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Conservation strategies for populations of woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou frequently emphasize the importance of predator–prey relationships and the availability of lichen-rich late seral forests, yet the importance of summer diet and forage availability to woodland caribou survival is poorly understood. In a recent article, Wittmer et al. ( Can J Zool 83:407–418, ) concluded that woodland caribou in British Columbia were declining as a consequence of increased predation that was facilitated by habitat alteration. Their conclusion is consistent with the findings of other authors who have suggested that predation is the most important proximal factor limiting woodland caribou populations (Bergerud and Elliot in Can J Zool 64:1515–1529, ; Edmonds in Can J Zool 66:817–826, ; Rettie and Messier in Can J Zool 76:251–259, ; Hayes et al. in Wildl Monogr 152:1–35, ). Wittmer et al. ( Can J Zool 83:407–418, ) presented three alternative, contrasting hypotheses for caribou decline that differed in terms of predicted differences in instantaneous rates of increase, pregnancy rates, causes of mortality, and seasonal vulnerability to mortality (Table 1, p 258). These authors rejected the hypotheses that food or an interaction between food and predation was responsible for observed declines in caribou populations; however, the use of pregnancy rate, mortality season and cause of mortality to contrast the alternative hypotheses is problematic. We argue here that the data employed in their study were insufficient to properly evaluate a predation-sensitive foraging hypothesis for caribou decline. Empirical data on seasonal forage availability and quality and plane of nutrition of caribou would be required to test the competing hypotheses. We suggest that methodological limitations in studies of woodland caribou population dynamics prohibit proper evaluation of the mechanism of caribou population declines and fail to elucidate potential interactions between top-down and bottom-up effects on populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the abstracts of scientific paper presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Examines the influence of broadleaf trees principally paper birch on soil properties under mixedwoods with lodgepole pine in the Sub-Boreal Spruce zone of central British Columbia, Canada. Accumulation of forest floor mass of mature forests in the zone on initially denuded surface; Relationship between the degree of broadleaf occupancy and total forest floor accumulation.

The article discusses the association between the evolution of environmental protection in British Columbia and the economic relations of the state and examines the implications for regulatory efforts. It states that Canada is one of the largest pulp and paper producers in the world. The development of pulp pollution regulation is discussed. Criticisms on the development of the state's regulatory powers and the regulatory process are also offered.

Reports that food supply and contaminants were investigated as possible causes of low bald eagle productivity near a bleached kraft pulp and paper mill at Crofton on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Details of the study which was conducted over a seven year period, which found the average productivity of five eagle territories situated south of the pulp mill at Crofton was significantly lower than six territories north of the mill.

The Canadian Cordillera in the province of British Columbia witnesses numerous rock falls every year. Studies on the recorded rock fall data in this area show that rock fall hazard follows weather conditions, especially precipitation and freeze-thaw cycles. This relationship indicates that a weather-based approach can be implemented to estimate possible changes in the rock fall hazard due to climate change. In this paper, we used a statistical approach to quantify the relationship between monthly weather averages and rock fall frequencies for a section of a transportation corridor along the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada. In this regard, von Mises distributions are used to find the best-fitted models to the monthly precipitation and freeze-thaw cycles, and proper relative weights are applied to the models in order to calibrate them to the rock fall monthly frequency. The calibrated model is used with input data from climatic predictions for 2041–2070 and 2071–2100 to see how rock fall distribution will be affected due to climate change in the future decades. Results show that between 9 and 19%, more rock fall is anticipated in future winters. Rock falls are expected to decrease in other months, especially in October, November, March, and April. This paper presents a method to predict changes in rock fall hazard seasonality due to climate change and illustrates the method with a case study along a section of the Canadian Cordillera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modular construction has become exceedingly relevant against the current scenario of increasing housing demand and can respond to this need in Canada due to its advantages of rapid construction. However, a holistic environmental sustainability framework for this construction method is still lacking. This paper proposes a hierarchical-based framework to benchmark the environmental performance of modular buildings versus conventional buildings. The framework identifies criteria and indicators affecting environmental sustainability, makes composite indicators, and establishes performance benchmarks. Based on expert survey, six criteria (construction waste management, energy performance and efficiency strategies, site disruption and appropriate strategies, renewable and environmentally preferable products, regional materials, and renewable energy use) are first identified. The related indicators and sub-indicators are combined to develop indices using Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution. Robust benchmark scales were established through application of Monte Carlo analysis on data collected through experts. Finally, the developed indices were compared against the benchmark scales at different assessment levels. The proposed framework was examined for two single-family modular buildings in British Columbia, Canada. The overall environmental performance benchmarking informs the policy makers on the usefulness of modular buildings, while the criteria-level indices direct the construction industry practitioners to improve the low performing indicators. The proposed framework will enhance the sustainability of modular and offsite construction in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Craft food and beverage makers regularly emphasize transparency about the ethical, sustainable sourcing of their ingredients and the human labour underpinning their production, all of which helps elevate the status of their products and occupational communities. Yet, as with other niche ethical consumption markets, craft industries continue to rely on employment conditions for agricultural workers that reproduce inequalities of race, class, and citizenship in the dominant food system. This paper interrogates the contradiction between the exaltation of craft cidermakers' labour and the devaluation of farmworker labour by assessing how craft beverage actors make sense of inequalities facing manually skilled agricultural workers. Through a focus on the emerging craft cider industry, this paper draws on in-depth interviews and ethnographic data with a range of urban and rural cider actors in the Pacific Northwest (British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington State). I find that actors in the craft cider industry engage with inequalities affecting farmworkers through three main patterns: (1) Justifications of the status quo; (2) Supply chain fog; and (3) Misgiving/critique. By using an analytical framework that integrates critical agrarianism and the politics of sight, this study provides insights into both barriers and opportunities to redistribute social recognition and material rewards across food supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, British Columbia, Canada's westernmost province, has begun developing liquified natural gas (LNG) mega projects that can transport Canadian resources to foreign markets across the Pacific region. These projects have gained significant profile due to high-level debates over their environmental, social and economic impacts. While LNG projects are required to undergo environmental impact assessment procedures, there is growing recognition of the need to ensure that positive social, economic and environmental impacts are fairly distributed to local communities. Similar to other extractive industries, many corporations leading the development of these projects engage in negotiations over so-called "impact benefit agreements (IBAs)"—legal agreements between a corporation, a government and/or a community that details how projects can benefit the local community and on what timeline so as to build social license to operate and investor confidence. This contribution details the findings of a qualitative study highlighting the perspectives of First Nations, provincial and federal government, and industry leaders to examine what makes an IBA successful and from whose perspective. The paper provides an introduction to IBA structures and processes, a brief review of the legal context, a qualitative methodology co-developed between academic researchers and Indigenous community leaders, and describes key criteria to inform future successful IBA agreements that create equitable multi-party benefits in an era of Indigenous reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This paper demonstrates knowledge-guided fuzzy logic modeling of regional-scale surficial uranium (U) prospectivity in British Columbia (Canada). The deposits/occurrences of surficial U in this region vary from those in Western Australia and Namibia; thus, requiring innovative and carefully-thought techniques of spatial evidence generation and integration. As novelty, this papers introduces a new weighted fuzzy algebraic sum operator to combine certain spatial evidence layers. The analysis trialed several layers of spatial evidence based on conceptual mineral system model of surficial U in British Columbia (Canada) as well as tested various models of evidence integration. Non-linear weighted functions of (a) spatial closeness to U-enriched felsic igneous rocks was employed as U-source spatial evidence, (b) spatial closeness to paleochannels as fluid pathways spatial evidence, and (c) surface water U content as chemical trap spatial evidence. The best models of prospectivity created by integrating the layers of spatial evidence for U-source, pathways and traps predicted at least 85% of the known surficial U deposits/occurrences in >10% of the study region with the highest prospectivity fuzzy scores. The results of analyses demonstrate that, employing the known deposits/occurrences of surficial U for scrutinizing the spatial evidence layers and the final models of prospectivity can pinpoint the most suitable critical processes and models of data integration to reduce bias in the analysis of mineral prospectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The default international accounting rules estimate the carbon emissions from forest products by assuming all harvest is immediately emitted to the atmosphere. This makes it difficult to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) consequences of different forest management or manufacturing activities that maintain the storage of carbon. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) addresses this issue by allowing other accounting methods. The objective of this paper is to provide a new model for estimating annual stock changes of carbon in harvested wood products (HWP). Results: The model, British Columbia Harvested Wood Products version 1 (BC-HWPv1), estimates carbon stocks and fluxes for wood harvested in BC from 1965 to 2065, based on new parameters on local manufacturing, updated and new information for North America on consumption and disposal of wood and paper products, and updated parameters on methane management at landfills in the USA. Based on model results, reporting on emissions as they occur would substantially lower BC's greenhouse gas inventory in 2010 from 48 Mt CO2 to 26 Mt CO2 because of the long-term forest carbon storage in-use and in the non-degradable material in landfills. In addition, if offset projects created under BC's protocol reported 100 year cumulative emissions using the BC-HWPv1 the emissions would be lower by about 11%. Conclusions: This research showed that the IPCC default methods overestimate the emissions North America wood products. Future IPCC GHG accounting methods could include a lower emissions factor (e.g. 0.52) multiplied by the annual harvest, rather than the current multiplier of 1.0. The simulations demonstrated that the primary opportunities for climate change mitigation are in shifting from burning mill waste to using the wood for longer-lived products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Canada, the prevalence of mental health challenges is highest in young people aged 12–24. Mental health challenges frequently cause marked functional impairment. Despite this, we are unaware of any existing conceptualization and/or measures of function that has been developed from the perspective of young people. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual and measurement model, including a preliminary set of items, for an outcome measure of function for young adults accessing mental health services. Methods: We conducted this study in three phases. In phase 1, we conducted three focus groups to conceptualize function as a construct from the perspective of young adults. In phase 2, we co-designed a set of items with youth (n = 4) to capture the construct. In phase 3, we invited young people (n = 12) accessing mental health services to complete workbooks and participate in one of two focus groups to evaluate whether items were clear, captured function comprehensively, and were relevant. We transcribed and compiled all data to eliminate, refine and generate new items. Results: In phase 1, a conceptual model of function was developed with three main themes: basic needs, roles and responsibilities, and social connections. In phase 2, 97 candidate items were developed, and in phase 3, a candidate pool of 50 items resulted for psychometric testing. Conclusion: This youth-centred conceptualization of function and preliminary item bank has the potential to advance person-centred care, outcomes, and experiences for youth seeking mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This paper investigates how carbon taxes affect emissions by examining British Columbia's revenue-neutral carbon tax in the manufacturing sector. We theoretically demonstrate that carbon taxes can achieve emission reductions while increasing production. Recycling carbon tax revenues to lower corporate income tax rates encourages investments, allowing plants to emit less per unit of output. Using detailed confidential plant-level data, we evaluate this theoretical prediction by exploiting the treatment intensity through plants' emission intensity. We find that the carbon tax lowers emissions by 4 percent. Furthermore, we find that the policy had a positive output effect and negative emission intensity effect, suggesting that the carbon tax encouraged plants to produce more with less energy. We provide initial evidence showing how a revenue-neutral carbon tax may achieve emission reductions while stimulating the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terrestrial lidar scanning (TLS) has become a widely accepted expert tool for monitoring geohazards on bare or sparsely vegetated slopes through change detection. While trees can be an important indicator of landslide activity at a slope, vegetation is often removed or ignored when monitoring landslides with TLS. This paper explores the use of multi-temporal terrestrial lidar scanning at a slope in the Peace River valley of British Columbia to test the author's hypothesis that tree stems in TLS data can be used to track landslide displacement and provide insight into the landslide mechanism. Six TLS datasets, each collected approximately 6 months apart, are used, and roto-translation methods are employed to determine the azimuth, plunge, and toppling angle of trees between each TLS scan. The tree displacement patterns are compared to TLS change detection results on bare-ground, and to single-point tracking techniques for extracting displacement vectors. Considerations for future applications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Montney Play Trend (MPT) is a 1090 km2 region in northeast British Columbia that produces approximately one-third of western Canada's natural gas output. In response to a proposed expansion of the MPT in 2016, the Government of British Columbia launched a Regional Strategic Environmental Assessment (RSEA) to identify the necessary conditions to achieve sustainable environmental outcomes. In this paper, we describe the methods and scenario planning tools that were developed to estimate how the development of the MPT might affect the subsistence economies of First Nations in the region. To demonstrate the utility of our approach, two impact assessments—Prince Rupert gas transmission pipeline and the Coastal GasLink pipeline—are presented. While no scenario can provide a definitive portrayal of exactly what will happen in the future, the tools that were co-developed are serving as an effective starting point for exploring possibilities that are at least consistent with current knowledge and can serve as a platform for collaborative learning and conflict management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses content analysis and interviews to produce case studies of Fairchild Group's Talentvision (Mandarin) and two local current-affairs talk show programs in Mandarin. Based on the concept of geo-ethnic media and multicultural communication infrastructure model, the paper argues that geo-ethnic media can be a powerful means to promote civic virtues in a large, pluralistic modern society and to help new immigrants transform their 'formal' citizenship into a 'substantive' citizenship. The geo-ethnic media also provides a transnational supplement to the mainstream public sphere, which allows a sub-national ethnic community to maintain its cultural identity. The paper concludes that further efforts should be made to foster communication and interaction between the mainstream media and the diverse world of ethnic media in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Threespine stickleback exhibit a row of superficial neuromasts that project through the bony plates on each side of the trunk and which constitute an important sensory modality for detection of near-field water motion. Previously, we have shown that numbers of neuromasts on each structural plate are highly variable among populations. In the current paper, we expand this study to evaluate the extent of deviation from bilateral symmetry of 4344 fish in 57 natural and three transplant populations of threespine stickleback from lakes, streams and oceanic habitats of coastal British Columbia, predicting that neuromasts would be largely bilaterally symmetrical for optimal detection of external stimuli. In contrast, we found asymmetry in all populations, the greatest amount occurring on the anterior buttressing lateral plates and on populations with the fewest neuromasts. We found no consistent trends of signed (directional) asymmetry (SA) among the populations while relative absolute asymmetry (RAA) is lower in dystrophic (stained) habitats than in clearwater habitats (p < 0.001), except for fish with few neuromasts. Sexual dimorphism in RAA is also greater in dystrophic habitats (p < 0.001). Transplants from stained lakes to unstained ponds resulted in a 0.1% to 14% difference in RAA from the source population in less than 12 generations but varied in direction among experiments. Our data suggest a widespread tendency for populations exposed to reduced photic information to exhibit reduced asymmetry in their lateral line system, which can change rapidly in response to a new environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The displacement of a large slow-moving landslide is accompanied by slope damage, such as fractures, tension cracks, and slope bulging. Studies of these features provide insight into the mechanisms responsible for the deformation. In this paper, we investigate slope damage at the Downie Slide, a very large landslide in British Columbia, Canada, that is slowly moving along two shear zones subparallel to the ground surface. Structural geology, and particularly the morphology of the lower shear zone, strongly controls the deformation and, in turn, the observed internal and surficial slope damage features. We use aerial and underground adit laser scanning and photogrammetry to characterize the geometry of the landslide. We subdivide the slide area into slope damage domains based on the distribution, size, and orientation of the slope damage features. We reconstruct the shape of the two failure surfaces by interpolating borehole inclinometer monitoring data and processing the 3D surfaces in a GIS environment to create aspect and slope maps. We observe a strong correlation between surficial slope damage features and changes in the dip and dip direction of the lower sliding surface. We further infer the presence of a multi-planar failure surface geometry and previously unrecognized structurally controlled damage zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Montney tight siltstone reservoir is a multi-stacked play, which covers a total area of 130,000 km2 along the Alberta–British Columbia border in Western Canada. Since the late 1990s, different fracturing methods and fluids have been tested in 4000-plus Montney wells to find the optimal fracturing method and fluid. The previous studies reviewing the performance of fracturing methods in Montney do not represent a holistic evaluation of these methods, owing to some limitations, including: (1) using a small sample size, (2) having a limited scope by focusing on a specific aspect of fracturing (method/fluid), (3) relying on data analytics approaches that offer limited subsurface insight, and (4) generating misleading results (e.g., on optimum fracturing method/fluid) through using disparate data that are unstructured and untrustworthy as a result of significant regional variations in true vertical depth (TVD), geological properties, fluid windows, completed lateral length, fracturing method/fluid/date, and drawdown rate management and choke size strategy. The present study eliminates these limitations by rigorously clustering 4000-plus Montney wells based on the TVD, fluid window, completed lateral length, fracturing method/fluid/date, and drawdown rate strategy to isolate the effect of each fracturing method by comparing each well's production to that of its offsets, which use different fracturing methods but possess similar geology, fluid window, and TVD. With similar TVD, fracturing fluid, and completion date, wells completed with pinpoint fracturing method outperform their offsets completed with ball-and-seat and plug-and-perforate (PnP) fracturing methods. However, wells completed with ball-and-seat and PnP methods that outperform their offset pinpoint wells have either: (1) been fractured one to four years earlier than the pinpoint wells and/or (2) used energized oil-based fluid, hybrid fluid, and energized slickwater versus slickwater used in the pinpoint offsets. This suggests that the water-phase trapping is more severe in these pinpoint wells attributable to the use of slickwater. Previous studies often favored one specific fracturing method or fluid without highlighting these complex interplays between the type of fracturing method, fracturing fluid, completion date (regional depletion or well vintage), and the reservoir properties and hydrodynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel approach to continuously monitor very slow-moving translational landslides in mountainous terrain using conventional and experimental differential global navigation satellite system (d-GNSS) technologies. A key research question addressed is whether displacement trends captured by a radio-frequency "mobile" d-GNSS network compare with the spatial and temporal patterns in activity indicated by satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry. Field testing undertaken at Ripley Landslide, near Ashcroft in south-central British Columbia, Canada, demonstrates the applicability of new geospatial technologies to monitoring ground control points (GCPs) and railway infrastructure on a landslide with small and slow annual displacements (<10 cm/yr). Each technique records increased landslide activity and ground displacement in late winter and early spring. During this interval, river and groundwater levels are at their lowest levels, while ground saturation rapidly increases in response to the thawing of surficial earth materials, and the infiltration of snowmelt and runoff occurs by way of deep-penetrating tension cracks at the head scarp and across the main slide body. Research over the last decade provides vital information for government agencies, national railway companies, and other stakeholders to understand geohazard risk, predict landslide movement, improve the safety, security, and resilience of Canada's transportation infrastructure; and reduce risks to the economy, environment, natural resources, and public safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early hours of January 23, 2018, residents of Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, awoke to the sounds of the community's tsunami warning system, alerting them of the need to evacuate. While the emergency evacuation successfully occurred, the tsunami, fortunately, did not. This event has provided an exceptional opportunity to understand how residents perceive near-miss events and how an evacuation experience due to a tsunami threat influenced residents' views towards emergency preparedness and future evacuation intentions. The results of our survey, completed by four-hundred fifty-seven households, reveal a partial let-down effect for those living within the tsunami inundation zone and a partial wake-up for those living outside the zone. For those within the risk region, no change in perceived risk was found post-event; however, households in the high-risk region indicated greater levels of worry or fear towards future evacuations compared to those outside the risk region. No differences were found in the number of households who had preparedness plans in place when compared by risk zones; however, those living within the tsunami inundation zone indicated higher levels of intention for creating an emergency plan post-event. Of importance, those who experienced difficulties in evacuating reported significantly lower intentions for future evacuation, higher levels of worry, and a stronger sense of disapproval towards the evacuation as compared to those who did not experience difficulties. Additional contributions of this paper include recommendations for officials responsible for initiating and managing an emergency evacuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral distress in health care has been identified as a growing concern and a focus of research in nursing and health care for almost three decades. Researchers and theorists have argued that moral distress has both short and long-term consequences. Moral distress has implications for satisfaction, recruitment and retention of health care providers and implications for the delivery of safe and competent quality patient care. In over a decade of research on ethical practice, registered nurses and other health care practitioners have repeatedly identified moral distress as a concern and called for action. However, research and action on moral distress has been constrained by lack of conceptual clarity and theoretical confusion as to the meaning and underpinnings of moral distress. To further examine these issues and foster action on moral distress, three members of the University of Victoria/University of British Columbia (UVIC/UVIC) nursing ethics research team initiated the development and delivery of a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary symposium on Moral Distress with international experts, researchers, and practitioners. The goal of the symposium was to develop an agenda for action on moral distress in health care. We sought to develop a plan of action that would encompass recommendations for education, practice, research and policy. The papers in this special issue of HEC Forum arose from that symposium. In this first paper, we provide an introduction to moral distress; make explicit some of the challenges associated with theoretical and conceptual constructions of moral distress; and discuss the barriers to the development of research, education, and policy that could, if addressed, foster action on moral distress in health care practice. The following three papers were written by key international experts on moral distress, who explore in-depth the issues in three arenas: education, practice, research. In the fifth and last paper in the series, we highlight key insights from the symposium and the papers in the series, propose to redefine moral distress, and outline directions for an agenda for action on moral distress in health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Burgess Shale controversies as a case-study, this paper argues that controversies within different domains may interact as to create a situation of 'com- plicated intricacies,' where the practicing scientist has to navigate through a context of multiple thought collectives. To some extent each of these collectives has its own dynamic complete with fairly negotiated standards for investigation and explanation, theoretical background assumptions and certain peculiarities of practice. But the intellectual development in one of these collectives may 'spill over' having far reaching consequences for the treatment of apparently independent epistemic problems that are subject of investigation in other thought collectives. For the practicing scientist it is necessary to take this complex web of interactions into account in order to be able to navigate in such a situation. So far most studies of academic science have had a tendency to treat the practicing scientist as members of a single (enclosed) thought collective that stands intellectually isolated from other similar entities unless the discipline was in a state of crisis of paradigmatic proportions. The richness and complexity of Burgess Shale debate shows that this encapsulated kind of analysis is not enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Study design:A systematic review.Objectives:To review and assess the psychometric properties of depression and anxiety instruments used with populations with spinal cord injury (SCI).Setting:Vancouver, Canada.Methods:Electronic databases were searched for papers reporting psychometric properties of depression and anxiety instruments. Pre-established criteria were used to assess the psychometric properties.Results:Thirteen papers reporting on the psychometric properties of 13 depression and anxiety instruments are used in this review, and include BDI, BSI, CESD-20, CESD-10, DASS-21, GHQ-28, HADS, Ilfeld-PSI, MEDS, PHQ-9, PHQ-9-Short, SCL-90-R, and the Zung SRS. Reliability data are available for 10 instruments, and validity results are available for 12 instruments. Evidence spanned the spectrum of evaluation criteria varying from poor to excellent. Responsiveness data are generally lacking.Conclusion:Given that the reliability and validity findings range for the most part from adequate to excellent, and the large amount of work to develop cutoff scores specific for populations with SCI, at present there is no need to develop SCI-specific instruments. As psychometric properties of one measure do not clearly stand out, it is difficult to recommend the use of one over another. Overall, more psychometric data are needed, and if the instruments are to be used to evaluate treatment outcomes or change over time, responsiveness data are also required. Administering the instruments in tandem with each other and with clinical diagnostic interviews would provide valuable information, as would comparison of results to normative data specific to individuals with SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports a study that used a Bernsteinian analysis in order to investigate the association between higher primary science curriculum and social equity in four contrasting socioeconomic contexts: British Columbia (Canada), Singapore, South Africa and Kenya. The official science curriculum of each jurisdiction was analysed in terms of strength of knowledge boundaries, selection and progression of content and the use of vertical and horizontal discourses. All four curricula included life science and physical science topics, with a variable attention given to earth and space science and technology. South Africa and British Columbia had strong boundaries between content domains, while Singapore and Kenya had weak knowledge boundaries. The depth, an indicator of increasing specialization, increased over the higher primary years in each curriculum. British Columbia and Singapore addressed fewer topics in each year of study than Kenya and South Africa. Kenya included many applied science topics, including technology, health education and agriculture. South Africa separated physical science into chemistry and physics and integrated technology and health education into science. The two wealthier countries, British Columbia and Singapore, prioritized vertical discourse, while the two developing countries, South Africa and Kenya, referenced horizontal discourse more frequently. The results only partially support the claims made by Bernstein (Br. J. Sociol. Educ. 20:157–173, 1999) and Young and Muller (2016) for an association between the curriculum and social equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leaching process and drainage chemistry of acid rock drainage is mainly controlled by geochemical reactions and how water carries soluble reaction products in waste rock piles. This paper studied how water flows through a full-scale waste rock pile at the Equity Silver mine site in British Columbia, Canada and elaborated on their effects on the leaching process and drainage chemistry. A revised dual-permeability model coupled with mass transport was adopted to investigate preferential flow and matrix flow in the pile simultaneously while considering water and geochemical products leaching/exchange between them. Furthermore, a particle-level water film model and also the effects of air flow, oxygen transport, and heat transfer in pile scale were integrated to account for geochemical reactions. Simulation results of full-scale iron discharge showed that aqueous concentrations in drainage water did not vary significantly relative to variations in drainage flow rate, which was confirmed by 12 years of field monitoring data. In addition, the comparison of pre- and post-cover simulations with measured lime consumption during ARD treatment, and mass-balance/dilution calculations for the entire pile, indicates that roughly 15–20% of total precipitation passes through the cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian Water Quality Index (CWQI) provides protection for freshwater life promoting healthy ecosystems and safeguarding human health. Biological Diatom Index (BDI) was developed to indicate the ecological status and water quality of freshwater systems. This paper evaluates the relations between the two different indices. During rising and falling, water samples were taken in the Curuai Floodplain, Brazil. CWQI was calculated using 14 physicochemical parameters and 1 microbiological parameter. The limits were established according to freshwater quality conditions and standards based on water use classes 1 and 2 determined in CONAMA 357 legislation and British Columbia. Canadian Water Quality Index categorization ranged from "marginal" to "excellent," most sampling units were "good" (71%), followed by "fair" (12%) and "excellent" (12%) water quality. Total phosphorus (38 times), chlorophyll a (20), dissolved oxygen (10), and total organic carbon (10) were the parameters that presented the most non-compliance values. Encyonema silesiacum (14%), Gomphonema parvulum (13%), and Navicula cryptotenella (12%) were the main taxa in the rising period, while G. lagenula, E. silesiacum, and Fragilaria capucina were the main taxa during the falling period. BDI ranges from I to V water quality classes. We observed "poor" to "very good" ecological status, with most sampling units "moderate" (52%) and "good" (29%). Water quality for class 2 was better than water quality for class 1, as the limits of the parameters evaluated were more restrictive in class 1 than in class 2 and the predominant uses of water require a higher degree of water purity. The biological index based on diatoms was the most restrictive index whose water classes and categorizations have shown an ecological status that could threaten the protection of aquatic communities on the Curuai floodplain. We suggest the combined use of both indices—physicochemical and biological for water quality assessment in this type of environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The passage of time influences the content of the law and therefore also the validity of legal arguments. This is true even for charter-arguments, despite the widely held view that constitutional law is made to last. In this paper, I investigate the reason why the sanctity-of life argument against physician assisted suicide lost its validity between the Supreme Court decision in Rodriguez v. British Columbia in 1993 and Carter v. Canada in 2015. I suggest that a rhetorical approach to argument evaluation is the best basis for a satisfying explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the influence of the 27 October 2012, Mw 7.8 earthquake on landslide occurrence in the southern half of Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia, Canada. Our 1350 km2 study area is undisturbed, primarily forested terrain that has not experienced road building or timber harvesting. Our inventory of landslide polygons is based on optical airborne and spaceborne images acquired between 2007 and 2018, from which we extracted and mapped 446 individual landslides (an average of 33 landslides per 100 km2). The landslide rate in years without major earthquakes averages 19.4 per year, or 1.4/100 km2/year, and the annual average area covered by non-seismically triggered landslides is 35 ha/year. The number of landslides identified in imagery closely following the 2012 earthquake, and probably triggered by it, is 244 or an average of about 18 landslides per 100 km2. These landslides cover a total area of 461 ha. In the following years—2013–2016 and 2016–2018—the number of landslides fell, respectively, to 26 and 13.5 landslides per year. In non-earthquake years, most landslides happen on south-facing slopes, facing the prevailing winds. In contrast, during or immediately after the earthquake, up to 32% of the landslides occurred on north and northwest-facing slopes. Although we could not find imagery from the day after the earthquake, overview reconnaissance flights 10 and 16 days later showed that most of the landslides were recent, suggesting they were co-seismic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design:A systematic review of all sexual health outcome measures reporting psychometric properties for a spinal cord injury (SCI) population.Objectives:To evaluate the psychometric evidence for sexual health outcome measures used in a SCI population in order to (1) determine the clinical relevance of current tools and (2) suggest recommendations for future tool development.Setting:Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Methods:Electronic databases were searched for articles reporting psychometric properties of sexual health outcome measures used in a SCI population. The search was limited to papers published between January 1986 and January 2006. Hand-searching the references of papers obtained from the electronic search identified additional articles.Results:Four outcome measures met the search criteria: Emotional Quality of the Relationship Scale (EQR), Sexual Activity and Satisfaction Scale (SAS), Sexual Attitude and Information Questionnaire (SAIQ) and Sexual Interest and Satisfaction Scale (SIS). While the clinical utility of these tools may be compromised by their limited scope and advancing age, they may still prove useful for guiding SCI research and clinical practice.Conclusion:There is no clinically agreed upon SCI measurement tool for sexual health outcomes. To adequately assess the complex issue of sexual health, it is recommended that future sexual health outcome measures include both quantitative and qualitative data as well as address several key issues.Spinal Cord (2008) 46, 320–324; doi:10.1038/sj.sc.3102136; published online 16 October 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a study which explored the ways in which post-secondary educators in British Columbia are reforming their teaching and learning practice as result of open education. Using a phenomenological approach with self-identifying open education practitioners we explore how openness is being enacted through learning design. Structuration theory is used as a theoretical lens to explore innovations to pedagogy through three modalities, which include facilities, norms, and interpretive schemes. The analysis identifies how participants in this study draw upon these modalities to support openness in their teaching. The findings suggest that open educational resources and practices can support learner-centered educational designs and should be considered design technologies, those that have the capacity to enhance teaching and learning practice; rather than simply content delivery technologies, those that influence the cost and access to education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of hydraulic fracturing used to exploit unconventional shale gas has raised public concerns over the volumes of freshwater that are extracted for injection operations as well as the volumes of wastewater generated as a by-product of gas production. Using data from the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission, this paper examines the volumes of produced and injected water from hydraulically fractured gas wells in Northeastern British Columbia. The two major producing shale gas basins in the province are the Montney and the Horn River. In this study, these are divided into several sub-basins based on existing geological and reservoir engineering applications. For each sub-basin the average volumes of wastewater- and injected water per well are calculated and then normalized to cumulative gas production. Ratios of injected water: gas production and wastewater: gas production are then applied to estimated volumes of remaining gas reserves in each sub-basin in order to calculate a total water footprint of future exploitation. These extrapolated water footprints were further elaborated into three scenarios of wastewater recycling rates: 0, 40, and 100% re-use. This study also compares the quality and quantity of wastewater produced from hydraulically fractured wells to their conventional counterparts in the province. Based on these calculations, the total future freshwater withdrawal and wastewater production volumes for all basins range from 1.65 to 3 billion, and 0 to 1.35 billion cubic metres, respectively. Volumes of freshwater withdrawal are relatively modest compared to other industries when considering the size of Northeastern British Columbia and the time-scale of extraction. In general, hydraulically fractured wells in Northeastern British Columbia produce volumes of wastewater that are equal to or lower than those required for injection. Unconventional gas wells often produce far less wastewater than their conventional counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the shaping and reshaping of, and intersections between, aboriginal and non-aboriginal communication, information, and documentation processes in British Columbia, from the mid 1800s to the 21st century. It suggests that when two cultures come into contact with each other, the relationship between them is inevitably transformed, along with each culture's traditional methods of communication, information management, and memory making. While it is often assumed that one technology might dominate the other, more often the different technologies and methods blend together to create a new hybrid approach, a cross-cultural integration, though the less powerful culture often does most of the accommodating. By considering the relationship between aboriginal people and European settlers in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, particularly over the ownership of and rights to land, this paper suggests that the two societies have intertwined their communities, their cultures, and their documentary systems to the point that today neither society exists in isolation. Each culture is inextricably linked with the other, a fact that calls into question the idea that aboriginal oral traditions are ‘pure’ or separate from non-aboriginal methods of documentation, as well as the notion that written forms of record keeping about aboriginal-non-aboriginal relationships are not influenced by oral evidence from aboriginal sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysing sexual harassment law in British Columbia, this paper argues that in highly sexualised work environments, in which practices including sexual 'jokes' or innuendo may be common, law embodies and (re)creates the gendered subtext of the workplace. When a complaint of sexual harassment from a sexualised workplace is raised in a legal forum, a complainant has an obligation to clearly object to the sexual remarks, 'jokes,' banter, etc.-which may be the 'norm'-to show the conduct in question was unwelcome. At the same time, however, a workplace may be structured, in part by law, in a way that restricts employee resistance to uncomfortable sexual experiences. This is the case, I argue, for women working in full-service restaurants when it comes to sexual interactions with customers. This paper explores how restaurant work, in the Canadian context with a focus on the province of British Columbia, is organised in a manner that makes women vulnerable to enduring sexually harassing practices as a routine part of their jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented changes to cancer care in many countries, impacting cancer patients' lives in numerous ways. This study examines the impact of changes in cancer care on patient's health-related quality of life (HRQL), which is a key outcome in cancer care. The study aims to estimate patients' self-reported HRQL before and during the pandemic and identify predictive factors for their physical and mental wellbeing. Method: The study employed the large-scale Outpatient Cancer Care (OCC) Patient Experience Survey, including the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey, to evaluate cancer patients' experiences and HRQL before (January to May 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (May to July 2021). Paired t-tests were conducted to compare differences in Physical Component Scores (PCS) and Mental Component Scores (MCS) before and during the pandemic. Multivariable linear regressions were employed to investigate the factors (sociodemographic, clinical, and patient-reported experience) influencing PCS and MCS during the pandemic. Results: PCS decreased significantly during the pandemic, while MCS remained stable. Lower PCS contributors included older age, more telehealth visits, self-reported hospitalization, and a longer time since the last cancer diagnosis. Higher PCS was associated with urban residence, higher MCS during the pandemic, and perceived active Healthcare Provider (HCP) involvement. For MCS, lower scores related to female gender and more telehealth visits, while higher scores were associated with being white, higher education, high MCS before the pandemic, and perceived active HCP involvement. Conclusion: The OCC Patient Experience Survey provides a unique patient level data set measuring HRQL pre- and post- the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study highlights challenges faced by cancer patients during the pandemic, with a significant reduction in PCS. However, the stability in MCS suggests effective coping mechanisms. Sociodemographic, clinical, and telehealth-related variables play a complex role in shaping both PCS and MCS. Perceived HCP involvement emerges as a crucial factor correlating with higher PCS and MCS. Navigating the post-pandemic era necessitates interventions fortifying patient-provider relationships, optimizing healthcare support systems, such as telehealth services, and prioritizing mental-well-being given its impact on both PCS and MCS. Plain English summary: This study delves into the impact of changes in cancer care and COVID-19 measures on the well-being of cancer patients. As cancer care shifted during the pandemic, we aimed to understand how it affected patients' quality of life. The study discovered that physical well-being significantly decreased, especially for older patients with more telehealth visits, while mental well-being remained stable, indicating effective coping strategies. Factors like the number of telehealth visits, healthcare provider engagement, and pre-pandemic mental health status played pivotal roles in shaping the mental and physical well-being of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study emphasizes the challenges faced by cancer patients during the pandemic and highlights the importance of supportive interventions for patient-provider relationships and prioritizing mental-wellbeing in the post-pandemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The five great trans-Pacific tsunamis of the 20th century that occurred in 1946, 1952, 1957, 1960 and 1964 were accurately recorded by analogue tide gauges on the coast of British Columbia. All available pen-and-paper records of these events were collected, digitised, de-tided and analysed. The 1946 Aleutian Islands event was recorded at two stations, Tofino and Victoria, where maximum trough-to-crest tsunami wave heights were 55 and 27 cm, respectively. These two gauged stations, as well as Prince Rupert, Alert Bay and Kitimat, also recorded the 1952 Kamchatka tsunami, which generated a maximum wave height of 77 cm at Tofino. The 1957 Andreanof Islands tsunami was recorded at six primary stations and the 1960 Chile tsunami by 17 primary and temporary tide gauges. For both of these events, the maximum tsunami wave heights also occurred at Tofino: 48 cm (1957) and 132 cm (1960). The 1964 Alaska tsunami remains the strongest tsunami yet instrumentally recorded on the coast of British Columbia. Our examination of 16 records from this event shows that maximum wave heights at eight stations were higher than 1 m, including Port Alberni (770 cm), Ocean Falls (376 cm), Tofino (237 cm) and Alert Bay (222 cm). We also find that the maximum wave at all stations for this event was among the first three waves. Subsequent wave heights rapidly attenuated following this group of waves. Frequency-time (f–t) analyses of the tsunami waveforms reveal that, for each station, the dominant frequencies of the waves and their evolution with time were very similar for different tsunamis, but differed considerably among sites for a particular tsunami, indicating the strong influence of local/regional topography on the incoming waves. From the latter point of view, the 1964 tsunami was exceptional. The epicentre of the 1964 Alaska earthquake was located much closer to the BC coast than for the other events and, therefore, the influence of the source was much stronger. The "ringing" of this tsunami was substantially shorter (< 1.5 days), the energy decay much faster, and the f–t diagrams at all sites more similar than for the other major events. During the 1964 event, energy associated with the dominant period of 2 h rapidly decayed. All of the tsunamis examined penetrated deep inside the narrow channels, fjords and inlets, typical of the BC coast. Waves also propagated far into some of the rivers. The 1952 Kamchatka tsunami was recorded at Kitimat, located at the head of Kitimat Arm about 80 km from Hecate Strait, while the 1957 Andreanof Islands tsunami was measured at Bella Coola, located at the remotest part of Burke Channel, a distance of ~110 km from the open ocean (Queen Charlotte Sound). The 1960 Chile tsunami was recorded at five stations located in the complex network of inlets and channels that make up the Seymour–Belize Inlet system on the central mainland coast of British Columbia, while the 1964 Alaska tsunami was observed at many stations in the Fraser River, including Pitt Lake that is connected to the Strait of Georgia through a 64-km route upstream in the Fraser and Pitt rivers. Our results further show that occasionally the fjords and inlets of the BC coast not only do not hinder the incoming waves but can strongly enhance them through resonant amplification. This was the case for the 1964 tsunami waves in Alberni Inlet, where the resonant response to the incoming waves resulted in severe damage to Port Alberni at the head of the inlet. The results of our analyses make it possible to isolate the tsunami signal and evaluate the principal parameters of tsunami waves. This, in turn, is of considerable value for three major problems: (1) Cataloguing of tsunami events; (2) estimation of the potential tsunami risk to the BC coast; and (3) verification and calibration of numerical tsunami models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Thompson River valley, south of Ashcroft in British Columbia, Canada, has experienced several landslides since the mid-1800s. The national railways that run along the valley cross a number of these landslides. All the landslides occur in glacial deposits, typically sliding on weak clay layers. Some have failed rapidly to very rapidly and are currently inactive or showing deformation rates from a few millimeters to centimeters per year. An evaluation of satellite InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) using RADARSAT-2 images between September 2013 and November 2015 provides new insight into landslide displacements in the Thompson River valley. This information enhances the ongoing hazard management of unstable terrain. This paper presents the comparison of the InSAR measurements with other instrumentation (GPS and ShapeAccelArrays™ -SAA) installed at one moving landslide and then addresses the extent and magnitude of the slope movements observed. InSAR was found to provide similar displacement values to those measured otherwise. The stable location showed displacements of +/−1 mm with an average near zero during the whole monitoring period. Six areas of slope movement were identified within the study area, all within or adjacent to the footprints of past landslides. The average line of sight (LOS) displacement rates range between 11 and 39 mm/year. Most of the landslides exhibited seasonal variations in velocity that corresponds to changes in river elevation in the valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proactively managing disaster risk in the absence of an event is the result of the responsible organization or institution's political will. This paper is a comparative policy and practice study on factors affecting municipal institutional behaviour on flood management in the City of Vancouver and District of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Using Q methodology, we identify three behavioural groups through a by-person factor analysis on local practitioners ( n = 12) in the study area. We compare these findings with data gathered from semi-structure in-depth interviews ( n = 7), literature on development pathway theory and a review of local responses in the two cities. We suggest the mechanisms in place for external funding is inherently different for smaller municipalities who lack administrative capacities. In the absence of cross-boundary risk, it becomes more difficult to access the resources necessary to adopt disaster risk reduction strategies requiring large inputs of hard infrastructure. These smaller municipalities are more reliant on the expressed interests of the public than that of larger municipalities who can more freely distribute resources based on risk. Not only does institutional behaviour influence the disaster risk management system in place, but also the external mechanisms in place to provide support for such proactive management forces institutional behaviour of smaller municipalities to be oriented towards more social inclusion as opposed to the risk-sensitive approach that larger municipalities are more easily able to align themselves. This hinders the adoption of disaster risk reduction in local emergency management policy and practice and reinforces a reactive disaster risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security policy, programs, and infrastructure have been incorporated into Public Health and other areas of the Provincial Government in British Columbia, including the adoption of food security as a Public Health Core Program. A policy analysis of the integration into Public Health is completed by merging findings from 48 key informant interviews conducted with government, civil society, and food supply chain representatives involved in the initiatives along with relevant documents and participant/direct observations. The paper then examines the results within the context of historic and international trends and theoretical models of food policy, community food security, and applied policy research. Public Health re-emerged as a driver of food security in BC-both as a key player and in positing the public's health as a driver in food security and food systems. While Public Health's lead role supported an increase in legitimacy for food security in BC, interviewees described a clash of cultures between Public Health and civil society. The clash of cultures occurred partly as a result of Public Health's limited food security mandate and top down approach. Consequently civil society voice at the provincial level was marginalized. A social policy movement toward a new political paradigm-regulatory pluralism-calls for greater engagement of civil society, and for all sectors to work together toward common goals. A new, emerging policy map is proposed for analyzing the dynamics of food security and health promotion initiatives in BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of a collaborative study on visualizing climate change at the local scale. A conceptual framework has been developed, in which local scenarios and visualizations of climate change impacts and response were created to facilitate local dialogue on incorporating climate change into long-term planning and implementation of community development decisions. As part of a larger effort to generate a new integrated participatory visioning process, this paper describes a case study of the District of North Vancouver which created visualizations of changing mountain snow and landscape conditions, and provides new insights on issues and dilemmas in using realistic landscape visualizations to depict scientific modelling projections, local responses to climate change, and uncertainty. Results from this study suggest that the visualizations, and subsequent dialogue sessions, did influence emotional response to climate change as well as self-assessed understanding of adaptation and mitigation response options. However, there is a need to test this visioning process with larger heterogeneous groups of participants in order to better assess its effectiveness in enabling dialogue on local responses to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007 new meat inspection regulations standardizing meat production throughout the Province of British Columbia (BC), Canada came into effect moving food for local consumption closer to continentally harmonized production standards. Critics argue that the economic viability of small-scale livestock farmers is threatened. Small-scale women farmers are central to the creation of alternative local agri-food networks in BC. Using gender as an analytically enabling tool this paper argues that public food-safety regulation can create the conditions for the dominance of private agri-food governance. The discursive creation of a feminized privileged consumer legitimates much non-democratic agri-food governance. The paper argues that more just and ecologically sustainable futures require a 'gender troubling' of agri-food governance in which the privileged identity of the food consumer is reconstructed as global citizen in the context of the food sovereignty of the farmers who produce their food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional regression is a natural tool for exploring the potential impact of the physical environment (continuously monitored) on biological processes (often only assessed annually). This paper explores the potential use of functional regression analysis and the closely related functional principal component analysis for studying the relationship between river flow (continuously monitored) and salmon abundance (measured annually). The specific example involves a depressed sockeye salmon population in Rivers Inlet, BC. Particular attention is given to (i) the role of subject matter expertise and cross-validation techniques in guiding decisions on basis functions and smoothing parameters, and (ii) the importance of restricting the time domain for the continuously monitored variable to a scientifically meaningful period of time. In addition, we derive a joint confidence region for the functional regression coefficient function and discuss its use relative to the more commonly used pointwise confidence intervals. The analysis points to a substantial negative correlation between early spring river flow and marine survival of the sockeye salmon that subsequently migrate down the inlet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a buoyant global market for minerals has led to renewed interest in the mining sector as a means of generating economic growth in resource producing areas of developed nations. The development of new operations, however, raises concerns around the impacts of mining activities on the environment, health and traditional ways of life of Indigenous peoples. Using the proposed expansion of the Kemess mine in northern British Columbia as a case study, this paper examines two First Nations' perspectives regarding the regulatory process through which environmental values may be validated and protected, and seeks to understand how these First Nations' environmental values and perceptions of risk are connected to health and well-being. Sixteen key informant interviews were carried out and thematically analyzed through political ecology and environmental justice frameworks. The paper argues that accommodating First Nations' environmental values and perceptions of risks is a necessary first step to reclaim health and well-being in politically marginalized settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the initiation of a Theory of Computing Systems from the 13th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation which took place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Discussion of selected papers related to computing systems during the symposium; Relation of the issue to the expanding field of graph theory; Aid of algorithms on the problem in wireless networks.

The first part of this paper discusses the links between hazard, risk and vulnerability (HRV) analysis and the development of mitigative strategies. The second part discusses the need to include public participation when completing an HRV analysis. Two current HRV models are used to illustrate the general failure of HRV analysis to include public participation. The third part of this paper provides a brief overview of the Hazard, Impact, Risk and Vulnerability (HIRV) model and its use of public participation. The paper concludes by offering a synopsis of a case study in the town and regional area surrounding Barriere, British Columbia, Canada. This case study demonstrates a positive outcome when public participation is incorporated into an HIRV analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the nature and comorbidity of substance use and other psychiatric disorders in 157 impaired practitioners notified to the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria from 1983 to 1997. Diagnoses were reduced to three diagnostic categories, viz, substance use disorder (n = 62), other psychiatric disorder (n = 62), and combined substance use and other psychiatric disorder (n = 33). Sixty nine percent of those with other psychiatric disorders suffered either bipolar disorder (n = 27), schizophrenia (n = 22), or depression (n = 17). Psychiatric comorbidity in drug-related diagnoses was 26% and in alcohol-related diagnoses 64%. Sixty five percent of substance use disorders were notified more than 12 months after onset of impairment, and 49% of all practitioners (71% with substance use disorder) did not receive treatment prior to notification. This combined with a high relapse rate (41%) makes some impaired practitioners a risk to their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]