The Debate on Excess Capacity, Issues of Competition and Time

There has been a great deal of soul-­‐searching in the economic community over the past few years. Economists of varying stripes have begun to question the academic and business paradigm which is the orthodox approach to economics. Questions of capital theory, of method, of normative philosophy are being reconsidered as the community questions the wisdom of the textbooks of Dornbusch and Bernanke, the truisms of Solow on growth and Friedman on financial markets, the intellectual sons of the marginalist revolution. The public and policymakers alike are also searching for alternatives, with proposals of a Tobin tax across Europe and occupations of Wall Street the most striking recent examples. Without doubt, the global financial crisis has done far more than simply cut the hair of the Samson of international finance, it has forced the jaws of orthodox economists to clamp down on Eve’s apple and awaken, naked and impure, outside the ivory walls and locked gates of Eden. They now lie, castrate, amongst the intellectual barrenness and moral decrepitude which was neoclassical economics. If they can open their eyes, they will see there are many rich traditions of heterodox thought which have persisted outside the bastions of economic Eden. These are not built from invisible hands, and they do not need to assume full employment or abstract from that which they do not understand to work. The theoretical underpinnings of these approaches are methodologically Babylonian, not Cartesian, and thus sustain themselves on more than just axioms (Dow, 1996). The insights of Keynes (1936), Robinson (1941), Steindl (1952), Sraffa (1960), Kalecki (1971), Marx (1971), Amadeo (1986a), White (1996), Missaglia (2007), Arestis and Sawyer (2009b), and Moudud (2010) are but a few authors whose contribution to understanding the phenomenon and implications of excess capacity cannot be understated. It would be a travesty of morality and justice for the Department of Political Economy at this University to be closed, amalgamated out, or in any other way undermined, because if there is one thing which the past few years 10 of economic experience and this body work shares in common, it is that pluralism leads to a better, greater, and more fruitful understanding. I pray the University makes the right decision

Soil characterization via methods of functional data analysis

Soil is a fundamental natural resource which is relied upon globally for its vital ecological and economic functions. It is important for many reasons including the production of food, support of wildlife and in supporting the mitigation of global warming. With an increasing world population, tremendous pressure is placed on the world’s natural resources. In order to keep up with the agricultural needs of a growing global population, soil management and monitoring practices need to be put in place. However, the standard procedures for monitoring soil quality are prohibitively expensive and slow, with an additional hazard to the environment through use of harmful chemicals. Thus, there has been a widespread interest into the use of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for the prediction of physical and chemical properties in the soil. This method of recording soil data is cost-effective, rapid, requires minimal sample preparation and does not involve the use of hazardous chemicals. Currently, multivariate analyses such as partial least squares regression are routinely used to predict a wide range of soil properties from spectral data obtained from a mid- and near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy of soil samples. Whilst this method has been shown to successfully predict a multitude of soil quantities, methods of functional data analysis provide an alternate way of studying continuous data, recognising that it is sometimes more natural, and often fruitful, to view a collection of data points as observed realisations of random functions. In this thesis, the main focus is to compare standard multivariate techniques of analysing soil spectra to methods of functional data analysis. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the importance of soil monitoring, mid-infrared spectroscopy, a description of the data and the objectives of the thesis. Following this, Chapter 2 demonstrates the performances of principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis and support vector machines in investigating the variability of the soil spectra across the mid-infrared range. These multivariate methods are assessed on their ability to distinguish differences between groups of spectra based on various grouping variables. In Chapter 3, functional data analysis is introduced and methods of functional principal component analysis and functional hypothesis testing are implemented. Functional principal component analysis is applied to identify regions of the spectra which contain the principal modes of variation which could be pertinent to explaining differences between samples of different land-uses or sampling sites. Functional hypothesis tests are used to directly test for differences between groups of spectra and pointwise permutation F-tests are used to locate regions of the spectra where these group differences are prominent. Chapter 4 introduces functional linear regression as an alternative to the industry standard of partial least squares regression for relating the spectra to the physical wet chemistry properties of the soil. In this chapter, it is of interest to identify physical soil properties which can be successfully predicted by functional and partial least squares regression; and what the achievable performances of these predictions are. Comparisons between the two approaches are made and the advantages of each approach are considered. Finally, Chapter 5 provides a summary of the work presented and discusses the limitations and remaining challenges for the use of functional data analysis for the characterization of soil

Case 7 : Going Beyond Bike Racks and Pedestrian Crossovers: Achieving Health Equity in School Travel Planning

The Elgin-St. Thomas, London-Middlesex, and Oxford Active and Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) Steering Committee have established a School Travel Planning Equity Working Group. The goal of this group is to use the Government of Ontario’s Health Equity Impact Assessment tool to evaluate current inequities in school travel planning programming – a community-based approach to addressing barriers to and facilitators of walking and wheeling to and from school – by identifying relevant populations, potential impacts, and mitigation, monitoring, and dissemination strategies (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2018). The goal of the case is to provide readers with the opportunity to evaluate the inequities in current school travel planning by conducting a Health Equity Impact Assessment

Research in the Archival Multiverse

Over the past 15 years, the field of archival studies around the world has experienced unprecedented growth within the academy and within the profession, and archival studies graduate education programs today have among the highest enrolments in any information field. During the same period, there has also been unparalleled expansion and innovation in the diversity of methods and theories being applied in archival scholarship. Global in scope, Research in the Archival Multiverse compiles critical and reflective essays across a wide range of emerging research areas and interests in archival studies; it aims to provide current and future archival academics with a text addressing possible methods and theoretical frameworks that have been and might be used in archival scholarship and research

Understanding factors associated with children achieving recommended amount of MVPA on weekdays and weekend days

Low levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) are consistently reported for children from industrialized countries. Perennially inadequate levels of MVPA have been linked to increased chronic disease risks. Very few studies have compared physical activity levels among children from geographically diverse places, and how they differ on weekdays versus weekends. The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that influence whether children achieve 60 min of MVPA on weekdays compared to weekend days. Data were analyzed on children (n = 532) aged 8–14 years from communities in Southern and Northern Ontario, Canada that participated in the study between 2009 and 2016. Children\u27s MVPA was measured using an Actical accelerometer, environmental features measured with a geographic information system, and demographic data came from child/parent surveys. Variables were selected using a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. The variables were entered into logistic regression models to assess the relationship between children meeting the MVPA guidelines. During the week, boys were more active than girls (OR = 4.652 p \u3c 0.001) and as age increased children were less likely to reach the MVPA guidelines (OR = 0.758 p = 0.013). On weekends boys were still more likely to meet the guidelines (OR = 1.683 p = 0.014) and children living in rural Northern Ontario were more likely to reach the MVPA guidelines compared to all groups in Southern Ontario. The findings indicate that different variables influence whether children meet the MVPA guidelines on weekdays compared to weekends. Comparing weekdays and weekends provides more useful information for creating effective MVPA interventions

Shortening the trip to school: Examining how children’s active school travel is influenced by shortcuts in London, Canada

For children and youth, the journey to and from school represents a significant opportunity to increase daily levels of physical activity by using non-motorized modes of travel, such as walking and biking. Studies of active school travel have demonstrated that the likelihood a child will walk or bike is significantly influenced by the distance they must travel between home and school, which in turn, is influenced by built environment characteristics such as the configuration of the local road network. This study examines how shortcuts can facilitate active school travel by decreasing the distance children must travel to get to and from school. A geographic information system was used to compare shortest route distances along road networks with and without shortcuts in 32 elementary school zones in London, Ontario, Canada and provide evidence on the effectiveness of shortcuts to facilitate active school travel. This study contributes two key findings: (1) shortcuts have a greater impact in areas with low street connectivity and low population density and (2) children living farther from school are more likely to benefit from shortcuts. The findings suggest that planners should consider the location and maintenance of shortcuts in school neighbourhoods in order to promote increased physical activity, health and well-being among students

Children and Nature: Linking Accessibility of Natural Environments and Children’s Health-Related Quality of Life

A growing body of research suggests that increasing children’s nature interactions can have positive benefits for their health-related quality of life (HRQOL); however, researchers have yet to examine how geographical context influences this relationship. The purpose of this study was to examine individual-level and environmental factors that are associated with HRQOL of children from different geographical contexts. Data were collected for 851 children from 34 elementary schools in Ontario, Canada. The natural environments around each child’s home were computed using geospatial analyses in a geographic information system. Natural environment measures were combined with HRQOL and the demographics from child surveys to be used in a series of step-wise linear regression models. These models explored the relationship between children’s HRQOL and the natural environment in urban/suburban and rural populations. In addition to important individual-level determinants, the findings revealed that characteristics of the natural environment, including the amount of greenness, park, and water, show significant relationships in the urban/suburban population. Interpersonal variables were the key predictors of HRQOL in the rural population. Where children live influences relationships between nature and HRQOL. These findings have implications for policymakers, health practitioners, educators, and parents in the design and the promotion of nature for children’s HRQOL

Research in the Archival Multiverse

Over the past 15 years, the field of archival studies around the world has experienced unprecedented growth within the academy and within the profession, and archival studies graduate education programs today have among the highest enrolments in any information field. During the same period, there has also been unparalleled expansion and innovation in the diversity of methods and theories being applied in archival scholarship. Global in scope, Research in the Archival Multiverse compiles critical and reflective essays across a wide range of emerging research areas and interests in archival studies; it aims to provide current and future archival academics with a text addressing possible methods and theoretical frameworks that have been and might be used in archival scholarship and research

Parents’ perceptions of their children’s physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background COVID-19 has drastically changed the everyday lives of children, including limiting interactions with peers, loss of regularly organized activities, and closure of schools and recreational facilities. While COVID-19 protocols are in place to reduce viral transmission, they have affected children’s access to physical activity opportunities. The purpose of this study was to understand how COVID-19 has affected children’s engagement in physical activity and to identify strategies that can support children’s return to physical activity programming in public places. Methods Parents of past participants in the Grade 5 ACT-i-Pass Program in London, Ontario, Canada were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview online (in November and December 2020) via Microsoft Teams. The script was comprised of questions about their child’s physical activity levels (before, current, and anticipated following COVID-19), lifestyle changes due to COVID-19, and what service providers can do to assist children’s return to public programming. Interviews were transcribed in Microsoft Teams, reviewed by a member of the research team, and analyzed in NVivo 12 using thematic analysis. Results Twenty-seven parents participated in an interview. Four themes and two subthemes were identified during analysis: (1) modifications to everyday life (a. activity options available and b. altered social environment), (2) safety in public spaces, (3) accessibility of activities, and (4) utilizing outdoor spaces. Conclusions COVID-19 protocols have decreased children’s physical activity levels due to the loss of their regular activities, recreational spaces, and peer support. Implementing facility and activity-specific health protocols, providing outdoor activity options, and offering a variety of activity types, times, and locations are three strategies recommended by parents to help facilitate their children’s return to public recreational places. Due to the negative consequences of physical inactivity on children’s health and well-being, service providers need to implement programming and safety protocols that support children’s engagement in physical activity throughout the remainder of, and the years following, the COVID-19 pandemic

Convenience sampling of children presenting to hospital-based outpatient clinics to estimate childhood obesity levels in local surroundings

Childhood obesity is a critical public health matter associated with numerous pediatric comorbidities. Local-level data are required to monitor obesity and to help administer prevention efforts when and where they are most needed. We hypothesized that samples of children visiting hospital clinics could provide representative local population estimates of childhood obesity using data from 2007 to 2013. Such data might provide more accurate, timely, and cost-effective obesity estimates than national surveys. Results revealed that our hospital-based sample could not serve as a population surrogate. Further research is needed to confirm this finding