University of Saskatchewan

Conducted in 2024at the time of the Government of Canada's announcement about a new National School Food Program (NSFP), this study explores parents' and educators' perspectives on food, funding, and preferred attributes of an NSFP. Using an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) lens, we consider how to create socially just School Food Programs (SFPs). We conducted a mixed-methods study in publicly funded primary schools in two urban regions of Ontario, Canada. Parents/caregivers completed an online survey about family socio-demographics and views on SFPs with 267 valid responses. Twenty-seven parents participated in six focus groups and six primary school educators were interviewed. Equitable accessibility, cultural food, and including interest holders and community partners were organizing themes from qualitative findings that were compared to quantitative survey data. Equitable accessibility to SFPs was conceptualized as universally affordable but not necessarily universally free. Accessibility for students with dietary requirements was considered with concerns about logistical challenges. Consideration of cultural food in SFPs encompassed student representation, educational benefits, and challenges for incorporating it. Some parents advocated for the inclusion of key interest holders - students and parents - in planning and implementation along with broader community partners. Many participants envisioned SFPs that consider universal accessibility, cultural food diversity, and inclusive participation. Embedding EDIA in program design is key to socially just SFPs but questions remain about how to achieve this. We recommend that local level data are collected with interest holder consultation.

Mining activities can significantly alter surface and groundwater systems. Therefore, sustainable water resources management has become a central requirement and strategic necessity for responsible mining. This requires tools capable of characterizing water sources, flow paths, and contaminant dynamics to support informed and responsible decision-making. Stable and radioactive isotopes are powerful tracers of the origin, age, movement, and transport of water and its constituents, as well as indicators of the water-rock interactions affecting groundwater and surface water quality. This paper reviews publications from 2022 to 2024 that discuss advancements in isotopic techniques and their applications, with the goal to promote the adoption of integrated isotopic and geochemical methods in mining-related assessments. The review is organized into three sections: 1) the understanding of hydro(geo)logical circuits: water sources and circulation, mixing processes, hydro(geo)logical alteration, river-groundwater interactions and groundwater age; 2) the assessment of mining-related contamination processes: contamination by S or by N compounds, discrimination between mining and other contamination sources, the use of minor and trace element isotopes, the salinity issues, and the identification of gas production and exchange; and 3) the application of isotope approaches for monitoring the impact of mining and assessing remediation measures, whether natural or engineered. Finally, the intrinsic strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external opportunities and limitations to the application of isotopic approaches are discussed. The review summarizes the commonly encountered sources and processes in mining settings and provides graphical outputs to assist with interpreting new experimental data, highlighting environmental isotopes as “sustainable investigation tools”. • Isotopic approaches in mining-related settings are assessed with a SWOT analysis • Graphical outputs to assist with interpreting new experimental data are provided • Environmental isotopes represent fully-fledged “sustainable investigation tools”

Assessing the impacts of changing environmental conditions on animal species requires thorough understanding of population dynamics, which can be difficult to estimate when animals aggregate into spatially discrete subpopulations. We used 39 years of fecundity, capture-recapture and abundance data in an integrated metapopulation model to study environmental drivers of demography in a declining migratory bird, the Greenland white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris). We found that low fecundity due to earlier spring vegetation phenology on staging areas and increased snow on breeding areas explained metapopulation decline, though the strength of these effects varied by subpopulation. Differential immigration and emigration rates affected local wintering abundance trends, highlighting the importance of quantifying subpopulation-metapopulation dynamics for understanding fragmented animal populations. We provide a framework for extending commonly used integrated population models to a metapopulation framework for testing novel ecological hypotheses about how changing environmental conditions within and among subpopulations drive changes in animal abundance.

BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) is a common opportunistic infection in kidney transplant recipients, typically reactivating in the context of immunosuppression. Although asymptomatic in immunocompetent individuals, reactivation in transplant recipients can cause BKPyV-associated nephropathy (BKPyVAN), a leading cause of graft dysfunction and loss. BKPyV viremia affects approximately 10%-15% of transplant recipients, and once BKPyVAN is established, the risk of graft failure can exceed 50%. The current standard of care involves immunosuppression reduction to restore virus-specific immunity, but this approach increases the risk of acute and chronic rejection. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), which contains antiviral and immunomodulatory antibodies, has been proposed as an adjunctive therapy, although evidence supporting its efficacy remains limited to small observational studies. The BEAT-BK trial is a multicenter, adaptive, randomized controlled trial comparing standard immunosuppression reduction with or without IVIg in kidney and simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant recipients with BKPyV viremia or biopsy-confirmed BKPyVAN. The trial will enroll participants aged 2 y and older, randomizing them 1:1 to receive standard care alone or in combination with a total IVIg dose of 2 g/kg for 8 wk. An adaptive Bayesian design will permit interim analyses with the potential for early trial success or futility. The primary endpoint is a composite ordinal outcome at 12 wk, incorporating death, graft loss, estimated glomerular filtration rate decline, acute rejection, viral load, and degree of immunosuppression reduction. Secondary outcomes include viral clearance, development of BKPyVAN and donor-specific antibodies, infections, malignancy, quality of life, and cost-effectiveness. This trial will provide the first high-quality evidence on the role of IVIg in BKPyV management and inform clinical decision-making in posttransplant care.

Father-infant bonding is a critical component of early child development, influencing children's emotional, cognitive, and social outcomes, but may be disrupted by paternal depression and family dynamics. Replicating a pre-pandemic Stockholm-based study, the current study examines i) the extent to which fathers' depression symptoms and the quality of the coparenting relationship are associated with father-infant bonding and ii) whether these two variables serve as mediators in the relationship with bonding during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. This study employed a cross-sectional design using data from a large national cohort in Sweden (n=1600). We tested two competing mediation models using structural equation modeling in Stata. Fathers' depression symptoms and coparenting relationship were entered as mediators in each of those models, after adjusting for several confounders. Confirming the previous analysis that we replicated, when fathers had higher levels of depression symptoms (Model 1) or lower levels of coparenting (Model 2), fathers reported greater difficulties with infant bonding, including greater impaired bonding, rejection and anger, and anxiety about caregiving, after accounting for covariates. Additionally, the analysis revealed significant indirect associations through coparenting (Model 1) and fathers' depression symptoms (Model 2). Decreasing fathers' depression symptoms and strengthening coparenting quality can potentially reduce father-infant bonding disturbances. Fathers' depression symptoms and coparenting quality appear bi-directionally linked in their association with father-infant bonding. Early detection and preventive, father-inclusive supports including co-screening and providing support for paternal depression symptoms, the coparenting relationship, and bonding difficulties are warranted.

The CLSA is a national data platform for aging research that used epidemiology-based sampling methods and explicitly excluded people living on First Nations Reserves and other provincial First Nations settlements as possible CLSA participants. As such, the CLSA research approach did not use Indigenous community engagement. Nevertheless, the CLSA sample includes a sizeable subsample of participants who self-identified as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit. This project seeks to describe the self-identified Indigenous subsample of the CLSA from the baseline data collection and interpret that description with the aid of an Elder Advisory Circle. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the self-identified Indigenous subsample of the CLSA from the baseline data collection. The analysis was presented to an Elder Advisory Circle for consultation. The lack of community-engaged approaches to Indigenous research and sampling approaches appears to have resulted in a sociodemographic profile of older Indigenous Peoples that does not match the lived experience of the Elder Advisory Circle and contrasts with other data available on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. We feel the existing CLSA data does not reflect the sociodemographic profile of older Indigenous Peoples. We use this community consultation process to provide recommendations for the appropriate use of the Indigenous-identified data in the CLSA, and we conclude by recommending great caution when using the data from the Indigenous subsample in the CLSA data.