Advance consent could allow individuals at high risk of stroke to provide consent before they might become eligible for enrollment in acute stroke trials. This survey explores the acceptability of this novel technique to Canadian Research Ethics Board (REB) chairs that review acute stroke trials. Responses from 15 REB chairs showed that majority of respondents expressed comfort approving studies that adopt advance consent. There was no clear preference for advance consent over deferral of consent, although respondents expressed significant concern with broad rather than trial-specific advance consent. These findings shed light on the acceptability of advance consent to Canadian ethics regulators.

Pb–Zr–Ti–O (PZT) perovskites span a large solid-solution range and have found widespread use due to their piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties that also span a large range. Crystal structure analysis via Rietveld refinement facilitates materials analysis via the extraction of the structural parameters. These parameters, often obtained as a function of an additional dimension (e.g., pressure), can help to diagnose materials response within a use environment. Often referred to as “in-situ” studies, these experiments provide an abundance of data. Viewing structural changes due to applied pressure conditions can give much-needed insight into materials performance. However, challenges exist for viewing/presenting results when the details are inherently three-dimensional (3D) in nature. For PZT perovskites, the use of polyhedra (e.g., Zr/Ti–O6 octahedra) to view bonding/connectivity is beneficial; however, the visualization of the octahedra behavior with pressure dependence is less easily demonstrated due to the complexity of the added pressure dimension. We present a more intuitive visualization by projecting structural data into virtual reality (VR). We employ previously published structural data for Pb0.99(Zr0.95Ti0.05)0.98Nb0.02O3 as an exemplar for VR visualization of the PZT R3c crystal structure between ambient and 0.62 GPa pressure. This is accomplished via our in-house CAD2VR™ software platform and the new CrystalVR plugin. The use of the VR environment enables a more intuitive viewing experience, while enabling on-the-fly evaluation of crystal data, to form a detailed and comprehensive understanding of in-situ datasets. Discussion of methodology and tools for viewing are given, along with how recording results in video form can enable the viewing experience.

This article focuses on the last moments of Le Sacre du printemps, which opened in Paris on 29 May 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Concentrating on the discourse of the creative practice that brought these moments into being, it seeks to add to our understanding of Le Sacre from the evidence of those most intimately involved with this first production. Analysis of Le Sacre demonstrates the equal viability of a great variety of readings of the work. Such readings are enabled by analysis, which regards any aspect of a creative work and its best interpretation as happily unfixed and unstable. It has sometimes been accepted that the job of critics and theorists is to fix interpretations of creative works and to demonstrate conveniently closed theses about them. Creative artists are not always willing to join their critical colleagues. This was certainly the case with Le Sacre. By reading the final seven seconds of its Danse sacrale through the accounts of the work’s primary creators – composer Igor Stravinsky, designer Nicholas Roerich, and their creative intimates – this article highlights an engrossing instability of intention and interpretation. It questions the idea that Le Sacre is a sacrificial ritual in the light of how Stravinsky himself considered his work in terms of coronation and consecration.

Advance consent presents a potential solution to the challenge of obtaining informed consent for participation in acute stroke trials. Clinicians in stroke prevention clinics are uniquely positioned to identify and seek consent from potential stroke trial participants. To assess the acceptability of advance consent to Canadian stroke clinic physicians, we performed an online survey. We obtained 58 respondents (response rate 35%): the vast majority (82%) expressed comfort with obtaining advance consent and 92% felt that doing so would not be a significant disruption to clinic workflow. These results support further study of advance consent for acute stroke trials.

Tungsten (W) films have many applications in the semiconducting industry for sensor technology. Deposition conditions can significantly impact the resulting W films in terms of the phases present (α-BCC or β-A12), microstructural grain orientation (texture), and residual strain. Tilt-A-Whirl methodology has been employed for the evaluation of a W film showing both texture and residual strain. Sin2(ψ) analysis of the film was performed to quantify the strongly tensile in-plane strain (+0.476%) with an estimated in-plane tensile stress of ~1.9 GPa. The 3D dataset was also evaluated qualitatively via 3D visualization. Visualization of 3D texture/strain data poses challenges due to peak broadening resulting from defocusing of the beam at high ψ tilt angles. To address this issue, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to diagnose, model, and remove the broadening component from the diffraction data. Evaluation of the raw data and subsequent corrected data (after removal of defocusing effects) has been performed through projection of the data into a virtual 3D environment (via CAD2VR software) to qualitatively detect the impact of residual strain on the observed pole figure.

Background: An increase in candidemia has been observed throughout the world since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients with COVID-19 may have different risk factors, clinical presentations, and outcomes compared to patients without COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all inpatients with candidemia at a large, academic medical center from April 30, 2019, to February 19, 2021. The first case of COVID-19 was detected at our institution March 2020 and patients were sorted into pre– versus post–COVID-19 pandemic groups. Data regarding clinical characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes were collected. The rate of candidemia per 10,000 patient days was calculated from January 2013 through February 2021. Results: In total, 202 patients were identified with candidemia: 92 cases were identified before the pandemic and 110 cases were identified after the pandemic began. Moreover, 33 (16.3%) patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the admission and 169 (83.7%) did not have COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 were significantly more likely to be older (median, 64.5 vs 54.8 years; P = .0006) and to have a higher body mass index (32.8 vs 29.1; P = .03) than patients without COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 were less likely have some of the traditional risk factors (eg, abdominal surgery, total parenteral nutrition, history of injecting drugs) for candidemia compared to patients without COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 were significantly more likely to require ICU care (97.0% vs 67.5%; P < .001) and to require mechanical ventilation (90.9% vs 53.9%; P < .001), and they had higher mortality at 30 days (66.7% vs 31.4%; P < .001). A multivariate logistic regression model showed that COVID-19 (OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.09–5.90) and higher age (OR 1.45, 95% CI, 1.11–1.91) were significant predictors of 30 day mortality. Using a Poisson regression model, the incidence rate ratio for candidemia per month after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was 2.09 (95% CI, 1.85–2.36; P < .0001) compared to the years prior. Conclusions: Rates of candidemia significantly increased after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients with candidemia in the post–COVID-19 era tend to have nontraditional risk factors, to be more critically ill, and to have increased mortality compared to patients in the pre–COVID-19 era. COVID-19 and higher age were independent predictors of mortality. More studies are needed to further define risk factors for candidemia in patients with COVID-19.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Interest in cover crops is increasing but information is limited on integrating them into crop rotations especially in the relatively short growing season on the northern Great Plains. A 3-yr research project, initiated in 2009 near Mandan, North Dakota, USA, evaluated (1) what impact cover crops may have on subsequent cash crops yields and (2) whether cover crop mixtures are more productive and provide additional benefits compared to cover crop monocultures. The study evaluated 18 different cover crop monocultures and mixtures that were seeded in August following dry pea (Pisum sativum L.). The following year, spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max L.) and field pea were seeded into the different cover crop treatments and a non-treated control. A lack of timely precipitation in 2009 resulted in a low cover crop yield of 17 g m2 compared to 100 and 77 g m2 in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Subsequent cash crop yield was not affected by late-seeded cover crops. Cool-season cover crop monocultures were more productive than warm-season monocultures and some mixtures in 2008 and 2010. Relative yield total did not differ from one in any cover crop mixture suggesting that overyielding did not occur. Species selection rather than species diversity was the most important contributor to cover crop yield. Cover crops can be grown following short-season cash crops in the northern Great Plains, but precipitation timing and species selection are critical.

Following the inaugural Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) research symposium in November 2014, we — a group of emerging researchers in Environmental Education/Sustainability Education (EE/SE) — commenced an online collaboration to identify and articulate our responses to the main themes of the symposium. Identifying as #aaeeer, our discussions coalesced into four main areas that we felt captured not only some of our current research interests, but also ‘under-explored’ areas that need further attention and that also held the potential for meaningful and ‘dangerous’ contributions to EE/SE research and practice. These themes were: (1) uncertain futures, (2) traditional knowledges for the future, (3) community EE/SE, and (4) the rise of the digital, explorations of which we present in this article. By no means intended to capture all that is worth researching in this field, these themes, and this article, are deliberately presented by #aaeeer to spark discussions, as well as showcase an example of online collaboration between researchers in a number of countries.