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This commentary summarizes proceedings of a workshop on chronic pain in military personnel and veterans (released personnel) at the Annual Forum of the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research in Gatineau and Ottawa on October 22, 2019. The extent and impact of chronic pain among Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) veterans and their families is significant and has been underappreciated, largely due to limited disclosure by serving and veteran military personnel, stemming from a fear of stigmatization. Living with pain is seen as a fact of life in military cultures, something to be endured and not discussed. Though progress is being made in reducing the stigma of mental illness, the discourse on chronic pain remains censored. This workshop's goal was to bring the discussion of chronic pain out of the shadows in the search for ways to help veterans and active service personnel living with chronic pain. Many points of view were brought forward at this first national Canadian multidisciplinary gathering of researchers, veterans with lived experience, clinicians, and policymakers. A CAF member described his lived experience with constant chronic pain. Clinicians described aspects of chronic pain in military personnel and veterans whom they treat in their clinics. Dr. Ramesh Zacharias described the new Chronic Pain Center of Excellence for Canadian Veterans that will be established with funding from Veterans Affairs Canada. Dr. Norman Buckley highlighted collaboration with the existing Chronic Pain Network funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research. Audience members identified a diverse variety of issues.Ce commentaire résume les actes d’un atelier sur la douleur chronique chez le personnel militaire et les anciens combattants (personnel libéré) tenu dans le cadre du Forum annuel de l’Institut canadien de recherche sur la santé des militaires et des vétérans à Gatineau et Ottawa le 22 octobre 2019. L’étendue et l’effet de la douleur chronique chez les anciens combattants des Forces armées canadiennes (FAC) et leurs familles sont importantes et ont été sous-estimées, en grande partie en raison de la divulgation limitée par le personnel militaire en service et les anciens combattants, découlant de la peur de la stigmatisation. Le fait de vivre avec la douleur est considéré comme faisant partie de la vie dans les cultures militaires, quelque chose qu’il faut endurer et dont il ne faut pas discuter. Bien que des progrès aient été réalisés dans la réduction de la stigmatisation de la maladie mentale, le discours sur la douleur chronique continue d’être censuré. L’objectif de cet atelier était de faire sortir de l’ombre la discussion sur la douleur chronique afin de chercher des moyens d’aider les anciens combattants et le personnel de service actif vivant avec la douleur chronique. De nombreux points de vue ont été exprimés lors de cette première rencontre multidisciplinaire nationale canadienne réunissant des chercheurs, des anciens combattants ayant vécu l’expérience de la douleur chronique, des cliniciens et des décideurs. Un membre des FAC a décrit l’expérience de douleur chronique qu’il a vécue. Les cliniciens ont décrit les aspects de la douleur chronique chez le personnel militaire et les anciens combattants qu’ils traitent dans leurs cliniques. Le Dr Ramesh Zacharias a décrit le nouveau Centre d’excellence sur la douleur chronique pour les vétérans canadiens qui sera établi grâce au financement d’Anciens Combattants Canada. Le Dr Norman Buckley a souligné la collaboration avec le Réseau de douleur chronique existant financé par l’Institut canadien de la recherche en santé. Les membres de l’audience ont relevé divers problèmes.

BACKGROUND Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept; it is increasingly being integrated into health care. As studies on attitudes toward AI have primarily focused on physicians, there is a need to assess the perspectives of students across health care disciplines to inform future curriculum development. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore and identify gaps in the knowledge that Canadian health care students have regarding AI, capture how health care students in different fields differ in their knowledge and perspectives on AI, and present student-identified ways that AI literacy may be incorporated into the health care curriculum. METHODS The survey was developed from a narrative literature review of topics in attitudinal surveys on AI. The final survey comprised 15 items, including multiple-choice questions, pick-group-rank questions, 11-point Likert scale items, slider scale questions, and narrative questions. We used snowball and convenience sampling methods by distributing an email with a description and a link to the web-based survey to representatives from 18 Canadian schools. RESULTS A total of 2167 students across 10 different health professions from 18 universities across Canada responded to the survey. Overall, 78.77% (1707/2167) predicted that AI technology would affect their careers within the coming decade and 74.5% (1595/2167) reported a positive outlook toward the emerging role of AI in their respective fields. Attitudes toward AI varied by discipline. Students, even those opposed to AI, identified the need to incorporate a basic understanding of AI into their curricula. CONCLUSIONS We performed a nationwide survey of health care students across 10 different health professions in Canada. The findings would inform student-identified topics within AI and their preferred delivery formats, which would advance education across different health care professions.

Background Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept; it is increasingly being integrated into health care. As studies on attitudes toward AI have primarily focused on physicians, there is a need to assess the perspectives of students across health care disciplines to inform future curriculum development. Objective This study aims to explore and identify gaps in the knowledge that Canadian health care students have regarding AI, capture how health care students in different fields differ in their knowledge and perspectives on AI, and present student-identified ways that AI literacy may be incorporated into the health care curriculum. Methods The survey was developed from a narrative literature review of topics in attitudinal surveys on AI. The final survey comprised 15 items, including multiple-choice questions, pick-group-rank questions, 11-point Likert scale items, slider scale questions, and narrative questions. We used snowball and convenience sampling methods by distributing an email with a description and a link to the web-based survey to representatives from 18 Canadian schools. Results A total of 2167 students across 10 different health professions from 18 universities across Canada responded to the survey. Overall, 78.77% (1707/2167) predicted that AI technology would affect their careers within the coming decade and 74.5% (1595/2167) reported a positive outlook toward the emerging role of AI in their respective fields. Attitudes toward AI varied by discipline. Students, even those opposed to AI, identified the need to incorporate a basic understanding of AI into their curricula. Conclusions We performed a nationwide survey of health care students across 10 different health professions in Canada. The findings would inform student-identified topics within AI and their preferred delivery formats, which would advance education across different health care professions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept; it is increasingly integrated into healthcare practice. Many recent commentaries indicated the need to introduce AI literacy training into medical curriculum. However, little is known about what students want to learn about AI, and even less is known from healthcare students outside of medicine. We performed a nation-wide survey of healthcare students across 10 different health professions in Canada. 2167 students across 10 different health professions from 18 universities across Canada responded to the survey. The majority (80%) predicted that AI technology will impact their careers within the coming decade, and 72% reported a positive outlook towards the emerging role of AI in their respective fields. Attitudes towards AI varied by discipline. Findings inform student-identified gaps in knowledge and preferred education delivery formats. This study adds to current literature as it is the first to explore what healthcare students want to learn about AI, and provides insight into future directions for collaboration among sectors such as healthcare, education, and industry. Funding: This study was support by the UBC Medical Undergraduate Society. Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: This prospective anonymous online survey study received ethics approval from the local Institutional Behavioural Research Ethics Board (H20-03339).

In the neurotoxicology pediatric domain, few neuromotor tests are specifically designed to be sensitive enough for the early detection of subtle deficits in voluntary and involuntary movements. In research and clinical domains, an effort is done to objectify or quantify the qualitative aspects of a movement (pattern of movement) in predicting neurological problems. This study aimed to standardize quantitative motor measures initially developed for adults and adapted to the evaluation of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 110 healthy children aged 4–6. The following quantitative neuromotor tests were selected: alternating movements and pointing movements (DOCO Microsystemes Inc., Montreal, Canada), postural tremor, postural sway and simple reaction time (Danish Product Development Ltd., Snekkersten, Denmark). Validation measures included global motor tasks and a neurological examination. Results indicate adequate test–retest reliability and complementarities amongst the selected voluntary and involuntary measures. Both the feasibility and relevance of quantitative neuromotor tests in preschool aged children were established. Results also provide a representation of intra-individual and inter-individual variability within this population. Lastly, the results highlight the importance of developmental factors, behavioral factors and testing conditions in the neuromotor evaluation of young children. The proposed tests could help in the early detection of children at risk for motor dysfunctions following neurotoxic exposure. The tests can also be used for the follow up of various conditions relating to motor functions (cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, preterm infants) and in the evaluation of the effects of medication.

Ethanol (ETOH) is added to unleaded gasoline to decrease environmental levels of carbon monoxide from automobiles emissions. Therefore, addition of ETOH in reformulated fuel will most likely increase and the involuntarily human exposure to this chemical will also increase. This preliminary study was undertaken to evaluate the possible neuromotor effects resulting from acute ETOH exposure by inhalation in humans. Five healthy non-smoking adult males, with no history of alcohol abuse, were exposed by inhalation, in a dynamic, controlled-environment exposure chamber, to various concentrations of ETOH (0, 250, 500 and 1,000 ppm in air) for six hours. Reaction time, body sway, hand tremor and rapid alternating movements were measured before and after each exposure session by using the CATSYS 7.0 system and a diadochokinesimeter. The concentrations of ETOH in blood and in alveolar air were also measured. ETOH was not detected in blood nor in alveolar air when volunteers were exposed to 250 and 500 ppm, but at the end of exposure to 1,000 ppm, blood and alveolar air concentrations were 0.443 mg/100ml and 253.1 ppm, respectively. The neuromotor tests did not show conclusively significant differences between the exposed and non-exposed conditions. In conclusion, this study suggests that acute exposure to ethanol at 1,000 ppm or lower or to concentrations that could be encountered upon refueling is not likely to cause any significant neuromotor alterations in healthy males.

Measurement of tremor has been used in several occupational studies of workers with long-term exposure to mercury vapor (Hg(0)). Recent studies indicate an adverse effect even at relatively low exposure levels. In the present study, we used sensitive quantitative methods to assess tremor in chloralkali workers with current low exposure to Hg(0). Neurological examinations and recordings of tremor using both an accelerometer and a laser-based system were conducted in 43 mercury-exposed workers and 22 age-matched referents. The median urinary mercury concentration in exposed workers was 5.9 (1.3-25) microg/g creatinine (microg/gC), while it was 0.7 (0.2-4.1) microg/gC in referents. The mean exposure time was 15 years, and the median cumulative mercury index was 161 years x microg/gC in exposed workers. There were no differences between the exposed workers and the referents in the clinical evaluation of tremor. In the quantitative tremor tests, no associations were found with current or cumulative mercury exposure for the majority of tremor measures. There were indications that exposure to Hg(0) was associated with a lowering of tremor frequency in the non-dominant hand, and a possible interaction with smoking. The differences were small, however, and overall, this study indicates no significant adverse effects on tremor at these exposure levels.

The present work assesses the potential of rapid alternating movement analysis for detecting movement disorders like Parkinson's disease. Rapid alternating wrist movements were recorded by a diadochokinesimeter for patients with Parkinson's disease (n=10) and healthy controls (n=20). An index of irregularity was computed for each individual as the density of jerk singularities (i.e. zero-crossings) during the movements. Several scales of analysis (i.e. "coarseness") were used for detecting the jerk events and two methods were compared for all of these scales: (1) automatic classification by means of a threshold that optimally separates the indexes of irregularity of the patients from those of the controls, and (2) statistical decision (normal or abnormal) based upon a distribution of indexes of irregularity obtained from a large population of normal subjects. The results showed that (1) two scales of analysis were sufficient and that (2) both methods presented similar performances (e.g. sensitivity=1.00, specificity=0.85, efficiency=0.90). However, statistical decision should be preferred because of its simplicity. The possibility of automatic detection of movement disorders from alternating movements is discussed.

Evaluation of neuromotor function has been used in several epidemiological studies of workers with long-term exposure to mercury vapor (Hg 0). Some recent studies indicate adverse effects at relatively low exposure levels. In the present study, we used sensitive quantitative methods, developed specifically to detect subtle effects of exposure to toxins on motor function. After exclusion of individuals with neurological diseases or other conditions that may affect performance, 43 chloralkali workers with current low exposure to Hg 0, and 22 age-matched referents remained for further analysis. The median urinary mercury concentration in exposed workers was 5.9 microg/g (range 1.3-25) creatinine (microg/gC), while that in referents was 0.7 microg/gC (range 0.2-4.1). The mean exposure time was 15 years, and the median cumulative mercury index was 161 years x microg/gC in exposed workers. A eurythmokinesimeter (EKM) was used to quantify eye-hand coordination, and a diadochokinesimeter, to measure rapid alternating rotation of the forearms. In general, the differences in performance between the exposed workers and the referents were small. Age was associated with a decrease in speed, more tremor, and longer contact duration between the stylus and the metal targets in performance of rapid pointing movements. Smokers had significantly more tremor, and more contacts per event in the EKM test, than nonsmokers. Taking age, shift work, and smoking habits into account, no significant associations with current or cumulative mercury exposure were found for the majority of the outcome variables from the quantitative tests. In general, this study indicates no significant adverse effects of Hg 0 on neuromotor function at the exposure levels studied.

Is Big Brother really watching ? To answer this commonplace question, the author examines the not-so-common-knowledge ways different power groups and organizations use to spy on people. Answering the pertinent questions of why this surveillance is carried out and who is watching whom, he surveys and lists the technical means and existing hardware that make domestic spying possible and effective., Big Brother est-il parmi nous ? L'auteur décortique ici diverses dimensions de la surveillance des citoyens par les pouvoirs : pourquoi cette surveillance ? qui nous surveille et qui est surveillé ? à quel point ? Il dresse aussi un inventaire des moyens scientifiques et techniques et des appareils qui rendent possible et efficace cette surveillance., ¿Big Brother está entre nosotros ? El autor desmenuza aquí diversas dimenciones de la vigilancia de los ciudadanos por los poderes : ¿Porqué esta vigilancia ?, ¿Quién nos vigila y quién es vigilado ?, ¿Hasta qué punto ? Establece también un inventario de los medios científicos y técnicos y de los aparatos que hacen posible y eficaz esta vigilancia., Lamoureux Daniel. Vers 1984 : surveiller pour contrôler. In: Communication Information, volume 4 n°1,1981. pp. 60-86.

The effects of metabolic coronary vasodilation on transcapillary exchange in the heart were examined in anesthetized dogs by use of the multiple indicator dilution technique. Animals were studied under basal conditions and during coronary sinus pacing. To obviate adrenal medullary stimulation, catheters were placed in coronary artery and coronary sinus in a closed chest preparation. Plasma catecholamine concentrations were determined to provide an index of the level of sympathetic tone. Labeled albumin and sucrose were injected into the coronary artery, and outflow dilution curves were secured. Analysis of these, with a model incorporating throughput and returning components, and heterogeneity of capillary transit times, provided parameters reflecting flow, permeability-surface product for sucrose, and capillary heterogeneity. Coronary sinus pacing increased both heart rate and plasma norepinephrine values; in response, myocardial oxygen consumption increased, metabolic vasodilation occurred, and coronary flow increased. The capillary permeability-surface product for sucrose increased with the flow but tended to plateau at higher values, showing a saturation phenomenon. Capillary heterogeneity, present in control animals with low sympathetic tone, was grossly decreased during cardiac metabolic activation. The Crone-Renkin approximation formula for the permeability-surface product yielded values that were too low at low flows and values approaching those from the complete model at high flows. The findings indicate an integrated pattern of circulatory response to cardiac metabolic activation characterized by decreased resistance, increased flow, increased permeability-surface product, and reduced heterogeneity. The last two effects amplify the capacity of increased flow to deliver substrates to heart muscle cells.