Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Living with MS: there's an app for that

by Max McKee.

Imagine waking up each day to the sensation of broken glass in every joint, exhausted as if you have just ran a marathon although your day has only just begun. In the eyes of millions living worldwide with multiple sclerosis (MS), these are some regular challenges that can present themselves daily. For 2B Waterloo student Lilian Do and a team of fellow Biomedical Engineering students this is an unacceptable reality, one they were driven to improve after an eye-opening co-op work term at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.  

“During my four months I really grew to admire the incredible work that goes on at the MS Society” said Lilian.  “It was a big part of why I wanted to join the Hack4Health competition and was inspired to create a solution for people living with MS.”

The Hack4Health competition held this past September was a brainstorming contest lasting 36 hours in which students from the University of Waterloo came together in an attempt to find ways improve the quality of life for people living with MS, Alzheimer’s and related dementias. With the early stage development of their app, coined “Circle of Care,” Lilian’s team allows people living with MS to record various indicators of day-to-day wellness. By creating an in-app profile, patients can share their information with various health care specialists such as neurologists, rehabilitation specialists, and caregivers, making it easier for the health care team to monitor current symptoms and orient patient care. The collection of this information also helps further research and development as the app’s live updates allow any change in a patient’s condition to be analyzed virtually instantaneously.

Lilian, now in a co-op term working as a researcher at Sunnybrook Research Institute, stressed how her work term at the MS Society equipped her with a strong ability to learn independently and a knack for problem solving, skills she will take with her throughout her career. 

“The skills you learn and the connections you make during co-op are things that just aren't possible in a classroom setting alone,” Lilian explained. “I think having real-world experience is so valuable for my future and will definitely open more doors for me later on.”

The efforts of Lilian and her team did not go unnoticed. They were one of two teams selected by a panel of judges that included Dr. Karen Lee, vice-president of research at the MS Society of Canada, as a group that demonstrated potential impact in improving quality of life for people living with MS.

Way to go Lilian, and good luck this term at Sunnybrook!

On player passion and performance enhancement

The more of a certain kind of passion varsity athletes have for their sport, the more favourable their attitudes towards the use of performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs, according to a recent study.

Published in the Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, the paper is the first to show that passion levels can help predict a collegiate athlete’s attitude towards performance enhancing drugs.

Previous research has indicated that there are two types of passion involved with leisure activities. Harmonious passion involves feelings of enjoyment, and the activity blends with the athlete's life. Obsessive passion involves an inability to disengage from an activity, or feelings of guilt from not participating.

“Passion is often associated with positive words, such as love and dedication, but research suggests that it can control us as well,” said Wade Wilson, lead author on the paper and lecturer in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. “Awareness of the motivations and thought processes that may contribute to negative behaviour is important, and has the potential to lead to effective interventions and informative workshops for athletes.”

As part of the research, nearly 600 male and female athletes at the varsity or all-star level at four different Ontario universities completed a series of surveys.

“We found that regardless of gender, athletes who reported higher obsessive passion indicated more lenient attitudes towards PEDs, while athletes who reported higher harmonious passion held more conservative attitudes towards them," said Wilson. "These results suggest that the closer an activity or sport is linked to our identity, there is an increased possibility we might do anything to maintain that identity.”

The researchers hope the study will help coaches and administrators see the link between passion and attitudes towards PEDs, to better identify athletes at risk of using prohibited substances. The study also recommends that coaches remain mindful of the central role competitive sports can have in the lives and identities of athletes, and attempt to create or maintain cultures that allow athletes to derive enjoyment and perspective from participation, while moving away from a mentality of winning at all cost.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) governs regulations around performance enhancing drugs in varsity sport in Canada. The CCES maintains a list of banned and prohibited substances that is updated annually.

Skype for Business added to workstations

A message from Information Systems & Technology (IST)

Skype for Business (Lite) was recently added to Academic Support workstations (managed by IST) running Office 2013. A powerful collaboration and communication tool, Skype for Business connects your team(s) in real time allowing staff to work seamlessly, as if everyone is in the same room. Skype for Business offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy to use from first launch. Some of the key features include:

• Instant Messaging with other Skype for Business users
• Voice and video conferencing with other Skype for Business users
• Integration with other Office productivity tools used every day, including e-mail, calendars, and online meeting management

The application will open automatically when the user logs on to their workstation. If not, they can contact their local IT service desk for assistance launching the app. Other help and support resources are available on the Community SharePoint site.

Features not activated in Skype for Business at this time include a traditional telephone extension and the ability to contact users by extension or phone number. Some features require use of a headset with microphone and a webcam. A list of IST approved and supported headsets/webcams is available on the SharePoint site. Note that the Deskset options are not available at this time.

IST will offer Skype for Business (Lite) to remaining campus areas throughout 2016. More information on this process will be shared when available.

Anyone with questions or concerns should contact the IST Service Desk by e-mailing helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or by calling extension 44357.

Chief Ethics Officer to retire; successor sought

"Effective June 5, 2016, Maureen Nummelin will retire as Chief Ethics Officer," says a memo from Vice-President, University Research George Dixon circulated last week. "A search committee will be established to appoint a new Chief Ethics Officer."

Nummelin came to the University as Director, Office of Research Ethics in March 2012 and the position was renamed Chief Ethics Officer, a title which better reflected the scope of her portfolio.

"During her time here at Waterloo, Maureen has been an outstanding member of the Waterloo community, significantly improving the performance in every file she has touched, from ethics review to centralized management of animal care to issues of research misconduct," Dixon writes. "Most recently, under her leadership Waterloo successfully negotiated collaborative ethics review agreements with Western University, WLU, Grand River Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, Cambridge Memorial Hospital and Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning."

"At this time I would like to thank Maureen for her many contributions to the University of Waterloo. Please join me in wishing Maureen a retirement rich in new opportunities."

CTE hosts intensive course design workshop

The annual Teaching Excellence Academy (TEA) will be held this year on April 20, 21, 22, and 25. The TEA is aimed primarily at experienced faculty members who want the opportunity to rejuvenate their teaching. At the TEA, attendees will thoroughly revise one of their courses (face-to-face, fully online, or face-to-face courses with significant online components) with the assistance of their peers and experts from the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) and the Centre for Extended Learning (CEL).

Past attendees have reported that the TEA helped them to design more effective courses and make their design choices more transparent for their students.  The TEA ends with a showcase event at which TEA participants share their revised course outlines. 

Interested faculty members should contact their department Chair/Director or faculty Teaching Fellow/Associate Dean, Teaching, for more information.

Wednesday's notes

The University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA) has issued a call for nominations for a vacant position on the UWSA Nominating Committee.

According to the UWSA, the purpose of the UWSA Nominating Committee is to nominate and/or appoint regular full and part-time UWSA members as representatives to:

• University or UWSA Standing Committees
• University or UWSA ad hoc committees requiring staff representatives

Anyone with questions about the functions or duties involved with this committee should contact Michael Herz in the UWSA office by calling extension 33227.

Interested parties should submit the application for committee membership or send it to uwsanominate@uwaterloo.ca to the attention of Gail Spencer, Chair of Nominating Committee, UWSA by Friday, February 19.   

And while we're on the subject of the UWSA, members are invited to meet President-elect candidates Jacqueline Serviss and Hanneke Smolders at the UWSA Area Reps meeting this Thursday, February 11 in DC 1302 from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Polls for the UWSA President-elect election are open now but close February 18. The next president-elect will be introduced at the UWSA SGM on February 25, again in DC 1302, starting at 9:00 a.m.

TEDxUW, the University of Waterloo's official TEDx experience, is seeking a co-chair. Applications are open until Friday, February 12.