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The results and interpretations of published Canadian field studies on the reproductive status of fish in waters receiving pulp and paper mill effluent discharges were reviewed. Most of the information was obtained from indicator measurements such as gonad size, fecundity, and serum steroid levels in wild fish sampled at reference and effluent-exposed sites. Difficulties in selecting appropriate sampling sites, natural variability, and the ecological relevance of the indicator measurements were identified as major complicating factors for the interpretation of the field data. Consequently, it was not possible to conclude to what extent, if any, widespread effects on fish reproduction are being caused by pulp and paper mill effluents or that specific manufacturing processes are causing such effects. Further research on the normal variability and predictive capability of reproductive indicators, for example, using an integrated approach (i.e., laboratory testing, mesocosm studies, and field work), is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing aging population in Canada has multi-faceted psycho-social needs. Social workers are well-positioned to address these needs, despite many challenges. This paper reports findings from the World Café at the Gerontology Symposium in Alberta, Canada, held in 2018. The goal was to learn from social work practitioners, researchers, and educators (N = 49) about current and future needs of gerontological social work in Alberta. There were two research questions: 1) What strategies do social workers need on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels to help better serve the growing older adult population in Alberta? (R1) 2) How can social workers promote the value and contribution of gerontological social work within the interprofessional community? (R2) The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Ten R1-related themes emerged: personal traits of a social worker; professional skills; bio-psycho-social needs of older adults; community connections; access to benefits; gerontological social work education; integrated healthcare; aging policy; ageism; and advocacy to strengthen the voice of older adults. The three R2-related themes include strengthening the status of the social work profession; building trust through demonstrated skills; and interprofessional education and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the development of a 'suitability for practice' policy in a large Canadian school of social work. Pertinent gatekeeping issues are reviewed and the results of a survey on suitability polices in Canadian social work schools are presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the University of Calgary's Faculty of Social Work Suitability Policy. This policy integrates current research on gatekeeping, the results of the Canadian schools survey and input from primary stakeholders: the students, faculty members, the professional association and the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy companies in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region in Alberta, Canada are evaluating the viability of incorporating pit lakes into reclamation closure designs to both sequester tailings and re-integrate the mining lease into the broader natural landscape. Lake Miwasin is a pilot-scale oil sands pit lake encompassed by a constructed catchment where the volume of the water cap is not actively managed. This study compared the water balance during the open water season over two consecutive years with contrasting levels of summertime precipitation. The first year had above average rainfall triggering surface water inflow events that diluted the over-winter water volume by ~ 25%. Flushing of the deepest layers of the water column was restricted from May – September as thermal stratification inhibited complete lake mixing. The second year had below average rainfall resulting in minimal surface water inflow and a drop in lake stage of ~ 30 cm. As the constructed catchment lacks both natural water bodies and connectivity to a legacy groundwater system, freshwater additions to the lake during the summer season were governed by rainfall. This research highlights challenges with constructing sustainable reclamation landscapes within a region characterised by variations in interannual and decadal water cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Community, Work & Family is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper describes the Psychodynamic Psychiatry Service (PPS) of the University of Alberta Hospital over its 30 years of development. This psychiatric organization consists of three clinical programs-an outpatient clinic and intensive day and evening programs-and an integral evaluation and research unit. The PPS is unique in its group therapy clinical orientation, its psychodynamic theoretical orientation, and its integration of an ongoing research program that establishes empirical validation of its clinical work. The productivity and longevity of this psychiatric organization appear to derive from several strengths, including cooperation between leaders of the clinical and research programs; the institution of staff relations groups in the three clinical programs; the operation of the fully integrated evaluation and research program that serves to provide empirical support for the treatments offered; and a unifying ideology characterized by the valuing of both psychodynamic and group oriented work. Other important factors to the success of the PPS include the strengths of the founder of the service and financial and other support of the academic department in which it is housed. This paper describes the historical development and present structure and functioning of the PPS, the challenges it has been confronted with, and the responses to those challenges. We conclude with factors contributing to its survival and productivity and with thoughts about the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational choice theory suggests that parents are utility maximizers who make decisions from clear value preferences, that they are able to demand effective action from local schools and teachers, and that they can be relied upon to pursue the best interests of their children. This paper presents a different perspective and argues that parents invest a mixture of rationalities when selecting schools. Based on the results of a survey of 1,500 parents of students in 11 private, eight public and 10 alter- native elementary schools in Alberta, Canada, this paper explores the logic, values, and concerns that inform parental decision making in the selection of an elementary school for their children and discusses implication for policy and educational reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy makers in a variety of sites are embracing initiatives that attempt to tighten the links between school and work. A reinvented human capital discourse argues that more highly skilled workers are required to meet the demands of the 'knowledge economy'. This paper explores the new vocationalism as it is promoted within the Framework for Enhancing Business Involvement, a policy report produced in 1996 in Alberta, Canada. Using a critical policy approach, this paper focuses on the process of developing this document with attention to the policy context, influences on the process, ideological assumptions and the impact of the document since its release. Analysis suggests that questions of representation in policy processes, accountability for outcomes and the role of public interests in multi-stakeholder consultation are critical in this era of new public management practices. Further, despite the impression of unity and consensus suggested by policy documents, there are tensions in vocational education and policy that must be addressed if they are also to promote equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of INFOR is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Wheat is affected by many fungal diseases that can cause severe yield and quality losses. Disease prediction models generally employ weather data to estimate potential for infection to determine timing for fungicide applications, but these models fail to account for the presence and quantity of pathogen inoculum. This study adapted highly specific qPCR primers to identify and quantify, in real-time, inoculum present in air for the six most important wheat pathogens in Canada. Fungal spores were collected using either Burkard spore collectors and quantified using qPCR or microscope slides covered with adhesive tape and identified and quantified using microscopy. Samples were collected from seven different sites in southern Alberta throughout the 2015–2017 growing seasons. The results demonstrated that qPCR can reliably identify and quantify spores from Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, P. triticina, P. graminis f. sp. tritici, Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, and Fusarium graminearum. The limits of detection of DNA for primer pairs in singleplex tests ranged from 0.0001 ng for P. graminis to 0.001 ng for P. tritici-repentis, which corresponded to approximately 3 spores for P. tritici-repentis and F. graminearum and 1 spore for the other pathogens. Conversely, microscopy permitted identification of rusts to the genus but not to the species level and was ineffective in quantification of the remainder of the wheat pathogens. This study will contribute to the development of a fast and reliable forecasting system that will enable identification and quantification of airborne pathogens in real-time before initial disease symptoms appear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents two case studies describing the experiences and practice of working in an asynchronous environment for distance education. Reference and instructional library support provided to the Master of Continuing Education program offered by the University of Calgary in Alberta; Services and resources offered to librarians by the Node Learning Technologies Network.

The article offers information on various aspects of temporary streams in Canada. It mentions that the Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB) Zeroflow workshop was held in Alberta in 2011 that focused on reconstruction, analysis and management of temporary streams in ungauged basins. It states that the temporary streams include ephemeral, intermittent and episodic channels and are common in the semi-arid areas of North America. The workshop revealed that Canada has distinct physio-climatic regions that influence the nature of temporary streamflow regimes.

The recent call for heritage professionals to consider the 'spirit of place' is an attempt to reconcile the overlapping layers of tangible and intangible heritage within significant sites. However, the desire for wholeness can also displace the fragments and fragmented histories of place. This paper examines the history of heritage development in southern Alberta through two sites, namely Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park / Aisinai'pi National Historic Site (UNESCO World Heritage nomination currently being developed). Located only 200 km apart, these two places offer very different perspectives on the 'spirit of place' and present very different histories of the production of 'heritage' through archaeological excavation, preservation practices and Aboriginal consultation. These stories from the Canadian prairies raise questions about the processes of 'place-making', 'place-taking' and how we mobilize and conceptualize the practice of place in public history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hobbema, Alberta, Canada is a community comprised of four First Nations. As with many of Canada's Aboriginal communities, Hobbema's population is young. High rates of socio-economic disadvantage, violence, family dysfunction, and substance abuse are linked to colonization, residential school policies, and discrimination. Crime rates, including gang-related crime in the area, are disproportionately high. In 2005 two police officers created the Hobbema Community Cadet Corps, a program which offers youth a pro-social alternative to criminal activity and gang involvement. The program provides youth with the opportunity to learn the value of group identity, discipline, and camaraderie. It also provides opportunities for recreational activities and travel otherwise unavailable to many in this impoverished area. This paper provides a description of the HCCCP, an overview of its activities and structure, and situates it within the crime prevention through social development framework which emphasizes the importance of building protective factors and reducing risk factors surrounding youth. Finally, a preliminary evaluation which highlights some of the challenges faced by program instructors is offered. The authors caution against relying solely on individualizing imperatives in attempts to deal with social structural issues of the types faced by citizens in Hobbema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the complex struggles over the reinvention of mountaineering practices and ethics during the postwar period in the Rocky Mountains of Canada between competing interest groups of disparate climbers. Specifically, we focus on the increased challenges to the hegemony of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) by a wave of young, working-class emigrants, who contentiously broadened the limits and operative goals/meanings of the sport in the range. In doing so, this paper examines the controversy that erupted within the climbing community over first ascent of Brussels Peak in 1948, followed by a discussion of the arrival of renowned climber Hans Gmoser (1932-2006), whose early activities in the Rockies' eastern front irrevocably challenged local tradition and the hegemony of the ACC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several oil sands mines and refineries are currently recovering oil from the Athabasca River region near Fort McMurray, Alberta. Planning and construction of additional oil sands mines are in various stages of completion. Due to environmental concerns for aquatic life in areas downstream from current and future oil sands activities, surveys were conducted between 1998 and 2000 to determine whether the quality of water and sediments in tributaries of the Athabasca River are affected by flowing through reaches with exposure to natural oil sand deposits. This paper presents the results for metals in bed and suspended sediments collected from the Mackay, Steepbank, and Ells rivers during those surveys. The suspended sediments had a clay content (n = 7) ranging from 36.2% to 65.0%, while bed sediments, which consisted of a predominant sand fraction, had percent clay (n = 39) ranging from 0.0% to 38.1%. A Mann-Kendall non-parametric analysis to assess the longitudinal trend of the metals in the bed sediments found no significant (α = 0.05) downstream trend in the Mackay or Steepbank rivers; however, the Ells River displayed a generally decreasing tend from upstream to downstream. The results provide no indication that metal concentrations in the bed sediments and/or suspended sediments of the Mackay, Steepbank, and Ells rivers increase significantly as the three tributaries flow through reaches that have natural oil sand exposures (McMurray Formation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1880, the Tsuu T'ina Nation (then the Sarcee band) staged a small, armed protest known as the 'Sarcee War', in Calgary, Alberta, to demand food and a separate reserve from the Siksika, with whom they had been assigned land. This paper argues that this protest reveals the material and political roots of Aboriginal citizenship: a fragmented and differentiated political body, unified through contingent agreements. The Tsuu T'ina actions, the choice of location and their specific demands reveal an assertion of rights that differ from the 'standard' idea of Canadian citizenship (then and now) and articulate a complex process of 'othering' and belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the barriers encountered in undertaking an oral history project with survivors of a total institution for ‘mental defectives’ in the province of Alberta, Canada. Powerful social actors were able to bar access to survivors through legal guardianship orders, and to make access to the institution and its grounds and to publicly archived materials quite prohibitive to the researcher. In addition to overt efforts on the part of powerful social actors to block the project, concerns about the potential to discredit survivor narratives led to changes in the research design. Specifically, research and literature about the ‘acquiescence’ of intellectuals with intellectual impairments led the researcher to broaden the sources for this history as a preemptive strategy. Despite these barriers, survivors of the institution provided a rich and powerful testimony to the brutality of institutionalization, and provide us with an emancipatory history from the perspectives of those most oppressed by disability policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper grows out of the author's ongoing interest in the Calgary Stampede, the world's most extravagant celebration of cowboy culture in Alberta. The article focuses on how Calgarians exploit the symbolic resources at their disposal, including the image of the cowboy, to construct their regional and municipal identities. The author highlights the important role of Marcus Belmont Marcell, a U.S.-born adventurer who photographed Calgary Stampede, in documenting the event and suggesting that, working in the tradition epitomized by pictures of such western artists as Frederic Remington, Charlie Russell, and Edward Borein. Marcell played a significant role in popularizing an image of the wild West in general and of the Canadian West in particular.

The topic of religion within public schools has generated interest in several countries in recent years. In Canada, the United States, and England, educational policies favouring greater parental choice in education through grantmaintained schools, Charter schools and voucher plans have renewed parental interest in this area. Alternatively, one might argue that the lobbying by religious parents and others for choice has influenced educational policy. The dynamics of change are not always clear. This paper explores these dynamics through a two-part longitudinal case study in Alberta, Canada. My examination of events over a period of almost twenty years reveals both the micro-politics around religious programming in public schools and the macro-level changes in the policy context between the late 1970s and mid-1990s. This micro-macro approach provides a sense of the impact of local histories on education policies as well as parallels between sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Water Resources Journal / Revue Canadienne des Ressources Hydriques is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explored social service providers' perceptions of risk and resilience while caring for their vulnerable clients during COVID-19. Participants (N = 68) from two agencies completed an online survey. Over half of participants had shifted to virtual service delivery; about 30% continued to have direct contact with clients. Using regression modeling, we found that age, gender, confidence in providing COVID-related care, worries about spreading SARS-CoV-2, and information and supports explained 36% of variance (Adjusted R2 =.357) in provider resilience. Social service agencies need to address provider worries, which may contribute more to resilience than providing information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Atmosphere -- Ocean (Taylor & Francis Ltd) is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The economic performance of rotations with reduced summerfallow frequency, legume crop alternatives, and manure applications was evaluated using data from a rotation experiment established in 1992 on Brown Chernozemic soil at Bow Island, Alberta (Alberta Crop Diversification Center South). Net returns and variability were calculated for each of the six rotations under test and for different fertilizer treatments, including manure (a total of 20 rotation and fertilizer treatment combinations). A farm-level economic risk model was formulated to simulate optimal rotation selection under uncertainty and risk aversion. The six rotations included continuous wheat (W), fallow-wheat (FW), fallow-wheat-wheat (FWW), flax-wheat-fallow (FxWF), legume-wheat (LW), and grass (G). The wheat and flax phases of the fertilized rotations were fertilized with 0, 20 or 40 kg N ha-1 (0, 17.9 or 35.7 lbs N ac-1) and with 0 or 8.6 kg P ha-1 (7.7 lbs P ac-1). The W and FW rotations also had a manure treatment. Of the traditional cropping systems, the FWW and FW rotations (with applications of 40 kg ha-1 N: 8.6 kg ha-1 P (35.7 lbs ac-1 IN: 7.7 lbs ac-1 P) and 20 kg ha-1 N: 8.6 kg ha- 1 P ( 17.8 lbs ac-1 N: 7.7 lbs ac-1 P), respectively), exhibited the highest returns and the FW(20,8.6) rotation experienced less variability. The simulation revealed that increases in net returns could be attained through the introduction of a LW rotation because of its ability to fix N and thus reduce the input costs. Risk averse producers would be expected to plant a combination of LW(0,0) and FW(40,8.6). W and FW rotations with manure treatments were not as profitable as those with chemical fertilizer treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews indigenous/aboriginal tourism, a rapidly evolving sector of the tourism industry and an important growth sector in aboriginal economies, and examines the optimism expressed about its growth potential. Case studies are given of the host, guest and intermediary relationships involved in aboriginal tourism in southern Alberta, Canada, still at an early and tentative stage of development, despite the volume of travel taking place in this area, the location of Canada's largest Indian reserves in this region, and world renowned attractions such as Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. It notes the lack of industry knowledge on the part of local aboriginal operators, a lack of consumer awareness on the part of travellers and an underutilization of potentially advantageous partnerships between local product suppliers and tour operators. Suggestions are made for the professional development of an aboriginal tourism product; market reconnaissance and market development; and the evolution of a partnership between aboriginal tourism product suppliers and the travel trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 2.5-year longitudinal, Canadian tri-provincial study (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) of women abused by intimate partners examined the nature of the partner abuse, physical and mental conditions, disabilities, child abuse history, and quality of life (QOL). The women retained at 30-months (419 of 665) were identified as Indigenous (48.5%), White (46.6%), or visible minority (4.9%). Physical and mental health conditions were noted by 62.3%; 41.8% of these were disabilities. Over half (54.5%) reported histories of child sexual abuse, with 24.2% reporting other childhood abuse, and 21.3% were not abused as children. Consistent with similar longitudinal studies, over time the women significantly improved their QOL and had less mental stress (SCL-10) and PTSD symptoms (PCL); however, neither PCL nor SCL-10 scores were clinically problematic at any time period. Depression symptoms (CES-D-10) remained constant over time but were not in the clinical range over the 2.5 years. Only IPV severity and having a disability were associated with more severe mental health/well-being scores at 30-months. Implications for practice such as training IPV advocates and counselors to better address disabilities and to avoid stigmatizing women abused by partners as necessarily having mental health issues are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor learning offers clear physical, cognitive, social-emotional and academic benefits for children and yet, it is considered a grassroots approach to teaching and learning in elementary schools. We examined teachers' perspectives on barriers and supports for outdoor learning in public elementary schools. Thirty-six teachers in (urban and rural) British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario (all female; Mean age = 43.84, SD = 10) participated in one of five virtually administered, semi-structured focus groups. Questions/prompts facilitated a discussion on teachers' experiences with barriers and supports for outdoor learning. Thematic analysis was used to identify main themes. Four interrelated themes and further sub-themes were found: 1) Teacher characteristics: interest/motivation to teach outdoors, preparedness, confidence in handling risks; 2) Systemic factors: principal support, school/district policies, funding/resources, curriculum, school schedule; 3) Culture: school culture, societal beliefs about education, family backgrounds; 4) Environmental factors: weather, built/natural environment, hazards. Systemic support is needed to integrate outdoor learning in schools. The findings in this study are relevant to health education specialists particularly focused on elementary school education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing models of Late Wisconsinan glacial advance, coalescence and retreat entail different opportunities for early human occupation of the developing ecophysical landscape of interior western Canada. Of the current models, one postulates prolonged ice coalescence while the second suggests brief coalescence followed by a prolonged interval of deglaciation. Before we can model human occupation of the recently deglaciated landscape then, it is necessary to understand the changing physical landforms and ecological landscapes as these influence not only the opportunities for settlement but also the chances of site preservation. This paper reviews recent evidence on the developing ecophysical landscape of southern Alberta during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Our review of this evidence appears to support a model of rapid deglaciation sometime around 12,000 years ago with an equally rapid colonization of the recently deglaciated landscapes by plants, animals, and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The City of Edmonton's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department proposed to move to a 'single start station system' (SS system) in which all ambulances would begin and end their shifts at the same location. We developed a discrete event simulation model to estimate the impact of this change and subsequently used this model to explore other changes to Edmonton EMS operations, including the addition of stations, the addition of ambulances, different shifts, and a different redeployment system. We found that a SS system increased average unit availability and the fraction of calls reached within the department's response time standard, particularly during the current shift changeover periods. The paper describes the development and validation of the simulation model and summarizes the results of its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explore how child care is organized in families, documenting how mothers produce their individual child care solution, or "patchwork", within the context of Canada's underfunded and fragmented child care system. In a sample of 109 mothers from Alberta, Canada, where child care is conceptualized as primarily a private family responsibility, we use an ecocultural theoretical framework and a gender lens to 1) identify the constraints that influenced what kinds of child care mothers used, 2) explore the organization of day-to-day child care arrangements, and 3) explicate the accommodations and flexibility required to sustain the family routine. We show that in addition to previously recognized categories of child care—formal, informal, and mixed—families also used multiple informal and parent-plus (i.e., parental plus non-parental) child care. The procurement and management of child care—particularly when multiple care providers were involved—was gendered, often invisible, and required substantial accommodations and flexibility by mothers. We propose a day-care plus policy model of child care, where formal arrangements are supplemented as required. This policy model could help families avoid the complex scenarios we conceptualize as chaotic flexibility and assist families in achieving sustainable flexibility in the organization of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the problem of computer conferencing for distance-based universities in Alberta. Introduction of videoconferencing or computer-mediated communication for interactive group communication; Features of the on-line Master of Business Administration program; Definition of one graduate and one undergraduate program.

The article discusses the choice, charter and the market on educating in the global times in Alberta. Definition of educational policy; Opinion on extension of educational policies;Assessment on children as the consumer making choices in the educational market.

Although property rights have been used to understand numerous wildlife issues, such as extinctions, they have rarely been used to provide insights into specific management options. We present analytical frameworks that may be used to characterize property rights to wildlife for the purpose of understanding the implications of management actions for various stakeholders. The frameworks consider multiple types of values, including consumptive, non-consumptive, and passive-use values. Our case study involves the emergence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and its potential influence on the rights of stakeholders (i.e. the general public and hunters) in Alberta, Canada. Populating the framework for each stakeholder with characteristics of current property rights allow us to identify: 1) how the emergence of CWD could influence stakeholders' current rights, 2) how management actions could change property rights and associated incentives; and 3) management options that have not been considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper annual Canadian exploration data are used to estimate a multiple-output translog exploration cost function. A new definition of depletion is introduced and its estimated coefficient is found to be statistically significant. The fitted cost function parameters are then used to obtain estimates of the marginal costs of exploration for oil and gas. Our estimated marginal exploration costs are smaller than in previous studies because we have allowed for technical progress which offsets the depletion effects. These marginal cost estimates are employed, along with previous estimates of exploration rents, to measure resource scarcity. We find some evidence for the increased scarcity of oil and gas in Alberta. For oil there is a 10.1% per year increase in scarcity along the trend line while for natural gas there is a 2.4% per year increase in scarcity along the trend line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of recent studies have examined the process of wage formation using wage contract data. Generally these studies recognize the role of inflation in the determination of wage settlements, both in the ex ante implementation of expected inflation and in the ex post catch-up of the excess of actual inflation over the full or ex ante implemented value of expected inflation during the previous contract. To achieve these purposes, the study specifies, estimates and analyses a model of wage formation. By using data for Alberta unionized construction settlements, the estimation process is seen to enjoy two advantages over that of previous studies. First, the data are more homogeneous. Second, the data admit more industry specific measures of labour demand and supply. The next section of this paper outlines a generalized model of wage formation. The third section examines the sample and data and a stochastic specification which provides a correction for the contemporaneous correlation that characterizes wage contract studies.

Features the third conference on Pneumatic and Hydraulic Conveying Systems held on October 6-11, 2002 in Banff, Canada. Lecture of Professor Mark Jones on Professor Predrag Marjanovic who passed away on September 2001; Discussions on findings and researches; Selection of papers submitted at the conference for publication in the periodical 'Particulate Science and Technology.'

Copyright of Community, Work & Family is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are major causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, and postpartum hypertensive complications have significant implications on maternal health and public health care system. Antepartum community care programs for hypertension are in place at major centers of Canada, however, such a program for postpartum are usually lacking, and could be a cost-effective solution to reduce postpartum hypertensive complications.Objectives: To assess the proportion of women who present to the emergency department (ED) or outpatient clinics for postpartum hypertensive (PPHTN) complications up to 6 weeks postpartum, among pregnancies complicated by antenatal hypertensive disorders in Calgary, Canada. Secondary objectives were to identify risk factors for PPHTN complications, and to perform a cost-benefit analysis to support postpartum community care program (PCCP) as a way to decrease ED and clinic visits for PPHTN complications, and thus has a favorable economic impact on the public health care system.Study design: Retrospective cohort study using administrative databases, followed by chart review of ED visits to confirm diagnoses and estimate cost of visits and admissions. The participants were women followed by the Calgary Antenatal Community Care Program (ACCP) for hypertensive disorders, from 2014 to 2015, inclusive. The primary outcome was ED or clinic visit associated with an outpatient database record of hypertensive disorder diagnosis, within 42 days postpartum.Results: Among 319 deliveries included in the study, 30 women (9.4, 95%CI: 6.2-12.6%) visited ED or clinics for PPHTN. We identified multiple antihypertensive medication uses and abnormal postpartum gestational hypertension labs as risk factors for ED visit among these women. We estimate a CAD$152 per antenatal hypertensive patient cost benefit for PCCP.Conclusion: The proposed PCCP appears to have an economic benefit to health care system with a decrease in ED and clinic visits. Further studies with greater sample size could strengthen the findings in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Water Resources Journal / Revue Canadienne des Ressources Hydriques is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Social work research and literature in the area of supervision tends to focus on the supervision of field education students. Less attention is given to the supervision of social work practitioners and there is almost no information that examines how social workers become supervisors. This exploratory study interviewed 27 practicing social work supervisors across different fields of social work practice in Western Canada. The participants included 15 supervisors with a graduate degree and 12 supervisors with an undergraduate degree. The supervisors completed a brief questionnaire that was followed by a structured interview. Supervisors were asked how they came to be social work supervisors. Thematic analysis of the supervisors' responses revealed three pathways to supervision: task exposure, supervision by happen chance, and deliberate decision. The responses suggested that additional focus on supervision might be included in undergraduate education and that universities, professional associations, and employers pay more attention to succession planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource extraction has always played an important role in shaping Canada's economy and identity. Over the past several years, the province of Alberta has led the charge in helping Canada become a petro-state. Fort McMurray in particular has been significantly impacted by the rapid development of the oilsands in northern Alberta. This article explores how young people living at the center of this resource extraction project viewed the impacts that oilsands development had on the environment and the economy. In total, 60 in-depth interviews were conducted with young people aged 15-29. The findings indicate that young people perceived the need to balance environmental risks with economic growth but provided a range of risk justifications (i.e. companies were good environmental managers, oil was a societal necessity, people were hypocrites, and personal experiences) in articulating their understandings. This article utilizes young people's understandings to argue for a conceptual micro-level counterpart (intravidualization) to Ulrich Beck's theorizing on individualization and that place must be brought back into theorizing on social change, risk, and youth in contemporary times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to apply a theory-based approach to identify barriers and enablers to implementing the Alberta Primary Care Asthma Pediatric Pathway (PCAPP) into clinical practice. Phase 1 included an assessment of assumptions underlying the intervention from the perspectives of the developers. Phase 2 determined the perceived barriers and enablers for: 1) primary care physicians' prescribing practices, 2) allied health care professionals' provision of asthma education to parents, and 3) children and parents' adherence to their treatment plans. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 35 individuals who reside in Alberta, Canada. Phase 1 included three developers. Phase 2 included 11 primary care physicians, 10 allied health care professionals, and 11 parents of children with asthma. Phase 2 interviews were based on the 14 domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Transcribed interviews were analyzed using a directed content analysis. Key assumptions by the developers about the intervention, and beliefs by others about the barriers and enablers of the targeted behaviors were identified. Results: Eight TDF domains mapped onto the assumptions of the pathway as described by the intervention developers. Interviews with health care professionals and parents identified nine TDF domains that influenced the targeted behaviors: knowledge, skills, beliefs about capabilities, social/professional role and identity, beliefs about consequences, environmental context and resources, behavioral regulation, social influences, and emotions. Conclusions: Barriers and enablers perceived by health care professionals and parents that influenced asthma management will inform the optimization of the PCAPP prior to its evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing the limitations common to both centralized and privatized management regimes, institutionalized resource management is beginning to incorporate the knowledge and skills of local resource users, coupled with the enabling policies and legislation of state systems, to arrive at cooperative approaches to resource management. These varying and dynamic approaches to resource management have been compelled largely through the recognition of the limited capabilities of existing management systems to adapt effectively to ecosystem change and the evolving needs of resource users. These cooperative approaches tomanagement should not, however, be considered an institutional end-point, but rather a phase in the perpetual transition of a social system; each unique in character and individually variable depending on the resource being managed, the political climate in which management occurs, as well as the differing strategies employed by resource users to enact institutional change. Drawing from the experiences of the Whitefish Lake First Nation of Alberta, Canada, this paper presents abrief overview of the evolution of resource management theory, grounded in the real-world formation of the Whitefish Lake First Nation - Province of Alberta Cooperative Management Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is about socio-cultural expertise and knowledge in the context of environmental hearings in Alberta, Canada, to determine whether or not new oil sands projects should be approved. It identifies serious problems with cultural assessments about potential impacts on Aboriginal peoples done by consultants for oil sands hearings in Alberta and proposes that consultants doing cultural assessments should have qualifications equivalent to those of expert witnesses for the courts. It also raises the concern that the review panel members who preside over such hearings and their staffs may also lack expertise in socio-cultural matters concerning Aboriginal people. Both gaps impact directly on the recommendations made by review panels to the governments that make final decisions.Environmental Practice 18: 148–165 (2016) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The petrography of two coal seams in Alberta was determined using reflected light microscopy. Random reflectance is 0.36%, indicating a lignite rank. Huminite is dominant over liptinite and inertinite. Maceral assemblage suggests a wet forest moor depositional paleoenvironment. The predominance of telohuminite and gelohuminite over detrohuminite and inertodetrinite reveals peat formation in a rather reducing environment and a rapid burial of the peat, which prevented any significant oxidation. A few intervals with high levels of oxyfusinite reveal periodic drops of the water table. Results coincide with the interpretation based on the Na/K ratio, which is used as an indicator of the rate of sedimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: In health care settings, a person’s ability to make decisions may be questioned as a result of neurological disease or injury that can affect cognitive function. To determine whether a person is able to make a decision, health care professionals are required to carry out an assessment of decision-making capacity (DMC; also known as capacity assessments). For individuals with aphasia, these types of assessment may be problematic because they rely heavily on language abilities. There is a growing body of literature available on capacity assessments of individuals with aphasia, yet there are few studies on the perspectives of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) related to DMC assessments of individuals with aphasia, including barriers and facilitators to valid assessments. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore perspectives of SLPs on assessments of DMC with individuals with aphasia. The following research questions were of interest: (1) What do SLPs know about capacity assessment? (2) What are the perspectives of SLPs regarding the current state of capacity assessment of individuals with aphasia? (3) What recommendations do SLPs have regarding the assessment of DMC of persons with aphasia (PWA)? Methods and Procedures: In the context of a qualitative research paradigm, researchers carried out semi-structured interviews with 15 SLPs in Alberta, Canada. An interpretive description design was used for data analysis and interpretation. Outcomes and Results: Participants discussed three major topics: (1) knowledge of capacity of assessments; (2) assessments of DMC and PWA; and (3) involvement of SLPs in capacity assessments. Participants had very general knowledge of capacity assessments. Participants reported that they thought that PWA were at a disadvantage during capacity assessments. Participants recognised that SLPs have professional skills that enable them to enhance assessment of DMC in PWA. The results of this study confirm and extend findings from other international research studies. Conclusions: SLPs should be involved in capacity assessments for PWA. Their knowledge in the areas of communication and cognition are important to facilitate fair, valid capacity assessments. The findings of this study may be used to inform recommendations for SLPs to assume different roles in the capacity assessment process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this article is to reveal that the settler life writing preserves the all-but-forgotten wisdom of traditional mixed-farming methods. My study focuses on the farm logs or journals kept by three members of the Sheppard family, British immigrants who settled in southern Alberta in the late nineteenth century to establish ranches. Pioneers such as the Sheppards imagined the prairies as an Eden where they could lead prosperous lives and radically transformed the prairies, changing the nature of that life form. I explore the Sheppard journals through a lens shaped by Virgil’s Georgics. There is value in the Georgics as a model of sustainability; thus, such analysis reveals a traditional, cyclical agrarian pattern in the journals from which emerges an ethic of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between goal achievement measured by the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and child, goal, and intervention factors. Participants were 41 preschool children with cerebral palsy (CP) who were in the context-focused therapy arm of a randomized controlled trial. Factors including child age, Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level, type and complexity of goals, and intervention strategies were analyzed. Children made large, positive mean changes on the COPM over 6 months (Performance = 3.8, SD = 1.9; Satisfaction = 4.3, SD 4.3) with younger children showing greater change. The COPM scores had low to moderate correlations with change on the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory and the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66). Regression analysis indicated that age, but not GMFCS level influenced COPM change scores. Goal complexity and intervention strategies were not significantly related to COPM change scores. The results provide support for using the COPM as an individualized measure of change in young children with CP receiving intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently completed the accuracy assessment of a Landsat-derived landcover polygon layer covering the entire province of Alberta (660,000 km2), Canada, for which we gathered reference information for nearly 5000 randomly selected polygons ranging from two hectares to thousands of hectares in size. This gave us the unique opportunity to quantify, for the first time, how the probability of correctly classifying a landcover object varies with its size. Irrespective of whether they are represented as polygons or as sets of connected pixels with the same label, the classification accuracy of landcover objects decreases as their size decreases, steadily for large and medium sizes, and more dramatically when they are within two orders of magnitude of the pixel size of the input image. We show that this size-dependency is bound to occur whenever the size distribution of landcover objects follows an inverse power law. Our results are consistent with previous studies on related issues, confirm the need to account for size when assessing the accuracy of object-based landcover maps, and cast doubts on the validity of (1) recently proposed object-based accuracy estimators, and (2) landscape pattern analyses where the minimum patch size is close to the pixel size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]