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Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of bacteria commonly isolated from farmed salmonids in Atlantic Canada (2000–2021)
No full textBacterial infection and antimicrobial resistance are important constraints in the production and sustainability of farmed salmonids. This retrospective study aimed to describe the frequency of bacterial isolates and antimicrobial resistance profiles in salmonid aquaculture in Atlantic Canada. Bacterial isolates and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results assessed by disk diffusion testing were summarized for 18,776 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) samples from 2291 unique cases submitted to the Atlantic Veterinary College, Aquatic Diagnostic Services Bacteriology Laboratory from 2000 to 2021. Kidney was the most commonly submitted tissue (60.29%, n = 11,320), and these specimens were mostly submitted as swabs (63.68%, n = 11,957). The most prevalent pathogens detected in these cases were Yersinia ruckeri type 1 (5.54%, n = 127), Renibacterium salmoninarum (2.10%, n = 48), Aeromonas salmonicida (atypical) (1.66%, n = 38), and Pseudomonas fluorescens (1.22%, n = 28). Most bacterial isolates tested (n = 918) showed resistance to florfenicol, oxytetracycline, ormetoprim-sulfadimethoxine, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but not to enrofloxacin. This report provides baseline data for antimicrobial surveillance programs that investigate emerging antimicrobial resistance trends in salmonid aquaculture in Atlantic Canada
Associations of calf management practices with antimicrobial use in Canadian dairy calves
No full textThe objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between management practices and antimicrobial use in heifer calves on Canadian dairy farms. Questionnaires on calf management practices, herd characteristics, and calf treatment records were administered on 147 dairy farms in 5 provinces during annual farm visits in a multiyear, nationwide research project (Canadian Dairy Network for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Resistance: CaDNetASR). Questions focused on the calf caregiver, calving pen, colostrum management, milk feeding, grouping, bedding management, and age when male calves were sold. Antimicrobial treatment records were collected on each farm from either an electronic herd management system or paper-based records. Newborn heifers born in the last 12 mo were identified retrospectively and followed to 60 d of age, with antimicrobial treatments and dates of sale or death extracted for further analysis. A multivariable linear regression model was developed with the natural log of the number of antimicrobial treatments per calf-year as the dependent variable, and categorized calf management practices and farm characteristics as the independent variables. A complete data set of records on 7,817 calves was retrieved from 74 farms based on completeness of calf records. A total of 2,310 calves were treated at least once with an antimicrobial, and 7,307 individual antimicrobial treatments were recorded. Among the reasons for antimicrobial use, respiratory disease (54%) was most common, followed by diarrhea (20%), presence of a fever (3%), and umbilical disease (2%). Florfenicol (33% of recorded treatments), penicillin (23%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (18%) were commonly used, whereas fluoroquinolones (4%), and ceftiofur (1%) were used less commonly. Farms (31%) commonly had 0–1.0 antimicrobial treatments/calf-year (median: 2.2 treatments/calf-year; interquartile range: 0.64–6.43 treatments/calf-year). Defined daily dose (DDD) per calf-year was calculated based on the Canadian bovine standards. Among the 74 farms, florfenicol (1.35 DDD/calf-year) and macrolides (0.73 DDD/calf-year) were used most, whereas ceftiofur (0.008 DDD/calf-year) was the lowest. The final multivariable linear regression model indicated that farms that fed transition milk had fewer than half the number of antimicrobial treatments per calf-year than those who did not feed transition milk. The number of antimicrobial treatments per calf-year in preweaning calves was low on many farms, and there was low use of highly important drugs for human medicine. The effect of feeding transition milk should be investigated regarding potential effects on antimicrobial use and disease prevention.Dairy Farmers of OntarioDairy Farmers of Canada (Ottawa)Agriculture and Agri-food Canad
Observational study on antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Salmonella isolates from Ontario calf samples submitted to a diagnostic laboratory from 2007 to 2020
No full textThe objectives of this study were to i) describe Escherichia coli and Salmonella isolates; ii) investigate the temporal trends in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles; and iii) evaluate the impact of season and age on these AMR profiles from diagnostic and post-mortem samples in Ontario calves ≤ 2-months-old submitted from 2007 to 2020 to the Animal Health Laboratory in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing results were measured by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. A total of 1291 isolates with AMR profiles were obtained from calves, with E. coli (n = 434) and Salmonella (n = 378) being the most common bacteria characterized for AMR. For E. coli, 79% of isolates tested showed a positive result in F5/K99, whereas for Salmonella isolates, S. Typhimurium (33%) and S. Dublin (22%) were the 2 most common serotypes identified. Multivariable logistic regression models were built to evaluate AMR profiles for E. coli (n = 414) and Salmonella (n = 357) to each antimicrobial tested. Most E. coli isolates (91%) and Salmonella isolates (97%) were resistant to at least one of the antimicrobials tested. In general, E. coli and Salmonella had higher odds of resistance in calves aged ≥ 2 wk compared to 1-week-old calves, and little difference was seen in the level of resistance over the years observed or between seasons in most of the antimicrobials tested. Prospective research should investigate potential risk factors for the development of AMR in calves examples being antimicrobial use and farm management practices.journal articleobservational study, veterinaryresearch support, non-u.s. gov't2022 Marimporte
Hydrothermal Carbonization of Spent Coffee Grounds for Producing Solid Fuel
No full textSpent coffee grounds (SCG) are industrial biowaste resulting from the coffee-brewing process, and they are often underutilized and end up in landfills, thereby leading to the emission of toxic gases and environmental damage. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an attractive approach to valorize wet biomass such as SCG to valuable bioproducts (i.e., hydrochar). Thus, in this work, the HTC of SCG was carried out in a 500 L stainless steel vessel at 150, 170, 190, 210, and 230 °C for 30 min, 60 min, 90 min, and 120 min and a feedstock to water weight ratio of 1:5, 1:10, and 1:15, and the use of the resulting hydrochar as a solid fuel was evaluated. The results showed that a high energy recovery (83.93%) and HHV (23.54 MJ/kg) of hydrochar was obtained at moderate conditions (150 °C, 30 min, and feedstock to water weight ratio of 1:5) when compared with conventional approaches such as torrefaction. Following this, the surface morphology, functionality, and combustion behavior of this hydrochar were characterized by SEM, FTIR, and TGA, respectively. In short, it can be concluded that HTC is an effective approach for producing solid fuel from SCG and the resulting hydrochar has the potential to be applied either in domestic heating or large-scale co-firing plants.NSERC Discovery Gran
Cardiovascular outcomes in Nova Scotia during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textBackground
This study sought to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response to healthcare delivery on outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease.
Methods
This is a population-based cohort study performed in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada (population 979,499), between the pre-COVID (March 1, 2017-March 16, 2020) and in-COVID (March 17, 2020-December 31, 2020) periods. Adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) with new-onset or existing cardiovascular disease were included for comparison between periods. The main outcome measures included the following: cardiovascular emergency department visits or hospitalizations, mortality, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Results
In the first month of the in-COVID period, emergency department visits (n = 51,750) for cardiac symptoms decreased by 20.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 14.0%-27.0%, P < 0.001). Cardiovascular hospitalizations (n = 20,609) declined by 48.1% (95% CI 40.4% to 54.9%, P < 0.001). The in-hospital mortality rate increased in patients with cardiovascular admissions in secondary care institutions by 55.1% (95% CI 10.1%-118%, P = 0.013). A decline of 20.4%-44.0% occurred in cardiovascular surgical/interventional procedures. The number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (n = 5528) increased from a monthly mean of 115 ± 15 to 136 ± 14, beginning in May 2020. Mortality for ambulatory patients awaiting cardiac intervention (n = 14,083) increased from 0.16% (n = 12,501) to 2.49% (n = 361) in the in-COVID period (P < 0.0001).
Conclusions
This study demonstrates increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality during restrictions maintained during the COVID-19 period, in an area with a low burden of COVID-19. As the healthcare system recovers or enters subsequent waves of COVID-19, these findings should inform communication to the public regarding cardiovascular symptoms, and policy for delivery of cardiovascular care
The prevalence and characteristics of non-transports in a provincial emergency medical services system: A population-based study
No full textBackground
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provide patients with out-of-hospital care, but not all patients are transported to the hospital. Non-transport represents an often undefined yet potentially significant risk for poor clinical outcomes. Few North American studies have quantified this risk.
Objective
The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of non-transport and 48-h adverse event (composite of relapse responses that resulted in transport or death) and to identify characteristics associated with either outcome.
Methods
An analysis of pooled cross-sectional, population-based administrative data from the provincial EMS electronic charting system in 2014 was conducted. Determination of non-transport was based on recorded call outcome. The data were searched by patient identifiers to determine the 48-h adverse event rate. Paramedic-documented patient, operational, and environmental characteristics were included in the logistic regression models.
Results
Of 74,293 emergency responses, 14,072 (18.9%) were non-transport and, of those, 798 (5.6%) resulted in a 48-h adverse event. The characteristics statistically significantly and independently associated with non-transport and 48-h adverse event were younger age (odds ratio [OR] 1.72; 99.9% confidence interval [CI] 1.46–2.02), nonspecific paramedic clinical impression (OR 5; 99.9% CI 4.48–5.57), more than 7 comorbidities (OR 0.47; 99.9% CI 0.42–0.53), and incident location (jail) (OR 2.88; 99.9% CI 2.22–3.74).
Conclusions
This study provides an estimate of prevalence of non-transports and 48-h adverse event in a provincial mixed rural–urban EMS system. The results of this study describe the scope of non-transport and present several characteristics associated with non-transport. Future study should examine the appropriateness of EMS responses and methods to mitigate risk of adverse event after non-transport
In the literature - review: Acute on chronic kidney disease in dogs: prognosis and survival
No full textEducation for global citizenship and sustainability from theory to practice
No full textEducation for Global Citizenship and Sustainability: From Theory to Practice aims to empower educators to translate education for global citizenship and sustainable development into sustainable teaching and leadership actions at K-20 levels. Key topics include the meaning of global citizenship and global citizenship education, curriculum planning, pedagogic approaches, and key themes such as sustainable development goals, human and children rights, social justice, image and perception, conflict resolution, and digital citizenship. Supplementary activities and resources will allow teachers to connect global concepts with curriculum and age-appropriate pedagogy and foster critical literacy and digital citizenship skills in their students.
This book provides both theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for faculty and students in teacher education programs who want to form a global educator identity and implement education for global citizenship and sustainable development in the classroom. It is a teaching and research resource for scholars, teacher educators, teachers, educational administrators, policymakers, youth workers, and staff in intergovernmental, non-governmental, and non-profit organizations
Retrospective review of atrial fibrillation in Standardbred racehorses at a tertiary care facility in Atlantic Canada.
No full textAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most clinically relevant cardiac arrhythmia identified in the Standardbred racehorse. However, there is limited literature regarding athletic ability in Standardbred racehorses following AF conversion. To investigate this issue, the objectives of this review were to: i) determine the success rate in using quinidine sulphate to treat AF in a population of hospitalized equine patients in Atlantic Canada between January 2008 and December 2019; and ii) measure return to athletic ability (using racetrack earnings and top-3 finishes) following cardioversion with quinidine sulphate in a population of Standardbred racehorses. Overall, 73% (16/22) of AF instances in this study were successfully treated with enteral quinidine sulphate. No significant difference was detected in racetrack earnings or number of top-3 finishes for each horse that raced at least 5 times pre- and post-conversion. Key clinical message: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first published review to assess the athletic ability of Standardbred racehorses following cardioversion with enteral quinidine sulphate. Based on the current information, it does not appear that treatment of AF with quinidine sulphate affects future athletic performance in horses that achieved cardioversion.journal articlereview2022 Octimporte
Forecasting COVID-19 infections in the Arabian Gulf region
No full textIn this paper, an empirical analysis of linear state space models and long short-term memory neural networks is performed to compare the statistical performance of these models in predicting the spread of COVID-19 infections. Data on the pandemic daily infections from the Arabian Gulf countries from 2020/03/24 to 2021/05/20 are fitted to each model and a statistical analysis is conducted to assess their short-term prediction accuracy. The results show that state space model predictions are more accurate with notably smaller root mean square errors than the deep learning forecasting method. The results also indicate that the poorer forecast performance of long short-term memory neural networks occurs in particular when health surveillance data are characterized by high fluctuations of the daily infection records and frequent occurrences of abrupt changes. One important result of this study is the possible relationship between data complexity and forecast accuracy with different models as suggested in the entropy analysis. It is concluded that state space models perform better than long short-term memory networks with highly irregular and more complex surveillance data