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The present study examined the development of morphological awareness and its contribution to vocabulary and reading comprehension among young Chinese-speaking English language learners (ELLs). We focused on two aspects of morphological awareness: derivational awareness and compound awareness. Participants included 46 kindergarteners (younger cohort) and 34 first graders (older cohort) of Chinese descent in Canada at the beginning of the study. Children were administered a battery of English measures including derivational awareness, compound awareness, phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary, and reading comprehension at two time points spaced 1 year apart. Results demonstrated a steady growth in Chinese-speaking ELL children's derivational and compound awareness from kindergarten to Grade 2. Importantly, for the first graders, morphological awareness accounted for unique variance in vocabulary concurrently, and unique variance in both vocabulary and reading comprehension a year later. Generally speaking, the variance explained by morphological awareness increased with grade level, and derivational awareness accounted for more variance in vocabulary and reading comprehension than did compound awareness. These results underscore the emerging importance of morphological awareness, especially derivational awareness, in young Chinese-speaking ELL children's English reading development.

This study evaluated the impact of two metalinguistic factors, English derivational awareness and English-Spanish cognate awareness, and the impact of two sociocultural factors, maternal education and children's length of residence in Canada, on English Language Learners (ELLs)' vocabulary knowledge. The participants of the study were 89 Spanish-speaking ELLs, 77 Chinese-speaking ELLs, and a comparison group of 78 monolingual English-speaking children in Grades 4 and 7. The sample included both first-generation (born outside of Canada) and second generation (born in Canada) immigrant children. The study yielded several important findings. First, it confirmed the strong link between derivational awareness and vocabulary knowledge observed in the previous research, and extended this relationship to two groups of ELLs from different first language backgrounds. Second, this study unveiled differences in vocabulary learning between Spanish-speaking and Chinese-speaking ELLs. While Spanish-speaking children were able to utilize the cognate strategy to learn English words, this strategy was not available for Chinese-speaking ELLs. With respect to the sociocultural factors, length of residence in Canada was significantly related to ELLs' vocabulary development. Interestingly, length of residence in Canada only influenced the development of noncognate vocabulary, but not cognate vocabulary, in Spanish-speaking ELLs, which provides additional evidence for these children's use of the cognate strategy. Finally, maternal education was not related to English vocabulary development. The theoretical and educational implications of these findings were discussed.

This study investigated young Chinese children’s development of orthographic processing and the factors that contribute to development. The investigation was carried out in both China and Canada to examine the effect of language learning contexts on the development of orthographic processing. Participants were ninety-four kindergarten and Grade 1 children in the Mainland of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and ninety-one kindergarten and Grade 1 Canadian–Chinese children in Canada. Children received a battery of measures twice roughly 1 year apart, including Chinese and English orthographic discrimination, radical position awareness, phonological awareness (syllable and phonemic awareness), character reading, and rapid digit naming. Children's home print exposure was measured by a questionnaire at the onset of the study. In both countries, children were able to differentiate between Chinese and English orthographic units at the beginning of kindergarten. Children in China, however, developed more advanced radical position awareness than their counterparts in Canada. Moreover, different factors contributed to individual differences in Chinese orthographic processing in different learning environments. In China, the phonological awareness and character reading measures significantly predicted radical position awareness, whereas in Canada, home print exposure was the most consistent predictor across different testing times. The differences observed between the two groups of children underscore the impact of language learning environment on the development of orthographic processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a case study of the Detroit River mystery oil spill (2002) is presented that demonstrates the utility of detailed and integrated oil fingerprinting in investigating unknown or suspected oil spills. The detailed diagnostic oil fingerprinting techniques include determination of hydrocarbon groups and semi-quantitative product screening, analysis of oil-characteristic biomarkers and the extended suite of parent and alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and quantitative determination of a variety of diagnostic ratios of “source-specific marker” compounds. The detailed chemical fingerprinting data and results highlight the followings: [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Very late relapse (VLR) occurring >5 years after initial diagnosis is an uncommon event in the management of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Limited information regarding risk factors and optimal therapy is available., Patients and Methods: We reviewed patients treated for HL at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario Canada between January 01, 1999 and 31 December 31, 2018., Results: Thirty-two patients experienced VLR. Median time to first relapse was 7.2 years. Most patients were treated with CMT both at initial diagnosis and relapse. Male gender (P = .04) and increased age at initial diagnosis (P = .008; HR 1.09 (95% CI: 1.02-1.15)) were identified as risk factors for inferior survival on univariate analysis. Stage, histology, treatment modality and risk assessment at diagnosis or relapse did not have a significant impact on survival outcomes. ASCT at first relapse had no impact on time to second progression (HR 1.72; 95% CI, 0.35-8.53; P = .51) or overall survival from first relapse (HR 1.55; 95% CI, 0.3-8.03; P = .6)., Conclusion: Our data aligns with the limited information available in VLR HL suggesting the negative impact of age and male gender on this rare event. Additionally, our data did not show benefit of ASCT at first relapse in terms of survival outcomes in this population, though this analysis is limited by small sample size. Further study of optimal therapy to prevent and treat VL in the era of novel agents is critical., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors declare not conflicts of interest regarding this study., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Intermediate volatile organic compounds (IVOCs) have recently been characterized for their contributions to the formation of secondary organic aerosol in atmospheric air. However, IVOCs in air in various indoor environments have not been characterized yet. In this study, we characterized and measured IVOCs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), in residential indoor air in Ottawa, Canada. IVOCs, including n-alkanes, branched-chain alkanes (b-alkanes), unspecified complex mixtures (UCM) IVOCs, and oxygenated IVOCs (such as fatty acids), were found to have a large impact on indoor air quality. The results indicate that the indoor IVOCs behave differently from those in the outdoor environment. IVOCs in the studied residential air ranged from 14.4 to 69.0 μg/m 3 , with a geometric mean of 31.3 μg/m 3 , accounting for approximately 20% of the total organic compounds (IVOCs, VOCs and SVOCs) in indoor air. The total b-alkanes and UCM-IVOCs were found to have statistically significant positive correlations with indoor temperature but have no correlations with airborne particulate matter less than 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) as well as ozone (O 3 ) concentration. However, indoor oxygenated IVOCs behaved differently from b-alkanes and UCM-IVOCs, with a statistically significant positive correlation with indoor relative humidity but no correlation with other indoor environmental conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Long-COVID (LC) encompasses diverse symptoms lasting months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Symptoms can be debilitating and affect the quality of life of individuals with LC and their families. Although the symptoms of LC are well described, the aetiology of LC remains unclear, and consequently, patients may be underdiagnosed. Identification of LC specific biomarkers is therefore paramount for the diagnosis and clinical management of the syndrome. This scoping review describes the molecular and cellular biomarkers that have been identified to date with potential use for diagnosis or prediction of LC., Methods: This review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Methodology for Scoping Reviews. A search was executed in the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, as well as in the grey literature for original studies, published until October 5th, 2022, reporting biomarkers identified in participants with LC symptoms (from all ages, ethnicities, and sex), with a previous infection of SARS-CoV-2. Non-English studies, cross-sectional studies, studies without a control group, and pre-prints were excluded. Two reviewers independently evaluated the studies, extracted population data and associated biomarkers., Findings: 23 cohort studies were identified, involving 2163 LC patients [median age 51.8 years, predominantly female sex (61.10%), white (75%), and non-vaccinated (99%)]. A total of 239 candidate biomarkers were identified, consisting mainly of immune cells, immunoglobulins, cytokines, and other plasma proteins. 19 of the 239 candidate biomarkers identified were evaluated by the authors, by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves., Interpretation: Diverse cellular and molecular biomarkers for LC have been proposed. Validation of candidate biomarkers in independent samples should be prioritized. Modest reported performance (particularly in larger studies) suggests LC may encompass many distinct aetiologies, which should be explored e.g., by stratifying by symptom clusters and/or sex., Funding: Dr. Tebbutt has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (177747) to conduct this work. The funding source was not involved in this scoping review, or in the decision to submit this manuscript for publication., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure forms. C.Y. reports a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant number: 177747) as payment to their institution to support their work in Canada. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Asthma affects a large number of people living in the Americas, a vast and diverse geographic region comprising 35 nations in the Caribbean and North, Central, and South America. The marked variability in the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality from asthma across and within nations in the Americas offers a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the risk factors and management of asthma phenotypes and endotypes in children and adults. Moreover, a better assessment of the causes and treatment of asthma in less economically developed regions in the Americas would help diagnose and treat individuals migrating from those areas to Canada and the United States. In this focused review, we first assess the epidemiology of asthma, review known and potential risk factors, and examine commonalities and differences in asthma management across the Americas. We then discuss future directions in research and health policies to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and management of pediatric and adult asthma in the Americas, including standardized and periodic assessment of asthma burden across the region; large-scale longitudinal studies including omics and comprehensive environmental data on racially and ethnically diverse populations; and dissemination and implementation of guidelines for asthma management across the spectrum of disease severity. New initiatives should recognize differences in socioeconomic development and health care systems across the region while paying particular attention to novel or more impactful risk factors for asthma in the Americas, including indoor pollutants such as biomass fuel, tobacco use, infectious agents and the microbiome, and psychosocial stressor and chronic stress.

Background and Objectives: The Canadian TIA Score has been verified as a good predictive tool for subsequent stroke risk in Caucasian patients; however, it had insufficient external verification of other races. We aimed to validate the Canadian TIA Score in Chinese patients and compared it with ABCD2 for subsequent stroke risk after transient ischemic attack (TIA)., Methods: The Third China National Stroke Registry (CNSR-III) was a nationwide, multicenter prospective registry recruiting consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke or TIA within 7 days of the onset from August 2015 to March 2018. The Canadian TIA Score was verified in patients diagnosed with TIA from the CNSR-III (N = 1,184). The outcomes were subsequent stroke at 7 days, 14 days/discharge, 3 months, and 1 year. Outcomes were recorded by face-to-face assessment or telephone interview. The prognostic performance of the scoring system was assessed by the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC)., Results: Of 1,184 TIA patients (mean [IQR] age, 61.00 [53.00-69.00] years; 413 women [34.88%]), there were 40 patients (3.38%) having subsequent stroke within 7 days, 45 (3·80%) within 14 days/hospitalization, 66 (5·57%) within 3 months, and 100 (8·45%) within 1 year. The Canadian TIA Score (AUC 0 63-0·68) seemed to be a better prognostic score of stroke risk than the ABCD2 score (AUC 0·61-0·62), although no significant differences were noted. In the subgroup of atypical TIA, the Canadian TIA Score showed significantly stronger predictivity than the ABCD2 score within 7 days (0.80 [0.62-0.98] vs. 0.52 [0.30-0.73]; difference in AUC, 0.28 [0.03-0.53]; p, 0.026), and marginal significantly stronger predictivity within 1 year (0.71 [0.61-0.80] vs. 0.58 [0.48-0.68]; difference in AUC, 0.12 [-0.01 to 0.25]; p, 0.06)., Conclusion: The Canadian TIA Score might be a better prognostic score than the ABCD2 score for post-TIA stroke risk, especially in patients with atypical TIA., (© 2022 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Competing Interests: CY is a former postdoctoral fellow at the University Health Network. HZ declares no competing interests.

Environmental sampling was conducted at long-term care facilities to determine the extent of surface contamination with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus. Medical equipment used throughout the facility was determined to be contaminated., (Copyright © 2020 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Better pre-colonoscopy education may lead to improved bowel preparation, decreased anxiety, and a willingness to go direct-to-colonoscopy. We assessed information experiences, needs, and preferences of patients undergoing colonoscopy.A self-administered survey was distributed between 08/2015 and 06/2016 to patients in Winnipeg, Canada when they attended an outpatient colonoscopy. The amount, type, helpfulness, and satisfaction with information provided were analyzed. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to assess predictors of satisfaction with various aspects of the information received, as well as overall satisfaction with the provided information.Although the majority of the 1580 respondents were satisfied with the information they received, only 68% of respondents coming for a repeat colonoscopy and 59% of those coming for first colonoscopy perceived receiving just the right amount of information from their endoscopy doctor. One quarter or less of the respondents indicated they received just the right amount of information from any source other than their colonoscopy doctor. 38% coming for a first colonoscopy and 44% coming for a repeat colonoscopy indicated they received no information from their family physician. Those coming for their first colonoscopy had a lower average score (9.7 vs 11.1; P < .001) for amount of information received (scale 0-15), were less satisfied with the information they received (P = .005) and found the information to be less clear (P = .004).Many patients going for colonoscopy in a large urban practice are inadequately informed about the various aspects of the procedure and it is worse for those going for first rather than repeat colonoscopy.

Background: Exposure to organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants and plasticizers is widespread and is of concern due to their toxicity., Objectives: To investigate relationships between and within OPE concentrations in air, dust, hands, electronic product wipes and urinary metabolites with the goal of identifying product sources and exposure pathways., Methods: Women in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada, provided a urine sample, two sets of hand wipes, access to their homes for air and dust sampling, and completed a questionnaire. OPE concentrations were obtained for air and floor dust in the bedroom (n = 51) and most used room (n = 26), hand wipes (n = 204), and surface wipes of handheld (n = 74) and non-handheld electronic devices (n = 125). All air, dust and wipe samples were analyzed for 23 OPE compounds; urine samples (n = 44) were analyzed for 8 OPE metabolites., Results: Five-8 OPEs were detected in >80% of samples depending on the sample type. OPE median concentrations in hand wipes taken 3 weeks apart were not significantly different. Palms had higher concentrations than the back of hands; both were significantly correlated. Concentrations of 9 OPEs were significantly higher in surface wipes of handheld than non-handheld electronic devices. Six OPEs in hand wipes were significantly correlated with cell phone wipes, with two to four OPEs significantly correlated with tablet, laptop and television wipes. Multiple regression models using hand wipes, cell phone wipes and dust explained 8-33% of the variation in creatinine-adjusted urinary metabolites; air concentrations did not have explanatory power. OPEs in cell phone wipes explained the greatest variation in urinary metabolites., Conclusions: Handheld electronic devices, notably cell phones, may either be sources or indicators of OPE exposure through hand-to-mouth and/or dermal uptake., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A pair of taxoids were isolated from the needles of Taxus canadensis, which were identified as 2,10-diacetyl-5(Z)-cinnamoylphototaxicin II (1), a new taxoid, and 2,10-diacetyl-5(E)-cinnamoylphototaxicin II (2), a known one, by spectroscopic methods including (1)H, (13)C NMR, HSQC, HMBC, NOESY, and mass spectra.

Most attempts to relate changes in patterns of sunlight exposure to the rise in incidence of malignant melanoma have concentrated on the positive association between intermittent exposure to sunlight and risk of melanoma. The Western Canada Melanoma Study, however, also detected a significant inverse association between melanoma and chronic or long-term occupational sun exposure in men, with the lowest risk (OR = 0.5) in those with maximum occupational exposure, suggesting that chronic exposure may be protective. Data obtained from Canadian census figures indicated that since 1951 there has been a substantial reduction in the number of males engaged in outdoor occupations in Canadian society. These observations suggest that part of the increase in the incidence of melanoma in low-sunlight areas may be due to a reduction over the past 40 years of the size of this group of individuals "protected" by their exposure to UV light.