The following report describes the pre-production, production, and post-production of the short film, 8.BIT.BROS, designed from its inception to fully exploit the years-developed, cumulative and varied skills of its director. The fantastical narrative focuses on the strained emotional dynamic between two adult brothers that have yet to come to terms with having witnessed their father’s death as children. Their trauma is dramatized and encapsulated in the videogame-themed psychotic hallucinations of the film’s protagonist. The director’s specialized skill-set was put to practical use in both the creation of animatronic creature effect, “Commander Gorgo,” and during the post-production phase of the film, wherein green screen compositing, animation, and motion graphics were used at length to bring the narrative life. / text

No description available.

Adherence to guideline-recommended secondary cardiovascular prevention therapy (statins and cardiac rehabilitation) has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality (Statins RRR 0.25, 95% CI 0.19-0.30; Cardiac Rehabilitation RRR 0.26, 95% CI 0.14-0.36) and secondary events.1,2 Yet, ≥50% of patients discontinue statin use within 12-month after an initial prescription and completion of cardiac rehabilitation is ≤20% in Ontario.3,4 Low statin adherence and cardiac rehab completion limits patients from realizing the full benefits of therapy. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of adherence to statins for secondary prevention reported that nonadherence to statins was greater in non-white ethnicities compared to white ethnicities (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.04-1.59) with geographical variation in outcomes.5 In respect to cardiac rehabilitation, the literature suggests that non-white ethnicities are less likely to complete cardiac rehabilitation compared to white participants.6,7 However, a gap remains in our knowledge of cardiac rehabilitation completion among immigrants due to lack of outcome reporting across clinical trials. The literature suggests that immigrants have improved health profiles relative to Canadian-born patients. Specifically, immigrants with ≤10 years of Canadian residency have greater medication adherence than immigrants with >10 of Canadian residency when compared to Canadian-born participants.6-9 This thesis was a planned sub-study of the Interventions Supporting Long-Term Adherence and Decreasing Cardiovascular Events (ISLAND) randomized control trial. The ISLAND study was a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial investigating the effect of educational reminders on adherence to guideline-recommended therapy post-myocardial infarction. Study participants were allocated in a 1:1:1 ratio to one of three groups: i) usual care, ii) educational reminders sent via post, or iii) combination post and interactive voice response educational reminders. Investigators were blinded to the allocation sequence, participant allocation, and outcome assessment. Medication adherence and completion of cardiac rehabilitation were assessed 12-months from baseline. This sub-study of ISLAND focused on participants who completed a 12-month outcome assessment with a recorded response to the following question, “Were you born a Canadian citizen?”. Immigrants experienced greater odds of statin adherence at 7-days (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.00-1.85) and 30 days (OR 1.36, 95% CI 0.96-1.94) at one-year post-myocardial infarction, after adjusting for age, diabetes, sex, and smoking status. We found no evidence that immigration status was associated with cardiac rehabilitation completion (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.72-1.14) after adjusting for age, diabetes, sex, smoking status, average neighborhood income quintile, education, and marital status. The odds of statin adherence at 7-days (OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.89-2.18) and 30-days (OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.89-2.18) was greater in visual minorities than white patients, however the difference was not statistically significant. We found no evidence of an association between ethnicity and cardiac rehabilitation completion (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.75-1.29). Our analysis could not fully evaluate the healthy immigrant effect due to an insufficient sample size of immigrants with <10 years of Canadian residency exposure (n=29). In conclusion, we report a statistically significant 36% increase in the odds of 7-day and 30-day statin adherence in immigrants compared to Canadian-born patients. We also report that the odds of cardiac rehabilitation decreased by 9% in immigrants compared to Canadian-born patients at 12-months post-myocardial infarction but this was not statistically significant. Our findings offer support for the “healthy immigrant effect” continuing in immigrants with >10 years of Canadian residency exposure. We were unable to evaluate outcomes in immigrants with <10 years Canadian residency exposure due to a lack of sample size (n=29). / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / The primary purpose of this research project was to assess whether immigrants, individuals who reside in Canada but were born outside of the country, who have experienced a previous heart attack were adhere to heart health therapies better than Canadian-born patients. The heart health therapies of interest to our investigation are two guideline-recommended heart attack prevention therapies, statins and cardiac rehabilitation. The study design of our research project was a cohort sub-study of the ISLAND randomized control trial which investigated adherence to heart health therapies in patients residing in Ontario, Canada. Our major finding was that immigrants who lived in Canada for >10 years were more adherent to statin therapy for a previous heart attack compared to Canadian-born participants. Our findings support the hypothesis that immigrants tend to demonstrate behaviours associated with improved outcomes compared to their Canadian-born counterparts.

Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen sind weltweit die häufigste Todesursache. Im Falle eines akuten myokardialen Infarkts ist eine schnelle und präzise Diagnostik notwendig, um ggf. die entsprechend überlebenswichtigen Maßnahmen in die Wege zu leiten. Einer der wichtigsten Biomarker für die Herzinfarkt-Diagnostik ist das kardiale Troponin I (cTnI), welches durch das Absterben der Myokardzellen (Herzmuskel) in den Blutkreislauf gelangt und sich dessen Konzentration über die Zeit ändert. Diese Konzentrationsänderung ist entscheidend für die Diagnostik und letztendlich für weitere lebensrettende medizinische Schritte. Entsprechend wurden in dieser Arbeit verschiedene Messmethoden entwickelt, um cTnI-Konzentrationen zu bestimmen. Zunächst wurden mehrere Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) im Sandwich-Format entwickelt, um eine höchstmögliche Sensitivität zur Detektion von cTnI zu ermöglichen. Um eine schnelle und kostengünstige Detektion von cTnI zu ermöglichen, wurde außerdem ein Lateral-Flow-Assay (LFA) entwickelt. Dabei wurden Gold-Nanoshells für die optische Auswertung verwendet, welche eine empfindlichere Detektion als übliche Gold-Nanopartikel ermöglichen. Des Weiteren wurden verschiedene Immunisierungen mit unterschiedlichen Strategien durchgeführt, um neue Antikörper gegen humanes cTnI zu entwickeln. Für das Online-Monitoring von cTnI wurde der Prototyp eines Biosensors entwickelt, welcher auf Chemilumineszenz-Detektion basiert. Für cTnI wurde mit dem Biosensor eine Nachweisgrenze von 0,6 μg/L (25 pM) in Puffer, 1,8 μg/L (73 pM) in Serum und 1,5 μg/L (63 pM) erzielt. / Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death worldwide. In the event of an acute myocardial infarction, rapid and precise diagnostics are necessary in order to initiate the appropriate vital measures if necessary. One of the most important biomarkers for heart attack diagnostics is cardiac troponin I (cTnI), which enters the bloodstream when the myocardial cells (heart muscle) undergo necrosis after an infarction and whose concentration changes over time. This change in concentration is crucial for diagnostics and ultimately for further lifesaving medical steps. Accordingly, various measurement methods were developed in this work to determine cTnI concentrations. Initially, several enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were developed in a sandwich format to enable the highest possible sensitivity for the detection of cTnI. A lateral flow assay (LFA) was also developed to enable rapid and cost-effective detection of cTnI. Gold nanoshells were used for optical evaluation, which enable more sensitive detection than conventional gold nanoparticles. Furthermore, different immunizations with different strategies were performed to develop new antibodies against human cTnI. A prototype biosensor based on chemiluminescence detection was developed for the online monitoring of cTnI. For cTnI, a detection limit of 0.6 μg/L (25 pM) in buffer, 1.8 μg/L (73 pM) in serum and 1.5 μg/L (63 pM) was achieved with the biosensor.

Contexte : Le tissu biologique mou présente une organisation structurelle extrêmement complexe et est le siège de nombreux phénomènes d'échanges. De nombreuses applications s'étendant du diagnostic clinique à l'ingénierie tissulaire nécessitent la connaissance du comportement mécanique du tissu. A cette fin, de nombreuses approches plus ou moins satisfaisantes sont développées. Elles s'efforcent toutes de tenir compte de manière plus ou moins systématique de la microstructure du milieu. La considération du tissu biologique comme un milieu micromorphe donne des résultats probants dans sa particularisation au milieu micropolaire appliquée au tissu osseux. Il est donc fort probable que des résultats du genre soient obtenus pour d'autres tissus. Notre travail était orienté vers le tissu cardiaque et la problématique de l'infarctus ischémique. Dans ce contexte, il nous a semblé que la particularisation de comportement la mieux adaptée est celle d'un milieu à microdilatation. Travail réalisé : Le travail réalisé dans le cadre de cette thèse est essentiellement numérique. Il a pour objectif de mettre en lumière les particularités de la réponse à une sollicitation extérieure d'un échantillon de milieu à microdilatation. Cette étape est essentielle pour l'analyse future des résultats d'expériences qui seront menées. Il a également pour objectif d'étudier les potentialités du modèle vis-à-vis du tissu cardiaque en considérant l'infarctus ischémique et la perte associée de la capacité d'éjection de volume sanguin. Les outils numériques d'analyse de tels milieux sont en plein développement. Il nous a fallu développer notre propre outil basé sur la LPI-BEM (Local Point Interpolation - Boundary Element Method). Du fait de la similitude des équations de champs associées, la validité de la stratégie numérique mise en oeuvre est testée sur le cas d'un matériau piézoélectrique. Ce choix n'est pas innocent car, dans l'avenir la considération du milieu piézoélectrique à microdilatation permettra d'analyser le cas d'une sollicitation électrique du tissu. Les détails de cette stratégie numérique originale sont consignés dans le chapitre 2 du mémoire. Le chapitre 3 est consacré à l'analyse de la robustesse de la méthode et aux particularités de la réponse d'un milieu à microdilatation. Le quatrième chapitre est consacré à l'application au tissu cardiaque. En se limitant au cas de petites déformations, on montre que le modèle est bien adapté à la représentation du comportement du tissu cardiaque. En effet, assimilant le ventricule gauche à une structure tubulaire, la fraction d'éjection du ventricule gauche (critère clinique d'insuffisance cardiaque) est fortement diminuée en présence d'une zone infarcie. Cette dernière est modélisée comme une région à frontière diffuse où les points matériels ont perdu leur capacité de « respirer ». Ces résultats sont prometteurs. Ils encouragent à poursuivre dans cette voie en prenant en compte le caractère anisotrope du tissu et en se plaçant dans le cadre des grandes déformations / Background: A soft biological tissue is subjected to numerous exchange phenomena and has an extremely complex structural organization. The knowledge of its mechanical behavior is required in many applications ranging from clinical diagnostic to tissue engineering. To achieve this goal, more or less satisfactory approaches are developed. They all seek to take into account in a more or less systematic manner the microstructure of the medium. Assuming that the biological tissue is a particular micromorphic medium (micropolar medium) leads to good results in the case bone tissue. It is therefore likely that the results of this kind will be obtained for other tissues. Our interest is on the heart tissue and the problem of ischemic heart attack. In this context, it seemed that the most appropriate behavior particularization is that of a microdilatation medium. Work done: The work presented in this thesis is essentially numerical. It aims to highlight the features of the response of microdilatation medium to an external mechanical load. This step is essential for the analysis of the experimental results to be conducted in the future. The work also aims to investigate the potentialities of the model with respect to the heart tissue regarding heart attack and the associated loss of the ability to eject sufficient blood volume. The numerical tools for the analysis of such media are in increasing development. We had to develop our own tool based on the LPI-BEM (Local Point Interpolation - Boundary Element Method). Because of the similarity of the associated field equations, the validity of the numerical strategy is assessed in the case of a piezoelectric material. This choice is not innocent because the piezoelectric medium with microdilatation will allow analyzing the case of an electrical solicitation of the tissue. The details of this original numerical approach are given in Chapter 2 of the thesis. Chapter 3 is devoted to the analysis of the robustness of the method and to the peculiarities of the response of a microdilatation medium. The fourth chapter is devoted to the application to the cardiac tissue. By limiting the study to the case of small strains, it is shown that the model is well suited to the representation of the behavior of cardiac tissue. Indeed, considering the left ventricle as a tubular structure, the left ventricle ejection fraction (clinical criterion of the heart failure) is greatly reduced in the presence of an infarcted area. The latter is modeled as a zone with diffuse boundary where the material points have lost their ability to "breath". These results are promising and encourage further investigations in this direction by taking into account the anisotropic nature of the tissue in a geometrically nonlinear context

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the industrialised world, and places a heavy burden on society in terms of personal disability and health care costs. The first signs of CHD often present acutely as a myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack. Survivors of a heart attack remain vulnerable to poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL), further cardiac events, and increased morbidity due to a progression of CHD. Thus, the implementation of interventions to reduce these risks is an important public health strategy. To date, secondary prevention and rehabilitation efforts post-AMI focus primarily on the patient. However, it is argued that recovery from AMI occurs within a social context, and that risk reduction strategies are likely to be enhanced if interventions take into account the impact of the event on the quality of life of patients and their partners. Evidence from a review of couple relationship literature indicates that a significant proportion of couples experiences poor HRQOL (i.e., physical and emotional wellbeing) when coping with stressful life events, and that interactive aspects of a couple relationship (i.e., dyadic functioning and behaviour) are associated with individual well-being at such a time. Information from studies of couples dealing with recovery from heart attack is sparse, but tends to reflect the findings from the broader literature. Further research is required with post-AMI couples, though, as there are a number of shortcomings associated with the existing evidence. For instance, it is derived from studies conducted with, mostly small, samples of convenience; many different instruments are used to collect the data; and no studies specifically measure HRQOL. Analytically, most evidence is obtained with univariate and bivariate statistics, and data are analysed as groups of patients or partners, as opposed to dyads. Where multivariable analyses are undertaken a number of bivariate relationships are no longer significant after accounting for covariates such as age and gender; and few researchers investigate predictive associations between dyadic functioning/behaviour and HRQOL outcomes. Finally, there is a paucity of information from comparative analyses. Thus, it is not known whether the well-being of post-AMI couples over time is better than, similar to, or worse than, for example, that in the general population. The research program underpinning this thesis, the QUT-AMI Project, comprised two studies designed to address these methodological issues. The first was an observational, cross-sectional, pilot study conducted in 1998 with 26 post-AMI couples. The main investigation was a prospective cohort study of 93 post-AMI couples undertaken in 1999-2000. In both studies the samples comprised a consecutive series of adult males younger than 75 years who had experienced a first AMI, and their female partners. The average couple in both studies was middle-aged, had been married for many years, and both members of the dyad were working at the time of the heart attack. Prospective participants were identified in major clinical centres that admit cardiac patients, and couples were recruited to the project soon after the patient's heart attack. Clinical data were collected in hospital. Further data were collected with self-administered questionnaires during a home visit at 1 month (pilot and main study), and by mailed questionnaire or during a home visit at 6 months(main study) after the heart attack. The pilot study was undertaken to test recruitment and data collection procedures in preparation for the second (main) study, measure couples' HRQOL at 1 month after the event using the SF-36, and qualitatively investigate life issues for couples coping with recovery from AMI. In the main study couples' HRQOL outcomes were measured at 1 and 6 months post-AMI using the SF-36, and examined for changes over that time. The outcomes were also compared with those from matched population norms to estimate the impact of a heart attack on couples' HRQOL during the early and later recovery period. Additionally, the following relationships were investigated to determine the extent to which:* patients' dyadic functioning (e.g. happiness/satisfaction with relationship, measured with the Marital Adjustment Scale) and use of dyadic behaviour (e.g., hiding concerns and negative feelings from the other member of the dyad, measured with the Protective Buffering Scale) at 1 month predicted patients' emotional well-being at 6 months post-AMI;* partners' dyadic functioning and behaviour at 1 month predicted partners' emotional well-being at 6 months post-AMI;* patients' and partners' dyadic functioning at 1 month predicted patients' or partners' emotional well-being at 6 months post-AMI; and* patients' and partners' dyadic behaviour at 1 month predicted patients' or partners' emotional well-being at 6 months post-AMI. Exploratory analyses were also undertaken to determine the effect of dyadic discrepancies in functioning and behaviour, at 1 month after the heart attack, on patients' and partners' emotional well-being at 6 months after the event. Important findings were as follows:* At 1 month after an AMI the HRQOL of couples is impaired. The major impact is on physical well-being for patients, and emotional well-being for their partners.* In general, couples' HRQOL improves between 1 and 6 months after an AMI.* At 6 months after an AMI, the HRQOL of average couples is similar to that of their peers in the normal population.* There are subgroup variations in the quality of life of post-AMI couples, and these are associated with age, clinically poor physical health, and depression.* The combination of patients' and partners' use of dyadic behaviour at 1 month after an AMI explains 7% of the variation in patients' emotional well-being at 6months after the event, after adjustment for patients' concurrent physical wellbeing and prior levels of emotional well-being, as well as duration of couple relationships.* The combination of partners' perceptions of dyadic functioning and use of dyadic behaviour at 1 month after an AMI explains 5% of the variation in partners' emotional well-being at 6 months after the event, after adjustment for partners' concurrent physical well-being and prior levels of emotional well-being, as well as duration of couples' relationships.* Patients have poorer emotional well-being at 6 months after an AMI if partners use dyadic behaviour infrequently at 1 month after the event.* Partners have poorer emotional well-being at 6 months after an AMI if they are not satisfied/unhappy with the functioning of their relationships at 1 month after the event. Adjusted exploratory analyses, undertaken to determine the extent to which dyadic discrepancies in perceptions of functioning or use of protective buffering behaviour, predict emotional well-being, show that patients who are less satisfied/unhappier with functioning than their partners at 1 month after an AMI have poor emotional wellbeing at 6 months after the event; patients who use the behaviour more frequently than their partners at 1 month after an AMI have poor emotional well-being at 6months after the event; and partners who are less satisfied/unhappier with functioning than their patients at 1 month after an AMI have poor emotional well-being at 6months after the event. The evidence from the QUT-AMI Project supports the proposition that the interaction that occurs within a couple relationship, combined with individual characteristics of members of a dyad, influences the extent to which a heart attack impacts on couples' HRQOL. It is argued that it is not enough to merely focus on implementing secondary prevention strategies with post-AMI patients. Given that poor emotional well-being is known to predict adverse cardiac events, and premature mortality due to cardiac disease, it is recommended that a couple-focused intervention designed to meet specific needs should be implemented with at-risk couples as a public health strategy to improve not only the patients' quality of life but also that of his partner. Further research is recommended to determine the extent to which such an intervention improves post-AMI couples' quality of life.

No description available.

This study addresses the specific barriers related to time delays in the treatment of patients who suffered acute myocardial infarction at the Al Ain Hospital accident and emergency unit in the United Arab Emirates. A comprehensive background of the UAE is given for the benefit of students who have limited access to the background and challenges facing medical and nursing personnel in providing thrombolythic therapy to patients who suffered from acute myocardial infarction. The study will contribute to the continuous quality management and improvement of overall nursing and medical care of the AMI patient who is eligible for thrombolysis. An extensive literature review addresses the clinical manifestations and treatment of the patient suffering from AMI as well as the adverse effects of time delays in treatment during the acute phase of the disease. The researcher selected a quantitative, non-experimental descriptive and retrospective study. Data was collected by a structured instrument to gather the desired responses from the files of 457 selected patients admitted to the Al Ain Hospital. This study emphasizes the need to improve patient care by all health care personnel in an accident and emergency unit to prevent the delays in treatment in life threatening conditions such as myocardial infarction ensuring optimal and prompt time to thrombolyse. The improvement of awareness and commitment by health care providers such as nurses, doctors and ambulance personnel, can be achieved through education and training, commitment and dedication, absolute cooperation, collaboration and constant update on performance. Regular audits are essential with regard to door-to-needle time and performance of all health care providers. This study ultimately show that time constrains in attending to patients presenting with myocardial infarction should be addressed in utmost urgency. / Health Studies / M. A. (Health Studies)

This study addresses the specific barriers related to time delays in the treatment of patients who suffered acute myocardial infarction at the Al Ain Hospital accident and emergency unit in the United Arab Emirates. A comprehensive background of the UAE is given for the benefit of students who have limited access to the background and challenges facing medical and nursing personnel in providing thrombolythic therapy to patients who suffered from acute myocardial infarction. The study will contribute to the continuous quality management and improvement of overall nursing and medical care of the AMI patient who is eligible for thrombolysis. An extensive literature review addresses the clinical manifestations and treatment of the patient suffering from AMI as well as the adverse effects of time delays in treatment during the acute phase of the disease. The researcher selected a quantitative, non-experimental descriptive and retrospective study. Data was collected by a structured instrument to gather the desired responses from the files of 457 selected patients admitted to the Al Ain Hospital. This study emphasizes the need to improve patient care by all health care personnel in an accident and emergency unit to prevent the delays in treatment in life threatening conditions such as myocardial infarction ensuring optimal and prompt time to thrombolyse. The improvement of awareness and commitment by health care providers such as nurses, doctors and ambulance personnel, can be achieved through education and training, commitment and dedication, absolute cooperation, collaboration and constant update on performance. Regular audits are essential with regard to door-to-needle time and performance of all health care providers. This study ultimately show that time constrains in attending to patients presenting with myocardial infarction should be addressed in utmost urgency. / Health Studies / M. A. (Health Studies)