Beneath the Surface: A Retrospective Analysis of Pediatric Drowning Trends & Risk Factors in Quebec.

Purpose: Despite the known importance of water safety, and recent efforts to enact pool safety legislation, drowning remains a leading cause of unintentional injury death in Canada. To date, little is known about the rates of pediatric drownings in Québec, the severity of these drownings, and the trends associated with the adoption of provincial regulations of pool enclosures - legislation which has been delayed twice, and remains to be fully enacted. This study aims to assess these knowledge gaps.

Mitigating unintentional injury deaths in sport and recreation: insights from 14 years of coroner recommendations in Québec, Canada.

Background: Unintentional injury deaths in sport and recreation represent a significant public health concern. This study analysed coronial recommendations related to such deaths, focusing on case specifics and recurring themes from January 2006 to December 2019.

Methods: This mixed-methods study used data from the Bureau du coroner du Québec.

Prioritising preventive measures for unintentional sport and recreation-related deaths in Québec, Canada, based on a 14-year review.

Objectives: This study analysed sport and recreation-related fatalities in Québec, Canada, from January 2006 to December 2019, focusing on the six activities with the highest mortality frequencies. It aimed to identify activity-specific risk factors to inform prevention priorities.

Methods: In this descriptive retrospective study, data extracted from the database of the Bureau du coroner du Québec were analysed.

Unintentional injury deaths associated with sport and recreation in Québec, Canada, 2006-2019.

Objectives: This study examined trends in the frequencies and rates of deaths associated with unintentional injuries in sport and recreation in Québec, Canada, for the period January 2006-December 2019.

Methods: In this descriptive retrospective study, data were extracted from the database of the Bureau du coroner du Québec. Incidence rates were calculated using participation data from the Étude des blessures subies au cours de la pratique d'activités récréatives et sportives au Québec (ÉBARS) and Canadian census population data.

How to Convince Clinicians that 'Soft' Skills Save Lives? Practical Tips to Use Clinical Studies to Teach Physicians' Roles.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The implementation of competency-based medical education is hampered by unsupported arguments like 'soft' skills are important, but they don't save lives.

Performance of International Classification of Diseases-based injury severity measures used to predict in-hospital mortality and intensive care admission among traumatic brain-injured patients.

Background: The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the main classification system used for population-based traumatic brain injury (TBI) surveillance activities but does not contain direct information on injury severity. International Classification of Diseases-based injury severity measures can be empirically derived or mapped to the Abbreviated Injury Scale, but no single approach has been formally recommended for TBI.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of different ICD-based injury severity measures for predicting in-hospital mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission in TBI patients.

Performance of International Classification of Diseases-based injury severity measures used to predict in-hospital mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the main classification system used for population-based injury surveillance activities but does not contain information on injury severity. ICD-based injury severity measures can be empirically derived or mapped, but no single approach has been formally recommended. This study aimed to compare the performance of ICD-based injury severity measures to predict in-hospital mortality among injury-related admissions.

Rayleigh scatter based order of magnitude increase in distributed temperature and strain sensing by simple UV exposure of optical fibre.

We present a technique to improve signal strength, and therefore sensitivity in distributed temperature and strain sensing (DTSS) using Frequency domain Rayleigh scatter. A simple UV exposure of a hydrogen loaded standard SMF-28 fibre core is shown to enhance the Rayleigh back-scattered light dramatically by ten-fold, independent of the presence of a Bragg grating, and is therefore created by the UV exposure alone. This increase in Rayleigh back-scatter allows an order-of-magnitude increase in temperature and strain resolution for DTSS compared to un-exposed SMF-28 fibre used as a sensing element.

Influence of access to an integrated trauma system on in-hospital mortality and length of stay.

Background: Few data are available on population-based access to specialised trauma care and its influence on patient outcomes in an integrated trauma system. We aimed to evaluate the influence of access to an integrate trauma system on in-hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS).

Methods: All adults admitted to acute care hospitals for major trauma [International Classification of Diseases Injury Severity Score (ICISS<0.

Access to a Canadian provincial integrated trauma system: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Access to specialised trauma care is an important measure of trauma system efficiency. However, few data are available on access to integrated trauma systems. We aimed to describe access to trauma centres (TCs) in an integrated Canadian trauma system and identify its determinants.

Fiber Bragg gratings for low-temperature measurement.

We demonstrate the use of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) as a monolithic temperature sensor from ambient to liquid nitrogen temperatures, without the use of any auxiliary embedding structure. The Bragg gratings, fabricated in three different types of fibers and characterized with a high density of points, confirm a nonlinear thermal sensitivity of the fibers. With a conventional interrogation scheme it is possible to have a resolution of 0.

Making smart phones smarter with photonics.

Smart phones and tablets have become ubiquitous. Corning® Gorilla® Glass is well-known to provide durability and scratch-resistance to many smart phones and other mobile devices. Using femtosecond lasers, we report high quality photonic devices, such as a temperature sensor and an authentication security system, we believe for the first time.

Capacitors go optical: wavelength independent broadband mode cavity.

Fabry-Perot resonators or interferometers (FPI) have existed for a long time and act as light accumulators. However, their applications have been limited to the allowed resonance modes in the cavity, which are defined by the specific free-spectral range of the FPI. We show here a novel concept involving a light "capacitor" capable of accumulating light over a wide spectral range, at any given repetition frequency.

Harnessing the fiber fuse for sensing applications.

A simple refractive index sensor based on a small section of fiber damaged by the fiber fuse is proposed and demonstrated with a sensitivity of 350.58 nm/refractive index unit (RIU). For comparison, a hetero-core structure fiber sensor composed of a short no-core fiber (NCF) sandwiched between two pieces of single-mode fibers is demonstrated with a sensitivity of 157.

Random fiber Bragg grating Raman fiber laser.

We demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge a Raman random fiber laser (RRFL) based on a long random fiber Bragg grating (RFBG-RRFL). Unlike other recently demonstrated random fiber lasers that rely on incoherent Rayleigh scattering feedback, the present scheme uses randomly distributed phase shifts inside a fiber-meter long Bragg grating as a random coherent feedback mechanism. The laser is pumped at 1480 nm and emits a CW signal at 1576 nm.

Hospital length of stay after admission for traumatic injury in Canada: a multicenter cohort study.

Objective: To describe acute care length of stay (LOS) over all consecutive hospitalizations for the injury and according to level of care [intensive care unit (ICU), intermediate care, general ward], compare observed and expected LOS, and identify predictors of LOS.

Background: Prolonged LOS has important consequences in terms of costs and outcome, yet detailed information on LOS after trauma is lacking.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective cohort study was based on adults discharged alive from a Canadian trauma system (1999-2010; n = 126,513).

Fabrication of high quality, ultra-long fiber Bragg gratings: up to 2 million periods in phase.

The fabrication and characterization of high quality ultra-long (up to 1m) fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) is reported. A moving phase mask and an electro-optic phase-modulation (EOPM) based interferometer are used with a high precision 1-meter long translation stage and compared. A novel interferometer position feedback scheme to simplify the fabrication process is proposed and analyzed.

Surface plasmon resonance sensor interrogation with a double-clad fiber coupler and cladding modes excited by a tilted fiber Bragg grating.

We present a novel optical fiber surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor scheme using reflected guided cladding modes captured by a double-clad fiber coupler and excited in a gold-coated fiber with a tilted Bragg grating. This new interrogation approach, based on the reflection spectrum, provides an improvement in the operating range of the device over previous techniques. The device allows detection of SPR in the reflected guided cladding modes and also in the transmitted spectrum, allowing comparison with standard techniques.

Rates, patterns, and determinants of unplanned readmission after traumatic injury: a multicenter cohort study.

Objective: This study aimed to (i) describe unplanned readmission rates after injury according to time, reason, and place; (ii) compare observed rates with general population rates, and (iii) identify determinants of 30-day readmission.

Background: Hospital readmissions represent an important burden in terms of mortality, morbidity, and resource use but information on unplanned rehospitalization after injury admissions is scarce.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective cohort study was based on adults discharged alive from a Canadian provincial trauma system (1998-2010; n = 115,329).

Demonstration of a 3 mW threshold Er-doped random fiber laser based on a unique fiber Bragg grating.

We demonstrate a novel random laser based on a single fiber Bragg grating. A long fiber Bragg grating fabrication technique allows the insertion of a large number of randomly distributed phase errors in the structure of the grating which induces light localization. By writing such a grating in a polarisation maintaining Er-doped fiber, a random laser is demonstrated by pumping the fiber with 976 and 1480 nm pump lasers.

Deprivation and unintentional injury hospitalization in Quebec children.

Injuries disproportionately affect children from deprived areas. This study examines the links between the material and social dimensions of deprivation and injury hospitalizations in children aged 14 years or under from 2000 to 2004. Hospitalization data are from the Quebec hospital administrative data system, whereas socio-economic characteristics of individuals were estimated based on the smallest geographic areas for which Canadian census data were disseminated.