Response to Corner Brook Pulp & Paper Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) Co-Firing Trial Project Proponent: Corner Brook Pulp & Paper Ltd. (Reg. 1539)

While acknowledging potential economic benefits for Corner Brook Pulp and Paper (CBPP) in using tire-derived fuel (TDF), we remain unconvinced of the net public and environmental health benefits of its use and are concerned with the methodology of the proposed test. We hope that this overview of our concerns can help the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) make an informed decision regarding the testing of TDF at CBPP. Guiding our submission is the precautionary principle, which has been adopted by all relevant parties, including the Government of Canada, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and CBPP. As such and in light of the issues below, it is our position that additional research is required before moving to a test trial. This can be achieved either by conducting a full Environmental Impact Statement, including component studies and additional public hearings, or by rejecting the undertaking outright

Negative regulation of TLR signaling in myeloid cells--implications for autoimmune diseases

Toll-like receptors (TLR) are transmembrane pattern recognition receptors that recognize microbial ligands and signal for production of inflammatory cytokines and type I interferon in macrophages and dendritic cells (DC). Whereas TLR-induced inflammatory mediators are required for pathogen clearance, many are toxic to the host and can cause pathological inflammation when over-produced. This is demonstrated by the role of TLR-induced cytokines in autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Because of the potent effects of TLR-induced cytokines, we have diverse mechanisms to dampen TLR signaling. Here, we highlight three pathways that participate in inhibition of TLR responses in macrophages and DC, and their implications in autoimmunity; A20, encoded by the TNFAIP3 gene, Lyp encoded by the PTPN22 gene, and the BCAP/PI3K pathway. We present new findings that Lyp promotes TLR responses in primary human monocytes and that the autoimmunity risk Lyp620W variant is more effective at promoting TLR-induced interleukin-6 than the non-risk Lyp620R protein. This suggests that Lyp serves to downregulate a TLR inhibitory pathway in monocytes, and we propose that Lyp inhibits the TREM2/DAP12 inhibitory pathway. Overall, these pathways demonstrate distinct mechanisms of negative regulation of TLR responses, and all impact autoimmune disease pathogenesis and treatment

The DNA of Cambridge Bay: An Analysis of the Microbial Community within the Permafrost Layer of Cambridge Bay, Canada

Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer below the Earth’s surface, composed of soil, gravel and sand contained in ice. Ground is defined as permafrost that has been frozen for 2 years consecutively. Globally, permafrost environments account for the storage of 1672 petagrams of carbon. This carbon may be transformed to CO2 and CH4 by microbial processes as permafrost thaws. Few studies of permafrost microbial community composition have been completed in the Canadian Arctic, and no research has been conducted into the composition of the microbiome in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. In this study, permafrost cores were obtained from Cambridge Bay near the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS). Six cores were processed to remove contaminating non-permafrost material and split into top and bottom sections. DNA was extracted from 10 samples (0.70-0.90 g) and DNA was quantified. A PCR was then conducted to amplify the 16S rRNA gene, which is a typical marker used to identify bacteria. The samples then underwent gel electrophoresis to confirm the results of the PCR amplification and a second round of PCR was conducted to prepare the amplicons for sequencing. The resulting DNA was sequenced on the ION S5 sequencer in the TRUGen sequencing facility. A bioinformatics approach is being taken to describe the microbial community composition in the permafrost samples. This data will provide baseline information on microbial community characteristics in these soils that will inform future research evaluating the effects on the microbiome as temperatures in the Arctic continue to rise

The Fluidity of Normalcy: Disability in English-Canadian Novels, 1984-2007

Even though persons with disabilities have had their rights ensconced in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they continue to be neglected, ignored, and mistreated. Persons with disabilities comprise one of the largest minority groups in Canada, yet Canadians’ attitudes toward disability oscillate between what Michael Prince calls “pride and prejudice” (Absent Citizens 32)—that is, between progressive and discriminatory perceptions. These attitudes prompt a few questions: why is disability such a problem in Canada? Why is it riddled with uncertainty? How do we deal with this uncertainty? To help answer these questions, this study analyzes seven Canadian novels published between 1984 and 2007 with the intent of exploring how they represent disability. The novels are Timothy Findley’s Not Wanted on the Voyage, Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Englishman’s Boy, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees, Lynn Coady’s Strange Heaven, Rohinton Mistry’s Family Matters, Frances Itani’s Deafening, and Arley McNeney’s Post. Two key arguments arise from these novels: one, disability may be thought of as an identity rather than a stigmatized condition; and two, normalcy in Canada is not fixed, but fluid. I begin with Mistry’s novel, then proceed chronologically. While Mistry’s novel conveys the tragic consequences of a rigidly defined conception of normalcy, it does not quite present a progressive portrait of disability. Mistry’s depiction of Nariman Vakeel is a stereotypical example of the way disability is portrayed in fiction; in this manner, it serves as a foil to the novels that follow. Findley’s novel, a parody of the biblical flood, allegorizes the German and Canadian eugenics movements along with the ambivalent attitudes that Canadians appear to harbour toward disabled people. Noah, the novel’s cruel despotic figure, serves as an allegorical stand-in for German and Canadian eugenicists, while Mottyl the half-blind cat and the ape-children Lotte and Adam serve as stand-ins for the victims of eugenics. Vanderhaeghe’s The Englishman’s Boy presents disability within a complex and multifarious framework. Through the disabled narrator Harry Vincent, disability intersects with nationality, gender, and history; Vanderhaeghe’s portrayal of Harry, a Canadian working in Hollywood, exemplifies the fluidity of normalcy. Through his interactions with Hollywood personalities, he demonstrates that disability, nationality, masculinity, and history are all fluid concepts, as much imagined as they are socially constructed. MacDonald’s novel features another disabled narrator, Lily Piper, who reconfigures Gothic expectations surrounding the disabled body; through Lily, MacDonald challenges Gothic affirmations of corporeal normativity and offers a more fluid and empathetic model for conceiving the body in Gothic texts. In Strange Heaven, Coady demonstrates how a patriarchal society disables women; at the same time, she offers a fluid conception of mental illness. Bridget Murphy, the depressed protagonist, struggles within the Cape Breton society in which she lives. While the men in Coady’s Cape Breton present obstacles that in various ways disable her, the Cape Breton mindscape blurs the lines between mental illness, eccentricity, and reason. It is difficult to tell who is mad, who is eccentric, and who is rational, and in this manner Coady’s novel demonstrates fluid normalcy. Itani’s novel presents the development of Deaf culture in parallel with Canada’s development as a nation. Itani sets her story at the beginning of the twentieth century, and progresses through the Great War. Her protagonist, a Deaf woman named Grania, learns to speak and use sign language, and eventually marries a hearing man. Their marriage captures the fluid essence of Itani’s novel: the text functions as a buffer zone in which both hearing and Deaf people can equally participate. McNeney’s novel Post suggests that disability constitutes a type of normalcy. It presents the most overt challenge to a rigidly defined standard of normalcy: Nolan Taylor, a Canadian Paralympic basketball player, undergoes surgery to correct her faulty hip. Her surgery launches her into an identity crisis, prompting her to realize that disability was her norm, and that able-bodiedness has disrupted her sense of self. Overall, these novels, particularly those following Mistry’s, offer dynamic portraits of disabled characters and, as a result, deviate from literary convention, which states that disabled characters typically stand on the sidelines rather than the spotlight. These novels offer new ways of conceiving the relationship between normalcy and disability, suggesting that normalcy in Canada is an imaginative construct that can be constantly re-shaped and re-imagined

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Educational Intervention of Dental Hygiene Students

Purpose: Dental hygienists (DHs) have a unique opportunity to screen for OSA, but receive limited OSA education within the DH curriculum. This study was conducted to determine if an online educational intervention could significantly increase the knowledge of information relevant to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) screening in dental hygiene (DH) students. Methods: OSA knowledge was assessed with a 17 question, comprehension based pre-test and post-test. The convenience sample consisted of first year DH students enrolled in DNHY 341S Management of the Medically Compromised at Eastern Washington University (EWU). Participants completed the pre-test, viewed the OSA educational video, completed a post-test, and completed a second post-test two weeks following completion of the educational module. Pre-test and post-test answers were compared to determine the change in knowledge. Pre-test and first post-test answers were compared to second post-test answers to evaluate knowledge retention. Results: Thirty-three participants completed the pre-test and post-test, and 28 (85%) completed the second post-test. Participants had a significant improvement in first and second post-test scores compared to pre-test scores (p \u3c .001, t(33) = 9.836). Following completion of the online educational module, all participants (n=33) indicated they believed screening for OSA was important, and 76% of participants (n=25) indicated they were likely or very likely to evaluate adult patients for OSA. Conclusion: An online OSA educational module is an effective educational strategy to increase the OSA knowledge of DH students

Enmesh: The art of trauma and recovery

Liminal Space is an artistic installation within the ongoing, interdisciplinary creative/research project Enmesh: The Art of Trauma and Recovery.” Utilizing a combination of research methods, creative processes, and cultural inspirations, this project asks the following questions: how can the artistic process (this project serving as a preliminary case study) parallel various modes of recovery and healing? How can this objective be visually communicated through a mixed media approach of drawing, painting, and printmaking and how can this approach be an effective tool of communication? What can we conclude from both modes of work (solitarily or collectively)? How do they accomplish different things? How is vulnerability, nuance, and a journey—key elements in both processes—conveyed? This project is a preliminary case study for these ongoing, long-term art and research topics I will continue to pursue stateside and overseas. First, I executed a three-month long plan in my senior year, starting entirely independent and merging into collaborative components to eventually be an entirely collective experience with a few fellow painters and printmakers. The second part of the project bookends the artistic project with preliminary and conclusive visual and cultural research through art residencies and research trips in New York, New York, and Krakow, Warsaw, and Gdansk, Poland. I was able to generate paintings and prints during my trips that synthesized my visual language with the research I was collecting, predominately within the historical and contemporary context of Poland. Looking to Polish history of poster design, painting, trauma, and Solidarity, I found many parallels with my artistic practice and process and implemented those into my project

Bankruptcy Valuation Under Selected Liquidation Provisions

Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code\u27 (the Code) serves a distributive function; it is designed to distribute equitably a debtor\u27s assets from the bankruptcy estate to creditors. All nonexempt as-sets owned by a debtor at the time of filing a petition for bankruptcy become part of the bankruptcy estate and subsequently are distributed to creditors. Generally, debtor transactions prior to the filing escape the purview of Chapter 7. If, however, a debtor distributes assets during the applicable statutory period, giving preference to some creditors\u27 or defrauding other creditors,\u27 the Code empowers the bankruptcy trustee to avoid those transfers.After filing, a debtor may redeem certain types of property placed under a creditor\u27s lien by paying the creditor\u27s claim. Selected provisions within Chapter 7 describe these basic elements of liquidation that require a valuation of debtor assets. Each provision mentioned may require a valuation under presently vague statutory language, sparse legislative history, and conflicting judicial interpretations. This Note explores, on an individual basis, certain Bankruptcy Code sections requiring valuation in a bankruptcy liquidation situation. Part II of this Note examines section 522, which exempts certain debtor assets from bankruptcy, but only to a limited value amount. Although section 522 states that value means fair market value, some courts, because of the liquidation context of section 522, have used the lower liquidation value as the applicable standard. Part III discusses section 547, which allows the trustee to avoid preferential transfers to creditors, provided that the debtor was insolvent and the transfer enabled the creditor to receive a greater amount than would have been received proceeding only on the creditor\u27s secured claim. The valuation of assets to determine solvency has enjoyed numerous, but inconsistent, judicial interpretations; valuation to determine the amount of a secured claim is a more recently evolving issue. Part IV explores section 548, which permits a trustee to avoid certain transfers by a debtor, including involuntary foreclosure sales of the debtor\u27s property, if the debtor does not receive a reasonably equivalent value as consideration for the property. Courts are divided sharply over whether reasonable equivalence is measured by fair market value or by foreclosure market value. Part V discusses section 722, which allows a debtor to redeem certain property placed under a creditor\u27s lien for the amount of lien, generally measured by the value of the property. ° Courts have valued encumbered property anywhere from a full fair market value to a lower whole-sale or liquidation value. Part VI summarizes the different valuation methods used for each Code section discussed and suggests an appropriate standard that Congress should adopt for each section. For each Code section discussed, this Note first describes how the mechanics of each section align debtors and creditors in advocating certain methods of valuation. Next, this Note examines judicial responses to each section, emphasizing conflicting theoretical approaches and policies. Finally, this Note suggests valuation standards that will enhance predictability and uniformity within each of the Code sections discussed

'Little Story Books' and 'Small Pamphlets' in Edinburgh, 1680-1760:the Making of the Scottish Chapbook

This article considers the development of the ‘chapbook’ in Scotland between 1680 and 1760. Chapbook is here defined as a publication using a single sheet of paper, printed on both sides, and folded into octavo size or smaller. The discussion focuses on production in Edinburgh which at this time was the centre of the Scottish book trade. While very few works were produced in these small formats in the city before the last quarter of the seventeenth century, the three generations thereafter witnessed their emergence as an important part of the market. This chapbook literature included ‘penny godlies’ and ‘story books’, poems and songs, which had long been staples of the London trade. Indeed, much output north of the border comprised titles pirated from the south. It is suggested, however, that an independent repertoire of distinctively Scottish material also began to flourish during this period which paved the way for the heyday of the nation's chapbook in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Edinburgh trade is shown to be much more extensive than has been appreciated hitherto. Discovery of the testament of Robert Drummond, the Edinburgh printer who died in 1752, reveals that he produced many such works that are no longer extant. It demonstrates not only that a number of classic English chapbooks were being reprinted in Scotland much earlier than otherwise known, but also that an indigenous Scottish output was well established before the reign of George III