Measurement Bias in the Canadian Consumer Price Index

The consumer price index (CPI) is the most commonly used measure of inflation in Canada. As an indicator of changes in the cost of living, however, the CPI is subject to various types of measurement bias. The author updates previous Bank of Canada estimates of the bias in the Canadian CPI by examining four different sources of potential bias. He finds that the total measurement bias has increased only slightly in recent years to 0.6 percentage points per year, and is low when compared with other countries.Inflation et prix; Cibles en matière d'inflation

Using Monthly Indicators to Predict Quarterly GDP

The authors build a model for predicting current-quarter real gross domestic product (GDP) growth using anywhere from zero to three months of indicators from that quarter. Their equation links quarterly Canadian GDP growth with monthly data on retail sales, housing starts, consumer confidence, total hours worked, and U.S. industrial production. The authors use time-series methods to forecast missing observations of the monthy indicators; this allows them to assess the performance of the method under various amounts of monthly information. The authors' model forecasts GDP growth as early as the first month of the reference quarter, and its accuracy generally improves with incremental monthly data releases. The final forecast from the model, available five to six weeks before the release of the National Income and Expenditure Accounts, delivers improved accuracy relative to those of several macroeconomic models used for short-term forecasting of Canadian output. The implications of real-time versus pseudo-real-time forecasting are investigated, and the authors find that the choice between real-time and latestavailable data affects the performance ranking among alternative models.Economic models; Econometric and statistical methods

Offshoring and Its Effects on the Labour Market and Productivity: A Survey of Recent Literature

Offshoring has become an increasingly prominent aspect of the globalization process. Evidence over the past two decades suggests that offshoring has not exerted a noticeable impact on overall employment and earnings growth in advanced economies, but it has likely contributed to shifting the demand for labour towards higher-skilled jobs. There appear to be some positive effects of offshoring on productivity, but such effects differ by country.

Low Linolenic Soybean Plots

This project is designed to compare the yields of the new Iowa State low linolenic soybean varieties with soybean varieties commonly grown as food grade soybeans for specialty markets near the Allee Research Farm, Newell, Iowa. The Allee Research Farm is the zone for group 2 maturity range soybeans. The new IA2064 low linolenic soybean variety is adapted to this zone. Producers need performance data to help evaluate the premium offered for growing the new soybeans. Premiums are designed to cover yield drag and identity preservation costs

Supplement to: Interferometry depth sounding on the Athabasca Glacier

Largely collections of raw data acquired on the Athabasca Glacier during 1970. Thesis. M.Sc., University of Toronto, 1971.by James R. RossiterThe surface electrical properties experiment -- Logistics on the Athabasca glacier -- The rotating-beam experiment -- Radiation pattern measurements -- Unfiltered traverse profiles -- Rates of decay of traverses

Interferometry depth sounding on the Athabasca Glacier : development of the interferometry technique for lunar exploration

Results of experiments using radio waves for remote sensing done in March 1970 at the Athabasca Glacier in the Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. This work is part of the Surface Electrical Properties Experiment. Thesis. M.Sc. University of Toronto, 1971.by James R. RossiterIntroduction and purpose -- Dielectric properties of lunar and terrestrial materials -- Description of the Athabasca Glacier Traverse Experiment -- Data analysis and interpretation -- Conclusions and suggestions for future work

Convergent sequence evolution between echolocating bats and dolphins

SummaryCases of convergent evolution — where different lineages have evolved similar traits independently — are common and have proven central to our understanding of selection. Yet convincing examples of adaptive convergence at the sequence level are exceptionally rare [1]. The motor protein Prestin is expressed in mammalian outer hair cells (OHCs) and is thought to confer high frequency sensitivity and selectivity in the mammalian auditory system [2]. We previously reported that the Prestin gene has undergone sequence convergence among unrelated lineages of echolocating bat [3]. Here we report that this gene has also undergone convergent amino acid substitutions in echolocating dolphins, which group with echolocating bats in a phylogenetic tree of Prestin. Furthermore, we find evidence that these changes were driven by natural selection

Spatially and temporally distinct encoding of muscle and kinematic information in rostral and caudal primary motor cortex

The organising principle of human motor cortex does not follow an anatomical body map, but rather a distributed representational structure in which motor primitives are com- bined to produce motor outputs. Electrophysiological recordings in primates and human imaging data suggest that M1 encodes kinematic features of movements, such as joint position and velocity. However, M1 exhibits well-documented sensory responses to cu- taneous and proprioceptive stimuli, raising questions regarding the origins of kinematic motor representations: are they relevant in top-down motor control, or are they an epiphe- nomenon of bottom-up sensory feedback during movement? Here we provide evidence for spatially and temporally distinct encoding of kinematic and muscle information in human M1 during the production of a wide variety of naturalistic hand movements. Using a powerful combination of high-field fMRI and MEG, a spatial and temporal multivariate representational similarity analysis revealed encoding of kinematic information in more caudal regions of M1, over 200 ms before movement onset. In contrast, patterns of muscle activity were encoded in more rostral motor regions much later after movements began. We provide compelling evidence that top-down control of dexterous movement engages kinematic representations in caudal regions of M1 prior to movement production

Characteristics of Cavity-Stabilized Flames in a Supersonic Flow

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77050/1/AIAA-15095-553.pd