Progress on ECCC’s contribution to a new initiative component that focuses on marine vessel emissions and mitigations in the Salish Sea.

As a result of the National Energy Board’s (NEB) Reconsideration Report on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project there are accommodation measures that are intended to mitigate, avoid or lessen potential effects associated with the project and related marine shipping. Environment Climate Change Canada (ECCC), along with other federal agencies, is working to implement the Salish Sea Initiative. One aspect in particular is analysis related to cumulative effects and mitigation measures for regional marine vessel air pollutant emissions. Marine vessel traffic is a significant source of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions in the Salish Sea, affecting air quality in the region. Progress on this new initiative is ongoing and using already existing ECCC tools such as the Marine Emissions Inventory Tool, new information gathered from the region, and future predictions of marine vessel activity. The initiative will also investigate mitigations, new technology, and marine vessel emissions management in other jurisdictions with the goal of identifying feasible options for the Salish Sea. This presentation addresses work completed thus far on the air quality and greenhouse gas marine vessel emissions and mitigations in the Salish Sea

Effects of Two Backpack Weight Distributions on Perceptual and Physiological Measures During Walking

Backpack weight distribution may affect economy by conserving energy and thus potentially prolonging fatigue. Research has not however examined effects of backpack weight distribution on subjective measures of intensity and comfort. Heart rate (HR) and overall and differentiated Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) were examined during simulated backpacking with differentially weighted backpacks. Volunteers (n=27) completed two simulated hiking trials on a treadmill. Trials consisted of 15 minutes walking at 0% grade followed by 15 minutes walking at 10% grade at 2.5 mph (males) or 2.0 mph (females). Subjects wore an internal frame backpack packed to contain 25% of their individual body weight). In a counterbalanced order, packs were placed with either a high weight distribution (HWD) (3:1:1 ratio) placing more weight near the shoulders, and a low weight distribution (LWD) (1:1:3 ratio) placing more weight near the hips. Heart rate (HR), RPE-Overall, RPE-Legs, RPEShoulders, and RPE-Back were recorded every three minutes and compared between trials using repeated measures ANOVA. HR between HWD and LWD was similar at 0% as well as 10%. Overall and differentiated RPE\u27s were not significantly different between (HWD vs. LWD) at 0% or 10%. Results suggest backpack weight distribution (HWD vs. LWD) does not significantly influence HR and perceptual measures during simulated hiking at a 0% or 10% grade

Content Analysis of Digital Media Coverage of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine School-Entry Requirement Policy in Puerto Rico

BACKGROUND: In August 2018, Puerto Rico (PR) became the 4th state or territory in the United States to adopt a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine school-entry requirement, for students 11-12 years old. Evidence suggests that the content of media coverage may impact people\u27s perception of HPV vaccine and their willingness to vaccinate. This study aimed to analyze the content of digital news coverage related to the implementation of the policy in PR. METHODS: A content review was conducted of digital media published from January 2017 through December 2018. The content reviewed was carried out in two steps: 1) creating a matrix to summarize each article\u27s content about the policy and 2) qualitative analysis using a grounded theory approach. RESULTS: The search resulted in 34 articles obtained from 17 online local and international news outlets that reported the policy\u27s implementation. Analyses showed that 61% of the news articles did not mention the number of required doses, and 79% discussed the new policy concerning cancer prevention. In 2017, news coverage focused mostly on describing the policy, while 2018 coverage focused on controversies surrounding the implementation. Neutral emergent codes included: 1) Description of the policy; 2) Information about HPV related cancers; and 3) General information about HPV vaccine. Negative emergent codes included: 1) infringement to patient and parental autonomy; 2) Hesitancy from the political sector, and 3) Hesitancy from groups and coalitions. Positive content included: 1) knowledge and acceptance of HPV vaccine for cancer prevention; 2) importance of education and protective sexual behaviors; and 3) new vaccination law proposal. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the media coverage in PR was neutral and included limited information related to the vaccine, HPV, and HPV-related cancers. Neutral and negative themes could influence public concerns regarding the new policy, as well as HPV vaccination rates in PR

Effects of Feeding Increasing Standardized Ileal Digestible Lysine on Growth Performance of 26- to 300-lb PIC Line 800-Sired Pigs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance and economic returns of PIC 800 × 1050 pigs fed increasing SID Lys from approximately 26 to 300 lb. Pens of pigs were blocked by BW and randomly assigned to 1 of 5 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with 26 pigs per pen and 16 pens per treatment. Pens were provided 1 of 5 dietary treatments with increasing SID Lys at 85, 93, 100, 107, and 115% of current PIC recommendations within 6 different phases. Two base diets containing low Lys and high Lys were blended to meet target SID Lys levels for each treatment diet within phase. For the overall experimental period (d 0 to 143), feeding increasing SID Lys improved (linear, P ≤ 0.007) ADG and F/G, but did not impact ADFI (P \u3e 0.10). For carcass characteristics, a tendency (linear, P = 0.067) for increased HCW of pigs that were provided increasing SID Lys was observed. However, there was no evidence for differences (P \u3e 0.10) across treatments in carcass yield, backfat depth, loin depth, or carcass lean percentage. Increasing SID Lys of the diets increased (linear, P \u3c 0.001) feed cost and feed cost per lb of gain. There was no evidence of difference (P \u3e 0.10) in revenue for either ingredient price scenario, thus, feeding increasing levels of SID Lys reduced (linear, P \u3c 0.001) income over feed cost (IOFC) in both scenarios. The linear model (LM) served as the best fit for both growth and economic parameters. The LM model predicted maximum ADG and minimal F/G at levels greater than 115% of PIC’s current SID Lys recommendations. For IOFC, the LM model predicted maximum profitability at or below 85% of PIC’s current Lys recommendations. In conclusion, the optimal SID Lys level for PIC 800 × 1050 pigs from 26- to 300-lb depends upon the response criteria, with growth performance maximized at levels at or above 115% of PIC’s recommendation for SID Lys; however, economic responses were maximized at or below 85% of PIC’s current SID Lys recommendations

Extended Sentinel Monitoring of Helicoverpa zea Resistance to Cry and Vip3Aa Toxins in Bt Sweet Corn: Assessing Changes in Phenotypic and Allele Frequencies of Resistance

Transgenic corn and cotton that produce Cry and Vip3Aa toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely planted in the United States to control lepidopteran pests. The sustainability of these Bt crops is threatened because the corn earworm/bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), is evolving a resistance to these toxins. Using Bt sweet corn as a sentinel plant to monitor the evolution of resistance, collaborators established 146 trials in twenty-five states and five Canadian provinces during 2020–2022. The study evaluated overall changes in the phenotypic frequency of resistance (the ratio of larval densities in Bt ears relative to densities in non-Bt ears) in H. zea populations and the range of resistance allele frequencies for Cry1Ab and Vip3Aa. The results revealed a widespread resistance to Cry1Ab, Cry2Ab2, and Cry1A.105 Cry toxins, with higher numbers of larvae surviving in Bt ears than in non-Bt ears at many trial locations. Depending on assumptions about the inheritance of resistance, allele frequencies for Cry1Ab ranged from 0.465 (dominant resistance) to 0.995 (recessive resistance). Although Vip3Aa provided high control efficacy against H. zea, the results show a notable increase in ear damage and a number of surviving older larvae, particularly at southern locations. Assuming recessive resistance, the estimated resistance allele frequencies for Vip3Aa ranged from 0.115 in the Gulf states to 0.032 at more northern locations. These findings indicate that better resistance management practices are urgently needed to sustain efficacy the of corn and cotton that produce Vip3Aa

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Gender, race, year in school and five co-occurring health related behaviors of Colorado State University students

2012 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.The incidence of premature morbidity and mortality reduces when individuals practice protective health related behaviors (HRBs) such as not smoking cigarettes or marijuana, limiting alcohol consumption, participating in regular physical activity, and consuming five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Research indicates that many college students do not practice multiple protective HRBs, yet most educational interventions are aimed at changing only one HRB. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate college student's co-occurring risk and protective health behaviors in order to provide insight to health educators regarding what HRBs to include in multiple health behavior change (MHBC) interventions and how to tailor and target the interventions based on race, gender, and year in school. This study assessed Colorado State University (CSU) students' pairs and clustering HRBs by gender, race, and year in school via an analysis of a pre-collected National College Health Assessment (NCHA). The final sample consisted of 928 undergraduate students aged 18-23 years old who were enrolled in one of eight class sections of an elective Health and Wellness class in the spring 2009 semester, who attended class the day the NCHA was administered, and who volunteered to participate. The sample was not representative of the total CSU population when considering major of study, year in school and age, but was representative by gender and race. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used to explore the relationship between co-occurring HRBs and gender, race, and year in school of students at one point in time. Descriptive statistics revealed that 39% of the students practiced at least three of five risk HRBs. Cluster analysis showed 27 patterns of risk and protective HRBs with 63% of students in five clusters. Regression demonstrated that more females than males were likely to be in three of the five HRB clusters, and upperclassman were less likely to be in two of the five clusters. Phi statistical test showed a significant association between five of the ten HRB pair combinations, and regression demonstrated that more females than males practiced one risk pair and males more than females practiced three risk pairs. The study helps improve the understanding of how health behaviors co-occur in college students and provides college administrators and health educators insights into the behaviors to include in MHBC interventions, how to prioritize interventions, which students to target and how to tailor the interventions. Findings from the study will help plan interventions aimed at preventing clusters and pairs of risk HRBs in college students, which may potentially be more effective, more economical and less demanding for health educators than interventions targeted to single HRBs

Improving childhood vaccination coverage rates: the case of fourth dose of DTaP

Based on the most recently available national data, vaccination coverage for the combined seven-vaccine series recommended by age 24 months remains substantially below the Healthy People 2020 target of 80%. One focus for improvement is the lack of timely administration of the fourth dose of DTaP vaccine. Based on the perspective of state and local immunization program managers, key strategies include tracking immunization patterns through immunization information systems and other data sources, working with health-care providers to address challenges to timely vaccination, and developing partnerships with daycares, payers, and health systems

Partnering with healthcare systems to improve HPV vaccination:The perspective of immunization program managers

The US’s 64 CDC-funded immunization programs are at the forefront of efforts to improve the quality of adolescent vaccination services. We sought to understand immunization program managers’ perspectives on partnering with healthcare systems to improve HPV vaccine uptake. Managers of 44 state and local immunization programs completed our online survey in 2019. Immunization managers strongly endorsed the importance of partnering with systems to improve HPV vaccine uptake (mean = 3.8/4.0), and most wanted to do so in the next year (mean = 3.5). Immunization managers reported that common barriers included difficulty contacting systems’ leadership (57%), differing organizational cultures (52%), and time (52%). Many perceived systems as not prioritizing HPV vaccination (77%). Immunization managers expressed strong interest in participating in a training on partnering with systems (mean = 3.5). Overall, immunization managers are highly interested in partnering with systems to improve HPV vaccine uptake. Training and other support are needed to expand programs’ capacity for such partnerships