East Coast, West Coast: Using Government Files to Study Immigration History

Documents created by federal government agents responsible for the reception and regulation of immigrants at Saint John, New Brunswick, and at Vancouver, British Columbia, during the first three decades of the twentieth century are used here as case studies to demonstrate the potential utility of this type of source for social historians. Not only are government-generated sources useful for gaining a fuller understanding of the state mechanisms and structures put in place to manage migrants, but they also provide details about the socio-cultural and physical environments within which immigrants were received, as well as insights into immigrants’ experiences, their activities, and their reactions to the efforts of Canadian authorities to regulate their movements and shape their identities.Les documents créés par les agents fédéraux responsables de l’accueil et de la régie des immigrants à Saint John (Nouveau-Brunswick) et à Vancouver (Colombie-Britannique) sont ici utilisés comme études de cas pour illustrer l’utilité possible de ce genre de sources en histoire sociale. En plus de permettre de mieux comprendre les mécanismes et les structures mis en place par l’État pour gérer les migrants, ces sources d’origine étatique fournissent des précisions sur le contexte socioculturel et le cadre matériel dans lequel les immigrants étaient accueillis. De plus, elles jettent une lumière nouvelle sur les expériences et les activités des immigrants ainsi que sur leurs réactions aux efforts des autorités canadiennes pour régir leurs déplacements et façonner leur identité

Demand evidence and think critically: building research excellence in tomorrow's scientists

Biomedical science students represent an essential resource for the future scientific workforce. As research scientists are more than their content specialities they must embody core values that govern the development and certification of knowledge. However, the ethos of science is often overlooked in University education in favour of increasing levels of content delivery. This results in graduates with rich content knowledge but limited ability in the generic skills and ethos of a research scientist. To address these concerns, authentic scientific research and communication experiences based on an apprenticeship model were developed to provide realistic insight into scientific ethos and to foster critical thinking, analytical and communication skills. By adapting transitional pedagogy commonly associated with First Year Experience and the Research Skills Development framework, our research-led teaching initiatives allowed students who were considering a career in science true insight into what such a career entails. Students take on the role of ‘scientists in training’, stepping out of their academic comfort zone within a safe environment where ‘perfect’ data are no longer generated and adapting to setbacks forms part of the learning process. Success is reflected by positive feedback from students and peers, increased assessment performance, and graduates continuing in science careers

Des morts sur la Miramichi : réactions de la population à l’arrivée d’immigrants malades au Nouveau-Brunswick au milieu du XIXe siècle

Early in the shipping season of 1847, an unanticipated schooner arrived in the Miramichi River, at Chatham. The Looshtauk ought to have gone to Quebec City, but fate intervened in the form of a devastating typhus epidemic on board. Historians have looked closely at the experiences of migrants who arrived at ports in a state of serious ill health during the nineteenth century. Yet to date there has been little discussion of the myriad ways in which the host communities established around immigrant-receiving ports were affected by, and responded to, the arrival of sick and dying newcomers. The arrival of these immigrants threatened communities with contagion, encouraged them to respond to instances of compelling human need, and provided them with opportunities for employment. This paper explores relations between host community and immigrant populations through the 1847 Looshtauk case study.Au début de la saison de navigation de 1847, un schooner inattendu arriva à Chatham, sur la Miramichi. Le Looshtauk aurait dû se rendre à Québec, mais le destin était intervenu à bord sous la forme d’une dévastatrice épidémie de typhus. Les historiens se sont penchés de près sur les expériences des migrants arrivés gravement malades dans des ports au XIXe siècle. À ce jour, pourtant, il a été très peu question des multiples façons dont les communautés d’accueil autour des ports de débarquement d’immigrants ont été touchées par l’arrivée de malades ou de mourants et y ont réagi. L’arrivée de ces immigrants menaçait les populations de contagion, les incitait à réagir devant des besoins criants et leur procurait des occasions d’emploi. Le présent article traite des relations entre les communautés d’accueil et les populations immigrantes à partir de l’étude de cas du Looshtauk, en 1847

Demand evidence and think critically: Building research excellence in tomorrow’s scientists

Biomedical science students represent an essential resource for the future scientific workforce. As research scientists are more than their content specialities they must embody core values that govern the development and certification of knowledge. However, the ethos of science is often overlooked in University education in favour of increasing levels of content delivery. This results in graduates with rich content knowledge but limited ability in the generic skills and ethos of a research scientist. To address these concerns, authentic scientific research and communication experiences based on an apprenticeship model were developed to provide realistic insight into scientific ethos and to foster critical thinking, analytical and communication skills. By adapting transitional pedagogy commonly associated with First Year Experience and the Research Skills Development framework, our research-led teaching initiatives allow students who are considering a career in science true insight into what such a career entails. Students take on the role of ‘scientists in training’, stepping out of their academic comfort zone within a safe environment where ‘perfect’ data are no longer generated and adapting to setbacks forms part of the learning process. Success is reflected by positive feedback from students and peers, increased assessment performance, and graduates continuing in science careers

Are interactions between epicardial adipose tissue, cardiac fibroblasts and cardiac myocytes instrumental in atrial fibrosis and atrial fibrillation?

Atrial fibrillation is very common among the elderly and/or obese. While myocardial fibrosis is associated with atrial fibrillation, the exact mechanisms within atrial myocytes and surrounding non-myocytes are not fully understood. This review considers the potential roles of myocardial fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in fibrosis and modulating myocyte electrophysiology through electrotonic interactions. Coupling with (myo)fibroblasts in vitro and in silico prolonged myocyte action potential duration and caused resting depolarization; an optogenetic study has verified in vivo that fibroblasts depolarized when coupled myocytes produced action potentials. This review also introduces another non-myocyte which may modulate both myocardial (myo)fibroblasts and myocytes: epicardial adipose tissue. Epicardial adipocytes are in intimate contact with myocytes and (myo)fibroblasts and may infiltrate the myocardium. Adipocytes secrete numerous adipokines which modulate (myo)fibroblast and myocyte physiology. These adipokines are protective in healthy hearts, preventing inflammation and fibrosis. However, adipokines secreted from adipocytes may switch to pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic, associated with reactive oxygen species generation. Pro-fibrotic adipokines stimulate myofibroblast differentiation, causing pronounced fibrosis in the epicardial adipose tissue and the myocardium. Adipose tissue also influences myocyte electrophysiology, via the adipokines and/or through electrotonic interactions. Deeper understanding of the interactions between myocytes and non-myocytes is important to understand and manage atrial fibrillation

The Role of Epicardial Adipose Tissue in the Development of Atrial Fibrillation, Coronary Artery Disease and Chronic Heart Failure in the Context of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Narrative Review

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a significant burden globally and are especially prevalent in obese and/or diabetic populations. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) surrounding the heart has been implicated in the development of CVDs as EAT can shift from a protective to a maladaptive phenotype in diseased states. In diabetic and obese patients, an elevated EAT mass both secretes pro-fibrotic/pro-inflammatory adipokines and forms intramyocardial fibrofatty infiltrates. This narrative review considers the proposed pathophysiological roles of EAT in CVDs. Diabetes is associated with a disordered energy utilization in the heart, which promotes intramyocardial fat and structural remodeling. Fibrofatty infiltrates are associated with abnormal cardiomyocyte calcium handling and repolarization, increasing the probability of afterdepolarizations. The inflammatory phenotype also promotes lateralization of connexin (Cx) proteins, undermining unidirectional conduction. These changes are associated with conduction heterogeneity, together creating a substrate for atrial fibrillation (AF). EAT is also strongly implicated in coronary artery disease (CAD); inflammatory adipokines from peri-vascular fat can modulate intra-luminal homeostasis through an “outside-to-inside” mechanism. EAT is also a significant source of sympathetic neurotransmitters, which promote progressive diastolic dysfunction with eventual cardiac failure. Further investigations on the behavior of EAT in diabetic/obese patients with CVD could help elucidate the pathogenesis and uncover potential therapeutic targets

The role of metaphor in shaping the identity and agenda of the United Nations: the imagining of an international community and international threat

This article examines the representation of the United Nations in speeches delivered by its Secretary General. It focuses on the role of metaphor in constructing a common ‘imagining’ of international diplomacy and legitimising an international organisational identity. The SG legitimises the organisation, in part, through the delegitimisation of agents/actions/events constructed as threatening to the international community and to the well-being of mankind. It is a desire to combat the forces of menace or evil which are argued to motivate and determine the organisational agenda. This is predicated upon an international ideology of humanity in which difference is silenced and ‘working towards the common good’ is emphasised. This is exploited to rouse emotions and legitimise institutional power. Polarisation and antithesis are achieved through the employment of metaphors designed to enhance positive and negative evaluations. The article further points to the constitutive, persuasive and edifying power of topic and situationally-motivated metaphors in speech-making

Ischemia Reperfusion Injury Produces, and Ischemic Preconditioning Prevents, Rat Cardiac Fibroblast Differentiation: Role of KATP Channels

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and activation of ATP-sensitive potassium channels (KATP) protect cardiac myocytes from ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury. We investigated the influence of IR injury, IPC and KATP in isolated rat cardiac fibroblasts. Hearts were removed under isoflurane anesthesia. IR was simulated in vitro by application and removal of paraffin oil over pelleted cells. Ischemia (30, 60 and 120 min) followed by 60 min reperfusion resulted in significant differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts in culture (mean % fibroblasts ± SEM in IR vs. time control: 12 ± 1% vs. 63 ± 2%, 30 min ischemia; 15 ± 3% vs. 71 ± 4%, 60 min ischemia; 8 ± 1% vs. 55 ± 2%, 120 min ischemia). IPC (15 min ischemia, 30 min reperfusion) significantly attenuated IR-induced fibroblast differentiation (52 ± 3%) compared to 60 min IR. IPC was mimicked by opening KATP with pinacidil (50 μM; 43 ± 6%) and by selectively opening mitochondrial KATP (mKATP) with diazoxide (100 μM; 53 ± 3%). Furthermore, IPC was attenuated by inhibiting KATP with glibenclamide (10 μM; 23 ± 5%) and by selectively blocking mKATP with 5-hydroxydecanoate (100 μM; 22 ± 9%). These results suggest that (a) IR injury evoked cardiac fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation, (b) IPC attenuated IR-induced fibroblast differentiation, (c) KATP were involved in IPC and (d) this protection involved selective activation of mKATP