Measuring active living in Canada: A time-use perspective

In Canada there is an increasing prevalence of chronic medical conditions and diseases related to a modifiable risk factor - physical inactivity. Therefore, it is important to have regular, robust, population-based surveillance of physical activity engagement that can be used to develop policy interventions and measure their success. The primary objective of this study is to describe the methods used to quantify the proportion of Canadians engaging in physical activities at the intensities and durations required to either maintain or enhance their health. Results indicate the overall proportion of Canadians meeting maintenance levels of physical activity has increased between 1992 (76.2%), 1998 (77.3%), and 2005 (82.5%), but over the same time the proportion meeting enhancement levels of physical activity has decreased (38.1%, 36.6%, and 30.6%, respectively). Furthermore, the results demonstrate the potential applications of time-use data for public health and quality of life research.     

Pheromone trapping models for pest control: Effects of mating patterns and immigration

Summary Several models are presented which examine pest population behaviour with the release of female sex pheromones for the attraction and annihilation of males. These models include male polygamy and female monogamy, various mating frequencies, delayed mating of females, immigration of one or all individual types, and differential survivorship of males and females. In all the models there are two steady states, a stable s.s. at the origin and an unstable s.s. in the positive domain for a given value of pheromone release rate. In all the models, control relies on the reduced ability of males to fertilize virgin females following trapping and male annihilation. As such, control is very sensitive to mating frequency, being very difficult when males mate frequently. Control is also very difficult with the immigration of even a moderate number of fertilized females. Control is much easier when mating is delayed, especially if survivorship is low, or with density dependent population regulation.     

Power and identity in theory and practice

Power is often theorised in a way that equates its meaning with A's control over B. Alternatively, it is regarded as a universal transformative capacity. In which case, power is conceptualised in terms of its accomplishment of social order. The central objective of this paper is to expose the contribution and limitations of existing functionalist, action theoretic, radical and relational conceptions of power. This is done by attending to the significance of identity securing strategies in the reproduction of power relations. Highlighting the relevance of this identity dimension, we argue that individuals’ attempts to distance and protect themselves from their ‘powerlessness’ can have important, self-defeating consequences in respect of the reproduction of asymmetrical relations of power. Connecting the search for independence to the preoccupation with securing a stable and valued sense of identity, we explore how this preoccupation sustains the very structural conditions that promote insecurity. Our thesis on power and identity is then applied and illustrated through a critical discussion of relevant aspects of two recent labour ethnographies: Nichols and Beynon's Living with Capitalism and Willis's Learning to Labour.