Fading Productivity - Making Sense of Canada's Productivity Challenge

The Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum demonstrates that Canada’s competitiveness is at its lowest in the last five years. This paper seeks to understand the major causes of the decreasing competitiveness and how these factors have interacted with productivity growth. The analysis shows that institutional inefficiency as well as excessive government regulations imposed on businesses are damaging to productivity and competitiveness. Weak investments in capital goods hinder the ability to grow and to create greater economies of scale. Sufficient government investment is crucial to the maintenance of competitive post-secondary institutions, whereas employer-supported training is an important factor in improving labour productivity and business sophistication.productivity, labour productivity, multifactor productivity, competitiveness, global competitiveness index, innovation, education and training

3Rs: Retirements, Renewal, and Reinvention in ILL: How ILL at a Canadian ARL library survived and thrived following the departure of 50% of its staff in six months

As the baby boomer generation ages, workplaces are seeing an explosion of retirements. As is widely acknowledged in the literature, academic libraries are no exception. Much of this literature tends to focus on the impact of professional librarian, rather than library technician, retirements. In 2015, the Central Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Article Scan Service of the McGill University Library, an ARL library located in Montreal, Canada, was comprised of one librarian and seven support staff: four in borrowing, two in lending, and one in the article scan service for locally-owned materials. In the fall of 2015, the ILL team won the university-wide Principal’s Award for Administrative and Support Staff in recognition of their excellent service. By spring of 2016, ILL lending and borrowing staff numbers were reduced by half: one lending member left to pursue another opportunity within the library system, and two long-serving borrowing members retired. This poster will explore the impact of the loss in a six-month period of 50% of an ILL workforce on operations, workflow, and morale of the remaining members. It will also examine coping measures taken, solutions devised, and lessons learned for the future. The library system underwent a period of major change from 2012 to 2015. The university launched a retirement incentive program, prompting a wave of departures, followed by a university-wide hiring freeze in 2014. Meanwhile, three faculty libraries were merged with larger subject libraries. Their holdings were relocated to these larger subject libraries or storage, creating the need to inaugurate the article scan service in 2014. The ILL service handles a high volume of requests. In FY2016, nearly 23,000 borrowing, 15,000 lending, and 5,500 article scan requests were received. An unprecedented increase in requests received and filled occurred between FY2013 and FY2016: 73% and 52% respectively in borrowing, and 15% and 12% in lending. The article scan service was launched during this period as well. This left little time for cross-training prior to the 2016 departures. Although the hiring freeze was lifted in the fall of 2015, normal delays in recruitment meant the vacated positions could not be filled immediately. Urgent, stopgap cross-training was carried out by remaining staff members following the departures, made all the more hectic and demanding by the need to scramble to cope with the now doubled workload they faced. This, in combination with the climate of uncertainty created by library mergers and staff departures, resulted in high stress levels.This period of transition afforded the ILL service the opportunity for renewal and reorganization. The team now has a better understanding of priorities in its day-to-day operations, and has developed more efficient ways of carrying out tasks and managing workflow. It is also more unified, and more aware of the importance of team social activities in the promotion and preservation of team cohesiveness and mental health. Now that recruitment has resumed, the team is well prepared to welcome new staff members into its smoother, more streamlined operation

Nocardia abscessus brain abscess in an immunocompetent host

SummaryNocardia brain abscesses typically occur in immunocompromised patients. Most cases of nocardiosis are caused by the Nocardia asteroides complex and Nocardia brasiliensis. Here, we present a patient with a Nocardia abscessus brain abscess. The diagnosis was confirmed by DNA sequencing, and the organism was susceptible to linezolid, clarithromycin, ceftriaxone, imipenem, tobramycin, amikacin, minocycline and sulfamethoxazole. The patient was successfully treated medically in combination with surgical excision

Social competence in context : the moderating effects of culture and SES on the correlates of competent functioning with peers in Canadian and Colombian school children

The goal of this research was to assess the processes that underlie children's social competence in different cultural and social contexts. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the effects of culture, SES, and sex on the relationships between (a) the predictors and indices of social competence, and (b) social competence and depressed affect, in high- and low-SES children (n=1067) in grades 4, 5, and 6 in Colombia and Canada. Findings indicated that the strength of the associations between the individual characteristics of social avoidance, athleticism, aggression, and caring, and the social competence indices of friendship and liking varied across culture, SES, and sex in unique ways. Specifically, social avoidance was a stronger negative predictor of social competence among high-SES than among low-SES individuals, especially among Colombian children. There was an overall positive relationship between athletic competence and peer competence, but this association was strongest among low-SES boys. Aggression was a stronger negative predictor of social competence among boys than among girls, especially among Canadian children. There was an overall positive relationship between caring and social competence indices, but this relationship was stronger for low-SES individuals than for high-SES children. The relationship between social competence and depressed affect was moderated by a three-way interaction between culture, SES, and sex; the strongest association between these variables occurred among high-SES Colombian girls. These findings highlight the importance of considering within-culture differences in conjunction with between-culture differences, and are discussed in relation to the distinguishing dimensions of individualism and collectivis

The impact of COVID-19 on HIV treatment of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review

Background: Adolescents living with HIV are a key population who are susceptible to poor health. The global coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and widespread national COVID-19 restrictions has disrupted health service delivery and HIV support services, affecting treatment adherence among adolescents with HIV. Aim: This study aimed to review the available literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the HIV treatment of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Method: Seven online databases were searched for articles published between 2020 and 2022 that focused on the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy. A data charting extraction form and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocol (PRISMA) flowchart were used for screening and reporting the articles in this review. A narrative synthesis was conducted. Results: Five overarching themes emerged from the articles in this review, which highlighted the mental, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impact of the reallocation of healthcare services and challenges to accessing HIV care services on the antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence of adolescents living with HIV. Conclusion: The global COVID-19 pandemic affected adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in many ways, but very little research has been done to describe the various ways in which the physical and mental well-being of adolescents were impacted. Contribution: The findings of this review can be used to further inform policies and interventions aimed at the care and well-being of adolescents on antiretroviral therapy within sub-Saharan Africa

Self-ideal-self discrepancy as a defensive style

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22323/1/0000768.pd

23 Things: Online Training for Social Media and Public Health

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94443/1/23 Things Online Training for Social Media and Public Health.pd

Blowout limits of turbulent jet diffusion flames for arbitrary source conditions

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76791/1/AIAA-25186-342.pd