Conservation Conundrum: At-risk Bumble Bees (Bombus spp.) Show Preference for Invasive Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca) While Foraging in Protected Areas

In recent decades, some bumble bee species have declined, including in North America. Declines have been reported in species of bumble bees historically present in Ontario, including: yellow bumble bee (Bombus fervidus) (Fabricus, 1798), American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) (DeGeer, 1773), and yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola) (Kirby, 1837). Threats contributing to bumble bee population declines include: land-use changes, habitat loss, climate change, pathogen spillover, and pesticide use. A response to the need for action on pollinator preservation in North America has been to encourage ‘bee-friendly’ plantings. Previous studies show differences in common and at-risk bumble bee foraging; however, similar data are unavailable for Ontario. Our research question is whether there is a difference in co-occurring at-risk and common bumble bee (Bombus spp.) floral use (including nectar and pollen collection) in protected areas in southern Ontario. We hypothesize that common and at-risk species forage differently, predicting that at-risk species forage on a limited selection of host plants. We conducted a field survey of sites in southern Ontario, using observational methods to determine bumble bee foraging by species. The results of a redundancy analysis show a difference in foraging between common and at-risk bumblebee species. At-risk bumble bee species show a preference for foraging on invasive, naturalized Vicia cracca (tufted vetch). This finding raises the question of how to preserve or provide forage for at-risk bumble bees, when they show an association with an invasive species often subject to control in protected areas.York University Librarie

Report as to Proposed Pilot Project on the Electronic Monitoring of Forensic Mental Health Patients

This report was undertaken in response to a request from the Nova Scotia government for assistance in identifying and analyzing legal issues related to the potential establishment of a pilot project. The project would involve the use of electronic monitoring (EM) of forensic mental health patients (patients) detained at the East Coast Forensic Hospital (ECFH) who are exercising indirectly supervised and unescorted community access (community access). The purpose of our analysis is not to determine if an EM policy or its application violates any laws. Rather, the purpose is to consider whether there are factors that may support legal challenges and ensure government is aware of their relevance to the potential implementation of the proposed pilot project. The relevance of these issues will need to be revisited as details of an EM policy, if any, are developed. We provide the following guidance based on the context of which we are aware. Our analysis does not constitute nor should it be construed as legal advice

Comparison of single-layer and double-layer anti-reflection coatings using laser-induced damage threshold and photothermal common-path interferometry

The dielectric thin-film coating on high-power optical components is often the weakest region and will fail at elevated optical fluences. A comparison of single-layer coatings of ZrO2, LiF, Ta2O5, SiN, and SiO2 along with anti-reflection (AR) coatings optimized at 1064 nm comprised of ZrO2 and Ta2O5 was made, and the results of photothermal common-path interferometry (PCI) and a laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) are presented here. The coatings were grown by radio frequency (RF) sputtering, pulsed direct-current (DC) sputtering, ion-assisted electron beam evaporation (IAD), and thermal evaporation. Test regimes for LIDT used pulse durations of 9.6 ns at 100 Hz for 1000-on-1 and 1-on-1 regimes at 1064 nm for single-layer and AR coatings, and 20 ns at 20 Hz for a 200-on-1 regime to compare the //ZrO2/SiO2 AR coating

Partnerships, technology and teaching: celebrating the link between universities and rural communities

In recognising the increasing pressure to contribute to the construction of a new paradigm of schooling appropriate for the new century, this paper discusses the impact of partnerships and technology on teaching and emphasises the value of relationships between universities and schools in enhancing the quality of educational services provided to learning communities and specifically, learners in rural communities. By referencing both current research and policy developments and presenting case studies related to innovations in organisational collaboration, technology use and the administration of programs, it is the intention of the authors to both raise awareness of existing examples of successful innovations which have led to excellence in education, and to provide a ready resource for those wishing to further their understanding of programs that have added value to the educational benefits derived by those learners involved. Celebrations of existing collections of successful innovations is referenced infrequently in the literature and it is the intention of this paper to overcome that deficit

GPs and paediatric oncology palliative care: a Q methodological study

Objective This mixed-methods study set in the West Midlands region of the UK demonstrates the effectiveness of Q methodology in examining general practitioners' (GPs') perception of their role in children's oncology palliative care. Methods Using data obtained from the analysis of semistructured interviews with GPs who had cared for a child receiving palliative care at home and bereaved parents, 50 statements were identified as representative of the analysis findings. 32 GPs with a non-palliative child with cancer on their caseload were asked to rank the statements according to their level of agreement/disagreement on a grid. They were then asked to reflect and comment on the statements they most and least agreed with. The data were analysed using a dedicated statistical software package for Q analysis PQMethod V.2.20 (Schmolck 2012). A centroid factor analysis was undertaken initially with 7 factors then repeated for factors 1–6. Varimax and manual flagging was then completed. Results 4 shared viewpoints were identified denoting different GP roles: the GP, the compassionate practitioner, the team player practitioner and the pragmatic practitioner. In addition consensus (time pressures, knowledge deficits, emotional toll) and disagreement (psychological support, role, experiential learning, prior relationships) between the viewpoints were identified and examined. Conclusions Q methodology, used for the first time in this arena, identified 4 novel and distinct viewpoints reflecting a diverse range of GP perspectives. Appropriately timed and targeted GP education, training, support, in conjunction with collaborative multiprofessional working, have the potential to inform their role and practice across specialities.</p

"It Is Part of Belonging": Walking Groups to Promote Social Health amongst People Living with Dementia

People with dementia often report experiencing a ‘shrinking world’ connected with reduced opportunities to access physical and social spaces. This article applies the framework of social health (Dröes et al., 2017; Huber et al., 2011) as a theoretical lens through which to consider how inclusive walking groups can facilitate access to places and spaces to support people with dementia to remain connected in their communities. Findings are reported from walking interviews and focus group discussions with people with dementia, family carers, volunteers and walk leaders who participated in a national programme of dementia-friendly walking groups in Scotland. Thematic analysis of the data demonstrates that participation has a positive impact on social health, supporting people living with dementia to fulfil their potential, to engage in meaningful activity and to manage both their condition and their wider lives. Benefits include providing a context for continuing social participation and relationships for people with dementia and family carers. Additionally, groups provide a safe space where people with dementia can walk with autonomy and help to reinforce a sense of capacity and agency. Wider implications include the role of walking groups in fostering interdependencies between people with dementia and their wider communities by promoting an enabling ethos of dementia ‘inclusiveness.’ The benefits of developing an inclusive and supportive approach to involving people living with dementia in walking groups could extend more broadly to the wider community, with such initiatives acting as a catalyst for growing levels of social participation

Study of amorphous dielectric optical coatings deposited by plasma ion assisted electron beam evaporation for gravitational wave detectors

Coating thermal noise (CTN) in amorphous coatings is a drawback hindering their application in precision experiments such as gravitational wave detectors (GWDs). Mirrors for GWDs are Bragg’s reflectors consisting of a bilayer-based stack of high- and low-refractive-index materials showing high reflectivity and low CTN. In this paper, we report the characterization of morphological, structural, optical, and mechanical properties of high-index materials such as scandium sesquioxide and hafnium dioxide and a low-index material such as magnesium fluoride deposited by plasma ion-assisted electron beam evaporation. We also evaluate their properties under different annealing treatments and discuss their potential for GWDs

Integrating aphasia into stroke best practices: A Canadian KTE strategy

This poster reports on the activities to date of the Stroke and Aphasia Canada team including results of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Knowledge Translation (KT) planning grant (grant #290592, 2013)

Petabyte-scale innovations at the European Nucleotide Archive

Dramatic increases in the throughput of nucleotide sequencing machines, and the promise of ever greater performance, have thrust bioinformatics into the era of petabyte-scale data sets. Sequence repositories, which provide the feed for these data sets into the worldwide computational infrastructure, are challenged by the impact of these data volumes. The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA; http://www.ebi.ac.uk/embl), comprising the EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database and the Ensembl Trace Archive, has identified challenges in the storage, movement, analysis, interpretation and visualization of petabyte-scale data sets. We present here our new repository for next generation sequence data, a brief summary of contents of the ENA and provide details of major developments to submission pipelines, high-throughput rule-based validation infrastructure and data integration approaches