Search

Canadian epidemiology is currently in transition from being primarily interested in infectious disease to becoming active in investigating causes of non-infectious disease. Generally, epidemiologists limit their work to "field", "basic", or "theoretical" epidemiology. In all three fields there appears to be a shortage of qualified personnel which is likely to become even more acute because of new roles that epidemiologists will probably play in the future. A minimum of 40 full-time epidemiologists is currently required in Canada.Departments other than departments of preventive medicine at medical schools and teaching hospitals are currently spending 79.5% of all funds allocated for non-microbiological epidemiological research in Canada. Since epidemiology is by its very nature population orientated, rather than clinically orientated, clinicians require consultative advice from epidemiologists at many stages of their research. Epidemiological facilities in departments of preventive medicine should therefore be strengthened in order to provide research training and didactic courses needed as the numbers of physicians, nurses and paramedical persons are increased.

In 2005, Human-Smoked (HS) tar and nicotine yields from commercial Canadian cigarettes were determined using a part filter analysis method to obtain estimates representative of human smoking behavior. In 2006, new cigarette designs were introduced to ensure compliance with the Canadian Low Ignition Propensity (LIP) regulations. It was not known how the changes in product design would affect HS yields. To assess the impact of the cigarette design modifications on HS yields, a further group of Canadian smokers was recruited for smoking the modified version of 10 products previously assessed. No differences in estimated HS tar yields were found between products following product modification. The HS nicotine yield was different for one product. In general, HS yields were higher than ISO machine yields while Canadian intense machine yields were more representative of the maximum HS yields. The same product ranking order was obtained for HS yields and the two machine yields but differences between the mean HS yields and ISO yields were smaller as the product ISO yields increased. Higher HS yields were measured when products were smoked by male smokers. The methodology used in this study showed the wide range of HS yields obtained by smokers as well as a good degree of stability in average HS yields just before and after the introduction of LIP regulations., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A comprehensive gas chromatographic-high-resolution mass spectrometric (GC-HRMS)-based method was developed that permitted the simultaneous determination of 30 estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and related compounds, including surfactants, biogenic and synthetic steroids, fecal sterols, phytoestrogens, and plasticizers, in wastewater. Features of the method include low sample volume (~40 ml), optimized Florisil cleanup to minimize matrix interferences and optimized analyte derivatization to improve sensitivity via GC-HRMS. Detection limits were in the low- to mid-ng/L range, and recoveries were greater than 60% for most target analytes. This new method allows for high throughput analysis of many organic wastewater contaminants in a complex matrix with relative standard deviation of less than 15% for most measurable compounds. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by examining wastewater samples from different origins. Compounds such as di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, cholesterol, cholestanol, and other cholesterol derivatives were measured in much higher concentrations in untreated sewage and were reduced substantially in concentration by the treatment process. However, steroidal compounds, particularly estrone (E1), 17beta-estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3), as well as plant sterols (except stigmastanol), were greater in the treated municipal wastewater versus the untreated effluent. Plant and fungi sterols, stigmastanol and ergosterol, were found largely associated with bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) as compared to the municipal effluents.

Background: Twitter is rich in data for text and data analytics research, with the ability to capture trends., Objectives: This study examines Canadian tweets on marijuana legalization and terminology used. Presented as a case study, Twitter analytics will demonstrate the varied applications of how this kind of research method may be used to inform library practice., Methods: Twitter API was used to extract a subset of tweets using seven relevant hashtags. Using open-source programming tools, the sampled tweets were analysed between September to November 2018, identifying themes, frequently used terms, sentiment, and co-occurring hashtags., Results: More than 1,176,000 tweets were collected. The most popular hashtag co-occurrence, two hashtags appearing together, was #cannabis and #CdnPoli. There was a high variance in the sentiment analysis of all collected tweets but most scores had neutral sentiment., Discussion: The case study presents text-mining applications relevant to help make informed decisions in library practice through service analysis, quality analysis, and collection analysis., Conclusions: Findings from sentiment analysis may determine usage patterns from users. There are several ways in which libraries may use text mining to make evidence-informed decisions such as examining all possible terminologies used by the public to help inform comprehensive evidence synthesis projects and build taxonomies for digital libraries and repositories., (© 2023 Health Libraries Group.)

Housing prices in Canada have increased dramatically, giving rise to a housing affordability crisis. Young adults have been disproportionately affected by this crisis. To cope, many young adults have had to alter their living arrangements, contributing to the diversification of their living arrangements. Young adults' diverse living arrangements are the product of growing inequalities in young adults' economic prospects and access to family support. Extant work has yet to document how young adults' risk of having unaffordable housing varies according to their living arrangements. Our comparison of young adults' risk of having unaffordable housing according to their living arrangements reveals that co-residence with parents, relatives, or roommates reduces young adults' risk of having unaffordable housing. This protective effect is smaller for the foreign-born than the Canadian-born. The National Housing Strategy should allocate more resources to increase the supply of affordable housing earmarked for young adults, particularly the foreign-born who live alone or with children., (© 2024 The Authors. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.)

Purpose: To revise the 2009 Canadian Geriatrics Society (CGS) Core Competencies in the Care of Older Persons for Canadian Medical Students by applying current frameworks and using a modified Delphi process., Method: The working group chose the Geriatric 5Ms model and CanMEDS framework to develop and structure the competencies. National (i.e., Canadian) Delphi participants were recruited, and 3 Delphi survey rounds were conducted from 2019 to 2021. Each survey round collected quantitative data using a 7-point Likert scale (LS) and qualitative data using free-text comments. The purpose of the first round was to establish the importance of the components of the proposed competencies (categorized into 13 subsections) and identify additional themes. The second round assessed agreement with 31 proposed competencies organized into 7 themes: aging, caring for older adults, mind, mobility, medications, multicomplexity, and matters the most. The third survey-rated agreement levels after further revisions to the competencies were applied. The final 33 competencies were shared with survey participants for feedback and other stakeholders for external validation., Results: Mean LSs for the importance of the 13 competency component subsections on the first survey varied from 5.11 to 6.54, with an agreement level of 73%-93%. New themes emerged from the qualitative comments. Mean LSs for the 31 competencies on the second survey ranged from 5.57 to 6.81, with an agreement level of 80%-97%. Mean LSs for the revised competencies on the third survey ranged from 5.83 to 6.65, with an agreement level of 83%-95%., Conclusions: The authors developed the 33 Aging Care 5Ms Competencies for Canadian medical students using a consensus process. The competencies fulfill an important need in medical education, and ultimately, society. The authors strongly believe that the competencies can be woven into existing undergraduate medical curricula through purposeful integration and collaboration, including with other specialties., (Copyright © 2023 the Association of American Medical Colleges.)

Solving complex socio-technical problems, this paper claims, involves diverse knowledges (cognitive diversity), competing interests (social diversity), and pragmatism. To explain this view, this paper first explores two different cases: Canadian pulp and paper mill pollution and siting nuclear reactors in systematically sensitive areas of California. Solving such socio-technically complex problems involves cognitive diversity as well as social diversity and pragmatism. Cognitive diversity requires one to not only recognize relevant knowledges but also to assess their validity. Finally, it is suggested, integrating the resultant set of diverse relevant and valid knowledges determines the parameters of the solution space for the problem.

Background: Deaths from inherited metabolic disorders may remain undiagnosed after postmortem examination and may be classified as sudden infant death syndrome. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) may reveal disorders of fatty acid oxidation in deaths of previously unknown cause., Methods: We obtained filter-paper blood from 7058 infants from United States and Canadian Medical Examiners. Acylcarnitine and amino acid profiles were obtained by MS/MS. Specialized interpretation was used to evaluate profiles for disorders of fatty acid, organic acid, and amino acid metabolism. The analyses of postmortem blood specimens were compared with the analyses of bile specimens, newborn blood specimens, and specimens obtained from older infants at risk for metabolic disorders., Results: Results on 66 specimens suggested diagnoses of metabolic disorders. The most frequently detected disorders were medium-chain and very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiencies (23 and 9 cases, respectively), glutaric acidemia type I and II deficiencies (3 and 8 cases, respectively), carnitine palmitoyl transferase type II/translocase deficiencies (6 cases), severe carnitine deficiency (4 cases), isovaleric acidemia/2-methylbutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiencies (4 cases), and long-chain hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase/trifunctional protein deficiencies (4 cases)., Conclusions: Postmortem metabolic screening can explain deaths in infants and children and provide estimates of the number of infant deaths attributable to inborn errors of metabolism. MS/MS is cost-effective for analysis of postmortem specimens and should be considered for routine use by Medical Examiners and pathologists in unexpected/unknown infant and child death.

In 1997, we collected nine river sediment samples, including one duplicate, from above and below three pulp and paper mills on the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin, USA, and one mill on Beaver Dam Creek in Ontario, Canada. We also obtained twenty split sediment samples from the Wisconsin River that were collected by the US EPA in collaboration with Indiana University. Finally, we collected influent and effluent samples from eight pulp and paper related industries in the US and Canada. We analyzed all sediment and water samples for hexa- through decachlorobornanes. We did not detect any chlorobornanes in most of the sediments. When chlorobornanes were detected, the concentration in sediments below pulp mills were similar to or less than in those from above the same mills. Chlorobornanes could not be detected in any of the influent or effluent samples. Thus, pulp and paper mills and relate facilities are not a source of chlorobornanes.

A life-cycle experiment with fathead minnows and Ceriodaphnia survival/reproduction tests were used to evaluate the quality of the effluent from a bleached kraft mill after the implementation of various process modifications and effluent treatment changes. In the life-cycle experiment, the fish were exposed in the laboratory to well water (control) and five concentrations (1.25%, 2.5%, 5%, 10%, or 20%) of effluent from the egg stage to sexual maturity and reproduction (approximately 190 d). None of the effluent concentrations significantly affected the hatching of the eggs, the mortality, weight, length, gender balance, reproduction, and prevalence of visible morphological or histopathological abnormalities of the hatched fish, and the hatchability of the first generation eggs. In Ceriodaphnia tests, the IC25 of the effluent affecting reproduction was approximately 80%. This threshold concentration is well above the 0.7% average yearly concentration of the effluent that exists in the recipient near the point of discharge. The results of these biotests were compared to the results of the same biotests conducted earlier with the effluent from the mill prior to process and treatment modifications. The comparison indicated that since the earlier work, the quality of the mill's effluent improved substantially. Threshold concentrations affecting fathead minnows in the life-cycle experiment and the Ceriodaphnia tests increased by more than eightfold and approximately twofold, respectively. While the most important change in the mill operating conditions responsible for the improvement could not be identified, these results indicate that mills can undertake process and treatment modifications that result in the discharge of effluents seemingly compatible with the aquatic environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the widespread adoption of virtual care-the use of communication technologies to receive health care at home. We explored the differential impacts of the rapid transition to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic on health-care access and delivery for gay, bisexual and queer men (GBQM), a population that disproportionately experiences sexual and mental health disparities in Canada. Adopting a sociomaterial theoretical perspective, we analysed 93 semi-structured interviews with GBQM (n = 93) in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, conducted between November 2020 and February 2021 (n = 42) and June-October 2021 (n = 51). We focused on explicating how the dynamic relations of humans and non-humans in everyday virtual care practices have opened or foreclosed different care capacities for GBQM. Our analysis revealed that the rapid expansion and implementation of virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic enacted disruptions and challenges while providing benefits to health-care access among some GBQM. Further, virtual care required participants to change their sociomaterial practices to receive health care effectively, including learning new ways of communicating with providers. Our sociomaterial analysis provides a framework that helps identify what works and what needs to be improved when delivering virtual care to meet the health needs of GBQM and other diverse populations., (© 2023 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.)

Background: Enhancing the interactions between study participants, clinicians, and investigators is imperative for advancing Parkinson's disease (PD) research. The Canadian Open Parkinson Network (C-OPN) stands as a nationwide endeavor, connecting the PD community with ten accredited universities and movement disorders research centers spanning, at the time of this analysis, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec., Objective: Our aim is to showcase C-OPN as a paradigm for bolstering national collaboration to accelerate PD research and to provide an initial overview of already collected data sets., Methods: The C-OPN database comprises de-identified data concerning demographics, symptoms and signs, treatment approaches, and standardized assessments. Additionally, it collects venous blood-derived biomaterials, such as for analyses of DNA, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and serum. Accessible to researchers, C-OPN resources are available through web-based data management systems for multi-center studies, including REDCap., Results: As of November 2023, the C-OPN had enrolled 1,505 PD participants. The male-to-female ratio was 1.77:1, with 83% (n = 1098) residing in urban areas and 82% (n = 1084) having pursued post-secondary education. The average age at diagnosis was 60.2±10.3 years. Herein, our analysis of the C-OPN PD cohort encompasses environmental factors, motor and non-motor symptoms, disease management, and regional differences among provinces. As of April 2024, 32 research projects have utilized C-OPN resources., Conclusions: C-OPN represents a national platform promoting multidisciplinary and multisite research that focuses on PD to promote innovation, exploration of care models, and collaboration among Canadian scientists.

Background: Dietitians (RDs) are well-positioned to promote sustainable food systems and diets. This research aims to review the literature for how RDs in Canada define sustainability and determine the types of relevant activities that exist in practice as described in published literature., Methods: Using standardised scoping review methods, researchers searched CINAHL, ACASP, PubMed and ENVCOM databases to identify peer-reviewed articles and conducted a grey literature search to locate other publications related to sustainability in Canadian dietetic practice. Qualitative, thematic coding methods were used to examine definitions and existing practice. The PRISMA extension for scoping reviews guided reporting., Results: The search resulted in 1059 documents and, after screening, 11 peer-reviewed and 16 grey literature documents remained. Ten unique definitions were used, the most common being Sustainable Diets. Definitions were multidimensional, including environmental, social, economic and health dimensions, and 31 unique subtopics. However, existing practice activities appear to reduce actions to one to two dimensions. Existing practice areas well-reflected include Food and Nutrition Expertise, Management and Leadership, Food Provision and Population Health Promotion. Notable gaps include action in Professionalism and Ethics and Nutrition Care., Conclusions: No single definition supports all professional contexts, and agency in choice of language to define the work is helpful for contextual clarity. Strengthening practitioners' ability to analyse issues using systems thinking and applying this in practice will help to address challenges and reduce risks of trade-offs. Updates to competency standards that reflect the breadth of existing activities, as well as curricular supports or practice standards, are needed., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Dietetic Association.)

Objectives: Although the cyclic nature of bipolarity is almost by definition a network system, no research to date has attempted to scrutinize the relationship of the two bipolar poles using network psychometrics. We used state-of-the-art network and machine learning methodologies to identify symptoms, as well as relations thereof, that bridge depression and mania., Methods: Observational study that used mental health data (12 symptoms for depression and 12 for mania) from a large, representative Canadian sample (the Canadian Community Health Survey of 2002). Complete data (N = 36,557; 54.6% female) were analysed using network psychometrics, in conjunction with a random forest algorithm, to examine the bidirectional interplay of depressive and manic symptoms., Results: Centrality analyses pointed to symptoms relating to emotionality and hyperactivity as being the most central aspects of depression and mania, respectively. The two syndromes were spatially segregated in the bipolar model and four symptoms appeared crucial in bridging them: sleep disturbances (insomnia and hypersomnia), anhedonia, suicidal ideation, and impulsivity. Our machine learning algorithm validated the clinical utility of central and bridge symptoms (in the prediction of lifetime episodes of mania and depression), and suggested that centrality, but not bridge, metrics map almost perfectly onto a data-driven measure of diagnostic utility., Conclusions: Our results replicate key findings from past network studies on bipolar disorder, but also extend them by highlighting symptoms that bridge the two bipolar poles, while also demonstrating their clinical utility. If replicated, these endophenotypes could prove fruitful targets for prevention/intervention strategies for bipolar disorders., (© 2023 The Authors. Bipolar Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Using US National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) data, we explore how parental education and primary students' perceptions of their teachers interact to impact students' self-efficacy in mathematics. Our results demonstrate that students tend to have higher self-efficacy if they perceive that their teacher promotes the importance of mathematics. This relationship holds regardless of parental education, though it is strongest for children of parents without a university education. Children of less educated parents also tend to have lower self-efficacy if they attend private schools, which typically have high average parental socio-economic status (SES). School type has no discernable impact on children of university-educated parents. These findings are highly relevant to the Canadian context, which is characterized by schools being stratified by SES and the high importance of STEM education for occupational outcomes., (© 2023 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.)

Repeated exposure to chlorine in pulp mills and paper can induce persistent asthma-like symptoms such as bronchial hyperresponsiveness and variable changes in airway caliber. The long-term time course of bronchial hyperresponsiveness has not been examined. We studied 20 of 29 subjects (69% participation rate) who demonstrated bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine when they were first assessed, 18 to 24 mo after repeatedly inhaling "puffs" of high concentrations of chlorine in a paper mill over a 3-mo period. Each subject answered a respiratory questionnaire and underwent spirometry and a methacholine inhalation test 12 mo after the initial survey, 30 to 36 mo after the chlorine inhalations. Three subjects required inhaled steroids at the time of the initial survey and three at the time of the second, including two who carried on using these preparations. Only one subject changed smoking habits. There were no significant overall changes in FEV1 on the two occasions, nine subjects having a FEV1 < 80% on the first occasion and eight on the second. Six of the 18 subjects (33%) who underwent a methacholine inhalation test on both occasions had significantly improved PC20 results, including five for whom the PC20 value was within the normal range. All six subjects had normal FEV1 values on both assessments. Although changes in spirometry induced by repeated exposure to chlorine seem to persist, bronchial hyperresponsiveness can improve significantly in those with normal airway caliber. This suggests that less pronounced bronchial alterations induced by repeated exposures to chlorine may be reversible.

Tests have shown plant bioassays to be excellent for mutagenicity studies. Most studies with plant bioassays, however, have been carried out either in the laboratory, or if, in situ, as monitors of atmospheric contaminants. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the utility of in situ plant mutagenicity bioassays in monitoring water contaminants. The assay systems tested were the Tradescantia stamen hair and micronucleus assays for the detection of gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations respectively, and the Vicia faba bioassay system which detects chromosomal aberrations in root tips. The assays were used to test the effluent from a pulp and paper mill located on the north shore of Lake Superior. Assays were performed in a creek containing raw effluent and in the bay of Lake Superior into which the creek emptied. All in situ treatments were carried out for 24 h. The effluent from the creek was heavy with pulp and debris which coated the plant cuttings and the Vicia faba seedlings and may have restricted the uptake from the effluent. In the creek, at test sites 11.5 km from the source, the effluent was toxic to the Vicia faba roots as evidenced by a reduction in the mitotic index. The data for the Tradescantia stamen hair assay in the creek were equivocal. The cuttings from the creek test sites and the air and water control sites appeared to have undergone a physiological delay. Within a day or two after the return to the laboratory, that is 6-8 days after testing, flowering almost ceased and did not fully resume until about day 35. This reduction in flowering was particularly severe with the cuttings from the effluent and air control sites, making it very difficult to interpret the results. In contrast, the Tradescantia micronucleus and Vicia faba chromosomal aberration data were unequivocal; each produced positive responses at both test sites relative to the air and water controls. The results obtained for the bay sites with all 3 assays were in agreement. In that section of the bay visibly contaminated by the creek effluent, increases in stamen hair mutants, micronuclei, and chromosome aberrations were measured. In general, there was a considerable reduction in the number of mutant events observed for the water samples brought back from the test sites and tested in the laboratory.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Our recent studies have demonstrated reproductive problems in white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) exposed to bleached kraft pulp mill effluent (BKME) at Jackfish Bay on Lake Superior. These fish exhibit delayed sexual maturity, reduced gonadal size, reduced secondary sexual characteristics, and circulating steroid levels depressed relative to those of reference populations. The present studies were designed to evaluate sites in the pituitary-gonadal axis of prespawning white sucker affected by BKME exposure. At the time of entry to the spawning stream, plasma levels of immunoreactive gonadotropin (GtH)-II (LH-type GtH) in male and female white sucker were 30- and 50-fold lower, respectively, than the levels in fish from a reference site. A single intraperitoneal injection of D-Arg6, Pro9N-Et sGnRH (sGnRH-A, 0.1 mg/kg) increased plasma GtH levels in male and female fish at both sites, although the magnitude of the response was greatly reduced in BKME-exposed fish. Fish at the BKME site did not ovulate in response to sGnRH-A, while 10 of 10 fish from the reference site ovulated within 6 hr. Plasma 17 alpha,20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20 beta-P) levels were depressed in BKME-exposed fish and unlike fish at the reference site, failed to increase in response to sGnRH-A. Testosterone levels in both sexes and 11-ketostestosterone levels in males were elevated in fish from the reference site but were not further increased by GnRH treatment. In contrast, BKME-exposed fish exhibit a transitory increase in testosterone levels in response to the GnRH analog. In vitro incubations of ovarian follicles obtained from fish at the BKME site revealed depressed basal secretion of testosterone and 17,20 beta-P and reduced responsiveness to the GtH analog human chorionic gonadotropin and to forskolin, a direct activator of adenylate cyclase. By comparison, ovarian follicles from fish collected at BKME and reference sites produced similar levels of prostaglandin E basally and in response to a phorbol ester and calcium ionophore A23187, suggesting that BKME effects on ovarian function are selective and do not reflect a general impairment of ovarian function. BKME-exposed fish had plasma levels of testosterone glucuronide proportionately lower than those of reference fish, suggesting that there are site differences in the peripheral metabolism of steroids. These studies demonstrate that BKME exposure affects reproduction by acting at multiple sites in the pituitary-gonadal axis.

Background: Since COVID-19 emerged in 2020, the promotion of health equity, including in research, has further been challenged worldwide by both global health governance (GHG) processes and decisions, and national public health control measures. These global and national decisions have also led to the 'covidization' of health research agendas where resources have been massively channelled to address COVID-19, especially during the first years of the pandemic. This situation could potentially result in current and future population health research priorities not explicitly tackling equity as a central tenet. The study objective examined how and to what extent the COVID-19-related GHG architecture is affecting population health research priorities in Canada., Methods: We conducted a multilevel qualitative study informed by the intersectionality-based policy analysis and multiple streams frameworks. We collected and thematically analysed data from four groups of respondents (n = 35: researchers, research funders and global and public health research institutes in Canada, and WHO/international actors) and an interactive feedback workshop (n = 40 participants)., Results: Study findings generated four main themes. First, both global and national COVID-19 responses failed to address equity considerations, especially among populations in situations of vulnerability and marginalisation. Second, the integrated examination of funding, equity, and accountability was judged as necessary determinants of GHG and population health research priorities in Canada. Third, contrary to common beliefs about COVID-19, the consequences were not all negative, but they were also positive and unintended, and lessons can be learned. Fourth, study respondents proposed multiple recommendations to address inequities in the complex intersection between COVID-19-related GHG and population health research in Canada., Conclusion: This study provides substantial evidence of the multilayered and complex intersection between COVID-19-related GHG and population health research priorities in Canada. Although the window of opportunity was slim according to study respondents, there was still a unique collective effort to address COVID-19-related socioeconomic and health inequities by considering the numerous recommendations proposed by the four groups of study respondents. These recommendations can directly contribute to improving knowledge of global and national population health and equity research strategies in the context of an evolving pandemic and for policy- and decision-makers to adjust and rectify the course of global and public health governance., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethics approval for the study protocol and implementation was granted by the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board (REB-42067). Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. Consent for publication: Written informed consent for publication has been obtained from the participants in this study. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In this study, we examined cross-cultural differences in sociability, a core personality facet of the higher order extraversion trait, which has been reported at lower levels in Eastern versus Western cultures several decades ago. Up until now, however, East-West cultural comparisons on the Western-defined construct of sociability have been limited, despite the extensive research published on extraversion indicating that this personality dimension is globally relevant across cultures. Following current practices, we first assessed for measurement invariance (MI) on the Cheek and Buss sociability scale between Chinese (n = 816, 47.2% male, M = 18.51 years, SD = 1.26 years) and Canadian (n = 995, 30.8% male, M = 19.62 years, SD = 1.25 years) young adult samples to ensure any comparisons would be valid and meaningful. Results from a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (exact invariance) showed that there was measurement non-invariance at the scalar level in the sociability construct across country and country by sex, and the newer alignment method (approximate invariance) confirmed these results, suggesting that mean level comparisons of sociability were biased and noninformative. Our findings indicated that although a few of the higher-level personality dimensions such as extraversion are considered universal, the facets underlying their meaning, like sociability, are not as clearly delineated between cultures. Alongside the present-day pursuit of understanding personality across cultures through an indigenous measurement lens in tandem with the notion of universality, researchers should also consider narrowing their focus onto lower-level facets, each of which is likely to be uniquely embedded into a cultural context., (© 2024 The Author(s). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology published by Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: This paper describes how Canadian Return to Work coordinators (RTWC) framed their job roles relative to workers in ways that went beyond the usual professional norms of helping worker recovery., Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 47 RTWCs across Canada in 2018-2019. We used critical discourse analysis to analyze the way coordinators viewed workers in the complex, multi-stakeholder system of RTW., Results: We identified four ways that RTWCs positioned themselves relative to workers: as trust builders, experts, detectives and motivators. These roles reflected RTWCs position within the system; however, their discourse also contributed to the construction of a moral hierarchy that valued worker motivation and framed some workers as attempting to exploit the RTW system., Conclusions: RTWCs' positions of power in the coordination process warrant further investigation of how they exercise judgement and discretion, particularly when the process depends on their ability to weigh evidence and manage cases in what might be seen as an objective and fair manner., (© 2024. Crown.)

Nuclear energy is an environmental issue that needs to be carefully considered regarding its consequences. The environmental effects of nuclear energy encompass a complex interplay of factors, ranging from managing radioactive waste to the potential for accidents, emissions, and resource depletion, necessitating a thorough examination of its impact on our planet. This study examines the relationships between nuclear energy, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and load capacity factor for the eight countries (Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Spain, USA) that consumed the most nuclear energy from 1993 to 2018 using the time (Emirmahmutoglu & Kose, 2011) and frequency domain (Croux & Reusens, 2013) panel causality tests. The results differ according to time and frequency domain causality tests. While the time-domain causality test results showed no causal relationship between the nuclear energy consumption, nuclear reactors, and the load capacity factor variables, the frequency-domain causality test revealed that there are causal relationships between these variables in the short, intermediate and long run. According to the frequency-domain causality test results, there is a bidirectional causality relationship between nuclear reactors, energy consumption and load capacity factor. In line with the main findings of this study, it is recommended that these countries implement effective policies to increase environmental quality and make investments and incentives in nuclear energy and technologies., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: Not applicable. Consent to participate: All authors have given consent to their contribution. Consent for publication: All authors have agreed with the content, and all have given explicit consent to publish. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper investigates the long-run relationship between health care expenditures (HCE) and income using Canadian provincial data spanning a period of 40 years from 1981 to 2020. We study the non-stationary and cointegration properties of HCE and income and estimate the long-run income elasticities of HCE. Using heterogeneous panel models that incorporate cross-section dependence via unobserved common correlated factors to capture global shocks, we estimate long-run income elasticities that lie in the 0.11-0.16 range. Our results indicate that health care is a necessity good for Canada. These elasticity estimates are much smaller than those estimated in other studies for Canada. We find that HCE and income in Canada are cointegrated and that short-run changes in federal transfers significantly and positively affect HCE., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This paper investigates the effects of a mandatory, universal prescription drug insurance policy on health behaviors and outcomes within a public health care system providing physician and hospital services free of charge. Using Canadian longitudinal data, we show that the reform improved individuals' general health while reducing body mass index and smoking. However, the program also increased drinking and had no significant impact on mental health, physical activity, or preventive care. We also examine the mechanisms through which these effects can play a role, as well as the heterogeneous effects. Estimates suggest that the policy decreased SES-based disparities in health., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: Using data from a randomized controlled trial for treatment of prescription-type opioid use disorder in Canada, this study examines sensitivity to change in three preference-based instruments [EQ-5D-3L, EQ-5D-5L, and the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3)] and explores an oft-overlooked consideration when working with contemporaneous responses for similar questions-data quality., Methods: Analyses focused on the relative abilities of three instruments to capture change in health status. Distributional methods were used to categorize individuals as 'improved' or 'not improved' for eight anchors (seven clinical, one generic). Sensitivity to change was assessed using area under the ROC (receiver operating characteristics) curve (AUC) analysis and comparisons of mean change scores for three time periods. A 'strict' data quality criteria, defined a priori, was applied. Analyses were replicated using 'soft' and 'no' criteria., Results: Data from 160 individuals were used in the analysis; 30% had at least one data quality violation at baseline. Despite mean index scores being significantly lower for the HUI3 compared with EQ-5D instruments at each time point, the magnitudes of change scores were similar. No instrument demonstrated superior sensitivity to change. While six of the 10 highest AUC estimates were for the HUI3, 'moderate' classifications of discriminative ability were identified in 12 (of 22) analyses for each EQ-5D instrument, compared with eight for the HUI3., Conclusion: Negligible differences were observed between the EQ-5D-3L, EQ-5D-5L, and HUI3 regarding the ability to measure change. The prevalence of data quality violations-which differed by ethnicity-requires further investigation., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This paper focuses on the engineering profession in Canada, a regulated field with a large proportion of internationally trained professionals. Using Canadian census data, this study addresses two main questions. First, I ask whether immigrant engineers who were trained abroad are at increased disadvantage in gaining access (1) to employment in general, (2) to the engineering field, and (3) to professional and managerial employment within the field. Second, I ask how immigration status and the origin of training intersect with gender and visible minority status to shape immigrant engineers' occupational outcomes. The results reveal that immigrant engineers who were trained abroad are at increased risk of occupational mismatch and this risk is two-fold and intersectional. First, they are at a disadvantage to enter the engineering field. Second, those employed in the engineering field are more likely to occupy technical positions. These forms of disadvantage intensify and diversify for women and racial/ethnic minority immigrants. The paper concludes with a discussion of immigrants' skills transferability in regulated fields from an intersectional perspective., (© 2023 The Authors. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.)

This article analyzes the educational pathways of Black Canadian immigrant students in Québec with Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean backgrounds. Both racialized groups have been targets of educational and social discrimination and segregation, which compromise their educational pathways. The results obtained from the longitudinal data however, show that some of these students are able to overcome such obstacles. Although they are more susceptible to experiencing major academic difficulties and lag due to grade repetition, and less likely to attend private institutions or to be admitted to enriched programs in public schools, these students have access to college in a proportion comparable to that of their peers whose parents are non-immigrants. This supports the hypothesis of resilience put forward by some authors such as Krahn and Taylor (2005) regarding Canadian students from Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean immigrant families. However, the situation is somewhat reversed with regard to obtaining a college diploma and access to university. They are less likely to have entered university and obtained a postsecondary diploma 10 years after entering secondary school. From this perspective, the resilience hypothesis should be nuanced. In short, their educational pathways are characterized by a dynamic of interaction between the cumulative disadvantage of belonging to a racialized minority and the compensatory benefit of resilience., (© 2023 The Authors. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.)

In this paper, we examine the intersections of parental support and family socioeconomic background within an undergraduate sample (N = 596) in a mid-sized Canadian Prairie city. Coresidence, financial support, and parental and professional financial advice are examined as types of 'family capital' that may be distributed unequally across socioeconomic groups. In keeping with previous literature, findings showed that students whose parents had university education and higher incomes received more robust coverage of their housing and school expenses. Students whose parents were university-educated were also more likely to be living with a parent, though no relationship was found between parental income and coresidence. Contrasting with previous literature, few relationships were found between socioeconomic background and receipt or influence of financial advice. These results contribute to the literature by generalising claims about family capital to a Canadian student sample, where relatively few studies have empirically examined intergenerational transfers as mechanisms for transmitting privilege during the transition to adulthood. With increasing demands for higher education and simultaneous declines in government subsidisation of its costs, disparate access to family capital is likely to intensify the reproduction of social inequality across generations., (© 2023 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.)

This study offers insights into lifetime earnings growth differences between individuals with and without childhood-onset disabilities (COD) defined as disabilities whose onset occurred before an individual's 16th birthday. We use a newly available database linking data from the 2017 Canadian Survey of Disability with individual income tax records covering a period of over 3 decades. We estimate the average earnings growth profiles of individuals with COD from the age when individuals generally enter the labor market to the age when most retire. The main finding of our study is that individuals with COD experience very little earnings growth when they are in their mid-30 and 40s while the earnings of those without COD grow steadily until they reach their late 40s and early 50s. The largest earnings growth differences between individuals with and without COD are observed for male university graduates., (© 2023 His Majesty the King in Right of Canada. Health Economics © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe some components of the perioperative practice in liver transplantation as reported by clinicians., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional clinical practice survey using an online instrument containing questions on selected themes related to the perioperative care of liver transplant recipients. We sent email invitations to Canadian anesthesiologists, Canadian surgeons, and French anesthesiologists specialized in liver transplantation. We used five-point Likert-type scales (from "never" to "always") and numerical or categorical answers. Results are presented as medians or proportions., Results: We obtained answers from 130 participants (estimated response rate of 71% in Canada and 26% in France). Respondents reported rarely using transesophageal echocardiography routinely but often using it for hemodynamic instability, often using an intraoperative goal-directed hemodynamic management strategy, and never using a phlebotomy (medians from ordinal scales). Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported using a restrictive fluid management strategy to manage hemodynamic instability during the dissection phase. Forty-two percent and 15% of respondents reported using viscoelastic tests to guide intraoperative and postoperative transfusions, respectively. Fifty-four percent of respondents reported not pre-emptively treating preoperative coagulations disturbances, and 91% reported treating them intraoperatively only when bleeding was significant. Most respondents (48-64%) did not have an opinion on the maximal graft ischemic times. Forty-seven percent of respondents reported that a piggyback technique was the preferred vena cava anastomosis approach., Conclusion: Different interventions were reported to be used regarding most components of perioperative care in liver transplantation. Our results suggest that significant equipoise exists on the optimal perioperative management of this population., (© 2023. Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society.)

Background: Network meta-analyses (NMAs) are statistical techniques used to synthesize data from multiple studies and compare the effectiveness of different interventions for a particular disease or condition. They have gained popularity in recent years as a tool for evidence-based decision making in healthcare. Whether publications in NMAs have an increasing trend is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the trends in the number of NMA articles over the past 10 years when compared to non-NMA articles., Methods: The study utilized data from the Web of Science database, specifically searching for articles containing the term "meta-analysis" published between 2013 and 2022. The analysis examined the annual number of articles, as well as the countries, institutions, departments, and authors associated with the articles and the journals in which they were published. Ten different visualization techniques, including line charts, choropleth maps, chord diagrams, circle packing charts, forest plots, temporal heatmaps, impact beam plots, pyramid plots, 4-quadrant radar plots, and scatter plots, were employed to support the hypothesis that the number of NMA-related articles has increased (or declined) over the past decade when compared to non-NMA articles., Results: Our findings indicate that there was no difference in mean citations or publication trends between NMA and non-NMA; the United States, McMaster University (Canada), medical schools, Dan Jackson from the United Kingdom, and the Journal of Medicine (Baltimore) were among the leading entities; NMA ranked highest on the coword analysis, followed by heterogeneity, quality, and protocol, with weighted centrality degrees of 32.51, 30.84, 29.43, and 24.26, respectively; and the number of NMA-related articles had increased prior to 2020 but experienced a decline in the past 3 years, potentially due to being overshadowed by the intense academic focus on COVID-19., Conclusion: It is evident that the number of NMA articles increased rapidly between 2013 and 2019 before leveling off in the years following. For researchers, policymakers, and healthcare professionals who are interested in evidence-based decision making, the visualizations used in this study may be useful., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

The weight of evidence suggests that articles written by men and women receive citations at comparable rates. This suggests that research quality or gender-based bias in research evaluation and citing behaviors may not be the reason why academic women accumulate fewer citations than men at the career level. In this article, I outline a career perspective that highlights women's disadvantages in career progression as the root causes for the gender citation gap. I also consider how the gender citation gap may perpetuate the unequal pay between genders in science. My analysis of two different datasets, one including paper and citation information for over 130,000 highly cited scholars during the 1996-2020 period and another including citation and salary information for nearly 2,000 Canadian scholars over the 2014-2019 period, shows several important findings. First, papers written by women on average receive more citations than those written by men. Second, the gender citation gap grows larger with time as men and women progress in their careers, but the opposite pattern holds when research productivity and collaborative networks are considered. Third, higher citations lead to higher pay, and gender differences in citations explain a significant share of the gender wage gap. Findings demonstrate the critical need for more attention toward gender differences in career progression when investigating the causes and solutions for gender disparities in science., (© 2023 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.)

Background: Cooking is a substantial contributor to air pollutant exposures in many residences. Effective use of kitchen ventilation can mitigate exposure; however, information on its availability, usage, and potential to increase its use across the population has been limited., Objective: This study aimed to obtain nationally representative information on cooking methods, kitchen ventilation availability and usage, and the potential for education to increase effective usage., Methods: An online survey was sent to a representative sample of Canadian homes to collect data on cooking methods, the presence and use of mechanical kitchen ventilation devices, perceived device performance, and willingness to implement mitigation strategies. Responses were weighted to match key demographic factors and analyzed using non-parametric statistics., Results: Among the 4500 respondents, 90% had mechanical ventilation devices over the cooktop (66% of which were vented to the outside), and 30% reported regularly using their devices. Devices were used most often for deep-frying, followed by stir-frying, sautéing or pan-frying, indoor grilling, boiling or steaming. Almost half reported rarely or never using their ventilation devices during baking or oven self-cleaning. Only 10% were fully satisfied with their devices. More frequent use was associated with the device being vented to the outdoors, having more than two speed settings, quiet operation if only one speed, covering over half of the cooktop, and higher perceived effectiveness. After being informed of the benefits of kitchen ventilation, 64% indicated they would consider using their devices more often, preferentially using back burners with ventilation, and/or using higher ventilation device settings when needed., Impact: This study provides population-representative data on the most used cooking methods, kitchen ventilation availability and usage, and influencing factors in Canadian homes. Such data are needed for exposure assessments and evaluating the potential to mitigate cooking-related pollutant exposures via more effective use of kitchen ventilation. The data can be reasonably extrapolated to the United States, given the similarities in residential construction practices and cultural norms between the two countries., (© 2023. Crown.)