IslandScholar
Not a member yet
16367 research outputs found
Sort by
Estimating sentiment and risk in a consumption model: a factor analysis approach
No full textThis empirical paper deals with the impacts of sentiment about the future, short-run risk, and long-run risk in a dynamic economic model of optimal consumption decisions with Schroder and Skiadas [(1999) Journal of Economic Theory 89, 68–126.] continuous-time stochastic recursive preferences. The empirical strategy combines both a latent factor method and a democratic orthogonalization technique. The latent factor method is applied to a large database of macroeconomic indicators, and a democratic orthogonalization technique is used to separate the relative importance of sentiment about the future and long-run risk channels in shaping optimal consumption decisions. The empirical results suggest that consumers with recursive preferences are not indifferent to long-run uncertainty shocks to future consumption prospects. Endogenous consumption variations are driven by a multicomponent mechanism, where on average, the sentiment component accounts for 15.33%, the short-run risk accounts for 16.89%, and the long-run risk pertains to 34.51%
Estimation of death risk factors associated with the coronavirus pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa
No full textSeveral issues related to the coronavirus pandemic have not yet been fully and unequivocally identified despite the attempts made in the literature to explain why COVID-19 case-fatality rates vary among countries and why in some developed countries, fatality rates were high. For instance, a study1 investigated the clinical risk factors of COVID-19 fatality, which might include obesity and diabetes.2 Other researchers studied the impact of demographic factors such as age, socioeconomic factors, environmental factors, and all these indicators combined.3 Countries worldwide reported different case-fatality rates (CFR), a measure defined as the proportion of cases of COVID-19 that were fatal within a specified time. However, these differences in mortality rates might not be attributed to just the above-mentioned factors. There were other explanations, including the difference in the number of people tested and the characteristics of the healthcare system. Countries with fewer resources might have a higher mortality risk because their hospitals became overwhelmed with the increased number of infections
Exploring the experiences of young adults living with an eating disorder in Prince Edward Island
No full textBackground. An eating disorder is a complex form of mental illness, characterized by a disturbance in eating related behaviour, resulting in significant physical and psychological impairments. Despite this recognition, eating disorders remain poorly understood. There is a paucity of research about eating disorders and a lack of funding to support eating disorder programs and resources. Purpose and Design. The purpose of this narrative inquiry research study was to explore the experiences of young adults living with an eating disorder in Prince Edward Island. Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) form of narrative inquiry guided this study. Sample. After obtaining ethics approval, two young adults who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria were recruited. Informed consent was obtained from participants. Data Collection and Analysis. Field notes, a personal journal, conversational interviews, and a supportive art-based approach were used to illicit rich description of experience. Interviews were held one-on-one at sites chosen by participants. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Research texts were used as the interpretive-analytic component in this study, with predominant narrative threads presented under the headings Living in Past, Living in Present, and Living in Future. Significance. The stories elicited from this narrative inquiry study illuminate the experiences of young adults living with an eating disorder in Prince Edward Island, increasing knowledge, awareness, and understanding. Results of this work, provides opportunity to inform future clinical practice, education, research, and policies specific to the way we provide care to young adults living with an eating disorder in Prince Edward Island
The impact of COVID‐19 on agricultural market integration in Eastern Canada
No full textSince the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 and the resulting economic fallout, reports and official statistics have pointed to an unequivocal effect of the disease on almost all global economic activities, including the agricultural and agri-food sectors. The aim of this article is to use a price transmission approach in order to study the price relationships of agricultural commodities, including potatoes, corn, hogs, eggs, and chicken between regional Canadian markets and to verify their economic integration. The method of panel cointegration is applied to investigate the potential impact of the pandemic on the spatial integration of the provincial agricultural markets in Eastern Canada. It is found that these markets were fully integrated and efficient prior to COVID-19 restrictions. However, the statistical results show that travel restrictions and labor shortages represented trade barriers between the provinces, and they are likely the factors that impacted the price transmission mechanism, and consequently the markets became much less integrated. It is suggested that government policies should include actions that would manage future shocks to the agricultural commodity prices by accelerating the necessary transformations in the agri-food sector to make it more resilient and less vulnerable to future pandemics and other potential natural challenges
Editorial: Value-added bioproducts development through sustainable conversion and production routes
No full textPotential impacts of climate change on American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery in Prince Edward Island, Canada
No full textThe lobster fishery is the third largest industry of Prince Edward Island (PEI). The presence of adult lobsters in water is influenced by their life cycle and is strongly associated with the water temperature. The study analyzed climate data and biological factors to determine the relationship between lobster landing and sea surface temperature (SST) in PEI. It also investigated the likelihood of lobster landing in PEI in the future and conducted a comparative study with the Gulf of Maine considering recent reports claiming decreased lobster catches in the Gulf of Maine and increased landing in PEI since 2014.
Analysis of historical SST data spanning 32 years revealed that water temperature had risen over time in both PEI and the Gulf of Maine. A significant correlation between the annual historical landing of lobster and the monthly SST in the water around PEI from 1990-2021 was discovered through the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) analysis. Due to the fact that lobster takes 5-8 years to reach the legal size requirement, the model considered the temperature tolerance range of lobster by taking into the account previous eight years of SSTs before the landing year against each year of lobster landing. The
historical GLM model was used to predict future landings from 2032-2099. The SST dataset from the CMIP6 climate projection data of the HadGEM3-GC31-LL (UK) climate model was used for future projection. Based on the model output of the study, increased lobster landings are expected in PEI until the end of this century under three shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP), which are SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. However, the outcome does not claim to assure the future prospect of the sector because other biological and ecological factors for natural recruitment and population dynamics such as biomass, infectious diseases, dissolved oxygen, salinity, habitat, and ocean acidification were not included in the model. The comparative investigation revealed that the Gulf of Maine’s landing started a decreasing trend in 2014 after reaching its highest average surface temperature of 15.76°C in 2012. PEI is expected to reach close to 15.76°C in 2098 under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. The temperature threshold of 15.76°C observed in the Gulf of Maine may not be appropriate for PEI in the future because the water is colder in PEI compared to the Gulf of Maine. Therefore, the lobster population may decline, migrate, or adapt in response to warmer temperatures. The study however outlined that there is scope to limit ocean warming under the SSP2-4.5 scenario by adopting appropriate climate actions to ensure a sustainable lobster sector in PEI. Keywords: PEI, Gulf of Maine, lobster, climate change, sea surface temperature, future projection
Beyond shared autonomy: Joint perception and action for human-in-the-loop mobile robot navigation systems
No full textIn this study, we present a road map from shared to full autonomy for human-in-the-loop mobile robot navigation systems. We proposed a shared autonomy framework that incorporates human-robot joint perception and action to enhance the practicality and applicability of the mobile robot navigability. Accuracy of robotic sensing and precision of robotic action are employed as autonomous safety in the loop of human control. In shared autonomy, autonomous safety is incorporated into human-teleoperated robot control and their integration is adjusted through an online user-customizable arbitration function. Beyond the current state of the art in shared autonomy, social skills and social preferences in terms of human perception, as well as cognitive decision-making and action, are compiled into autonomous behaviors through learning from demonstration method. Autonomous behaviors exported from the trained neural networks are integrated with autonomous safety and then adjusted by user-desired control arbitration for robot autonomy. The transition of shared and full autonomy is easily managed by users, depending on specific applications. To validate the methodological approach, we implemented the framework on two mobile robot platforms to evaluate its feasibility, practicability, and reproducibility. Our experimental results showed that the shared autonomy framework was well applied to incorporating personal skills and social preferences in mobile robot navigation systems. To a certain extent, the framework plays the role of the road map guiding how to take advantage of human cognitive perception and decision and precision of robotic action in developing mobile robot navigation systems that can be deployed and applied to real-world applications.Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canad
Pregabalin alleviates anxiety and fear in cats during transportation and veterinary visits—A clinical field study
No full textCats frequently suffer from anxiety related to travel and veterinary visits. One sequela is avoidance of veterinary visits and lack of adequate veterinary care. The objective of this study was to test clinical efficacy and safety of a novel formulation of a pregabalin 50 mg/mL oral solution for alleviation of anxiety and fear in cats during transport and veterinary visits. A total of 209 client-owned cats were given either a flavored pregabalin oral solution at the dosage of 5 mg/kg (n = 108) or an identical placebo (n = 101) approximately 90 min before placing them into the carrier and transporting them in a car for at least 20 min to a veterinary clinic. The treatment effect using a 5-point numerical rating scale was evaluated during transportation by the owner and during clinical examination by the veterinarian, both blinded to the treatment. In addition, to verify the owner assessment, an external expert blinded to the treatment and owner assessment evaluated the transportation video recordings using the same rating scale as the owner. Pregabalin 5 mg/kg statistically significantly decreased both travel- (p < 0.01) and veterinary-visit- (p < 0.01) related anxiety compared to the placebo. The external expert’s evaluation was in agreement with the owners’ assessment confirming the treatment effect during transportation (p < 0.01). Treatment was well tolerated with only a few cats showing transient slight incoordination and tiredness. The flavored oral solution formulation with a small dosing volume of 0.1 mL/kg was found by the owners to be user-friendly and was well-accepted by the cats. This study demonstrated that a single oral dosage of the novel pregabalin oral solution alleviates anxiety and fear related to transportation and veterinary visits in cats, thus providing practical aid for both owners and veterinarians to enable cat-friendly handling and improving the welfare of cats in situations they often perceive as very stressful.Orion Corporation Orion Pharm
Adult-born neurons inhibit developmentally-born neurons during spatial learning
No full textOngoing neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) subregion of the hippocampus results in a heterogenous population of neurons. Immature adult-born neurons (ABNs) have physiological and anatomical properties that may give them a unique role in learning. For example, compared to older granule neurons, they have greater somatic excitability, which could facilitate their recruitment into memory traces. However, recruitment is also likely to depend on interactions with other DG neurons through processes such as lateral inhibition. Immature ABNs target inhibitory interneurons and, compared to older neurons, they receive less GABAergic inhibition. Thus, they may induce lateral inhibition of mature DG neurons while being less susceptible to inhibition themselves. To test this we used a chemogenetic approach to silence immature ABNs as rats learned a spatial water maze task, and measured activity (Fos expression) in ABNs and developmentally-born neurons (DBNs). A retrovirus expressing the inhibitory DREADD receptor, hM4Di, was injected into the dorsal DG of male rats at 6w to infect neurons born in adulthood. Animals were also injected with BrdU to label DBNs or ABNs. DBNs were significantly more active than immature 4-week-old ABNs. Silencing 4-week-old ABNs did not alter learning but it increased activity in DBNs. However, silencing ABNs did not affect activation in other ABNs within the DG. Silencing ABNs also did not alter Fos expression in parvalbumin- and somatostatin-expressing interneurons. Collectively, these results suggest that ABNs may directly inhibit DBN activity during hippocampal-dependent learning, which may be relevant for maintaining sparse hippocampal representations of experienced events
Motivations, risks, and constraints: An analysis of affective and cognitive images for cannabis tourism in Canada
No full textThe aim of this study was to explore Canada's image as a cannabis tourism destination and investigate how tourists' motivations, perceived risks, and travel constraints affect their intentions to visit Canada for leisure cannabis consumption. By examining the image formation process from a pre-travel perspective, this study investigated the impacts of motivation, perceived risks, and travel constraints on the affective and cognitive images that contribute to the formation of a pre-travel image and visiting intention for cannabis tourism.
Empirical results indicated that potential cannabis tourists' visiting intentions were influenced more by their affective image towards Canada than their cognitive image. Furthermore, perceived risk fully mediated the relationship between cognitive image and visiting intention. These findings provide valuable insights for local governments, destination marketing groups, and businesses interested in developing the cannabis tourism market