Improved deep neural network (EnhanceNet) for real-time detection of some publicly prohibited items.

Public safety is a critical concern, typically addressed through security checks at entrances of public places, involving trained officers or X-ray scanning machines to detect prohibited items. However, many places like hospitals, schools, and event centres lack such resources, risking security breaches. Even with X-ray scanners or manual checks, gaps can be exploited by individuals with malicious intent, posing significant security risks. Additionally, traditional methods, relying on manual inspections and conventional image processing techniques, are often inefficient and prone to high error rates. To mitigate these risks, we propose a real-time detection model - EnhanceNet using a customized Scale-Enhanced Pooling Network (SEP-Net) integrated into the YOLOv4. The innovative SEP-Net enhances feature representation and localization accuracy, significantly contributing to the model's efficacy in detecting prohibited items. We annotated a custom dataset of nine classes and evaluated our models using different input sizes (608 and 416). The 608 input size achieved a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 74.10% with a detection speed of 22.3 Frames per Second (FPS). The 416 input size showed superior performance, achieving a mAP of 76.75% and a detection speed of 27.1 FPS. These demonstrate that our models are accurate and efficient, making them suitable for real-time applications.

Evaluation of TikTok videos on acute pancreatitis: content quality and reliability analysis.

BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common acute digestive system disorder, with patients often turning to TikTok for AP-related information. However, the platform's video quality on AP has not been thoroughly investigated. OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of videos about AP on TikTok, and the secondary purpose is to study the related factors of video quality. METHODS: This study involved retrieving AP-related videos from TikTok, determining, and analyzing them based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Relevant data were extracted and compiled for evaluation. Video quality was scored using the DISCERN instrument and the Health on the Net (HONcode) score, complemented by introducing the Acute Pancreatitis Content Score (APCS). Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between video quality scores and user engagement metrics such as likes, comments, favorites, retweets, and video duration. RESULTS: A total of 111 TikTok videos were included for analysis, and video publishers were composed of physicians (89.18%), news media organizations (13.51%), individual users (5.41%), and medical institutions (0.9%). The majority of videos focused on AP-related educational content (64.87%), followed by physicians' diagnostic and treatment records (15.32%), and personal experiences (19.81%). The mean scores for DISCERN, HONcode, and APCS were 33.05 ± 7.87, 3.09 ± 0.93, and 1.86 ± 1.30, respectively. The highest video scores were those posted by physicians (35.17 ± 7.02 for DISCERN, 3.31 ± 0.56 for HONcode, and 1.94 ± 1.34 for APCS, respectively). According to the APCS, the main contents focused on etiology (n = 55, 49.5%) and clinical presentations (n = 36, 32.4%), followed by treatment (n = 24, 21.6%), severity (n = 20, 18.0%), prevention (n = 19, 17.1%), pathophysiology (n = 17, 15.3%), definitions (n = 13, 11.7%), examinations (n = 10, 9%), and other related content. There was no correlation between the scores of the three evaluation tools and the number of followers, likes, comments, favorites, and retweets of the video. However, DISCERN (r = 0.309) and APCS (r = 0.407) showed a significant positive correlation with video duration, while HONcode showed no correlation with the duration of the video. CONCLUSIONS: The general quality of TikTok videos related to AP is poor; however, the content posted by medical professionals shows relatively higher quality, predominantly focusing on clinical presentations and etiologies. There is a discernible correlation between video duration and quality ratings, indicating that a combined approach incorporating the guideline can comprehensively evaluate AP-related content on TikTok.

Work outcomes in public safety personnel after potentially traumatic events: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: It is well documented that public safety personnel are exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) at elevated frequency and demonstrate higher prevalence of trauma-related symptoms compared to the general population. Lesser studied to date are the organizational consequences of workplace PTE exposure and associated mental health outcomes such as acute/posttraumatic stress disorder (ASD/PTSD), depression, and anxiety. METHODS: The present review synthesizes international literature on work outcomes in public safety personnel (PSP) to explore whether and how PTE and trauma-related symptoms relate to workplace outcomes. A total of N = 55 eligible articles examining PTE or trauma-related symptoms in relation to work outcomes were systematically reviewed using best-evidence narrative synthesis. RESULTS: Three primary work outcomes emerged across the literature: absenteeism, productivity/performance, and costs to organization. Across n = 21 studies of absenteeism, there was strong evidence that PTE or trauma-related symptoms are associated with increased sickness absence. N = 27 studies on productivity/performance demonstrated overall strong evidence of negative impacts in the workplace. N = 7 studies on cost to organizations demonstrated weak evidence that PTE exposure or trauma-related mental health outcomes are associated with increased cost to organization. CONCLUSIONS: Based on available evidence, the experience of workplace PTE or trauma-related symptoms is associated with negative impact on PSP occupational functioning, though important potential confounds (e.g., organizational strain and individual risk factors) remain to be more extensively investigated.

"Breaking down in tears, soaked in sweat, and sick from the heat": Media-based composite narratives of first responders working during the 2021 Heat Dome.

BACKGROUND: During the summer of 2021, a deadly, unprecedented multiday Heat Dome engulfed western Canada. As a result of this extreme heat event (EHE), emergency dispatchers received an unparalleled increase in incoming 911 calls for ambulance, police, and fire (as first responders) services to attend to hundreds of heat-vulnerable community members succumbing to the heat. With 103 all-time heat records broken during this EHE and indoor temperatures of nearly 40°C, the first responders attending these calls faced extensive job demands and highly challenging operating conditions. Initial investigations have explored the health system-level impacts; however, little has been done to explore the impact on the first responders themselves. Therefore, this study aimed to improve our understanding of EHEs' impacts on the operational capabilities and health of first responders, specifically police, fire, ambulance, and dispatch services. METHODS: A systematized review and content analysis of media articles published on the 2021 Heat Dome in Canada was conducted (n = 2909), and four media-based composite narratives were developed highlighting police, fire, ambulance, and dispatch services. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model was applied as a theoretical framework for occupational burnout. RESULTS: The media-based composite narratives highlighted that first responders faced record-breaking call volumes, increased mental-health-related claims, and exhaustive heat-related physiological stress. Using the JD-R model as a theoretical framework for occupational burnout, we identified three measures of stressful job demand: work overload (e.g., the surge in call volume, firefighters responding to medical emergencies), emotional demands (e.g., severe medical emergencies, sudden deaths, unresponsive patients, distraught family members), and physical demands (e.g., resuscitation in personal protective equipment, heat-related illness). CONCLUSION: The experiences described underscore the importance of supporting first responders during work in extreme heat conditions. These findings have important implications for addressing rising rates of burnout during and following public health crises, such as EHEs, a problem that is increasingly being recognized as a threat to the Canadian public healthcare system.

Impact of an Online Discussion Forum on Self-Guided Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Public Safety Personnel: Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) is an effective and accessible treatment for various mental health concerns. ICBT has shown promising treatment outcomes among public safety personnel (PSP), who experience high rates of mental health problems and face barriers to accessing other mental health services. Client engagement and clinical outcomes are better in ICBT with therapist guidance, but ICBT is easier to implement on a large scale when it is self-guided. Therefore, it is important to identify strategies to improve outcomes and engagement in self-guided ICBT and other self-guided digital mental health interventions. One such strategy is the use of online discussion forums to provide ICBT clients with opportunities for mutual social support. Self-guided interventions accompanied by online discussion forums have shown excellent treatment outcomes, but there is a need for research experimentally testing the impact of online discussion forums in ICBT. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate a transdiagnostic, self-guided ICBT intervention tailored specifically for PSP (which had not previously been assessed), assess the impact of adding a therapist-moderated online discussion forum on outcomes, and analyze participants' feedback to inform future research and implementation efforts. METHODS: In this randomized trial, we randomly assigned participating PSP (N=107) to access an 8-week transdiagnostic, self-guided ICBT course with or without a built-in online discussion forum. Enrollment and participation were entirely web-based. We assessed changes in depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress as well as several secondary outcome measures (eg, treatment engagement and satisfaction) using questionnaires at the pre-enrollment, 8-week postenrollment, and 20-week postenrollment time points. Mixed methods analyses included multilevel modeling and qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Participants engaged minimally with the forum, creating 9 posts. There were no differences in treatment outcomes between participants who were randomly assigned to access the forum (56/107, 52.3%) and those who were not (51/107, 47.7%). Across conditions, participants who reported clinically significant symptoms during enrollment showed large and statistically significant reductions in symptoms (P<.05 and d>0.97 in all cases). Participants also showed good treatment engagement and satisfaction, with 43% (46/107) of participants fully completing the intervention during the course of the study and 96% (79/82) indicating that the intervention was worth their time. CONCLUSIONS: Previous research has shown excellent clinical outcomes for self-guided ICBT accompanied by discussion forums and good engagement with those forums. Although clinical outcomes in our study were excellent across conditions, engagement with the forum was poor, in contrast to previous research. We discuss several possible interpretations of this finding (eg, related to the population under study or the design of the forum). Our findings highlight a need for more research evaluating the impact of online discussion forums and other strategies for improving outcomes and engagement in self-guided ICBT and other digital mental health interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05145582; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05145582.

Exploring the Occupational Lifestyle Experiences of the Families of Public Safety Personnel.

PURPOSE: Public safety personnel, including first responders, are regularly exposed to physical, social, and psychological risks and occupational requirements. These risks and requirements extend beyond the employee and may also impact the families (for example, work-family conflict, compassion fatigue). Despite recent attention directed at the population's wellness, considerably less attention is directed towards the family. This review investigates how the risks and requirements associated with these occupations affect families' lives and experiences, and correspondingly, how families respond and adapt to these risks. METHODS: In the current qualitative review, we sought to identify and describe the lifestyle experiences of public safety families as they navigate the occupational risks and requirements of public safety work. The inclusion criteria resulted in an analysis of 18 articles, representing only police (n = 11), paramedics (n = 7), and firefighting (n = 10) sectors. RESULTS: We identified and described the experiences of public safety families both by occupation and familial role. Shared familial themes across occupational groups included 'Worry', 'Communication', 'Where do I turn', 'Are they okay', 'Serving alongside', and '(Over)Protective'. However, distinct themes also emerged between different occupational groups and family configurations. Themes prevalent amongst primarily children of police included: 'Worry', 'Let's Laugh Instead', '(Over)Protective', and 'I'm not the Police, my Parent is!'. Experiences differed if the family contained on serving public safety personnel or multiple. CONCLUSION: We identified the shared and unique occupational experiences of public safety families. This review normalizes these experiences and emphasizes the need to develop initiatives to improve the well-being of families and safety employees.

Lifestyle Dimensions of Public Safety Personnel Families: There's No Life Like It.

PURPOSE: The nature and cumulative occupational demands imposed on families of public safety personnel (PSP) are substantial, in many cases non-negotiable, and distinct from the general population accentuating risk factors for family well-being. Despite this reality, the contributions of PSP families are not well understood, and a conceptual framework is needed. The aim of this paper is to summarize contextual factors (lifestyle dimensions) that shape the lives of PSP families; factors supported in the existing, albeit limited, body of research. METHODS: Grounded in the interpretive/constructivist paradigm, a synthesis was central to understanding the lived experiences of PSP families. An interdisciplinary research team engaged in an iterative process of framework analysis to capture the variability and complexity of PSP family life and distilled the overarching lifestyle dimensions. RESULTS: Three lifestyle dimensions-logistics, risks, and identities-emerged from contextual factors and represent distinct aspects of PSP family life. PSP families play a crucial role in that their capacity to accommodate the lifestyle dimensions (i.e., logistics, risks, and identities), without which the PSP could not meet the demands of the profession. CONCLUSION: Promoting awareness of these dimensions and their consequent demands underscores the cumulative demands that put PSP families at risk. Responses from governments, public safety organizations, and communities are required to help PSP families manage non-negotiable elements of the public safety occupation that spill over into family life over which they have no control.

OPTORER: A Dynamic Routing and Touring Service for Indoors and Outdoor Tours.

This paper introduces a new routing and touring service both for outdoor and indoor places of touristic and cultural interest designed to be used in the wider area of Attica, Greece. This service is the result of the work performed in OPTORER (OPTORER: OPtimal rouTing and explOration of touRistic and cultural arEas of interest within Attica given personalized adaptive preferences, promoted underlying purpose, and interactive experience), project, and it aspires to offer a range of innovative and thematic routes to several specified points of interest in the selected area of Attica, encouraging the combination of indoor and outdoor routes in a single tour. The aim is to optimize the user experience while promoting specific, user-centric features, with safety and social welfare being a priority for every designed tour, resulting in enhancing the touristic experience in the area. Using a common smartphone device, as well as common wearable devices (i.e., smartwatches), the OPTORER service will provide an end-to-end solution by developing the algorithms and end-user applications, together with an orchestration platform responsible for managing, operating, and executing the service that produces and presents to the end user results derived from solving dynamically complex optimization problems.

Defining and developing operational psychology competency.

INTRODUCTION: Establishing competency in new or emerging areas of psychological practice is always difficult. For practitioners of operational psychology, it is even more challenging due to the requirement for highly specialized skills, novel applications, and the fact that many organizations employing operational psychologists operate in classified or sensitive settings. Despite the ethical obligation to do so, operational psychologists may face challenges in establishing and maintaining their credentials and competency. METHODS: This article outlines the core competencies of operational psychology based on the extant literature, provides case examples illustrating their application, and identifies recommendations for training and consultation necessary for establishing and maintaining competence. DISCUSSION: Given the scarcity of current training opportunities, limited mentorship, and the lack of training standards, many operational psychologists may develop only some, but not all, of their specialty's core competencies. Furthermore, establishing and maintaining competency may take years of post-graduate study and experience for most practitioners. RESULTS: To accelerate this process and codify core competencies and training standards, the formation of an operational psychology society or association may be necessary. Such actions could create a collective agency among practitioners, securing advocacy for the needs and equities of this practice community, and advancing its policies, practices, and scholarship.

Austerity, Health and Public Safety in Low-Income Neighborhoods: Grassroots Responses to the Decline of Local Services in Southeast England.

This article uses ethnographic and qualitative research to explore the health implications and social responses of a low-income neighborhood in Southeast England, to more than a decade of austerity policies and declining institutional and welfare support. Findings examine how cuts to public services and welfare programs alongside changes to the area's social structure shape resident's perceptions of health risks and threats. Residents pointed to poor levels of mental health that were exacerbated by financial insecurity, the closure of community facilities and difficulties accessing support and professional help. An increase in social disorder and sense of danger within the vicinity were attributed to changes in the area's social composition and a reduction of policing in the neighborhood, which were an additional cause of anxiety for residents. Many people felt their neighborhood was treated inequitably with regard to law-and-order, health provision and other services designed to address health problems and risks and dangers in their social environment. This institutional vacuum generates unmet health needs facilitating informal practices and methods for managing health, such as through self-provision or using alternative, and more readily available, sources of medical advice and treatment. The demise of older forms of social control and surveillance that ran parallel with closure of the area's communal spaces had been partly compensated by social media usage, while informal methods of policing were a growing presence in the neighborhood in reaction to rising lawlessness and the ineffectiveness of police and local authorities.

Mental Health of Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Start of the Cadet Training Program.

OBJECTIVE: Serving Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have screened positive for one or more mental disorders based on self-reported symptoms with substantial prevalence (i.e., 50.2%). Mental health challenges for military and paramilitary populations have historically been attributed to insufficient recruit screening; however, cadet mental health when starting the Cadet Training Program (CTP) was unknown. Our objective was to estimate RCMP Cadet mental health when starting the CTP and test for sociodemographic differences. METHOD: Cadets starting the CTP completed a survey assessing self-reported mental health symptoms (n = 772, 72.0% male) and a clinical interview (n = 736, 74.4% male) with a clinician or supervised trainee using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview to assess current and past mental health. RESULTS: The percentage of participants screening positive for one or more current mental disorders based on self-reported symptoms (15.0%) was higher than the diagnostic prevalence for the general population (10.1%); however, based on clinical interviews, participants were less likely to screen positive for any current mental disorder (6.3%) than the general population. Participants were also less likely to screen positive for any past mental disorder based on self-report (3.9%) and clinical interviews (12.5%) than the general population (33.1%). Females were more likely to score higher than males (all ps<.01; Cohen's ds .23 to .32) on several self-report mental disorder symptom measures. CONCLUSIONS: The current results are the first to describe RCMP cadet mental health when starting the CTP. The data evidenced a lower prevalence of anxiety, depressive, and trauma-related mental disorders than the general population based on clinical interviews, contrasting notions that more rigorous mental health screening would reduce the high prevalence of mental disorders among serving RCMP. Instead, protecting RCMP mental health may require ongoing efforts to mitigate operational and organizational stressors.

Suicidal Ideation, Planning, and Attempts Among new Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cadets.

BACKGROUND: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) report diverse occupational stressors and repeated exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events, which may increase the odds of screening positive for a mental disorder, and increase the risk of death by suicide. The current study was designed to provide prevalence information regarding suicidal behaviours (i.e., ideation, planning, attempts) and assess for sociodemographic differences among cadets at the start of the RCMP Cadet Training Program (CTP). METHOD: Cadets (n = 736, 74.0% male) were administered the structured Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview by a mental health clinician or a supervised clinical psychologist trainee. The interview includes an assessment of past month suicidal ideation, planning, attempts and lifetime suicide attempts. RESULTS: Within 1 month of starting the CTP, a small percentage of cadets reported past month suicidal ideation (1.6%) and no cadets reported any suicidal planning (0%) or attempts (0%). Lifetime suicide attempts were reported by (1.5%) of cadets. CONCLUSIONS: The current results provide the first information describing the prevalence of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts among RCMP cadets starting the CTP. The estimates of suicidal behaviours appear lower than the general population and lower than reports from serving RCMP. Higher prevalence estimates of suicidal behaviours reported by serving RCMP, relative to lower estimates among cadets starting the CTP in the current study, may be related to age, cumulative experiences or protracted exposures to operational and organizational stressors, rather than insufficient screening of recruits.

Potentially Psychologically Traumatic Event Exposure Histories of new Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cadets.

OBJECTIVE: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) report extremely frequent and varied exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs). While occupational exposures to PPTEs may be one explanation for the symptoms of mental disorders prevalent among serving RCMP, exposures occurring prior to service may also play a role. The objective of the current study was to provide estimates of lifetime PPTE exposures among RCMP cadets in training and assess for associations with mental disorders or sociodemographic variables. METHODS: RCMP cadets (n = 772; 72.0% male) beginning the Cadet Training Program (CTP) completed a survey assessing self-reported PPTE exposures as measured by the Life Events Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition-Extended. Binomial tests were conducted to compare the current results to previously collected data from the general population, a diverse sample of public safety personnel (PSP) and serving RCMP. RESULTS: Cadets reported statistically significantly fewer PPTE exposures for all PPTE types than serving RCMP (all p's < 0.001) and PSP (all p's < 0.001) but more PPTE exposures for all PPTE types than the general population (all p's < 0.001). Cadets also endorsed fewer PPTE types (6.00 ± 4.47) than serving RCMP (11.64 ± 3.40; p < 0.001) and other PSP (11.08 ± 3.23) but more types than the general population (2.31 ± 2.33; p < 0.001). Participants who reported being exposed to any PPTE type reported the exposures occurred 1-5 times (29.1% of participants), 6-10 times (18.3%) or 10 + times (43.1%) before starting the CTP. Several PPTE types were associated with positive screens for one or more mental disorders. There were associations between PPTE types and increased odds of screening positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) (all p's < 0.05). Serious transport accident (11.1%), physical assault (9.5%) and sudden accidental death (8.4%) were the PPTEs most identified as the worst event, and all were associated with positive screens for one or more mental disorders. CONCLUSION: The current results provide the first information describing PPTE histories of cadets, evidencing exposure frequencies and types much higher than the general population. PPTE exposures may have contributed to the cadet's vocational choices. The current results support the growing evidence that PPTEs can be associated with diverse mental disorders; however, the results also suggest cadets may be uncommonly resilient, based on how few screened positive for mental disorders, despite reporting higher frequencies of PPTE exposures prior to CTP than the general population.

Using formative evaluation of a community-based opioid overdose prevention program to inform strategic communication for adoption, implementation, and sustainability.

BACKGROUND: Opioid addiction and overdose is a public health problem in the United States and is expected to remain with substance use increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities that approach this issue through multi-sector partnerships experience more positive health outcomes. Understanding motivation for stakeholder engagement in these efforts is essential to successful adoption, implementation, and sustainability particularly in the shifting landscape of needs and resources. METHODS: A formative evaluation was conducted on the C.L.E.A.R. Program in Massachusetts, a state heavily impacted by the opioid epidemic. A stakeholder power analysis identified appropriate stakeholders for the study (n = 9). The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) guided data collection and analysis. Surveys (n = 8) examined perception and attitudes on the program; motivations and communication for engagement; and, benefits and barriers to collaboration. Stakeholder interviews (n = 6) explored the quantitative findings in more detail. Surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a content analysis with deductive approach was conducted for stakeholder interviews. The Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory guided recommendations for communications to engage stakeholders. RESULTS: Agencies represented a range of sectors and the majority (n = 5) were familiar with the C.L.E.A.R. PROGRAM: Despite the many strengths of the program and existing collaboration, based on the coding densities of each CFIR construct stakeholders identified crucial gaps in the services the program provided and noted that the overall infrastructure of the program could be enhanced. Opportunities for strategic communication to address the stages of DOI align with the gaps identified in the CFIR domains to result in increased agency collaboration and expansion of services into the surrounding communities to ensure sustainability of the C.L.E.A.R. CONCLUSIONS: This study explored factors necessary for ongoing multi-sector collaboration and sustainability of an existing community-based program especially given the changing context from COVID-19. Findings informed both program revisions and communication strategies to promote the program to new and existing collaborating agencies and the community served, and identify effective communication approaches across sectors. This is essential for successful implementation and sustainability of the program, especially as it is adapted and expanded to address post-pandemic times. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study does not report results of a health care intervention on human participants, however it was reviewed and determined an exempt study with the Boston University Institutional Review Board (IRB #H-42107).

Automating Detection of Drug-Related Harms on Social Media: Machine Learning Framework.

BACKGROUND: A hallmark of unregulated drug markets is their unpredictability and constant evolution with newly introduced substances. People who use drugs and the public health workforce are often unaware of the appearance of new drugs on the unregulated market and their type, safe dosage, and potential adverse effects. This increases risks to people who use drugs, including the risk of unknown consumption and unintentional drug poisoning. Early warning systems (EWSs) can help monitor the landscape of emerging drugs in a given community by collecting and tracking up-to-date information and determining trends. However, there are currently few ways to systematically monitor the appearance and harms of new drugs on the unregulated market in Canada. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this work is to examine how artificial intelligence can assist in identifying patterns of drug-related risks and harms, by monitoring the social media activity of public health and law enforcement groups. This information is beneficial in the form of an EWS as it can be used to identify new and emerging drug trends in various communities. METHODS: To collect data for this study, 145 relevant Twitter accounts throughout Quebec (n=33), Ontario (n=78), and British Columbia (n=34) were manually identified. Tweets posted between August 23 and December 21, 2021, were collected via the application programming interface developed by Twitter for a total of 40,393 tweets. Next, subject matter experts (1) developed keyword filters that reduced the data set to 3746 tweets and (2) manually identified relevant tweets for monitoring and early warning efforts for a total of 464 tweets. Using this information, a zero-shot classifier was applied to tweets from step 1 with a set of keep (drug arrest, drug discovery, and drug report) and not-keep (drug addiction support, public safety report, and others) labels to see how accurately it could extract the tweets identified in step 2. RESULTS: When looking at the accuracy in identifying relevant posts, the system extracted a total of 584 tweets and had an overlap of 392 out of 477 (specificity of ~84.5%) with the subject matter experts. Conversely, the system identified a total of 3162 irrelevant tweets and had an overlap of 3090 (sensitivity of ~94.1%) with the subject matter experts. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the benefits of using artificial intelligence to assist in finding relevant tweets for an EWS. The results showed that it can be quite accurate in filtering out irrelevant information, which greatly reduces the amount of manual work required. Although the accuracy in retaining relevant information was observed to be lower, an analysis showed that the label definitions can impact the results significantly and would therefore be suitable for future work to refine. Nonetheless, the performance is promising and demonstrates the usefulness of artificial intelligence in this domain.

Community centered public safety resilience under public emergencies: A case study of COVID-19.

During public emergencies, the level of public safety will be resilient and follow a process from decline to rise. Regarding the concept and influencing factors of public safety resilience, a three-level public safety resilience framework that includes personal, community, and government levels was proposed in this study. It provided the overall metrics that used the resistance and recovery ability to describe the dynamic characteristics of public safety resilience as well as the resilience assessment indexes on three levels. In the context of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, this study applied the proposed framework in a case study on public safety resilience at the Beihang community, Beijing, China through descriptive statistics, structural equation model, and principal component regression analysis of questionnaire data. The data analysis results showed that community resilience was the most important of the three levels of public safety resilience. In addition, community resilience could improve personal resilience, and government resilience had a positive effect on community and personal resilience. Compared with the resistance ability, the recovery ability was influenced more by the operation and improvement of the community. This study is conducive to understanding and improving public safety resilience on the personal, community, and government levels and can help relevant parties improve their ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the methods used in this study can be extended to other studies on public emergencies.

Return to Work Experiences of Ontario Public Safety Personnel with Work-Related Psychological Injuries.

PURPOSE: Public safety personnel (PSP) perform work that puts them at greater risk of psychological injury than the general public. PSP who subsequently develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental health conditions may need to take time off of work and use the workers compensation system. Very little is known about the experiences of PSP making this type of claim in Ontario to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), or which healthcare professionals (HCP) PSP access as part of the treatment and return to work (RTW) process. This study captures the experiences of Ontario PSP in their RTW journeys, including with employers, WSIB, and HCPs. METHODS: A survey-based study was conducted, using email and social media platforms to distribute the survey to PSP across Ontario. Quantitative data were summarized using means and frequencies, and open text results were analyzed using qualitative framework analysis. RESULTS: 145 survey respondents met the inclusion criteria for the study. On a scale out of 5, PSP rated their experience with WSIB and employer support as poor on their first RTW attempt with an average rating of 2.93 and 2.46 respectively. The top three HCPs accessed by PSP were psychologists (61%), occupational therapists (OT; 60%) and general practitioners (GP; 44%). Respondents identified the cultural competence of HCPs in understanding their work demands and work culture as very important. CONCLUSIONS: To improve RTW experiences for PSP who make a workers compensation claim for a psychological injury, an increase in HCP cultural competence related to PSP work is indicated, as well as improved RTW processes and workplace support.

Microbial Fuel Cell Biosensor with Capillary Carbon Source Delivery for Real-Time Toxicity Detection.

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) biosensor with an anode as a sensing element is often unreliable at low or significantly fluctuating organic matter concentrations. To remove this limitation, this work demonstrates capillary action-aided carbon source delivery to an anode-sensing MFC biosensor for use in carbon-depleted environments, e.g., potable water. First, different carbon source delivery configurations using several thread types, silk, nylon, cotton, and polyester, are evaluated. Silk thread was determined to be the most suitable material for passive delivery of a 40 g L-1 acetate solution. This carbon source delivery system was then incorporated into the design of an MFC biosensor for real-time detection of toxicity spikes in tap water, providing an organic matter concentration of 56 ± 15 mg L-1. The biosensor was subsequently able to detect spikes of toxicants such as chlorine, formaldehyde, mercury, and cyanobacterial microcystins. The 16S sequencing results demonstrated the proliferation of Desulfatirhabdium (10.7% of the total population), Pelobacter (10.3%), and Geobacter (10.2%) genera. Overall, this work shows that the proposed approach can be used to achieve real-time toxicant detection by MFC biosensors in carbon-depleted environments.

Reimagining public safety: Public opinion on police reform and gun violence prevention by race and gun ownership in the United States.

Inequitable experiences of community gun violence and victimization by police use of force led to nationwide calls to "reimagine public safety" in 2020. In January 2021, we examined public support among U.S. adults for 7 policy approaches to reforming policing and investing in community gun violence prevention. Using a nationally representative sample (N = 2778), with oversampling for Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and gun owners, we assessed support overall and by racial, ethnic, and gun owner subgroups. Overall, we found majority support for funding and implementing police and mental health co-responder models (66% and 76%, respectively), diversion from incarceration for people with symptoms of mental illness (72%), stronger laws to assure police accountability (72%), and funding for community-based and hospital-based gun violence prevention programs (69% and 60%, respectively). Support for redirecting funding from the police to social services was more variable (44% overall; White: 35%, Black: 60%, Hispanic: 43%). For all survey items, support was strongest among Black Americans. Gun owners overall reported lower support for public safety reforms and investments than respondents who did not own guns, but this distinction was found to be driven by White gun owners. The views of Black gun owners were indistinguishable from Black non-owners and were similar to White non-owners on most issues. These findings suggest that broad public support exists for innovative violence reduction strategies and public safety reforms.

A review of workplace mental health interventions and their implementation in public safety organizations.

OBJECTIVE: Workplace mental health is relevant to public safety organizations due to the exposure that many public safety personnel (PSP) have to psychological trauma in the course of their daily work. While the importance of attending to PSP mental health has been established, the implementation of workplace mental health interventions is not as well understood. This scoping review describes workplace mental health interventions and their implementation in public safety organizations. METHODS: English published primary studies with any publication date up to July 3, 2020 were considered. JBI methodology and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews was followed. RESULTS: 89 citations met inclusion criteria out of the 62,299 found. Articles and reports found were largely published within the last decade, most frequently from Western nations, and most often applied to police, followed by firefighters. The focus of interventions was commonly stress management and resilience, and a frequent implementation strategy was multi-session group training. Comprehensive quality improvement initiatives, a focus on supervisors and managers, and interventions across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention, were infrequent. CONCLUSION: Public safety organizations are frequently reporting on stress management and resilience interventions for police and firefighters, implemented through multi-session group training. A focus across a range of PSP, including paramedics, corrections officers, and emergency dispatchers, using implementation strategies beyond group training, is suggested. This area of research is currently expanding, with many studies published within the past decade; ongoing evaluation of the quality of interventions and implementation strategies is recommended.