“Terrorism plus Canada in the 1960’s equals hell frozen over” : learning about the October Crisis with computer technology in the Canadian classroom

This study investigated the role and impact of a digital history program (the Virtual Historian©) on students’ historical thinking and reasoning about a controversial episode in Canadian history. The purpose was to examine whether the use of the Virtual Historian©, a web-based inquiry program to teach Canadian history, improves the learning of a key episode in the school curriculum (French-English relations and the October Crisis, 1970). Using a quasi-experimental design, two Ontario Grade 10 classes were assigned to a treatment group (Virtual Historian©) and comparison group (classroom lessons) on the topic. Findings indicate that using the Virtual Historian© can significantly increase students’ understanding of the subject-matter and their ability to think and write historically more than classroom inquiry-based lessons. Cet article présente les résultats d’une étude quasi-expérimentale menée auprès de deux groupes d’élèves ontariens de la 10e année inscrit au cours d’histoire du Canada. L’étude avait pour but d’examiner le rôle et l’impact des technologies de l’information et des communications (TIC), et plus particulièrement d’un nouveau didacticiel en histoire canadienne, l’historien virtuel©, sur l’apprentissage d’un épisode marquant de l’histoire scolaire (la Crise d’octobre, 1970). Les résultats de l’étude indiquent que les élèves du groupe expérimental (l’historien virtuel©) ont développé une meilleure compréhension de l’histoire et de la Crise d’octobre que ceux du groupe de comparaison (enseignement en classe)

Looking to the future to understand the past: a survey of pre-service history teachers' experiences with digital technology and content knowledge

Digital technologies have the potential to enable history teachers to engage student learning, meet diverse learning styles, present a diversity of perspectives, and foster historical inquiry. Pre-service teachers entering today’s Canadian faculties of education are surrounded by more technology than their predecessors. But are they equipped with requisite knowledge and strategies to integrate these technologies effectively into their classrooms? This exploratory study used a cross-sectional survey to investigate pre-service teachers’ experiences with digital technologies in relation to teaching history. By doing so it provides a context for further research into the pedagogical impacts of integrating digital technologies into history classrooms

La conscience historique de jeunes franco-ontariens d’Ottawa : histoire et sentiment d’appartenance

RésuméLes écoles de langue française de l’Ontario inscrivent au cœur de leur projet éducatif la mission de transmettre aux élèves francophones une culture commune et un patrimoine historique et de favoriser leur appartenance à l’identité franco-ontarienne. Cet article vise à vérifier si l’Ontario français constitue un point d’ancrage dans la conscience historique des jeunes francophones et s’ils ont recours au passé pour se forger une identité de citoyen.  Nous avons mené une enquête dans deux écoles secondaires d’Ottawa et dans une classe de didactique de l’histoire à l’Université d’Ottawa, où les élèves et les futurs enseignants devaient indiquer leur degré d’attachement identitaire et rédiger un récit sur l’histoire l’Ontario. Il en résulte qu’une appartenance forte à l’identité franco-ontarienne amène les jeunes à puiser dans le passé de l’Ontario français pour consolider et renforcer cette identité dans leur conscience de citoyen. À l’opposé, une identité canadienne et ontarienne forte se traduit pour les élèves par un récit moins engagé politiquement et plus descriptif centré sur l’histoire de son pays ou de sa province.AbstractA central pillar of French-language schooling in Ontario is the mission to transmit a shared culture and history to Francophone students, and encourage their attachment to Franco-Ontarian identity. This article aims to verify whether French Ontario is an important component of the historical consciousness of young Francophones, and if they turn to the past to forge their identities as citizens. Students in two Ottawa secondary schools and future teachers in a history education class at the University of Ottawa were asked to indicate their degree of attachment to Franco-Ontarian identity and to create an account of Ontario history. We found that a strong sense of belonging as Franco-Ontarians leads young people to look to the past to help them construct and reinforce their identity as citizens. On the other hand, strong Canadian and Ontarian identities are expressed by students in more descriptive—and less politically engaged—accounts of the history of their homeland or province

The use of artificial wetlands to treat greenhouse effluents

Untreated greenhouse effluents or leak solution constitute a major environmental burden because their nitrate and phosphate concentrations may induce eutrophication. Artificial wetlands may offer a low cost alternative treatment of greenhouse effluents and consequently improve the sustainability of greenhouse growing systems. The objectives of this study were to 1) characterize the efficiency of different types of wetland to reduce ion content of greenhouse tomato effluent, and 2) improve the wetland efficiency by adding carbon of 0-800 mg L-1 sucrose. Experiments were conducted at Laval University where 30 pilot scale horizontal subsurface flow artificial wetlands (0.81 m3) were built. Two types of aquatic macrophytes, Pragmites australis and Typha latifolia, and a control group without plants were tested. The hydraulic retention time was 10 days. During the study, EC of the greenhouse effluent ranged between 1.5 to 5.5 mS cm-1, while 0 to 800 mg L-1 of sucrose was provided to improve the biological activity of the wetland. The macro- and micro-elements, the greenhouse gases (CH4, CO2, N2O) and the population of bacteria were measured for each unit. At commercial scale, two vertical subsurface wetlands (43.2 m3) were installed at Ste-Sophie Québec, on the production site of Les Serres Nouvelles Cultures (Sagami). According to our results, 50-90% of nitrate (NO3-) and 40-100% of phosphate (PO43-) were removed from the effluent. At Laval University, artificial wetlands with Typha latifolia were more efficient than wetlands with Phragmites australis or without plants. Addition of sucrose increased wetlands’ microbial population and consequently reduced the mineral content of the wastewater, but increased significantly the emission of greenhouse gases. Results will further be discussed in terms of the best wetland design to treat greenhouse effluents, but also in terms of the environmental impact

Introduction: Historical thinking, historical consciousness

In September, 2014, the University of Ottawa Education Research Unit, Making History / Faire l’histoire, hosted Canadian History at the Crossroads, a SSHRC-funded symposium in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Québec. The symposium brought together multiple stakeholders, historians, history and museum educators, classroom teachers—including Governor General’s award winners as well as teacher education and graduate students—to stimulate further public dialogue on pedagogies of history and the politics of remembrance. Building on some of the symposium’s original contributions as well as other submissions, this Canadian Journal of Education Special Capsule advances current debates in history education, historical thinking, and historical consciousness, and forges new directions for collective understandings of the past, by connecting with everyday lived experiences in the present. The contributions range from discussions of how young people themselves understand their past to the link- ages between forms of remembering and conceptions of the nation itself.

BMP-2 functions independently of SHH signaling and triggers cell condensation and apoptosis in regenerating axolotl limbs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Axolotls have the unique ability, among vertebrates, to perfectly regenerate complex body parts, such as limbs, after amputation. In addition, axolotls pattern developing and regenerating autopods from the anterior to posterior axis instead of posterior to anterior like all tetrapods studied to date. Sonic hedgehog is important in establishing this anterior-posterior axis of limbs in all tetrapods including axolotls. Interestingly, its expression is conserved (to the posterior side of limb buds and blastemas) in axolotl limbs as in other tetrapods. It has been suggested that <it>BMP-2 </it>may be the secondary mediator of sonic hedgehog, although there is mounting evidence to the contrary in mice. Since <it>BMP-2 </it>expression is on the anterior portion of developing and regenerating limbs prior to digit patterning, opposite to the expression of sonic hedgehog, we examined whether <it>BMP-2 </it>expression was dependent on sonic hedgehog signaling and whether it affects patterning of the autopod during regeneration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The expression of <it>BMP-2 </it>and <it>SOX-9 </it>in developing and regenerating axolotl limbs corresponded to the first digits forming in the anterior portion of the autopods. The inhibition of sonic hedgehog signaling with cyclopamine caused hypomorphic limbs (during development and regeneration) but did not affect the expression of <it>BMP-2 </it>and <it>SOX-9</it>. Overexpression of <it>BMP-2 </it>in regenerating limbs caused a loss of digits. Overexpression of <it>Noggin </it>(<it>BMP </it>inhibitor) in regenerating limbs also resulted in a loss of digits. Histological analysis indicated that the loss due to <it>BMP-2 </it>overexpression was the result of increased cell condensation and apoptosis while the loss caused by <it>Noggin </it>was due to a decrease in cell division.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The expression of <it>BMP-2 </it>and its target <it>SOX-9 </it>was independent of sonic hedgehog signaling in developing and regenerating limbs. Their expression correlated with chondrogenesis and the appearance of skeletal elements has described in other tetrapods. Overexpression of <it>BMP-2 </it>did not cause the formation of extra digits, which is consistent with the hypothesis that it is not the secondary signal of sonic hedgehog. However, it did cause the formation of hypomorphic limbs as a result of increased cellular condensation and apoptosis. Taken together, these results suggest that <it>BMP-2 </it>does not have a direct role in patterning regenerating limbs but may be important to trigger condensation prior to ossification and to mediate apoptosis.</p

Imprinting: expanding the extra-pharmacological model of psychedelic drug action to incorporate delayed influences of sets and settings

BackgroundPsychedelic drug experiences are shaped by current-moment contextual factors, commonly categorized as internal (set) and external (setting). Potential influences of past environments, however, have received little attention.AimsTo investigate how previous environmental stimuli shaped the experiences of patients receiving ketamine for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and develop the concept of “imprinting” to account for such time-lagged effects across diverse hallucinogenic drugs.MethodsRecordings of treatment sessions and phenomenological interviews from 26 participants of a clinical trial investigating serial intravenous ketamine infusions for TRD, conducted from January 2021 to August 2022, were retrospectively reviewed. A broad literature search was undertaken to identify potentially underrecognized examples of imprinting with both serotonergic and atypical psychedelics, as well as analogous cognitive processes and neural mechanisms.ResultsIn naturalistic single-subject experiments of a 28-year-old female and a 34-year-old male, subjective ketamine experiences were significantly altered by varying exposures to particular forms of digital media in the days preceding treatments. Higher levels of media exposure reduced the mystical/emotional qualities of subsequent psychedelic ketamine experiences, overpowering standard intention-setting practices and altering therapeutic outcomes. Qualitative data from 24 additional patients yielded eight further spontaneous reports of past environmental exposures manifesting as visual hallucinations during ketamine experiences. We identified similar examples of imprinting with diverse psychoactive drugs in past publications, including in the first-ever report of ketamine in human subjects, as well as analogous processes known to underly dreaming.Conclusions/interpretationPast environmental exposures can significantly influence the phenomenology and therapeutic outcomes of psychedelic experiences, yet are underrecognized and understudied. To facilitate future research, we propose expanding the contextual model of psychedelic drug actions to incorporate imprinting, a novel concept that may aid clinicians, patients, and researchers to better understand psychedelic drug effects.Clinical trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT04701866

Divergence of Arctic shrub growth associated with sea ice decline

Arctic sea ice extent (SIE) is declining at an accelerating rate with a wide range of ecological consequences. However, determining sea ice effects on tundra vegetation remains a challenge. In this study, we examined the universality or lack thereof in tundra shrub growth responses to changes in SIE and summer climate across the Pan-Arctic, taking advantage of 23 tundra shrub-ring chronologies from 19 widely distributed sites (56°N to 83°N). We show a clear divergence in shrub growth responses to SIE that began in the mid-1990s, with 39% of the chronologies showing declines and 57% showing increases in radial growth (decreasers and increasers, respectively). Structural equation models revealed that declining SIE was associated with rising air temperature and precipitation for increasers and with increasingly dry conditions for decreasers. Decreasers tended to be from areas of the Arctic with lower summer precipitation and their growth decline was related to decreases in the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index. Our findings suggest that moisture limitation, associated with declining SIE, might inhibit the positive effects of warming on shrub growth over a considerable part of the terrestrial Arctic, thereby complicating predictions of vegetation change and future tundra productivity