A 91亚色 study found that 鈥� every day for five to 15 minutes for a week 鈥� increased their happiness and self-esteem.

After six months, many were still actively helping others and were reporting that their happiness and self-esteem levels were still up, according to the study, which will be published in the spring edition of the , an international scientific quarterly available online through Springer science and business media.

Myriam Mongrain, associate professor of psychology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health and lead author for the study, says 700 people from across Canada were recruited online at the end of 2007 through a Facebook ad and then directed to the survey site, . The age group of respondents ranged from 18 to 73 with 80 per cent women and 20 per cent men.

The data collected on the original respondents 鈥� before they had started the compassion exercise 鈥� showed that the majority were 鈥渄epressed,鈥� says Mongrain.

Of the original 700 recruits, 458 people completed the first week鈥檚 exercise which required them to help or interact with another person every day 鈥� it could be someone they knew or a stranger 鈥� 鈥渋n a supportive and considerate鈥欌�� way. The positive effects on their happiness and self-esteem were 鈥渧ery strong,鈥� says Mongrain.

After three months 260 responded, with the majority saying that they were still performing acts of kindness 鈥� one to three days a week 鈥� and feeling the same positive effects. After six months, which was the end of the study, there were 179 responses with most still doing a good deed one to three days a week and feeling happier for it.

Despite the high drop-out rate, the results indicate that the exercise of performing acts of kindness 鈥渟ustained increases in happiness and self-esteem,鈥欌�� says Mongrain, who had help analyzing the data from co-authors of the study, [91亚色 researchers] Jacqueline Chin and Leah Shapira.

The study, funded by the , was also covered May 17 in the London Free Press and Toronto Sun and May 18 in The Globe and Mail and on 680 News in Toronto.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Professor Myriam Mongrain's psychology study on kindness attracts media coverage appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Researchers analyzed 130 studies to compare the energy use and global warming potential of organic versus conventional farming. They concluded that organic farms were more energy efficient on both a per-hectare and per-product basis, with the exception of fruit farming and poultry production, where data聽is limited.

鈥淭hese findings shake up the concept that 鈥榖igger鈥� is always better. Higher crop yields, bigger equipment, less genetic diversity, and more fertilizer and pesticides do not equal a more energy-efficient operation,鈥� says Rod MacRae (left),聽a professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies.

Critics of organic farming commonly argue that lower yields make it unsustainable in the long term. 鈥淎s population increases and land availability decreases, it鈥檚 assumed that an 鈥榓ssembly line鈥� approach to agriculture is the only way to keep up with our food needs. While this is the dominant way of thinking, this logic is also deeply flawed,鈥� MacRae says. 鈥淔or example, many regions in the global south show better yield performance with organic farming. Even in North America, organic yields are not far behind conventional ones.鈥�

MacRae points out that there is an enormous amount of waste in conventional systems. Significant amounts of edible food are lost at harvest, during processing and distribution, at retail and in consumers鈥� homes. 鈥淏y some accounts, up to聽40 per cent of what gets farmed never makes it to our mouths, and this adds enormously to energy waste. This can result in the perception that we鈥檙e not producing enough food,鈥� he says.

Studies of conventional and organic grain growers in the prairie region showed significant benefits for organic methods, including 50 per cent lower energy use in a 12-year study of forage and grain crop rotations. The absence of nitrogen fertilizer was a main contributor to reduced energy inputs and greater efficiency. Modelling studies of a Canada-wide conversion to organic canola, wheat, soybean and corn concluded we would consume 39 per cent less energy and generate only 77 per cent of the global warming emissions and 17 per cent of ozone-depleting emissions of conventional wheat farming.

Above: Organic cultivation of mixed vegetables

In terms of dairy farming, a study in Atlantic Canada found that an organic, seasonal grazing system was 64 per cent more energy efficient and emitted 29 per cent less greenhouse gases compared with the average of conventional systems.聽Cows consuming an organic diet may also have a longer lifespan, increasing efficiency and reducing methane emissions when calculated over time.

Where livestock is concerned, fewer studies exist and comparisons are more difficult because of dramatic differences in operations from farm to farm, particularly for hogs and poultry. Conventionally raised beef is widely accepted as the least environmentally friendly meat, requiring seven times as many inputs for an equivalent output of calories. Organic beef production is considered to be more efficient because the animals consume more grass and less grain than humans can consume.

The study, 鈥淭he Carbon and Global Warming Potential Impacts of Organic Farming: Does It Have a Significant Role in an Energy Constrained World?鈥� was published in the journal Sustainability. Its lead author is Professor Derek聽Lynch, Department of Plant聽& Animal Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College.

MacRae was also interviewed in聽 about the lack of attention politicians are paying to food policy during the current federal election campaigns.

鈥淣one of them really link the food story to health care that well, or to social-policy reform,鈥� said Rod MacRae, a professor at 91亚色 who is one of Canada鈥檚 foremost experts on the subject. 鈥淲hat they鈥檝e done is pick the low-hanging fruit 鈥� the things that are more part of the public consciousness right now.鈥�

Still, strong federal leadership in the national food policy process is critical, he said. 鈥淭he federal role is to act as the animator, the facilitator, and to use its usual package of sticks and carrots to try and get everybody on board.鈥�

By Melissa Hughes, media relations officer.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Professor Rod MacRae co-authors study that finds organic farms are more energy efficient appeared first on Research & Innovation.

The event, which聽took place in Halifax, NS,聽is part of 鈥檚 ongoing effort to bring together the best brains of research and decision-making on a government identified, high priority issue.

Right: Faculty of Health Professor Mary Wiktorowicz

Friday鈥檚 Best Brains Exchange, titled 鈥淕overnance Models to Support an Integrated System of Care for Mental Health and Addictions Services鈥�, was developed by CIHR in cooperation with the Nova Scotia government.

Wiktorowicz was approached to be on the panel of experts to the advisory committee on mental health for Nova Scotia鈥檚 Department of Health because of her research comparing聽the modes of governance used in 10 mental health networks in rural versus urban and regionalized versus non-regional contexts, published in the October to December 2010 issue of the聽.

Wiktorowicz鈥檚 research found that collaboration is a key factor for effective and safe care, especially since organizations across different jurisdictions make up the health-care system.

鈥淢ental health care goes beyond treatment 鈥� it involves a range of supports that help individuals recover and manage their lives, such as housing and income assistance that are run by different organizations in separate jurisdictions," said Wiktorowicz.

"If collaboration between these organizations is not built into the system, the continuity of care is easily broken. Without the appropriate supports, an individual may eventually experience a mental health crisis聽and patient safety can become a real risk," she added.

The advisory committee on mental health聽was struck following the release of the Hyde Report, which used findings from an investigation into the death of , a client in Nova Scotia's mental health system. Hyde died in November 2007, in a jail cell following a series of altercations with police and prison guards.聽Law enforcement officials had tried and failed to find him access to emergency psychiatric care.

Knowledge exchanged at the Best Brains聽panel聽will provide the Nova Scotia Mental Health Strategy Advisory Committee with an overview of the latest evidence, as well as timely聽advice from experts in the field of mental health and governance in health care. The panel was comprised of聽researchers, administrators, clinicians and聽policy-makers. Participation was based on聽each individual's聽expertise and knowledge on critical issues related to access to mental health and addictions services.

"Research shows that even in decentralized systems, policy and organizational聽processes can foster more collaboration and lead to better care," said Wiktorowicz. "For example, appointing a director of mental health for a region whose mandate is to bring together representatives from diverse organizations can lead to information sharing and聽innovations supported by inter-organizational coordination within the system."

The Best Brains Exchange is part of a CIHR provincial engagement strategy, called Evidence on Tap, to make high-quality evidence that addresses health system priorities accessible to decision makers.

More about Mary Wiktorowicz

Wiktorowicz聽adopts a comparative lens to study models of health system governance, focusing on mental health policy and pharmaceutical policy.聽Her comparative policy research also analyses international聽 pharmaceutical regulatory policy and develops frameworks to enhance our understanding of them. Her most recent research compares international pharmaco-surveillance strategies and the decision frameworks that guide them.

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

The post Professor Mary Wiktorowicz: Cordinating mental healthcare in Nova Scotia appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Perfectionism is sometimes viewed as a positive personality trait to be rewarded or reinforced, but Dalhousie University psychology professor Simon Sherry believes it is mostly a self-defeating behaviour, wrote :

In professors, the effect can be particularly pernicious: in a new study, Sherry and colleagues found that perfectionism leads to lower research productivity. The findings suggest that professors who display a higher level of perfectionism are less likely to produce publications, garner citations or publish their research in high-impact journals.

鈥淲e found that perfectionism trips up professors on the way to research productivity. The more perfectionistic the professor, the less productive they are,鈥� said Dr. Sherry. This could 鈥渟eriously and adversely impact鈥� their career development. The study was published in the .

. . .

To investigate the issue, he and colleagues of 91亚色鈥檚 and Paul Hewitt of the University of British Columbia studied the link between perfectionism and research productivity among psychology professors working at universities in the US and Canada. They limited it to their own profession to simplify the logistics and restricted it to universities with graduate programs in psychology.

They contacted 10,000 professors, of whom 1,258 responded using an online survey. The researchers found a 鈥渞obust correlation鈥� between increased perfectionism and decreased research productivity in the respondents. A higher level of perfectionism was associated with a lower number of total publications and a lower number of first-authored publications. It was also associated with a lower number of citations and a track record of publishing in journals with a lower impact rating.

. . .

If professors suspect they鈥檙e perfectionists, Dr. Sherry counsels that they seek professional help. The best treatment options appear to be interpersonal or cognitive behavioural therapy, he added.

Ironically, 鈥減erfectionists are often very reluctant to seek help because they see it as tantamount to being imperfect,鈥� he said. As well, perfectionism itself can be a barrier to effective treatment; afflicted individuals might subconsciously sabotage their course of treatment because of unrealistic expectations.

Perfectionist profs have another reason to worry: research has linked perfectionism with depression, suicide and various forms of eating disorders such as bulimia, binge eating and聽anorexia.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Perfectionist professors have lower research productivity, study shows appeared first on Research & Innovation.

鈥淐ultures of Militarization,鈥� edited by (right), professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Humanities, and Blake Fitzpatrick, professor in the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University, features contributions from 22 international scholars and artists.

Drawing on a rich array of research sites and interdisciplinary resources, the authors explore how human relations, social policies and cultural values come to be defined by military interests, and how such interests might be freshly understood. They delve into the notion that the culture of war is both hidden and widespread, reaching deep into civic culture and affecting government, families, media, entertainment, public policy and personal beliefs.

Berland cites the recent WikiLeaks expos茅 of classified US military documents as evidence of the hidden aspects of war. 鈥淚t is interesting to note that US military operatives face military proceedings not for atrocities or misinformation, but for participating in leakages of classified documents,鈥� Berland says. 鈥淎nd while civilian deaths and acts of torture have remained invisible and secret, it's impossible to miss the images of invasion and imprisonment that circulate the world on the Internet, on TV and in video games.鈥�

Berland cites other prominent examples: the Pentagon's classified budget for research and acquisition of information development has increased 78 per cent since 2001, totaling $34 billion in 2009. 鈥淥ur own military spends $9 billion on F-35 fighter planes while remaining silent on questions regarding their technical and military justification,鈥� she says.

Berland notes that this widespread increase in militarization does not only affect war zones. In the community of Glace Bay, N.S., a debate rages about the naming of a new school after Jimmy MacNeil, a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan in June 2010. From coast to coast, yellow ribbons adorn trees and lampposts, while in Ontario, Highway 401 is now known as the Highway of Heroes.

鈥淗ere in Toronto, we saw it play out in the streets during the G20 summit. Military culture is everywhere. Ultimately, we are all living the consequences of global militarization,鈥� Berland says.

TOPIA subscribers will receive the special double issue; the book is available through . It will be formally launched at the Gladstone Hotel鈥檚 Melody Bar on Dec. 6, from 6 to 8pm. All are welcome.

For more information, visit the TOPIA website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

The post 91亚色-based journal and book examine militarization of everyday life appeared first on Research & Innovation.

91亚色's Health Leadership & Learning Network has partnered with the Black Creek Community Health聽Centre and the to bring members of the community together for the Diabetes: Perspectives for Action聽鈥� Community Forum on Nov. 11, from 6 to 8pm at Westview Centennial Secondary School, 755 Oakdale Rd., North 91亚色.

Right: Maps of Toronto show the overlap between聽the areas聽of low income, visible minorities and the incidence of diabetes. Click maps to see interactive version. Courtesy of the Toronto Star

The聽forum will聽discuss the increasing incidence of Type 2 diabetes in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, strategies to prevent it and community resources to improve the health of people living with the disease.

Income inequality is on the rise in Canada along with a parallel increase in diabetes mortality, especially in low-income neighbourhoods such as Jane-Finch, according to a recent 91亚色 study that has been published online and will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Health Policy.

Dennis Raphael, a professor in the School of Health Policy & Management at 91亚色 and a co-author of the study, says it clearly shows that low income is associated with a higher risk of developing the disease, even when other risk factors such as obesity are taken into account. Separate maps of Toronto that show areas of low income, visible minorities and the incidence of diabetes clearly show the overlap between the three, says Raphael, who will speak first at the event.

Three representatives of the Black Creek Community Health Centre will speak about their work in the community. Community health worker Michelle Westin will discuss her experiences helping residents to identify and address issues related to diabetes prevention and management. Lisa Martin, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, will speak about the importance of access to adequate resources in managing diabetes, as well as healthy lifestyle choices. Carla Da Mota, a diabetes nurse educator who has witnessed an increase in both the number of clients with diabetes and complications they experience due to poorly managed diabetes, will talk about her experiences in promoting prevention and management of the disease through education.

Professor Lesley Beagrie, associate dean, professional & global programs in 91亚色's Faculty of Health, will moderate the panel.

The Toronto District School Board has recently launched a Diabetes Awareness Strategy. Annie Appleby, superintendent of education for Ward 1 in the northwest part of Toronto 鈥� where the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes is at eight per cent 鈥撀爓ill speak about the schools' efforts to promote healthy choices and change the behaviours of staff, students, and even families.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

The post Diabetes crisis in Jane-Finch neighbourhood focus of 91亚色-led community forum on November 11 appeared first on Research & Innovation.

The study, published today in the journal , follows up on a 2007 study led by 91亚色, which found that lifelong use of two or more languages keeps symptoms of Alzheimer鈥檚 and other forms of dementia at bay (see YFile, Jan. 15, 2007).

Led by the , the current study examined the clinical records of more than 200 patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer鈥檚 disease in the Sam & Ida Ross Memory Clinic at Toronto鈥檚 Baycrest Research Centre for Aging and the Brain.

"All the patients in the study had been diagnosed with Alzheimer鈥檚, so clearly bilingualism does not prevent the onset of dementia," says study co-author Ellen Bialystok (right), Distinguished Research Professor of psychology in 91亚色鈥檚 and associate scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, which is part of Baycrest.

"Instead, our results show that people who have been lifelong bilinguals have built up a cognitive reserve that allows them to cope with the disease for a longer period of time before showing symptoms," she says.

While the brains of bilingual patients did show deterioration, researchers believe that the use of more than one language equips them with compensatory skills that keep symptoms like memory loss and confusion in check.

The research team included Fergus Craik, senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, and Dr. Morris Freedman, professor in the University of Toronto鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine (Neurology), and scientist at the Rotman Research Institute. They found that bilingual patients were diagnosed with Alzheimer鈥檚 4.3 years later and had reported the onset of symptoms five years later than those who spoke only one language. The groups were equivalent on measures of cognitive and occupational level; there was no apparent effect of immigration status, and there were no differences between genders.

The Neurology paper replicates findings from the team鈥檚 2007 study led by Bialystok and published in Neuropsychologia. That study examined the clinical records of 184 patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer鈥檚 and other forms of dementia. It found that bilingual patients delayed the onset of their symptoms by four years compared to monolingual patients.

"Overall, bilingualism should be seen as an important tool for healthy aging, along with exercise, diet, and other lifestyle choices," Bialystok says. "It鈥檚 also another reason to encourage people in multicultural societies like ours to keep speaking their native tongue and pass it along to their children," she says.

The study was funded in part by grants from the (CIHR) and the to 91亚色 and the Rotman Research Institute.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

The post Professor Ellen Bialystok co-authors CIHR-funded study on Alzheimer's and bilingualism appeared first on Research & Innovation.

The study, recently published in the journal Neuropsychologia looked at a rare disorder called prosopagnosia, in which the ability to visually identify faces is lost or severely impaired.

Researchers performed a series of experiments that gauged prosopagnosia sufferers' recognition of faces, objects and voices and other sounds, both separately and in varying combinations; the scientists compared these results to those of control subjects with normal brain functioning.

"We were interested in investigating the interactions between different types of sensory inputs," says lead researcher Jennifer Steeves (left), a professor of psychology in 91亚色鈥檚 . "For example, does seeing a person鈥檚 face and listening to them speaking at the same time offer more helpful information to identify that person, or is a single sensory input superior?"

Steeves鈥� experiments involved a patient who suffered brain damage from meningitis as a child. With extensive lesions on the right hemisphere and most of the ventral visual areas, he was unable to recognize familiar faces, facial expressions, objects, colours or words.

"Quite remarkably, even with these deficits, he was able to hold a job and maintain an independent lifestyle," Steeves says. "We wanted to find out what cognitive functions were compensating to help him achieve this."

In one experiment, participants were required to rapidly learn the identities of 10 individuals,聽using an聽image of a face paired with a voice.

Prior to this exercise, subjects were presented with grey-scale images of 110 female faces that had been stripped of distinguishing features. They were also fed auditory stimuli 鈥� a 20-second neutral passage spoken in English by one of 110 female voices. Participants were then tested on what they had learned in visual and auditory-only modes, and in combination.

Steeves and her colleagues found that control subjects relied more heavily on visual cues, while the patient with prosopagnosia used auditory information more expertly to recognize people. However, auditory cues didn鈥檛 help in identifying objects, leading researchers to believe that our processing of people and things occur in two different neurological pathways.

Untangling this web of sensory cues is important on more than one level, Steeves notes. "Our hope is that it will help not only our understanding of those with brain disorders, but also to understand how healthy brains function," she says.

The study, "Superior voice recognition in a patient with acquired prosopagnosia and object agnosia," is co-authored by Adria Hoover, a 91亚色 psychology graduate student, and Jean-Fran莽ois D茅monet, director of France鈥檚 Institut National de la Sant茅 et de la Recherche M茅dicale (INSERM).

Steeves is one of the researchers based in 91亚色鈥檚 new state-of-the-art Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which officially opened on Sept. 14.聽She leads the Perceptual Neuroscience Laboratory, which is based on the building鈥檚 main level. Both Steeves and her lab are part of the .

The research was funded by the and France鈥檚 .

By Melissa Hughes, media relations officer. Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

The post Professor Jennifer Steeves in Centre for Vision Research finds face blindness sufferers better at recognizing voices appeared first on Research & Innovation.

The findings, published聽Wednesday in the journal, PLoS Medicine, offer a broad look at the relationship between doctors鈥� prescribing habits and their exposure to information provided by drug companies. Researchers analyzed 58 separate studies of this phenomenon from Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia, dating from the 1960s.

Left: Joel Lexchin

鈥淢any doctors claim they aren鈥檛 influenced by the information provided by pharmaceutical companies. Our research clearly shows that they are 鈥� and the influence is negative,鈥� says Lexchin, a professor in the School of Health Policy & Management in 91亚色鈥檚 and an emergency physician in Toronto.

鈥淯nfortunately, patients are the ones getting a raw deal. If doctors are inundated with advertising from brand- name companies, they are more likely to prescribe that brand name, regardless of whether it鈥檚 best for the patient.鈥�

All but one of the studies suggested that exposure to promotional information was associated with lower prescribing quality; the one remaining study detected no association. Findings also show that promotional information led to more frequent prescribing; studies dealing with this correlation either showed a spike in prescribing or detected no association. Researchers also established a link between promotion and higher prescribing costs.

Lexchin says Canadian drug companies spend big money on marketing their products to physicians, to the detriment of other priorities such as research and development.

鈥淚n Canada, companies are estimated to be spending anywhere between $2.4 and $4.75 billion annually on promotion, one of the major reasons why spending on brand-name drugs was rising at a rate of just under 10 per cent annually until two years ago,鈥� he says.

A limitation of the research is that most studies were observational in nature, meaning that the majority of physicians who participated were not randomly selected.

The researchers found no evidence that drug companies' promotional efforts improve prescribing behaviour in any way, but, says Lexchin, 鈥渢hat doesn鈥檛 entirely exclude the possibility that prescribing might sometimes be improved.鈥� However, he adds, "As a precaution, we recommend that physicians avoid exposure to the information provided by pharmaceutical companies.鈥�

The study, 鈥淚nformation from pharmaceutical companies and the quality, quantity and cost of physicians鈥� prescribing: a systematic review鈥�, was led by Geoffrey Spurling,聽a聽professor at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. To read it, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

The post Professor Joel Lexchin's co-authored study finds doctors not immune to pharmaceutical promotion appeared first on Research & Innovation.

This issue of includes articles that examine the changing nature of work, as well as strategies designed to improve working conditions in the contemporary context of employment insecurity. Contributors provide insight into new developments in labour law, advocacy programs for women workers in male-dominated workplaces and the potential to counter precarious employment through worker cooperatives.

Among the contributors are University of Victoria law Professor聽Judy Fudge; Athabasca University labour studies Professor聽Bob Barnetson; Laval University labour relations Professor Anthony Gould; Julia Woodhall, a聽sociology PhD student at the University of Waterloo,聽and Belinda Leach, a professor of聽sociology and anthropology at the University of Guelph; and Amanda Wilson, a聽PhD student in聽sociology at Carleton University.

CRWS was established in 1990 to address issues facing workers arising from the volatile transformation of the Canadian workplace. Just Labour, which was launched in 2002, reflects this tradition as the journal鈥檚 readers and contributors bridge both the academic and union research communities.

Just Labour鈥檚 contributors explore the complex ways new technologies, subcontracting, new management strategies and self-employment are undermining traditional employee-employer relationships. Its mandate includes investigating how union action is challenged by the international integration of capital, the proliferation of precarious employment and the increasingly anti-union practices of employers and the state.

The editorial committee, led by , editor-in-chief and CRWS director, looks for articles that address the culture and activities of Canadian workers and their unions as they face new challenges, and that bring the work of leading academics and trade union researchers to a broad readership in popular, accessible language.

Read the latest issue or聽see submission guidelines at聽, or get more information on CRWS at the Centre for Research on Work &聽Society website.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Centre for Research on Work & Society's Just Labour Journal examines challenges facing workers appeared first on Research & Innovation.