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Hospitals continue to face challenges in reducing incorrect antibiotic use due to social and cultural factors at the level of the health system, the care facility, the provider, and the patient. The objective of this paper is to highlight the social and cultural drivers of antimicrobial use and resistance and targeted interventions for secondary and tertiary care settings in Canada and other OECD countries. This paper is an extension of the synthesis conducted for the Public Health Agency of Canada's 2019 Spotlight Report: Preserving Antibiotics Now and Into the Future. We conducted a systematic review with a few modifications to meet rapid timelines. We conducted a search in Ovid MEDLINE and McMaster University's evidence databases for systematic reviews and then for individual Canadian studies. To cast a wider net, we searched OECD organization websites and screened reference lists from systematic reviews. We synthesized the evidence narratively and categorized the evidence into macro-, meso-, and microlevel. A total of 70 studies were (a) from OCED countries and summarized evidence of potential sociocultural antimicrobial resistance and use barriers or facilitators and/or interventions addressing these challenges; (b) systematic reviews with 50% of included studies that are situated in secondary and tertiary settings; and (c) published in Canada's two official languages, English and French. We found that hospital structures and policies may influence antibiotic utilization and variations in antimicrobial management. Microlevel factors may sway inappropriate prescribing among clinicians. The amount and type of antibiotics used may affect resistance rates. Interventions were mainly comprised of antibiotic stewardship and training that modify clinician behavior and that educate patients and carers. This evidence synthesis illustrates the various drivers of, and interventions for, antimicrobial use and resistance at the macro-, meso-, and microlevel in secondary and tertiary settings. We demonstrate that upstream drivers may lead to downstream events that influence antimicrobial resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a multiagent, large-scale, vehicle routing modeling framework for the simulation of transportation system. The goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we investigate how individual and social knowledge interact and ultimately influence the effectiveness of resulting traffic flow. Secondly, we evaluate how different discrete-event simulation designs (delays vs. queuing) affect conclusions within the model. We present a new agent-based model that combines the efficient discrete-event approach to modeling with the intelligent drivers who are capable to learn about their environment in the long-term perspective from both, individual experience, and widely available social knowledge. The approach is illustrated as practical application to modeling commuter behavior in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. All simulations in the paper are fully reproducible as they have been carried out by utilizing a set of opensource libraries and tools that we have developed for the Julia programming language and that are openly available on GitHub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent proliferation of multispecies research contains a conspicuous gap when it comes to the methodological and ethical dimensions of navigating relations with more-than-human participants. Although codified protocols can be a useful starting point, the ethical tensions that inevitably emerge during fieldwork are often fetishized in final outputs. Whilst calls to 'stay with the trouble' are important, they often remain descriptive and un-actionable. In contrast, this paper offers a method for working through these tensions, asking what obligations they place on researchers and how they might be negotiated in practice, without slipping into advancing prescriptive rules or guidelines. We discuss this in the context of a range of 'ethically important moments' that we each encountered in the field, which were both complex and ambiguous. During our respective periods of fieldwork with dogs in Chornobyl and urban coyotes in Canada, we have each faced moments in which rapid decisions must be made as we navigate the affective intensities that move us as geographers, participant observers, and community members. In this paper, we perform and reflect upon Kohl and McCutcheon's (2015) 'kitchen table reflexivity' as one approach for working through these moments, not just staying with them. Here, ethical tensions are worked through via dialogue. This paper is both method and product, as stories from our individual research are brought into dialogue around three fraught dimensions of multispecies research: negotiating expertise and positionality, making visible or concealing the animal, and intervening in animal worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID‐19 pandemic has had an impact on all aspects of the health system. Little is known about how the activities and experiences of patient, family and caregiver partners, as a large group across a variety of settings within the health system, changed due to the substantial health system shifts catalysed by the pandemic. This paper reports on the results of a survey that included questions about this topic. Methods: Canadian patient, family and caregiver partners were invited to participate in an online anonymous survey in the Fall of 2020. A virtual snowballing approach to recruitment was used. Survey invitations were shared on social media and emailed to health system and governmental organizations with the request that they share the survey with patient partners. This paper focuses on responses to two questions related to patient partner experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Results: The COVID‐19 questions were completed by 533 respondents. Over three quarters of respondents (77.9%, n = 415) indicated their patient engagement activities had been impacted by COVID‐19. The majority (62.5%, n = 230) experienced at least a temporary or partial reduction in their patient engagement activities. Some respondents did see increases in their patient engagement activities (11.4%, n = 42). Many respondents provided insights into their experience with virtual platforms for engagement (n = 194), most expressed negative or mixed experiences with this shift. Conclusions: This study provides a snapshot of Canadian patient, family and caregiver partners' perspectives on the impact of COVID‐19 on their engagement activities. Understanding how engagement unfolded during a crisis is critical for our future planning if patient engagement is to be fully integrated into the health system. Identifying how patient partners were engaged and not engaged during this time period, as well as the benefits and challenges of virtual engagement opportunities, offers instructive lessons for sustaining patient engagement, including the supports needed to engage with a more diverse set of patient, family and caregiver partners. Patient Contribution: Patient partners were important members of the Canadian Patient Partner Study research team. They were engaged from the outset, participating in all stages of the research project. Additional patient partners were engaged to develop and pilot test the survey, and all survey respondents were patient, family or caregiver partners. The manuscript is coauthored by two patient partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospitals continue to face challenges in reducing incorrect antibiotic use due to social and cultural factors at the level of the health system, the care facility, the provider, and the patient. The objective of this paper is to highlight the social and cultural drivers of antimicrobial use and resistance and targeted interventions for secondary and tertiary care settings in Canada and other OECD countries. This paper is an extension of the synthesis conducted for the Public Health Agency of Canada's 2019 Spotlight Report: Preserving Antibiotics Now and Into the Future. We conducted a systematic review with a few modifications to meet rapid timelines. We conducted a search in Ovid MEDLINE and McMaster University's evidence databases for systematic reviews and then for individual Canadian studies. To cast a wider net, we searched OECD organization websites and screened reference lists from systematic reviews. We synthesized the evidence narratively and categorized the evidence into macro-, meso-, and microlevel. A total of 70 studies were (a) from OCED countries and summarized evidence of potential sociocultural antimicrobial resistance and use barriers or facilitators and/or interventions addressing these challenges; (b) systematic reviews with 50% of included studies that are situated in secondary and tertiary settings; and (c) published in Canada's two official languages, English and French. We found that hospital structures and policies may influence antibiotic utilization and variations in antimicrobial management. Microlevel factors may sway inappropriate prescribing among clinicians. The amount and type of antibiotics used may affect resistance rates. Interventions were mainly comprised of antibiotic stewardship and training that modify clinician behavior and that educate patients and carers. This evidence synthesis illustrates the various drivers of, and interventions for, antimicrobial use and resistance at the macro-, meso-, and microlevel in secondary and tertiary settings. We demonstrate that upstream drivers may lead to downstream events that influence antimicrobial resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote community initiatives for renewable energy are rapidly emerging across Canada but with varying numbers, success rates, and strategies. To meet low-carbon transition goals, the need to coordinate technology deployment and long-term policy to guide the adoption is critical. Renewable resources such as wind, solar, hydro, and biomass can provide energy at a subsidized cost, create sustainable infrastructure, and provide new economic viability in social value integration. The renewable energy transition is crucial to Canada in sustaining remote and indigenous communities by providing local, clean, and low-carbon-emission energy for heat, power, and possibly transportation. This paper identified 635 renewable resources projects deployed to improve and increase electricity supply. To an extent, balancing demand within the remote and indigenous communities of Canada and highlighting sustainable renewable energy development through ownership participation within the communities is achievable before 2050 and beyond through energy efficiency and the social value of energy. The article identifies clean energy targets as mandated by the different provinces in Canada to reach net-zero GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does section 2(b) law deal with factual scenarios entailing a close connection between government and expression, such that the public reasonably believes the speech in issue emanates from the government and not from a private individual? Foundational principles suggest section 2(b) has internal limits that prevent private speakers from co-opting the government's voice. This paper reviews section 2(b) doctrine and reveals that existing law does not adequately facilitate consideration of this government nexus, resulting in confusion in lower courts on how to approach these factual scenarios. Drawing on American sources, this article proposes a solution: introduction of a "government speech doctrine." Such a doctrine, properly modified to take into account the unique Canadian context, could bring conceptual clarity to this area of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classifying habitat patches as sources or sinks and determining metapopulation persistence requires coupling connectivity between habitat patches with local demographic rates. While methods to calculate sources, sinks, and metapopulation persistence exist for discrete‐time models, there is no method that is consistent across modeling frameworks. In this paper, we show how next‐generation matrices, originally popularized in epidemiology to calculate new infections after one generation, can be used in an ecological context to calculate sources and sinks as well as metapopulation persistence in marine metapopulations. To demonstrate the utility of the method, we construct a next‐generation matrix for a network of sea lice populations on salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago, BC, an intensive salmon farming region on the west coast of Canada where certain salmon farms are currently being removed under an agreement between local First Nations and the provincial government. The column sums of the next‐generation matrix can determine if a habitat patch is a source or a sink and the spectral radius of the next‐generation matrix can determine the persistence of the metapopulation. With respect to salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago, we identify the salmon farms which are acting as the largest sources of sea lice and show that in this region the most productive sea lice populations are also the most connected. The farms which are the largest sources of sea lice have not yet been removed from the Broughton Archipelago, and warming temperatures could lead to increased sea louse growth. Calculating sources, sinks, and persistence in marine metapopulations using the next‐generation matrix is biologically intuitive, mathematically equivalent to previous methods, and consistent across different modeling frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP) is a network of organizations that serve residents of East Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ETHP is a newly formed integrated model of care in which hospital, primary care, community providers and patients/ families work together to improve population health. We describe and evaluate the evolution of this emerging integrated care system as it responded to a global health crisis. Description: This paper begins by describing ETHP’s pandemic response mapping out over two years of data. To evaluate the response, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 decision makers, clinicians, staff, and volunteers who were part of the response. The interviews were thematically analyzed, and emergent themes mapped onto the nine pillars of integrated care. Discussion: The ETHP pandemic response evolved rapidly. Early siloed responses gave way to collaborative efforts and equity emerged as a central priority. New alliances formed, resources were shared, leaders emerged, and community members stepped forward to contribute. Interviewees identified positives as well as many opportunities for improvement post-pandemic. Conclusion: The pandemic was a catalyst for change in East Toronto that accelerated existing initiatives to achieve integrated care. The East Toronto experience may serve as a useful guide for other emerging integrated care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Big data research requires public support. It has been argued that this can be achieved by public involvement and engagement to ensure that public views are at the centre of research projects. Researchers should aim to include diverse communities, including seldom‐heard voices, to ensure that a range of voices are heard and that research is meaningful to them. Objective: We explored how researchers involve and engage seldom‐heard communities around big data research. Methods: This is a qualitative study. Researchers who had experience of involving or engaging seldom‐heard communities in big data research were recruited. They were based in England (n = 5), Scotland (n = 4), Belgium (n = 2) and Canada (n = 1). Twelve semistructured interviews were conducted on Zoom. All interviews were audio‐recorded and transcribed, and we used reflexive thematic analysis to analyse participants' experiences. Results: The analysis highlighted the complexity of involving and engaging seldom‐heard communities around big data research. Four themes were developed to represent participants' experiences: (1) abstraction and complexity of big data, (2) one size does not fit all, (3) working in partnership and (4) empowering the public contribution. Conclusion: The study offers researchers a better understanding of how to involve and engage seldom‐heard communities in a meaningful way around big data research. There is no one right approach, with involvement and engagement activities required to be project‐specific and dependent on the public contributors, researchers' needs, resources and time available. Patient and Public Involvement: Two public contributors are authors of the paper and they were involved in the study design, analysis and writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What would it look like to honour differences in eating disorder recovery? Recoveries from eating disorders and eating distress are enacted in relation to discursive, material, and affective flows that open and constrain different possibilities for differently embodied people. Yet, the pull toward establishing consensus on "what recovery is" continues to dominate the landscape of both qualitative and quantitative eating disorder recovery work. While researchers from a variety of perspectives, disciplines, and methodological traditions have sought to establish consensus on what recovery "is", a singular definition remains elusive. Indeed, when researchers continue to adopt the same methodologies—which largely emphasize establishing patterns of sameness—the opportunity to dig into contradictions and tensions that enliven recoveries is missed. In this paper, we reflect on our experiences conducting creative, collaborative, generative research to re-write, re-design, re-draw, and otherwise re-imagine recoveries. The knowledge generated in our research is co-constructed with people with living experience of disordered/distressed eating/eating disorders who spoke back to mainstream recovery discourses (e.g., the idea that recovery is about perfection, that recovery is linear, that one is either recovered or not, that the word "recovered" encapsulates the experience, etc.). We engaged with 12 participants: four in an online group workshop and eight in individual online sessions. Participants held a variety of experiences and backgrounds from Canada, the United States, and Aotearoa New Zealand. We explored their journeys into this conversation with us, the meaning of recovery, and their thoughts on what makes recovery im/possible. Participants were offered several options for creative engagement and took up the idea of "creativity" in ways as different as the stories they shared. Participants created collages, short stories, poems, drawings, and told stories about their experiences. Here, we discuss methodological insights gained from asking participants to lead the creative process. We also explore how this project potentially enables different ways of thinking about and doing eating disorder recovery. Delving into the differences in both method and content opens up opportunities to take seriously the different relational, material, and affective constellations of participants' living experiences of eating distress/disorder "recovery". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of shallow foundations typically proceeds by using the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) methodology to avoid various limit states with some probability. This paper looks at the sliding limit state of shallow foundations, and the sliding resistance factors required for the LRFD approach are estimated using reliability analyses of surface strip foundations. Cohesive and frictional soils are separately studied under wind loading conditions. Monte Carlo simulations are used to estimate the sliding failure probability of foundation designs on cohesive soils, and an analytical method is developed for frictional soils. The results indicate the existence of a "worst case" correlation length for cohesive soils, and the sliding resistance factor required to achieve target maximum lifetime failure probabilities is around 0.4–0.65 for moderate soil variability. For frictional soils, the required sliding resistance factor is about 0.5–0.85 for νϕ′ = 0.15. Overall, the sliding resistance factors recommended here agree well with the resistance factors of ϕgu = 0.6 for cohesive soils and ϕgu = 0.8 for frictional soils stipulated by geotechnical LRFD code provisions in Canada. The analyses can be used to estimate the reliability of current designs and can also aid the calibration of geotechnical design codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increased scrutiny on public health brought upon by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic provides a strong impetus for a renewal of public health systems. This paper seeks to understand priorities of public health decision-makers for reforms to public health financing, organization, interventions, and workforce. Methods: We used an online 3-round real-time Delphi method of reaching consensus on priorities for public health systems reform. Participants were recruited among individuals holding senior roles in Canadian public health institutions, ministries of health and regional health authorities. In Round 1, participants were asked to rate 9 propositions related to public health financing, organization, workforce, and interventions. Participants were also asked to contribute up to three further ideas in relation to these topics in open-ended format. In Rounds 2 and 3, participants re-appraised their ratings in the view of the group's ratings in the previous round. Results: Eighty-six public health senior decision-makers from various public health organizations across Canada were invited to participate. Of these, 25/86 completed Round 1 (29% response rate), 19/25 completed Round 2 (76% retention rate) and 18/19 completed Round 3 (95% retention rate). Consensus (defined as more than 70% of importance rating) was achieved for 6 out of 9 propositions at the end of the third round. In only one case, the consensus was that the proposition was not important. Proposition rated consensually important relate to targeted public health budget, time frame for spending this budget, and the specialization of public health structures. Both interventions related and not related to the COVID-19 pandemic were judged important. Open-ended comments further highlighted priorities for renewal in public health governance and public health information management systems. Conclusion: Consensus emerged rapidly among Canadian public health decision-makers on prioritizing public health budget and time frame for spending. Ensuring that public health services beyond COVID-19 and communicable disease are maintained and enhanced is also of central importance. Future research shall explore potential trade-offs between these priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional manufacturing methods for fabricating orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) devices have been in practice for a very long time. Recently, O&P service providers have started exploring different advanced manufacturing techniques. The objective of this paper is to perform a mini review on recent progress in the use of polymer-based additive manufacturing (AM) for O&P devices and to gather insights from the O&P professionals on the current practices and technologies and on the prospect of using AM techniques in this field. In our study, first, scientific articles on AM for O&P devices were studied. Then, twenty-two (22) interviews were conducted with O&P professionals from Canada. The primary focus was on five key areas: cost, material, design and fabrication efficiency, structural strength, functionality, and patient satisfaction. The cost of manufacturing the O&P devices using AM techniques is lower as compared to the conventional methods. O&P professionals expressed their concern over the materials and structural strength of the 3D-printed prosthetic devices. Published articles report comparable functionality and patient satisfaction for both O&P devices. AM also greatly improves design and fabrication efficiency. However, due to a lack of qualification standards for 3D printed O&P devices, 3D printing is being embraced more slowly in the O&P business than in other industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Developing a new optimization model for designing a tire closed-loop supply chain. • Presenting a Spherical fuzzy logic method to calculate the importance of suppliers. • Discussing the application of the model in Greater Toronto Area, Canada. • Solving the multi-objective model using the augmented ε -constraint method. • Performing extensive sensitivity analyses and analyzing the results. For tire manufacturers to remain profitable while fulfilling environmental and social obligations such as producer responsibility, the opportunity lies in designing a tire Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) which combines forward and reverse supply chains. In this paper, a new multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model is proposed to configure and optimize a multi-echelon, multi-product, multi-period tire CLSC network based on multiple recovery options and markets. For one of the objectives of the model, the weighting factors (importance) of suppliers are determined according to a unique framework of qualitative criteria. In this respect, a novel decision-making method based on Spherical fuzzy logic is developed. Finally, the solution approach is devised based on the formulation of the augmented ε -constraint method for finding efficient solutions. The application of the model is illustrated focusing on the region of Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. The optimal quantities for the flows of products, and number and locations of open facilities of the network are computed. The results show that the selected suppliers and allocated orders from them are impacted by considering multiple objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a system and experimental procedure that use integrating passive detectors, such as thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs), for the measurement of ultra-low-level ambient dose equivalent rate values at the underground SNOLAB facility located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Because these detectors are passive and can be exposed for relatively long periods of time, they can provide better sensitivity for measuring ultra-low activity levels. The final characterization of ultra-low-level ambient dose around water shielding for ongoing direct dark matter search experiments in Cube Hall at SNOLAB underground laboratory is given. The conclusion is that TLDs provide reliable results in the measurement of the ultra-low-level environmental radiation background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the effectiveness of solar heating using clear polyethylene bags against rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae (L.), which is one of the most destructive insect pests against many strategic grains such as wheat. In this paper, we aim at finding the key parameters that affect the control heating system against stored grain insects while ensuring that the wheat grain quality is maintained. We provide a new benchmark dataset, where the experimental and environmental data was collected based on fieldwork during the summer in Canada. We measure the effectiveness of the solution using a novel formula to describe the amortising temperature effect on rice weevil. We adopted different machine learning models to predict the effectiveness of our solution in reaching a lethal heating condition for insect pests, and hence measure the importance of the parameters. The performance of our machine learning models has been validated using a 10-fold cross-validation, showing a high accuracy of 99.5% with 99.01% recall, 100% precision and 99.5% F1-Score obtained by the Random Forest model. Our experimental study on machine learning with SHAP values as an eXplainable post-hoc model provides the best environmental conditions and parameters that have a significant effect on the disinfestation of rice weevils. Our findings suggest that there is an optimal medium-sized grain amount when using solar bags for thermal insect disinfestation under high ambient temperatures. Machine learning provides us with a versatile model for predicting the lethal temperatures that are most effective for eliminating stored grain insects inside clear plastic bags. Using this powerful technology, we can gain valuable information on the optimal conditions to eliminate these pests. Our model allows us to predict whether a certain combination of parameters will be effective in the treatment of insects using thermal control. We make our dataset publicly available under a Creative Commons Licence to encourage researchers to use it as a benchmark for their studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This paper looks at changes in weight, physical activity, and food/dietary intake during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in undergraduate students enrolled in a Canadian university. The investigation used an online survey format to collect data at the end of the two lockdown periods over one year. Participants were recruited from universities across Canada. The results show a modest weight gain accompanied by a decrease in physical activity and an unhealthy change in diet. Specifically, students reported that their engagement in specific physical activities and overall activity levels decreased during the lockdowns. The number of calories also decreased over time, while the foods consumed decreased in nutritional value. Thus, the modest weight gain observed may have resulted from the decrease in physical activity and diet quality. In conclusion, Canadian food and physical activity recommendations were not met during the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, which highlights the physical and nutritional implications of confinement. This study examined changes in body mass and body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and dietary intake in Canadian university students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two self-reported recall surveys were conducted: after the first lockdown in September 2020 (T1) and following the second lockdown in March 2021 (T2). Eligible participants were full-time undergraduate students attending a Canadian university and residing in Canada during the first year of the pandemic. At T1, 510 students (99 male, 411 female) completed the survey, and of those, 135 (32 males, 103 females) completed the survey at T2 (73% attrition). At both T1 and T2, most participants were 18–24 years of age (93% and 90%, respectively), Caucasian (73% and 78%, respectively), and resided in the province of Ontario (79% and 80%, respectively). Body mass increased from T1 to T2 (+0.91 ± 3.89 kg t(132) = −2.7, p = 0.008). BMI also increased from T1 to T2 (+0.30 ± 1.33 kg/m2 [t(130) = −2.5, p = 0.012), with a greater number of participants within the overweight range (19.8% versus 24.4%, respectively). At T1, 38% of the participants reported a decrease in physical activity, while the number of students reporting a decrease in activity increased to 56% at T2. Dietary energy intake decreased from 1678 ± 958 kcal/day at T1 to 1565 ± 842 kcal/day at T2 [c2(1) = 7.2, p = 0.007]. Diet quality also decreased, with participants not meeting the recommended daily allowance for essential macro and micronutrients. A decrease was observed in daily servings of fruits (−27%, p < 0.001), vegetables (−72%, p < 0.001), and grains (−68%, p < 0.001). In conclusion, despite a small decrease in dietary energy intake, a modest weight gain occurred during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in this cohort of Canadian university students, which was potentially related to decreased physical activity and diet quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate warming at high latitudes has contributed to the growing interest in shrub tree-ring analysis. Shrub architecture presents new challenges for dendrochronology, such as the seemingly lower and inconsistent climatic sensitivity of stems vs. root collars. Shrub stems may thus be considered as sub-optimal to study climate–growth relationships. In this paper, we propose that the lower climatic sensitivity of stems could be caused by the use of unsuitable detrending methods for chronologies spanning decades rather than centuries. We hypothesize that the conversion of the ring width (RW) to basal area increment (BAI) is better suited than traditional detrending methods to removing age/size-related trends without removing multi-decadal climate signals. Using stem and root collar samples collected from three sites in the forest–tundra ecotone of eastern Canada, we compared the climate–growth relationships of these two approaches for stems and root collars using mixed-effects models. The climate sensitivity was, on average, 4.9 and 2.7 times higher with BAI than with detrended (mean-centered) RW chronologies for stems and root collars, respectively. The climatic drivers of radial growth were identical for stems and root collars when using BAI (July temperature and March precipitation), but were inconsistent when using detrended RW series (root collars: July temperature and March precipitation at all sites; stems: April and June temperature, depending on the site). Although the use of BAI showed promising results for studying long-term climate signals in shrub growth chronologies, further studies focusing on different species and locations are needed before the use of BAI can become broadly used in shrub dendrochronology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the rapid development of remote sensing technology and applications in the 1970's in Canada, the Canadian Advisory Committee on Remote Sensing conducted a nation-wide review of relevant activities in post-secondary teaching and research. This was updated in the 1980's. Similar reviews were solicited for the radar community in 2009 by the Canadian Space Agency and for the Geospatial community in Canada in 2016 by Natural Resources Canada. In this paper we report on a new Canadian survey conducted in 2021 which is discussed within the context of the previous profiles. In Canada today there are 65 post-secondary institutions directly involved in remote sensing teaching and 63 academic research centers in this field. At these institutions and others worldwide, significant changes were brought about in education practice in the spring of 2020 with shutdowns in many sectors of the economy in response to the rapid expansion of the COVID-19 virus. Classroom teaching transitioned to on-line communication. These experiences may have a direct influence on how teaching and training practice of 'hands-on' disciplines such as remote sensing may evolve and contribute to future growth. We discuss the potential impact of this upheaval for the future of remote sensing education within the remote sensing community in Canada based upon personal experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that Tiffani A. Fraser and Matt P. Hutchison won the 2017 Best Paper Award from the Canadian Science Publishing and the Geological Association of Canada.

This paper examines the transition from the "era of the health accords" (from 2000 to 2017) to the new regime of individual bilateral agreements between Ottawa and each of the provinces and territories, allocating federal health transfers and setting agreed-upon health-reform priorities in each jurisdiction. The paper argues that the health accords of 2000, 2003 and 2004 were essentially unsuccessful for a number of reasons. First, they tended to raise expectations among the public, health system actors and health policy experts about the ability to transform health care in Canada in a relatively short period of time. This was, in part, a result of the accords' very broad and general commitments to change, but also their lack of recognition of the barriers to change that exist within the system. Second, and related to the first, attention was paid mostly to the amount of the transfer from the federal government to the provinces and territories, rather than to how those dollars were to be spent. At best, governments bought only a modest amount of change in the system, despite the billions of dollars of new investment. Unlike other industrialized federations, Canada appears to be the only one that relies on an ongoing, highly politicized process of intergovernmental diplomacy to negotiate the fiscal relationship in health care. This, combined with a somewhat amorphous and changeable understanding of the federal government's overall role in health care, complicates the process of reform and heightens the political stakes around the negotiations. The new model of bilateral agreements negotiated under an umbrella statement of common principles around health-reform priorities may yet prove to be an improvement in both process and outcomes. Bilateralism can serve to de-escalate the political stakes inherent in the federal-provincial diplomacy around Canada's most popular social program, by moving away from the "grand bargains" that characterized the accords. In short, there will be less opportunity for the kind of political rhetoric that unduly raises expectations of rapid change. More importantly, the bilateral agreements, although far from perfect, may actually better serve to focus attention on the specific health-service organization and delivery issues the provinces and territories intend to improve, restructure or expand. Under very broad principles such as "improving access to mental health and community care," the bilateral agreements articulate some very clear plans about specific approaches, programs and policies on which the transfers will be spent. This should provide a much greater opportunity for the Canadian public to hold governments to account for progress in those areas, something the accords never really managed to do. Going forward, there is still room for improvement. Some provincial plans are decidedly vague, and governments should be urged to be more specific in their commitments and intentions. Common indicators continue to be difficult to develop, although big strides have been made in recent decades. Governments would be well advised to talk seriously and openly about the challenges and barriers to change that exist within the system and, in doing so, marshal public support to dismantle them. And the federal government itself needs to actively engage in assisting jurisdictions in learning from and adapting the successful reforms and initiatives of other jurisdictions. This could be an act of true system stewardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reconstructs the story of a so far unknown manuscript, a handwritten, personal account detailing a 1927 journey to the United States and Canada with the primary purpose of selling Hungarian wine as part of a more extensive international venture. The article introduces the research that led to the identification of the writer of the manuscript - written on sheets of paper from a Canadian hotel - and outlines the background of a fascinating business project, thereby positioning the text not only as a unique example to be studied with the tools of microhistory but also placing it in the broader, transatlantic historical and political environment of the time. The text is also studied and presented as a piece of travel writing that provides unique insights into Hungarian perceptions of North America in the 1920s and the Hungarian images of Canada and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For two decades, open access (OA) has gained momentum worldwide. However, adoption of OA in Canada is lagging compared with other countries. Using data from Dimensions and Érudit, this paper provides an overview of OA dissemination in Canada, focusing on the effect of institutions, language, and funding. Papers in French, and from Quebec universities, are more likely to be OA, while papers from engineering-oriented institutions are less likely to be OA. Regarding funders, those in health sciences have higher OA compliance. The paper concludes discussing disciplinary differences in OA dissemination, low compliance to OA mandates in Canada, and the role of Érudit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To limit the risk of transmitting the COVID-19 virus during in person interactions, modes of telemedicine, such as teleoncology, have been on the rise more than ever. This narrative review examines the effectiveness of current Canadian teleoncology services in providing adequate services to the residents of Canadian rural areas. This paper also seeks to analyze current international research and models of teleoncology and how they may be applicable in a Canadian rural context. The paper additionally provides well-supported and appropriate suggestions for future developments of Canadian rural teleoncology and future research directions within the field. Methods: Through a literature search on platforms like Google Scholar, 14 Canadian and international pieces of literature have been selected and reviewed. Common trends of teleoncology strengths and weaknesses have been retrieved, analyzed and summarized. Results: Upon analysis of advantages and disadvantages, it can be stated that teleoncology is a relevant mode of healthcare delivery in the current Canadian context. Despite its limitations, teleoncology can enhance and diversify the quality and types of services delivered to Canadians, especially those in rural areas. Conclusion: Overall, it can be safely deduced that teleoncology has the potential of becoming a prominent aspect of the future of healthcare especially in Canadian rural contexts. The next step towards enhancing the Canadian rural teleoncology system is to gain a better understanding of this system through more recent, standardized research. This can be followed by careful examination of the international status of teleoncology for potential inspirations for change and areas of research. In its analysis, the paper at hand provides a series of suggestions for future areas of research in this topic and potential methodologies for enhancing current Canadian rural teleoncology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Play is an important part of the childhood. The learning potential of playing and creating non-digital games, like tabletop games, however, has not been fully explored. Aim: The study discussed in this paper identified a range of activities through which learners redesigned a mathematics-oriented tabletop game to develop their ideas and competencies in an integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) class. Method: Third and fourth graders worked as teams to make changes on Triominos over a period of six weeks. Considering what could be changed from the original game, each group provided a different design for Triominos to accommodate the changes introduced. We gathered data through weekly observations of two classes (about 45 learners, ranging from age eight to ten) in a west-Canada school. In this paper, we present the works of three groups of three teammates. Results: We found that any change made by learners not only influenced mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics of the game but also helped engage learners, encourage unconventional ideas, promote learning, and solve problems. Based on our findings, we suggest redesigning games facilitated learners deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts as part of a designed game system in STEM classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an outlook on the effects of climate change and the severity and frequency of extreme weather events on the performance of flexible pavements across North America. Now more than ever, the climate is changing at a rapid pace, which will alter long-term environmental loading parameters and extreme weather events. Such alterations will pose implications for the design, maintenance, and rehabilitation of flexible pavements, especially in terms of their serviceability, safety, and functionality. In northern Canada, roads are founded on various terrain types, including thaw-sensitive ice-rich permafrost underlying terrains. Such roads have experienced signs of embankment and pavement damage, which are usually induced by the degradation of the underlying permafrost due to climate change. Therefore, the development and implementation of new permafrost thaw mitigation techniques for vulnerable roads are essential and will be discussed in this paper. Resilient flexible roads should be designed to withstand the conditions that are likely to occur during their design life, taking into account the impact of the climate change on pavement performance in response to daily and seasonal changes in heat, precipitation, freeze–thaw cycles, and extreme weather events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that our urban centres have been dominated by the private car for a hundred years, this paper asks what is next for Canadian cities. Previous research on the future of urban mobility, and specifically city planning and autonomous vehicles, has been from an American or Australian context. Working from a uniquely Canadian perspective, this paper fills a gap in the research by analyzing data from twenty-six semi-structured interviews with Canadian planning professionals from Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto. The interviews discuss how Canadian planners are preparing for new technologies, including autonomous vehicles, and increased privatization. We recommend that large cities move forward with autonomous vehicle research with a goal of improving mobility for all, while ensuring a strong agreement framework with all for-profit mobility providers is in place that requires robust data sharing agreements and appropriate consultation with municipalities before, during, and after launching. Further, planners should further embrace the political realities of their positions and advocate for equitable mobility for all residents both in their day-to-day work and in public engagement settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the fieldwork experience in rural Ghana of a Ghanaian student studying in Canada. It provides a background of self‐reflections that juxtapose the need to pay attention to the researcher's positionality and personality and how that can impact fieldwork and research outcomes. Recognizing that researchers' personalities have received less consideration in geographical qualitative research methodologies, this paper focuses on how both the researcher's positionality and personality can contribute to building rapport and sustaining relationships with the researched. I argue that while researchers' positionalities can influence access to research participants, personal traits form a backbone for building trust and sustaining relationships. I conclude that the research process can be rewarding if a common ground between the researcher and research participants is established. This can be created by building partnerships in the research process. Key Messages: While it is necessary to consider a researcher's positionality in fieldwork, it is equally important to consider the influence of their personality.Researchers' personal traits can form a backbone for building trust and sustaining relationships with their participants.While a researcher's positionality is inherited and sometimes conferred on them, personality persists over time and with different situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on insights in feminist economic geography to critically review the literature on work in the home and provide a starting point for examining COVID‐19 pandemic‐imposed work from home measures for tertiary and quaternary sector firms and organizations. It critically reviews literature on the pandemic, working from home, and work in general, to examine lockdown‐related workplace disruptions in relation to the various forms of work that took place in the home prior to the pandemic. It argues that feminist economic geography provides a starting point for examinations of working from home during and after COVID‐19. This situates writing on social reproduction, and informal and unpaid work in the home, within the purview of our understanding of pandemic response. Following this review, the paper demonstrates this argument by interrogating Canada's "telework capacity" discourse and the decisions by white‐collar offices regarding the continuation and abatement of "digital by default" policies. The pandemic will radically shift our understanding of the meanings of both home and work, and this paper, through a critical review of key literature, suggests that feminist economic geography provides one starting point for theorizing the implications of that shift in the Canadian context. Key Messages: The COVID‐19 pandemic stands to alter work‐life conditions for households in ways that transform the role and meaning of both home and work. Feminist economic geography helps us to understand shifts to working from home in light of the COVID‐19 pandemic. An interrogation of "telework capacity" and "digital by default" reveals the various assumptions built into these discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacogenomics (PGx)‐based personalized medicine (PM) is increasingly utilized to guide treatment decisions for many drug‐disease combinations. Notably, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has pioneered a PGx program that has become a staple for London‐based specialists. Although implementational studies have been conducted in other jurisdictions, the Canadian healthcare system is understudied. Herein, the multistakeholder perspectives on implementational drivers and barriers are elucidated. Using a mixed‐method qualitative model, key stakeholders, and patients from LHSC's PGx‐based PM clinic were interviewed and surveyed, respectively. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed in a stepwise process of customer profiling, value mapping, and business model canvasing. Value for LHSC located specialist users of PGx was driven by the quick turnaround time, independence of the PGx clinic, and the quality of information. Engagement of external specialists was only limited by access and awareness, whereas other healthcare nonusers were limited by education and applicability. The major determinant of successful adoption at novel sites were institutional champions. Patients valued and approved of the service, expressed a general willingness to pay, but often traveled far to receive genotyping. This paper discusses the critical pillars of education, awareness, advocacy, and efficiency required to address implementation barriers to healthcare service innovation in Canada. Further adoption of PGx practices into Canadian hospitals is an important factor for advancing system‐level changes in care delivery, patient experiences, and outcomes. The findings in this paper can help inform efforts to advance clinical PGx practices, but also the potential adoption and implementation of other innovative healthcare service solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lateral strength and stiffness requirements due to wind loads usually govern the design of tall buildings. The current building codes in the US, Canada, and Europe recognize the first significant yield point as an ultimate limit state. Consequently, the current design practices ignore the plastic capacity of structural systems in the nonlinear range, which could result in overdesigned buildings. Thus, the classical linear-elastic design arguments shall be reexamined with consideration of performance-based wind design (PBWD) approaches, innovative technologies, and materials. We are presenting two companion papers to demonstrate the benefits of considering the nonlinear capacity of structural systems in the design of wind-excited buildings. In this paper, Part I, we have postulated and then proved the capability of self-centering systems in controlling the possible damage accumulation in structural systems subjected to along-wind loads. Our arguments are based on an extensive parametric study through nonlinear time history analyses considering peak and residual ductility-demands, normalized hysteretic energy dissipation, and the rate of damage accumulation as performance indicators. Overall, the results of the parametric study revealed that self-centering systems could benefit the most from the ductility-based design due to their inherent recentering capability, higher energy dissipation, and lower sensitivity to wind duration. Consistent with the notion of PBWD, for self-centering systems, the companion Part II paper demonstrates the benefits of the ductility-based wind design in terms of economics and safety through structural reliability analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper formulates and solves a new problem of the double model following adaptive control (MFAC) of nodes and links in a complex dynamical network (CDN). This is different from most existing studies on CDN and MFAC. Inspired by the concept of composite systems, the CDN with dynamic links is regarded as an interconnected system composed of an interconnected node group (NG) and link group (LG). Guided by the above-mentioned new idea of viewing a CDN from the perspective of composite systems, by means of Lyapunov theory and proposed related mathematical preliminaries, a new adaptive control scheme is proposed for NG. In addition, to remove the restriction that the states of links in a CDN are unavailable due to physical constraints, technical restraints, and expensive measurement costs, we synthesize the coupling term in LG with the proposed adaptive control scheme for NG, such that the problem of double MFAC of nodes and links in CDN is solved. Finally, a simulation example is presented to verify the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language proficiency testing has long played a role as both facilitator and barrier in global migration. This paper outlines how Canada and other traditional migrant destination countries use English-language proficiency testing for immigration, asylum and resettlement, and citizenship. It identifies commonalities between these three related areas of migration and the covert values that are often embedded in the required test scores. It identifies different approaches for conducting research under the umbrella of Shohamy's (2001) Critical Language Testing and concludes with language testing research and advocacy suggestions specific to the Canadian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impact of risk disclosure practices (voluntary, mandatory and risk disclosure index) on stock return volatility, market liquidity and financial performance for insurance companies in the UK and Canada, before and after the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. Design/methodology/approach: The panel data analysis covers 14 insurance companies in the UK and 12 in Canada over a six-year period, three years before and three years after the implementation of IFRS. The authors collected risk disclosure data manually from the annual reports and analyzed it through QSR NVivo software for each country. The other variables are secondary data collected from Thomson Reuters Eikon and Datastream. Findings: The results reveal that mandatory risk disclosure practices positively influence stock return volatility for UK insurers but not Canadian ones. Moreover, both mandatory and voluntary risk disclosures increase market liquidity for UK insurers. The outcomes also show a negative influence of risk disclosure practices on financial performance for both the UK and Canadian insurers. The adoption of IFRS enhances the impact of risk disclosure practices in both countries on market liquidity and financial performance. Research limitations/implications: The findings rationalize the impact of risk disclosure practices on volatility, liquidity and financial performance of UK and Canada insurers, and the effect of IFRS in triggering those results. Practical implications: The findings highlight the diverse effects of voluntary and mandatory risk disclosure practices in enhancing market discipline and mitigating information asymmetry problems to investors. Regulators and policymakers could rely on the findings to amend and develop disclosure standards more frequently to assure their effectiveness. The authors also offer insights to managers to determine the levels of mandatory and voluntary disclosure practices and disclosure strategies to gain their stakeholders' confidence. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature of risk disclosure in the insurance industry for both the UK and Canada where scarce studies are conducted. It also offers interesting implementations to investors, managers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing health and environmental consciousness, flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) has attracted more attention owing to its great potential in the food, health care, and material industry. For such an important crop, it is crucial to understand its development history, current status, and hotspots and finally find the future directions of flax research. This paper mainly analyzed the published articles (collected from the Web of Science) related to flax from 2000–2022 and the cited references by these articles using the software of CiteSpace. Results showed that the number of studies on flax kept increasing and increased rapidly from 2010 to 2022. Canada and France are the leading countries in flax research with more than 970 articles published during the period. By analyzing the high-frequency keywords, five important research areas were found: (1) flax fiber quality and its application in composites, (2) chemical composition and products of flaxseed, (3) tolerance of flax to stress and genetics, (4) cellulose and lignin, (5) fiber-reinforced composites and flax fabric. With the strongest citation bursts, bio-composite with flax straw has become the hottest research area for flax. In the future, efforts should still be made to the simplified and efficient production of flax owing to the higher labor cost, and more attention should be paid to healthier flaxseed food and flax-based environmentally friendly biomaterials. Finally, decreasing the cost of cultivation and pre-processing and developing end products with higher values would greatly promote the development of the whole flax industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoice is an emerging qualitative research method used to engage community members in research that highlights their lived experiences and initiate change. Photovoice offers potential benefits to research conducted by and with Indigenous communities through privileging Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. There is a lack of synthesized evidence about the usage, benefits, and challenges of conducting Photovoice research by and with Indigenous communities, which this systematic methods review aims to address. We specifically focus on Indigenous young people in Canada, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the United States. Five databases were searched systematically for articles including keywords for 'Indigenous' and 'Photovoice'. Empirical studies and methods papers reporting the use of Photovoice with majority cohorts of young Indigenous participants were included. Relevant data were extracted and Photovoice methods analysed using an integrative approach. Database searches yielded 1402 articles, with 109 reviewed in full and 41 included in the review. These articles represented 37 unique studies, with most from Canada (n = 17), and the United States (n = 14). Our analysis revealed great variability in how Photovoice has been applied across studies with Indigenous young people. However, some notable commonalities include recruitment of participants via community networks, and participant involvement in data collection and analysis. The potential benefits associated with using Photovoice with Indigenous young people included: fostering participant autonomy and authority; photography being familiar and fun; the visual medium being culturally appropriate for Indigenous peoples; and the method being effective for engaging the whole community. Challenges associated with Photovoice included: engagement difficulties between researchers and participants; issues with photography; and ethical complexities. These findings suggest that Photovoice is an appropriate and largely effective method to engage young Indigenous people in research. However, there are logistical and ethical issues associated with the method that require careful consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia is expected to be an ageing country by 2030 when 15% of her populace will be in the category of the elderly. The elderly will face various issues and challenges, such as finance along with abuse and neglect. Generally, like in other disputes, the legal mechanism is the resort for resolution. However, litigation is less preferred in this type of cases as it does not address the emotional distress suffered by the parties involved. As such, litigation is not a suitable method as it may break the relationship between the parties. Conversely, mediation, a non-adjudicative dispute resolution mechanism, is considered a potential method of dispute settlement since it is effective in addressing the issues in a family conflict involving the elderly. Due to its effectiveness, the application of mediation as a means of resolving disputes has gained global attention. Considering its effectiveness, some countries, such as Australia and Canada, apply mediation in resolving family issues involving the elderly. The use of mediation in family disputes is not new in Malaysia, however, it is yet to be applied in elderly family disputes. The objective of this article is to explore the scope of the application of mediation in elderly family issues. As such, this study adopts the qualitative approach of research where primary and secondary sources of data were gleaned from various statutes as well as existing literature, respectively. In order to underline the potential of mediation in dispute resolution, the experiences of Australia and Canada have been shared in this article. The finding indicates that due to its intrinsic excellence and usefulness, mediation can excel in resolving the disputes related to the elderly. Therefore, the paper recommends embracing mediation as a feasible dispute settlement mechanism involving the elderly in a family setting in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a global effect. The disproportionate impact on Indigenous peoples and racialized groups has brought ethical challenges to the forefront in research and clinical practice. In Canada, the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2), and specifically the principle of justice, emphasizes additional care for individuals "whose circumstances make them vulnerable", including Indigenous and racialized communities. In the absence of race-based data to measure and inform health research and clinical practice, we run the risk of causing more harm and contributing to ongoing injustices. However, without an accepted framework for collecting, maintaining, and reporting race-based data in Canada, more guidance is needed on how to do this well. Importantly, a framework for collecting race-based data should build on existing guidance from Indigenous and other structurally marginalized communities, the TCPS2, recommendations from the World Health Organization, and involve relevant stakeholders. In this paper, we describe historical examples of unethical studies on Indigenous and racialized groups, discuss the challenges and potential benefits of collecting race-based data, and conclude with objectives for a pan-Canadian framework to inform how race-based data is collected, stored, and accessed in health research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How nurses understand and integrate their understanding of place is important to nursing practice. In this paper, we explore the concept of place in relation to our varied backgrounds, with the understanding that this concept differs from one person to another depending on their experiences. By coming together to talk about place, and the intersections between our common circumstances, interests, and beliefs, we share and discuss the realm of place as home, as relationship(s), as memory. Each of our unique and distinct identities-Mi'kmaw, M'etis, Jewish, and newcomer to Canada-brought varied perspectives on how place is integrated into our lives and our work as nurses. When we pay close attention, we can begin to understand that nursing research, practice, and education are intertwined with place. Along with spirit and healing, these factors have implications in our health and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental education provides learners with information and knowledge that can change their attitudes and behaviours about the environment. The environmental education literature shows that K-12 students have largely been the focus of analysis; however, there is an increasing body of the literature that assesses how students transmit environmental knowledge to adults. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, this paper examined how K-12 students in a remote and isolated First Nations community in Canada, Heiltsuk Nation, transmitted knowledge about recycling to adults and its resultant impacts on attitudes and behaviours in the community. Our analysis revealed that within Indigenous cultures, adults--particularly Elders--pass down their environmental knowledge to younger generations. However, K-12 students, who participated in the community's elementary school recycling program, transferred their knowledge to parents, grandparents, and community members. Community members that were interviewed indicated that they developed an understanding of recycling and started to recycle, compost, and reuse their waste when students came home to teach them. Given that this change in attitudes and behaviours happened when there was no community-wide recycling program in the community, Indigenous communities that have challenges with solid waste management can develop similar waste diversion programs with children as a focus to help spur change in their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rural populations in Canada are generally in worse health when compared to their urban counterparts. In 2014, the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada formed a joint Task force to advocate for improved health in rural communities. As a task force, they developed the Rural Road Map for Action. This paper uses the Rural Road Map for Action as a framework to examine the current state of family medicine's Post-Graduate Medical Education (PGME) in Canada. Methods: Surveys were sent to the programme directors of all English- and French-speaking post-graduate family medicine programmes. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse survey responses. Results: Thirteen of 17 respondents completed the questionnaire. Despite on-going efforts, our results suggest that few programmes have equity and diversity admission's policies for rural and Indigenous students; a gap exists between the number of residents who are educated in rural areas and those who end up practising in rural areas; residents lack skills in Indigenous health; and more funded professional development opportunities are needed for rural physicians. Conclusion: Rural healthcare concerns are typically under-represented in PGME. The Rural Road Map for Action brings focus to the specific healthcare needs of rural areas, highlighting a recruitment and retention strategy that aligns education, practice, policy and research activities. Medical schools and national physician organisations need to continue to advocate for the health of rural communities through increasing the rural physician workforce and providing appropriate training for rural practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a large amount of drilling core data in the Mackay River oil sands block in Canada, and the accurate identification of facies from the cores is important and necessary for the understanding of the subsurface reservoir. The traditional recognition method of facies from cores is by human work and is very time consuming. Furthermore, the results are different according to different geologists because of the subjective judgment criterion. An efficient and objective method is important to solve the above problem. In this paper, the deep learning image-recognition algorithm is used to automatically and intelligently recognize the facies type from the core image. Through a series of high-reliability preprocessing operations, such as cropping, segmentation, rotation transformation, and noise removal of the original core image, that have been manually identified, the key feature information in the images is extracted based on the ResNet50 convolutional neural network. On the dataset of about 200 core images from 13 facies, an intelligent identification system of facies from core images is constructed, which realizes automatic facies identification from core images. Comparing this method with traditional convolutional neural networks and support vector machines (SVM), the results show that the recognition accuracy of this model is as high as 91.12%, which is higher than the other two models. It is also shown that for a relatively special dataset, such as core images, it is necessary to rely on their global features in order to classify them, and, with a large similarity between some of the categories, it is extremely difficult to classify them. The selection of a suitable neural network model can have a great impact on the accuracy of recognition results. Then, the recognized facies are input as hard data to construct the three-dimensional facies model, which reveals the complex heterogeneity and distribution of the subsurface reservoir for further exploration and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Young adults aged 18–39 years commonly experience persistent side effects following cancer treatment that can impair their quality of life. Physical activity (PA) holds promise as a behavioral intervention to mitigate persistent side effects and improve quality of life. Yet, few young adults are active enough to incur these benefits and efforts to promote PA after cancer treatment ends are lacking. Therefore, we developed a novel theory-driven behavior change intervention to promote PA via videoconferencing technology in young adults who have completed cancer treatment, and are undertaking a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) to gather evidence to inform the design of a large, full-scale RCT. The specific aims of this parallel, two-arm pilot RCT are to: (1) assess intervention and trial protocol feasibility and acceptability; and (2) generate data on PA behavior. To promote transparency, improve reproducibility, and serve as a reference for forthcoming publication of results, we present the study protocol for this pilot RCT (version 7) within this paper. Methods: Young adults who have completed cancer treatment are being recruited from across Canada. After informed consent is obtained and baseline assessments are completed, participants are randomized to the intervention group (i.e., a 12-week behavior change intervention delivered via videoconferencing technology by trained PA counsellors) or usual care group (i.e., no intervention). Several feasibility outcomes covering enrollment, allocation, follow-up, and analysis are tracked by study staff. Acceptability is assessed through interviews exploring participants' experiences, thoughts, and perspectives of the trial protocol (i.e., intervention and usual care groups), as well as participants' views of the intervention and its mode of delivery (i.e., intervention group only) and PA counsellors' experiences delivering the intervention. PA behavior is measured using accelerometers at baseline (pre-randomization), post-intervention, and at follow-up (24 weeks post-baseline). Discussion: There are growing calls to develop interventions to support young adults' motivation to engage in PA and adopt an active lifestyle to improve their quality of life after cancer treatment ends. Real-time videoconferencing shows promise for disseminating behavior change interventions to young adults and addressing participation barriers. Considering the importance of establishing intervention and trial protocol feasibility and acceptability prior to evaluating intervention efficacy (or effectiveness), this pilot RCT is critical to understand how participants embrace, engage with, and complete the intervention and trial protocol. Indeed, these data will help to determine which refinements, if any, are required to the intervention and trial protocol (e.g., implementation approach, evaluation methods) prior to a large, full-scale RCT aiming to test the effects of the intervention on PA behavior. Additionally, the PA behavior data collected will be useful to inform the sample size calculation for a large, full-scale RCT. Trial registration: The trial was registered with the ClinicalTrials.gov database (ID: NCT04163042) on November 14, 2019, prior to the start of the trial in February, 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As ice sheets load Earth's surface, they produce ice‐marginal depressions which, when filled with meltwater, become proglacial lakes. We include self‐consistently evolving proglacial lakes in a glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) model and apply it to the Laurentide ice sheet over the last glacial cycle. We find that the locations of modeled lakes and the timing of their disappearance is consistent with the geological record. Lake loads can deflect topography by >10 m, and volumes collectively approach 30–45 cm global mean sea‐level equivalent. GIA increases deglaciation‐phase lake volume up to five‐fold and average along‐ice‐margin depth ≤90 m compared to glaciation‐phase ice volume analogs—differences driven by changes in the position and size of the peripheral bulge. Since ice‐marginal lake depth affects grounding‐line outflow, GIA‐modulated proglacial lake depths could affect ice‐sheet mass loss. Indeed, we find that Laurentide ice‐margin retreat rate sometimes correlates with proglacial lake presence, indicating that proglacial lakes aid glacial collapse. Plain Language Summary: The Laurentide ice sheet grew to its greatest extent during the last glacial maximum, covering most of Canada and the northern part of the US. During its existence, lakes formed adjacent to the ice sheet as seasonal melt water filled the topography around its edge. As the ice sheet grew and melted it changed the topography of Earth's surface by warping the ground beneath the ice sheet and around its edges. In this paper we investigate how this topographic change affected lakes around the ice sheet. We find that it caused lakes to be much bigger during the deglaciation, when the ice sheet retreated and left lows in the topography that took thousands of years after the retreat to fully rebound. We also find that these lakes were deeper at the edge of the ice sheet as the ice sheet collapsed than as it grew, which might have caused faster ice sheet collapse since ice sheets lose mass faster if they end in a lake rather than if they end on land. Our finding shows that lakes might play an important role in how fast past ice sheets grew and collapsed. Key Points: We self‐consistently model proglacial lakes that form around the Laurentide ice sheet over the last glacial cycleGlacial isostatic adjustment increases the volume and lake depth of proglacial lakes during the deglaciation compared to the glaciationWhen the ice margin retreated over areas of low‐lying topography, ice retreat was faster in areas that bordered proglacial lakes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monogenic, high penetrance syndromes, conferring an increased risk of malignancies in multiple organs, are important contributors to the hereditary burden of cancer. Early detection and risk reduction strategies in patients with a cancer predisposition syndrome can save their lives. However, despite evidence supporting the benefits of early detection and risk reduction strategies, most Canadian jurisdictions have not implemented programmatic follow up of these patients. In our study site in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada, there is no centralized, provincial registry of high-risk individuals. There is no continuity or coordination of care providing cancer genetics expertise and no process to ensure that patients are referred to the appropriate specialists or risk management interventions. This paper describes a study protocol to test the feasibility of obtaining and analyzing patient risk management data, specifically patients affected by hereditary breast ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC; BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes) and Lynch syndrome (LS; MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 genes). Through a retrospective cohort study, we will describe these patients' adherence to risk management guidelines and test its relationship to health outcomes, including cancer incidence and stage. Through a qualitative interviews, we will determine the priorities and preferences of patients with any inherited cancer mutation for a follow up navigation model of risk management. Study data will inform a subsequent funding application focused on creating and evaluating a research registry and follow up nurse navigation model. It is not currently known what proportion of cancer mutation carriers are receiving care according to guidelines. Data collected in this study will provide clinical uptake and health outcome information so gaps in care can be identified. Data will also provide patient preference information to inform ongoing and planned research with cancer mutation carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]