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Development and implementation of a risk assessment and management program for enzootic bovine leukosis in Atlantic Canada
No full textOver the past 30 yr, the prevalence of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection has increased in North America, including Atlantic Canada, at both the herd and individual cow levels. This has occurred despite increased awareness of the disease and its deleterious effects and despite implementation of management practices aimed at reducing disease transmission. Our objectives were to identify risk factors associated with the within-herd prevalence of BLV-infected cows by using a risk assessment and management program workbook, as well as to determine the current level of BLV prevalence in the Atlantic Canada region. We hypothesized that previously established risk factors, including management practices associated with calf rearing and fly control, would affect within-herd BLV prevalence. Bulk tank milk (BTM) samples were collected in January and April of 2016 and again during the same months in 2017 and 2018 from all dairy farms shipping milk in the region. Samples were tested with ELISA for levels of anti-BLV antibodies to estimate within-herd prevalence. Regional BLV prevalence at the herd level was 88.39% of dairy herds infected in 2016 and 89.30% in 2018. All dairy farms shipping milk and who had BTM samples collected in 2017 (n = 605) were eligible to participate in the risk assessment and management program questionnaire (RAMP), which was developed and distributed to all bovine veterinarians in Atlantic Canada. One hundred and six RAMP were returned, with representation from all 4 provinces. The RAMP results were combined with the mean BTM ELISA results, and univariable logistic regression followed by multivariable logistic regression was performed to investigate the association between RAMP risk factors and the estimated within-herd BLV prevalence. Factors in the multivariable model significantly associated with the odds of a herd being classified as >25% estimated within-herd prevalence included history of diagnosis of clinical BLV and calves receiving colostrum from cows with unknown BLV status. Differences in within-herd prevalence were not associated with hypodermic needle and injection practices, rectal sleeve practices, or using bulls for natural breeding, based on these 106 dairy farms.Agriculture and Agri-Food Canad
Assessment of the effects of agricultural pesticide Chlorpyrifos on American Lobster larvae (Homarus americanus)
No full textChlorpyrifos is an organophosphate that is currently used to reduce arthropod pests. Coastal marine ecosystems may be exposed to agricultural pesticides via adsorption to agricultural soil runoff or as spray drift. Sublethal effects of pesticide exposure can impact the health and survival of economically important non-target species such as the American lobster (Homarus americanus). Using acute exposures in seawater (28 PSU), the 24 h and 48 h median lethal concentrations of chlorpyrifos were established for stage IV H. americanus (1.56 μg/L and 1.33 μg/L respectively). Exposure to sublethal concentrations allowed the measurement of movement, acetylcholinesterase activity, intermoult period, specific growth rate, and moult increment. Movement patterns were assessed to establish a 24 and 48 h median inhibition concentration for cessation of normal movement (0.98 and 0.66 μg/L respectively). Acetylcholinesterase activity was found to be inhibited in lobsters sampled immediately post-exposure to 0.50, 0.57, and 0.82 μg/L chlorpyrifos but activity was recovered after a period in clean seawater (9 to 15 d). Sublethal growth effects were an increased intermoult period, decreased specific growth rate, and decreased moult increment after 48 h exposure to an environmentally relevant chlorpyrifos concentration (0.82 μg/L). Gene expression changes of H. americanus stage IV larvae were analyzed to understand the physiological mechanisms affected by exposure to sublethal chlorpyrifos concentrations. After 48 h of exposure, surviving lobsters were processed for Illumina RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Genes of interest with significant changes using RNA-seq were verified using reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Analysis of RNA-seq and the confirmation of gene expression patterns via RT-qPCR results found significant changes to expression of genes related to stress response (glutathione peroxidase 3 and heat shock protein 60), hypoxia response (hairy, astakine 2, hemocyanin), moulting (cytochrome P450 307a1-like and chitinase), and immunity (astakine 2). Changes to gene expression were most notable in lobsters exposed to 0.57 μg/L chlorpyrifos. The current study suggests that H. americanus stage IV larvae were marginally less sensitive to chlorpyrifos compared to other decapods and that acute lethality of H. americanus larvae is not likely to occur with chlorpyrifos concentrations previously reported from aquatic environments but physiological effects to growth, movement, and gene expression were observed at sublethal concentrations
Pan-Canadian oncology symptom triage and remote support (COSTaRS) practice guides: What’s changed in version 2020?
No full textThe pan-Canadian Oncology Symptom Triage and Remote
Support (COSTaRS) practice guides present evidence on symptom
management in user-friendly formats and using plain language.
The aim of this work is to summarize changes to the practice guides
based on new evidence including management specific to immune
checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). A systematic review of literature was
conducted to identify clinical practice guidelines and systematic
reviews. For version 2020, there is new evidence from 86 sources
(range 2–16; mean 9 per guide), including 14 specific to ICIs, and
we removed 21 outdated sources. The 15 COSTaRS practice guides
were updated and 2 new guides created for mouth dryness and skin
rash. The National Cancer Institute's common terminology criteria
for adverse events (NCI-CTCAE) grading was added to the assessment results. “Review self-care strategies” was changed to “Review
3 or more self-care strategies”. There were changes based on new
evidence and ensuring consistency across practice guides. The 2020
update was validated by oncology nurses from across Canada
The integration of critical thinking: An evaluability assessment of the PEI Grades 1-3 integrated curriculum
No full textThe PEI Department of Education and Lifelong Learning (DELL) introduced a new integrated curriculum (IC) pilot for Grades 1-3 in 2019 that is focused around the development of core competencies. This thesis is the culmination of the first phase of a longitudinal mixed methods study that plans to track teachers and students throughout their experiences of utilizing this new IC to find out if this integrated approach to education is more effective at developing students’ global competencies. There are three research questions addressed by this thesis, including: (a) To what extent does the PEI IC affect students’ global competencies? (b) To what extent do students' global competencies affect literacy and numeracy? (c) What are the teachers’ needs for implementing the new Integrated Curriculum and engaging students in deep learning? This study used qualitative and quantitative data from interviews, observations, and surveys to conduct an Evaluability Assessment (EA) of the PEI IC pilot program in order to answer these research questions. It was found that a critical thinking conceptual framework was capable of analyzing the development of global competencies (GCs), and through the PEI IC the competencies found to be most relevant were self-awareness, open-mindedness, and authentic learning. As a result, a new framework of GCs was developed to reflect the context of the PEI IC. It is recommended that this new framework supplement or replace the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET) competency framework currently being used
A nutrition intervention to promote the consumption of pulse-based foods in childcare centers: Protocol for a multimethod study
No full textBackground:
Plant-based foods, including pulses (dry beans, lentils, chickpeas, and peas), have gained worldwide attention owing to their health and environmental benefits. Despite high production, the consumption of pulses is low in Canada. Behavior change interventions systematically designed to promote the consumption of pulse-based foods are scarce.
Objective:
We describe the utilization of intervention mapping (IM) in the development of a multicomponent nutrition intervention aimed at promoting consumption of pulse-based foods among preschool children in childcare centers in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Methods:
The Pulse Discovery Toolkit intervention was developed following the six steps of the IM protocol. Decisions at each step were either based upon literature review, expert consultation, pretesting, or a combination of these. Following the initial phase of the study, which focused on intervention development, phases II and III of the study were concerned with pilot testing and roll-out of the intervention, respectively. In total, one, two, and four childcare centers participated in phases I, II, and III, respectively. A multimethod approach was designed to evaluate the intervention during pilot testing and roll-out.
Results:
The application of IM steps 1 to 3 in phase I resulted in the creation of performance objectives at different levels, including at the individual level (preschool children), and the social and environmental levels (parents, early childhood educators, and cooks). These objectives were then used to create a matrix of objectives matching the constructs of the social cognitive theory while taking Piaget cognitive development into consideration. This step was followed by defining program components, implementation, adoption, and evaluation strategies, which were utilized in phases II and III. Data have been collected from 2015 to 2018 and analyzed. The results will be reported elsewhere.
Conclusions:
The IM protocol provided a rigorous framework for the development of a multicomponent evidence-based intervention to promote pulse-based foods in childcare centers.Saskatchewan Pulse Grower
Modulation of mitochondrial site-specific hydrogen peroxide efflux by exogenous stressors
No full textOxygen (O2) deprivation and metals are common environmental stressors and their exposure to aquatic organisms can induce oxidative stress by disrupting cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis. Mitochondria are a major source of ROS in the cell wherein a dozen sites located on enzymes of the electron transport system (ETS) and substrate oxidation produce superoxide anion radicals (O2˙¯) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Sites located on ETS enzymes can generate ROS by forward electron transfer (FET) and reverse electron transfer (RET) reactions; however, knowledge of how exogenous stressors modulate site-specific ROS production is limited. We investigated the effects of anoxia-reoxygenation and cadmium (Cd) on H2O2 emission in fish liver mitochondria oxidizing glutamate-malate, succinate or palmitoylcarnitine-malate. We find that anoxia-reoxygenation attenuates H2O2 emission while the effect of Cd depends on the substrate, with monotonic responses for glutamate-malate and palmitoylcarnitine-malate, and a biphasic response for succinate. Anoxia-reoxygenation exerts a substrate-dependent inhibition of mitochondrial respiration which is more severe with palmitoylcarnitine-malate compared with succinate or glutamate-malate. Additionally, specific mitochondrial ROS-emitting sites were sequestered using blockers of electron transfer and the effects of anoxia-reoxygenation and Cd on H2O2 emission were evaluated. Here, we find that site-specific H2O2 emission capacities depend on the substrate and the direction of electron flow. Moreover, anoxia-reoxygenation alters site-specific H2O2 emission rates during succinate and glutamate-malate oxidation whereas Cd imposes monotonic or biphasic H2O2 emission responses depending on the substrate and site. Contrary to our expectation, anoxia-reoxygenation blunts the effect of Cd. These results suggest that the effect of exogenous stressors on mitochondrial oxidant production is governed by their impact on energy conversion reactions and mitochondrial redox poise. Moreover, direct increased ROS production seemingly does not explain the increased adverse effects associated with combined exposure of aquatic organisms to Cd and low dissolved oxygen levels
Understanding the context of community-based learning in Kenya: Sociocultural, diversity, and linguistic issues
No full textMany African higher education institutions have adopted community-based learning (CBL) to foster high-
quality learning and civic engagement. In Kenya, neocolonial practices of using Eurocentric community
service-learning models have caused tensions and disconnection between CBL theory and university
students’ experiences in the field. Using hermeneutics as its theoretical and methodological framework, an
interpretive study analyzed Kenyan university students’ experiences and perspectives on CBL in diverse
community and organizational settings. This article reports the study’s findings related to students’
encounters with unique sociocultural, diversity, and linguistic issues connected to CBL in Kenya, including
encounters with the intense realities of HIV/AIDS. Findings and discussion of these issues contribute to a
deepened understanding of civic engagement programs in Kenya and offer new perspectives on developing
culturally relevant CBL programs
Patterns of mortality among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Canadian province of Manitoba
No full textObjectives
The goals of this study were to examine and compare (a) the annual adult mortality rates and (b) the most commonly reported underlying causes of death between a cohort of Manitobans with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and a matched comparison group without IDD.
Methods
Using linked health and nonhealth administrative data, a cohort of Manitoba adults with IDD, aged 25–99 years in 2012, was identified. Each person in the study cohort was matched with three persons without IDD based on age, sex, region of residence, and morbidity level. The two groups were followed for three years (2013–2015). Crude annual adult mortality rates and avoidable premature mortality rates were calculated. The leading causes of death over the 3-year study period were tabulated by ICD-10 chapter. Coding of the underlying causes of death was reviewed.
Results
The crude annual mortality rates for Manitoba adults with IDD were 1.8–2.4 times higher than those for the matched comparison group and remained stable over time. Disparities in mortality rates for the IDD cohort relative to the matched comparison group decreased with increasing age. No significant sex differences were found. The leading causes of death among the IDD cohort were diseases of the circulatory system, cancer, and diseases of the respiratory system. Avoidable premature deaths were 2.3–3.3 times more prevalent among Manitoba adults with IDD compared to the matched comparison group. An IDD diagnostic code was reported as cause of death in 2.11% of cases.
Conclusions
The excess mortality among adults with IDD should be monitored in Manitoba and all other jurisdictions and attention paid to the causes of death and their coding
Outdoor light at night at residences and breast cancer risk in Canada
No full textExperimental and epidemiologic studies suggest that light at night (LAN) exposure disrupts circadian rhythm, and this disruption may increase breast cancer risk. We investigated the potential association between residential outdoor LAN and breast cancer risk. A population-based case–control study was conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia and Kingston, Ontario, Canada with incident breast cancer cases, and controls frequency matched by age in the same region. This analysis was restricted to 844 cases and 905 controls who provided lifetime residential histories. Using time-weighted average duration at each home 5–20 years prior to study entry, two measures of cumulative average outdoor LAN were calculated using two satellite data sources. Logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between outdoor LAN and breast cancer risk, considering interactions for menopausal status and night shift work. We found no association between residential outdoor LAN and breast cancer for either measure of LAN [OR comparing highest vs. lowest tertile (DNB) = 0.95, 95% CI 0.70–1.27]. We also found no association when considering interactions for menopausal status and past/current night work status. These findings were robust to changes to years of residential data considered, residential mobility, and longer exposure windows. Our findings are consistent with studies reporting that outdoor LAN has a small effect or no effect on breast cancer risk.Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)Breast Cancer Action KingstonEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ERA-PLANETHelmholtz Association Initiative and Networking Fun