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Multidisciplinary Training to Meet the Legal Needs of Intellectual Property Start-Ups
No full textThis report explored whether multidisciplinary programming (e.g., law, business, and science faculty collaboration) in universities can assist in bringing meaningful and affordable intellectual property (IP) knowledge to IP start-ups. An IP start-up refers to a start-up company with an IP-intensive component (e.g., scientific innovation) that can be commercialized (Tawfik, 2016). Research completed by Tawfik (2016) has found that there is a fault line in Canada's innovation capacity as Canada has not taken the steps to actively ensure that IP start-ups are able to successfully commercialize on their IP. Consequently, this report has taken a critical look at one of the recommendations put forward by Tawfik (2016), which is to support early stage IP start-ups through multidisciplinary programming in universities. The researcher, a JD/MBA student at the University of Windsor, chose to explore this recommendation by observing business students as they provided consulting services to IP start-ups being worked on by science students. Through participant observation (Kawulich, 2005), the researcher was able to become fully integrated in the consulting process and privately flag relevant legal issues that were either addressed or missed by the business students. After analyzing the data collected, the researcher found that both the science and business students did not have a working knowledge of IP and the complexity of developing a comprehensive IP strategy. Nonetheless, the business students were able to provide deliverables that addressed some of the relevant IP legal issues after seeking legal information from the researcher. Thus, a conclusion was made that the unique skill sets of business, law, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculties, will be shared with all students engaged in multidisciplinary programming. Specifically, it is believed that business students would be able to learn how to flag relevant IP legal issues by collaborating fully with law students in multidisciplinary programming during their university training. Ideally, the business students will later be able to flag relevant legal issues when working with IP start-ups in practice so that they can engage the services of a lawyer early on in the commercialization process or not need to at all
Connecting Clinical Trials with Patients using Patient Navigation: A Scoping Review
No full textBackground Patient navigation is a promising strategy to improve access to cancer care, but the evidence supporting its role in increasing access to cancer clinical trials has not been systematically evaluated. Objectives This scoping review aims to critically appraise, synthesize, and present the available evidence on the use of patient navigation to increase cancer clinical trial enrollment. Methods Nine databases were searched for English peer-reviewed articles from inception through December 21, 2023. Two independent researchers screened titles, abstracts, and full texts and extracted data using standardized forms. Results/Implications Among the 23 included articles, 18 (78.3%) were observational studies, and 5 (21.7%) were randomized trials. Thirteen (56.5%) focused on equity, all addressing racial/ethnic groups. Seven (30.4%) articles used patient navigation for clinical trials for all cancer types; 14 (60.9%) focused on specific cancers, with 12 (85.7%) primarily addressing breast cancer. Among 21 studies describing navigator qualifications, 4 (17.4%) required professional training, while 17 (73.9%) used community representatives. The interventions used most frequently by navigators included education in 19 articles (82.6%) and care coordination in 17 articles (73.9%). Direct clinical trial referrals were unmentioned; logistical and financial assistance appeared in only 2 articles each (8.7%). In 7 (30.4%) studies, navigators directed patients to trials within and outside their center; 16 (69.6%) navigated patients only within their center. Future research should employ more rigorous designs to evaluate different patient navigation approaches and assess their impact on clinical trial enrollment across a wider range of cancers and patient populations
The Efficacy of Simarouba Glauca Extract on Brain Cancer
Get PDFHealthy Great LakesBrain cancer is an aggressive disease characterized by proliferation of tumour cells of the brain and central nervous system. Some treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Unfortunately these treatments are not as effective for brain cancers and tumour relapse for brain surgery is very aggressive and fatal. A main concern with chemotherapeutics is that they often cause side effects (toxic to normal cells) and the survival rate remains relatively low. With this in mind, some natural extracts have shown vary selective anti-cancer activity while leaving normal cells unaffected. Most natural extracts are well tolerated and have been used by traditional medicines for a long time. Lakshmi Taru (Simarouba glauca) extract is known to have anti-microbial, anti-malarial, and anti-inflammatory activities. We wanted to investigate if there are anti-cancer properties in this extract. Previously it has been shown that purified bioactive compounds from Lakshmi Taru target cancerous cells to selectively induce apoptosis with minimal side effects. We use a total ethanolic or aqueous extract (as natural health products) in in-vitro and in-vivo cancer models to evaluate anti-cancer efficacy. Preliminary results have shown aqueous and ethanolic extracts induce apoptosis selectively in human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) without affecting normal human fibroblasts. Furthermore we also saw reducing in tumour growth in xenograft mice with human colon cancer. We will further investigate its interactions with the most common chemotherapeutic drugs, cisplatin and methotrexate. The outcome of this research study could potentially lead to an effective treatment of brain cancer using either Lakshmi Taru alone, or in combination with cisplatin and methotrexate
Outstanding Scholars Presentation SDG #1: No Poverty
No full text['UNSDG 1: No Poverty (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1)']Viable, Healthy and Safe CommunitiesIn this session, we present an informative speech regarding the first United Nations Sustainable Development Goal: No Poverty. We provide a multifaceted poverty narrative throughout this presentation. Additionally, we provide how the objective's targets are monitored and how the goal relates to UWindsor projects and research. Resources are provided at the end to help readers learn more about the Sustainable Development Goal and how individuals may take action. The ambitious objective of the United Nations to end extreme poverty by 2030 aims to create a more equitable and sustainable future for all. This is a multifaceted issue that requires a coordinated effort from governments, organizations, and individuals around the world. Despite progress in some areas, poverty remains a problem, affecting over 700 million people globally. To achieve this goal, it is essential to adopt a holistic approach that addresses the root causes of poverty and provides support for those who are most affected. This includes increasing access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, as well as focusing on conflict, inequality, and discrimination concerns. All OS Candidates who attended our fall orientation were required to complete this project. It was designed to further educate pupils on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, this assignment's major goal was to inform students of the value of collaborative learning. The group's shared vision as university students was greatly influenced by this assignment. For instance, members of this group have frequently consulted the SDGs when selecting subjects for more curriculum-based activities
Digital critical literacy development and intercultural awareness raising 'in' action, 'on' action and 'for' action in ELT
No full textThis paper reports on project Blending MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) into English Language Teaching Education (ELT) with Telecollaboration (BMELTET), the latter which aims to foster reflection on ELT with a COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) MOOC blend that promotes the engagement of international students based in the UK and studying towards a master's degree (MA) in ELT, with a global community of ELT practice, with students and staff based in universities in Brazil, China, and Spain, and with the participants on the MOOC from all over the world. BMELTET aims to debunk the myth of the 'native speaker' as the ideal teacher of English language, thus decolonizing ELT through dialogic, online intercultural exchanges. A mixed-method approach was adopted for the data analysis and data was collected via two online surveys. The analysis of the live ZOOM exchanges and focus groups with the self-selected groups of students was then examined. The results illustrate a positive, changed attitude towards online learning and digital literacy facilitated by BMELTET, but also show that there still are challenges to be overcome
The state of low vision care in Ontario
No full textViable, Healthy and Safe CommunitiesApproximately half a million Canadians live with vision loss significantly impacting their quality of life. The prevalence of vision loss is expected to increase by 30% in the next decade as Canada's senior patient population continues to rapidly increase.1 This demographic shift is producing a mounting vision loss epidemic and a strain on available resources. Although vision rehabilitation services are available for these patients, limited research has been done to study how these services by ophthalmologists are being provided. In this retrospective population-based study, we analyzed the patterns of provision and utilization of vision rehabilitation services in Ontario between 2009 and 2015. Billing data for low vision services were received from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan Database. Patient demographics (age, sex, geographic distribution, number and type of visits) and service provider information (geographic location, number of years providing services, and number of services per year) were analyzed. The majority of patients that received vision rehabilitation services were females (61%) and over 60 years old (79%). While patient and provider geographic distributions overlapped in the areas with the largest patient populations, many regions lacked services. Over the period analyzed, the majority of patients (71%) made only one vision rehabilitation visit and a small subset of patients (11%) made more than two visits. Nine providers practiced low vision for seven years, while 43 provided services for only one year. In 2015, the most common diagnostic service provided to low vision patients was Optical Coherence Tomography of the retina and the most common therapeutic service was intravitreal for wet age-related macular degeneration. Although low vision services increased between 2009 and 2015, we estimate that 5% or less of patients with low vision accessed these services. There were inequities in ability to access care based on age, sex, and geographic location. Our findings are expected to help inform future healthcare policy decisions, especially as considerations are made to provide for our ageing population. Importantly, there is a significant need to increase number of providers, service locations, and access for patients. 1. CNIB - Fast Facts about Vision Loss. CNIB. http://www.cnib.ca/en/about/media/vision-loss/pages/default.aspx#canadians. Accessed August 26, 2017
Michel Foucault and History: Toward Understanding Human Rights
No full textLate in life, Michel Foucault used the term "human rights" in essays written for newspapers and other publications, though he never gave human rights a systematic treatment in his work. How is it that a "post-structuralist" philosopher who denies concepts such as dignity and personhood could employ such a term? This paper will show the coherence of Foucault's thought on human rights through a treatment of his work on history, which allowed him to open a new conceptual framework for thinking about politics, one that could make sense of human rights without an appeal to metaphysics. Foucault's work in history employs two broad approaches — archaeology and genealogy. Archaeology looks toward method and the bounds of knowing the past, rejecting that the past as entirely knowable or that as a past that yields a necessary present. The world as we know it becomes contingent and malleable. Genealogy rejects the development of trends such as liberty or human rights across broad swaths of history and looks to undermine such notions by tracing the "ignoble beginnings" of ideas such as rights. Ideas that seem to hold sway over the development of history become entirely contingent and susceptible to social and political maneuvering as well. Through his approach to the past in these ways, Foucault rejects the key, paradigmatic approaches to political thought. Power is no longer a thing the sovereign or elected government holds, but instead is a relation of forces. Similarly, autonomy no longer belongs to the subject; individuals form themselves through "technologies of the self," or self-forming practices that yield a subject that fits a certain mold, from "the subject," the most basic type of concept, to the monk, for example, who molds himself according to the monastic ideal, a carefully articulated sense of self. Foucault thinks these two sets of ideas — power and technologies of the self — in the paradigm of governmentality. By understanding the interactions between governments and individuals as reciprocal governing of discourses and actions to certain ideas that appear and are shaped through history, we can also see how human rights could be understood on these terms. Having laid out Foucault's basic conceptual framework, the paper turns to several of Foucault's essays from the 1980s to show how the conceptual framework with which he worked can provide a coherent reading of "human rights" as he employs the term. Looking in particular at one piece published only days before he died, "Confronting Governments: Human Rights," the paper will show how he means "human rights" in three ways: as a protection against governments, as a form of liberty for citizens, and as a technology of the self, forming individuals in a certain image
Representations of Sexual Assault in News Media Coverage of Canada’s Extreme Intoxication Defence
Get PDFThe extreme intoxication defence (EID) is a provision in Canada’s Criminal Code that protects offenders who are ‘morally innocent’ by means of intoxication. Barred in 1994 by s. 33.1, three recent Supreme Court cases (Brown, Chan, and Sullivan) have overturned this decision, declaring the law unconstitutional in 2022. Concerns over the potential implications of this defence were raised by women’s rights groups and the public alike, prompting the Canadian legislator to rush Bill C-28, which includes a new standard for criminal liability requiring extreme intoxication to the point of automatism to enact the defence. Some advocates for women’s rights say that this is not enough, while policymakers stand by the legitimacy of the provision. News coverage of the Supreme Court rulings and the passing of Bill C-28 represented the interests of legislators, as well as women’s rights groups with concerns over the potential applications of the EID in sexual assault cases. Utilising media-framing theory and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study analyses the media discourse across three major Canadian newspapers; the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and the National Post between June 2020 and February 2023. The findings of this study were consistent with the academic literature regarding news media representations of sexual assault since the #Metoo movement. There has been greater inclusion of feminist perspectives, and the concerns for womens’ rights are better represented. Although, much of the coverage becomes encumbered with analysing the confusing legal language of the EID and discounting its potential implications for sexual assault case processing. Overall, new representations of the defence tend to hyper-politicise the issue and distract the reader from the social issues that contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence against women
The Web of Technics: Education and Lewis Mumford in the Information Age
Get PDFThis paper examines the status of the World Wide Web in the context of education, using the ideas of 20th century thinker Lewis Mumford to understand potential virtues and problems in the Web as an educational device. In general, my paper examines the conditions of possibility for education on the Web, and suggests some solutions to the problems faced when imagining an educational system which includes the Web. First, I attempt to define the technics of the Web using some of Mumford’s terminology: I consider the possibility of viewing the Web as either a tool that invites active use or as an automated machine encouraging passive use, and I attempt to situate the Web within Mumford’s model of polytechnics and monotechnics; that is, the technological makeup of diverse and monotonous labour systems, respectively. Taking information to be the basic substance of the Web, I explore the ways in which modern Web platforms treat information-gathering as an increasingly automated and mechanistic process. I argue that certain Web platforms, while they have the potential to foster the diverse thinking and labour of Mumford’s polytechnics, often fail to do so. I then use Mumford’s writings on education to explore the application of the ‘regional survey’ model of teaching to web-space and the use of the web to create or relate to communities. This involves both exploring the possibility of viewing the Web as a space, and imagining the social ends of education highlighted throughout Mumford’s work. I examine Mumford’s conception of “simultaneous” or “many-sided” thinking, and argue that the Web as we use it now, while it fosters multitasking, discourages the simultaneous thinking Mumford prescribed by encouraging instead superficial connections between disparate information. I attempt to balance the Web’s lack of embodied relationships with its ability to make connections to consider how it might adapt to Mumford’s regionalist education model. Finally, I refer to Hubert Dreyfus’s work on education and the internet, which uses Kierkegaardian ideas to argue that the Web discourages true commitments. I examine ways to successfully apply order to Web-based work in order to foster commitments while developing the many-sided personality of the student and labourer, combining ideas from Dreyfus and Mumford to present the possibility of a Web which fosters the development of the whole human personality and is commensurate with human social goals. My general conclusion is that in order for Web-based education to be meaningful and successful, it needs to have social goals in the real world, and must not be treated as an automated or mechanical process of information-gathering, but rather an active process of committed work on the part of students requiring skill in manipulating the basic structures of the Web
Elucidating the Role of Cancer-Activated Fibroblasts in Regulating Glioblastoma Stem Cells
No full textGlioblastoma (GBM) is the most prevalent and aggressive malignant primary brain tumour with a median survival of approximately 15 months despite standard of care treatment. A major barrier to effective treatment is the extensive genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, fostering tumor resistance and contributes to its aggressive nature. Thus, GSC's can recapitulate the tumour mass resulting in tumour recurrence and patient relapse in over 90% of GBM cases. The microenvironment of glioblastoma includes diverse types of stromal cells which co-exist in close association with tumour cells and have been identified as an important source of secreted factors and cell-to-cell signals that regulate the stemness of GSCs. Within GBM, Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) have emerged as key facilitators of these effects. CAFs are known to promote cell cycle dysregulation, enhance tumor vasculature and secrete various growth factors into the extracellular matrix to promote tumorigenesis. YKL-40 (also known as CHI-3L1) is an abundant glycoprotein that binds to the interleukin-13 receptor 2 (IL-13Rα2) and has been shown to promote growth, angiogenesis, metastasis, and resistance to therapy in diverse types of cancer. Elevated levels of YKL-40 expression have been associated with a poorer prognosis in GBM. Whether CAFs can enhance GBM tumor aggressiveness and support GSC survival through increasing the expression of YKL-40 is not known. We hypothesize that the increased expression of YKL-40, in response to CAFs, plays a pivotal role in GBM aggressiveness and therapy resistance. Understanding these interactions could lead to the development of targeted therapeutic strategies to prevent GBM progression and recurrence