Privatization and the Exacerbation of Educational Inequality in Canada

Currently, over one-third of Canadian families have opted to enroll their children in private education. This shift is concerning as school choice has the potential to create homogenous student populations by segregating children of differing socioeconomic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Selective public schools also have the potential to become exclusive spaces for students among the social elite to obtain cultural capital that other students have no access to. In fact, the emergence of a more competitive and selective public schooling system has already created a new hierarchy of elite students in Canada. In the following position paper, I explore how the promotion of school choice and the rise of privatization have exacerbated educational inequalities in Canada. I also address how the rise in privatization has led to the weakening of Canada’s public education systems and the creation of homogenous school systems. Thus, it is imperative for educational researchers and policymakers to not only recognize how the rise of privatization and school choice has changed the landscape of Canada’s education systems, but also address the equity and quality concerns that have arisen as well

The role of AHK5 in abiotic and biotic stress signalling

In Arabidopsis thaliana, eight histidine kinases (HKs) have been identified which function in hormone signalling, stimuli perception, and plant development. To better elucidate HK roles in signalling, the function of the least characterised HK, AHK5, in stress tolerance was investigated using a T-DNA insertion knockout line (ahk5-1). Reduced inhibition of seedling root growth was seen in ahk5-1 in response to salinity when compared to wild-type Col-0 in tissue culture assays. In mature plants, ahk5-1 showed greater fresh weight gain under either salinity or drought stress. Loss of AHK5 function did not alter cold stress tolerance, nor basal and acquired heat stress tolerance in terms of seedling root elongation. Infection with the biotrophic pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 revealed ahk5-1 is compromised in disease resistance, exhibiting increased chlorosis and in planta bacterial growth. Levels of the plant hormones salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and abscisic acid, alongside the bacterial phytotoxin coronatine, were lower in pathogen challenged ahk5-1 mutants compared to wild-type plants. The ahk5-1 mutant was also more susceptible to the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea, supporting more fungal growth and displaying accelerated symptom development. Hydrogen peroxide production has been linked with both resistance and susceptibility towards B. cinerea; in ahk5-1, 3,3-diaminobenzidene (DAB) staining suggested reduced hydrogen peroxide production in response to infection. Complementation and expression of AHK5 with either full-length genomic AHK5 under the 35S CaMV promoter or full-length AHK5 cDNA under the native promoter rescued the ahk5-1 mutant stress response phenotypes. In summary, AHK5 was found to negatively regulate abiotic stress tolerance whilst positively contributing towards resistance against pathogens employing different lifestyles. To begin to establish an AHK5 signalling network, tandem affinity purification coupled with LC-MS/MS was employed for identification of possible AHK5 interacting proteins. Suggestions for further optimisation of the purification method are presented. The role of AHK5 in regulation of plant stress responses through modulation of reactive oxygen species and hormone signalling and through protein-protein interactions are reviewed. Suggestions for further investigation are also discussed

Privatization and the Exacerbation of Educational Inequality in Canada

Currently, over one-third of Canadian families have opted to enroll their children in private education. This shift is concerning as school choice has the potential to create homogenous student populations by segregating children of differing socioeconomic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Selective public schools also have the potential to become exclusive spaces for students among the social elite to obtain cultural capital that other students have no access to. In fact, the emergence of a more competitive and selective public schooling system has already created a new hierarchy of elite students in Canada. In the following position paper, I explore how the promotion of school choice and the rise of privatization have exacerbated educational inequalities in Canada. I also address how the rise in privatization has led to the weakening of Canada’s public education systems and the creation of homogenous school systems. Thus, it is imperative for educational researchers and policymakers to not only recognize how the rise of privatization and school choice has changed the landscape of Canada’s education systems, but also address the equity and quality concerns that have arisen as well

Community-based prehabilitation program: a pilot study exploring the impact of exercise and education programs on functional mobility pre-surgery and on length of stay post-total joint arthroplasty

The effect of implementing a community-based prehabilitation program prior to total joint arthroplasty (TJA) on mobility and length of stay (LOS) in hospital post-TJA in obese patients was investigated in this quantitative pilot study. Changes in mobility measures from baseline, at 6 weeks and 12-weeks pre-surgery and post-surgery were assessed using: Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Timed Up and Go (TUG), Self-Paced Walk Test (SPWT), and Stair Test (ST). A prehabilitation group attended education sessions and underwent a 12-week land and pool-based exercise program before TJA, whereas the control group received the usual preoperative standard of care. The prehabilitation group experienced improved mobility before and after surgery whereas the control group only saw improvements post-surgery. The LOS for the prehabilitation group was marginally lower (0.3 days) than the control group. In conclusion, there is evidence that a prehabilitation program prior to TJA may reduce hospital LOS resulting in potential cost savings and improved patient mobility measures both prior to and post-surgery.Master of Human Kinetics (MHK

An NMRA-like protein regulates gene expression in Phytophthora capsici to drive the infection cycle on tomato

Phytophthora spp. cause devastating disease epidemics on important crop plants and pose a grave threat to global crop production. Critically, Phytophthora pathogens represent a distinct evolutionary lineage in which pathogenicity has been acquired independently. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand and disrupt the processes that drive infection if we aspire to defeat oomycete pathogens in the field. One area that has received little attention thus far in this respect is the regulation of Phytophthora gene expression during infection. Here, we characterize PcNMRAL1 (Phyca11_505845), a homolog of the Aspergillus nidulans nitrogen metabolite repression regulator NMRA and demonstrate a role for this protein in progression of the Phytophthora capsici infection cycle. PcNmrAL1 is coexpressed with the biotrophic marker gene PcHmp1 (haustorial membrane protein 1) and, when overexpressed, extends the biotrophic infection stage. Microarray analyses revealed that PcNmrAL1 overexpression in P. capsici leads to large-scale transcriptional changes during infection and in vitro. Importantly, detailed analysis reveals that PcNmrAL1 overexpression induces biotrophy-associated genes while repressing those associated with necrotrophy. In addition to factors controlling transcription, translation, and nitrogen metabolism, PcNMRAL1 helps regulate the expression of a considerable effector repertoire in P. capsici. Our data suggests that PcNMRAL1 is a transcriptional regulator that mediates the biotrophy to necrotrophy transition. PcNMRAL1 represents a novel factor that may drive the Phytophthora disease cycle on crops. This study provides the first insight into mechanisms that regulate infection-related processes in Phytophthora spp. and provides a platform for further studies aimed at disabling pathogenesis and preventing crop losses. </jats:p

Variation in carbon and nitrogen concentrations among peatland categories at the global scale

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.Peatlands account for 15 to 30% of the world's soil carbon (C) stock and are important controls over global nitrogen (N) cycles. However, C and N concentrations are known to vary among peatlands contributing to the uncertainty of global C inventories, but there are few global studies that relate peatland classification to peat chemistry. We analyzed 436 peat cores sampled in 24 countries across six continents and measured C, N, and organic matter (OM) content at three depths down to 70 cm. Sites were distinguished between northern (387) and tropical (49) peatlands and assigned to one of six distinct broadly recognized peatland categories that vary primarily along a pH gradient. Peat C and N concentrations, OM content, and C:N ratios differed significantly among peatland categories, but few differences in chemistry with depth were found within each category. Across all peatlands C and N concentrations in the 10-20 cm layer, were 440 ± 85.1 g kg-1 and 13.9 ± 7.4 g kg-1, with an average C:N ratio of 30.1 ± 20.8. Among peatland categories, median C concentrations were highest in bogs, poor fens and tropical swamps (446-532 g kg-1) and lowest in intermediate and extremely rich fens (375-414 g kg-1). The C:OM ratio in peat was similar across most peatland categories, except in deeper samples from ombrotrophic tropical peat swamps that were higher than other peatlands categories. Peat N concentrations and C:N ratios varied approximately two-fold among peatland categories and N concentrations tended to be higher (and C:N lower) in intermediate fens compared with other peatland types. This study reports on a unique data set and demonstrates that differences in peat C and OM concentrations among broadly classified peatland categories are predictable, which can aid future studies that use land cover assessments to refine global peatland C and N stocks.Peer reviewe

Prevalence and attributable health burden of chronic respiratory diseases, 1990–2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Previous attempts to characterise the burden of chronic respiratory diseases have focused only on specific disease conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma. In this study, we aimed to characterise the burden of chronic respiratory diseases globally, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis on geographical and time trends from 1990 to 2017. Methods Using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, we estimated the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality attributable to chronic respiratory diseases through an analysis of deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and years of life lost (YLL) by GBD super-region, from 1990 to 2017, stratified by age and sex. Specific diseases analysed included asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis, pneumoconiosis, and other chronic respiratory diseases. We also assessed the contribution of risk factors (smoking, second-hand smoke, ambient particulate matter and ozone pollution, household air pollution from solid fuels, and occupational risks) to chronic respiratory disease-attributable DALYs. Findings In 2017, 544.9 million people (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 506.9- 584.8) worldwide had a chronic respiratory disease, representing an increase of 39.8% compared with 1990. Chronic respiratory disease prevalence showed wide variability across GBD super-regions, with the highest prevalence among both males and females in high-income regions, and the lowest prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. The age-sex- specific prevalence of each chronic respiratory disease in 2017 was also highly variable geographically. Chronic respiratory diseases were the third leading cause of death in 2017 (7.0% [95% UI 6.8-7 .2] of all deaths), behind cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. Deaths due to chronic respiratory diseases numbered 3 914 196 (95% UI 3 790 578-4 044 819) in 2017, an increase of 18.0% since 1990, while total DALYs increased by 13.3%. However, when accounting for ageing and population growth, declines were observed in age-standardised prevalence (14.3% decrease), agestandardised death rates (42.6%), and age-standardised DALY rates (38.2%). In males and females, most chronic respiratory disease-attributable deaths and DALYs were due to COPD. In regional analyses, mortality rates from chronic respiratory diseases were greatest in south Asia and lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, also across both sexes. Notably, although absolute prevalence was lower in south Asia than in most other super-regions, YLLs due to chronic respiratory diseases across the subcontinent were the highest in the world. Death rates due to interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis were greater than those due to pneumoconiosis in all super-regions. Smoking was the leading risk factor for chronic respiratory disease-related disability across all regions for men. Among women, household air pollution from solid fuels was the predominant risk factor for chronic respiratory diseases in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, while ambient particulate matter represented the leading risk factor in southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania, and in the Middle East and north Africa super-region. Interpretation Our study shows that chronic respiratory diseases remain a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with growth in absolute numbers but sharp declines in several age-standardised estimators since 1990. Premature mortality from chronic respiratory diseases seems to be highest in regions with less-resourced health systems on a per-capita basis

Prevalence and attributable health burden of chronic respiratory diseases, 1990–2017: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license Background: Previous attempts to characterise the burden of chronic respiratory diseases have focused only on specific disease conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma. In this study, we aimed to characterise the burden of chronic respiratory diseases globally, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis on geographical and time trends from 1990 to 2017. Methods: Using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, we estimated the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality attributable to chronic respiratory diseases through an analysis of deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and years of life lost (YLL) by GBD super-region, from 1990 to 2017, stratified by age and sex. Specific diseases analysed included asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis, pneumoconiosis, and other chronic respiratory diseases. We also assessed the contribution of risk factors (smoking, second-hand smoke, ambient particulate matter and ozone pollution, household air pollution from solid fuels, and occupational risks) to chronic respiratory disease-attributable DALYs. Findings: In 2017, 544·9 million people (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 506·9–584·8) worldwide had a chronic respiratory disease, representing an increase of 39·8% compared with 1990. Chronic respiratory disease prevalence showed wide variability across GBD super-regions, with the highest prevalence among both males and females in high-income regions, and the lowest prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. The age-sex-specific prevalence of each chronic respiratory disease in 2017 was also highly variable geographically. Chronic respiratory diseases were the third leading cause of death in 2017 (7·0% [95% UI 6·8–7·2] of all deaths), behind cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. Deaths due to chronic respiratory diseases numbered 3 914 196 (95% UI 3 790 578–4 044 819) in 2017, an increase of 18·0% since 1990, while total DALYs increased by 13·3%. However, when accounting for ageing and population growth, declines were observed in age-standardised prevalence (14·3% decrease), age-standardised death rates (42·6%), and age-standardised DALY rates (38·2%). In males and females, most chronic respiratory disease-attributable deaths and DALYs were due to COPD. In regional analyses, mortality rates from chronic respiratory diseases were greatest in south Asia and lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, also across both sexes. Notably, although absolute prevalence was lower in south Asia than in most other super-regions, YLLs due to chronic respiratory diseases across the subcontinent were the highest in the world. Death rates due to interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis were greater than those due to pneumoconiosis in all super-regions. Smoking was the leading risk factor for chronic respiratory disease-related disability across all regions for men. Among women, household air pollution from solid fuels was the predominant risk factor for chronic respiratory diseases in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, while ambient particulate matter represented the leading risk factor in southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania, and in the Middle East and north Africa super-region. Interpretation: Our study shows that chronic respiratory diseases remain a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with growth in absolute numbers but sharp declines in several age-standardised estimators since 1990. Premature mortality from chronic respiratory diseases seems to be highest in regions with less-resourced health systems on a per-capita basis. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Adolescent transport and unintentional injuries: a systematic analysis using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Globally, transport and unintentional injuries persist as leading preventable causes of mortality and morbidity for adolescents. We sought to report comprehensive trends in injury-related mortality and morbidity for adolescents aged 10–24 years during the past three decades. Methods: Using the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2019 Study, we analysed mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributed to transport and unintentional injuries for adolescents in 204 countries. Burden is reported in absolute numbers and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population by sex, age group (10–14, 15–19, and 20–24 years), and sociodemographic index (SDI) with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We report percentage changes in deaths and DALYs between 1990 and 2019. Findings: In 2019, 369 061 deaths (of which 214 337 [58%] were transport related) and 31·1 million DALYs (of which 16·2 million [52%] were transport related) among adolescents aged 10–24 years were caused by transport and unintentional injuries combined. If compared with other causes, transport and unintentional injuries combined accounted for 25% of deaths and 14% of DALYs in 2019, and showed little improvement from 1990 when such injuries accounted for 26% of adolescent deaths and 17% of adolescent DALYs. Throughout adolescence, transport and unintentional injury fatality rates increased by age group. The unintentional injury burden was higher among males than females for all injury types, except for injuries related to fire, heat, and hot substances, or to adverse effects of medical treatment. From 1990 to 2019, global mortality rates declined by 34·4% (from 17·5 to 11·5 per 100 000) for transport injuries, and by 47·7% (from 15·9 to 8·3 per 100 000) for unintentional injuries. However, in low-SDI nations the absolute number of deaths increased (by 80·5% to 42 774 for transport injuries and by 39·4% to 31 961 for unintentional injuries). In the high-SDI quintile in 2010–19, the rate per 100 000 of transport injury DALYs was reduced by 16·7%, from 838 in 2010 to 699 in 2019. This was a substantially slower pace of reduction compared with the 48·5% reduction between 1990 and 2010, from 1626 per 100 000 in 1990 to 838 per 100 000 in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the rate of unintentional injury DALYs per 100 000 also remained largely unchanged in high-SDI countries (555 in 2010 vs 554 in 2019; 0·2% reduction). The number and rate of adolescent deaths and DALYs owing to environmental heat and cold exposure increased for the high-SDI quintile during 2010–19. Interpretation: As other causes of mortality are addressed, inadequate progress in reducing transport and unintentional injury mortality as a proportion of adolescent deaths becomes apparent. The relative shift in the burden of injury from high-SDI countries to low and low–middle-SDI countries necessitates focused action, including global donor, government, and industry investment in injury prevention. The persisting burden of DALYs related to transport and unintentional injuries indicates a need to prioritise innovative measures for the primary prevention of adolescent injury. Funding: Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens