compared healthy-age matched controls (n=10). In addition, deficits in reflexive covert attention appeared to be linked with damage to the lateral cerebellum. In contrast, there were no differences between the patients and controls in the voluntary attention task. The current study provides converging evidence that the cerebellum may be more involved for reflexive covert attention compared to voluntary covert attention.
Discipline: Psychology Honours
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Christopher Strieme
Modelling the Southwestern Alberta Grizzly Bear Population using Ordinary Differential Equations
No full textThe Alberta grizzly bear population was listed as “threatened” by the Alberta Wildlife Association in 2010. This particular species is important, as it is an umbrella species for a variety of other animals. Our goal in this project was to create a model using ordinary differential equations, based on the logistic growth model, to determine whether the Southern Alberta grizzly bear population is recoverable. We aimed to calculate the rate at which the population was growing and its carrying capacity. With our model, we estimated the minimum viable population necessary for the species.
Discipline: Mathematics
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ion Bic
Strangers Versus Non-Strangers: The Nature of Police-Reported Sexual Assault Characteristics
No full textSexual assault is a prevalent crime in our society with approximately 21,500 cases of sexual assaults reported in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2015). The literature that examines the perpetrators of sexual assault has shown marked distinctions between those who were strangers and those who were known to their victims, in terms of the severity and nature of the violence used and the characteristics of the perpetrators. Many studies have been conducted using victim surveys, while fewer studies have examined police-reported sexual assaults using local police data. The current study examines a sample of 697 police-reported sexual assault cases. Stranger- and non-stranger-perpetrated sexual assaults were compared on demographic characteristics of the perpetrators and the victims, such as age and ethnicity, and the criminal history and recidivism rates of perpetrators. Our results indicate that there were many similarities, which suggest homogeneity between the two groups. However, some notable differences were also found. Specifically, stranger perpetrated sexual assaults were more often reported downtown rather than areas outside of the downtown core and during warmer months of the year. A greater proportion of stranger perpetrators had prior criminal histories and prior sexual offending histories compared to non-stranger perpetrators. Also, a greater proportion of stranger perpetrators committed recidivistic acts than non-stranger perpetrators. The findings have implications for policing in prioritizing cases and allocating resources, particularly in light of the potentially greater risk that stranger-perpetrators pose in further committing criminal acts. The use of evidence-based practices will be highlighted in this poster presentation.
Discipline: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sandy Jun