Regional Economic Assessment of Forest Bioenergy Production Plants as An Alternative to Pulp and Paper Mills

This paper studied the economic potential of converting traditional pulp and paper mills into forest bioenergy plants in northern Ontario, using two Forest Management Units (FMUs) as case studies. Biomass availability, energy generation capacity, and economic performance were assessed by integrating forest harvest data, biomass conversion rates, and provincial input–output (IO) multipliers. Five conversion scenarios were examined, ranging from 100 percent pulp production to 100 percent bioenergy production. Results show that the bioenergy pathway generally generates higher GDP, labor income, and employment compared with the conventional pulp and paper pathway. Kenogami shows consistently greater economic benefits than Lakehead. Overall, the findings suggest that bioenergy development represents a viable economic alternative in biomass-rich regions, while mixed production strategies may be more appropriate in biomass-limited areas. These results provide quantitative evidence to support regionally differentiated bioenergy policy, investment planning, and forest sector transformation strategies in Ontario

Invasive Plant Abundance and Spatial Distribution in an Urban Ravine: Vegetation Trends and Management Implications in G. Ross Lord Park, Toronto

Urban ravines in Toronto support urban biodiversity and provide essential ecological and recreational services, but are under ongoing threat from non-native invasive plants (NNIPs). This study provides a localized assessment of invasive species abundance and spatial patterns within a 13.8-ha section of G. Ross Lord Park, where Sanofi conducts ongoing stewardship initiatives. Using 30 Vegetation Sampling Protocol (VSP) plots and a 25 × 25 m presence grid, invasive species were identified, ranked using SER Ontario categories, and analyzed with conditional means, Importance Value Index (IVI), Moran’s I, and Getis-Ord Gi* hotspot mapping. Eight top-priority (Category 1) species were identified as the highest management concern in the woodland areas of the study area. Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) was the most widespread and abundant invasive, with significant hotspots of Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), Norway maple (Acer platanoides), and Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea). Other priority invasives included European euonymus (Euonymus europaeus), Dog-strangling vine (Cynanchum rossicum) and non-native honeysuckles; Tatarian honeysuckle (Lonicara tatarica) and Morrow’s honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii). Findings from this study provide site-specific guidance for invasive plant management and support ongoing stewardship efforts towards ecological restoration within the park

Explaining and Reducing Urban Heat Islands Through Machine Learning: Evidence from New York City

Urban heat islands (UHIs) have intensified in rapidly urbanizing regions like New York, exacerbating thermal discomfort, public health risks, and energy consumption. While previous research has highlighted various environmental and socioeconomic contributors, most existing studies lack interpretable, fine-scale models capable of quantifying the effects of specific drivers—limiting their utility for targeted planning. To address this challenge, we develop an interpretable machine learning framework using Random Forest and XGBOOST to predict land surface temperature across 1800+ census tracts in the New York metropolitan area, incorporating vegetation indices, water proximity, urban morphology, and socioeconomic factors. Both models performed strongly (mean R<sup>2</sup> ≈ 0.90), with vegetation coverage and water proximity emerging as the most influential cooling factors, while built form features played supporting roles. Socioeconomic vulnerability indicators showed weak correlations with temperature, suggesting a relatively equitable thermal landscape. Optimization simulations further revealed that increasing vegetation to a threshold level could lower average surface temperatures by up to 6.38 °C, with additional but smaller gains achievable through adjustments to water access and urban form. These findings provide evidence-based guidance for climate-adaptive urban design and green infrastructure planning. More broadly, the study illustrates the potential of explainable machine learning to support data-driven environmental interventions in complex urban systems

Mid-Rotation Thinning Strategies in Lodgepole Pine Under Varying Stand Density Conditions: A TASS Simulation Study

Stand density is a primary driver of structure, growth, and productivity in even-aged lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) stands. This study evaluated responses across three mid-rotation lodgepole pine blocks using stand-level metrics and TASS growth modeling. Species-level analyses showed that lodgepole pine dominated all blocks, accounting for 74–95% of stand composition and exhibiting low variability across basal area, diameter, and stem density (CV ≤ 20%). In contrast, spruce, balsam fir, and deciduous species displayed high coefficients of variation (57–118%) which shows little contribution to stand structure or dynamics. Low Shannon diversity and evenness values further confirmed the monoculture nature of these stands. This supported the exclusion of minor species from growth modeling and the treatment of each block as a lodgepole pine monoculture in TASS simulations. When modeling thinning scenarios, the responses differed greatly depending on initial stocking level. In the overstocked block, thinning reduced early density driven mortality, increased diameter growth, and improved total volume by capturing stems otherwise lost to self-thinning. In the moderately stocked block, thinning increased individual tree size but reduced total yield. This showed that thinning timing is more critical than thinning intensity. In the understocked block, thinning provided minimal structural benefit and resulted in substantial volume loss. Results suggested that thinning is counterproductive when stands are below the Zone of Imminent Mortality (ZIM). Overall, results indicate that optimal management of lodgepole pine stands depends on maintaining mid-rotation stem densities near 900–1200 stems per hectare. This allows for the highest productivity by to minimizing mortality and maximize yield. Thinning is most beneficial in overstocked stands, due to competition induced mortality. Moderately stocked stands require delayed thinnings to fully take advantage of the treatment. While thinning is not recommended in understocked stands. This study emphasizes the importance of early density management and site-specific silvicultural prescriptions to optimize long-term stand productivity

Incretin Mimetics as Potential Therapeutics for Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury: A Narrative Review

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a significant health concern, with an estimated 70 million annual cases worldwide. Mild brain trauma (concussions) is the most common TBI (81%), followed by moderate (11%) and severe (8%). Cytokine release and neuroinflammation after TBI may cause blood–brain barrier and tissue damage, triggering unfavorable outcomes, including disabilities and mortality. Current TBI treatments, focused on preventing secondary injury, are limited and insufficient. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches are necessary. A growing body of recent literature supports the potential use of incretins: glucagon-like peptide-1, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, and glucagon receptor agonists, as potent neurotrophic/neuroprotective agents. Experiments performed in cellular and animal models, and a limited number of clinical studies, provide evidence that incretins might be a novel and effective treatment for TBI. Incretin-based compounds have already been shown to be safe and efficacious for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in humans. Therefore, incretins are ideal candidates for rapid evaluation in clinical trials of TBI and might become a novel therapeutic tool for a condition that has very few disease modifying treatments available. Well-designed human clinical trials are urgently needed to determine optimal dosing, timing, and patient selection for effective incretin use in concussion and TBI

Scaling electrocatalysts for reduction of CO2 or CO to multicarbon products

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-025-00875-2Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) to multicarbon (C2+) products can reduce the carbon intensity of both chemicals and fuels. Although laboratory-scale demonstrations now achieve encouraging selectivities and current densities on the square centimetre scale using milligrams of catalyst, industrial implementation demands electrodes on the square metre scale and more than 10 grams of catalyst per electrolyser. Replacing just 2% or so of fossil-based ethylene globally would require about 10 tonnes of catalyst annually, making scalability in material production as essential as electrochemical efficiency. Scaling C2+ production introduces distinct challenges, as Cu-based catalysts show structure-sensitive selectivity, necessitating precise integration with electrodes. In this Perspective, we evaluate current strategies for catalyst–electrode integration — nanoparticle catalyst deposition, electrodeposition and sputtering — and argue that electrodeposition and sputtering will be constrained in scalability by throughput and substrate limitations. In contrast, nanoparticle deposition — pre-synthesizing nanoparticles and coating them onto electrodes — combines structural tunability with compatibility for high-throughput roll-to-roll processing, as demonstrated in large-scale manufacturing for fuel cells, water electrolysers and batteries. Building on evidence from the literature, we propose a workflow connecting scalable catalyst synthesis to continuous coating. We further advocate establishing catalyst production throughput (for example, grams per hour) as a benchmark alongside conventional electrochemical performance metrics. We highlight catalyst stability and uniform, high-speed ink coating processes as top research priorities for gigawatt-scale CO2R-to-C2+ products.The authors acknowledge the support of TotalEnergies OneTech Belgium, the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRC-2021-00316) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through the Alliance Program

An Examination of the Role of CX3CR1 in the Pathobiology of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Evidence from Human and Mouse Tissue

<b>Background/Objectives:</b> The molecular cascades involved in the induction and maintenance of neuroinflammation resulting from chronic compression of the cervical spinal cord in the setting of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) have yet to be defined. Here, we determined the role of the fractalkine receptor, CX3CR1, during the neuroinflammatory response in a novel mouse model of DCM and demonstrated the relevance of this mechanism with human DCM tissue. <b>Methods:</b> Using our murine DCM model alongside the CX3CR1-knockout mice and a neutralizing antibody of CX3CR1 in wild-type mice, we examined protein, neurobehavioural and immunohistochemical readouts. The animal data were then complemented with immunohistochemical results from human post-mortem spinal cord tissue from individuals with DCM. <b>Results:</b> Humans and mice with DCM exhibited an up-regulation of CX3CR1 as well as markers of activated microglia/macrophages in the cervical spinal cord. Knockout and neutralization of CX3CR1 hindered microglia/macrophage activation and accumulation at the site of spinal cord compression. DCM mice exhibited decreased body speed and increased stance phase duration, which mirrors human DCM gait deficits. Strikingly, both CX3CR1 deficiency and CX3CR1 neutralization alleviated these gait deficits in DCM mice. <b>Conclusions:</b> Collectively, these data provide strong evidence that CX3CR1 plays a critical role in the secondary injury of neural structures in the setting of DCM. Further, targeting of CX3CR1 represents a promising therapeutic strategy to enhance neurological outcomes in DCM

Human Papillomavirus Self-Sampling Attitudes Amongst Women Living with HIV Prior to a Self-Sampling Intervention

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: Our objective was to determine the acceptability of and attitudes towards HPV self-sampling among women with HIV and investigate any associations between self-sampling attitudes and participant demographic and clinical characteristics. <b>Methods:</b> Women with HIV aged 18–45 were given a description of HPV self-sampling and instructions on how to self-collect the sample. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing their perceptions of the acceptability and comfort of HPV self-sampling before using the self-sampling methodology. Responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree) for each statement. Participants’ characteristics were included in bivariate analysis. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used to assess associations between questionnaire results and participant characteristics. <b>Results</b>: Of the 117 completed questionnaires, 79.6% of participants had a CD4+ T cell count ≥ 500 cells/mm<sup>3</sup>. Participants’ median age was 39 (IQR 34–43). One hundred participants (85.5%) felt confident they could collect their samples correctly, and 77.8% did not think they would experience difficulties with self-collection. Most participants (68.4%) preferred to self-collect their sample instead of provider-collected sampling. Ninety-six participants (82.1%) agreed they would likely use self-collection methods for future cervical screening. Many participants were concerned about receiving a positive HPV result (68.4%), passing HPV on to their partner(s) (75.7%), and disclosing their HPV status to friends/family (49.6%). <b>Conclusions</b>: Women with HIV seem to be accepting of HPV self-sampling as a cervical cancer screening methodology; however, many participants were concerned about the implications associated with a positive HPV test result

Caledon’s Natural Heritage System and Urban Development: How Policy Impacts Fragmentation

Caledon does not yet have a comprehensive municipal NHS in place. Although Caledon has large tracts of natural cover, both its locations and ownerships are fragmented. Given Caledon's expected significant expansion of its built environment by 2051, as per both the Future Caledon OP and the Region’s OP, Caledon must identify a municipal NHS to protect and preserve it in the future. Given that Caledon is the least developed of the three municipalities in the Region of Peel, urban expansion does not need to be an inherent threat to Caledon’s natural systems and green identity. Instead, it is an opportunity. With so much natural cover and relatively sporadic development, Caledon has everything required to create a robust NHS. However, time is running out for Caledon to delineate and preserve its NHS. With the new Future Caledon Plan, the new SABE areas risk fragmenting the NHS so much within southern Caledon that it may lose connectivity with natural features located in both Brampton and northern Caledon

Canadian Buddhism: World Buddhism Under One Umbrella

This is a collection of two sets of articles on Canadian Buddhism written and/or published between 1986 to 2023. As can be seen from the titles as below, the first set comes with the vibrancy of a personal touch, both at the ground as well as the academic levels, given the author’s involvement in Canadian Buddhism at both. As in the words of Victor Hori and Janet McLellan, “Sugunasiri’s life story is doubly interesting for students of Buddhism in the West. It is first of all an example of how one man has dedicated his life to Buddhism. But second, Sugunasiri helped shape the development of Buddhism in this country. His life story is a prism through which the history of Buddhism in Canada comes into focus”. - in Harding, Hori & Soucey (Ed.), in Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada, 201