Yearly archives: 2019

Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is the most pervasive form of dementia worldwide. Impairment in face processing is a common trait of the disorder, causing a deficit not only in the processing of emotional expressions, but also causing a deficit in face recognition. Research into the causes of impaired face recognition in Alzheimer’s disease patients has found several factors at play: Abnormal temporal lobe activation in response to familiar faces, a breakdown in holistic processing of faces due to changes in frontal lobe activation, and atrophy of areas of the brain implicated in theory of mind. These neural changes are evident long prior to any alterations of behavior. Due to the progressive nature of Alzheimer’s disease, patients display increasing levels of impairment in face recognition over time. At the final stages of the disorder, patients lose all ability to recognize familiar faces, and most strikingly, lose the ability to self-recognize. Further research on face recognition in Alzheimer’s disease may improve our knowledge both in neurotypical face recognition, as well as aid in discovering novel ways of helping patients cope with their symptoms.

Female juvenile crime is on the rise. In response, some agencies are suggesting a remedy to revise the Canadian Youth Criminal Justice Act in favour of harsher sentences for youth. This paper delves into the potential negative repercussions of said amendment such as increased involvement in gangs and deteriorating mental health. Furthermore, alternative methods such as after school programs, mentorships, and therapeutic means of rehabilitation are shown to not only be more effective for reducing crime among young women but more cost effective as well. Prisons have been shown to worsen the situations of young women who have grown up in extremely disadvantageous circumstances. Thus, this paper argues that harsher sentences for female youth will not only be ineffective in solving the current problem of female youth crime but may make it worse.

Despite the immense amount of research completed on adult correctional facilities within North America, little is known about the overrepresentation of visible minority youth within the juvenile justice system. The juvenile justice system is known for violent juvenile offenders, who become and remain habitual offenders. The juvenile justice system then faces questioning for creating professional criminals instead of focusing on effective rehabilitation. The face of the youth justice system within Canada is rapidly changing. Increasing forms of diversity serve as a principal pattern because the criminalization of minority youth occurs from cultural incompetence, unawareness, and insensitivity. This article recovers the institutional or systemic forms of treatment that minority youth face within the criminal justice system. It also further shows that there is little focus on the experiences of minority youth within juvenile correctional facilities due to a lack of information. Racialized and marginalized youth and young adults are apart of the vulnerable population within Canada. One must ensure that youth and young adults who are vulnerable within society, receive the best possible chance at achieve upward mobility. The youth justice system, from a racial justice lens, reveals slave-era origin within youth prisons, limiting opportunities for racialized youth across Canada. Racial antagonism within the youth justice system leads to the criminalization of minority youth, which serves as a foundation for why culture shapes the identity of racialized youth.

Clozapine is a crucial antipsychotic medication to treat schizophrenia and has shown valuable benefits in doing so. However, there can be rare, but potentially fatal adverse drug reactions to the medication. Therefore, it is essential that there is careful monitoring of the patient while on the medication. A retrospective study was conducted to examine the effects of clozapine on vitals during the first 2 days of initiation. There were 43 (29 male, 16 female) charts analyzed retrospectively, and the average age of the patients was 45 years old. The average dose of clozapine on the first day was 9.3mg and 15.7mg on the second day. Regarding vitals, the temperature peaked 5 hours after administrating clozapine on day 1 and day 2. Furthermore, the respiration rate peaked 4 hours post-dose on the second day and the heart rate increased the most on the second day indicating a dose-related response. There was no trend in blood pressure changes that can be inferred from the data; however, individual variations in blood pressure fluctuated considerably. The study was limited due to a lack of data in patient charts, and it may be of interest to do a prospective study to gain more insight.