Rainbow Health Ontario

Abstract Recent scholarship has highlighted how states differentially restrict the movement of persons who are divergently racialized, gendered, sexualized, abled, and aged. This paper explores the phenomenon of extrajudicial border enforcement—instances where airline officials act on behalf of states to prevent the cross-border movement of marginalized persons. Based on a qualitative analysis of fifty-two cases of failed travel of at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) persons attempting to cross an international border between April 2018 and April 2022, this paper offers an intersectional lens into how airline officials, whom the coauthors term extended state agents, deny boarding to individuals through an arbitrary and discretionary process, despite the individual’s compliance with the entry requirements of transit and destination countries. Because state penalties incentivize these boarding denials, implementation of carrier sanctions should be understood as a byproduct of law rather than an exemption from it. These expulsions without due process are in sharp contrast to the LGBTIQ+ rights affirming rhetoric of the expelling states, which we characterize as a form of pinkwashing. In this analysis, coauthors question the responsibility of states in human rights violations consequent to denial of boarding under carrier sanctions regimes.

Although many qualitative point-of-care tests are commercially available for detection of pregnancy including urine and serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) tests, these products are often associated with higher risk of false-negative results and are not easy to use. The ADEXUSDx hCG Test uses only 1 drop (35–40 μL) of whole blood sample for the detection of hCG, making it suitable for capillary blood testing. Comparison with Access Total βhCG (5th IS) assay using 392 finger stick samples from women of child-bearing age demonstrated an overall agreement of 98.1%. Performance of the ADEXUSDx hCG Test was prospectively evaluated in 40 pregnant and 40 nonpregnant women aged 18 to 44 years. The hCG test generated 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Study of additional 318 nonpregnant women in various age groups demonstrated 99.7% specificity. The ADEXUSDx hCG Test is a rapid test (10 minutes) with demonstrated ease of use and clinical performance, making it a useful point-of-care test as well as over-the-counter test.

The present chapter explores significant factors influencing the successful implementation and development of youth environmental activism in high schools from the perspective of a group of teachers and students in Ontario (Canada). According to participants, the emergence and perceived long-term positive influence of a particular youth environmental action initiative in their school—an environmental club founded by a science teacher—depend largely on the existence of environmentally-motivated teachers and students who are committed to developing a (social, intellectual and action-oriented) venue for activism, are open to mentorship activities, and who believe in the possibility of making a positive difference in their communities through collective enterprises. Our discussion offers insight into how (science) teachers and students can work together with(in) different disciplines to support environmental youth activism in schools.

To evaluate the reasons that complete remission is not achieved or maintained with original treatment in some patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) treated with rituximab (RTX) or with cyclophosphamide/azathioprine (CYC/AZA). The Rituximab in AAV trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing the rate of remission induction among patients treated with RTX (n = 99) and patients treated with CYC followed by AZA (n = 98). Glucocorticoids were tapered over a period of 5 months. The primary outcome measure was lack of disease activity without glucocorticoid treatment at 6 months. To determine the most important reason for failure to achieve the primary outcome, 7 hierarchical categories of reasons were defined retrospectively (uncontrolled disease, adverse event leading to therapy discontinuation, severe flare, limited flare, Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score for Wegener's Granulomatosis >0, prednisone treatment at any dosage, and other). Although remission (lack of disease activity) was achieved in 170 of the 197 patients (86%) in the first 6 months, the primary outcome measure was not achieved in 42%. There were 3 deaths. Twenty-four percent of the patients failed to achieve the primary end point due to active disease: 10 (5%) experienced uncontrolled disease in the first month and 37 (19%) experienced flares after initial improvement. In the majority of such patients, treatment with blinded crossover or according to best medical judgment led to disease control. Ninety-one percent of patients who had uncontrolled disease or experienced a severe flare had proteinase 3 (PR3)-ANCA. When patients with uncontrolled disease were excluded from analysis, those who were PR3-ANCA positive were found to experience fewer flares when treated with RTX compared to CYC/AZA (8 of 59 [14%] versus 20 of 62 [32%]; P = 0.02). Neither ANCA titers nor B cell counts predicted disease flare. Current treatment regimens are largely successful in controlling AAV, but in approximately one-fourth of patients, active disease persists or recurs in the first 6 months despite treatment. PR3-ANCA positivity is a risk factor for recurrence or persistence of severe disease. ANCA titers and B cell detectability are poor predictors of both disease relapse and disease quiescence in the first 6 months.