Education, Productivity and Economic Growth: A Selective Review of the Evidence

We review a selection of the theoretical and empirical literature on human capital and growth that appear to provide the most relevant insights for policy development in the Canadian context. We first focus on the extension of the neo-classical growth model with the inclusion of human capital in an open economy framework, and discuss its empirical applications to the Canadian economy. We also examine other issues such as the returns to education and the distance from the technological frontier, the microeconomic versus macroeconomic return to education, and the quantity versus quality of education. Although the levels of investment in education and the overall quality of the educational system in Canada are fairly high, we argue that the returns of additional investments in post-secondary education could still be substantial since Canada is relatively close to the technology frontier.Human Capital, Growth, Policy, education, technological frontier, education quality,

Usefulness of a patient experience study to adjust psychosocial oncology and spiritual care services according to patients’ needs

Little is known about how cancer patients experience psychosocial and spiritual care services and about what services they feel should be offered in order to help them meet their actual needs. This study’s main goal was to examine how cancer patients experienced the psychosocial oncology and spiritual care (POSC) services they received, in order to adjust the service offer according to their expressed needs and expectancies. A qualitative design approach was used. The study was conducted in two phases: (1) Collection of the patients’ perspective and divulgation of the results to the clinical team and managers; and (2) assessment of the impact of the patient experience study results on the clinical team’s services and managerial decisions. Suggestions for improvement were gathered mainly around the themes of service delivery and information about services. Contrary to what was expected, delays to access service responded to patients’ needs and expectations. According to clinical managers, patients’ perspectives on their services legitimized the maintenance of certain services, and were levers that helped make coherent and targeted changes. They felt the changes they made were patient-driven instead of being driven by staff’s perception of patients’ needs. The fact that results emerged from a fairly large and structured patient experience evaluation had an impact on the motivation of stakeholders to initiate changes. These results suggest that collecting patients’ perspective will likely help clinicians and managers tailor service delivery to meet patients’ needs and expectations and may contribute to set more informative standards regarding access to care delays

NOD2, RIP2 and IRF5 Play a Critical Role in the Type I Interferon Response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

While the recognition of microbial infection often occurs at the cell surface via Toll-like receptors, the cytosol of the cell is also under surveillance for microbial products that breach the cell membrane. An important outcome of cytosolic recognition is the induction of IFNα and IFNβ, which are critical mediators of immunity against both bacteria and viruses. Like many intracellular pathogens, a significant fraction of the transcriptional response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection depends on these type I interferons, but the recognition pathways responsible remain elusive. In this work, we demonstrate that intraphagosomal M. tuberculosis stimulates the cytosolic Nod2 pathway that responds to bacterial peptidoglycan, and this event requires membrane damage that is actively inflicted by the bacterium. Unexpectedly, this recognition triggers the expression of type I interferons in a Tbk1- and Irf5-dependent manner. This response is only partially impaired by the loss of Irf3 and therefore, differs fundamentally from those stimulated by bacterial DNA, which depend entirely on this transcription factor. This difference appears to result from the unusual peptidoglycan produced by mycobacteria, which we show is a uniquely potent agonist of the Nod2/Rip2/Irf5 pathway. Thus, the Nod2 system is specialized to recognize bacteria that actively perturb host membranes and is remarkably sensitive to mycobacteria, perhaps reflecting the strong evolutionary pressure exerted by these pathogens on the mammalian immune system

Migration and Skills Disparities across the Canadian Provinces

Coulombe S. and Tremblay J.-F. Migration and skills disparities across the Canadian provinces, Regional Studies. This paper compares the skill intensity and schooling of the international immigrant, interprovincial migrant and Canadian-born population using data constructed from the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS). On average, international immigrants to Canada have more years of schooling but a lower skill level than the Canadian-born population. The mean skill deficiency of the foreign-born population corresponds to three years of formal education in Canada. Interprovincial migrants typically have a higher skill intensity than the Canadian-born non-migrant population. It is shown that international immigration tends to reduce provincial disparities whereas interprovincial migration tends to increase them. The first effect dominates. [image omitted] Coulombe S. et Tremblay J.-F. Migration et disparites de competences entre les provinces canadiennes, Regional Studies. Nous comparons l'intensite en competences et la scolarite des immigrants internationaux, des migrants interprovinciaux et de la population nee au Canada en utilisant des donnees construites a partir de l'Enquete internationale sur l'alphabetisation et les competences des adultes de 2003. En moyenne, les immigrants internationaux au Canada ont davantage d'annees de scolarite mais un niveau plus faible de competences que la population nee au Canada. La deficience moyenne de competences de la population nee a l'etranger correspond a trois annees d'education formelle au Canada. Les immigrants interprovinciaux ont typiquement une intensite en competences plus elevee que la population non-migrante nee au Canada. Nous demontrons que l'immigration internationale tend a reduire les disparites interprovinciales alors que la migration interprovinciale tend a les augmenter. Le premier effet domine. Immigration internationale Fuite de cerveaux Capital humain Migration interprovinciale Disparites provinciales Intensite en competences Coulombe S. und Tremblay J.-F. Migration und Qualifikationsdisparitaten in den kanadischen Provinzen, Regional Studies. Wir vergleichen die Intensitat der Qualifikation und Schulausbildung von internationalen Immigranten, interprovinziellen Migranten und in Kanada geborenen Einwohnern anhand von Daten, die aus dem International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey von 2003 konstruiert wurden. Im Durchschnitt haben internationale Immigranten in Kanada mehr Jahre Schulausbildung, aber ein niedrigeres Qualifikationsniveau als die in Kanada geborene Bevolkerung. Der mittlere Qualifikationsmangel der im Ausland geborenen Bevolkerung entspricht einer dreijahrigen formellen Ausbildung in Kanada. Interprovinzielle Migranten verfugen in der Regel uber eine hohere Qualifikationsintensitat als die in Kanada geborene, nicht migrierende Bevolkerung. Wir zeigen, dass sich durch eine internationale Immigration die Disparitaten zwischen den Provinzen tendenziell verringern, wahrend sie sich durch eine interprovinzielle Migration tendenziell verstarken. Vorherrschend ist der erste Effekt. Internationale Immigration Abwanderung qualifizierter Fachkrafte Humankapital Interprovinzielle Migration Disparitaten zwischen Provinzen Intensitat der Qualifikation Coulombe S. y Tremblay J.-F. Migracion y desigualdades de formacion en diferentes provincias canadienses, Regional Studies. Comparamos la intensidad de la formacion y escolaridad entre inmigrantes internacionales, emigrantes interprovinciales y la poblacion nacida en Canada con ayuda de datos elaborados a partir del estudio International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey de 2003. De promedio, los inmigrantes internacionales en Canada tienen mas anos de escolaridad pero un menor nivel de cualificaciones que la poblacion nacida en Canada. La deficiencia media en la formacion entre la poblacion nacida en el extranjero corresponde a tres anos de educacion formal en Canada. Los emigrantes interprovinciales normalmente tienen un mayor nivel de cualificaciones que la poblacion no emigrante nacida en Canada. Aqui mostramos que la inmigracion internacional tiende a reducir las desigualdades entre las provincias mientras que la migracion interprovincial tiende a aumentarlas. Domina el primer efecto. Inmigracion internacional Fuga de cerebros Capital humano Migracion interprovincial Desigualdades entre provincias Nivel de cualificacionesInternational immigration, Brain drain, Human capital, Interprovincial migration, Provincial disparities, Skill intensity,

Characterization of the electrical resistance of high temperature superconductor coated conductors at high currents using ultra-fast regulated current pulses

This paper focuses on the experimental determination of the electrical resistance (R) of commercial high temperature superconductor (HTS) coated conductors (CCs) at currents well above the critical current. The major novelty of this work rests on the unique experimental capability of applying constant current pulses in the sample (up to 1000 A) for durations as short as 15 mu s, which allows very precise control of the amount of energy dissipated in the sample (the Joule effect), as well as the resulting temperature rise. By varying the applied current and the duration of the pulses, we show that we can achieve a relatively accurate characterization of R(I, T) simply from the measured dynamical V-I characteristics of the CCs. The resistance model obtained in this way is very important, as R(I, T) is the most fundamental design parameter in many practical HTS applications, especially in fault current limiters