It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, April 28, 2023
Police called as Pride flag debate erupts at York Region Catholic school board meeting
'York Region is our very own Florida'
Chaos erupted at a York Region Catholic school board meeting in Aurora, Ont., on Tuesday over a debate about raising the rainbow flag for Pride month in June.
Abhya Adlakha ·Editor, Yahoo News Canada Thu, April 27, 2023 Police called as Pride flag debate erupts at York Region school board meeting
Chaos erupted at a York Region school board meeting in Aurora, Ont., on Tuesday over a debate about raising the rainbow flag for Pride month in June.
Police were called at a York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) meeting at the Catholic Education Centre after the discussion about the Pride flag became heated, with security pushing people out and attendees arguing against the flag spilling into the hallway.
TCDSB teacher Paolo De Buono was set to speak in favour of raising the flag at the meeting. However, he claims he received an email from the board that his delegation will not be heard. In a video uploaded on Twitter by De Buono, he was swarmed by parents as they can be heard calling him a "devil incarnate," "radical teacher," and even a "pedophile."
De Buono uploaded his delegation speaking notes on Twitter and wrote that he was ashamed to be a York Catholic parent because York Catholic is the only Catholic board in the GTA "not flying the Pride flag."
"I am deeply concerned that York Catholic's obstinance in not flying the Pride flag is a red flag about how its 2SLGBTQI+ students are being treated in York Catholic schools and that 2SLGBTQI+ students do not feel safe within York Catholic schools," he wrote.
"Flying the Pride flag at York Catholic schools has everything to do with learning. Students cannot learn when they do not feel safe at school," he added.
According to City News Toronto reporter Michelle Mackey, many 2SLGBTQ+ students were left in "tears" during the meeting.
"Some 2SLGBTQ+ students who were still in the meeting were in tears," she wrote on Twitter. "A trustee made a speech about keeping kids safe and denouncing hate. When students in the room asked how exactly they were going to do that, there was no response and the meeting continued.
De Buono also tweeted that as the situation became worse with parents shouting, he could see many students sitting scared in the board room and crying.
“I saw students crying, in fear, in the boardroom, as they heard York Catholic community members shouting angrily from the lobby. How can such a simple but important form of recognition, a Pride flag, cause so many in York Region to become so angry?” De Buono wrote in a tweet.
As a response to the event, PFLAG Canada, a national non-profit organization, officially designated York Catholic School Board as "Unsafe for the LGBTQ2IA+ Community of York Region."
"Last night's meeting was deeply disturbing on a number of levels," wrote President of Pflag Canada York Region Tristan Coolman.
"This incident, along with the treatment of the students, parents and allies in attendance today has proven this Board lacks the decision quality and expertise to create a truly inclusive, equitable, and safe public space for these meetings," he added.
De Buono thanked everyone for their strong support after the delegation.
"It is challenging for me personally, [because] what I saw triggered my memory of issues I raised in my May 2021 application to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, which still has not processed it," he wrote.
'York Region is our very own Florida':
People react, many show support
Firefighters battle blaze in river valley near downtown Edmonton
CBC Thu, April 27, 2023 at 10:30 p.m. A large brush fire spread in the river valley below downtown Edmonton Thursday night. (Keenan Fitzpatrick - image credit)
Fire crews battled a large blaze in the river valley Thursday night near downtown Edmonton.
The fire started around 9 p.m., Edmonton Fire Rescue Services spokesperson Rowan Anderson told CBC. Six crews arrived on scene about four minutes later.
The fire was located near Grierson Hill and 100th Street. The brush fire spread on the embankment below the Courtyard by Marriott Edmonton Downtown hotel and caused damaged the hotel's patio, Anderson said.
Anderson said no damage was reported to the neighbouring Fairmont Hotel Macdonald.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Citing growing evidence of harm to child health and learning ability, advocates call for faster replacement of diesel school buses
On Healthy Environments for Learning Day, environmental and children’s health advocates call on all levels of government to accelerate the switch to electric school buses
CANADIAN PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT / CANADIAN CHILD CARE FEDERATION
IMAGE: ADVANTAGE OF ELECTRIC VS. DIESEL SCHOOL BUSES. HIGH-RES AT HTTP://BIT.LY/3O09WYNview more
CREDIT: CPCHE
Health and environmental advocates today called on communities, school boards and governments at every level to accelerate the electrification of school buses, replacing tens of thousands of diesel-powered school buses spewing toxic fumes that can seriously harm child health and interfere with learning.
Led by the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE), a coalition of 34 organisations made the goal of all-electric school bus fleets in Canada the central focus of this year’s nationalHealthy Environments for Learning Day (April 27).
The joint call for urgent action by relevant decision-makers nationwide (in full at https://bit.ly/41xOBes)closely follows the publication in January of new scientific evidence from British Columbia that even “brief diesel exhaust exposure acutely impairs functional brain connectivity” (http://bit.ly/3zFhHMr). While adult subjects were studied, the new research raises further concerns about impaired brain function and learning ability of children breathing diesel fumes.
Other research has warned that diesel exhaust may impede child neurodevelopment, spatial learning, attention and memory, and contributes to a myriad other physical and mental health problems (detailed below), as well as climate change.
“Faced with the existential threat posed by climate change and mounting scientific evidence of the harm to children caused by traffic-related air pollution, including diesel exhaust, more comprehensive and urgent action is needed to bring electric school bus transportation to all communities across Canada,” the declaration says.
It underlines that “electric school buses are a viable solution that eliminates diesel bus emissions and exemplifies local action on climate change.”
The majority of Canada’s 50,000 school buses use diesel fuel. Each year, school buses make 792 million trips to carry roughly 2.2 million children to and from school.
Says CPCHE Executive Director Erica Phipps: “Buses operating close to schools mean that all children, not just those riding the buses, can be exposed to and affected by diesel exhaust.”
“The financial savings achieved over time by switching to cleaner, more sustainable school transportation more than make up for the initial cost of an electric bus. By switching to electric school buses, we can help our children thrive physically and intellectually while protecting the environment for generations to come with a tangible, visible action on climate change.”
CPCHE and its collaborators today called on all levels of government to:
Accelerate the shift to all electric school bus fleets across Canada, through policy and funding measures that support electric bus procurement, operation and infrastructure
Prioritise electric school bus adoption in communities facing disproportionate exposure to traffic-related air pollution
Promote and celebrate the electric school bus as a way for children, families and communities to learn about and participate in climate action through the transition to zero-emission transportation in Canada
Says Dr. Phipps: “Given what we know about the child health effects of diesel exhaust and the risks posed by climate change, switching to an all electric school bus fleet should be an obvious choice nationwide to protect the health of children, now and into the future.”
Along with the call for government action, the campaign is promoting videos and other educational resources to catalyse and inform local efforts to support the shift.
“The iconic yellow school bus transitioning to electric is a symbol of active hope,” Dr. Phipps says. “It is an opportunity for students, educators and local communities to learn about and engage in a tangible action to protect the health of our children and the planet.”
A litany of child health consequences
The World Health Organization has recognized diesel exhaust as a human carcinogen. And Health Canada’s Human Health Risk Assessment concludes that exposure to diesel exhaust causes lung cancer and is linked to bladder cancer.
Health Canada has also documented a link between traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and certain types of cancer including childhood leukemia and, in adults, breast cancer.
Acute and chronic exposures to diesel exhaust are linked to various harms including reduced lung function, inflammation of the airways, the risk of child asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, increased sensitivity to allergens, heart disease, arrhythmia, ischemia and myocardial infarction.
Toxicological research on diesel exhaust has also shown potential links to reproductive and developmental effects, and altered hormone levels and gene expression.
Today’s declaration notes that children are more vulnerable than adults to the health effects of air pollution, including diesel exhaust, “because their bodies are growing, their lungs are developing and because they breathe in more air per kilogram of body weight.”
Furthermore, “while Canadian data are limited, research shows that children in Canada who experience poverty, racialization and other forms of marginalization are often at greater risk because of disproportionate exposure to traffic-related air pollution.”
Researchers have concluded that prenatal and early life exposures to traffic-related air pollution are likely implicated in autism spectrum disorder. Researchers have also found associations between TRAP and deficits in intelligence, memory, attention and behaviour, as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Furthermore, children can experience indirect barriers to learning as an impact of diesel exhaust. Asthma, for example, is the leading cause of school absenteeism and diesel emissions contribute to thousands of asthma symptom days and child acute bronchitis episodes across Canada every year.
Studies also show that substantial reductions in diesel emissions from school buses can contribute to decreases in childhood bronchitis and asthma cases, and lower diesel exposure may improve cognitive functioning.
Electric vs. diesel-powered buses:
While child health protection and climate action are clear benefits, initial challenges of shifting to electric school bus transportation can include the upfront costs of electric school bus models, the costs of charging stations and training for drivers and maintenance staff, and the shorter range of electric buses (though evolving battery technology is shrinking this difference with diesel vehicles). While reliable operation in extreme cold weather is an often-cited concern, leading manufacturers of electric school buses guarantee their vehicles for operation in such conditions.
Further comments
"In addition to reducing impacts to human health and the environment, electrification of Canada’s school bus fleet would also deliver deep reductions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), making a significant contribution to the fight against climate change. Transitioning to electric school buses also promises to generate substantial economic development opportunities for our country's manufacturing sector in areas such as battery manufacturing and the provision of charging equipment. Pollution Probe urges federal and provincial governments to immediately catalyse the transition to electric school buses across Canada. The health of our children and the threat of the climate emergency demand this action."
Christopher Hilkene, Chief Executive Officer, Pollution Probe
"There is an urgent need for the transition from diesel to electric school buses, and we are so encouraged to see the positive momentum across the country for this change. The HELD campaign is playing a significant role in raising awareness and engaging communities around children's health. We are proud to support this campaign as part of our coordinated efforts to reach 100% electric school buses in Canada by 2040 or earlier."
“As a physician and a mother, I am deeply concerned about the number of diesel powered school buses that still drive the streets of our neighbourhoods, while emitting harmful emissions and compromising the health of our children today and in the future. The evidence is clear - it’s time to shift to electric school buses as part of a broader strategy to reduce the health harms of air pollution and improve community well-being.”
Dr. Samantha Green, CAPE Board Member and CAPE TRAP Report reviewer
“For many decades, scientists thought the brain may be protected from the harmful effects of air pollution. A growing body of evidence, however, points to a connection between air pollution and cognition.”
Dr. Chris Carlsten, professor and head of respiratory medicine, and Canada Research Chair in occupational and environmental lung disease, University of British Columbia
“We are pleased to be a part of this campaign to replace diesel school buses with electric ones as a way to protect the health of children while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Diesel is a significant source of traffic-related air pollution. With Health Canada linking 170,000 asthma days and 3,000 child acute bronchitis episodes to diesel every year, the evidence to act is clear. Electric school buses will help reduce harms to those most vulnerable including children and those living in neighbourhoods nearest to high traffic areas.”
John Atkinson, Executive Director, Ontario Public Health Association
"As a parent of two, I am increasingly concerned about the air my children breathe. Here in Western Canada, we have experienced devastating wildfire seasons where the air is thick with smoke. Some days in Calgary, we experience pollution hanging low over the city. We must recognize the impact of air quality on our children's health and well-being. Electric buses provide a cleaner mode of transportation, emitting no harmful pollutants. They make the air safer for all - pedestrians, boarders, and bikers - and are a critical health and climate solution we can deploy now. Parents in our network are proud to be part of this initiative, and we will do what we can to achieve the goal of having all-electric school buses by 2040."
Claire Kraatz with the For Our Kids Alberta team
By the numbers
0.2%: percentage of electric model school bus sales in Canada
65%: Estimated battery pack price drop, 2018 to 2030
$2.75 billion: Total federal investments over five years beginning in 2021 to support the transition of public transit and school buses to zero emission vehicles
90: Tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by a diesel school bus over its 12-year expected lifespan, equal to the greenhouse gas emissions of 23 passenger vehicles in that same time
0: Safe level for exposure to particulate matter and some other diesel exhaust contaminants
2,200,000: Estimated acute respiratory symptom days caused by diesel emissions, all Canadians every year
170,000: Estimated asthma symptom days caused by diesel emissions in Canada every year
3,000: Estimated child acute bronchitis episodes caused by diesel emissions in Canada every year
262,000+: new jobs expected in the clean transport industry by 2030
160-240 km: Approximate range of new electric school buses on the market. (90 km: Average daily school bus distance travelled in Ontario – two trips, one in the morning, one in the afternoon)
52%: Savings per kWh available when electric school buses are charged in mid- and off-peak demand hours
60%: proportion of young people worldwide who feel “very” or “extremely” worried about climate change, with 45% saying these feelings negatively affect their daily lives. Canadian health professionals are reporting an increase in climate-related distress among children, while experts cite “active hope” as an important way to address the problem
* * * * *
About
The Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE)
A study of ChatGPT found the artificial intelligence tool answered less than half of the test questions correctly from a study resource commonly used by physicians when preparing for board certification in ophthalmology.
The study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology and led by St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto, found ChatGPT correctly answered 46 per cent of questions when initially conducted in Jan. 2023. When researchers conducted the same test one month later, ChatGPT scored more than 10 per cent higher.
The potential of AI in medicine and exam preparation has garnered excitement since ChatGPT became publicly available in Nov. 2022. It’s also raising concern for the potential of incorrect information and cheating in academia. ChatGPT is free, available to anyone with an internet connection, and works in a conversational manner.
“ChatGPT may have an increasing role in medical education and clinical practice over time, however it is important to stress the responsible use of such AI systems,” said Dr. Rajeev H. Muni, principal investigator of the study and a researcher at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s. “ChatGPT as used in this investigation did not answer sufficient multiple choice questions correctly for it to provide substantial assistance in preparing for board certification at this time.”
Researchers used a dataset of practice multiple choice questions from the free trial of OphthoQuestions, a common resource for board certification exam preparation. To ensure ChatGPT’s responses were not influenced by concurrent conversations, entries or conversations with ChatGPT were cleared prior to inputting each question and a new ChatGPT account was used. Questions that used images and videos were not included because ChatGPT only accepts text input.
Of 125 text-based multiple-choice questions, ChatGPT answered 58 (46 per cent) questions correctly when the study was first conducted in Jan. 2023. Researchers repeated the analysis on ChatGPT in Feb. 2023, and the performance improved to 58 per cent.
“ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence system that has tremendous promise in medical education. Though it provided incorrect answers to board certification questions in ophthalmology about half the time, we anticipate that ChatGPT’s body of knowledge will rapidly evolve,” said Dr. Marko Popovic, a co-author of the study and a resident physician in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto.
ChatGPT closely matched how trainees answer questions, and selected the same multiple-choice response as the most common answer provided by ophthalmology trainees 44 per cent of the time. ChatGPT selected the multiple-choice response that was least popular among ophthalmology trainees 11 per cent of the time, second least popular 18 per cent of the time, and second most popular 22 per cent of the time.
“ChatGPT performed most accurately on general medicine questions, answering 79 per cent of them correctly. On the other hand, its accuracy was considerably lower on questions for ophthalmology subspecialties. For instance, the chatbot answered 20 per cent of questions correctly on oculoplastics and zero per cent correctly from the subspecialty of retina. The accuracy of ChatGPT will likely improve most in niche subspecialties in the future,” said Andrew Mihalache, lead author of the study and undergraduate student at Western University.
Performance of an Artificial Intelligence Chatbot for Ophthalmic Knowledge Assessment
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
27-Apr-2023
COI STATEMENT
Dr. Popovic reported grants (to his institution) from PSI Foundation and Fighting Blindness Canada outside the submitted work. Dr. Muni reported serving on the advisory board for Alcon, Bausch and Lomb, Bayer, Noartis, Allergan, and Roche and receiving financial support (to his institution) from Bayer, Novartis, and Roche outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.
Performance of an artificial intelligence chatbot in ophthalmic knowledge assessment
About The Study: In this study that included 125 text-based multiple-choice questions provided by the OphthoQuestions free trial for ophthalmic board certification examination preparation, ChatGPT answered approximately half of the questions correctly. Medical professionals and trainees should appreciate the advances of AI in medicine while acknowledging that ChatGPT as used in this investigation did not answer sufficient multiple-choice questions correctly for it to provide substantial assistance in preparing for board certification at this time.
Authors: Rajeev H. Muni, M.D., M.Sc., of St. Michael’s Hospital/Unity Health Toronto in Toronto, is the corresponding author.
(doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.1144)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that ChatGPT provides postoperative instructions that are helpful for patients with a fifth-grade reading level or different health literacy levels. However, ChatGPT generated instructions scored lower in understandability, actionability, and procedure-specific content than Google Search– and institution-specific instructions.
Authors: Noel Ayoub, M.D., M.B.A., of the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, is the corresponding author.
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
Dr. Google is always in, but for Spanish speakers searching for health information online, the advice Google gives isn’t always helpful. Sometimes, it’s downright terrifying.
Research by Rutgers public health and information science experts found that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google search autocompletes – what the technology company calls “predictions” – returned different results in Spanish than in English. In many cases, the suggested Spanish search terms were more fear- and stress-inducing than the English equivalent.
For instance, the researchers found that typing “coronavirus is” into Google yielded search predictions including “it contagious,” “man made,” and “airborne,” while in Spanish, “coronavirus es” prompted “mortal,” “falso” (fake) and “peligroso” (dangerous).
“The health consequences of this data are profound,” said Pamela Valera, an assistant professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health and lead author of the study published in the Journal of Community Psychology.
“This is one of the first studies to explore the differences in autocompletes and search quality across these two languages,” added Vivek K. Singh, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information and a study coauthor.
Every day, billions of internet searches are powered by Google, and autocomplete predictions help deliver results faster by suggesting queries. Language, location, trending interest and past searches influence what is displayed, according to the company.
But predictive algorithms carry inherent bias, which can impact public health outcomes and behaviors, the researchers said. One example from the study: Researchers found English autocompletes for the term “hand sanitizer” returned mostly positive predictions, but in Spanish, the predictions were negative, potentially influencing the use of disinfectants among Spanish speakers.
To explore language differences in Google search autocompletes during the first wave of the pandemic, Valera, Singh and their colleagues conducted three focus groups with 29 participants.
The first meeting was in English with non‐Spanish speakers; the second with Spanish speakers only; and the third with bilingual and bicultural participants. Virtual meetings lasted between 90 and 120 minutes.
Several themes emerged from the conversations. First, autocompletes evoked fear and stress among Spanish speakers and skepticism and hesitation toward autocomplete searches themselves, Valera said.
The researchers also found that autocompletes promote search preselection, potentially leading people toward biased information. Finally, the study found that English autocompletes for COVID-19-related terms far outnumbered those in Spanish – three-to-one in some cases.
This study was part of a larger research project funded by the National Science Foundation that focused on understanding algorithm bias on Google. Phase I of the study cataloged Google search autocompletes for COVID-19 topics between March 2020 and September 2020; that paper is awaiting publication. The current study reflects the qualitative results from Phase II.
With Google such an important tool for obtaining health-related information, the researchers said technology companies should do more to ensure that search suggestions are consistent across languages.
“Arguably, more web content exists in English, but there are opportunities for Google to use the wealth of knowledge that exists in all languages to create products and autocomplete suggestions that are more comprehensive and more equitable across languages,” said Singh. “This would be good for the quality of their results and for anyone who Googles health-related information.”
JOURNAL
Journal of Community Psychology
ARTICLE TITLE
Understanding search autocompletes from the perspectives of English and Spanish speakers during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic
U$A FOR PROFIT HEALTHCARE
COVID-19 linked to financial toll on patients
From long-overdue debt to lower credit scores, study shows that even those not sick enough to be hospitalized were more likely to suffer financially after COVID-19 infection
The lingering effects of COVID-19 on some patients’ health has gotten a lot of attention. But a new study suggests many face long-term major financial impacts after their illness.
Whether or not they got hospitalized during their bout with COVID-19, patients had a higher risk of serious money problems after their infection, compared with a comparison group of individuals whose financial outcomes were measured prior to getting COVID-19. Specifically, after a COVID-19 infection, patients were more likely to have debts so overdue they were sent to a collection agency, and more likely to have a low credit score.
The study, which used a unique method of anonymously linking individuals’ health care records and financial records, shows that COVID-19 patients who required hospital care had the highest rates of serious financial issues after their illness.
The study of data from more than 132,000 Michiganders offers only a snapshot of financial health six months before or after a COVID-19 illness. The research team from the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University is now working to get a longer-term view.
Led by Michigan Medicine internal medicine physician and health care researcher Nora Becker, M.D., Ph.D., they published their findings in the Journal of HospitalMedicine.
After adjusting for differences among patients, 42% of the patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection had a low credit score six months after their hospital stay, compared with 34% of a similar group of people who hadn’t yet required a hospital stay for COVID-19 but went on to need one later.
The gap was smaller, but still significant, between the two groups of non-hospitalized patients.
Similarly, 27% of the patients who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 ended up having medical debt sent to collections agencies, compared with 19% of the comparison group; the gap for non-hospitalized patients was small but still significant.
There were also significant increases in non-medical debt going to collections after COVID-19 hospitalization.
The team took their financial snapshot of all the patients using credit bureau data from January 2021. They adjusted for factors such as the economic status and vaccination rate in the areas where patients live; all patients had commercial insurance.
“More than half of Americans now report having had COVID-19, and more than 450,000 have been hospitalized, so the potential number experiencing serious financial issues linked to their experience with the virus is high,” said Becker.
“While we cannot tell from our data exactly how linked these financial outcomes are with the aftermath of infection, we know that others have shown the impacts of COVID-19 infection on the short- and long-term ability to work,” she added. “Further research in this area is crucial in order to figure out how to design policies to protect COVID-19 survivors from financial harm.”
Becker and her colleagues also note that as of this spring, all of the economically focused pandemic policies that might affect individuals’ pocketbooks have expired, from food and rent assistance to no-cost coverage for testing, outpatient medication and hospitalization.
The study’s senior author, John Z. Ayanian M.D., M.P.P., is a professor of internal medicine at U-M and directs the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, to which Becker and co-authors and fellow U-M Medical School faculty Erin F. Carlton M.D., M.Sc., John W. Scott M.D., M.P.H., and Michelle H. Moniz M.D., M.Sc. belong. Co-author Theodore J. Iwashyna M.D., Ph.D., formerly of U-M, is at the Johns Hopkins University.
The data for the study came from the Michigan Value Collaborative, one of the collaborative quality initiatives funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and from Experian.
The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL138039) and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HS025465, HS028672, HS028817).
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