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Background: Intussusception is the most common cause of bowel obstruction in children aged 3 months to 6 years of age. We sought to describe patterns of incident childhood intussusception. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal cohort study utilizing population-based health administrative data and a validated case definition was used to identify patients <18 years of age treated for intussusception between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2016 in Ontario, Canada. Descriptive statistics, graphical analyses, and a Poisson regression model were performed for trend analysis. Results: The overall incidence of intussusception in Ontario children (<18 years) was 3.3 cases/100,000 child years (cyrs), 95% CI [3.2.3.5]. The overall incidence increased from.9 cases/100,000 cyrs to 2.3 cases/100,000 cyrs. The highest incidence was in children aged 6-12 months at 28.9 cases/100,000 cyrs, 95% CI [26.2.31.9]. Incidence increased in all age-groups between 6 months and 5 years (at a rate of 5% to 16% per year; all P <.05). Month of year did not predict intussusception counts in a log-linear Poisson models, nor did rotavirus immunization implementation in 2011. There was a 3-fold variability across geographic areas in the province. There was a high rate of readmission for recurrence within 1 year (10.7%). Conclusion: The incidence of intussusception more than doubled in Ontario from 1997 to 2016. The incidence increased for children aged between 6 months and 5 years at a rate of 5-16% per year, suggesting that an increased rate of idiopathic intussusception is responsible for the increase in the province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The best-formed small (less than 10-mm) spinel crystals have been found in the salmon-pink calcite, whereas the best larger spinel crystals and the best corundum pseudomorphs appear to occur in gray calcite toward the center of the vein-dikes. Epitaxy of magnesiohögbomite on an octahedral face of spinel crystal overgrown by another spinel crystal from the DeWitts Corners occurrence. Due to the composite nature of the spinel crystals (see further on), magnesiohögbomite crystals can be found on faces of spinel crystals that have been overgrown by other crystals when forming larger composite spinel crystals (fig. 13). This locality, little known among mineral collectors, is a source of unusual spinel specimens, aesthetic pseudomorphs of corundum after spinel, and superb specimens of two polytypes of magnesiohögbomite. [Extracted from the article]

Takahashi et al. ([5]) successfully produced lab-grown scepter quartz using the microchannel epitaxy concept by artificially masking the prism faces of a quartz crystal with silver and leaving the apex unmasked. First, crystals tend to grow roughly perpendicular to the walls of the vein because any other orientation would put these crystals at a disadvantage in the competition with other crystals for space. All specimens pictured from the Lyndhurst area, Ontario, Canada Quartz is a common and deceptively simple mineral that keeps giving us riddles. Quartz crystals were found in hydrothermal quartz veins located in light beige to light gray quartzite (meta-sandstone) interlayered with gneiss. [Extracted from the article]

To identify jurisdictions and demographic factors associated with increased driving times to the nearest RT facility in Canada. RT facilities in Canada were identified using information obtained from the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology and the IAEA Directory of Radiotherapy Centers. The 2021 Canadian census was used to determine demographic profiles for each dissemination area, the smallest geographic unit (target size 400-700 people) on which all census data is reported. Poor geographic access was defined as a driving time between a dissemination area and the closest RT facility exceeding 90 minutes as computed using the OpenStreetMap database. The association between province and poor geographic access was assessed using multivariable logistic regression adjusting for population density by decile. Demographic characteristics were subsequently introduced into the logistic regression to identify factors associated with poor access. A total of 51 radiotherapy centers and 57,937 dissemination areas were mapped. Median driving time to the closest RT facility was 23 minutes, and 13% of the population had poor access to RT. RT was least accessible in the three territories, whose residents had a median driving time of 1096 minutes. Among the provinces, Newfoundland had the longest median driving time of 91 minutes while Manitoba had the shortest median driving time of 20 minutes. On logistic regression with population density as a covariate, dissemination areas in Newfoundland (OR, 9.64 compared to Ontario; 95% CI, 8.3 to 11.2) and British Columbia (OR, 5.46; 95% CI, 5.03 to 5.93) had the highest odds of poor geographic access, whereas Ontario (reference) and PEI (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.34 to 0.69) had the lowest odds. Inclusion of demographic variables in the logistic regression revealed that dissemination areas with higher median age (OR, 1.035 per year; 95% CI, 1.030 to 1.039), more males (OR, 1.033 per %; 95% CI, 1.021 to 1.045), lower income (OR, 1.030 per % low income status; 95% CI, 1.024 to 1.035), increased aboriginal representation (OR, 1.050 per %; 95% CI, 1.045 to 1.054), fewer visible minorities (OR, 0.979 per %; 95% CI, 0.973 to 0.985), fewer immigrants (OR, 0.934 per %; 95% CI, 0.927 to 0.941), and lower attainment of postsecondary education (OR, 0.976 per %; 95% CI, 0.972 to 0.979) were associated with poorer access to RT. Approximately 13% of Canadians have a driving time exceeding 90 minutes to the closest RT facility. Geographic access to RT varied by province and dissemination areas with higher median age, low socioeconomic status, a greater proportion of males, and higher aboriginal populations were associated with poorer access. Our study identified deficiencies in access to existing RT facilities, and its results may inform planning efforts for locations of new facilities in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Data on people experiencing homelessness often come from time- and labour-intensive cross-sectional counts and surveys from selected samples. This study uses comprehensive administrative health data from emergency department (ED) visits to enumerate people experiencing homelessness and characterize demographic and geographic trends in the province of Ontario, Canada, from 2010 to 2017. Data and methods People experiencing homelessness were identified by their postal code, designated as "XX." Outcomes included the number of people experiencing homelessness stratified by year and week, gender and age plotted annually, the location of each ED visit, and composition changes in demographics and geographic distribution. Results Over seven years, 39,408 individuals were identified as experiencing homelessness. The number of ED visits increased over the study period in all of Ontario. The average peak in the number of visits occurred annually in September, with the fewest visits in January. Rises in overall homelessness were secondary to increases in working-age homelessness. ED presentations were concentrated in urban centres. The total proportion of patients experiencing homelessness became less concentrated in Toronto, decreasing from 60% to 40% over the study period, with a shift toward EDs outside the city. Interpretation This study shows that administrative health data can provide comprehensive information on demographics and other characteristics analyzed over time. Surveillance can be conducted cost-effectively, and changes can be tracked in real time to allow for services to be coordinated and implemented in a timesensitive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Mineral prospectivty mapping for Au. • Random forest algorithm for integrating geoscience data. • Knowledge-based algorithms. • Superior tectonic province. This paper uses the random forest (RF) algorithm to produce two maps of orogenic gold prospectivity (MPM) across the entire Superior geologic province of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. One MPM of this entire study area is based on a compilation of mapped faults while the other is based on a manual interpretation of lineaments from airborne magnetic data. In addition, we have created four MPMs over the Abitibi region as the MPM map of the entire Superior is characterized by a mapping bias due to more intense mapping of faults over the Abitibi portion of the study area with respect to the rest of the Superior province. There are three RF maps generated over the Abitibi region based on faults, fault density and fault intersection density, faults + magnetic data and faults + gravity + magnetic data. To reduce the effect of the fault mapping bias, we developed a fourth map based on a knowledge driven (weighted sum technique). Statistically the best MPM is based on the faults, gravity and magnetic data. The major predictors of gold are NW-SE, NE-SW, EW trending faults, fault intersection density between EW and NW trending faults and to a lesser extent fault density and a magnetic vertical gradient image. In addition, we compare two greenstone belts in three dimensions with respect to their potential for gold exploration. We conclude that the Larder Lake greenstone belt is more fertile with respect to gold mineralization than the Swayze greenstone belt due to deeper penetrating faults which have greater potential for tapping gold mineralized fluid from the mantle or lower crust. Our final MPM map has identified prospective areas that contain known gold mines as well as areas that do not contain any known gold mines. These prospective areas may be prime for orogenic gold exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]