Search

This paper explores the need for innovative leadership in teacher education in the Canadian context, with a particular call for renewed professional development of current teachers. Within a country defined as multicultural, recent demographic shifts, interregional migration, growing ethnic diversity, and the emergence of a paradigm of inclusion, contemporary classrooms are evolving at a pace faster than projected. While inclusive education emerged from the growth of services for children with disabilities, it is now a concept much broader than initially conceived. Expanded concepts of learner differences are necessitating an urgent need for leadership in redeveloping effective training for current teachers. This paper argues that ongoing professional development must be characterized by six focus areas in order to empower teachers with pragmatic skills to balance the needs of their diverse classes. The authors conclude that a first step in this process is training for administrators who lead professional development in schools.

The introduction of web-based education in Canadian schools, as in other developed countries, has been particularly noticeable in rural areas. Small schools in rural communities have continued to get smaller as families relocate in urban areas in search of increased educational and vocational opportunities. There are a number of issues common to the technological enhancement of rural schools: the building of appropriate infrastructures, the implementation of information and communication technologies and the development of pedagogy for web-based education. In the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador a number of new positions and roles have been created to distribute responsibilities for these issues and to ensure the success of virtual schooling.

Over the course of the past two years, a confluence of events has dramatically altered Canada's Senate. The upper chamber's response to the Auditor General's Report on Senators' Expenses, the absence of a government caucus in the Senate at the start of the 42nd Parliament, and a new appointment process that brought in a significant number of Independent senators have all contributed to institutional change. In this article, based on his remarks to the 34th Canadian Presiding Officers Conference, Senator George J. Furey provides some observations of the impact of these events from his unique vantage point as Speaker. While acknowledging that these changes have created some tensions, he concludes that this transition can be defined by openness, flexibility, adaptability and a general willingness to move forward slowly without forcing permanent rule changes until the landscape is better defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts ( n = 181) from two rivers were surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters and released to determine migration route, residency time and survival in a 50 km long estuarine fjord located on the south coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Data obtained from automated receivers placed throughout the Bay d'Espoir fjord indicated that migrating smolts used different routes to reach the outer areas of the fjord. The duration of time that smolts spent in the immediate estuary zone also differed between the two localities (7 and 17 days) although the total time smolts were resident in the fjord was similar and extensive (40 days). Many smolts were resident for periods of 4-8 weeks moving back and forth in the outer part of the fjord where maximum water depths range from 300 to 700 m. Survival in the estuary zone was greater for smolts with prolonged residency in estuarine habitat. Overall smolt survival to the fjord exit was moderately high (54-85%), indicating that the initial phase of migration did not coincide with a period of unusually high mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of catch and release angling on survival of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., at Conne River, Newfoundland, were investigated by retaining angled (n =49; experimental group) and trap-caught (n =20; control group) fish in holding cages for up to 40 days. Samples were obtained from 8 June to 4 July, 2000, and partitioned among four water temperature strata. Apart from not being angled, control fish were handled, tagged, and transferred to holding cages in a manner similar to angled salmon. Water temperatures and discharge were monitored throughout the duration of the study. Overall, 8.2% of salmon caught and released died, but 12% died among salmon angled in water temperatures ≥ 17.9 °C. No control fish died. There were no significant differences in time associated with angling, exposure to air, tagging, transfer to holding cages, nor total handling time between salmon that survived vs. those that died. Results of the study should encourage managers to continue to use catch and release as a viable tool in the management of Atlantic salmon stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates the impact of a campaign to promote preoperative signing of the incision site on Canadian orthopedic surgeons. Proportion of orthopedic surgeons who signed the incision site; Use of the chi-square test to analyze the differences in categorical variables.

The introduction of web-based education in Canadian schools, as in other developed countries, has been particularly noticeable in rural areas. Small schools in rural communities have continued to get smaller as families relocate in urban areas in search of increased educational and vocational opportunities. There are a number of issues common to the technological enhancement of rural schools: the building of appropriate infrastructures, the implementation of information and communication technologies and the development of pedagogy for web-based education. In the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador a number of new positions and roles have been created to distribute responsibilities for these issues and to ensure the success of virtual schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The queen bee phenomenon (QBP) describes the behavioural response that occurs when women achieve success in a male-dominated environment, and in this position of authority, treat their female subordinates more critically. It has been demonstrated in business, academia, the military, and police force. The goal of this study was to determine whether the QBP occurs in surgical specialties. We hypothesized that female surgeons, fellows, and senior surgical residents would be more critical in their assessment of junior female residents than their male counterparts., Methods: A scenario-based survey was distributed via email to all Canadian surgical programs between February and March 2021. Scenarios were designed to assess either female or male learners. Centers distributed surveys to attending surgeons, surgical fellows, resident physicians, and affiliate surgeons. Respondents average Likert score for female-based and male-based questions were calculated. Subgroup analyses were performed based on gender, age, seniority, and surgical specialty., Results: 716 survey responses were collected, with 387 respondents identifying as male (54%) and 321 identifying as female (45%). 385 attending surgeons (54%), 66 fellows (9%), and 263 residents (37%) responded. The mean Likert scores for female respondents assessing female learners was significantly lower than male learners (p = 0·008, CI = 95%). During subgroup analysis, some specialties demonstrated significant scoring differences., Discussion: The QBP was shown to be present among surgical specialties. Female respondents assessed female learners more critically than their male counterparts., Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of tackling organizational biases to create more equitable educational and work environment in surgery., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Goff et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Orthopedic surgical education in Canada has seen major change in the last 15 years. Work hour restrictions and external influence have led to new approaches for surgical training. With a change toward competency-based educational models under the CanMEDS headings there is a need to ensure the validity of modern assessment methods. Our objective was to evaluate the reliability of a currently used surgical skill assessment tool within an orthopedic residency program, as measured by the Surgical Encounters Form., Methods: A surgical assessment tool has previously been created at our institution that comprises 15 items spanning 4 of the CanMEDS competencies. Results were blinded to the primary investigator and coded by a third party. The assessments were collected, and we measured percent agreement using Cronbach's α and Fleiss κ., Results: Over a 5-month period 11 staff members assessed 10 residents. Eighty-eight assessments were completed in total. Weighted percent agreement was 90.9%. Cronbach's α averaged 0.865 for the medical expert role, 0.920 for technical skills, 0.934 for the communicator role, 1.00 for the collaborator role and 1.00 for the health advocate role. The mean Fleiss κ score was 0.147 (95% confidence interval -0.071 to 0.364), demonstrating low interrater reliability., Conclusion: Despite the development of a validated assessment tool to evaluate surgical skills acquisition, interrater reliability results suggest low levels of agreement among assessors.

Objectives: To identify metabolic markers that can classify patients with osteoarthritis (OA) into subgroups., Design: A case-only study design was utilised., Participants: Patients were recruited from those who underwent total knee or hip replacement surgery due to primary OA between November 2011 and December 2013 in St. Clare's Mercy Hospital and Health Science Centre General Hospital in St. John's, capital of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada. 38 men and 42 women were included in the study. The mean age was 65.2±8.7 years., Outcome Measures: Synovial fluid samples were collected at the time of their joint surgeries. Metabolic profiling was performed on the synovial fluid samples by the targeted metabolomics approach, and various analytic methods were utilised to identify metabolic markers for classifying subgroups of patients with OA. Potential confounders such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and comorbidities were considered in the analysis., Results: Two distinct patient groups, A and B, were clearly identified in the 80 patients with OA. Patients in group A had a significantly higher concentration on 37 of 39 acylcarnitines, but the free carnitine was significantly lower in their synovial fluids than in those of patients in group B. The latter group was further subdivided into two subgroups, that is, B1 and B2. The corresponding metabolites that contributed to the grouping were 86 metabolites including 75 glycerophospholipids (6 lysophosphatidylcholines, 69 phosphatidylcholines), 9 sphingolipids, 1 biogenic amine and 1 acylcarnitine. The grouping was not associated with any known confounders including age, sex, BMI and comorbidities. The possible biological processes involved in these clusters are carnitine, lipid and collagen metabolism, respectively., Conclusions: The study demonstrated that OA consists of metabolically distinct subgroups. Identification of these distinct subgroups will help to unravel the pathogenesis and develop targeted therapies for OA., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)