Food consumption patterns in the Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada: a cross-sectional telephone survey

BACKGROUND: The demographics and lifestyles of Canadians are changing, thereby influencing food choices and food preparation in the home. Although different dietary practices are associated with increased risk of foodborne illness, our ability to evaluate food consumption trends and assess risks associated with foodborne illness is limited by lack of data on current eating habits and consumer food safety practices. The objective of this study was to describe, for the first time, the food consumption patterns in a Canadian-based population from a food safety perspective, in order to establish baseline data on actual food intake of individuals. METHOD: A cross-sectional telephone survey of 2,332 randomly selected residents of Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada (C-EnterNet pilot site) was conducted between November 2005 and March 2006. Food intake was assessed using a 7-day dietary recall method. RESULTS: Certain food items were consumed more than others among the same food groups, and consumption of many food items varied by gender and age. Specific foods considered high-risk for the transmission of certain enteric pathogens were significantly more likely to be consumed by males (i.e. unpasteurized juice, bean sprouts, and undercooked meat) and elderly individuals (i.e. undercooked eggs). The majority of households prepared and consumed most meals at home, allocating an average of 44 minutes to prepare a meal. CONCLUSION: Baseline data on actual food intake is useful to public health professionals and food safety risk assessors for developing communication messages to consumers and in foodborne outbreak investigations

Challenges of Investigating Community Outbreaks of Cyclosporiasis, British Columbia, Canada

Investigations of community outbreaks of cyclosporiasis are challenged by case-patients’ poor recall of exposure resulting from lags in detection and the stealthy nature of food vehicles. We combined multiple techniques, including early consultation with food regulators, traceback of suspected items, and grocery store loyalty card records, to identify a single vehicle for a cyclosporiasis outbreak in British Columbia, Canada, in 2007

Underground mine scheduling under uncertainty

17 USC 105 interim-entered record; under review.The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2021.01.011Underground mine schedules seek to determine start dates for activities related to the extraction of ore, often with an objective of maximizing net present value; constraints enforce geotechnical precedence between activities, and restrict resource consumption on a per-time-period basis, e.g., development footage and extracted tons. Strategic schedules address these start dates at a coarse level, whereas tactical schedules must account for the day-to-day variability of underground mine operations, such as unanticipated equipment breakdowns and ground conditions, both of which might slow production. At the time of this writing, the underground mine scheduling literature is dominated by a deterministic treatment of the problem, usually modeled as a Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP), which precludes mine operators from reacting to unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, we propose a stochastic integer programming framework that: (i) characterizes uncertainty in duration and economic value for each underground mining activity; (ii) formulates a new stochastic variant of the RCPSP; (iii) suggests an optimization-based heuristic; and, (iv) produces implementable, tactical schedules in a practical amount of time and provides corresponding managerial insights.National Institute of Occupational Safety and HealthNational Agency for Research and Development (ANID

Exploring the Value of Academic Librarians’ Participation in Journal Clubs

Journal clubs are meetings where participants engage in discussion or appraisal of professional literature and research. This study investigates the perceived value of librarians’ participation in journal clubs. Using a hermeneutic dialectic process, we built a construction of the value of journal club participation based on interviews with academic librarians. In the construction, we demonstrate that librarians and their organizations benefit from the informal professional learning that takes place in journal clubs, by developing professional knowledge, building and strengthening communities of practice, increasing research capacity, and closing the research-to-practice ga

The Incidence of Acute Gastrointestinal Illness in Canada, Foodbook Survey 2014-2015

Acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) is an important public health issue, with many pathogen sources and modes of transmission. A one-year telephone survey was conducted in Canada (2014-2015) to estimate the incidence of self-reported AGI in the previous 28 days and to describe health care seeking behaviour, using a symptom-based case definition. Excluding cases with respiratory symptoms, it is estimated that there are 0.57 self-reported AGI episodes per person-year, almost 19.5 million episodes in Canada each year. The proportion of cases seeking medical care was nearly 9%, of which 17% reported being requested to submit a sample for laboratory testing, and 49% of those requested complied and provided a sample. Results can be used to inform burden of illness and source attribution studies and indicate that AGI continues to be an important public health issue in Canada

Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Exploration of the known foodborne enteric health risks associated with plant-based and/or simulated meat, poultry, and seafood products: A scoping review protocol

Background: Foodborne enteric pathogens significantly contribute to the number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths in Canada, affecting approximately 4 million Canadians annually. The FoodNet Canada program employs active surveillance of human, water, farm, and retail (meat and produce) sources to identify the burden of enteric disease on Canadian communities. Despite the increasing popularity of plant-based and simulated meat, poultry and seafood globally, little is known about the risk of enteric illness associated with these products. Hence, this scoping review aims to explore the available literature and determine the following: (i) the current understanding of global foodborne health risks associated with plant-based and simulated meat, poultry, and seafood products; (ii) the enteric pathogens of concern associated with these products; and (iii) the utility of adding these products to the retail surveillance component of FoodNet Canada. Methods/Design: Screening will be conducted in two phases based on the determined eligibility criteria. Both primary research and grey literature, in English or French, detailing either a study, an outbreak, a recall, or a contamination event due to an enteric pathogen for plant-based/simulated meats, poultry, or seafood products will be considered for inclusion. There are no inclusion criteria based on the type of article included. Searches will be conducted in PubMed ®, Scopus ®, Embase ®, and Web of Science TM. Grey literature sources such as Google Scholar and the websites of relevant international public health and food safety organizations will also be searched. Charting Methods: Data charting will include the following: study characteristics; identification of the enteric pathogens; classification of the affected product as either plant-based or simulated meat/poultry/seafood; cause of product contamination; and other applicable characteristics associated with the outbreak, recall, or risk of the product. Findings will be summarized through narrative synthesis and presented through a series of tables and figures

A Non-Neurodegenerative REM Parasomnia with Immersive Dreaming and Dream-Reality Confusion:A Case Report

Background: REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is characterized by loss of normal muscle atonia during REM sleep, often associated with dream enactment behaviors, and is typically a prodromal neurodegenerative condition in middle-aged and older adults. However, emerging case reports and case series suggest that not all RBD presentations follow this trajectory, particularly in younger individuals.Case presentation: A case of 7-year history of vivid, immersive dreaming perceived as continuous with waking life, accompanied by persistent dream-reality confusion, is described. The patient frequently engaged in reality-testing behaviors and reported significant cognitive fatigue. Video-polysomnography confirmed REM sleep without atonia and a concordant dream re-enactment episode. Neuropsychiatric evaluation ruled out dissociative or psychotic disorders, and no evidence of neurodegenerative disease was observed.Conclusion: This presented case illustrates a potentially distinct, non-neurodegenerative REM parasomnia phenotype that underscores the need to expand current parasomnia classifications to better capture the diverse cognitive and metacognitive dimensions of REM sleep disorders. Moreover, potential mechanisms underlying the main features of this case, including immersive dreaming and persistent dream-reality confusion, are discussed in relation to hypothesized dysfunction in melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) signaling

Outbreak investigations of Salmonella and frozen raw breaded chicken : The mitigation of a significant public health issue in Canada

In May 2017, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) became the primary subtyping method for Salmonella in Canada. As a result of the increased discriminatory power provided by WGS, 16 multi-jurisdictional outbreaks of Salmonella associated with frozen raw breaded chicken products were identified between 2017 and 2019. The majority (15/16) were associated with S. enteritidis, while the remaining outbreak was associated with S. Heidelberg. The 16 outbreaks included a total of 487 cases with ages ranging from 0 to 98 years (median: 24 years); 79 hospitalizations and two deaths were reported. Over the course of the outbreak investigations, 14 frozen raw breaded chicken products were recalled, and one was voluntarily withdrawn from the market. After previous changes to labelling and the issuance of public communication for these products proved ineffective at reducing illnesses, new industry requirements were issued in 2019, which required the implementation of measures at the manufacturing/processing level to reduce Salmonella to below detectable amounts in frozen raw breaded chicken products. Since implementation, no further outbreaks of Salmonella associated with frozen breaded chicken have been identified in Canada, a testament to the effectiveness of these risk mitigation measures