Fungi critically impact the health and function of global ecosystems and economies. In Canada, fungal researchers often work within silos defined by sub-discipline and institutional type, complicating the collaborations necessary to understand the impacts fungi have on the environment, economy, and plant and animal health. Here, we announce the establishment of the Canadian Fungal Research Network (CanFunNet, https://fungalresearch.ca) whose mission is to strengthen and promote fungal research in Canada by facilitating dialogue among scientists. We summarize the challenges and opportunities for Canadian fungal research that were discussed at CanFunNet’s inaugural meeting in 2019, and identify four priorities for our community: 1) increasing collaboration among scientists; 2) studying diversity in the context of ecological disturbance; 3) preserving culture collections in the absence of sustained funding; and 4) leveraging diverse expertise to attract trainees. We have gathered additional information to support our recommendations, including a survey identifying underrepresentation of fungal-related courses at Canadian universities, a list of Canadian fungaria and culture collections, and a case study of a human fungal pathogen outbreak. We anticipate that these discussions will help prioritize fungal research in Canada, and we welcome all researchers to join this nationwide effort to enhance knowledge dissemination and funding advocacy.

Introduction Paramedic practice is highly variable, occurs in diverse contexts, and involves the assessment and management of a range of presentations of varying acuity across the lifespan. As a result, attempts to define paramedic practice have been challenging and incomplete. This has led to inaccurate or under-representations of practice that can ultimately affect education, assessment, and the delivery of care. In this study, we outline our efforts to better identify, explore, and represent professional practice when revising a national competency framework for paramedics in Canada. Methods We used a systems thinking approach to identify the settings, contexts, features, and influences on paramedic practice in Canada. This approach makes use of the role and influence of system features at the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, supra-macro system, and chronosystem levels in ways that can provide new insights. We used methods such as rich pictures, diagramming, and systems mapping to explore relationships between these contexts and features. Findings When we examine the system of practice in paramedicine, multiple layers become evident and within them we start to see details of features that ought to be considered in any future competency development work. Our exploration of the system highlights that paramedic practice considers the person-receiving care, caregivers, and paramedics. It involves collaboration within co-located and dispersed teams that are composed of other health and social care professionals, public safety personnel, and others. Practice is enacted across varying geographical, cultural, social, and technical contexts, and is subject to multiple levels of policy, regulatory, and legislative influence. Conclusion Using a systems thinking approach, we developed a detailed systems map of paramedic practice in Canada. This map can be used to inform the initial stages of a more representative, comprehensive, and contemporary national competency framework for paramedics in Canada.

Suboptimal knowledge of clinical pharmacology, therapeutics, and toxicology (CPT) and poor-quality prescribing are threats to patient safety. Our previous national survey of medical faculty identified limited confidence in medical student graduates’ ability to prescribe safely and an interest in a national prescribing competence assessment. Given the in-person challenges posed by the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we aimed to re-evaluate opinions and gauge interest in e-learning resources and assessments. Using public sources, a sampling frame of medical school leaders from all 17 Canadian medical schools, including deans, vice-deans, and program directors for clerkship, residency, and e-learning, were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey. Survey questions were finalized after several rounds of testing and analyses were descriptive.Of 1448 invitations, 411 (28.4%) individuals reviewed the survey, and among them, 278 (67.6%) completed at least one survey question with representation from all schools. While more than 90% of respondents agreed that medical students should meet a minimum standard of prescribing competence, only 17 (7.9%) could vouch for their school meeting objectives in CPT and many had significant concerns about their own or other schools’ recent graduate prescribing abilities. Given the lack of local CPT eCurricula resources, there was strong interest in a national online course and assessment in CPT. Our national survey results suggest an ongoing inadequacy of medical trainees’ prescribing competence and provide a strong endorsement for both a national online CPT course and assessment during medical school.

We assessed the association between cirrhosis and severe COVID-19-related outcomes among people with laboratory-diagnosed COVID-19 infection in British Columbia, Canada. We used data from the British Columbia (BC) COVID-19 Cohort, a population-based cohort that integrates data on all individuals tested for COVID-19 with data on hospitalizations, medical visits, emergency room visits, prescription drugs, chronic conditions, and deaths in the Canadian province of BC. We included all individuals, aged ≥ 18 who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, from January 01, 2021, to December 31, 2021. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between cirrhosis status and COVID-19-related hospitalization and ICU admission. Of the 162,509 individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were included in the analysis, 768 (0.5%) had cirrhosis. In the multivariable models, cirrhosis was associated with increased odds of hospitalization (aOR=1.97, 95% CI: 1.58 – 2.47) and ICU admission (aOR=3.33, 95% CI: 2.56 – 4.35). In the analyses stratified by age, we found that the increased odds of ICU admission among people with cirrhosis were present in all the assessed age-groups. Cirrhosis is associated with increased odds of hospitalization and ICU admission among COVID-19 patients.

The steep decline in the price of wind and solar photovoltaics provides a possibility to decarbonize electricity deeply and affordably. This study uses HOMER Pro energy modeling tool to model an optimized grid-connected renewable energy system for a community in southern Alberta, Canada. The study's goal is to identify the best renewable energy technology combinations that can provide electricity at the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and has lesser greenhouse gas emission as compared to the electricity produced by traditional fossil fuel. Gleichen, is a small town in southern Alberta and is near to numerous commercial wind and solar projects given the region’s high quality renewable resources. “Tri-brid” systems consisting of wind turbines, solar photovoltaics, and battery energy storage systems (BESS) are considered and compared based on electricity prices, net present cost, and greenhouse gas emissions savings. This tri-brid system is connected to the grid to sell excess electricity generated or buying electricity when there is less or no availability of solar and wind. The tri-brid energy system has an estimated LCOE of 0.0705 CAD/kWh which is competitive with the price of electricity generated by natural gas and coal which is 0.127 CAD/kWh.

(1) As the craft beer industry continues to expand in Canada, understanding the regional differences between the Eastern and Western markets becomes pivotal for brewing ingredient companies seeking to penetrate or expand within these regions. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of these two distinctive markets, focusing on economic, logistical, ingredient, and cultural differences. (2) The study primarily relies on secondary data from government, industry reports, and scholarly publications, providing a holistic view of the Canadian craft beer landscape. It further highlights the need to consider market distinctions between Canada and the United States. (3) Findings reveal that Western Canadian breweries, unlike their Eastern counterparts, operate under constrained storage space, prefer locally-sourced ingredients, and offer a distinct variety of beer styles catering to local tastes. The study further uncovers the regulatory and financial complexities of the Canadian market compared to the United States. (4) Based on these findings, this study provides strategic recommendations for brewing ingredient companies, emphasizing domestic logistics, local sourcing, product adaptation, educational support, and regulatory navigation, fostering success in the Canadian craft beer landscape.

Patient access to new oncology drugs in Canada is only possible after navigating multiple sequential systemic checkpoints for national regulatory approval, health technology assessment (HTA) and collective government price negotiation. These steps delay access and prevent health care providers from being able to prescribe optimal therapy. Eighteen Canadian oncology clinicians from the medicine, nursing and pharmacy professions met to develop consensus recommendations for defining reasonable government performance standards around process and timeliness to improve Canadian cancer patients’ access to best care. A modified Delphi methodology was used to confirm strong consensus on 30 questions involving five themes: accountability, disparities, endpoints, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness. It was agreed that greater transparency is required across regulatory and HTA processes. Health professionals in oncology are frustrated for their patients because they are unable to deliver the modern guideline-supported therapies they want to provide due to delays in approval or funding. Canadian patients and their health care providers request improvements in timely access to life-saving therapeutics in line with other countries. Clinicians expect urgent improvements in our health systems to give our patients their best chance of survival.

Background: Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is an emerging radiotherapy. There are ongoing efforts to develop a Canadian accelerator-based BNCT center. However, it remains unclear how Canadian radiation oncologists (RO), medical physicists (MP), and their trainees perceive BNCT and its impact on radiation oncology as a discipline. Methods: A survey was created to explore knowledge of BNCT, its clinical role, and support for Canadian research. It was distributed through the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO) and Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP). Results: We received 118 valid responses from all 10 provinces, from 70 RO (59.3%) and 48 MP (40.7%), including 9 residents. Most knew of BNCT and its indications (60.2%). Although many were unaware of reasons behind early failures (44.1%), common reasons were lack of clinical trials and inaccessibility of neutron sources (42.4%) and reactor unsuitability (34.7%). Additionally, 90.6% showed definite (66.9%) or possible (23.7%) support for Canadian BNCT research, while 89% indicated definite (56.8%) or possible (32.2%) willingness for BNCT referrals. Conclusions: Most RO and MP supported Canadian BNCT research and would refer patients. However, limited awareness and lack of experiences remain a challenge. Educational sessions are needed to realize this innovative cancer treatment in Canada.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic in March 2020, which led to the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions that had inadvertent physical, mental and social effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences and responses of Canadians to these interventions on Twitter using the Kübler-Ross Change Curve (KRCC) during the first six months of the pandemic. Tweets were analyzed using sentiment analysis, thematic content analysis and KRCC. The findings highlight that many Canadians attempted to adapt to the changes but had a predominantly negative outlook on policies due to the financial and social repercussions

As Alberta increases solar power generation, land use conflicts with agriculture increase. A solution that enables low-carbon electricity generation and continued (in some cases increased) agricultural output is the co-locating of solar photovoltaics and agriculture: agrivoltaics. This study reviews policies that impact the growth of agri-voltaics in Alberta. Solar PV-based electricity generation is governed by three regula-tions based on system capacity. In addition, agrivoltaics falls under various legisla-tions, frameworks, and guidelines for land utilization. These include Land Use Frame-work, Alberta Land Stewardship Act, Municipal Government Act, Special Areas Dis-position, Bill 22 and other laws/policies all of which are reviewed in the context of agrivoltaics. Several policies are recommended to support rapid diffusion of agrivolta-ics. First, open access research into agrivoltaics, which not only will help optimize agrivoltaic systems for the region, but also coupled with public education is expected to galvanize social acceptability of large-scale PV deployment. Clearly defining and categorizing agrivoltaic technology, developing agrivoltaic standards, making agri-voltaic technology-friendly regulations/frameworks and developing programs and pol-icies to incentivize agrivoltaic deployment over conventional PV will all accelerate dif-fusion. Through these measures, Alberta can achieve conservation and sustainability in food and energy sector while simultaneously addressing the renewable energy and climate-related goals.

This study presents a French translation and validation of the Durand Adaptive Psychopathic Traits Questionnaire (DAPTQ), an instrument for assessing adaptive traits known to correlate with the psychopathic personality. Bilingual (French and English) individuals from France and Canada (N = 141, 52% in France, M_age = 29.73, SD = 9.09) completed both versions of the DAPTQ (French and English), alongside measurements of perceived stress, trait anxiety, authentic leadership and creativity. Correlation between the DAPTQ total and subscales across versions showed strong associations (r = .84 to .96). The DAPTQ – French version also demonstrated good internal consistency (α = .87), convergent validity, and concurrent validity. These findings support the cross-cultural equivalence of the DAPTQ and therefore its effectiveness as a valid assessment method of adaptive traits.

Emily Howard Jennings Stowe is acclaimed as Canada’s first female school principal, physician to practice medicine, and a founding Canadian suffragette. Yet, relatively little has been investi-gated regarding the life-changing events permitting her to pioneer in these chosen fields. To reveal relationships among the life-changing events in Emily Stowe’s life, a unique narrative research process is engaged to take Stowe’s story and develop it into a particular point of view based on responses to questions posed regarding her life, ranging from those most objective and specific to those that are subjective and more general. This is accomplished by following a prescribed order of question-asking: when, where, who, what, how, and why. The aim is to facilitate a comparison and interpretation of the connections regarding twenty-two of her life-changing events. Four dis-tinct aspects of her life are noted: personal, teacher, physician, and suffragette. It is found that much of Stowe’s success originated from her family’s Establishment connections, her studious intellectual ability, and her decision to obtain her medical education in the United States. There were notable periods in her life that might have ended her career. However, the aforementioned protective features of her status permitted the successful withstanding of these difficulties.

Government-led legislation is a key strategy to reduce plastic pollution; however, societal perception can heavily influence government intervention for environmental issues. To understand the public acceptability of government action to reduce plastic pollution, we examine the perception of existing and upcoming legislative action on single-use plastics by means of a structured survey with additional semi-structured interviews. Our focus is on the four Atlantic provinces of Canada, which was the first region in Canada to implement provincial-wide legislation for plastic reduction at the consumer level in 2019. Results show strong public support (77 %, n = 838) for bans on single-use plastic bags at the consumer level, and for further plastic pollution reduction legislation. However, the level of support differed between regions and by demographics. Semi-structured interviews show that decision-makers should increase efforts in raising consumer awareness and standardizing regulations across jurisdictions for smoother transitions prior to legislative action.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, since 2000, there has been an increase in global flood-related disasters by 134 percent as compared to the two previous decades. Efficient flood risk management strategies necessitate a holistic approach to evaluating flood vulnerabilities and risks. Catastrophic losses can occur when the peak flow values in the rivers in a basin coincide. Therefore, estimating the joint flood risks in a region is vital, especially when frequent occurrences of extreme events are experienced. This study focuses on estimating the joint flood risks due to river flow extremes in the Grand River watershed in Canada. Determining the interdependence of floods at multiple locations using state-of-the-art tools, the associated damage probabilities, and their costs will be beneficial to various stakeholders, such as the insurance industry, the disaster management sector, and most importantly, the public.

Background: Strong nursing faculty is paramount to promote disciplinary leadership and to prepare future nurses for practice. Our understanding of the factors associated with or predictive of nurse faculty retention and/or turnover is lacking. Purpose: The aim of this review is to identify and synthesize the existing literature on factors contributing to nurse faculty shortage in Canada and implications on nursing practice. Methods: A scoping review based on the Arskey and O’Malley’s five stage framework for scoping reviews was undertaken. Utilising the PRISMA protocol, a comprehensive and structured literature search was conducted in five databases of studies published in English.Findings: Limited through search inclusion and relevance of research, nine studies out of 220 papers met the criteria for this review and were thematically analyzed. Identified themes were: supply versus demand; employment conditions; organizational support; and personal factors.Discussion: Impending retirement of faculty, unsupportive leadership, and stressful work environments were frequently reported as significant contributing factors to the faculty shortage.Conclusions: This scoping review provide insights into how Canada’s schools of nursing could engage in grounded efforts to lessen nursing faculty shortage, both nationally and globally. We identified a gap in the literature that indicates that foundational work is needed to create context-specific solutions. The limited studies published in Canada suggests that this is a critical area for future research and funding.

Slave Province in Canada is an Archean granite-supracrustal terrane at the northwestern corner of the Canadian Shield. It is bordered by the Thelon–Taltson orogen (2.0 to 1.9 Ga) to the south-east and the Wopmay orogen (1.9 to 1.8 Ga) to the west. Acasta gneisses exposed in the western-most Slave province and the Wopmay rocks close to the gneisses were collected systematically for K-Ar and laser step-heating 40Ar /39Ar analyses of the biotite and amphibole. The K-Ar biotite ag-es of the four Wopmay samples range from 1816 ± 18 Ma to 1854 ± 26 Ma, which is within the reported U-Pb zircon age range of the Wopmay orogen. The K-Ar biotite ages of the fifteen Acasta gneisses range from 1779 ± 25 Ma to 1877 ± 26 Ma, except for a younger sample (1711 ± 25 Ma). The 40Ar/39Ar biotite analyses of the three samples from the Wopmay orogen give the plateau ages of 1826 ± 21 Ma, 1886 ± 13 Ma, and 1870 ± 18 Ma. On the other hand, the 40Ar/39Ar analyses of the biotite crystals from the Acasta gneiss show a variety of ages. Three samples show the plateau ages of 1877 ± 8 Ma, 1935 ± 14 Ma, and 1951 ± 11 Ma. These plateau ages are a little older than the total gas ages. The 40Ar/39Ar analyses of the amphibole crystals show more varied age rela-tions. The two samples show consistent age relations between the plateau ages (1814 ± 22 Ma and 1964 ± 12 Ma) and the total gas ages (1789 ± 23 Ma and 1967 ± 11 Ma), respectively. Some sam-ples have the apparent old age of 2000 Ma in the middle temperature fractions. These old frac-tions are due to that the originally existed amphibole crystals formed in Archean were affected by the thermal events during the Wopmay orogeny. but did not fully reset. The results suggest that the K-Ar system ages of the biotite and amphibole of the Archean Acasta gneiss that is aged from 4200 to 2600 Ma of zircon U-Pb ages were rejuvenated in the Paleo–Proterozoic ages. The heat source that rejuvenated the K-Ar system ages may have arisen due to the asthenospheric intrusion into the wedge mantle, which took place because of the subduction rollback.

Well-intentioned regulations to protect Canada’s most productive farmland restrict large-scale so-lar photovoltaic (PV) development. The recent innovation of agrivoltaics, which is the co-development of land for both PV and agriculture, makes these regulations obsolete. Burgeoning agrivoltaics research has shown agricultural benefits including increased yield for a wide range of crops, plant protection from excess solar energy and hail, improved water conservation while maintaining agricultural employment and local food supplies. In addition, the renewable electricity generation decreases greenhouse gas emissions while increasing farm revenue. As Canada in general, and Ontario in particular, is at a strategic disadvantage in agricultural without agrivoltaics, this study investigates the policy changes necessary to capitalize on the benefits of using agrivoltaics in Ontario. Land use policies in Ontario are reviewed. Then, three case studies (peppers, sweet corn and winter wheat) are analyzed for agrivoltaic potential in Ontario. These results are analyzed in conjunction with potential policies that would continue to protect the green-belt of the Golden Horseshoe, while enabling agrivoltaics in Ontario. Four agrivoltaic policy areas are discussed: increased research and development, enhanced education/public awareness, mechanisms to support Canada’s farmers converting to agrivoltaics and using agrivoltaics as a potential source of trade surplus with the U.S.

Canada has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by increasing the non-emitting share of electricity generation to 90% by 2030. As solar energy costs have plummeted, agrivoltaics (co-development of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and agriculture) provide an economic path to these goals. This study quantifies agrivoltaic potential in Canada by province using geographical information system analysis of agricultural areas and numerical simulations. Systems modeled would enable conventional farming of field crops to continue (and potentially increase yield) by using bifacial PV for single-axis tracking and vertical system configurations. Between a quarter (vertical) to more than one third (single axis tracking) of Canada’s electrical energy needs can be provided solely by agrivoltaics using only 1% of current agricultural lands. These results show that agrivoltaics could be a major contributor to sustainable electricity generation and provide the ability for Canada to render the power generation sector net zero/GHG emission free. It is clear that the potential of agrivoltaic-based solar energy production in Canada far outstrips current electric demand and can thus be used to electrify and decarbonize transportation, heating, expand economic opportunities by powering the burgeoning computing sector, and export green electricity to the U.S. to help eliminate their dependence on fossil fuels.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease clusters are found in several countries worldwide. In the United States, ALS clusters are found in many states, largely within the northern United States. The cause of the increased rates of ALS in these areas remains indefinite. It is reported here that many ALS clusters are associated with sites of current or prior glacial lakes, or regions containing an abundance of silts and clay minerals. The potential significance of these findings in ALS is discussed.

: Drought monitoring and early detection have improved greatly in recent decades through the development and refinement of numerous indices and indicators. However, a lack of guidance, based on user experience, exists as to which drought monitoring tools are most appropriate in a given location. This review paper summarizes the results of targeted user engagement and the published literature to improve the understanding of drought across North America, and to enhance the utility of drought monitoring tools. Workshops and surveys were used to assess and make general conclusions about the perceived performance of drought indicators, indices and impacts information used for monitoring drought in the five main Köppen climate types (Tropical, Temperate, Continental, Polar Tundra, Dry) found across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In Tropical, humid Temperate, and southerly Continental climates, droughts are perceived to be more short-term (less than 6 months) in duration rather than long-term (more than 6 months). In Polar Tundra climates, Dry climates, Temperate climates with dry warm seasons, and northerly Continental climates, droughts are perceived to be more long-term than short-term. In general, agricultural and hydrological droughts were considered to be the most important drought types. Drought impacts related to agriculture, water supply, ecosystem, and human health were rated to be of greatest importance. Users identified the most effective indices and indicators for monitoring drought across North America to be the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) (or another measure of precipitation anomaly), followed by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (or another satellite-observed vegetation index), temperature anomalies, crop status, soil moisture, streamflow, reservoir storage, water use (demand), and reported drought impacts. Users also noted the importance of indices that measure evapotranspiration, evaporative demand, and snow water content. Drought indices and indicators were generally thought to perform equally well across seasons in Tropical and the colder Continental climates, but their performance was perceived to vary seasonally in Dry, Temperate, Polar Tundra, and the warmer Continental climates, with improved performance during warm and wet times of the year. The drought indices and indicators, in general, were not perceived to perform equally well across geographies. This review paper provides guidance on when (time of year) and where (climate zone) the more popular drought indices and indicators should be used. The paper concludes by noting the importance of understanding how drought, its impacts, and indicators are changing over time as the climate warms, and by recommending ways to strengthen the use of indices and indicators in drought decision-making.