The Ontario Métis : characteristics and identity

Report: iv, 83 p., maps, digital fileQuestions about the nature of Métis identity have received considerable scrutiny in recent years (Foster, 1985; Hatt, 1971; Peterson and Brown, 1985). Events at Red River and Batoche have come to public attention in new ways, and this Prairie segment of Metis history has become increasingly well known. At the same time, it is evident that there are considerable populations in all parts of Canada which consider-themselves Metis, many of which do not have Red River ancestry (Table 1.0). This report explores the issue of Métis identity by analyzing the opinions and attitudes of an Ontario population which identifies itself as Métis, but appears to have few historic links with the Métis at Red River. The data derive from a 1985 questionnaire survey by the Ontario Métis and Non-Status Indian Association (OMNSIA). The survey attempted to identify the concerns, attitudes and opinions of OMNSIA members on issues of relevance to Metis and Non-Status Indians in Ontario (see Appendix A). While there are a number of problems with the survey, it nevertheless represents a unique and valuable resource for research ori Metis identity

Potato variety diversity, determinants and Implications for potato breeding strategy in Ethiopia.

Understanding what farmers need in potato varieties and assessing available genetic resources at the farmer and district levels is important for the conservation and improvement of potato in Ethiopia. A survey was conducted in six major potato growing districts representing different agro-ecologies, cropping systems, market outlets, and levels of new variety adoption. Seventy to ninety percent of the farmers surveyed reported growing two or more potato varieties; some farmers reported growing up to five. The greatest diversity at the district level (up to 10 potato varieties) was recorded at Gumer & Geta where there is better access to new varieties while the lowest diversity was reported in districts with low access to new cultivars. The distribution of varieties differed among agro-ecologies as did the traits that farmers were most concerned with, such as drought tolerance, late blight resistance, yield potential, marketability, food value, storage quality, adaptation to low soil fertility, time to maturity and suitability for multiple harvesting. Farmers’ decision-making processes and external factors that influence potato variety diversity were also documented. The registration of predominant local varieties and use of these local varieties as a starting point for the development of improved varieties are some of the recommendations for future potato breeding in Ethiopia. Moreover, it is necessary to consider variations in agro-ecologies, cropping systems and market outlets in the process of developing varieties suitable for farmers’ and consumers’ real needs

Stability assesment of the headrace tunnel system at Brattset Hydropower Project

Unlined high pressure tunnels and shafts are regarded as a Norwegian specialty in the hydropower industry. During the last 60 years, more than 4000 km of hydropower tunnels have been excavated, where most of the tunnels have only 2-4 \% of concrete or shotcrete lining. The development of the hydropower industry in Norway has been possible due to cost saving solutions such as the unlined high pressure tunnels and shafts, and air cushion chambers. In the coming years, the Norwegian hydropower system will be an important resource for balancing the demand and production in the European electricity market. This will require a change in the production pattern, from supply driven to demand driven, which involve higher frequencies of start-and-stop sequences of the turbines in the hydropower plant. This production pattern is in use at Brattset Hydropower Project, where there has been an increase in rock falls and other stability problems in the recent years. Stability assessments of the different instability issues experienced at Brattset have been carried out. Both empirical and analytical methods are applied, as well as numerical modelling. Input parameters to the analyzes are based on laboratory work, field observations and evaluation of rock mass parameters found in literature. The pressure amplitudes of hydraulic transients at Brattset are also estimated. It is suggested that due to its long period, the mass oscillations that arise from fluctuating production will have the potential to affect the stability. The effects are mainly concentrated to discontinuities and would influence on the long-term stability of unlined tunnels. The degree of jointing is an important factor in relation to the proposed effects. The water pressure fluctuations due to mass oscillations would therefore be most critical for hydropower schemes situated in jointed rock mass. In order to fully understand the consequences of the new production regime, further research is required. This could involve continuous monitoring of the pressure response within discontinuities during fluctuating operation of the hydropower plants

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports: Perspectives from Teachers and Support Staff

School staff members face challenging behaviors in school settings daily. There will be times when an educator will be exhausted and even perplexed when a challenging behavior occurs. In this Starred Paper, one evidence-based practice is closely examined to help reduce these challenging behaviors and it is called Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS). The research focused on the manageability of PBIS strategies, the training provided to school staff, and the overall perspective on the effectiveness of PBIS strategies from teachers and paraprofessionals specifically. Research has shown time and time again that the use of schoolwide PBIS improves the likelihood that students will engage in behavior that is effective, efficient, relevant, functional, and socially appropriate (Hill & Flores, 2013). Overall, the goal as teachers is to provide students with the skills they need to be successful members of the community and the PBIS framework proves to be effective and malleable for each school or classroom to increase academic learning and decrease challenging behaviors

Modeling process leaks using FRAM

This thesis was written to for man understanding of whether the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) is a possible alternative approach to review process leaks on offshore installations and gain some experience on the amount of work involved, whether there are different results compared to conventional methods and if quantification is possible and suitable. To answer this, a literature survey was performed, resulting in an explanation of the course of the method. After this, the method was tested on an exemplified operation on pressurized equipment. These results were in turn used to evaluate the method in terms of workload, quantification and the characteristics of the method. FRAM, when used to analyse risk, contrary to retrospect when considering accidents, consists of four steps. First the system or operation considered is divided into functions. For each function six parameters are defined; input, output, preconditions, resources, time and control. The next step consists of characterizing the potential variabilities of the function, namely the variation of possible performances of a function. In the third step the network is constructed using the defined parameters. The parameters link the functions together before the variations is traced throughout the system identifying functional resonance, this is called following a signal. In the last step barriers for variability are identified, in addition, performance monitoring may also be specified. The method was tested on a description of an operation taken from the studies of Barrier and Operabiilty Risk Analysis (BORA) where pressurized equipment is closed down to disassemble some equipment. In this case a pump is removed from a separation system. After performing the analysis it was found that the process had several barriers and opportunities for dampening the Disassembly function, which is critical in terms of leakages. The other functions critical in terms of leakages, the functions involved in closing down and isolating the system, does not have the same layer of protection. The source of the signal creating resonance in these functions is often found in the functions Draw up work description and Coordination with CCR, it is therefore natural to direct new barriers towards these functions. The results of testing the method on this system has shown that FRAM is a suitable method for modeling the cause of process leakages. The method provides the analysts with the tools to ask the right questions before looking for the answers. The methods lack of assumptions of typical cause-effect relations and decomposition of the system into components opens up for the analysts to see new aspects and connections that might have been overlooked when using more traditional methods. One of the methods greater disadvantages is that it is, compared to more traditional methods, time consuming. Some of this time can be attributed to the fact that the method is new and requires the user to get accustomed to the method and a new way of thinking. Since the method requires a team effort, this may make the apparent difficulty appear larger. Another element that may add time to the analysis is the lack of a detailed step by step approach portraying how to perform the analysis, which more common and established methods have. The method is extensive, it is important that the constraints and limitations are thoroughly defined and the focus of the analysis well specified and understood. In lack of this, the network would become very large and difficult to handle and it would be easy to miss a possible outcome of a signal. This also applies to the functions, if they are defined covering too much it would be difficult defining the variability and handling this throughout the system. FRAM is developed as a qualitative method, and for the time being there are no established steps formulated for the method to support quantification. Since the method focuses on the likelihood of function variability rather than the probability of a malfunction or failure, a quantification would require some changes to handle this. It should be possible to mathematically construct the network connections and their variability, the problem is finding good functions representing the variability, in other words data. A possible solution that would not require altering the method as it is today is adding an additional step using the results found when examining the resonance within the network. By doing this the data needed would only be on the variability known to create unwanted events, instead of all the defined variability. A natural method to use would be an event tree, this is however a linear method and some simplification might be necessary when considering each path of resonance pursued in the quantification. Several event trees might be needed to quantify all the different scenarios and data on both technical, organizational and human variations must be documented

A Study of the Relationship of Antibiotics on Fecal Microflora of Chicks

The advent of antibiotics in animal nutrition placed new emphasis on the intestinal microflors. E.L.R. Stokstad (38) presented the following observations as indicating that the growth promoting effect of antibiotics was due to the action on the bacteria of the intestinal trace. “(1) Antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents of widely varying chemical structure are effective. This precludes the possibility of their being incorporated into any growth essential for the animal. (2) The ineffectiveness of antibiotics in increasing growth in the germ free animal. (3) The ineffectiveness of aureomycin in increasing growth of the developing chick embryo. (4) The effect of sanitation on the magnitude of the antibiotic growth response.” The actual mechanisms of the growth promoting action arenot known. Some of the possibilities have been presented as follows (38): “(1) Increased bacterial synthesis of essential or stimulatory growth factors. (2) Inhibition of bacteria which compete with the host for essential nutrients. (3) Inhibition of microorganisms which are deleterious because they produce toxic compounds or damage the intestinal tissues.” It has been reported that sureomycin (19) did not stimulate growth of chicks in new quarters, and that penicillin and other antibiotics (2) failed to increase growth of chicks reared in clean quarters. Along with the non-response of germ free chicks to antibiotics these reports would tend to lend favor to the theory of the inhibition of deleterious organisms. Waibel at al (39) observed that for a two year period antibiotics gave an improved growth rate. During the next year the antibiotics no longer improved the growth rate. These authors propose the possibility that “harmful bacteria had been eliminated through the long-continued use of antibiotics.” Working with penicillin, bacitracin and autoclaved penicillin Elan at al (10) administered the antibiotics both orally and parenterally. These workers found that parenteral penicillin had no effect on the fecal microflora, autoclaved penicillin had little effect and bacitracin when orally or parenterally administered failed to have any effect on the fecal flora, yet all increased growth. These investigators stated that the antibiotics may have stimulated growth in some other manner than altering the number of intestinal organisms, and surmised that “the antibiotic molecule or a fragment of the same might not as a metabolite within the body of the bird.” Dixon and Thayer (S) obtained equally good or better growth response with intra-muscular injection of anreomycin and penicillin as the same antibiotics fed orally. In cases with the injected antibiotics the cecal microflora did not change from the control lot. From this they concluded that functional cecal organisms were not essential for growth promoting action of the antibiotics. That the antibiotics may possibly alter the metabolic rate of some intestinal organisms was demonstrated by Anderson et al (3). Working with the Warburg respirometer they showed that “penicillia enhanced the oxygen uptake of lactobacilli and aciduric type organisms.