The Perspective of Rural Physicians Providing Abortion in Canada: Qualitative Findings of the BC Abortion Providers Survey (BCAPS)

Background

An increasing proportion of Canadian induced abortions are performed in large urban areas. For unknown reasons the number of rural abortion providers in Canadian provinces, such as British Columbia (BC), has declined substantially. This study explored the experiences of BC rural and urban physicians providing abortion services.

Methods

The mixed methods BC Abortion Providers Survey employed self-administered questionnaires, distributed to all known current and some past BC abortion providers in 2011. The optional semi-structured interviews are the focus of this analysis. Interview questions probed the experiences, facilitators and challenges faced by abortion providers, and their future intentions. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using cross-case and thematic analysis.

Results

Twenty interviews were completed and transcribed, representing 13/27 (48.1%) rural abortion providers, and 7/19 (36.8%) of urban providers in BC. Emerging themes differed between urban and rural providers. Most urban providers worked within clinics and reported a supportive environment. Rural physicians, all providing surgical abortions within hospitals, reported challenging barriers to provision including operating room scheduling, anesthetist and nursing logistical issues, high demand for services, professional isolation, and scarcity of replacement abortion providers. Many rural providers identified a need to “fly under the radar” in their small community.

Discussion

This first study of experiences among rural and urban abortion providers in Canada identifies addressable challenges faced by rural physicians. Rural providers expressed a need for increased support from hospital administration and policy. Further challenges identified include a desire for continuing professional education opportunities, and for available replacement providers.     

Freshwater littoral copepods of British Columbia and Alberta (Canada)

This is part of an ongoing study on the freshwater littoral copepods of northwestern North America, comprising Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. In this paper we report 13 species of calanoids and 16 species of cyclopoids found in 142 samples collected from northern British Columbia and Alberta on either side of the Rocky mountains. We discuss morphology and distribution of some of these species.     

Fish tapeworm infections (diphyllobothriasis) in Canada,particularly British Columbia.

Although the risk of diphyllobothriasis is generally low in Canada, fish tapeworm infections seem to have become more frequent in recent years. This increase is probably a consequence of the growing popularity of raw or inadequately cooked ethnic fish dishes or of a preference for lightly cooked fish, especially salmon. Only freshwater fish become infected with the larvae, but not everyone may realize that salmon can acquire the parasites before they leave their native lakes and rivers for the sea. If fish known to be sources of the tapeworms are to be eaten raw they should first be well frozen or salted to kill the larvae. Physicians should regard fish tapeworm infection as a notifiable disease. In Canada niclosamide, the drug of choice, is available from the manufacturer on a patient-by-patient basis.     

Surface nitrogen and plankton in Skaha Lake, British Columbia (Canada)

This study (1970–71) of an oligotrophic lake subject to cultural enrichment indicates the presence of complex interrelations between plankton and nitrogen levels in surface waters. Generally inorganic nitrogen was high in the winter (0.4–0.5 ppm) and Iow in summer (less than 0-1 ppm). However, in late July and August a large increase in nitrogen (1.5 ppm) was recorded. This correlated with the Gloeotrichia echinulata J. E. Smith ex P. Richt. bloom (Cyanophyceae) and the increase in nitrogen fixation, or nitrogenase activity (measured as acetylene reduction). It was calculated that the cyanophyte bloom could have contributed a minimum of 2350 kg nitrogen to the lake in August 1970 which is c. 62% of the nitrate-nitrogen occurring at any time.     

Myriophyllum quitense and myriophyllum ussuriense (Haloragaceae) in British Columbia,Canada

Myriophyllum quitense andM. ussuriense are added to the flora of British Columbia, Canada.Myriophyllum quitense has not been previously reported in Canada, and this is the first report ofM. ussuriense for the North American continent. Problems with the identification of these species, and their distributions and habitats are discussed. The somatic chromosome numbers of 2n=42 forM. quitense and 2n=21 forM. ussuriense were found. A key for the identification ofMyriophyllum taxa growing in British Columbia is given.     

Cultivation of Mediterranean species of Tuber (Tuberaceae) in British Columbia,Canada

Based on an assessment of soil and climatic conditions in British Columbia (BC), the Truffle Association of British Columbia (TABC) determined that the cultivation of Mediterranean Tuber melanosporum and Tuber aestivum might be possible in the warmer parts of the province. With the cooperation of independent truffle growers, TABC assessed the colonization of host tree roots collected from eight truffle orchards planted 2–7 years earlier using morphological and molecular criteria. Both Tuber species persisted on the roots of inoculated trees in six of the eight truffle orchards studied. The identity of Tuber ectomycorrhizas that had been characterized morphologically as differing from those of T. melanosporum and T. aestivum were determined using DNA sequence analysis to belong to three species of truffles native to the Pacific Northwest. One of those species, Tuber anniae, had been previously reported from BC, but the other two, Tuber menseri nom. prov. and Tuber beyerlei, are reported here from BC for the first time. Recently, production of three Périgord black truffles in one truffle orchard and one Burgundy truffle in another orchard demonstrates that these truffles are able to fruit in BC.     

Damage to nectarines by the western flower thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in the interior of British Columbia, Canada

The phenology of damage by the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), on nectarines was investigated using sticky cards and direct sampling of buds between 1993 and 1995 in the interior of British Columbia, the most susceptible period for damage by western flower thrips to nectarines. The life stage responsible for damage and variation in susceptibility to damage of 11 different nectarine varieties were determined. To evaluate the predictive ability of 2 sampling methods, thrips were counted from both buds and sticky cards before petal fall and correlated to damage levels at husk drop. Damage to nectarines was caused almost entirely by larval feeding at petal fall. No predictive relationships between adult or larval densities of western flower thrips and subsequent damage to fruit were apparent. Varieties did not differ in terms of larval densities at petal fall or the subsequent damage to fruit. Female western flower thrips oviposit in nectarine buds from dormant through bloom stages primarily in sepal tissues in the early buds, and in filaments and petals as these become available.     

Looking Upstream: Findings from Focus Groups on Public Perceptions of Source Water Quality in British Columbia,Canada

In association with the development of new microbial tests for source water quality (SWQ), focus groups with members of the public were conducted to gain insight into their perceptions of SWQ, behaviours and contaminants they think pose the greatest threat to its quality, and what/how they want to know about SWQ. Discussions revealed a low concern about SWQ in general, and in particular about microbial contamination. Participants identified behaviours that threaten SWQ, barriers to changing behaviour and suggestions for inducing change. A strong desire was expressed for water quality information to be interpreted and communicated in terms of how SWQ may impact human health and how their actions should be altered in response to test results. The information can be used to inform communication strategies and possibly impact policies associated with water quality testing and implementation of new tests. More broadly, awareness of the public’s understanding and beliefs about source water can be used in working with the public to adopt water-friendly behaviours, influence the content and methods of communicating with the public about water issues and water quality, and could contribute to the direction of future research and investment into water technologies to align with the public’s priorities.     

Life history of Acrosiphonia (Codiolales, Chlorophyta) in southwestern British Columbia, Canada

This study establishes the phenology of the alternate life history phases of the green alga Acrosiphonia in British Columbia, Canada. Free-living, filamentous plants are seasonal, March-July, with peak percent cover (10%) in April. Plants are fertile immediately after establishment. The unicells, previously identified as Chlorochytrium inclusum and Codiolum petrocelidis, are the sporophyte phase of Acrosiphonia. 'Chlorochytrium,' spherical and 160-280 μm in diameter, colonizes the foliose red alga Mazzaella splendens 1 mo after filamentous Acrosiphonia plants appear. Maximum density (53 'Chlorochytrium' cells/cm(2) of blade) was recorded in May. 'Codiolum,' on the other hand, is stalked (the vesicle measures 150 × 50 μm) and colonizes the red algal crust Petrocelis. Peak density (22?400 'Codiolum' cells/cm(2) of crust) was recorded 2 mo after 'Chlorochytrium' density peaked. The endophytes survive high summer temperatures, which correlate with death of the free-living plants, and overwinter in their hosts. Zoospore release in late winter corresponds to decreased host abundance, suggesting the endophytes have evolved a strategy whereby duration in the host is synchronized with host seasonality. A bet-hedging strategy is proposed for Acrosiphonia's life history: two morphologically different phases have adapted to a seasonally variable environment, with the sporophyte phase capable of colonizing two different hosts.     

New Middle Cambrian bivalved arthropods from the Burgess Shale (British Columbia,Canada)

The morphology of two new bivalved arthropods, Loricicaris spinocaudatus gen. et sp. nov. and Nereocaris briggsi sp. nov. from the middle Cambrian (Series 3, Stage 5) Burgess Shale Formation (Collins Quarry locality on Mount Stephen, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada), is described. The material was originally assigned to the genus Branchiocaris, but exhibits distinctive character combinations meriting its assignment to other taxa. Loricicaris spinocaudatus possesses an elongate and spinose abdomen comparable to the contemporaneous Perspicaris and Canadaspis, as well as chelate second head appendages and subtriangular exopods, comparable to Branchiocaris. Nereocaris briggsi possesses a laterally compressed carapace, elongate and delicate appendages and a medial eye located between a pair of lateral eyes on a rhomboidal eye stalk. Although undoubtedly congeneric with Nereocaris exilis from a slightly younger horizon of the Burgess Shale Formation, N. briggsi differs in overall proportions and segment number, warranting assignment to a new species. The newly described taxa were coded into an extensive cladistic analysis of 755 characters, and 312 extinct and extant panarthropods, including a variety of Cambrian bivalved arthropods from both the Burgess Shale and the Chengjiang Lagerstätten. Cambrian bivalved arthropods consistently resolved as a paraphyletic assemblage at the base of Arthropoda. Important innovations in arthropod history such as the specialization of the deutocerebral head appendages and a shift from a nekton‐benthic deposit feeding habit to a benthic scavenging/predatory habit, the symplesiomorphic feeding condition of Euarthropoda (crown‐group arthropods), were found to have occurred among basal bivalved arthropods.     

Ectoparasitic insects of bats in British Columbia, Canada

One species of parasitic bug (Hemiptera : Cimicidae), 3 species of fleas (Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae), and 2 species of parasitic flies (Diptera : Nycteribiidae) were collected from 9 species of bats (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae) in southern interior and northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Female bats that return daily to maternity roosts were more frequently infested with both cimicids and ischnopsyllids than were male bats. Some differences in ectoparasite infestation can be attributed to differences in roosting behavior of the host. New national records for 2 parasite species, and 8 new host records are established for Canada.     

Development of diatom-based salinity models for paleoclimatic research from lakes in British Columbia (Canada)

Diatoms were identified and enumerated from the surface sediments of 65 lakes located on the Cariboo and Chilcotin Plateaux (British Columbia, Canada). These lakes span a large gradient in lakewater ionic concentration (fresh through hypersaline) and composition, as well as other physical/chemical variables. Almost all of the study lakes had higher salinities in the late-summer than in the spring. The lakes with spring salinities >8 g l^–1 showed the largest seasonal increases in salinity. Ionic composition was similar in the spring and late-summer for most lakes. Both ionic concentration (i.e. salinity) and composition were important environmental variables that could account for the different diatom floras in the lakes. Diatom assemblages characteristic of carbonate-dominated and sulfate-dominated waters were identified. Other variables such as water depth and phosphorus concentration were also important.The majority (87%) of diatom taxa had estimated salinity optima < 3 g l^–1 Halophilic diatom taxa had broader tolerances to salinity when compared to the fresh water taxa, however taxa with narrow and broad tolerances could be identified across the salinity gradient. Species diversity was weakly but significantly correlated to lakewater salinity (r ² = 0.18 to 0.3, P < 0.05).Salinity inference models were developed based on the relationship between the diatom assemblages and the spring, late-summer and average salinity. The correlations between the measured and diatominferred salinity, based on the spring (r = 0.95), late-summer (r = 0.94) and average (r = 0.95) salinity data, are high because there was an extremely strong correlation (r = 0.98) between the log transformed spring and late-summer measured salinities. These salinity reconstruction models provide a tool that can be used to infer past climatic changes as part of paleolimnological studies from appropriate closed-basin lakes in British Columbia.     

Diatom (Bacillariophyceae) assemblages in tidal environments of Vancouver Island,British Columbia,Canada

To understand distributions of coastal diatoms along Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, this paper describes diatom assemblages observed in 47 surface sediment samples from intertidal environments. One hundred and eighty-four diatom taxa were identified from five transects crossing tidal flats, salt marshes, and freshwater forests in Tofino, Ucluelet, and Port Alberni. Distributions of the diatom assemblages were consistent with those reported elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but a few diatom taxa show different trends in their distributions. For example, one benthic species Denticula subtilis shows widespread distributions along the transect in Tofino. An ordination shown by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) using a combined dataset indicated overlapped scatter plots of diatom assemblages, suggesting that assemblages with similar species compositions are observed in more than one location. Hierarchical and k-means clustering analyses using Euclidean distance recognized unique small groups along each transect. Rank abundance curves show different trends for richness and evenness of diatom assemblages among the five transects.     

Status and management of white sturgeon in the Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada: an overview

White sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ) in the Columbia River in Canada have recently been listed as Endangered/Critically Imperiled, based on a shift in size and age-class composition from a population dominated by juveniles in the early 1980s to one presently dominated by adults. This shift has been attributed to a poor survival of early life stages. To determine the causes for this poor survival, investigations conducted annually since 1990 have focussed on identifying white sturgeon movement patterns, population dynamics, reproductive biology, and critical habitats. The reasons for the low recruitment remain poorly understood but river regulation and reservoir formation due to dam construction and pollution from municipal and industrial effluent inputs are suspected as contributing factors.
The history of dam development on the Columbia River and implications to white sturgeon are discussed from a historical perspective. A synopsis of post-1990 study results is provided and discussed in the framework of management strategies that include: 1) angling regulations, 2) flow enhancement strategies during spawning, 3) development of a population stabilization plan, 4) investigations into the feasibility of artificial stock supplementation, and 5) proposed future study programs to identify factors limiting recruitment.     

Bored Bivalves in Upper Triassic (Norian) Event Beds,Northeastern British Columbia,Canada

Skeletobionts are important components of most shallow marine ecosystems. Prior to the fossils reported herein, evidence of skeletobionts was absent from Upper Triassic successions on the northwestern margin of Pangaea. The boring Talpina ramosa is reported from bivalve body fossils from the Upper Triassic (Lower Norian) lower Pardonet Formation at Pink Mountain in northeastern British Columbia. This Ichnotaxon penetrates through both the outer and inner surface of articulated and disarticulated bivalve shells preserved within sharp-based event beds. The occurrence of these trace fossils underscores the paucity of borings, bioerosional structures, and encrusting taxa from Triassic successions in the western Pangaean realm. Due to erosional removal of shallow water strata by a post-Triassic unconformity, these event beds provide the only available information regarding the ecological health of Late Triassic depositional systems in the study area.     

A comprehensive DNA barcode library for the looper moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) of British Columbia, Canada

Background

The construction of comprehensive reference libraries is essential to foster the development of DNA barcoding as a tool for monitoring biodiversity and detecting invasive species. The looper moths of British Columbia (BC), Canada present a challenging case for species discrimination via DNA barcoding due to their considerable diversity and limited taxonomic maturity.

Methodology/Principal Findings

By analyzing specimens held in national and regional natural history collections, we assemble barcode records from representatives of 400 species from BC and surrounding provinces, territories and states. Sequence variation in the barcode region unambiguously discriminates over 93% of these 400 geometrid species. However, a final estimate of resolution success awaits detailed taxonomic analysis of 48 species where patterns of barcode variation suggest cases of cryptic species, unrecognized synonymy as well as young species.

Conclusions/Significance

A catalog of these taxa meriting further taxonomic investigation is presented as well as the supplemental information needed to facilitate these investigations.