Healthcare Providers (HCPs) serving Rural, Remote, First Nations, and other Indigenous (RRFNI) communities face unique challenges in delivering longitudinal care due to geographic isolation. The Real-Time Virtual Support Services (RTVS) network aims to improve equitable access to healthcare and provide collegial support for HCPs in RRFNI communities across British Columbia. The objective of this study was to understand HCPs' experiences with RTVS and identify improvement areas. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with HCPs that were recorded, transcribed, and openly coded. Twenty HCPs using RTVS were interviewed during 2022-2023. The constant comparative method was used to develop themes. Themes focused on RTVS's benefits and outcomes including increased clinical confidence, reduced provider anxiety, respectful and collegial support, reduced administrative burden, and recruitment and retention support. Challenges included occasional service disruptions and limited Wi-Fi availability. These findings provide in-depth and contextualized feedback informing the development of RTVS.

Individuals with eating disorders (EDs) often face significant barriers to accessing care, including prolonged waitlists and systemic delays. Digital interventions, such as mobile apps, offer a scalable way to enhance pre-treatment engagement during this high-risk period. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of MI-Coach: ED, a program-led mobile app designed to support motivation among female-identifying individuals awaiting ED treatment. Twenty-three female-identifying individuals on waitlists at ED clinics across British Columbia, Canada, participated in a 4-week single-arm pilot trial of MI-Coach: ED. The app delivered motivational interviewing-informed content through seven sequential modules containing reflective exercises, psychoeducational articles, and psychologist-led videos. Feasibility was assessed via service-provider uptake, participant enrollment, engagement, and retention metrics. Acceptability was measured using the user version of the Mobile App Rating Scale and adapted Technology Acceptance Model ratings. Exploratory analyses descriptively examined pre-to-post changes in motivation and related symptoms. Feasibility was constrained at the service-provider level, with 6% of contacted sites agreeing to distribute study materials. At the participant level, 67.6% initiated app use and 44% completed at least four modules, and 78% completed pre- and post-assessments, indicating partial engagement across the sample. Participants rated the app positively across domains of quality, ease of use, and perceived usefulness. Small-to-medium reductions in global ED severity and depressive symptoms, as well as increases in motivational confidence, were observed with confidence intervals that did not cross zero. Change scores were moderately correlated across select motivational and symptom measures. Findings suggest that MI-Coach: ED was acceptable among users who engaged, while feasibility was substantially influenced by system-level recruitment constraints and variable participant engagement. Observed engagement patterns were lower than those reported for general mental health apps but consistent with prior digital ED intervention literature, underscoring the importance of disorder-specific feasibility benchmarks. Results will inform ongoing refinements and implementation strategies for a future randomized trial.

Retrospective cohort study. The primary objective was to examine changes in gabapentinoid prescribing among individuals with acute spinal cord injury. The secondary objective was to examine the effects of gabapentinoid prescriptions on neurological recovery. Intensive Care Unit, Vancouver General Hospital, British Columbia, Canada. Individuals admitted between 2010 and 2019 with cervical spinal cord injuries were identified from the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR). The primary outcome was first gabapentinoid prescription following injury, and exposure was year of injury. The secondary outcome was recovery in sensorimotor function, measured by changes in American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) grades between admission and discharge. We analyzed associations between gabapentinoid prescriptions and year of injury using Cox regression, and neurological recovery using multivariable logistic regression. Of 257 individuals with cervical spinal cord injury, 79% (n = 204) were prescribed a gabapentinoid within 30 days of injury. Rates of gabapentinoid prescription in the 30 days following injury increased from 41% in 2010/2011 to 93% in 2018/2019. In a subgroup analysis of individuals with incomplete injuries, early (i.e., hyperacute; <5 days post-injury)gabapentinoid use was significantly associated with greater neurological recovery (adjusted OR = 2.9, 95% CI, 1.1 to 7.9). Gabapentinoid prescribing in acute spinal cord injury shifted markedly between 2010 and 2019, and was associated with improved neurological recovery in individuals with incomplete injuries. Further study is warranted to assess prescribing practices at other acute care hospitals and to characterize long-term safety.

Abstract Accurate streamflow prediction is critical for flood forecasting and water resource management, particularly in data‐scarce regions. Deep learning models like Long Short‐Term Memory (LSTM) offer a bridge to hydrologic regionalization utilizing climate data and catchment characteristics to improve behavioral insights and constrain predictive uncertainties. Here we evaluate transfer learning (TL) approaches using 441 “donor” basins from regions rich in quality hydrological data (Scotland GB‐SCT; Switzerland CH; and Canada's British Columbia; BC) to pre‐train LSTM runoff models by fine‐tuning in data‐poor areas like CA (36 target basins). Pairing measured streamflow (lagged) records with global climate data (ERA‐5) boosted the explanatory power of LSTM predictions especially in snowmelt and glacier‐influenced basins. A K‐Means clustering algorithm was applied to categorize basins into five hydrologically meaningful Clusters (labeled 1–5) based on catchment attributes. The results show that TL‐LSTM models perform better when pre‐trained using Clusters compared to the locally trained model (NSE = 0.85 and KGE = 0.80). The LSTM model trained on basins Cluster 3 data (LSTM 3 ) most closely resembling those in the target region yielded the most accurate predictions. Fine‐tuning with limited local data substantially improved prediction accuracy in the validation split (blind‐tested and treated as “ungauged”), evidencing that even short‐records of local data can enhance a regional model of hydrological behavior. These results demonstrate that TL‐LSTM can effectively enhance streamflow prediction in data‐scarce regions. These insights advance understanding of cross‐basin generalization and support the development of efficient, scalable modeling strategies for hydrological prediction in regions with limited observational data.

Exploring the modifying effects of adaptive capacity on resilience to climate change across 4 coastal cities in British Columbia, Canada

Seabird responses to altered marine vessel activity during the COVID-19 anthropause: insights from citizen science.

Do radon risk maps encourage residential testing behaviour? Evidence from an experimental study in Canada.

The thermal landscape is a key driver of habitat selection by ectotherms, which must optimize body temperatures with other life history requirements such as prey acquisition, predator avoidance, mate searching, and reproduction. For snakes in temperate regions, the thermal consequences of varying habitat use will have profound effects. The detailed study of the summer migration of northern western rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus) away from their winter hibernacula has revealed striking differences between individuals and populations in habitat use that ranges from low-elevation grasslands to higher elevation forests. We investigated the implications of this different summer habitat 'choice' on the thermoregulation, thermoregulatory behaviour, and body condition of individuals in southern British Columbia, Canada. Using data from 30 telemetered male snakes carrying implanted thermologgers at multiple study sites, we determined that snakes that remained in lower elevation grassland (open) habitats faced overall fewer thermoregulatory constraints (higher average body temperature, more accurate thermoregulation) than individuals that migrated relatively greater distances into forests. However, despite this cost of forest habitat use, snakes that migrated into forests exhibited significantly better end-of-season body condition and gained proportionally more weight over the active season than snakes remaining in open habitats. Our findings reveal a complex interplay of costs and benefits that individual snakes experience according to the habitat in which they base themselves during the short northern summer.

Lipid changes in females with familial hypercholesterolemia during the menopausal transition period.

ABSTRACT In November 2021, intense atmospheric rivers impacted the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, and caused heavy rainfalls, multiple river spillovers, and widespread flooding. One major spillover occurred from the Nooksack River near the City of Everson, Washington. The floodwaters then flowed northeast and crossed the US–Canada border into British Columbia, causing extensive damage and economic losses in both regions. Mapping and visualizing the spatial patterns, temporal evolution, and influencing factors of the event—made possible by remote sensing—can greatly enhance the understanding of both the event and the regional flood regime. This research collected multi-temporal Sentinel-1 radar and PlanetScope optical images, air photos, and high-resolution LiDAR DEM data to map inundation extents and visualize flood progression. Associated influencing factors, including natural (e.g. terrain and weather) and human-related (e.g. dikes and canals), were investigated. The results show that floodwaters persisted substantially longer and inundated a much larger area in British Columbia compared to Washington (e.g. 20 vs. 5 days; 55.78 vs. 17.37 km²), highlighting the critical need for cross-border collaboration and coordinated flood management. The inundation maps bring valuable insights to policymakers and communities to better understand the regional flood regimes and develop more effective flood management strategies.

Whisky is an alcoholic beverage derived from fermented grain mash that is distilled into "new make spirit" before maturing in barrels. While most research on whisky innovation has focused on raw materials or maturation, yeast strain selection remains a relatively underexplored avenue for product diversification. Here, we evaluated yeast diversity for whisky production by screening 110 strains sourced from Canadian vineyards for maltose utilization followed by assessing 29 candidate strains in malt extract fermentations. Seven strains representing distinct genetic backgrounds were advanced to pilot-scale fermentations, including a commercial whisky control strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, four other S. cerevisiae strains, one Torulaspora delbrueckii strain, and one Saccharomyces uvarum strain isolated from British Columbia wine fermentations. Fermentation performance was assessed via high performance liquid chromatography, and volatile organic compounds in new make spirits were profiled using headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. All strains completed fermentation except Torulaspora delbrueckii, despite undergoing sequential inoculation with a commercial whisky strain. Fermentations with non-S. cerevisiae yeast strains contained elevated levels of glycerol and organic acids. Volatile organic compounds analysis identified 43 compounds, revealing strain-dependent aroma diversity. Notably, S. uvarum P01E08 was enriched in 2-phenylethyl octanoate, phenylethyl alcohol, and phenylethyl acetate. These findings highlight diverse regional yeast selection as a viable strategy to expand whisky sensory diversity.

Jackfruit allergies have been rarely reported in the literature. In this case series, three case reports of jackfruit allergy in British Columbia, Canada are presented. All three patients also had a history of food pollen allergy syndrome to birch related foods. With increasing global trade and immigration, jackfruit will become more popular in non-endemic areas. As birch is a major pollen in North America, we could expect more reported jackfruit allergy in the future.

The Hospital at Home (HaH) model of care is used worldwide to introduce a patient centered style of care outside of the traditional hospital setting. HaH has been shown to improve the health care experience of patients, family caregivers (FCGs) and health care providers (HCPs). Island Health's HaH surpassed the milestone of enrolling 2600 patients in September 2024. We previously published the preliminary results of patient and FCG experiences with HaH and the processes and timelines in the development of experience surveys.15 The AT-HOME research team has continued to work towards improving the HaH model of care by collaborating with participants and implementing feedback. In this paper, we discuss the results of implementing a prospective survey over 18months (October 2021-April 2023) using a convenience sample method to assess patient and FCG experiences with the Island Health HaH program and give an overview of HCP experience. Patient and FCG experience are reported among many themes, such as admission, care quality, medication management, technology, intravenous treatment/infection prevention, discharge, FCG roles and responsibilities, and overall experience. This paper reports that 100% of patients (n =266) and 98% of FCG (n =142) would recommend HaH to their friends and family, and 98% of patients (n =262) and 97% of FCG (n =144) would choose to be admitted to HaH if they were in the same position again. Similarly, 100% of HCP (n =40) would recommend HaH to friends/family who require care and meet the criteria. Overall, patients, FCG and HCP continued to report having a positive experience with the HaH program and provided vital feedback for further improvement. The HaH model of care is newly implemented in hospitals in Victoria, BC, Canada, and has been shown to positively impact the experience of patients, FCGs, and HCPs.

Despite existing injury prevention initiatives, preventable unintentional home injuries remain a significant public health concern in Canada and are often influenced by the social determinants of health. This study identified census subdivision-area-level hotspots of unintentional home injuries resulting in hospitalizations across British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, from 2015 to 2019, and examined their relationship with sociodemographic factors. Unintentional home injury hospitalization data from B.C., Canada (2015-2019) were obtained from the Discharged Abstract Database. These data were then aggregated at the census subdivision (CSD) level and linked to the social profiles of the 2016 for B.C. Spatial autocorrelation and hotspot analysis were performed using Anselin Moran's I statistics. Age-standardized injury rates for each CSD were calculated. Exploratory regression was conducted in ArcGIS Pro to identify the most suitable combination of predictor variables, and the best-fitting model was subsequently retained for geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis. Between 2015 and 2019, the average age-standardized rate of unintentional home injuries leading to hospitalization in B.C. was 166.6 per 100,000 population. Statistically significant local spatial autocorrelation in age-standardized unintentional home injury hospitalization rates across B.C. was observed, with high-high clusters concentrated in the Lower Mainland. Among five models tested, the most stable, featuring low multicollinearity (Max VIF = 1.19) and a significant Koenker (BP) p value (p < 0.001), included no formal education, after-tax annual household income, and low-rise apartment dwellings. The GWR model explained 77% of the variation in age-standardized unintentional home injury hospitalization rates across 428 CSDs in B.C., with injury risk increasing by 7.9% per 1% rise in population without formal education, decreasing by 1.5% per $1000 increase in after-tax annual household income, and increasing by 8% for every additional 100 low-rise apartment dwellings. These findings identify geographic hotspots of unintentional home injuries and a strong association with key sociodemographic factors, which may serve as a basis for further investigation and inform public health planning and place-based intervention strategies in high-risk communities.

ABSTRACT Bird’s nest fungi (Nidula candida) growing along ~18-year-old cedar fences in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, produce abundant, persistent peridia containing basidiospore-bearing, egg-like peridioles. To reconstruct the initial mode of reproduction of the populations, 37 peridia were collected following a geometric sampling design, with 8–10 peridia collected 6–222 cm apart from each of four fence segments. We cultured dikaryotic mycelium from one whole peridiole from each peridium and 105 monokaryons from basidiospores from 8 peridioles. We then tested mycelial compatibility by confronting pairs of dikaryons and sexual compatibility by mating the monokaryons from basidiospores. The resulting genetic patterns allowed us to map genetic individuals back to their fence segments. The dikaryotic mycelia that grew from whole peridioles fell into six mycelial compatibility groups, with one or two groups per 3–7 m fence segment. Consistent with an outcrossing origin, four different mycelial compatibility groups had different mating types. The largest compatibility group covered over 6 m of fence, producing 114 peridia and ~4.2 billion spores. One compatibility group was present at two fence sites ~40 m apart, suggesting asexual dispersal. This can potentially be explained by somatic growth from the walls of dispersed peridioles. Dikaryons generated by mating sibling monokaryons isolated from basidiospores from the same peridiole showed mycelial incompatibility in 86% of pairings. Thus, the compatible dikaryotic mycelia emerging from whole peridioles likely represent clones of parental mycelium rather than recombinant meiotic hyphae from basidiospores. Asexual reproduction from dispersed fruit body tissue is unusual in Agaricales, but in N. candida fence-hopping of peridioles splashed from peridia and germinating as clonal, parental-type dikaryotic mycelia may have contributed to expansion of a genet along the fence.

ABSTRACT Background This study assessed the extent to which early intervention guidelines for psychosis align with trauma-informed care principles and identifies gaps in integration. Methods Clinical guidelines were sourced through literature reviews and principles of trauma-informed care were identified from previous literature. Using a deductive approach to framework analysis, four overarching themes and sub-themes were developed from existing guidelines. Quantitative analysis allowed the use of scoring and cross-comparison across guideline sets. Results Seven guideline documents, representing international perspectives (UK, Australia, British Columbia, United States) and published between 2005 and 2023, were selected for analysis. The findings revealed notable inconsistencies in the integration of trauma-informed principles across early intervention guidelines. Key areas such as staff supervision and trauma assessment are frequently underemphasised. Nevertheless, there is a clear temporal shift that suggests gradual progress toward the incorporation of trauma-informed principles over time. Discussion This study highlights the necessity of comorbid trauma and psychosis guidelines. It further underscores the need for explicit trauma-informed recommendations in psychosis guidelines to enhance patient outcomes and clinician preparedness.

Rehabilitation needs of long COVID patients in British Columbia.

Abstract Small mafic explosive eruptions are a globally common and frequent eruption type, and understanding the size of past eruptions is key to preparing for future impacts. However, Canadian volcanoes have received relatively little investigation due in part to their location in remote and challenging terrain. Here, we measured tephra thicknesses from 96 locations for the ~ 1700 CE eruption of Sii Aks (Tseax) in the Northern Cordillera Volcanic Province, British Columbia, a region of active volcanism and rifting in northwest Canada. We used these data to produce isopach maps and estimate the volume of tephra fall during the eruption, using exponential, power law, and Weibull functions. We find the values are consistent across the different methods at 2.5 – 3.4 × 10 6 m 3 , thus classifying the eruption as two on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. This provides the first field-based and ground-truthed estimate of tephra fall volume for a Canadian mafic eruption.

ABSTRACTPacific sea turtle populations primarily inhabit subtropical and tropical waters, making sightings at the edge of their range in colder high‐latitude regions of the Canadian Pacific particularly uncommon and even rare. This paper presents a comprehensive summary of known occurrences in British Columbia waters from 1931 to 2024, featuring demographics, spatiotemporal distribution, and pathological findings. The dataset contains 247 sea turtle records from four species including 77 previously unpublished records. Leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) were the most frequently sighted, followed by hard‐shelled sea turtle species: 34 green (Chelonia mydas ), three loggerhead (Caretta caretta), the first five olive ridley reports (Lepidochelys olivacea), and 54 unidentified sea turtles. Leatherbacks were primarily observed free‐swimming, whereas almost half of the hard‐shelled sea turtles were found dead or cold‐stunned. This difference may be attributed to the inability of hard‐shelled sea turtles to thermoregulate in high latitude waters. Although leatherback sightings predominantly occurred July through October, hard‐shelled sea turtle records were distributed widely across all months of the year. There were 16 records involving human interactions, of which 75% were attributed to entanglement in fishing gear. Given the rarity of these occurrences and the conservation status of most sea turtle populations, these records provide important insights into high‐latitude habitat use and threats, informing future monitoring and recovery efforts for these at‐risk species.

The federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act mandates key actions from Canada to support the advancement of the rights of Indigenous peoples. This includes, among other matters, the right for Indigenous peoples to establish and control their education systems, and for Indigenous children to have access to education that appropriately reflects their cultures. Focusing on elementary and secondary education, this article examines how Canada can best realize Articles 14 and 15.1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“UNDRIP”) which concern Indigenous peoples’ governance and access to education. The article analyzes the British Columbia Tripartite Education Agreement and the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Education Agreement as examples of Crown-Indigenous agreements that support the realization of the education rights established by UNDRIP. This article suggests that these rights can be better realized through the codification of education agreements and by requiring conformity with UNDRIP, as seen in the recent British Columbia Court of Appeal ruling of Gitxaala v British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner).