The Uses and Abuses of the Euro in the Canadian Currency Debate. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series, Vol. 3 No. 3, August 2003

(From the introduction). In the late 1990s, some prominent Canadian economists – notably Thomas Courchene, Herbert Grubel, Richard Harris, and Robert Mundell – began arguing that a North American common currency would solve the problems underlying the growing gap between U.S. and Canadian real GDP per capita.1 They succeeded in provoking a lively economic policy debate that occurred in parallel with the launch of the euro. The purpose of this paper is to examine the uses – and abuses – of European parallels by both sides in the economic policy debate that peaked in the 1999-2001 period. The body of the paper begins by providing an understanding of the European case. Hence, the second section outlines our interpretation of the major developments in the birth of the euro. The third section, the core of the paper, examines in detail the use of European parallels in the Canadian currency debate. We start by providing a brief overview of the protagonists in the debate. We then continue by arguing that the euro provided a “temporal spur” for the Canadian discussion but that it was only one among several important factors. We argue further that the proponents of a North American common currency relied very little on the European experience to support their case for the need for a common currency. Where they did use the European experience, however, was in their analysis of the institutional form that a common currency in North America might take. We argue that the opponents of a North American common currency were correct in viewing this as an abuse of the European parallel. In the concluding fourth section, we summarize our findings and argue that the most important parallel between the European and North American forces for a common currency is that both were driven primarily by politics

Depositional Environments and History of Late Quaternary Sediments in Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay: Further Evidence from Seismic and Biostratigraphic Data

Regional ship-borne investigations of seafloor sediments provide further information on late Quaternary depositional environments and history in the Hudson Strait-Ungava Bay region. Greatest sediment thicknesses, up to 130 m, occur in the large basin in eastern Hudson Strait and in the western Hudson Strait basin north of Charles Island. Significant deposits are also present in basins southwest of Charles Island, along the south central part of the Strait, and in the southern part of Ungava Bay. Glacial drift deposits are widespread, but glaciomarine and postglacial sediments mainly occur in the basinal areas, with glaciomarine sediments generally predominating. Glaciomarine sediments are laterally transitional to glacial drift in the south central part of the Strait, and at many other basin margins. AMS dating of the deepest shells found within three cores from the glaciomarine sequences in the Wakeham Bay-Baie Héricart region of south central Hudson Strait yielded ages of 8390 ± 70,8420 ± 80, and 8520 ± 80 BP. Sequences underlying the dated intervals may contain time equivalents of glaciomarine sediments 1000-2000 years older found onshore in the Deception Bay area by Gray, Bruneau, and others.Les recherches menées par bateau à l'échelle régionale sur les sédiments des fonds marins ont augmenté les connaissances sur la sédimentologie et les milieux de sédimentation du Quaternaire supérieur dans la région du détroit d'Hudson et de la baie d'Ungava. Les plus grandes épaisseurs de sédiments (jusqu'à 130 m) se trouvent dans le grand bassin à l'est et dans celui à l'ouest, au nord de Charles Island, du détroit d'Hudson. D'importants dépôts se trouvent aussi dans des bassins au sud-ouest de Charles Island, Ie long du centre sud du détroit et dans la partie sud de la baie d'Ungava. Les dépôts glaciaires sont répandus, mais les sédiments glaciomarins et postglaciaires sont surtout concentrés dans les bassins où les sédiments glaciomarins prédominent. Il y a transition latérale des sédiments glaciomarins aux dépôts glaciaires au centre sud du détroit et en bordure de nombreux autres bassins. La datation par accélérateur de particules des coquilles les plus profondes dans les trois carottes des séquences glaciomarines de la région des baies Wakeham et Héricart, dans le centre sud du détroit d'Hudson, ont livré des âges de 8390 ± 70, 8420 ± 80 et 8520 ± 80 BP. Les séquences sous-jacentes aux intervalles datés peuvent renfermer des sédiments glaciomarins contemporains de ceux de 1000 à 2000 ans plus vieux trouvés sur les rivages de la région de la baie de Déception par Gray, Bruneau et autres.Régionale, mit dem Schiff durchgefùhrte Erforschungen der Meeresgrundsedimente fûhren zu zusâtzlichen Informationen ùber Sedimentierungsumwelt und geschichte im spàten Quaternàr im Gebiet der Hudson-Meerenge und der Ungava-Bucht. Die Sedimente erreichen die grôBte Dicke, bis zu 130 m, im breiten Becken der ôstlichen Hudson-Meerenge und in dem westlichen Hudson-Meerengebecken nôrdlich der Insel Charles. Signifikante Ablagerungen finden sich auch in den sùdwestlich von der Insel Charles gelegenen Becken, entlang dem sùdlichen Zentrum der Meerenge und im sùdlichen Teil der Ungava-Bucht. Die Glet-scherschutt-Ablagerungen sind weitgedehnt, jedoch kommen glazialmarine und post-glaziale Sedimente vor allem in den Becken-Gebieten vor, wobei glazialmarine Sedimente im allgemeinen dominieren. Glazialmarine Sedimente gehen seitlich ùber in die Gletscherschutt-Ablagerungen im sùdlichen Zentrum der Meerenge und an vielen anderen Beckenràndern. Die AMS-Datierung der am tiefsten gelegenen Muscheln, die in drei Bohrkernen der glazialmarinen Sequenzen im Wakeham Bay-Baie Hericart-Gebiet vom sùdlichen Zentrum der Hudson-Meerenge gefunden wurden, ergaben Alter von 8390 ± 70, 8420 ± 80 und 8520 ± 80 v.u.Z. Unter den datierten Intervallen liegende Sequenzen kônnen zeitliche Gegenstùcke zu den 1000-2000 Jahre àlteren glazialmarinen Sedimenten enthalten, die am Ufer des Deception-Bay-Gebiets von Gray, Bruneau und anderen gefunden wurden

Design Innovation: Experimental Creative Research Approaches

Design innovation is a way of structuring design research processes and practices in pursuit of valuable outcomes. Drawing together ideas of complexity theory, creative action and communities of practice, we depict design research as creative action ? an emergent, unpredictable, creative interaction amongst embodied participants and reified objects. From complexity theory we are interested in how modes of interaction and connection, combined with non-linear feedback processes, can give rise to innovation. In particular, we wish to explore how use of visual artefacts and the design of spatial and temporal dimensions of research might influence outcomes. We are attentive to the body as an expressive process rather than simply an instrument of the intellect and are cognisant that design research, like any other social practice, is linked to the processes of identity construction, which is inherently tentative, temporal and temporary in nature

Enhanced Selection of Assistance and Explosive Detection Dogs Using Cognitive Measures

Working dogs play a variety of important roles, ranging from assisting individuals with disabilities, to explosive and medical detection work. Despite widespread demand, only a subset of dogs bred and trained for these roles ultimately succeed, creating a need for objective measures that can predict working dog aptitude. Most previous research has focused on temperamental characteristics of successful dogs. However, working dogs also face diverse cognitive challenges both in training, and throughout their working lives. We conducted a series of studies investigating the relationships between individual differences in dog cognition, and success as an assistance or detection dog. Assistance dogs (N = 164) and detection dogs (N = 222) were tested in the Dog Cognition Test Battery, a 25-item instrument probing diverse aspects of dog cognition. Through exploratory analyses we identified a subset of tasks associated with success in each training program, and developed shorter test batteries including only these measures. We then used predictive modeling in a prospective study with an independent sample of assistance dogs (N = 180), and conducted a replication study with an independent sample of detection dogs (N = 90). In assistance dogs, models using data on individual differences in cognition predicted higher probabilities of success for dogs that ultimately succeeded in the program, than for those who did not. For the subset of dogs with predicted probabilities of success in the 4th quartile (highest predicted probability of success), model predictions were 86% accurate, on average. In both the exploratory and prospective studies, successful dogs were more likely to engage in eye contact with a human experimenter when faced with an unsolvable task, or when a joint social activity was disrupted. In detection dogs, we replicated our exploratory findings that the most successful dogs scored higher on measures of sensitivity to human communicative intentions, and two measures of short term memory. These findings suggest that that (1) individual differences in cognition contribute to variance in working dog success, and (2) that objective measures of dog cognition can be used to improve the processes through which working dogs are evaluated and selected

Bethlehem all year round

Holy family, refugee family, Bernadette GassleinWhen God is a child, Iona MacLeanBaby girl, Brian Joel, Lay SpiritanWhere the word becomes fleshChristmas lasts forever, Deirdre McLoughlin, Lay Spirita

No evidence for contagious yawning in lemurs

This research was supported by a Grant from the Undergraduate Research Support office at Duke University and a Molly H. Glander Student Research Grant from the Duke Lemur Center. RBR and CK were supported by NSF GRFP DGE-1256260 and DGE-1106401, respectively.Among some haplorhine primates, including humans, relaxed yawns spread contagiously. Such contagious yawning has been linked to social bonds and empathy in some species. However, no studies have investigated contagious yawning in strepsirhines. We conducted an experimental study of contagious yawning in strepsirhines, testing ring-tailed and ruffed lemurs (n = 24) in a paradigm similar to one that has induced contagious yawning in haplorhines. First, in a control experiment, we investigated whether lemurs responded to projected video content in general (experiment 1). We showed them two videos to which we expected differential responses: one featured a terrestrial predator and the other a caretaker holding food. Next, to test for yawn contagion, we showed individual lemurs life-size video projections of groupmates and conspecific strangers yawning, and control footage of the same individuals at rest (experiment 2). Then, to examine whether a group context might enhance or allow for contagion, we exposed subjects to the same videos in a group setting (experiment 3). Lemurs produced alarm vocalizations and moved upward while viewing the predator, but not the caretaker, demonstrating that they do perceive video content meaningfully. However, lemurs did not yawn in response to yawning stimuli when tested alone, or with their groupmates. This study provides preliminary evidence that lemurs do not respond to yawning stimuli similarly to haplorhines, and suggests that this behavior may have evolved or become more exaggerated in haplorhines after the two major primate lineages split.PostprintPeer reviewe

Carrières criminelles collectives : évolution d’une population délinquante (groupes de motards)

Co-offending has not been a major area of research for students of crime careers. This paper, however, offers a preliminary analysis of an extensive set of intelligence files gathered by law enforcement agencies on biker groups over a 14 year period (1974-1988). Data has been collected on size, location, network status, life span and degree of crime involvement of 62 criminally involved adult biker groups having operated in Eastern Canada (Quebec) during that period. Findings show a substantial drop in participating groups. Further, remaining groups have not become larger as shown by the equally substantial drop in the overall core underworld biker population. Alternative explanatory accounts for this overall drop are considered

Citizen science as a new tool in dog cognition research

The work of Á.M. was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA 01 031).Family dogs and dog owners offer a potentially powerful way to conduct citizen science to answer questions about animal behavior that are difficult to answer with more conventional approaches. Here we evaluate the quality of the first data on dog cognition collected by citizen scientists using the Dognition. com website. We conducted analyses to understand if data generated by over 500 citizen scientists replicates internally and in comparison to previously published findings. Half of participants participated for free while the other half paid for access. The website provided each participant a temperament questionnaire and instructions on how to conduct a series of ten cognitive tests. Participation required internet access, a dog and some common household items. Participants could record their responses on any PC, tablet or smartphone from anywhere in the world and data were retained on servers. Results from citizen scientists and their dogs replicated a number of previously described phenomena from conventional lab-based research. There was little evidence that citizen scientists manipulated their results. To illustrate the potential uses of relatively large samples of citizen science data, we then used factor analysis to examine individual differences across the cognitive tasks. The data were best explained by multiple factors in support of the hypothesis that nonhumans, including dogs, can evolve multiple cognitive domains that vary independently. This analysis suggests that in the future, citizen scientists will generate useful datasets that test hypotheses and answer questions as a complement to conventional laboratory techniques used to study dog psychology.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Turbulent Aeroheating Measurements on a 7-deg Half-Angle Sphere-Cone in a High-Enthalpy CO2 Expansion Tunnel

A database of heating and pressure measurements on a 7-deg half-angle cone in a highenthalpy expansion tunnel in CO2 has been generated to support development and validation of computational models to be employed in the design of future Mars missions. Laminar, transitional, and turbulent simulations were performed at the test conditions for comparisons with the data. Close agreement was obtained for both fully-laminar and fully turbulent conditions. For the remaining transitional/turbulent conditions, agreement to within, or slightly more than, the estimated experimental uncertainty was demonstrated. The influence of transition intermittency and transition length models on predicted heating levels was demonstrated, as were differences in turbulent heating predictions generated using various algebraic, one-equation, and two-equation turbulence models. These comparisons provide some measure of confidence in turbulent simulation capabilities; however, because the data were not obtained on a relevant entry vehicle geometry, it is not possible to fully quantify computational uncertainties for the definition of Mars mission aerothermodynamic environments at this tim

Impact of accessory gene regulator (agr) dysfunction on vancomycin pharmacodynamics among Canadian community and health-care associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The accessory gene regulator (<it>agr</it>) is a quorum sensing cluster of genes which control colonization and virulence in <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it>. We evaluated <it>agr </it>function in community- (CA) and healthcare-associated (HA) MRSA, to compare the pharmacodynamics and bactericidal activity of vancomycin against <it>agr </it>functional and dysfunctional HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>40 clinical isolates of MRSA from the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program were evaluated for delta-haemolysin production, as a surrogate marker of <it>agr </it>function. Time kill experiments were performed for vancomycin at 0 to 64 times the MIC against an initial inoculum of 10⁶and 10⁸cfu/ml of <it>agr </it>functional and dysfunctional CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA and these data were fit to a hill-type pharmacodynamic model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>15% isolates were <it>agr </it>dysfunctional, which was higher among HA-MRSA (26.3%) versus CA-MRSA (4.76%). Against a low initial inoculum of 10⁶cfu/ml of CA-MRSA, vancomycin pharmacodynamics were similar among <it>agr </it>functional and dysfunctional strains. However, against a high initial inoculum of 10⁸cfu/ml, killing activity was notably attenuated against <it>agr </it>dysfunctional CA-MRSA (USA400) and HA-MRSA (USA100). CA-MRSA displayed a 20.0 fold decrease in the maximal reduction in bacterial counts (Emax) which was 3.71 log₁₀CFU/ml for <it>agr </it>functional vs. 2.41 log₁₀CFU/ml for <it>agr </it>dysfunctional MRSA (p = 0.0007).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Dysfunction in <it>agr </it>was less common among CA-MRSA vs. HA-MRSA. <it>agr </it>dysfunction demonstrated an impact on vancomycin bactericidal activity and pharmacodynamics against a high initial inoculum of CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA, which may have implications for optimal antimicrobial therapy against persistent, difficult to treat MRSA infections.</p