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Rapid environmental change is reshaping ecosystems and driving species loss globally. Carnivore populations have declined and retracted rapidly and have been the target of numerous translocation projects. Success, however, is complicated when these efforts occur in novel ecosystems. Identifying refuges, locations that are resistant to environmental change, within a translocation framework should improve population recovery and persistence. American martens (Martes americana) are the most frequently translocated carnivore in North America. As elsewhere, martens were extirpated across much of the Great Lakes region by the 1930s and, despite multiple translocations beginning in the 1950s, martens remain of regional conservation concern. Surprisingly, martens were rediscovered in 2014 on the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior after a putative absence of >40 yr. To identify the source of martens to the islands and understand connectivity of the reintroduction network, we collected genetic data on martens from the archipelago and from all regional reintroduction sites. In total, we genotyped 483 individual martens, 43 of which inhabited the Apostle Islands (densities 0.42–1.46 km−2). Coalescent analyses supported the contemporary recolonization of the Apostle Islands with progenitors likely originating from Michigan, which were sourced from Ontario. We also identified movements by a first‐order relative between the Apostle Islands and the recovery network. We detected some regional gene flow, but in an unexpected direction: individuals moving from the islands to the mainland. Our findings suggest that the Apostle Islands were naturally recolonized by progeny of translocated individuals and now act as a source back to the reintroduction sites on the mainland. We suggest that the Apostle Islands, given its protection from disturbance, complex forest structure, and reduced carnivore competition, will act as a potential refuge for marten along their trailing range boundary and a central node for regional recovery. Our work reveals that translocations, even those occurring along southern range boundaries, can create recovery networks that function like natural metapopulations. Identifying refuges, locations that are resistant to environmental change, within these recovery networks can further improve species recovery, even within novel environments. Future translocation planning should a priori identify potential refuges and sources to improve short‐term recovery and long‐term persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bereavement follow-up may help family members who experience the death o f a loved one in the ICU. However, formal bereavement programs are rare and the feasibility o f implementing these programs is not well described. Purpose: 1) To develop and administer a formal bereavement program to family members o f patients who die in the ICU consisting o f a bereavement brochure, sympathy card, telephone follow-up, and an invitation to a hospital memorial service; 2) To measure the feasibility o f implementing each o f the program components; and 3) To determine family member attitudes towards the program and each component. Methods: Pilot, observational study. Program feasibility was tracked by the study team; family attitudes were ascertained through a survey. Results: Thirty family members were enrolled in the study (94%; n=32 deaths during pilot period). The bereavement follow-up telephone call, brochure, and sympathy card were received by 50%, 77%, and 100% o f family members respectively. Response rate to the survey was 37% (n=l 1/30). The majority responded receiving the brochure (82%; n=9/l 1); and read it (90%; n=9/10). However, less than half (43%; n=3/7) found the brochure helpful. All respondents (n=l 1) reported receiving the sympathy card and finding it meaningful. Of those who received a telephone call, the majority (67%; n=4/6) found it helpful. Fourteen family members were invited to a hospital memorial service prior to receiving the survey; few (29%; n -4H 4 ) reported attending. On a scale o f 0-10, the mean rating for program helpfulness was 7 (range 5-10), with 44% rating the program 7 or higher. Conclusion: A formal bereavement program fo r family members o f patients who die in the ICU was feasible to implement; however, family appraisal o f the value o f individual program components was variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Relatively few longitudinal studies have explored the relationship between psychosocial work conditions and diabetes incidence. Given the increasing global burden of diabetes this is an important area for public health research. Aims To examine the relationships between dimensions of the psychosocial work environment on the subsequent incidence of diabetes among men and women in Ontario, Canada over a 9 year period. Methods We used data from Ontario respondents (35 to 60 years of age) to the 2000–01 Canadian Community Health Survey linked to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan database for physician services and the Canadian Institute for Health Information Discharge Abstract Database for hospital admissions. Our sample of actively employed labour market participants with no previous diagnoses for diabetes was followed for a 9 year period to ascertain incident diabetes. Results There were 7443 participants. Low levels of job control were associated with an increased risk of diabetes among women, but not among men. Counter to our hypotheses high levels of social support were also associated with increased diabetes risk among women, but not among men. No relationship was found between any psychosocial work measure and risk of diabetes among men. Conclusions Given the increasing prevalence of diabetes worldwide, job control could potentially be an import ant modifiable risk factor to reduce the incidence of diabetes among female, but not among male, workers. More research is needed to understand the pathways through which low social support may protect against the development of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Study Design: Cohort study. Objective: To measure the prevalence and incidence of work absenteeism involving neck pain in a cohort of claimants to the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB). Summary of Background Data: According to workers' compensation statistics, neck pain accounts for a small proportion of lost-time claims. However, these statistics may be biased by an underenumeration of claimants with neck disorders. Methods: We studied all lost-time claimants to the Ontario WSIB in 1998 and used 2 methods to enumerate neck pain cases. We report the prevalence and incidence of neck pain using 2 denominators: (I) annual number of lost-time claimants and (2) an estimate of the Ontario working population covered by the WSIB. Results: The estimated percentage of lost-time claimants with neck pain ranged from 2.8% (95% CI 2.5-3.3) using only codes specific for neck pain to 11.3% (95% CI 9.5-13.1) using a weighted estimate of codes capturing neck pain cases. The health care sector had the highest percentage of claims with neck pain. The annual incidence of neck pain among the Ontario working population ranged from 6 per 10,000 full-time equivalents (FTE) (95% CI 5-6) to 23 per 10,000 FTE (95% CI 20-27) depending on the codes used to capture neck pain. Male workers between the ages of 20 and 39 years were the most likely to experience an episode of work absenteeism involving neck pain. Conclusion: Neck pain is a common and burdensome problem for Ontario workers. Our study highlights the importance of properly capturing all neck pain cases when describing its prevalence and incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvesting techniques that retain structural elements of the original forest may help to preserve the characteristic ecological features and biological diversity of old-growth forests. Harvesting with advance regeneration protection (HARP) is one such technique practised in the Lake Abitibi Model Forest of northeastern Ontario on peatland sites. In this system, winter harvesting operations clear trees in strips about 5-7 m wide and using a minimum diameter limit cut extract trees from the adjacent residual forest rows, 5-9 m wide. In order to assess the effectiveness of HARP in retaining forest structure, we quantified forest and understorey structural features in 24 1.65-ha plots spanning a wide range of forest retention, including clearcuts, three levels of HARP, and the edge and interior of unharvested forest (logging had occurred 2.5-3.5 years before the study). Mean tree age, diameter, and height in HARP forests in all cases exceeded 68% of the mean values found in unharvested forest, which was strikingly higher than the percent retention of basal area (20-43%). Also, unlike clearcuts, HARP forests retained the inverse-J curves between stem density and size class observed in unharvested forests, although stem densities in all size classes were lower. The percentage of black spruce regeneration originating from seed versus vegetative layering was directly related to the amount of forest basal area retained, averaging 2-5% in unharvested forests, 9-38% in HARP forests, and 67% in clearcuts. Many understorey characteristics closely followed the harvest intensity gradient, with amounts of moss, lichen, and Ledum highest at the unharvested end of the gradient and amounts of decaying moss, coarse and fine downed woody debris, exposed soil, and sedge highest at the clearcut end of the gradient. When the structural features were combined into a single composite variable using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and the scorns plotted against basal area, the... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To describe the decline in injury rates between 1990 and 2000 within occupations stratified across three levels of physical demands and gender, adjusting for industry, in Canada's largest province., Methods: Records of injury compensation claims were obtained from the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board. The population likely to be insured by the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board was estimated from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey. Injury rates were calculated by three broad levels of physical demands, separately for men and women., Results: Injury rates decreased across each grouping of lower physical demands at work for both men and women, with the largest absolute differences in manual occupational groups (high physical demands). Occupations classified as manual (high physical demands) and mixed (moderate physical demands) showed larger differences in injury rates between genders than did non-manual (low physical demands), although the directions of these differences were not always consistent across different natures of injury classification., Conclusions: The absolute reduction in injury rates in Ontario between 1990 and 2000 was dominated by the reduction in injury rates for men and women in manual and mixed occupations. However, not all types of injury have declined to the same extent. A large proportion of differences in injury rates between men and women can be attributed to the differential labour force participation across occupations and industries, as well as the differential tasks within occupational groups.