30921 research outputs found
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Optimizing Bibliographic Retrieval of Adult Cardiac Surgery Records in Medline (Ovid) and PubMed in Collaboration with Patients
No full textObjectives: Topical search filters are created by information specialists, with assistance from subject specialists, to retrieve information effectively and efficiently. We aimed to create a search hedge for adult cardiac surgery with the assistance of an information specialist and an interdisciplinary team of subject specialists that included two former cardiac surgery patients.
Methods: To validate the cardiac surgery search filter, we followed similar methodologies to other published topical search filters. Specifically, we created a gold standard set of references by identifying cardiac surgery guidelines and retrieving their references. These references were screened using pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Once we had the gold standard set of articles, we developed a search strategy with a high sensitivity. Patient co-researchers played active roles in creating the gold standard set and testing the search strategy.
Results: The search filter is optimized for Medline (Ovid) and PubMed. Our sensitivity rate is 98% and 99% in Medline (Ovid) and PubMed, respectively. Our specificity rate is 60% and 49% in Medline (Ovid) and PubMed, respectively.
Conclusions: Patients are key stakeholders in healthcare research and can be successfully engaged in search filter creation. Working with an interdisciplinary team ensures the search filter will be useful to a wide range of users. Our search filter is designed to assist patients, clinicians, academics, and other stakeholders in finding relevant peer-reviewed articles on adult cardiac surgery
Application of response surface methodology and artificial neural network for optimizing phosphate removal from lagoon wastewater
No full textLagoons are primary wastewater treatment methods used in rural municipalities and small
communities in Canada. This study aimed to optimize phosphate removal and reduce generated
sludge in lagoon wastewater treatment under varying operational parameters. Two series of bench scale experiments were conducted to evaluate phosphate removal and sludge production using
aluminum sulphate and ferric chloride as coagulants, and cationic polymers as coagulant aids. Two
models were developed to predict optimal conditions for phosphate removal and sludge
production.
Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with optimal design was employed to assess the impact of
pH, temperature, coagulant dosage and type, and flocculant type and dosage on the responses.
Subsequently, a feedforward multilayer Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed
based on RSM inputs, along with floc perimeter and area, to forecast final phosphate levels in
effluent and the amount of generated sludge.
The results revealed that polymers with 40% cationic charge and higher molecular weight were
more efficient compared to polymers with higher charge and lower molecular weights.
Additionally, the R-squared (R2
) values for the RSM models were 0.9264 and 0.9194 for phosphate
removal and sludge production, respectively. The corresponding R2
values for the ANN models
were 0.7994 and 0.7965, indicating good predictive performance.October 202
The Lived Experiences of Nurses Who Identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ in Providing Nursing Care Within an Urban Prairie Setting: An Interpretive Descriptive Proposed Study
No full textBackground: Protections for those who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ have improved, yet discrimination against people who identify as non-heterosexual and non-cisgender frequently occurs. Literature displays that heteronormativity and cisnormativity prevail within the health care system in Canada. Nurses identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+ are hypothesized to be a large subcategory within the profession. There is little literature on the experiences of nurses identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+. The literature indicates that health care patients feel more comfortable when their providers share similar identities.
Purpose: This study aims to unveil the lived experiences of equity-deserving nurses in providing nursing care in an urban prairie setting. What are nurses' experiences identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+ in providing nursing care in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada? What do nurses identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+ believe their identity brings to their nursing practice and patient care?
Methods: This qualitative study will use semi-structured interviews to gather data. Interviews will be transcribed and coded to generate descriptive themes of the lived experiences of equity-deserving nurses. Minority Stress Theory will be used to understand the experiences of study participants. Convenience and snowball sampling will be employed to recruit nurse participants.
Conclusion: The findings of this study will contribute to the literature on the experiences of a large group of equity-deserving nurses. Understanding the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ nurses will provide meaningful implications for nursing curriculum development and policy change. This study will provide supporting data for increasing representation and diversity in nursing and improving patient outcomes
Host susceptibility to blastomycosis: a scoping review and case-control association study
No full textBlastomycosis is a pulmonary disease caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis, a dimorphic fungus endemic to Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. Immunosuppression is a major risk factor affecting disease susceptibility, yet host immunity is not well understood. Genetic immunodeficiencies can also influence disease, with variants in IL6, GATA2, and VDBP shown to influence susceptibility. However, additional genetic factors in disease susceptibility and severity remain undetected. Our study seeks to establish what is known about susceptibility to blastomycosis and explore genetic risk factors in a case-control cohort. We conducted a scoping review to establish current knowledge on blastomycosis immunity and a literature review to identify candidate genes influencing susceptibility to fungal and mycobacterial infections. Exomes from 18 blastomycosis cases and 9 controls were sequenced, variants were identified, and filtered according to best practices. We performed candidate gene prioritization and variant aggregation to identify genetic associations and explored the full exome dataset. The scoping review included 58 articles on susceptibility to blastomycosis. TNF-a, GM-CSF, CD4+ deficiency, and the IL-12-IFN-y pathway had the most evidence as susceptibility factors. The literature review identified 86 candidate genes relevant to fungal and mycobacterial infections. One hundred and three genetic variants in 42 candidate genes were identified in the exome dataset. No variants associated with susceptibility were identified in a single-variant analysis although two non-synonymous variants in TYK2 were enriched among cases suggesting a possible role in susceptibility. Gene-based association analysis found TLR1 and GATA2 enriched in controls (p = 0.024 and 0.051, respectively) suggesting a possible protective effect, although GATA2 has previously been associated with blastomycosis susceptibility. Gene cluster analysis identified genetic variants in genes of chromatin remodeling, proteasome, and intraflagellar transport significantly enriched in cases (false discovery rates <14%). Case enrichment of intraflagellar transport genes is interesting as there are previous case reports of blastomycosis and defects in mucociliary function. The findings in this thesis show novel associations with blastomycosis susceptibility. A better understanding of host immunity and genetic predisposition to blastomycosis can help to inform clinical practice for improved outcomes.Health Sciences Centre Foundation Christopher Spitzke Critical Illness Research Endowment FundMay 202
Optimization of semi-flexible transit operation for low demand scenarios
No full textMany transit agencies in North America suggest semi-flexible transit (SFT) as a viable solution to the growing demand for highly personalized and expensive paratransit services with an increasingly aging population, high operating costs associated with low demand bus transit routes, and lacking adaptability of fixed-route bus transit to serve increasingly diverse spatiotemporal travel needs. This thesis proposes an effective methodology for the optimization of SFT for operation along an under-performing low demand bus transit route in Regina, Canada.
In this thesis, three research questions are addressed: (1) What levels of demand are optimal for SFT operation, given the two service delivery models, in-house transit, IHT, and contracted-out taxi, COT? (2) How to optimally design service headway (h) and slack time per trip for route-deviation (Δt) in an integrated SFT that serves both fixed-route and paratransit demand? and (3) What is the optimal vehicle size and vehicle technology for SFT operation when comparing two technologies: battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and diesel-based vehicles (ICEV)? Analytical and metaheuristic optimization techniques are employed to determine the optimal value for decision variables. The findings suggest that SFT with COT delivery model is most economical in terms of operator cost when demand is unexpectedly low, SFT with IHT delivery model is more economical when demand is low to medium, and conventional bus transit operating in-house is more cost-effective when transit demand is high. Operator cost favours solutions with low service frequency (i.e., high h), user cost favours lower ranges of h and Δt, and higher service benefit is derived from high Δt; thus, medium ranges of h and Δt appear to provide the most reasonable trade-off for service. It is also observed that for low demand (5-15 pass/hr), in terms of the total cost (i.e., operator, user, and environmental) a minivan ICEV outperforms all other scenarios as the potential savings in energy cost in favour of BEB were offset by the present high cost of installing fast chargers and when demand increases, minivan BEV outperforms. Besides contributing to the state-of-the-art research on SFT optimization, the study models are used as part of a decision support tool to establish contracting, transit network planning, vehicle technology, operation, and fare policies.May 202
A literature review evaluating the differences in mortality rates in urban versus rural patients with infective endocarditis in the United States of America
No full textIntroduction: Over the last two decades, the prevalence of infective endocarditis in the United States of
America has increased. This has been largely due to the increased life expectancy, increased rate of
cardiac surgeries and the intravenous drug-use epidemic. Overall, the mortality rates related to infective
endocarditis are decreasing. However, there are no literature reviews assessing mortality rate differences
between urban and rural patients with infective endocarditis.
Objective: Review the literature to identify any differences in mortality rates between urban and rural
patients with infective endocarditis in the United States of America, between 1999 and 2019.
Methods: A PubMed database search was conducted using key terms “infective endocarditis”, “rural”,
“non-urban” and “urban”. Filtering for “humans” and “publication within the last 10 years”, yielded 69
results, three of which were appropriate for inclusion in the study. Two other studies were obtained from
a search on Google Scholar.
Results: Despite an inconsistency in definitions for terms “urban” and “rural”, the literature suggests
there is a slightly higher mortality rate in rural compared to urban patients with infective endocarditis in
the United States of America between 1999 and 2019. Furthermore, there appears to be an increasing
mortality rate in rural patients with infective endocarditis, compared to a declining mortality rate in urban
patients with infective endocarditis.
Conclusion: The results from this literature review suggest a slightly higher mortality rate in rural
compared to urban patients with infective endocarditis, but further research is needed to determine the
cause of these differences
Study of grain boundary migration using atomistic simulation: thermal dynamics, shear coupling, and stagnation
No full textGrain boundaries (GBs) undergo migration during heat treatment and mechanical deformation. Learning GB migration behavior is essential for predicting microstructure evolution in crystalline materials, which is crucial for future industrial applications. In this investigation, the non-Arrhenius behavior of GB migration is systematically studied. By considering the effect of driving force on the activation energy for GB migration, the classical thermal-activation equation is modified. This modification explains the previously reported driving force-induced transition in the thermal behavior of GB migration and the 'anti-driving force' phenomena of GB mobility.
Moreover, a three-dimensional interface random walk method was developed to extract the GB mobility tensor from thermal fluctuations in GB position. This advancement allows for the determination of all elements in the GB mobility tensor through a unified expression related to the covariance of GB displacement in different directions, verifying the symmetry of the GB mobility tensor as predicted by the Onsager relation. The driving force dependence of β has led to the misconception that shear coupling is not an intrinsic property of GBs. However, the shear coupling tensor, derived from the mobility tensor, accurately predicts the variation of the apparent shear coupling factor β in response to external driving forces, thereby establishing shear coupling as an intrinsic characteristic of GBs.
Additionally, the phenomenon of GB stagnation has been widely observed, often attributed to constraints from solutes and impurities. However, GB stagnation can also occur in pure materials. In the investigation, disruptive jumps in GB area were observed, which disturb the coordinated movement of GB atoms, significantly reduce local GB mobility, and lead to overall GB stagnation. These disruptive atomic jumps can be activated by both high driving forces and high temperatures, with even jumps of a few atoms capable of causing the stagnation of an entire GB. This observation provides a supplementary mechanism to existing theories for explaining GB stagnation and non-Arrhenius behavior of GB migration.University of Manitoba Graduate FellowshipFebruary 202
Factors That Influence Physician Assistant Job Satisfaction and Retention in Manitoba: A Survey Response
No full textIntroduction: A significant amount of healthcare providers in Canada are suffering from job
dissatisfaction, burnout, or plan to leave healthcare in the next few years. Physician Assistants
(PA) were the fastest-growing sector of this Canadian healthcare workforce in 2021. Despite
this, very little research has been conducted to date on the factors that influence PA job
satisfaction and retention in Canada. Research from the United States has shown that autonomy,
compensation, physician support, and role flexibility are highly associated with job satisfaction
among PAs.
Objective: The objective of this study was to undertake a census of working PAs in Manitoba
and to determine what employment conditions were considered important to PAs and may
influence job satisfaction and retention.
Methods: An online survey was constructed and distributed to 153 registered and licensed PAs
in the province of Manitoba. The survey consisted of a demographic collection section, a
quantitative assessment of relevant employment conditions on a 5-point Likert scale, and a
qualitative section with open questions analyzed via keyword analysis.
Results: Employment conditions found to be the most important were schedule, hours worked
per week, amount of vacation, physician/supervisor support, work culture or co-workers, and
type of contract. Conditions considered important were compensation level, autonomy, receiving
benefits/pension, practice area/specialty, type of employer, location of work, career
advancement, and scope of practice. The most frequently encountered keywords were supervisor,
flexibility, contract, and schedule.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that autonomy and physician support continue to be key
factors that drive PA retention and job satisfaction as seen in previous literature. However,
greater attention should be given to job flexibility, scheduling, hours worked, and time away
from work as they are of significant importance to PAs practicing in Manitoba and could reflect
a broader professional trend in Canada
Une recherche collaborative favorisant l’intégration de l’oral lors de la formation initiale en mode virtuel
Get PDFLes protocoles sanitaires engendrés par la pandémie de la COVID-19 ont limité les possibilités d’échanges et de discussions en salles de classe (Carpentier et Sauvageau, 2021) et entre collègues. Pourtant, la communication orale est une composante incontournable dans le processus d’apprentissage (Hattie, 2017). Au printemps 2021, en tant que professeures à la Faculté d’éducation à l’Université de Saint-Boniface, nous avons entamé une recherche autoethnographique collaborative (Taylor et Coia, 2020) pour faire valoir notre évolution professionnelle dans le contexte d’enseignement en mode virtuel. Plus spécifiquement, le but était d’analyser nos choix pédagogiques favorisant les compétences de l’oral chez nos étudiants. Nos vignettes se portent ainsi sur nos objectifs et questions quant à l’utilisation de l’oral dans les activités de formation initiale, nos adaptations pédagogiques successives et nos pistes d’amélioration. Nous croyons qu’une importance accordée à l'oral dans la formation initiale offre des opportunités de co-construction du savoir, de développement langagier, cognitif et pédagogique et contribue à la vitalité linguistique du groupe minoritaire (Plessis-Bélair et al., 2017; Swain et Watanabe, 2013). Nous cherchions à bonifier nos pratiques pédagogiques et ainsi mieux former les futurs pédagogues
Develop an integrated piezoelectric transducer within a bearing housing for bearing fault detection
Get PDFThe integration of sensors into mechanical systems is becoming increasingly popular in the era of the Internet of Things and intelligent manufacturing. Bearings play a critical role in machinery and are among the various components that have attracted attention for sensor integration. Bearings operate under diverse conditions, such as varying loads, speeds, and temperatures. Issues like misalignment or inadequate lubrication can cause fatigue stress and localized defects, which may eventually result in bearing failure. Such failures can lead to severe damages, incurring high costs and posing risks to human safety. The most commonly employed techniques in the industry to address this problem have been condition monitoring and fault detection of bearings through vibration analysis. However, the implementation of accelerometer sensors into the bearing housing is hindered by their high cost and structural limitations. Additionally, they are susceptible to high signal-to-noise ratios and contamination from vibrations originating from other machines. Another significant drawback of using accelerometer sensors is the low energy of fault symptoms. With the substantial distance between the sensor and the target component (such as a bearing), fault symptoms may lose energy or become masked by surrounding noise and structural-borne vibrations caused by damping and long transmission paths. In order to overcome these challenges, this research proposes the integration of a low-cost piezoelectric transducer within the bearing housing. This research aims to design and prototype a tiny integrated piezoelectric transducer within a bearing housing and assess its effectiveness in detecting bearing faults under varying and consistent speed conditions. Moreover, this research explores the transducer's ability to detect bearing faults in varying temperatures. Last but not least, the transducer's performance is compared to an accelerometer in detecting normal and defective bearing conditions to evaluate their respective performances. Based on the obtained results, it can be inferred that this cost-effective and self-sensing transducer holds great potential for successful implementation in condition monitoring of bearings.February 202