The Art of Sharing: The Richer Provinces Versus the Poorer Provinces Since Confederation

This thesis examines the social and political history of equalization, which is the federal program that allows all provinces to provide reasonably comparable levels of services for reasonably comparable levels of taxation. It examines why Ottawa adopted this mechanism in 1957, the models that it used for those grants, and how it established the formula based upon per capita tax revenues. The thesis moves from the establishment of subsidies at Confederation across the later decades of the nineteenth century into the twentieth century as politicians and bureaucrats gradually realized that few modern federations survive without relative equality among the member governments. It explores the fierce domestic debates and the Royal Commission studies during this struggle to address fiscal inequalities among provincial governments. It also investigates the international models that Ottawa consulted in its quest to devise equalization, concentrating upon the pivotal influence of Australia on Canada as well as Canadas influence Australia. The approach is state-centred because most policy-oriented groups did not consider the issue of fiscal inequality among provincial governments when they pushed for the expansion of social services. As well, the thesis considers the crucial influence of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent during the federal discussions to devise an equalization formula. Caught in a devastating face-off with Quebec over the collection of tax revenues, St. Laurent defused the confrontation with these unobtrusive, non-conditional grants that equalized key tax revenues. With the adoption of equalization in 1957, Ottawa ensured that all provinces could (almost) afford social programs. That cleared the way for vital federal grants to the provinces for social assistance, post-secondary education, hospital care and eventually Medicare. In effect, equalization is the largely overlooked mechanism that has kept the federation together. And the history of its introduction has been too little explored

Mejorando la alfabetización infantil mediante el apoyo de las redes comunitarias y escolares en Ghana, Honduras, y Nicaragua : análisis comparativo entre países con relación a las principales lecciones aprendidas en cuanto a la adaptación y escalamiento para un mayor impacto de los campamentos de lectura del programa Unlock Literacy de Visión Mundial

English version available in IDRC Digital Library : Improving literacy for children through the support of community networks in Ghana, Honduras, and Nicaragua : a cross-country comparison of key learnings related to adaptation and scaling for impact of World Vision’s Unlock Literacy reading camp

Improving literacy for children through the support of community networks in Ghana, Honduras, and Nicaragua : a cross-country comparison of key learnings related to adaptation and scaling for impact of World Vision’s Unlock Literacy reading camps

Spanish version available in IDRC Digital Library : Mejorando la alfabetización infantil mediante el apoyo de las redes comunitarias y escolares en Ghana, Honduras, y Nicaragua : análisis comparativo entre países con relación a las principales lecciones aprendidas en cuanto a la adaptación y escalamiento para un mayor impacto de los campamentos de lectura del programa Unlock Literacy de Visión MundialThis report presents the Research Lead’s cross-county analysis of research findings from the qualitative research studies of World Vision’s Unlock Literacy community-based, play-based reading camps for early school-age children (grades 1-3) conducted in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Ghana as part of the Improving Literacy for Children through the Support of Community Networks project from April 2020 to February 2023. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Global Partnership for Education (GPE) are funding this Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) project through a global grant. These grants aim to generate knowledge and evidence to support the adaptation of proven innovations to address key education priorities in GPE partner countries and to mobilize research and knowledge to support the scaling of these proven innovations

Primary cardiac sarcoma presenting as acute left-sided heart failure

Primary cardiac sarcomas are rare malignant tumors of the heart. Clinical features depend on the site of tumor and vary from symptoms of congestive heart failure to thromboembolism and arrhythmias. Echocardiography is helpful but definitive diagnosis is established by histopathology. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment, and the role of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is unclear. We report a case of primary cardiac sarcoma which presented with signs and symptoms of acute left-sided heart failure

Successful surgical excision of primary right atrial angiosarcoma

Primary cardiac angiosarcoma is a rare and aggressive tumor with a high incidence of metastatic spread (up to 89%) at the time of diagnosis, which restricts the indication for surgical resection to a small number of patients. We report the case of a 50-year old Caucasian woman with non-metastatic primary right atrial angiosarcoma, who underwent successful surgical excision of the tumor (with curative intent) and reconstruction of the right atrium with a porcine pericardial patch. However, after a symptom-free survival of five months the patient presented with bone and liver metastases without evidence of local tumor recurrence

Spironolactone-induced inhibition of aldosterone biosynthesis in primary aldosteronism: Morphological and functional studies

Twenty-five patients harboring aldosterone-producing adenomas were treated with spironolactone for 2-170 days immediately preoperatively. In the early period of administration of the drug (up to 27 days), plasma and urinary aldosterone decreased sharply while plasma renin activity (PRA) and serum potassium were rising. During this period of time, spironolactone bodies (SB), which form exclusively in cells actively producing aldosterone, were forming rapidly in the tumor cells but not in the inactive glomerulosa cells proper. The SB appear to be a morphological expression of a block in aldosterone biosynthesis. Since SB do not occur in normal fasciculata cells, which, like glomerulosa cells, also synthesize corticosterone, it is concluded that spironolactone inhibition of aldosterone biosynthesis occurs between corticosterone and aldosterone. Recent studies in vitro by others have suggested that the inhibition occurs at the corticosterone-methyl oxidase step, I (Ulick's nomenclature). The great diuresis of sodium and retention of potassium resulting from continued administration of the drug sharply activates aldosterone stimulatory factors. Aldosterone production may return to baseline levels in several weeks but it is inappropriately low in relation to the levels of PRA and serum potassium. With the further passage of time (average 4-6 wk), aldosterone production may increase 50%-100% above baseline levels, suggesting that the block has disappeared or is receding. At this time SB are diminishing in number and by 170 days of the drug they have virtually disappeared. We have hypothesized, among other possibilities, that recovery of the ability to convert corticosterone to aldosterone occurs by virtue of a mechanism activated by sodium deficiency, independent of angiotensin, which stimulates step 1 of the corticosterone-methyl oxidase system. As the block in the final step(s) of the biosynthetic pathway recedes, the existing elevated levels of angiotensin become much more effective in stimulating the production of aldosterone.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22806/1/0000363.pd

Drumbeats of rage [Canada] by Mary Janigan

Conflicts will intensify as natives increase demands for self-government. Across rural Ontario, the surging clash over rights has provoked bitter feuds. Provided by MICAH, Canberra

Factors affecting Girls' Education in Tajikistan: What Difference did the Girls' Education Project Make?

Since Tajikistan’s independence in 1991 the number of rural girls leaving school after grade 9 has been increasing at an alarming rate. In order to improve rural girls’ secondary school attendance and retention, in 2006 Save the Children, local non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, and the Ministry of Education implemented a two-year UNICEF-funded Girls’ Education Project (GEP). This mixed-method study compares rural girls’ secondary school experiences and opportunities at six schools (three GEP schools and three non-GEP schools) in two districts located in regions with the lowest levels of female secondary school participation nationwide. Two research questions guided this study: 1) What factors serve as obstacles or enablers to girls’ secondary school experiences and opportunities in rural Tajikistan? and 2) How did the GEP attempt to overcome factors limiting rural girls’ secondary school experiences and opportunities and which aspects of the project were perceived to be most effective? The study’s theoretical framework contains concepts from two sets of theories: 1) social reproduction (schooling as a means of maintaining and reproducing the status quo) and 2) empowerment (schooling as a means of changing the status quo). Data collected reveals two groups’ perspectives: 1) adult participants (Ministry of Education officials, NGO staff, school administrators and teachers) and 2) rural female upper secondary school students. A multi-level data analysis process was used to compare findings within and across districts. Factors that serve as either an obstacle or an enabler of girls’ educational experiences and opportunities include those relating to the community/society, family, school, and self. Factors related to community/society include the dominant belief that a girl is “grown-up” by 15 and should no longer go to school which intersects with family poverty to create a major barrier to girls’ non-compulsory secondary schooling. Factors affecting girls’ schooling related to the family were the most significant determinant of a girl’s schooling. Of all the GEP activities, participants consistently considered the girls’ overnight camp to be the “best” activity. Findings show how enabling just a few girls to return to school significantly increases the likelihood of other girls being allowed to attend school in these rural communities.Ph