Career Trek

Research on self- and cultural continuity has contributed to our understanding of resilience processes in Indigenous communities, as connecting oneself to the past, present, and future of one's family, community, and traditional culture has been found to protect against deleterious developmental outcomes. To examine factors associated with self-continuity for Indigenous youth in the current study, Indigenous youth from six rural Ojibway and Métis communities in Treaty 2 Territory completed self-report questionnaires aimed at understanding the relationship between the concept of oneself across time and protective and risk factors at different systemic levels (family, community, culture, and colonial). The concept of oneself across time was measured by self-efficacy (global self-worth) and future orientations (optimism and sense of self in the future). The findings indicated that connectedness to caregivers, siblings, friends, neighborhoods, and culture was associated with higher self-efficacy, seeing oneself as more connected to the future, and seeing the future more positively. These findings support the notion that familial, community, and cultural connectedness are associated positive self-concepts in the present and future, which aligns with our understanding of self- and cultural continuity in Indigenous communities.

Prescription opioids are a mainstay in the treatment of acute moderate to severe pain. However, chronic use leads to a host of adverse consequences including tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH), leading to more complex treatment regimens and diminished patient compliance. Patients with OIH paradoxically experience exaggerated nociceptive responses instead of pain reduction after chronic opioid usage. The development of OIH and tolerance tend to occur simultaneously and, thus, present a challenge when studying the molecular mechanisms driving each phenomenon. We tested the hypothesis that a G protein-biased µ-opioid peptide receptor (MOPR) agonist would not induce symptoms of OIH, such as mechanical allodynia, following chronic administration. We observed that the development of opioid-induced mechanical allodynia (OIMA), a model of OIH, was absent in β-arrestin1-/- and β-arrestin2-/- mice in response to chronic administration of conventional opioids such as morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl, whereas tolerance developed independent of OIMA. In agreement with the β-arrestin knockout mouse studies, chronic administration of TRV0109101, a G protein-biased MOPR ligand and structural analog of oliceridine, did not promote the development of OIMA but did result in drug tolerance. Interestingly, following induction of OIMA by morphine or fentanyl, TRV0109101 was able to rapidly reverse allodynia. These observations establish a role for β-arrestins in the development of OIH, independent of tolerance, and suggest that the use of G protein-biased MOPR ligands, such as oliceridine and TRV0109101, may be an effective therapeutic avenue for managing chronic pain with reduced propensity for opioid-induced hyperalgesia.

Author : Guerrilla Tea Publisher: Cancer Research, UK Price: Free to Play Year of Publication: 2013 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.guerillatea.elementalphaandhl=en. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/play-to-cure-genes-in-space/id784643890?mt=8. Gamification for data mining as on aid to cancer research: Cancer Research UK recently got together with Amazon Web Services, Facebook and Google, to launch an initiative that was a 3-day game jam in London to see if there was scope to help speed up the gene research process through play. Along with 40 academics, coders, graphic designers and other technically-minded individuals, made an attempt to turn the reading of raw gene data into a game concept. A game jam usually restricts the generation of a game concept to a few days, picks the team with the most interesting or feasible idea, and then has financial support to make it into a final product. In this case, the game "play to cure: Genes in space" was developed by Scottish indie studio Guerrilla Tea. Scientists found that if there are many people playing the game compared with a single individual, and a single level in the game, the analysis and research data acquired would be achieved more rapidly. The game involves a simple concept of flying a spaceship through a route defined by the player, and then has to avoid asteroids from damaging the ship, while completing the path assigned and collecting a fictional element known as element alpha. Games like this employ Gamification, which in short is the process of making a mundane task more involving and useful as far as productivity is concerned. The cancer research UK website states that, "by playing genes in space you′ll be analyzing significant amounts of genetic data that would have taken scientists hours to do. This data can then be used to develop new life-saving treatments." Another insight given by the website is that, "in a nutshell, by finding the best route to pick up the most Element Alpha, you′re actually plotting a course through genuine "DNA microarray" data." http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/play-to-cure-genes-in-space. Speaking to the Telegraph, Dr. Oscar Reuda one of the scientific team behind the project, says researchers "gathered 2,000 breast cancer tumor samples from patients in the UK and Canada." From these breast cancer tumor samples, 46,000 data sets have been created, and they all now need to be assessed to look for these DNA faults. "That's a lot of data," explains Dr. Rueda. "And our researchers simply don′t have the time to go through it all. Hence, we use computers. But they are making mistakes up to 10% of the time." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/health/scientific-breakthroughs/10616684/cancer-research-play-cure.html. On a personal note, the game is presented well, holds a good structure and has enough features to make it fun and engaging to a broad audience. In the end, the more people who play the game regardless of how much time spent on it will be aiding the entire spectrum of Cancer Treatment to a certain level. The game is available for free to download and play on both the iOS and Android devices.