COVID-19 outcome trends by vaccination status in Canada, December 2020-January 2022.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Canada has evolved rapidly. Since late 2020, COVID-19 vaccines have been relied on to protect against severe outcomes in the presence of circulating variants of concern (VOC). Objective: This surveillance report provides a retrospective descriptive analysis of national trends in COVID-19 cases and severe outcomes by vaccination status, contextualizing trends against case demographics and circulating VOCs, from December 2020 to January 2022. Methods: Case and vaccination coverage surveillance data were obtained from the National COVID-19 Case Dataset and the Canadian COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Surveillance System for 12 of 13 provinces and territories. Descriptive analyses were produced to describe trends over time among individuals aged 12 years and older by COVID-19 outcome, vaccination status, and demographics. Age-standardized and age-stratified incidence rates and incidence rate ratios were computed for cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Results: From mid to late-2021, incidence rates for cases and severe outcomes were consistently lowest among those with a completed primary series and highest among those who were unvaccinated. Unvaccinated individuals were much more likely to be hospitalized or to die compared to those with a completed primary series in all variant periods. Age-specific rates of severe outcomes were consistently highest among those aged 80 years and older across all vaccination statuses. Conclusion: Vaccination remains one of the most important public health interventions, particularly among older adults, to protect against COVID-19 severe outcomes as the pandemic evolves. Routine monitoring of COVID-19 outcomes by vaccination status can identify changes in COVID-19 epidemiology and inform public health action and policy.

Environmental regulation of male fertility is mediated through Arabidopsis transcription factors bHLH89, 91, and 10.

Formation of functional pollen and successful fertilization rely on the spatial and temporal regulation of anther and pollen development. This process responds to environmental cues to maintain optimal fertility despite climatic changes. Arabidopsis transcription factors basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) 10, 89, and 91 were previously thought to be functionally redundant in their control of male reproductive development, however here we show that they play distinct roles in the integration of light signals to maintain pollen development under different environmental conditions. Combinations of the double and triple bHLH10,89,91 mutants were analysed under normal (200 µmol m-2 s-1) and low (50 µmol m-2 s-1) light conditions to determine the impact on fertility. Transcriptomic analysis of a new conditionally sterile bhlh89,91 double mutant shows differential regulation of genes related to sexual reproduction, hormone signal transduction, and lipid storage and metabolism under low light. Here we have shown that bHLH89 and bHLH91 play a role in regulating fertility in response to light, suggesting that they function in mitigating environmental variation to ensure fertility is maintained under environmental stress.

Chlorophyll fluorescence-based high-throughput phenotyping facilitates the genetic dissection of photosynthetic heat tolerance in African (Oryza glaberrima) and Asian (Oryza sativa) rice.

Rising temperatures and extreme heat events threaten rice production. Half of the global population relies on rice for basic nutrition, and therefore developing heat-tolerant rice is essential. During vegetative development, reduced photosynthetic rates can limit growth and the capacity to store soluble carbohydrates. The photosystem II (PSII) complex is a particularly heat-labile component of photosynthesis. We have developed a high-throughput chlorophyll fluorescence-based screen for photosynthetic heat tolerance capable of screening hundreds of plants daily. Through measuring the response of maximum PSII efficiency to increasing temperature, this platform generates data for modelling the PSII-temperature relationship in large populations in a small amount of time. Coefficients from these models (photosynthetic heat tolerance traits) demonstrated high heritabilities across African (Oryza glaberrima) and Asian (Oryza sativa, Bengal Assam Aus Panel) rice diversity sets, highlighting valuable genetic variation accessible for breeding. Genome-wide association studies were performed across both species for these traits, representing the first documented attempt to characterize the genetic basis of photosynthetic heat tolerance in any species to date. A total of 133 candidate genes were highlighted. These were significantly enriched with genes whose predicted roles suggested influence on PSII activity and the response to stress. We discuss the most promising candidates for improving photosynthetic heat tolerance in rice.

Evolution and diversity of the angiosperm anther: trends in function and development.

KEY MESSAGE: Anther development and dehiscence is considered from an evolutionary perspective to identify drivers for differentiation, functional conservation and to identify key questions for future male reproduction research. Development of viable pollen and its timely release from the anther are essential for fertilisation of angiosperm flowers. The formation and subsequent dehiscence of the anther are under tight regulatory control, and these processes are remarkably conserved throughout the diverse families of the angiosperm clade. Anther development is a complex process, which requires timely formation and communication between the multiple somatic anther cell layers (the epidermis, endothecium, middle layer and tapetum) and the developing pollen. These layers go through regulated development and selective degeneration to facilitate the formation and ultimate release of the pollen grains. Insight into the evolution and divergence of anther development and dehiscence, especially between monocots and dicots, is driving greater understanding of the male reproductive process and increased, resilient crop yields. This review focuses on anther structure from an evolutionary perspective by highlighting their diversity across plant species. We summarise new findings that illustrate the complexities of anther development and evaluate how they challenge established models of anther form and function, and how they may help to deliver future sustainable crop yields.

Indicators to guide health equity work in local public health agencies: a locally driven collaborative project in Ontario. / Indicateurs pour orienter l'action visant l'équité en matière de santé dans les organismes locaux de santé publique : le programme Projets locaux en Ontario.

INTRODUCTION: Funded by a Public Health Ontario 'Locally Driven Collaborative Project' grant, a team led by public health practitioners set out to develop and test a comprehensive set of indicators to guide health equity work in local public health agencies (LPHAs). METHODS: The project began with a scoping review, consultation with content experts, and development of a face-validated set of indicators aligned with the four public health roles to address health inequities (NCCDH, 2014), plus a fifth set of indicators related to an organizational and system development role. We report here on the field testing of the indicators for feasibility, face validity (clarity, relevance), reliability, and comparability in four Ontario LPHAs. Data were collected by two separate individuals or groups at each site, during two consecutive periods. These individuals participated in separate focus groups at the end of each test period, which further examined indicator clarity, data source availability and relevance. A third focus group explored anticipated indicator uses. RESULTS: Field testing showed that indicators addressed important issues in all public health roles. Although the capacity for indicator use varied, all test sites found the indicators useful. Suggestions for improved clarity were used to refine the final set of indicators, and to develop a Health Equity Indicator User Guide with background information and recommended resources. CONCLUSION: The process of evaluating health equity-related activity within LPHAs is still in its early stages. This project provides Ontario LPHAs with a tool to guide health equity work that may be adaptable to other Canadian jurisdictions.

INTRODUCTION: Grâce au programme Projet locaux financé par Santé publique Ontario, une équipe de professionnels de la santé publique a entrepris de concevoir et de tester un ensemble d'indicateurs afin d'orienter l'action visant l'équité en matière de santé au sein des organismes locaux de santé publique (OLSP). MÉTHODOLOGIE: Le projet a démarré avec un examen de la portée de la littérature, la consultation d'experts sur le sujet et l'élaboration d'un ensemble d'indicateurs de validité apparente conforme aux quatre mandats de la santé publique visant à réduire les inégalités en matière de santé (CCNDS, 2014) auxquels on a ajouté un cinquième ensemble d'indicateurs relatifs au mandat de perfectionnement organisationnel et systémique. Nous rendons compte ici des tests de terrain portant sur la faisabilité, sur la validité apparente (clarté et pertinence), sur la fiabilité et sur la comparabilité de ces indicateurs dans quatre OLSP de l'Ontario. Les données ont été recueillies par deux personnes ou groupes différents dans chaque site et en deux périodes. Ces personnes ont participé à des groupes de discussion à la fin de chaque période d'essai, ce qui a permis pour chaque indicateur un examen approfondi de sa clarté, de la disponibilité des sources de données associées et de sa pertinence. Un troisième groupe de discussion a étudié l'utilisation qui pourrait être faite de ces indicateurs. RÉSULTATS: Les essais de terrain ont montré que les indicateurs ont contribué à résoudre des questions importantes en lien avec tous les mandats en santé publique. Bien que les indicateurs ne possèdent pas tous la même utilité, les sites d'essai les ont tous jugés utiles. Diverses recommandations en matière de clarté ont été suivies pour améliorer l'ensemble final d'indicateurs et pour élaborer un guide d'utilisation des indicateurs d'équité en santé offrant des renseignements généraux et des suggestions de ressources. CONCLUSION: Le processus d'évaluation des activités liées à l'équité en matière de santé dans les OLSP n'en est qu'à ses débuts. Ce projet fournit aux OLSP de l'Ontario un outil d'orientation pour leur travail visant l'équité en matière de santé, outil qui pourrait être adapté aux autres provinces et territoires du Canada.

Organizational level indicators to address health equity work in local public health agencies: A scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: To determine what organizational level indicators exist that could be used by local Ontario public health agencies to monitor and guide their progress in addressing health equity. METHOD: This scoping review employed Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) six-stage framework. Multiple online databases and grey literature sources were searched using a comprehensive strategy. Studies were included if they described or used indicators to assess an organization's health equity activity. Abstracted indicator descriptions were classified using the roles for public health action identified by the Canadian National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH). Health equity experts participated in a consultation phase to examine items extracted from the literature. SYNTHESIS: Eighteen peer-reviewed studies and 30 grey literature reports were included. Abstracted indicators were considered for 1) relevance for organizational assessment, 2) ability to highlight equity-seeking populations, and 3) potential feasibility for application. Twenty-eight items formed the basis for consultation with 13 selected health equity experts. Items considered for retention were all noted to require significant clarification, definition and development. Those eliminated were often redundant or not an organizational level indicator. CONCLUSION: Few evidence-based, validated indicators to monitor and guide progress to address health inequities at the level of the local public health organization were identified. There is a need for continued development of identified indicator items, including careful operationalization of concepts and establishing clear definitions for key terms.

Intensity of bouted and sporadic physical activity and the metabolic syndrome in adults.

Background. Physical activity guidelines for adults only recognize the health benefits of accumulating bouted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), or MVPA occurring over at least 10 consecutive minutes. There is a lack of evidence supporting the health benefits of other patterns and intensities of activity including sporadic MVPA (i.e., MVPA occurring in periods of fewer than 10 consecutive minutes) and light intensity physical activity (LIPA). The objective of this study was to examine the health benefits associated with physical activity that does not meet the physical activity guidelines criteria for bouted MVPA. Specifically, we examined the association between sporadic MVPA and bouted and sporadic LIPA with the metabolic syndrome. Methods. We studied a representative cross-sectional sample of 1,974 adults aged 20 years and older from the 2003-2006 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Physical activity was measured over 7 days using Actigraph AM-7164 accelerometers. Each minute over the 7-day measurement period was classified as being of a sedentary, light, or moderate-to-vigorous intensity. A 10 min threshold differentiated bouted activity from sporadic activity. Average minutes/day of sporadic LIPA, sporadic MVPA, bouted LIPA, bouted MVPA, and embedded MVPA (MVPA occurring within bouts of primarily LIPA) were calculated. Metabolic syndrome status was determined using established criteria. Associations were examined using logistic regression and controlled for relevant covariates. Results. For every 30 min/day of physical activity, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of the metabolic syndrome was reduced by 4% (1-7%) for bouted LIPA, 64% (51-71%) for bouted MVPA, and 57% (45-67%) for embedded MVPA. Sporadic LIPA was not independently associated with the metabolic syndrome. We could not examine the association between sporadic MVPA and the metabolic syndrome because participants accumulated such a marginal amount of this type of activity (i.e., median = 2 min/day, only 11% of participants accumulated ≥5 min/day). Conclusion. The intensity of non-bouted activity is important, as embedded MVPA had a stronger association with the metabolic syndrome than sporadic LIPA and a comparable association to bouted MVPA.

A description of the volume and intensity of sporadic physical activity among adults.

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence indicates that accumulating physical activity in periods of less than 10 minutes, termed sporadic physical activity (SPA), has similar effects on health as a similar volume of bouted physical activity (BPA). The purpose of this study was to describe the volume and intensity of SPA in adults. METHODS: Participants consisted of a representative sample of 6040 adults aged 20 years and older from the 2003-2006 U.S. National Health and Examination Nutrition Survey. Physical activity was measured over 7 days using Actigraph AM-7164 accelerometers. Each minute of accelerometer data was initially categorized by intensity (sedentary, light, moderate-to-vigorous), and then non-sedentary time was categorized as following a BPA or SPA pattern (≥ or < 10 consecutive minutes). RESULTS: American adults accumulated 103 minutes/day of SPA of an intensity, which represented 27% of their total (BPA + SPA) daily physical activity. Only 3 minutes/day of the SPA was of a moderate-to-vigorous intensity; however, participants accumulated 16 minutes/day of moderate-to-vigorous activity embedded within light intensity BPA. This embedded moderate-to-vigorous activity represented 85% of total daily moderate-to-vigorous activity. CONCLUSIONS: SPA accounted for about a quarter of total daily physical activity. While the amount of moderate-to-vigorous SPA was minimal, a significant amount of moderate-to-vigorous activity was accumulated within bouts of primarily light intensity activity.

A highly conserved cytoplasmic cysteine residue in the α4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is palmitoylated and regulates protein expression.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) cell surface expression levels are modulated during nicotine dependence and multiple disorders of the nervous system, but the mechanisms underlying nAChR trafficking remain unclear. To determine the role of cysteine residues, including their palmitoylation, on neuronal α4 nAChR subunit maturation and cell surface trafficking, the cysteines in the two intracellular regions of the receptor were replaced with serines using site-directed mutagenesis. Palmitoylation is a post-translational modification that regulates membrane receptor trafficking and function. Metabolic labeling with [(3)H]palmitate determined that the cysteine in the cytoplasmic loop between transmembrane domains 1 and 2 (M1-M2) is palmitoylated. When this cysteine is mutated to a serine, producing a depalmitoylated α4 nAChR, total protein expression decreases, but surface expression increases compared with wild-type α4 levels, as determined by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunoassays, respectively. The cysteines in the M3-M4 cytoplasmic loop do not appear to be palmitoylated, but replacing all of the cysteines in the loop with serines increases total and cell surface expression. When all of the intracellular cysteines in both loops are mutated to serines, there is no change in total expression, but there is an increase in surface expression. Calcium accumulation assays and high affinity binding for [(3)H]epibatidine determined that all mutants retain functional activity. Thus, our results identify a novel palmitoylation site on cysteine 273 in the M1-M2 loop of the α4 nAChR and determine that cysteines in both intracellular loops are regulatory factors in total and cell surface protein expression of the α4ß2 nAChR.

Toward the development of a sensitive, pre-clinical screen for neurological diseases from spontaneous neural coordination in juvenile and young-adult C57BK6 mice.

Spontaneous Frequency Bursts (SFBs) are a newly discovered form of long-distance neural coordination. They have several distinctive properties, including near-simultaneity of occurrence (+/-25-50 ms) across distant brain regions and high within- and across-site coherence in multiple low and high frequency bands, presumably requiring high axonal, dendritic and vascular integrity. We examined whether SFBs occurred in young and young-adult C57BK6 mice with properties similar to those seen in rats. We found that across the entorhinal and piriform cortices, SFBs occur robustly in young and young-adult mice under light anesthesia, and that their rate of occurrence dropped sharply as anesthetic levels increased, as in rats. Moreover, murine SFBs showed high cross-site coherence in multiple frequency bands, including those that require exquisite action potential timing to be maintained across long distances. We discuss our findings in light of SFBs potential as a pre-clinical biomarker for diseases affecting action potential firing and local field potential coherence, especially in high frequency ranges (20-30 Hz and beyond).