“Thinking About Makin’ It”: Black Canadian Students’ Beliefs Regarding Education and Academic Achievement

Black Canadians share many aspects of the historical experiences of African Americans, but there are also important differences. One similarity between these two groups is the persistent academic underachievement of Black adolescents. Although this is a subject of widespread concern in both countries, it has received little empirical scrutiny in Canada. We address this shortcoming by examining the academic and achievement-related beliefs of Black high school students in two Canadian cities, Toronto and Halifax. Despite significant regional differences most participants believed that schooling could lead to success for them. Females’ attitudes and beliefs regarding education were more positive than those of males. Perceived parental values and support were strong predictors of participants’ attitudes and school marks; socioeconomic status (SES) and perceived peer support were non-significant correlates of academic outcomes. We discuss the results in terms of the germane US research, and highlight the implications of the findings for understanding diversity among Black Canadian youth.Received PhD from the University of Toronto. Areas of research include educational and psychological correlates of ethnic and racial identity in Black Canadians.Received PhD from the University of Toronto. Research focuses on the cultural dimensions of friendship.Received PhD from the University of Toronto. Research interests include adolescent development, social justice, and children’s rights-related thinking and knowledge.     

Neck injuries caused by automatic two-point seat belts: an analysis of four cases

Although seat belts significantly reduce the extent and severity of injuries sustained by motor vehicle occupants, seat belts are known to be associated with chest and abdominal trauma. Less commonly understood are severe neck injuries caused by the use of two-point automatic shoulder harnesses without concurrent use of a manual lap belt. Such injuries may include cervical spine fractures, craniocervical dislocations and rarely decapitation. Recognizing patterned injuries caused by seat belts and the ability to correlate autopsy findings with the circumstances surrounding the death will allow for correct interpretation of seat-belt related trauma. The four cases described detail fatal neck injuries as a result of improper seat belt use in which an automatic two-point shoulder harness was used without a manual lap restraint. In two of the cases, the victims were decapitated.     

A duplex real-time qPCR assay for the quantification of human nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in forensic samples: implications for quantifying DNA in degraded samples

A duplex real-time qPCR assay was developed for quantifying human nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in forensic samples. The nuclear portion of the assay utilized amplification of a approximately 170-190 bp target sequence that spans the repeat region of the TH01 STR locus, and the mitochondrial portion of the assay utilized amplification of a 69 bp target sequence in the ND1 region. Validation studies, performed on an ABI 7000 SDS instrument using TaqMan detection, demonstrated that both portions of the duplex assay provide suitable quantification sensitivity and precision down to 10-15 copies of each genome of interest and that neither portion shows cross-reactivity to commonly encountered non-human genomes. As part of the validation studies, a series of DNase-degraded samples were quantified using three different methods: the duplex nuclear-mitochondrial qPCR assay, the ABI Quantifiler Human DNA Quantification Kit qPCR assay, which amplifies and detects a 62 bp nuclear target sequence, and slot blot hybridization. For non-degraded and moderately degraded samples in the series, all three methods were suitably accurate for quantifying nuclear DNA to achieve successful STR amplifications to yield complete profiles using the ABI AmpFlSTR Identifiler kit. However, for highly degraded samples, the duplex qPCR assay provided better estimates of nuclear template for STR amplification than did either the commercial qPCR assay, which overestimated the quantity of STR-sized DNA fragments, leading to an increased proportion of undetected alleles at the larger STR loci, or slot blot hybridization, which underestimated the quantity of nuclear DNA, leading to an increased proportion of STR amplification artifacts due to amplification of excess template.     

In the Eye of the Storm: The Italian Economy and the Eurozone Crisis

Abstract

The eurozone crisis had a more significant and longer-lasting impact on Italy than on virtually any other member state, with the effects still visible a decade after. The extent of the shock was surprising in view of progress Italy had apparently made in the 1990s in terms of enhancing its capacity to meet the demands of European Monetary Union. The explanation for this traumatic economic experience lies in Italy’s deep, long-term, structural tensions which were placed under severe pressure during the 1990s and which were cracked open by the 2011 sovereign debt crisis. These have had long-standing economic effects as well as political ramifications in terms of a significant change in the Italy–EU relationship.     

Reviews

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Poner la cuerpa: The Body as a Site of Reproductive Rights Activism in Peru

The issue of the body is central to feminist theory and activism. This article draws on social movement and performance theory to analyse the role of the body as a site of activism in performances and as a site that is subject to patriarchal and racial oppression. Through embodied activism, feminists reclaim their bodies as a contested site of oppression to reframe the terms of the debate on abortion and demonstrate the possibility for embodied and creative politics to create new, more inclusive forms of activist practices.     

The return of the regulator: Kazakhstan’s cotton sector reforms since independence

What would a ‘good’ industrial policy in the realm of cotton production look like? This article seeks to address this question through a focus on reforms to the cotton sector in Kazakhstan. In contrast with neighbouring Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, administrators in Kazakhstan had widely freed the cotton sector from government control as early as 1998. Agricultural collectives had been replaced by small private farms, and commercial cotton processors and traders entered the sector. However, in 2007, regulation tightened again and forced ginneries to use a complex warehouse receipt system without making sure that it was accepted by stakeholders and without appropriate institutions for implementing it in place. Moreover, it imposed financing restrictions on ginneries, which were major loan and input providers to farmers. In the following years, private producers and investors turned away from cotton, and cotton area and output fell substantially. We position our analysis in the broader debate about the right approach to industrial policy and argue that the cotton sector performance after 2007 shows how ill-designed regulation and government interference can turn a promising economic sector towards decline.