Publications by authors named "Rudzinski K"

Importance: Safer supply programs were implemented in Canada to provide pharmaceutical-grade alternatives to the toxic unregulated drug supply. While research shows clinical benefits and reduced overdose mortality among safer supply patients, medication diversion remains a concern.

Objective: To examine provider (prescribing clinicians and allied health professionals) and patient perspectives on diversion of opioids prescribed in safer supply programs.

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Article Synopsis
  • Biomass burning (BB) emits significant carbonaceous aerosols that irritate airways, with key markers like levoglucosan (LG) and the harmful nitro-aromatic compound 4-nitrocatechol (4NC) formed through atmospheric aging.
  • The study compares the toxic effects of 4NC and LG on human lung cells, revealing that 4NC is more potent and induces apoptosis more readily than LG, especially in specific lung cell lines.
  • Findings indicate that while both compounds lead to reactive oxygen species (ROS) imbalance and mitochondrial dysfunction, 4NC exposure poses higher risks for respiratory health due to its stronger toxicity at lower concentrations compared to LG.
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The atmospheric α-pinene oxidation leads to three carboxylic acids: norpinonic acid (NPA), pinic acid (PA), and 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid (MBTCA). In this study, the OH radical kinetics in the aqueous phase of these carboxylic acids were investigated at different temperatures and pH values of solutions. Activation parameters and the corresponding atmospheric lifetimes of the acids in the troposphere were derived.

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Article Synopsis
  • The ongoing overdose crisis in North America has led to the rise of "safer supply" programs in Canada, aimed at providing safer alternatives to unregulated drugs.
  • Concerns have surfaced from various stakeholders, including media, politicians, and addiction experts, claiming that these programs could spark a "new opioid epidemic," despite this being largely based on unverified claims.
  • The essay critically analyzes media narratives and employs moral panic theory to examine public discourse about safer supply, connecting it to historical patterns of drug-related stigmas and their impact on healthcare for people who use drugs (PWUD).
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Introduction: The ongoing opioid overdose crisis, which has killed over 30,000 people in Canada since 2016, is driven by the volatility of an unregulated opioid drug supply comprised primarily of fentanyl. The Canadian government has recently funded safer opioid supply (SOS) programs, which include off-label prescriptions of pharmaceutical-grade opioids to high risk individuals with the goal of reducing overdose deaths.

Methods: In 2021, we examined the implementation and adaption of four SOS programs in Ontario.

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The current healthcare context prioritizes shorter hospital stays and fewer readmissions. However, these measures may not fully capture care experiences for people living with HIV, especially those experiencing medical, psychosocial, and economic complexity. As part of a larger study, we conducted seven focus groups with people living with HIV (n = 52), who were current/former patients at a Toronto-based specialty hospital, examining their desires/needs for hospital programs.

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Objectives: Fentanyl has contributed to a sharp rise in the toxicity of the unregulated drug supply and fatal overdoses in Canada. It has also changed injection practices. Injection frequency has increased as a result and so has equipment sharing and health-related risks.

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C- and C- unsaturated oxygenated organic compounds emitted by plants under stress like cutting, freezing or drying, known as Green Leaf Volatiles (GLVs), may clear some of the existing uncertainties in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) budget. The transformations of GLVs are a potential source of SOA components through photo-oxidation processes occurring in the atmospheric aqueous phase. Here, we investigated the aqueous photo-oxidation products from three abundant GLVs (1-penten-3-ol, (Z)-2-hexen-1-ol, and (E)-2-hexen-1-al) induced by OH radicals, carried out in a photo-reactor under simulated solar conditions.

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Introduction: Community reinforcement approach (CRA) is a behavioral intervention that has demonstrated favorable treatment outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders across studies. CRA focuses on abstinence; however, abstinence is not a desired goal among all people who use substances. Previous research has called for harm reduction-oriented treatment programs, especially within hospital settings.

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The pine-tree lappet moth, is a harmful defoliator of pine forests in Europe and Asia and a potentially invasive species in North America. The lures for trapping males based on two known components of its sex pheromone appeared weakly attractive to male moths. Identification of all components of the sex pheromone might allow for the development of more effective lures.

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Background: Hospital-based harm reduction services are needed to reduce drug-related harms, facilitate retention in care, and increase medical treatment adherence for people who use drugs. Philanthropic donor support plays a key role in delivering such innovative services which might fall outside current funding streams. However, little is known about how the principles, implementation, and practice of harm reduction services, which are often highly stigmatized, may impact donor behaviours.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the uptake of virtual and remote service delivery in the substance use field, which was previously uncommon. This swift uptake of virtual services provides an opportunity to improve service design to meet the diverse needs of women and gender-diverse people. Such services have the potential to better meet the needs of women and gender-diverse people by allowing for increased choice, control, and autonomy, enabling empowerment, facilitating greater considerations of power relations, violence, childcare responsibilities, and fostering greater inclusion of trans and non-binary people.

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The paper analyzes PM aerosol samples collected in Podkowa Leśna, a garden town in Mazovia, Central Poland, for 15 days in winter 2019. We determined the mass concentrations in the air of PM and PM-bound organic carbon, elemental carbon, levoglucosan, and nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PM ranged from 11 to 51 μg m (mean 31 μg m) and contained less than 32% organic carbon, 4% elemental carbon, 1% levoglucosan, and 0.

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Nitrophenols (NPs) are hazardous pollutants found in various environmental matrices, including ambient fine particulate matter (PM), agricultural residues, rainwater, wildfires, and industrial wastes. This study showed for the first time the effect of three pure nitrophenols and their mixture on human lung cells to provide basic understanding of the NP influence on cell elements and processes. We identified NPs in ambient PM and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles generated from the photooxidation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the U.

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Background: Supervised consumption services (SCS) prevent drug related harms for people who use drugs (PWUD) and often require a feasibility study before implementation. While there is a growing feasibility study literature, it has not been synthesized for use by researchers and SCS planners. We conducted a scoping review of feasibility studies reporting on preferred SCS design characteristics, staffing models and ancillary services.

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Green plants exposed to abiotic or biotic stress release C-5 and C-6 unsaturated oxygenated hydrocarbons called Green Leaf Volatiles (GLVs). GLVs partition into tropospheric waters and react to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). We explored the kinetics of aqueous-phase reactions of 1-penten-3-ol (PENTOL), ()-2-hexen-1-ol (HEXOL), and ()-2-hexen-1-al (HEXAL) with SO, OH, and NO.

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Recently, we identified seven novel hydroxy-carboxylic acids resulting from gas-phase reactions of isoprene in the presence of nitrogen oxides (NO), ozone (O), and/or hydroxyl radicals (OH). In the present study, we provide evidence that hydroxy-carboxylic acids, namely methyltartaric acids (MTA) are: (1) reliable isoprene tracers, (2) likely produced via rapid peroxy radical hydrogen atom (H) shift reactions (autoxidation mechanism) and analogous alkoxy radical H shifts in low and high NO environments respectively and (3) representative of aged ambient aerosol in the low NO regime. Firstly, MTA are reliable tracers of isoprene aerosol because they have been identified in numerous chamber experiments involving isoprene conducted under a wide range of conditions and are absent in the oxidation of mono- and sesquiterpenes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Substance use significantly affects the health and hospital experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS, prompting the need to understand their views on hospital-based supervised injection services (SIS).
  • A study at Casey House in Toronto surveyed 92 clients and conducted discussions with 22 participants to gauge the demand and acceptability of SIS, revealing high support for its implementation among inpatients versus outpatients.
  • The findings suggested that most clients believe SIS would improve safety and care, but there are concerns over access and the implications of its implementation, highlighting a need for further dialogue around these issues.
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Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is a major component of airborne fine particulate matter (PM) that contributes to adverse human health effects upon inhalation. Atmospheric ozonolysis of α-pinene, an abundantly emitted monoterpene from terrestrial vegetation, leads to significant global SOA formation; however, its impact on pulmonary pathophysiology remains uncertain. In this study, we quantified an increasing concentration response of three well-established α-pinene SOA tracers (pinic, pinonic, and 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acids) and a full mixture of α-pinene SOA in A549 (alveolar epithelial carcinoma) and BEAS-2B (bronchial epithelial normal) lung cell lines.

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Introduction: Supervised consumption services (SCS) reduce HIV risks and overdose for people who use drugs (PWUD) and are known to have wide-ranging public health benefits. Feasibility studies are often conducted as part of program/implementation development. We conducted a scoping review of SCS feasibility/pre-implementation studies to answer: what is known about stakeholders' opinions of SCS rules and eligibility criteria?

Methods: Using the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we searched Medline, PsychINFO, Embase, CINAHL, and SCOPUS databases for: (a) empirical research, (b) reported in English, (c) focused on SCS, (d) pre-implementation feasibility studies (research conducted prior to implementation of SCS in a given context), (e) examining SCS operational rules and eligibility criteria.

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The molecular characterization of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is based mainly on LC-MS analyses of particulate matter (PM) samples collected with aerosol samplers. Several studies have analyzed atmospheric waters, including rain and cloud water, for the presence of SOA components, however, no separation techniques were used making identification of the individual components in these complex mixtures impossible. We have applied our improved UHPLC-HR-MS methodology to analyze atmospheric precipitates (hailstone, rain and snow), as well as SOA collected with high-volume samplers.

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Isoprene (CH) is the main non-methane hydrocarbon emitted into the global atmosphere. Despite intense research, atmospheric transformations of isoprene leading to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) are still not fully understood, including its multiphase chemical reactions. Herein, we report on the detailed structural characterization of atmospherically relevant isoprene-derived organosulfates (OSs) with a molecular weight (MW) of 212 (CHSO), which are abundantly present in both ambient fine aerosol (PM) and laboratory-generated isoprene SOA.

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Highly oxygenated molecules (HOMs) are a class of compounds associated with secondary organic aerosols exhibiting high oxygen to carbon (O:C) ratios and often originating from the oxidation of biogenic compounds. Here, the photooxidation and ozonolysis of isoprene were examined under a range of conditions to identify HOM tracers for aged isoprene aerosol. The HOM tracers were identified as silylated derivatives by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and by detecting their parent compounds by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry.

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The effect of acidity and relative humidity on bulk isoprene aerosol parameters has been investigated in several studies; however, few measurements have been conducted on individual aerosol compounds. The focus of this study has been the examination of the effect of acidity and relative humidity on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) chemical composition from isoprene photooxidation in the presence of nitrogen oxide (NO ). A detailed characterization of SOA at the molecular level was also investigated.

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