Search

Over the past few decades, Alberta has witnessed a remarkable expansion in its oil and gas sector. Unfortunately, this growth has come at a cost, as Alberta has become the fastest-growing source of pollutant emissions in greenhouse gases (GHGs), sulphur emissions, and water pollution in Canada. Among these GHGs, methane stands out as the second most prevalent GHG, possessing a global warming potential ~ 28 times higher than carbon dioxide over a span of 100 years, and ~ 80 times higher over a period of 20 years. Since 1986, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has been diligently gathering data on methane concentrations. Although this data is publicly available, its analysis has not been thoroughly explored. Our study aims to investigate the impact of temperature, wind speed, and wind direction on the predictions of methane concentration time series data, utilizing a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model. Our findings indicate that the inclusion of climate variables enhances the predictive capabilities of the LSTM model. However, the results show that it is not obvious which variable has the most impact on the improvement although temperature appears to have a better effect on improving predictive performance compared to wind speed and direction. The results also suggest that the variance of the input data does not affect forecasting performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Compassion is increasingly considered essential to quality nursing care and is a concept that is strongly embedded across cultures, including Chinese culture. The Patient Compassion Model (PCM) depicts the unique yet overlapping domains of compassion. The Sinclair Compassion Questionnaire (SCQ) was directly developed and validated from this empirical model. In this study, we sought to establish initial validation of a translated SCQ among Mandarin-speaking patients by assessing the transferability of the PCM and the clinical sensibility of the SCQ. Methods: Forward and back-translation of the PCM and SCQ were performed in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines. Qualitative interviews were used to assess the transferability of the PCM with conceptualizations of compassion within a Chinese context. Cognitive interviews were conducted to assess the clarity, readability, wording, questions, and response scales of the Mandarin translation of the SCQ. Qualitative data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis, and cognitive interviews were analyzed using framework analysis. Results: The original categories of the PCM were verified in this Mandarin-speaking patient population. Specifically, participants' understanding of compassion is described as consisting of healthcare provider virtues, emphasizing the importance of a virtuous response that sought to understand the individual and their unique needs, to relationally communicate from a place of shared humanity and to ameliorate suffering. Participants were able to answer, comprehend, and endorse all 15 Mandarin SCQ items, resulting in no modifications to the Mandarin SCQ. Conclusions: This study provides initial validation of the Mandarin SCQ and PCM. Future studies should consider further establishing the validity and reliability of the Mandarin SCQ among a larger Chinese patient population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine how social work students and faculty perceive and embody cultural competence, we conducted five focus groups with graduate students (N = 16) and faculty members (N = 10) from Canadian schools of social work. We interrogated how different theoretical frameworks related to cross-cultural social work practice (CCSWP) have been circulated and reified in social work education, and how certain dominant frameworks have been translated to embodied cross-cultural interactions in social work practice. To examine the praxis of CCSWP, which is often subtle and embedded in the semantics of languages and discourses, we were informed by critical theories of power, language, and discourses to analyze the data. The interview transcripts of both student and faculty focus groups showed similar dominant discursive patterns: (1) critiquing the conceptual use of cultural competence, (2) having a preference for terms such as cultural humility, cultural safety, or other constructs, and (3) describing the embodied practice of these constructs mainly as a general practice and omitting cross-cultural work. Participants differed in their expressed opposition to cultural competence and the exact terms they preferred as an alternative. Overall, participants discursively changed from a critical debate on semantic and conceptual differences between these constructs to negating them altogether as meaningless, effacing the very notion of cross-cultural social work and its embodied practice. In the end, cultural competence was discounted as both oppressive and anti-oppressive, a position which is reflected in the contested scholarship on cultural competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Asthma is a chronic lung condition that can be exacerbated when triggered by viruses. Pandemic public health restrictions aimed to reduce COVID-19 transmission indirectly effected other circulating viruses. This study assessed the impact of the pandemic and associated public health measures on acute paediatric asthma across four tertiary sites in three Canadian provinces. We queried whether pandemic-related changes would impair preventive care and delay presentation to care, increasing asthma exacerbation severity. Methods This retrospective study compared the frequency of acute care access and severity of presentation to emergency departments (ED) for acute asthma to four tertiary care children's hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic (from March 17, 2020 to June 30, 2021) to a pre-lockdown control period (July 1, 2018 to March 16, 2020). Data was subjected to interrupted time series and Chi-square analysis. Results Our study included 26,316 acute asthma visits to ED. Sites experienced a 63% to 89% reduction in acute asthma visits during the pandemic, compared with pre-lockdown controls, and a 17% to 85% reduction in asthma, that is out of proportion as a fraction of all-cause ED visits. For asthma, there was no difference in severity measured by rate of ward admission or rate of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) admission. Conclusions Public health measures appear to have resulted in a specific protective association on acute asthma with reduced acute care utilization over and above the reduction in all-cause presentations, without an increase in severity upon presentation. Our study indicates an importance to antiviral public health and engineering strategies to reduce viral transmission and thereby asthma morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does it mean for a mentoring program to succeed? Most evaluations focus on participants' perceptions of success. Few studies employ an independent measure of the intended outcomes of the program, and fewer still examine both participant satisfaction and achievement. This article presents an example of how comparing data on perceived and achieved success can foster new insights into the trade-offs inherent in program design and improvement. Based on an analysis of survey and interview data from an online mentoring program in which 17 history experts supported 108 high school students in historical research, it was found that mentees' satisfaction did not correlate with their achievement of intended program outcomes. Further analysis illuminated design trade-offs between the aspects of the online mentoring program that supported perceived success and those that supported intended outcomes. The authors argue that examining such trade-offs in other mentoring programs may facilitate their improvement over time. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Purpose: Social justice is a foundational social work value, but social work education continues to experience ongoing challenges with how to teach students to embody social justice values. The aim of this scoping review is to map empirical studies on teaching methods that translate social justice value into teachable curricula. Methods: Following Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review framework, we conducted a rigorous process in which we screened 5953 studies and included a final sample of 35 studies. Results: Our findings identified seven main teaching approaches: intergroup dialogue, online asynchronized discussion board, simulation and role play, group work and presentation, written reflection, community-engaged learning, and social action-oriented learning. In terms of competency development, most of the studies focused on awareness and knowledge versus skill-building. Most teaching methods emphasized students' affective experiences during the social justice learning activities. Discussion: Challenges, lessons learned, and future recommendations of each teaching method are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates volatility spillovers between the global crude oil market and the stock markets of the global oil stock markets (Russian, Canada, China, Kuwait, and the USA) pre and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We use wavelet Granger causality methods to study the volatility spillovers between global oil stock markets, mainly from January 1, 2019, to March 31, 2021. Our Results (1) shows that WTI and Brent oil prices had a negative mean return before COVID-19 but a positive mean return during the pandemic spread. Other Results (2) find the positive, significantly lowest, and highest frequency during the COVID-19 outbreak for all selected countries. The results also show that the link between oil WTI & Brent prices and stock markets return in the lowest (33-66 days) and highest frequency range (4-16) before the Covid-19 epidemic, especially in the first quarter of 2020. Before the COVID-19 period, the Russian oil stock market is seriously prejudiced with oil prices on a modest scale, but not after the pandemic's start. This study also perceives direction opposite between the COVID-19 period. The Canadian and United States America oil and stock markets influence the lowest scale in the previous COVID-19 sample for the U.S. market. Moreover, this paper exposed that oil marketing highest oil futures in their portfolios than stock shares for all times. We found that oil price shocks had a more significant impact on the stock markets of the United States and Canada than on the stock markets of other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background As children with isolated vomiting are rarely able to provide a specimen suitable for routine pathogen testing, we have limited knowledge about their infecting pathogens. Methods Between December 2014 and August 2018, children <18 years old with presumed acute gastroenteritis who presented to 2 emergency departments (EDs) in Alberta, Canada, were recruited. Eligible participants had ≥3 episodes of vomiting and/or diarrhea in a 24-hour period, <7 days of symptoms, and provided a rectal swab or stool specimen. We quantified the proportion of children with isolated vomiting in whom an enteropathogen was identified, and analyzed clinical characteristics, types of enteropathogens, resources used, and alternative diagnoses. Results Of the 2695 participants, at the ED visit, 295 (10.9%), 1321 (49.0%), and 1079 (40.0%) reported having isolated diarrhea, vomiting and diarrhea, or isolated vomiting, respectively. An enteropathogen was detected most commonly in those with vomiting and diarrhea (1067/1321; 80.8%); detection did not differ between those with isolated diarrhea (170/295; 57.6%) and isolated vomiting (589/1079; 54.6%) (95% confidence interval of the difference: −3.4%, 9.3%). Children with isolated vomiting most often had a virus (557/1077; 51.7%), most commonly norovirus (321/1077; 29.8%); 5.7% (62/1079) had a bacterial pathogen. X-rays, ultrasounds, and urine tests were most commonly performed in children with isolated vomiting. Alternate etiologies were most common in those with isolated vomiting (5.7%; 61/1079). Conclusions The rate of enteropathogen identification in children with isolated vomiting using molecular diagnostic tests and rectal swabs is substantial. Molecular diagnostics offer an emerging diagnostic strategy in children with isolated vomiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media usage has been recognized as an integral part of immigrants' acculturation experiences, yet research on social media is just emerging, and more detailed understanding is needed. Drawing on the interactive theory of communication and crosscultural adaptation (ITCCA), the current project used a mixed-method approach to understand how Chinese immigrants' social media use influences their acculturation experiences. Through focus groups and a survey, we examined which social media platforms Chinese immigrants use and for what purposes during their acculturation process, and what influence social media use has on their acculturation process in Canada. Our findings expand the scope of the ITCCA and offer important practical implications for service providers supporting newcomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Surgery is the property of CMA Impact Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study investigated how public relations practitioners understand and practice dialogic communication in the controversial oil and gas industry. Guided by theoretical works of dialogic theory of public relations, the dialogic ladder, and negative spaces of dialogue, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 practitioners who held public relations/communication positions serving the oil and gas industry in Canada. The findings suggest some points of alignment between practitioners' understanding of dialogic public relations and the related theoretical orientation. Practitioners reported predominantly using an interpersonal approach for shallow dialogue followed by mediated and procedural approaches with different stakeholders in practice. Interviewees also shared the unique challenges they face in practicing dialogic communication due to the controversies surrounding the industry. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. • Practitioners' understanding and practice of dialogic public relations partially align with some of the five features of true dialogue. • Practitioners carefully tailor interpersonal, mediated, and procedural approaches toward different stakeholder groups. • Dialogic communication is issue-based, constantly changing, and sensitive to public pressure for controversial industries. • The five features of true dialogue need to be examined further and there may be a progressive relationship among these features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the psychological mechanism in the relationship between paternalistic leadership (PL) and employee well-being (EWB) in cross-cultural nonprofit organizations. It also aims to further promote the integration of research on PL and self-concept by examining the relationship between PL and collective self-concept (CSC). Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected on 72 supervisors and 233 expatriate Chinese teachers from 42 Confucius Institutes and 15 Confucius classrooms in Canada and the USA. Findings: PL has a significant effect on EWB. Benevolent and moral leadership are positively related to CSC, while authoritarian leadership is negatively related to CSC. CSC mediates the relationship between PL and EWB. Furthermore, employees' cross-cultural adaptability positively moderates the relationship between CSC and EWB; the indirect effect between PL and EWB via CSC is stronger for employees with stronger cross-cultural adaptability. Originality/value: This is the first study that has examined the psychological mechanism under which PL affects EWB in cross-cultural nonprofit organizations. It contributes to the integration of research on PL and CSC by examining its relationship for the first time. It provides important implications for improving the well-being of expatriate employees in cross-cultural organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Veterinary Journal / Revue Vétérinaire Canadienne is the property of Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on the development in contemporary comparative constitutionalism in Canada with the spread of constitutional courts, judicial review and bills of rights such as Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It mentions that in Canadian constitutionalism can be traced to the adoption of the Constitution Act, 1982 and the changes in the immigration policy. it also mentions that the adoption of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act build awareness of multiculturalism.

The Australian/Canadian Osteoarthritis Hand Index (AUSCAN) is a patient self-reported 15-item questionnaire measuring the severity of hand osteoarthritis symptoms in the respect of pain, stiffness, and function. In this study, we developed a Korean version of the AUSCAN Index (K-AUSCAN) and confirmed its reliability, validity, and responsiveness. The AUSCAN Index was translated into Korean by 3 translators and translated back into English by 3 different translators. In a group of 53 patients with clinical hand osteoarthritis (mean age 58.3 ± 7.6 years), validity was evaluated against other outcome measures, including the Functional Index for Hand Osteoarthritis (FIHOA) and Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire (MDHAQ). Test-retest reliability was assessed at a 2-weeks interval in 51 patients. Internal consistency of K-AUSCAN was evaluated by Cronbach's α. Responsiveness was measured by standardized response mean (SRM). The test-retest reliability of K-AUSCAN yielded intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.46 for pain, 0.58 for stiffness, and 0.67 for function. The internal consistency of K-AUSCAN was satisfactory with Cronbach's α of 0.89 for pain and 0.93 for function. The K-AUSCAN index showed good correlation with other measures ( r was 0.67 for K-AUSCAN pain and MDHAQ pain; r was 0.72 for K-AUSCAN function and FIHOA). The pain and function of K-AUSCAN correlated substantially with each other and moderately with stiffness subscale. The average SRM for K-AUSCAN pain, stiffness, and function was −0.92, −0.48, and −0.84, respectively. The Korean version of the AUSCAN Index is a valid, reliable, and responsive tool for the assessment of hand osteoarthritis symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing use of vitamins has been documented worldwide in children and adolescents, and potential for vitamin-drug interactions exists. The aim of this study was to identify vitamin use by children visiting a pediatric emergency department (ED). A survey of parents and/or patients 0-18 years was conducted at a large pediatric ED in Canada. A total of 1804 families were interviewed. The main outcome measure was prevalence of vitamin use by children in the preceding 3 months. A third (32.3%) of the patients in our cohort had used vitamins in the preceding 3 months, and 48% of them were taking vitamins daily. Over 8% of all children used vitamins within the last 24 h. The use of vitamins was higher with older patient and parental age ( P < 0.001), chronic patient illness ( P < 0.001), completed immunization ( P < 0.001), concurrent patient use of prescribed medications ( P = 0.02), higher parental education ( P < 0.01), and English as a primary language spoken at home ( P = 0.002). Prevalence of vitamin use among children in the ED is 32% in the preceding 3 months and 8% within the last 24 h. In light of these findings, pediatricians should ask about vitamin use and discuss with parents potential interactions and possible adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to characterize variations in treatment decisions for young febrile infants in pediatric emergency departments across Canada and to document the extent of practice variations among pediatric emergency department practitioners. METHODS: This was a prospective, concurrent, cohort study of consecutive infants up to 90 days of age who presented to B pediatric emergency departments in Canada with fever (rectal temperature of ⩾38.0°C). We recorded information in the emergency department and contacted the families by telephone to confirm the final disposition. RESULTS: A total of 257 infants were recruited over 2 to 4 months. Patients were similar across centers in terms of gestational age and weight, chronologic age at arrival, weight, and gender. Temperatures measured at home and during triage and durations of fever also were similar among centers. In one center, significantly more children arrived with cough; in another center, fewer parents reported sick contacts at home. Rates of blood and urine testing were not significantly different across sites, but rates of lumbar puncture, respiratory virus testing, and chest radiography were different. A total of 55% of infants received antibiotics, and significant practice variations in the numbers and types of antibiotics used were documented. CONCLUSIONS: Practices in the evaluation of young infants with fever in tertiary pediatric emergency departments varied substantially. Blood and urine tests were ordered in the majority of centers, but rates of cerebrospinal fluid testing and antibiotic treatment differed across centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A significant increase in vitamin use has been observed in recent years and interactions between vitamins and medications have been reported. Objective: To determine the frequency and types of potential interactions between vitamins and medications in children arriving at a large tertiary, pediatric emergency department. We also compared family characteristics of children with potential interactions with those of children with no potential interactions, in order to determine children at a higher risk. Methods: A cross-sectional study in which a survey was conducted of parents/caregivers and/or patients aged 0-18 years registered at a large pediatric emergency department in Canada. A total of 1804 families underwent a face-to-face interview. The main outcome measure was the rate of potential vitamin interactions in the preceding 3 months. Results: A considerable number of patients (11% of our cohort) had potential vitamin-medication interactions in the preceding 3 months, which could theoretically result in adverse events, and over one-third of these children had more than one potential interaction. Patients with potential interactions and their parents were significantly older (p<0.001 for the child and mother, p =0.02 for the father), the children were much more likely to have a chronic illness (p<0.001) and concurrently receive prescribed or over-the-counter medication (p <0.001), and more children with potential interactions were completely immunized (p = 0,02). The child's sex, parental education, employment status, family income, and primary language spoken at home were not associated with potential interactions. Conclusions: Taking into account the high rate of potential vitamin-drug interactions, especially among older children and patients with chronic illness, parents and healthcare providers need to balance the potential benefit of concurrent vitamin-medication use with its potential harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE. We previously created a clinical dehydration scale. Our objective was to validate the clinical dehydration scale with a new cohort of patients with acute gastroenteritis who were assessed in a tertiary emergency department in a developed country. METHODS. A prospective observational study was performed in an emergency department at a large pediatric tertiary center in Canada. Children 1 month to 5 years of age with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis who were assessed in the emergency department were enrolled consecutively during a 4-month period. The main outcome measures were length of stay, proportion of children receiving intravenous fluid rehydration, and proportions of children with abnormal serum pH values or bicarbonate levels. RESULTS. A total of 205 children were enrolled, with a mean age of 22.4 ± 14.9 months; 103 (50%) were male. The distribution of severity categories was as follows: no dehydration (score of 0), n = 117 (57%); some dehydration (score of 1-4), n = 83 (41%); moderate/severe dehydration (score of 5-8), ii = 5 (2%). The 3 dehydration categories were significantly different with respect to the validation hypotheses (length of stay, mean ± SD: none, 245 ± 181 minutes; some, 397 ± 302 minutes; moderate/severe, 501 ± 389 minutes; treatment with intravenous fluids: none, n =17, 15%; some, n = 41, 49%; moderate/severe, n = 4,80%; number of vomiting episodes in the 7 days before the emergency department visit: none, 8.4 ± 7.7 episodes; some, 13 ± 10.7 episodes; moderate/severe, 30.2 ± 14.8 episodes). CONCLUSION. The clinical dehydration scale and the 3 severity categories were valid for a prospectively enrolled cohort of patients who were assessed in our tertiary emergency department. The scoring system was valuable in predicting a longer length of stay and the need for intravenous fluid rehydration for children with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the measures put in place to communicate to internal corporate stakeholders the ethos of corporate codes of ethics. A questionnaire was sent to the top companies operating in the private sector within Australia,Canada,and Sweden. It would appear from this cross-cultural study that while corporations operating in Sweden have less formal rules and regulations in place in terms of business ethics than corporations operating in Canada and/or Australia,they do appear to place more emphasis on ensuring that the support for staff is in place within their organizations. Also,it would appear that corporations operating in Sweden have embraced the ethos of codes of ethics more so than their Canadian and/or Australian counterparts and that in each culture the way that companies fashion their approach to business ethics appears to be in line with their national, cultural values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the rate of bacterial meningitis among febrile infants in the emergency department (ED) who have pyuria detected in an initial catheterized urine specimen. Methods: This retrospective chart review, conducted at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont., involved all children aged 0 to 3 months who presented to the ED with fever and pyuria (≥10 white blood cells/mm³) over a 3-year period. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was evaluated using standard methods, and the rate of meningitis in children with pyuria was determined. Results: The study sample included 211 infants with fever and pyuria — 79 of these under 1 month of age. Eighty-one percent (171/211) had positive urine cultures, and 143 underwent lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. Of these, 140 CSF samples were culture negative and 3 grew coagulase negative Staphylococcus — 2 because of contamination and I because of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection. Both children with CSF contamination grew Escherichia coli in the urine. The rate of bacterial meningitis in the study sample was 0% (95% confidence interval, 0%-2.6%). Conclusions: In this study of febrile children under 90 days of age with fever and pyuria, the incidence of concurrent meningitis was 0%. This suggests that recommendations for mandatory lumbar puncture in such children should be reconsidered. However, until larger prospective studies define a patient subset that does not require CSF analysis, it is prudent to rule out meningitis, administer parenteral antibiotics for urinary tract infection, and admit for close observation. Key words: meningitis; pyuria; urinary tract infection; children; emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the influence mechanism of cultural intelligence on work-family conflict for Chinese expatriates in cross-cultural non-profit organizations. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this longitudinal study (six-month time lag) is the first to examine cultural intelligence as an antecedent of work-family conflict. The study also examines the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) in the cultural intelligence and work-family conflict relationship. The sample comprises 206 expatriate Chinese language teachers working at 45 Confucius Institutes in the US, Canada, and Russia. Results show that cultural intelligence not only reduces work-family conflict but also promotes expatriates' work engagement. The higher the work engagement, the higher the work-family conflict experienced by expatriates. LMX moderates not only the positive relationship between work engagement and work-family conflict but also the indirect effect of cultural intelligence on work-family conflict through work engagement. Thus, the indirect effect of cultural intelligence on work-family conflict through work engagement is stronger with low (compared to high) LMX. This study's findings provide implications for managers of cross-cultural non-profit organizations to better understand and solve expatriates' work-family conflict problem.