Healthcare personnel with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were interviewed to describe activities and practices in and outside the workplace. Among 2,625 healthcare personnel, workplace-related factors that may increase infection risk were more common among nursing-home personnel than hospital personnel, whereas selected factors outside the workplace were more common among hospital personnel.

It is shown from studies of synthetic kaolinites doped with Fe3+ that the ESR spectrum of kaolinite at g = 4 consists of two components attributed to Fe3+ ions occupying two distinct substitutional sites (Centres I and II). The relative intensity of the two components can be correlated with the X-ray crystallinity of the samples. The ESR spectrum is influenced by artificial changes in crystallinity produced by subjecting samples to high stresses or by intercalation. It is concluded that Centre II is due to Fe3+ replacing Al3+ in the octahedral layer in a region of high crystallinity. Centre I is assigned to Fe3+ occupying Al3+ sites distorted by changes in the hydroxyl orientations associated with layer stacking disorder or disruption of interlayer bonding.

A stable defect centre in kaolinite which produces an ESR spectrum at g = 2·0 is attributed to either a hole centre located on an Si—O bond adjacent to an Mg2+ octahedral impurity or to an O2− ion trapped within the lattice.

Synthetic kaolinites of varying crystallinity, and in some instances with ideal morphology, have been produced by hydrothermal reaction of aluminiosilicate gels. Synthetic kaolinites doped with Mg2+ and Fe3+ were also obtained.

Synthetic kaolinite doped with Fe3+ produced an ESR spectrum at g = 4 identical to spectra observed in natural kaolinites. Following X-irradiation and annealing at ~200°C, synthetic kaolinite doped with Mg2+ exhibited an ESR signal at g = 2·0 identical to a resonance observed in natural kaolinites. It is concluded that the g = 2·0 signal in kaolinite is due to a defect centre stabilized by Mg2+ substitution.

All synthetic and natural kaolinites exhibit an additional resonance at g = 2·0 following X-irradiation which can be repeatedly created and destroyed by irradiation and annealing. This resonance is attributed to defects possibly associated either with the substitution of Al3+ for Si4+ in kaolinite or with lattice vacancies.

The structure of prehnite Ca2Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)2, including H positions, has been determined by a combination of single-crystal X-ray diffraction and neutron powder diffraction on four natural samples. The symmetry of the average structure with Al/Si disordered at the T2 siteis Pncm. However, for four of the crystals studied, numerous violations of the n- and c-glide reflection conditions indicate lower symmetry corresponding to space groups P2cm and P2/n and Al-Si ordered structures, possibly as domains of different symmetries and ordering within a single crystal. Time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction was carried out on a sample from Mali at 293 K and 2 K. The structure was refined in space group Pncm by Rietveld analysis. Although it was not possible to locate the missing H using the 293 K neutron data, these data were used to refine the H position located approximately by single-crystal XRD and to refine Uiso. For the 2 K neutron powder diffraction data, H was located directly by difference-Fourier synthesis and its refined position found to be in close agreement with that obtained by the combined XRD/neutron 293 K dataset.

The structures of bustamite and the poly-types of wollastonite are shown to be derived from variations in the stacking sequence of a single type of structural unit. This structural unit is a column of unit cells of wollastonite along the b-axis and is bounded by (100) and (001) planes (P1̄ cell); these units may be stacked together along [100] and [001] with either zero displacement between successive units, or a relative displacement of 1/2[010]. Regular stacking sequences give rise to the ordered structures of wollastonite polytypes and of bustamite, while the transformations between these structures proceed by the propagation of line defects with Burgers vectors of 1/2[010] which thus change the stacking sequence of the structural units.

The volumes of a disordered An20 (Qod = 0.15), a disordered An78 (Qod = 0.55) and an ordered An78 (Qod = 0.81) were determined up to 9.569(10) GPa, 8.693(5) GPa and 9.765(10) GPa, respectively, using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The volume variations with pressure for these samples are described with 4th-order Birch Murnaghan equations of state with V0 = 669.88(7) Å3, K0 = 59.7(7) GPa. K′ = 5.7(5), K″ = −0.8(2) GPa−1 for disordered An20, V0 = 1340.48(10) Å3, K0 = 77.6(5) GPa, K0′ = 4.0(3), K″ = -0.59(9) GPa−1 for disordered An78 and V0 = 1339.62(6) A3, K0 = 77.4(6) GPa, K′ = 4.2(4), and K″ = −0.7(1) GPa−1 for ordered An78. Along with data from previous studies (An0 ordered, An0 disordered and An2o ordered), the volumes for the disordered samples were found to be up to ∼0.3% larger than the ordered samples of the same composition. The disordered samples are softer than the ordered samples of the same composition by 4(1)% for An0, 2.5(9)% for An20 and essentially zero for An78. The relationship between volume increase, density decrease, and decreasing bulk modulus with increasing disorder is in accordance with Birch's Law.

The clinopyroxenes kanoite and spodumene were studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) at room temperature. At the displacive phase transitions between the C2/c and P21/c polymorphs both phases coexist within the same crystal. In this two-phase region the pressure in the DAC remains constant. The experimental results demonstrate that pressure buffering at first-order phase transitions can occur in the DAC.

Aerial applications of 20% tebuthiuron JA/-[5-(1,1- dimethylethyl) - 1, 3, 4 - thiadiazol-2 -yl] -N, N' dimethylurea pellets at 2.2 or 4.4 kg/ha in the spring to heavy brush cover in Texas Post Oak Savannah did not increase the amount of grass, compared to that of untreated pastures, until the growing season after application. By the second growing season after tebuthiuron application, however, native grass stands were composed of a higher proportion of perennial species of good-to-excellent grazing value than were stands on adjacent, untreated rangeland. Tebuthiuron at 4.4 kg/ha did not improve botanical composition of grass stands, but increased the amount of grass during the second and third growing season after application compared to those where 2.2 kg/ha were applied. Daily steer gains were increased in one experiment in the fall after application of 2.2 kg/ha of tebuthiuron in the spring, but were unchanged after two growing seasons in another. Days of available grazing were increased, however, by the second or third growing season after treatment with 2.2 kg/ha of the herbicide in both experiments.

Introduction: The Canadian CT Head Rules (CCTHR) is the gold standard clinical decision rule for minor head injuries (MHIs) & has been shown to have 100% sensitivity in identifying patients that would have an abnormal CT scan. Within the CCTHR age 65+ is considered to be an independent risk factor for abnormal head CT. However, a previously published Italian study indicated that the rate of pathological findings in otherwise low risk MHI patients under the age of 79 was less than 1% & significantly lower than those over the age of 80, which brings to question whether the traditional age cut off of 65 as a factor in the CCTHR is too conservative when considering the appropriateness for imaging. Therefore this study aimed to quantify the extent to which low risk MHI patients between the ages of 65-79 present with abnormal CT findings or require neurosurgical intervention when compared to patients over 80 years of age as one of the criteria used in the CCTHR is the age threshold of 65. A secondary objective of this study was to explore abnormal CT rates across these age groupings for otherwise low risk patients on anticoagulants. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on all patients over the age of 65 that received a head CT for a MHI in the Kelowna General Hospital ED between 2006-2016. The imaging results for all patients that had no other risk criteria of the CCTHR other than age were reviewed & rates of pathological findings were compared between patients ages 65-79 & 80+ for both patients on anticoagulants & those not on anticoagulants. Differences in rates by age were compared for statistical significance using the chi-squared & Fisher’s exact test. Results: To date 248 patients have been reviewed & meet the criteria of being >65 & with no other CCTHR criteria. 65% of patients were female & 30% of patients were on anticoagulants. For the patients that were not on anticoagulants, 6 of the 75 (8%) individuals between 65-79 & 9 of the 94 (10%) of those over 80 had abnormal findings on CT (p=0.128). Conclusion: Preliminary results of this study population indicate that there are a significant number of abnormal CT findings in patients under the age of 80 suggesting that patients ages 65-79 without any other CCTHR criteria may still benefit from a head CT. Chart reviews are ongoing & updated results including findings for anti-coagulated patients will be presented at CAEP 2017.

Introduction: The Canadian Computed Tomography Head Rules (CCTHR) is a validated and well-known head injury clinical decision rule that allows Emergency Room Physicians (ERPs) to determine which patients are most likely to benefit from a diagnostic CT. However, this clinical decision rule is not uniformly adhered to and a number of preventable CT scans are ordered. Choosing Wisely Canada has ranked decreasing unnecessary head CT scans as the number one priority for Emergency Departments (ED). As such, the purpose of this study was to investigate if an educational intervention for ERPs would increase adherence to the CCTHR. Methods: In September 2015 the CCTHR were presented and discussed at three ED departmental meetings at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) a large tertiary hospital in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Educational materials were distributed to the ERPS and a CTTHR checklist was made available throughout the ED. Rates of adherence to the CCTHR criteria were calculated from MHI patients that were seen in the four years prior to the educational intervention and were compared to rates of adherence for patients 12 months post educational intervention. Only patients that agreed to participate in the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) were included in this analysis. Differences in adherence rates were tested using the chi-squared test. Results: 477 patients were included in the analysis for the pre-education cohort (control) and 257 for the post-education cohort(intervention). In the control cohort, 348 of the 477 (73%) of the patients were managed in accordance to the CCTHR compared to 194 of the 257 (75%) in the intervention cohort. There was no statistically significant difference in rates of adherence (p=0.457).In the control cohort, 44 of the 321 (14%) of patients received a CT that did not meet any CCTHR criteria compared to 15 of the 163 (9%) in the intervention cohort. The overall CT imaging rate was 24% in each patient cohort. Conclusion: Although adherence rates between the two cohorts were not statistically different, a greater proportion of patients had a CTAS of 2 or 3 and met criteria in the intervention cohort suggesting a higher level of acuity. Imaging rates remained constant at 24%, which was lower than expected if there was full adherence to the CCTHR. Further study is required to determine if educational interventions can improve adherence to the CCTHR.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the urinary metabolic fingerprint and the effects of cocoa and cocoa fibre on body weight, hormone metabolism, intestinal immunity and microbiota composition. To this effect, Wistar rats were fed, for 3 weeks, a diet containing 10 % cocoa (C10) or two other diets with same the proportion of fibres: one based on cocoa fibre (CF) and another containing inulin as a reference (REF) diet. The rats’ 24 h urine samples were analysed by an untargeted 1H NMR spectroscopy-based metabonomic approach. Concentrations of faecal IgA and plasma metabolic hormones were also quantified. The C10 diet decreased the intestinal IgA, plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucagon concentrations and increased ghrelin levels compared with those in the REF group. Clear differences were observed between the metabolic profiles from the C10 group and those from the CF group. Urine metabolites derived from cocoa correlated with the cocoa effects on body weight, immunity and the gut microbiota. Overall, cocoa intake alters the host and bacterial metabolism concerning energy and amino acid pathways, leading to a metabolic signature that can be used as a marker for consumption. This metabolic profile correlates with body weight, metabolic hormones, intestinal immunity and microbiota composition.

Hip fracture is very common among older patients, who are characterized by increased co-morbidities, including cognitive impairment. These patients have an increased risk of falls and fractures, poorer functional recovery and lower survival both in hospital and 12 months after discharge. We review the survival and functional outcomes of older patients with cognitive impairment and hip fracture managed in orthogeriatric units, and highlight the gaps in our knowledge of the efficacy and efficiency of specific orthogeriatric programmes for such patients and the future research perspectives in this field.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2010 in Portland, Oregon, USA, August 1 – August 5, 2010.

The quantitative zoogeography of pelagic zooplankton is a subject very much in its infancy. This is due to a number of causes; firstly, the taxonomy of a large number of animal groups has not been finalized and new species are still being regularly discovered. Secondly, many samples, especially from the earlier expeditions, were obtained from broad depth ranges and without accurate depth measurements or the use of opening-closing nets. This latter problem has been overcome by modern sampling devices (e.g. Baker, Clarke & Harris, 1973).

Underlying the thinking of a lot of previous workers has been the hypothesis that the water masses of the various oceans (usually delineated by means of temperature-salinity relationships (Sverdrup, Johnson & Fleming, 1942)) support a distinct fauna. This point of view has been summarized by Johnson & Brinton (1963), Banse (1964) and Beklemishev (1966, 1971). Examples of studies in which the relationship of species distributions to water masses have been studied are Pickford (1946; the cephalopod Vampyroteuthis infernalis), David (1958,1963; chaetognaths), Bieri (1959; Pacific chaetognaths), Brinton (1962; Pacific euphausiids), McGowan (i960; the worm Poebius meseres) and Haffner (1952; the fish genus Chauliodus). In the last case it was suggested that the oxygen content of the water was also an important factor.

Factor analyses have been carried out on the total data for 134 planktonic forms sampled during the 1965 SOND cruise by R.R.S. ‘Discovery’. Species assemblages are largely consistent with the intragroup analyses carried out previously (Angel & Fasham, 1973). Factor score plots for the separate day and night series confirm the rather limited number of categories of vertical distribution patterns that occur despite the occurrence of vertical migration. The analysis of the combined day and night data confirms the rather limited number of patterns of vertical migratory behaviour. Size spectra of euphausiids in some of the assemblages associated with each category suggest that there may be resource partitioning. The trophic relationships within the assemblages appear to be structured and are discussed in the light of the limited knowledge of the feeding behaviour of many of the species involved. Diurnal vertical migration behaviour in planktonic species appears to be limited to the top 700 m.