Canadian history is so boring ... or is it? Historian Allan Greer looks at this common complaint, and concludes the story of Canada isn't the problem.

J’ai consacré 30 années de ma vie à l’histoire du Canada, comme professeur, chercheur et auteur, mais ma passion pour cette discipline n’est pas nécessairement partagée par mes concitoyens canadiens, qui reprochent principalement à l’histoire du Canada : 1) d’être plate; 2) de ne pas être suffisamment diffusée.As someone who has spent 30 years researching, writing and teaching the history of Canada, I hear two main messages from my fellow Canadians about my favourite subject: 1. It's boring; 2. We need more of it

La rébellion de 1837-1838 au Bas Canada : une approche géographique.

Cette étude vise une meilleure compréhension de la rébellion de 1837-1838 au Bas-Canada, de la nature même du conflit ainsi que de ses antécédents sociaux et économiques, à travers l'examen des composantes régionales de l'insurrection. Bien qu'ils aient été largement appuyés à travers l'ensemble de la province, les « patriotes » révolutionnaires étaient mieux ancrés dans l'Ouest du Bas-Canada. Cette région, correspondant au district de Montréal, était plus prospère, dynamique et urbanisée que les autres régions rurales du Bas-Canada. Selon les interprétations traditionnelles, l'insurrection aurait été liée aux problèmes agraires; il semble cependant que seule la paisible région de Québec était menacée par la famine. La rébellion prit naissance non pas au sein des campagnes appauvries mais plutôt dans des régions où anglophones et francophones vivaient à proximité les uns des autres et où les redevances seigneuriales étaient comparativement élevées.This study attempts to gain a better understanding of the Lower Canadian Rebellion of 1837-1838, the nature of the conflict itself, as well as its social and economic antecedents, by examining the regional incidence of insurrection. Though they were widely supported throughout the province, the revolutionary Patriots were strongest in the western countryside of Lower Canada. This area, the District of Montréal, was rather more prosperous, more dynamic and more urbanized than other parts of rural Lower Canada. Contrary to traditional interpretations which tend to link the insurrection to agrarian distress, it was only in the quiescent Québec region thatfamine was a real threat. Rebellion occurred, not in impoverished sections of the countryside, but in areas where English- and French-speakers lived in close proximity and where seigneurial exactions were comparatively high

Low internal magnetic fields in anisotropic superconductors

This thesis is a theoretical, numerical study of the magnetic fields which exist in the anisotropic, high temperature superconductors like YBa\sb2Cu\sb3O\sb{7-\delta}, or YBCO for short, using both the anisotropic London theory and simulations based on existing muon spin rotation techniques. The thesis first describes the muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) techniques, and then gives a brief discussion of superconductivity with regard to the London theory of anisotropic, type II superconductors. Next, numerical results of the application of this theory to YBCO are presented. Three dimensional surface plots of the magnetic field components within the flux line lattice (FLL) are shown, as well as the corresponding contour plots of the fields. Field distributions are calculated from these surfaces, and the graphs are presented. These distributions correspond to the real part of the Fourier transform of the muon histogram, and a comparison between data taken on a polycrystalline sample and the theoretical prediction is made. In addition, variation of the field distributions with parameters such as penetration depth, angle of the average field, and the magnitude of the average field is discussed. The last part of the thesis is a theoretical study of the behavior of muons which have stopped within a superconductor. The muons are assumed to stop uniformly throughout the FLL area, and the precession of each about its local field is recorded as the projection of its polarization along each of three mutually perpendicular detectors. The depolarization of these signals as a function of time is an indication of the existence of transverse field components which exist within the FLL due solely to the anisotropy of the material. In order to further investigate these off axis fields, we have developed an extension of the usual $\mu$SR techniques, coupled with Fourier analysis, which yields new information. For example, with the proper analysis procedure, one may determine to good precision the direction of the average internal field B with respect to the applied field H\sb{a}. Other quantities, which we call moments of the field distribution, may also be determined

Fur‑Trade Labour and Lower Canadian Agrarian Structures

L'emploi saisonnier rattaché au commerce de la fourrure a eu des effets considérables sur l'économie rurale dans certaines régions du Bas-Canada et l'auteur se propose ici d'étudier ceux de ces effets qui sont les plus manifestes dans le cas de la communauté rurale de Sorel.Il appert d'abord que, dans cette paroisse, l'emploi saisonnier engendré par le commerce de la fourrure s'est avéré un élément essentiel de l'économie locale pendant les années 1790 à 1820. Il ne s'agit pas ici, comme certains l'ont soutenu, d'une situation simple où des énergies se trouvaient temporairement détournées de l'activité agricole, mais bien d'une situation beaucoup plus complexe où la dépendance vis-à-vis d'un revenu extérieur a conduit à la fragmentation des terres, à la surpopulation rurale et à une pauvreté plutôt généralisée.Cette étude de Sorel démontre aussi que la coexistence, dans un endroit donné, d'une agriculture de subsistance et d'un salaire saisonnier est apparue, dans certaines régions de la vallée du Saint-Laurent, bien avant que l'industrie forestière ne vienne la favoriser ailleurs au Québec

Incident venous thromboembolic events in the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER)

<p>Background: Venous thromboembolic events (VTE), including deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, are common in older age. It has been suggested that statins might reduce the risk of VTE however positive results from studies of middle aged subjects may not be generalisable to elderly people. We aimed to determine the effect of pravastatin on incident VTE in older people; we also studied the impact of clinical and plasma risk variables.</p> <p>Methods: This study was an analysis of incident VTE using data from the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER), a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pravastatin in men and women aged 70-82. Mean follow-up was 3.2 years. Risk for VTE was examined in non-warfarin treated pravastatin (n = 2834) and placebo (n = 2865) patients using a Cox's proportional hazard model, and the impact of other risk factors assessed in a multivariate forward stepwise regression analysis. Baseline clinical characteristics, blood biochemistry and hematology variables, plasma levels of lipids and lipoproteins, and plasma markers of inflammation and adiposity were compared. Plasma markers of thrombosis and hemostasis were assessed in a nested case (n = 48) control (n = 93) study where the cohort was those participants, not on warfarin, for whom data were available.</p> <p>Results: There were 28 definite cases (1.0%) of incident VTE in the pravastatin group recipients and 20 cases (0.70%) in placebo recipients. Pravastatin did not reduce VTE in PROSPER compared to placebo [unadjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) 1.42 (0.80, 2.52) p = 0.23]. Higher body mass index (BMI) [1.09 (1.02, 1.15) p = 0.0075], country [Scotland vs Netherlands 4.26 (1.00, 18.21) p = 0.050 and Ireland vs Netherlands 6.16 (1.46, 26.00) p = 0.013], lower systolic blood pressure [1.35 (1.03, 1.75) p = 0.027] and lower baseline Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score [1.19 (1.01, 1.41) p = 0.034] were associated with an increased risk of VTE, however only BMI, country and systolic blood pressure remained significant on multivariate analysis. In a nested case control study of definite VTE, plasma Factor VIII levels were associated with VTE [1.52 (1.01, 2.28), p = 0.044]. However no other measure of thrombosis and haemostasis was associated with increased risk of VTE.</p> <p>Conclusions: Pravastatin does not prevent VTE in elderly people at risk of vascular disease. Blood markers of haemostasis and inflammation are not strongly predictive of VTE in older age however BMI, country and lower systolic blood pressure are independently associated with VTE risk.</p&gt

Franchises lost and gained: post-coloniality and the development of women’s rights in Canada

The Canadian constitution is to some extent characterised by its focus on equality, and in particular gender equality. This development of women’s rights in Canada and the greater engagement of women as political actors is often presented as a steady linear process, moving forwards from post-enlightenment modernity. This article seeks to disturb this ‘discourse of the continuous,’ by using an analysis of the pre-confederation history of suffrage in Canada to both refute a simplistic linear view of women’s rights development and to argue for recognition of the Indigenous contribution to the history of women’s rights in Canada. The gain of franchise and suffrage movements in Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century are, rightly, the focus of considerable study (Pauker 2015), This article takes an alternative perspective. Instead, it examines the exercise of earlier franchises in pre-confederation Canada. In particular it analyses why franchise was exercised more widely in Lower Canada and relates this to the context of the removal of franchises from women prior to confederation

Widening participation in nurse education; an integrative literature review

Background: Widening participation into higher education is espoused within educational policy in the UK, and internationally, as a mechanism to promote equality and social mobility. As nurse education is located within higher education it has a responsibility to promote widening participation within pre-registration educational programmes. It could also be argued that the profession has a responsibility to promote equality to ensure its’ workforce is as diverse as possible in order to best address the health needs of diverse populations. Objectives: To undertake an integrative review on published papers exploring Widening Participation in undergraduate, pre-registration nurse education in the UK Design: A six step integrative review methodology was utilised, reviewing papers 2013-2016; published in English. Data sources: Search of CINAHL, Education Source, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, SocINDEX, Science Direct, Business Scource Complete, ERIC, British Library ETOS, Teacher Reference Centre, Informit Health Collection and Informit Humanities and Social Science Collection which highlighted 449 citations; from these 14 papers met the review inclusion criteria. Review methods: Both empirical studies and editorials focusing upon widening participation in pre-registration nurse education in the UK (2013-2016) were included. Papers excluded were non UK papers or papers not focussed upon widening participation in pre-registration nursing education. Research papers included in the review were assessed for quality using appropriate critical appraisal tools Results: 14 papers were included in the review; these were analysed thematically identifying four themes; knowledge and identification of WP, pedagogy and WP, attrition and retention and career prospects. Conclusions: Whilst widening participation is a key issue for both nurse education and the wider profession there is a lack of conceptualisation and focus regarding mechanisms to both encourage and support a wider diversity of entrant. Whilst there are some studies, these focus on particular individual widening participation groups rather than a wider strategic focus across the student lifecycle