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Simulated waterborne transmission of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus among farmed salmon populations in British Columbia, Canada following a hypothetical virus incursion
No full textInfectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) virus is a rhabdovirus of significant concern to the salmon aquaculture industry in British Columbia (BC). IHN epidemic events in BC have historically resulted in high mortalities and economic losses among farmed salmon populations. A viral disease management plan (VDMP) was developed by salmon companies in BC in, 2010 and implemented during the 2012 IHN outbreak in BC with a positive outcome; however, to date the effectiveness of VDMP practices in managing IHN epidemics on a coast-wide scale has not been formally evaluated. Therefore, we developed a model to simulate the waterborne incursion and spread of IHN virus into salmon farms across the BC coast. The model was developed using the DTU-DADS-Aqua modelling framework and model processes were designed to reflect the epidemiology of IHN, along with farm management and disease mitigation protocols currently implemented in BC. The model was used to assess effectiveness of the VDMP compared with alternative mitigation approaches. Model results quantified the combined and individual effects of disease surveillance, detection efforts, depopulation measures, and vaccine efficacy in reducing IHN virus transmission. Model outputs indicated the need for use of multiple mitigation measures in combination for a highly effective reduction in spread. Furthermore, the use of an IHN vaccine with high population coverage and efficacy, and the implementation of surveillance zones and pre-emptive depopulation of all net-pens in IHN-infected farms are crucial to contain IHN epidemics. A comparison between simulated model scenarios showed that current VDMP practices were effective in both limiting the spread and mitigating IHN epidemics across the BC coast. The model can be used to inform policy decisions in aquaculture and siting of marine farms, and provides insights to limit the magnitude of IHN epidemics in farmed salmon populations
Adherence of those at low risk of disease to public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study
No full textPublic health measures (PHMs) proactively and reactively reduce the spread of disease. While these measures target individual behaviour, they require broad adherence to be effective. Consequently, the World Health Organization issued a special appeal to young adults, a known non-adherent population, for increased adherence with COVID-19 guidelines. However, little is known about why these low-risk individuals do or do not adhere to PHMs. This study investigates why young adults in a low-risk setting adhered to PHMs implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative research approach was chosen to gain an in-depth understanding of participants’ thoughts and experiences related to PHM adherence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in April-May 2021 with 30 young adults living in Prince Edward Island (PEI), the province with the lowest COVID-19 case rate in Canada at that time. Thematic analysis was used to create a codebook based on the Theoretical Domains Framework, which was then inductively modified. The analysis identified eight themes that explained the adherence of young adults: (1) clear, purpose-driven adherence rationale, (2) developing trust in the local leadership, (3) adapting to novel measures, (4) manageable disruption, (5) adhering to reduce anxiety, (6) collective duty towards one’s community, (7) moral culpability and (8) using caution rather than compliance. Together, these themes demonstrate that young adults adhered to PHMs because of their sense of connection to their community, public health leadership, and concerns over stigma. We further argue that clear guidelines and communication from public health officials during both periods of high and low COVID-19 cases facilitate adherence. These findings are important for mitigating future public health emergencies as they explain why young adults, an important segment of the population whose adherence is critical to the success of PHMs, follow PHMs. Further, these findings can inform public health officials and other stakeholders aiming to develop successful adherence strategies
International transfer to reduce global inequality and transboundary pollution
No full textIn this paper, we analyze the response of the future world’s carbon stock to a reduction in global inequality among countries, using a framework that allows countries to make their environmental policy strategically. Heterogeneity across countries is related to income, emission technology, and environmental damage costs. We show that reducing global inequality would have a mitigating effect on the path of future world’s carbon stock if the relative number of richly-endowed countries in the subgroup of high-tech countries is greater than that in the subgroup of low-tech countries. The response of the future world’s carbon stock to a reduction in global inequality depends on the relative strength of two forces working in opposite directions: the mitigating force and the aggravating force. The mitigating force is associated with a measure of both richly-endowed/high-technology countries and poorly-endowed/low-technology countries. The aggravating force is associated with a measure of both richly-endowed/low-technology countries and poorly-endowed/high-technology countries. Status-seeking motives among countries act as a multiplier of the effects of the inequality reduction on the future path of the pollution stock. Our results highlight complex interactions to scrutinize in the design of international climate change policies while taking global inequality issues into account
A randomized comparison of clothing removal techniques in a simulated trauma patient exposure
No full textIntroduction
Trauma shears are commonly used by emergency medical services (EMS) providers to remove clothing from patients and expose underlying traumatic injuries. Other tools exist that may be more effective, but they are largely untested. This study compared the use of trauma shears versus two cutting hooks in removing clothing from a simulated trauma patient.
Methods
We recruited 18 paramedic students to participate in a cross-over study designed to remove clothing from a wholly dressed full-body training mannequin using trauma shears (with the cut-and-rip (CAR) technique) and two cutting hooks (S-Cut QE (ES Equipment AB, Nol, Sweden) and the Talon Rescue Emergency Clothing Knife (TRECK+, Talon Rescue, Farmington, CT, USA)). We determined the order of the tools using a three-by-three Latin square and randomized participants equally between possible orders to minimize carryover effects. We recorded times for total clothing removal and the removal of clothing from the upper and lower body, respectively. We employed a mixed-effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine any differences between tools.
Results
Removal time was significantly faster with the S-Cut QE compared to the CAR technique and TRECK+ (mean 78 seconds, 95% confidence interval (CI) 52-103 vs. 142 seconds, 95% CI 117-167, vs. 209 seconds, 95% CI 184-235, p<0.001). The S-Cut QE was significantly faster than the CAR technique and TRECK+ for upper body clothing removal (mean 47 seconds, 95% CI 30-64 vs. 92 seconds, 95% CI 75-109, vs. 131 seconds, 95% CI 115-148, p<0.001) and the S-Cut QE and CAR were significantly faster than TRECK+ for lower body clothing removal (mean 25 seconds, 95% CI 11-38 and 44 seconds, 95% CI 31-58 vs. 71 seconds, 95% CI 58-85, p<0.001). Most (78%) participants preferred the S-Cut QE over other tools.
Conclusion
The S-Cut QE removed clothing from a simulated trauma patient faster than both the CAR and TRECK+. Emergency medical services (EMS) agencies should consider adding a cutting hook to their standard trauma kit
God of War Ragnarök breaks new ground for accessible gaming – our research explains what more developers can do
No full textSuppression of liquid slugs and phase separation through pipeline bends
No full textThis study examines the suppression of liquid slugs in the transport and separation of multiphase flows in pipelines. Two well-known slug control approaches are evaluated in this paper. The methods are employed to control and stabilize an undesired and unstable flow regime, optimize flow production, reduce operating costs, and in general, improve overall safety requirements of oil and gas pipelines. Unlike designs with an additional flowline to separate gas upstream, this study shows that active topside choking can suppress slugs and stabilize the system flowrates and pressures without the requirement of separation upstream of the topside valve. Careful choking is required to minimize production losses that can result from excess back pressure. A riser-based, gas-lift method reduces system instability and increases production. This study also reveals that negligible improvement in stability is achieved when large volumes of gas are injected. The system shifts into an annular flow regime when the injection is further increased. A large separator may be required to accommodate high gas volumes. This study shows that gas-lift not coordinated with choking is not effective for slug mitigation through pipeline bends. This paper also presents and discusses new non-dimensional correlations, including slug control inputs in the pipelines such as choke openings, based on new experimental data.Equinor Canada Ltd.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)School of Graduate Studies at Memorial Universit
Getting published in top journals: Is the deck stacked against you?
No full textWe examine the challenges of publishing in top academic journals. We introduce a new data set summarizing 30 years of articles at the three top finance journals. We quantify the issue by first examining the number of articles and authors per year at each journal then comment on the impact of repeat authors and institutional affiliation. Our results show that a small number of academics and institutions dominate the available publishing space in these journals. We then shift the focus to the potential impact of choice of research area on publication success by investigating trends in the coverage of behavioral finance in these journals. Our results suggest an editorial bias against this arguably important field of study
The influence of density in population dynamics with strong and weak Allee effect
No full textIn this paper, we consider a reaction–diffusion model in population dynamics and study the impact of different types of Allee effects with logistic growth in the heterogeneous closed region. For strong Allee effects, usually, species unconditionally die out and an extinction-survival situation occurs when the effect is weak according to the resource and sparse functions. In particular, we study the impact of the multiplicative Allee effect in classical diffusion when the sparsity is either positive or negative. Negative sparsity implies a weak Allee effect, and the population survives in some domain and diverges otherwise. Positive sparsity gives a strong Allee effect, and the population extinct without any condition. The influence of Allee effects on the existence and persistence of positive steady states as well as global bifurcation diagrams is presented. The method of sub-super solutions is used for analyzing equations. The stability conditions and the region of positive solutions (multiple solutions may exist) are presented. When the diffusion is absent, we consider the model with and without harvesting, which are initial value problems (IVPs) and study the local stability analysis and present bifurcation analysis. We present a number of numerical examples to verify analytical results
"No silver bullet solution": Cruel optimism and Canada’s COVID-19 public health messages
No full textScience twines through many of the discussions related to hope for a return to normalcy within public discussions of COVID‑19. The framings of techno-scientific solutions for COVID‑19 are similar to those that are presented to address many societal problems. The messy scientific and regulatory underpinnings of this desired silver bullet rarely make it fully into view. Technoscientific-related hope and its associated affects can operate as a kind of “cruel optimism” (Berlant 2010, 2011). It can be an affective response to return to life as “normal” that is psychologically soothing, even as its enactment may replicate destructive social, political, and economic structures. Hope and technoscience thread throughout the interactions between journalists and health officials in the health press briefings in the first wave of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Technoscientific complexity that challenges the desire to return to normal is rarely brought up in Ontario and Nova Scotia public health briefings. But when it is, health officials in this zone of interaction balance explanations of scientific reality and caution, while attempting to not crush hope for a techno-scientifically mediated return to normal. As such, public health discourse obscures or tempers cruel optimism rather than directly confronting it.Canadian Institutes of Health ResearchAustralian Government Endeavour Research FellowshipSt. Francis Xavier University Counci
Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Canadian veterinarians with regard to Lyme disease in dogs
No full textBackground
The blacklegged tick (BLT) is a vector for the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), which causes Lyme disease. Range expansion of the BLT in Canada is related to an increased risk of Lyme disease in many regions. Current literature, such as the 2018 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine consensus statement, suggests that there may be differences in the approaches of veterinarians who encounter dogs exposed to Bb and dogs with Lyme disease.
Objectives
To determine current knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Canadian veterinarians regarding Lyme disease in dogs.
Animals
None.
Methods
An online survey was distributed to Canadian veterinarians through veterinary associations and industries. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, spatial analysis, Fisher's exact tests, and univariable logistic regression.
Results
At the completion of the survey, 192 responses were received from veterinarians practicing in all 10 Canadian provinces. Answers to short scenario and treatment questions reflected a wide variety of clinical approaches taken by veterinarians. Regional differences were seen in reported tick distribution and clinical approaches.
Conclusions and Clinical Importance
Regional differences and generalized differences were found in approaches used by responding Canadian veterinarians with regard to managing Bb exposure and Lyme disease in dogs. We identified areas for future research and knowledge mobilization for veterinarians.University of Guelp