Browsing by Author "Lupul, Nicholas"
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Item Kawhi Leonard’s impact on the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 playoff run as a Markov chain(2020) Lupul, NicholasIn the summer of 2018, the Toronto Raptors engineered a trade that would forever change the history of their franchise. The blockbuster trade saw NBA superstar Kawhi Leonard in a Raptors uniform in exchange for then franchise cornerstone DeMar Derozan. The trade was heavily criticized with fans and analysts alike claiming the organization gave up its future for a small chance at a championship. The Raptors went on to win the championship with Kawhi as their centerpiece. By studying their performance in the playoffs as two separate Markov chains, when Kawhi was playing and when he was resting, his contribution can be analyzed. It was assumed that his presence would account for more defensive stops and a more efficient offense. Upon analyzing the collected data, it was seen that his presence accounts for more points per game and offensive rebounds per game and a decreased number of defensive stops. In the future this type of analysis can be applied to data from any team at any level where relevant statistics are tracked. By analyzing one player’s impact on games, organizations will have a better idea of which players to trade away or trade for as well as how to distribute minutes.Item Measuring the analgesic effect of adding pre-operative single-shot rectus sheath blocks to postoperative rectus sheath continuous blocks for major urological surgery: a double-blind randomised study(2021) Green, James; Niu, Shuang; Verrier, Michelle; Buro, Karen; Lupul, Nicholas; Douglas, Chris; Fairey, Adrian; Dillane, DerekContinuous rectus sheath block offers an alternative to epidural analgesia for postoperative analgesia after midline abdominal surgery.1–4 Catheters can be placed under ultrasound guidance3 or under direct vision during closure of the surgical incision.2 A disadvantage of surgically placed rectus sheath catheters is that they are inserted at the end of surgery. Therefore, unlike epidural catheters inserted pre-operatively, the patient does not benefit intra-operatively and the block may not be fully established in the early recovery phase of care. We hypothesised that the addition of ultrasound-guided pre-operative bilateral single-shot rectus sheath blocks to surgically inserted postoperative continuous rectus sheath blocks would improve postoperative analgesia in the first 24 h after surgery. To this end, we designed a prospective, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial where the primary outcome was opioid consumption in the first 24 h postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included intra-operative opioid requirement, and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)-11 pain scores in the postanaesthesia care unit (PACU) and at 24 and 48 h postoperatively. This study was approved by the Health Research Ethics Board of the University of Alberta (protocol number 00078459, date of registration 7 February 2018, ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03458598).