Issue 11: Scaling Canada’s Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) Model for Proactive Refugee Resettlement

In this issue of Policy Points we provide a vision for scaling up Canada’s Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) model for refugee resettlement abroad. Global refugee resettlement is an issue that needs a coordinated and collaborative approach that includes communities as partners. Canada presents a proactive and responsive solution to this problem. First introduced in Ontario in 2008, LIPs are a community-based collaborative model for newcomer resettlement and integration that has proven successful in many local communities across Canada. Most importantly, LIPs played an important role in the resettlement of Syrian refugees in several communities across Canada in 2015-2016. The recommendation in this brief aims to offer details to scale up LIPs, a Canadian model of local community involvement in refugee resettlement for the international community

Informal economies, conflict recovery and absent aid

This paper addresses the issue of what happens in the aftermath of conflict when humanitarian response is absent, to see how ‘self-help’ recovery can inform development assistance paradigms and practice. We explore livelihoods strategies and community-led recovery processes in the context of conflict in Somaliland, a region that experienced an acutely disruptive conflict and an absence of humanitarian aid, to evaluate the economic recovery that emerged. The conflict is tracked through perceptions and recollections of those who lived through the disaster: the bombing of Hargeisa in 1988 that flattened the city, the declaration of a semi-autonomous nation in 1991, and its subsequent development over the last 25 years. This critical case study aims to inform the humanitarian assistance agenda in relation to livelihoods as self-help process in post-conflict recovery

Vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: We conducted a systematic review of estimates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) vertical transmission risk to update current estimates published more than a decade ago. METHODS: PubMed and Embase were searched and 109 articles were included. Pooled estimates of risk were generated for children born to HCV antibody-positive and viremic women, aged ≥18 months, separately by maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection. RESULTS: Meta-analysis of the risk of vertical HCV infection to children of HCV antibody-positive and RNA-positive women was 5.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.2%-7.8%) for children of HIV-negative women and 10.8% (95% CI, 7.6%-15.2%) for children of HIV-positive women. The adjusted meta-regression model explained 51% of the between-study variation in the 25 included risk estimates. Maternal HIV coinfection was the most important determinant of vertical transmission risk (adjusted odds ratio, 2.56 [95% CI, 1.50-4.43]). Additional methodological (follow-up rate and definition of infection in children) and risk factors independently predicted HCV infection and need to be captured and reported by future studies of vertical transmission. Studies assessing the contribution of nonvertical exposures in early childhood to HCV prevalence among children at risk of vertical transmission are needed. CONCLUSIONS: More than 1 in every 20 children delivered by HCV chronically infected women are infected, highlighting that vertical transmission likely constitutes the primary transmission route among children. These updated estimates are a basis for decision making in prioritization of research into risk-reducing measures, and inform case management in clinical settings, especially for HIV-positive women in reproductive age

The Effect of Daily Fluency on Algebraic Procedural Fluency in Students

Abstract Algebra 1 students in the ninth grade struggled to follow procedural steps to answer elementary algebraic problems. An early pre-test found that the majority of pupils lacked the necessary fundamental knowledge to comprehend and investigate algebra\u27s abstract concepts, patterns, and relationships. Fifteen students from one of the researcher\u27s algebra one classes participated in a daily fluency skill-building intervention program to investigate whether daily fluency practice will affect students\u27 procedural fluency skills. They engaged in 50 minutes of daily fluency practice for five weeks. During each 50-minute session, students practiced specific skills to develop procedural fluency competencies, such as solid number sense and integer operations, using additive and multiplicative properties to solve elementary linear equations and inequalities. The researcher administered a post-test on the last day of the intervention plan to determine the effect of daily fluency practice on students\u27 procedural problem-solving abilities. The researcher used descriptive statistics to summarize and compare the initial pre-test and post-test mean scores to further assess the efficacy of the daily fluency skill-building practice. The results indicated a statistical improvement in the students\u27 ability to perform mathematical procedures with greater efficiency

BMP Regulation of Cyst Stem Cell Division in the Drosophila Testis Stem Cell Niche

Adult stem cells are found throughout the body and divide to replace dead cells or regenerate damaged tissues. We study the Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) testis as a model to investigate how adult stem cells are maintained by the intricate microenvironments in which they live, called stem cell niches. Many basic characteristics of adult stem cells in higher organisms were first discovered in the simple stem cell niches found in Drosophila. The testis niche is comprised of two distinct stem cells called germline stem cells (GSCs) and cyst stem cells (CySCs). This niche also contains a structure called the hub that communicates with the stem cells to keep them undifferentiated. The stem cells must remain in contact with the hub to remain a stem cell. The hub regulates GSCs by a pathway called bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP). The hub releases a BMP dimer (Gbb and Dpp) that binds to the receptor (TKV) located on the GSC, which stimulates a cell transduction that results in it retaining its stemness. Our lab found that BMP is also needed in CySCs to maintain the stem cell population. We hypothesize that BMP signaling regulates the mitotic division rate in CySCs. To test this hypothesis, we constitutively activated the TKV receptor in the cyst lineage cells. We found that excess CySCs accumulated in response and formed a tumor, supporting our hypothesis that BMP signaling may play a role in stem cell division in this niche. In conclusion, the highly conserved BMP signaling pathway influences the cell division rate of stem cells in the testis niche, and these findings may indicate a conserved role for this pathway in other stem cell populations

Development and evaluation of a seed drill for bed planting of wheat

A field experiment was conducted at the Gezira Research Station, Wad Medani, Sudan for two seasons (2006/07 and 2007/08). It was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The objectives were to develop and evaluate a seed drill for bed planting of wheat that performs beds of 80 cm and sowing of wheat in three rows at spacing of 15 cm apart in a single pass. The machine was developed to replace the traditional seeding machine, enhance wheat seeding method in the short winter season, reduce the cost of crop establishment and improve crop growth. It was tested with the seed rates of 72, 107 and 143 kg/ha and compared with the traditional sowing methods (the conventional seed drill on flat and seed broadcasting + 80 cm ridges). No significant differences between treatments were evident in the soil bulk density and its corresponding soil moisture content for the two seasons. Results showed that the bed planting seed drill reduced the time for wheat seeding operation by about 42%. The developed bed planting seed drill with 72 and 107 kg/ha seed rates resulted in highly significant (P = 0.01) spike length in the first season only, whereas in the second season, it gave significantly (P = 0.05) lower crop emergence/m2 and significantly (P = 0.05) higher plant height. No significant differences between treatments were detected in crop yield for the two seasons. Therefore, the lower seed rate of 72 kg/ha could be used with developed bed planting seed drill, which means the saving of about 50% of the recommended seed rate of 143 kg/ha. The developed seed drill for bed planting of wheat could be used successfully and with 50% of the recommended seed rate for wheat crop establishment in the Vertisol irrigated schemes of Sudan. أجريت هذه التجربة بمحطة بحوث الجزيرة بوادمدنى لموسمي 2006/2007 و2007/2008م. أستخدم فيها تصميم القطاعات العشوائية الكاملة بثلاث تكرارات. وكان الهدف تصميم وتقييم بذارة قمح للزراعة على مساطب  80 سم فى ثلاثة خطوط فوق سطح المسطبة على بعد 15سم في عملية آلية واحدة، بغرض تقليل الزمن المطلوب للزراعة،  الإسراع بعملية البذار في موسم الشتاء القصير، تقليل تكلفة تأسيس المحصول وتحسين أطوار نموه. تم اختبار البذارة بكميات بذور مختلفة (72، 107 و143 كجم/هكتار) مقارنة بالطرق التقليدية لزراعة القمح (البذار في سطور على سطح الأرض ونثر البذور + طراد 80سم). لم تكن هناك فروقات معنوية بين المعاملات على الكثافة الظاهرية للتربة ومحتوى الرطوبة. أظهرت النتائج أن البذارة المصممة قللت من الزمن المطلوب لعملية بذار القمح بحوالي 42%. كما أن استخدامها بمعدل 72 و 107 كجم/هكتار أعطى زيادة معنوية كبيرة (P = 0.01) في طول السنبلة للموسم الأول فقط، أما في الموسم الثاني فقد أعطت البذارة المصممة  وبمعدل الكميتين من التقاوي فروقات معنوية (P = 0.05)  في قلة عدد  البادرات للمتر المربع و زيادة فى طول النبات. لم تكن هناك فروق معنوية في اﻹنتاجية بين المعاملات للموسمين، ولذلك  فإن تقليل  معدل بذار القمح حتى 72 كيلوجرام للهكتار عند ٳستخدام البذارة المصممة يعمل  على توفير حوالي %50 من معدل التقاوى الموصى بها  وهو 143 كيلو جرام للهكتار. و عليه، يمكن استخدام البذارة المصممة بنجاح وبحوالي %50 من كمية التقاوى الموصى بها لتأسيس محصول  القمح بالمشاريع المروية في الأراضي الطينية بالسودان