Background: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are important causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Long-term national MRSA BSI surveillance establishes rates for internal and external comparison and provide insight into epidemiologic, molecular, and resistance trends. Here, we present and discuss National MRSA BSI incidence rates and trends over time in Canadian acute-care hospitals from 2008 to 2018. Methods: The Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Programme (CNISP) is a collaborative effort of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Since 1995, the CNISP has conducted hospital-based sentinel surveillance of MRSA BSIs. Data were collected using standardized definitions and forms from hospitals that participate in the CNISP (48 hospitals in 2008 to 62 hospitals in 2018). For each MRSA BSI identified, the medical record was reviewed for clinical and demographic information and when possible, 1 blood-culture isolate per patient was submitted to a central laboratory for further molecular characterization and susceptibility testing. Results: From 2008 to 2013, MRSA BSI rates per 10,000 patient days were relatively stable (0.60–0.56). Since 2014, MRSA BSI rates have gradually increased from 0.66 to 1.05 in 2018. Although healthcare-associated (HA) MRSA BSI has shown a minimal increase (0.40 in 2014 to 0.51 in 2018), community-acquired (CA) MRSA BSI has increased by 150%, from 0.20 in 2014 to 0.50 in 2018 (Fig. 1). Laboratory characterization revealed that the proportion of isolates identified as CMRSA 2 (USA 100) decreased each year, from 39% in 2015 to 28% in 2018, while CMRSA 10 (USA 300) has increased from 41% to 47%. Susceptibility testing shows a decrease in clindamycin resistance from 82% in 2013 to 41% in 2018. Conclusions: Over the last decade, ongoing prospective MRSA BSI surveillance has shown relatively stable HA-MRSA rates, while CA-MRSA BSI rates have risen substantially. The proportion of isolates most commonly associated with HA-MRSA BSI (CMRSA2/USA 100) are decreasing and, given that resistance trends are tied to the prevalence of specific epidemic types, a large decrease in clindamycin resistance has been observed. MRSA BSI surveillance has shown a changing pattern in the epidemiology and laboratory characterization of MRSA BSI. The addition of hospitals in later years that may have had higher rates of CA-MRSA BSI could be a confounding factor. Continued comprehensive national surveillance will provide valuable information to address the challenges of infection prevention and control of MRSA BSI in hospitals.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

The deep subsurface of other planetary bodies is of special interest for robotic and human exploration. The subsurface provides access to planetary interior processes, thus yielding insights into planetary formation and evolution. On Mars, the subsurface might harbour the most habitable conditions. In the context of human exploration, the subsurface can provide refugia for habitation from extreme surface conditions. We describe the fifth Mine Analogue Research (MINAR 5) programme at 1 km depth in the Boulby Mine, UK in collaboration with Spaceward Bound NASA and the Kalam Centre, India, to test instruments and methods for the robotic and human exploration of deep environments on the Moon and Mars. The geological context in Permian evaporites provides an analogue to evaporitic materials on other planetary bodies such as Mars. A wide range of sample acquisition instruments (NASA drills, Small Planetary Impulse Tool (SPLIT) robotic hammer, universal sampling bags), analytical instruments (Raman spectroscopy, Close-Up Imager, Minion DNA sequencing technology, methane stable isotope analysis, biomolecule and metabolic life detection instruments) and environmental monitoring equipment (passive air particle sampler, particle detectors and environmental monitoring equipment) was deployed in an integrated campaign. Investigations included studying the geochemical signatures of chloride and sulphate evaporitic minerals, testing methods for life detection and planetary protection around human-tended operations, and investigations on the radiation environment of the deep subsurface. The MINAR analogue activity occurs in an active mine, showing how the development of space exploration technology can be used to contribute to addressing immediate Earth-based challenges. During the campaign, in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA), MINAR was used for astronaut familiarization with future exploration tools and techniques. The campaign was used to develop primary and secondary school and primary to secondary transition curriculum materials on-site during the campaign which was focused on a classroom extra vehicular activity simulation.

Common marketing strategies include emphasizing products’ “green” or environmentally friendly attributes and characteristics to appeal to a growing market of environmentally conscious consumers. While previous studies have used product labels such as “eco-friendly,” “environmentally friendly,” and “sustainable” to investigate consumer preferences, relatively little is known about how consumer perceptions as a pre-decision mechanism impact their preferences and choice behaviors. Using data collected through an online survey of U.S. and Canadian consumers, we investigate systematic differences in individuals’ perceptions of the terms “eco-friendly” and “sustainable.” Marketing implications for the food and green (i.e., greenhouse/nursery producers, suppliers, and retailers) industries are discussed.

I provide a novel response to scepticism concerning freedom and moral responsibility. This involves my extension to freedom of John McDowell's liberal natural approach to ethics and epistemology. I trace the source of the sceptical problem to an overly restrictive, brute conception of nature, where reality is equated with what figures, directly or indirectly, in natural scientific explanation. I challenge the all encompassing explanatory pretensions of restrictive naturalism, advocating a re-conception of nature such that it already incorporates reasons. This allows for an explanation of free actions which is not ultimately brute, but irreducibly normative. Against the backdrop of liberal naturalism I conceive freedom as an emergent capacity to respond to reasons which arises from the acquisition of language. I claim that freedom is a rational causal power to originate actions based within a naturalised ontology, which has sufficient depth to justify moral responsibility without begging ontological or epistemological questions.

Stormwater catch basins form part of artificial drainage systems in urban areas and can provide larval habitat for mosquito vector species of West Nile virus (WNv), such as Culex pipiens Linnaeus (Diptera: Culicidae). We evaluated the impact of management techniques and targeted applications of larvicide on larval populations of this potential WNv mosquito vector species in catch basins from the Lower Mainland of Vancouver and on Vancouver Island of British Columbia, Canada. A mixed effects logistic regression model described the relationship between larval presence and larvicide treatment while controlling for other parameters. Parameter estimates showed that larvicide treatment reduced the odds of larvae presence by a factor of ∼7.23. The model also revealed relationships between larval presence and water temperature and adjacent land use but larvicide treatment consistently reduced the presence of larvae regardless of these other factors. This knowledge can now be used to prioritise and target control efforts to most efficiently reduce WNv mosquito vector populations, and most effectively reduce the risk of WNv transmission to humans. A similar research strategy could be applied to emerging threats from other potential mosquito vectors of disease around the world, to help lower the incidence of mosquito-borne disease.

This study used and compared hypothetical conjoint analysis and nonhypothetical experimental auctions to elicit floral customers' willingness to pay for biodegradable plant containers. The results of the study show that participants were willing to pay a price premium for biodegradable containers, but the premium is not the same for different types of containers. This article also shows the mixed ordered probit model generates more accurate results when analyzing the conjoint analysis Internet survey data than the ordered probit model.

Infection by a parasite often induces behavioural changes in the host and these changes may benefit either the host or the parasite. However, whether these changes are active host defence mechanisms or parasitic manipulations or simply incidental byproducts of the infection is not always clear. It has been suggested that understanding the proximate mechanisms of these changes as well as comparative studies could help distinguish these alternatives better. Behavioural fever is a common response to an infection in many animals and we investigated the phenomenon in the novel host-parasite relationship between the honeybee and the temperature-sensitive microsporidian Nosema ceranae. Our results show that infected bees prefer higher temperatures and even though this seems to benefit the pathogen, the proximate mechanism underlying this change is the pathological stress underlying the infection. Especially because it is a new host-parasite relationship, it is best to label the observed behavioural change as a case of incidental benefit although this does not rule out selection acting on it. We discuss the importance of looking at the behavioural outcomes of host-parasite relationships and the importance of studying them at multiple levels for understanding their origin and maintenance.