title: Evaluating the Role of the COP9 Signalosome and Neddylation during Cytokinesis and in Response to DNA Damage

contributor:
Department of Pathology
Doctor of Philosophy
Dr. François-Michel Boisvert
Dr. Wenda Greer
Dr. Melanie Dobson
Dr. Paola Marcato
Dr. Graham Dellaire
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes

subject:
Neddylation
COP9 signalosome
cell division
DNA damage

abstract: The covalent attachment of the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 via lysine residues on target proteins, termed neddylation, regulates the activity and stability of numerous proteins, particularly through regulating the activity of a key family of cellular enzymes known as the cullin E3 ubiquitin ligases. Neddylation is implicated in cell cycle regulation and DNA repair; however, the exact role and mechanism(s) are unclear. Here, two neddylation-regulated processes were investigated: control of cell division and response to DNA damage. The role of neddylation in cell division was evaluated using the neddylation inhibitor MLN4924, and by monitoring the localization of NEDD8, the subunits of the deneddylase COP9 signalosome (CSN) and cullin proteins during mitosis. Human HeLa cervical cancer cells treated with MLN4924 exhibited delayed physical separation of the daughter cells (abscission) and resulted in the appearance of multinucleated cells. Furthermore, treatment of mitotic cells with MLN4924 resulted in the earlier accumulation of the cytokinesis protein MKLP1 to the midbody. These results could provide a possible explanation for the ability of MLN4924 to increase the proportion of cells with >4N DNA content. The role of neddylation was and the CSN in response to DNA damage induced by ultraviolet laser irradiation was investigated using live-cell microscopy of DNA repair factors and CSN subunits. Laser-induced DNA damage in human U-2 OS osteosarcoma cells expressing fluorescently-tagged CSN3 and CSN4 subunits indicated that these CSN subunits accumulated in the nucleus following DNA damage, consistent with a possible role in the DNA damage response (DDR). Collectively, these findings indicate that neddylation and the CSN are linked to cytokinesis and the DDR.


title: Incorporating Sustainable Energy Decisions In Agriculture

contributor:
Interdisciplinary PhD Programme
Doctor of Philosophy
Warren Mabee
Lynne Robinson
Paul Amyotte
Michelle Adams
Peter Duinker
Received
Yes
Not Applicable

subject:
Agriculture
Framework
Decision-Making Process
Energy Sustainability

abstract:
Encouraging energy conservation (EC), energy efficiency (EE), and renewable energy
(RE) implementation has been a fundamental policy tool for promoting sustainability in
Nova Scotia (NS) over the past several years. However, on-farm decisions on technology
options are based primarily on cost-benefit analysis and there is little consideration or
support for determining the environmental and social considerations associated with
energy choices. Decision-making that considers sustainability will often include social,
economic, and environmental elements. Conceptual frameworks exist for incorporating
sustainability considerations into decision-making. However, existing frameworks may
not be appropriate for on-farm energy decision-making in NS as none link sustainability
to energy decisions at the small enterprise level. The main goal of this research is to
develop and test a framework that incorporates sustainability considerations into NS farm
decision-making when selecting EC, EE and RE options to improve farm energy
management. Mail surveys, as well as interviews and observations were used to gather
information on NS farms and develop the Framework for Energy Sustainability in
Agriculture (FESA). Case Studies were used to test FESA. Survey results showed that
NS farmers have made significant reductions in energy use (32%) over the past decade
through implementing various energy choices. A large majority of registered NS farmers
implemented an EE, EC or RE upgrade on the farm between 2007 and 2012 (72.9%).
While many farmers have had support (e.g. energy audits), energy upgrade opportunities
remain. Also, as technology changes, new opportunities arise (e.g. LED lighting). FESA
builds upon and increases the relevance of energy audits. FESA uses a management
system approach to allow for continual improvement over time and consideration of
environmental and social priorities, not just economics, when exploring energy upgrades.
It provides a series of steps that can be followed by farmers, and energy professionals
providing support services, for energy-related projects on the farm. The past energy
policies and programs, and the many farmers who now exist as examples to others, may
help carry the momentum forward and result in more implementation and future energy
savings. Following FESA will help farmers make informed energy decisions that are
integrated into whole farm management.


title: PERCEPTUAL SHAPE FEATURE BASED IMAGE CODING FOR VISUAL CONTENT CLASSIFICATION AND OBJECT RECOGNITION

contributor:
Faculty of Computer Science
Doctor of Philosophy
Minglun Gong
Michael McAllister
Evangelos Milios
Derek Reilly
Vlado Keselj
Qigang Gao
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes

subject:
Image Representation
Perceptual Features
Object Recognition

abstract:
The most essential technique in creating agents with the ability to process and understand the content of visual data is object recognition, which includes image content classi cation, and object localization. Deep convolutional neural networks' (CNNs) performance gain in computer vision, there still are application scenarios with limited training data and computing power for which using deep CNN based methods is not feasible. On the other hand, the human engineered image representations require less training data and computing power and can be enhanced by importing domain specif c knowledge. These representations may also bene fit from the human vision characteristics in reducing the gap between computed image representations and human vision perception. In this thesis we have proposed four methods to improve image classi cation and object localization. All these methods utilize the perceptual shape features of image since it is proved that the human vision perception on objects mostly relies on shape features of the objects, while color and texture are utilized as extra sources to complete this perception. In the  rst method, we have created a static dictionary of perceptual shape features based on N-gram model and used that in combination with spatial pyramid matching to represent images. In the second method, a dynamic dictionary from image edge segments is formed where these segments are obtained from an octave of image in di erent scales. The third method considers the curve partitioning points as descriptive features of the image and created a dynamic dictionary from descriptors of these points. The proposed object
localization method utilizes the perceptual shape features of the image to improve the location of objects determined by object recognition module. The initial location may be obtained by any object recognition method, then the proposed method iteratively
merges the edge segments with the detected object using a best  rst search strategy. These proposed methods have been evaluated on di erent benchmark image datasets. Judging on the overall performance of the proposed method, it is expected
that the proposed methods would bring some useful alternatives to support e cient tool development for applications lacking training data or no training data at all.


title: The impact of snus and ethanol on cigarette craving and consumption

contributor: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

subject:
snus
cigarette
tobacco
ethanol
alcohol
addiction
craving
progressive ratio task

abstract:
This dissertation examines the extent to which Swedish snus, a moist oral tobacco product, impacts the effect of alcohol consumption on cigarette smoking and craving. Alcohol-induced cigarette craving has been noted through anecdotal self-report by smokers who drink and also robustly demonstrated in lab-based studies, yet the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown and contested in the literature. Experimental confounds need to be controlled as thoroughly as possible to study the alcohol-tobacco co-use phenomenon. Swedish snus allows experimenters to administer a tobacco product to North American participants without activating the expectancies associated with other smoking devices or tobacco products. As well, snus is pasteurized instead of burnt, meaning that any effects snus has on alcohol-induced cigarette craving and consumption can be attributed to those tobacco factors, including nicotine, found within tobacco, and not the additional compounds present within cigarette smoke.
Three lab-based studies were conducted utilizing double-blind procedures. In the first two of them, only dependent smokers who drank alcohol were recruited. In the third, both dependent and non-dependent smokers who also drank were recruited. The studies examined the effect snus had on cigarette administration and craving when preceded by alcohol administration (Studies 1 and 3) or followed by it (Study 2). In Study 1, snus reduced the number of cigarette puffs and how hard dependent smokers worked for additional puffs when snus was administered before a one-hour progressive ratio (PR) task (Barrett, 2010); this was true regardless of alcohol consumption. Neither alcohol nor snus influenced cigarette craving before the PR task. In Study 2, snus administration preceded alcohol administration, followed by the PR task. Snus increased the latency to start smoking, whereas alcohol increased efforts to earn puffs. Study 3 was designed similarly to Study 1, with a more extended tobacco abstinence period and a smaller dose of snus, but with both dependent and non-dependent smokers. In Study 3 snus reduced dependent smokers’ puffs and how hard they worked to earn additional puffs similar to Study 1, but snus did not affect non-dependent smokers’ cigarette craving or smoking behavior. Alcohol increased cigarette craving and latency to start smoking only with non- dependent smokers.
The results of these studies show that snus reduces cigarette consumption regardless of alcohol or placebo beverage consumption in tobacco-dependent smokers. The findings also suggest that chemicals found in non-pyrolyzed tobacco, including nicotine, can satiate tobacco consumption in dependent smokers. This relationship appears to be different for non-dependent smokers who may be motivated to consume tobacco for different pharmacological or psychological reasons including different cigarette specific expectations, or non-pharmacological sensory-motor properties of smoking.


title: An Interest-Based Account of Police Service Dog Labour Rights

contributor:
Department of Philosophy
Master of Arts
Greg Scherkoske
Andrew Fenton
Duncan MacIntosh
Letitia Meynell
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Animal Rights
Political Theory
Ethics
Police Dogs

abstract: Police Service Dogs play a valuable role in promoting important public interests. However, rarely do we consider our moral obligations to them, and whether or not they are owed certain goods and protections in virtue of the risks that they incur in service to their communities. This project seeks to address these important issues. I argue that Police Service Dogs, along with many other sentient beings, possess rights to life, liberty, and freedom from suffering. Importantly, I also argue that Police Service Dogs have a strong claim for citizenship status, and the scheme of rights and liberties that such a status entails. Lastly, I argue that Police Service Dogs ought to be accorded a set of labour rights, which render their use as Police Service Dogs as compatible with their status as co-citizens and as beings with rights to life, liberty, and freedom from suffering.


title: Planning Sequential Eye Movements

contributor:
Department of Clinical Vision Science
Master of Science
Maria Pryde
Darren Oystreck
Leah Walsh
Dr. Heather Neyedli
Dr. David Westwood
Received
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Saccades
Sequential saccades
Planning

abstract: Studies have shown that future actions in a sequence have an effect on both the mechanics and timing of arm movements. In saccadic eye movements, future saccades in a sequence have been shown to impact the reaction time of the first eye movement, suggesting these movements may be planned as an entire sequence (Inhoff, 1986). The aim of the present study was to determine if the location of a second target had an impact on the metrics of the first saccade since research on this question is limited. In Experiment 1, subjects performed either a saccade to a single target, or a sequence of two saccades to two targets. The first target was located 12, 15, or 18 degrees from fixation, and the second target (when present) was located 12, 15, or 18 degrees from the first target. First and second target location, as well as number of targets presented, was randomized on a trial by trial basis. The presence of a second target was found to have a significant effect on the reaction time, amplitude and horizontal end position of the first saccade. Furthermore, the location of the second target was found to have a significant effect on amplitude, horizontal end position and duration of the first saccade. The first saccade was found to have a significantly shorter amplitude the further the second target was from the first target, with other significant saccade metrics following this same pattern. In Experiment 2, two targets were presented on all trials, with target locations as described in Experiment 1. The second target in Experiment 2 was an “x” or a “+”, which was randomized on a trial by trial basis. Three conditions were performed in Experiment 2 in blocked order randomized by participant. In the “look” condition, participants were instructed to look at the first target, and then the second. In the “ignore” condition, participants were instructed to look at the first target only, and ignore the second target. In the “attend” condition, participants were asked to make a perceptual judgement about the second target (whether it was a “+” or an “x”) before looking at the first target only. Once participants moved their eyes away from the fixation target, the second target changed into its masked form (a star, formed by the overlapping of the two possible second target images). The location of the second target was found to have a significant effect on amplitude, horizontal end position and peak velocity of the first saccade. No significant effect of condition was found for any variable except reaction time. Most importantly, no significant interaction was found between second target location and condition. This suggests that task instructions did not have an impact on the effects of second target location on the metrics of the saccade to the first target. This may be the result of the summation of a motor plan to the first target and the inhibition of a motor plan to the second target (or inhibition of head movements), regardless of whether or not subjects were instructed to make a movement to the second target. Another possibility is that the second target changed the perceived visual location of the first target. Further research is required to differentiate between these possibilities.


title: Experiences of Food Insecurity Among Older Women in Rural Nova Scotia

contributor:
School of Health & Human Performance
Master of Arts
Dr. Catherine Mah
Dr. Lynne Robinson
Dr. Susan Hutchinson
Dr. Brad Meisner
Dr. Lois Jackson
Dr. Debbie Martin
Received
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Food Security
Rural
Health
Aging
Gender

abstract: Older, rural-dwelling women in Canada are at risk of food insecurity, given their longer life spans and vulnerability to poverty; however, there is little research exploring their experiences. Nova Scotia is of interest as it has high rates of food insecurity, a rapidly aging population, and is a largely rural region. This study explored how older women (age 65 and above) in rural Nova Scotia (who had used a food bank within five years of the study) experienced food insecurity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants, and data were analyzed using thematic coding and analysis. Barriers to food security were identified, as were strategies for persevering through food insecurity. The women demonstrated resilience, but many of their strategies for surviving food insecurity were necessitated by inequitable policies (e.g., inadequate public pensions). Findings from this study may contribute to literature and policies on reducing food insecurity for older, rural women.


title: DESIGN OF A SURROGATE ASSISTED (1 + 1)-ES

contributor:
Faculty of Computer Science
Master of Computer Science
Michael McAllister
Malcolm I. Heywood
Sageev Oore
Dirk V. Arnold
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject: Surrogate-assisted evolution strategy

abstract: The information gained from previous iterations of an evolution strategy (ES) can be used to create a surrogate model based on the real objective function. While surrogate models are not as accurate as objective functions, they could distinguish more promising candidate solutions. To develop a better understanding of surrogate-assisted ESs, we simulate the behavior of a surrogate-assisted (1 + 1)-ES on the quadratic sphere. These simulations are made using a noisy objective function as the surrogate model. We introduce some measures to quantify the trade-off of saving expensive objective function evaluations at the cost of taking poorer steps. Using these findings, we present a mechanism to adapt the step-size based on model accuracy. We empirically evaluate the performance of this step-size adaptation mechanism in surrogate-assisted (1 + 1)-ES and compare it to that of the canonical (1 + 1)-ES on several simple test functions.


title: Circular Dichroism Studies of Spin Dynamics in  4-Aminomethyl Piperidinium Methyl Ammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Quantum Wells

contributor: Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science

subject:
Perovskites
2D perovskites
Ultrafast Physics
Laser Physics
Condensed Matter Physics

abstract:
Two dimensional perovskites are planes of perovskite octahedra confined by an organic spacing layer, making a multiple quantum well structure.
 The structure of the organic spacing molecule causes distortions to the perovskite sheet which impacts the electronic and optoelectronic properties of the material.
 Using pump probe circular dichroism the spin dynamics of the 2D perovskite (4AMP)MAPb2I7 are reported and compared to a material with the same perovskite sheet but a different spacing molecule ((BA)MAPb2I7).
 The spin lifetime in 4AMP was found to be 15 ps and decreased with increasing excitation energy, consistent with BA. It was found that the spin lifetimes in 4AMP  had no dependence on carrier density over two orders of magnitude,
 contrary to BA. This is attributed to the lack of out-of-plane tilting in 4AMP, which leads to a suppression of the precessional spin relaxation in this material.


title: Whose Reality Counts? Valuing Dalitbahujan Knowledge in a Technocratic India

contributor: Department of Sociology & Social Anthropology

subject:
Modern Anthropology of India
Subaltern Science
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Medical Anthropology

abstract: The thesis is divided into two parts. Section I explores the literature, methods and methodologies relevant to the research. Section II explores case studies of Dalitbahujan knowledge and experiences with biomedicine, education, representation, folk medicine and plants. This section also includes the ways that Dalitbahujan people experience the scholarly academy in India and abroad and how they have been represented.

abstract: Indian society is being reconfigured by the mobilization of people who had historically been marginalized in economic, social and cultural life. These people are referred to the constitution as Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) and combined, constitute the majority in India. In recent years, in Andhra Pradesh South India, there has been impetus to collectively refer to them as Dalitbahujans as acknowledgement of their salient productive role, recognition of their historical marginalization and their recent awakening.  Some among them wish to see power turned on its head, but more prevalent has been their thirst for equality, dignity and a recognition of their many significant contributions to Indian society. This dissertation explores Dalitbahujan knowledge and experience through health and education.  Central to this discussion is the question of whose reality counts?


title: A FRAMEWORK FOR LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT IN THE CLINICAL TRIALS INDUSTRY: AN EXTENSION OF THE STATE-OF-THE ART USING CONTEMPORARY SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURES AND TOOLS

contributor:
Department of Industrial Engineering
Master of Applied Science
Dr. Majid Taghavi
Dr. Alireza Ghasemi
Dr. Majid Taghavi
Dr. Claver Diallo
Dr. Uday Venkatadri
Dr. Alireza Ghasemi
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Clinical Trials
Logistics Management
Service Industry
Project Management
Software Architecture
Automation
Contemporary Tools
Pharmaceutical
Integration
System
BPMS
Business Process Management

abstract: Logistics management in the clinical trials industry is a very challenging undertaking due to multiple stakeholders, complex processes, diverse software applications, intensive white-collar jobs, and onerous quality standards. Current business practices are inefficient and difficult to automate technologies. This thesis reviews the theories and concepts of clinical trials logistics management. Then, the inefficiencies in current logistics management in the clinical trials industry are addressed by building a conceptual framework based on contemporary software tools and architectures such as web portals, software agents, business process management system, project cards, and resource cards, all interacting with specialized software applications such as accounting, inventory, and label design software. The framework supports data analysis at multiple levels of decision making. Furthermore, a project planning tool for facilitating and optimizing the operational planning in this industry is designed and presented. Different managerial scenarios with shared, dedicated, and work group resources are investigated using this tool.


title: REVISITING HULL’S HULLABALOO ON THE QUESTION OF HUMAN NATURE

contributor:
Department of Philosophy
Master of Arts

abstract:
This paper makes use of an essay by David Hull, entitled ‘On Human Nature,’ to explore
the issue of whether it is reasonable to posit the existence of a human nature and whether
such a notion is conducive to ethical practice. Part of a satisfactory answer to these
questions involves coming to terms with what can be deduced from the science of
biology. Hull’s essay is particularly appropriate in this regard, as his primary focus is to
present what professional biologists would say on these matters. On the first issue
mentioned, Hull’s stance is that biology does not lend any scientific support to the notion.
As for the second issue, Hull claims that even if human nature did exist it is, ultimately,
not of any ethical significance. The thesis of this paper is that Hull is wrong on both
counts.


title: The Innovation of Ideation and Ideology : An Analytical Framework and Application to the Cases of Sabbateanism and Zionism

contributor:
Department of Sociology
Master of Arts
N/A.

abstract: The author would like to express his gratitude to Professors Donald Grady, Victor Thiessen, Leonard Kasdan and George Zollschan for their encouragement and assistance in the preparation of this thesis.

abstract:
This thesis represents an attempt to develop further the notions
of "proaction" and "reaction" as alluded to by the author and Professor G.
Zollschan elsewhere (85). Proaction (i.e., the creation of society by man)
and reaction (i.e., the creation of man by society) are viewed as two moments
in a dialectical process through which the innovation of ideation and
ideology may be explained. The proactive moment is elaborated through the
use of the "Theory of Institutionalization" (88), while the notions of culture,
political culture and social structure (reactive elements) are employed
to articulate the applicability of the framework to the innovation of Messianic
ideation and political ideology. Illustrative material for the analytical
framework is presented in the form of two case studies - the emergence
of Sabbateanism in 17th century eastern Europe and the emergence of
Zionism in 19th century eastern Europe. The thesis concludes by spelling
out some of the more salient weaknesses of the present formulation and suggesting
directions for further development.


title: Tools for marine debris management: A case study of beaches in South Eleuthera, The Bahamas

abstract:
There is a paucity of information on the abundance and distribution of marine debris on beaches throughout The Bahamas, making it challenging to inform policy aimed at identifying sources and mitigating local contributions. This study provided the first report of the spatial distribution of macro and micro plastic debris on beaches in South Eleuthera and examined tools such as citizen science, beach debris monitoring, fetch modeling, relative exposure index modeling and predictive mapping to aid in mitigation and management strategies for marine debris in The Bahamas. Here, trained citizen scientists quantified debris type and abundance on 16 beaches within three coastal exposures; The Atlantic Ocean, Great Bahama Bank and The Exuma Sound in South Eleuthera, The Bahamas. Marine debris, larger than 1mm, on each beach was monitored twice in one year between March-May 2013 and September-November 2013, at the same location, verified using GPS. Approximately, 93% of all debris types collected were plastic materials with plastic fragments ≤2.5 cm as the most dominant. There proved to be a spatial difference (p=<0.0001) in plastic debris abundance between coastal exposures with Atlantic Ocean beaches demonstrating larger amounts of plastic debris by weight and per length of shoreline. Such plastic deposits may be associated with Atlantic Ocean currents connected to waste leakages from the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.

Keywords: Marine debris, marine litter, plastic pollution, citizen science, Eleuthera, Bahamas, Atlantic Ocean, Exuma Sound, Bahama Bank, policy, marine debris management, marine debris surveys, relative exposure index (REI), predictive mapping, fetch modeling.


title: A Comparative Analysis Of Prototyping Techniques With Youths

contributor:
Faculty of Computer Science
Master of Computer Science
Dr. Michael McAllister
Dr. Kirstie Hawkey
Dr. Raghav Sampangi
Dr. Derek Reilly
Received
No
Not Applicable

subject:
Prototyping
Crafting
UI Design

abstract:
Researchers working with young participants may use prototyping techniques as a tool
for design components of the research. This research focuses on idea generation from
prototyping design sessions with youths of various ages. We conducted research with
two groups of youths in two different contexts. One in an open in-field session involving
contextual inquiry and interviews, and the other in temporally bound, structured
prototype design sessions. We performed an in-depth comparative analysis of three
commonly used prototyping design techniques, Storyboarding, Paper Prototypes, and
Bags of Stuff, with one group of participants. We found no strong preference for one
technique over the other in the design sessions, but we did find that the physical
constraints of the design space affected what crafting materials were chosen and how
materials were used. Finally, we discuss how the highly structured sessions could be
used in tandem with the less structured, more opportunistic field work.


title: Studying the Diffusion of Al3+ ions from Atomic Layer Deposited Al2O3 Surface Coatings into Positive Electrode Materials and the Effects Thereof Using Full Coin Cells

contributor: Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science

subject:
Chemical Engineering
Lithium ion batteries

abstract: Increasing the energy density of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is an important goal for battery research for electric vehicle and grid storage applications. One method of doing this is to use a protective coating on the positive electrode material to protect against electrode/electrolyte reactions that occur as the charging voltage of the cells is increased, which increases energy density. This work develops methods to prepare full coin cells and uses these methods to examine the effectiveness of Al2O3 coatings prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Two coating thicknesses on two positive electrode materials, LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC622) and LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA801505), were examined. Samples annealed to various temperatures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 27Al magic angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (ssNMR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). ssNMR on the thick-coated NMC series suggests Al3+ diffusion into the NMC material occurs at annealing temperature ≥ 400 ̊C. However, XPS results only show signs of Al3+ diffusion at ≥ 600 ̊C for the thin-coated material and ≥ 700 ̊C for the thick-coated material. This apparent disagreement occurs because the Al2O3 coatings are thicker than the XPS measurement depth and so the initial diffusion from the coating is not visible to XPS. As the annealing temperature increases, so does the diffusion rate of the Al2O3 layer into the NMC. Thus, the coating layer thickness is reduced below the XPS measurement depth at higher temperatures. Full coin cells prepared from the ALD- coated materials show that for both NMC and NCA materials with the thicker Al2O3 coating, annealing to 600°C provides the best cycling results.


title: Pollinators and Pollination of Haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.) in Southern Nova Scotia

contributor:
Faculty of Agriculture
Master of Science
Dr. Gordon Price
Dr. Scott White
Dr. Kirk Hillier
Dr. Chris Cutler
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
haskap
pollination
honey bees
bumble bees
solitary bee

abstract: Haskap is an emerging crop in Nova Scotia that relies on cross-pollination for fruit production. There are concerns regarding what native pollinators are available to supplement managed honey bees, and what pollinators are best-suited for haskap in NS due to the early blooming period. In spring of 2016 and 2017, pollinator availability, effectiveness and efficiency were measured by pan trapping, transect walking, single visit pollen deposition, flower visits per minute, and tendency to visit both flowers in the double inflorescence. The usefulness of solitary bee nesting cavities with 6 mm and 8 mm nest tubes arranged snug and spaced were also evaluated. My results indicate that although there are 10 genera of bees that are found in haskap orchards during haskap bloom, only honey bees and bumble bees appear to be important pollinators of the crop. My results also show that honey bees can be effective pollinators of haskap, but bumble bees appear to be the most efficient pollinators. I also demonstrated that solitary bees predominantly nested in 6 mm nest tubes compared to 8 mm nest tubes, and there was no effect of spacing. I also noticed high levels of parasitism in the nest tubes. We recommend that honey bees and commercially managed bumble bees should be used to supplement pollination services from wild bumble bees to ensure maximum pollination success. The use of solitary bee nest boxes is not recommended.


title: IDENTIFICATION OF NOVEL COMPONENT OF RIBOFLAVIN BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAY IN INVASIVE BACTERIA

contributor:
Faculty of Agriculture
Master of Science
Shawkat Ali
Gordon Price
Gefu Wang-Pruski
Balakrishnan Prithiviraj
Svetlana Yurgel
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Rhizobium
Riboflavin biosynthesis
Nitrogen fixation

abstract: Riboflavin biosynthetic pathway of Sinorhizobium meliloti1021 has a potential alternative enzyme ArfB, essential in riboflavin production for intracellular use. ArfB forms complexes with riboflavin biosynthetic enzymes in S. meliloti1021. The objective of this study was to identify the novel enzymes involved in the riboflavin biosynthesis of riboflavin prototrophic revertant strain Rm1021∆arfBxOa arfB and analyze the free-living phenotypes and the symbiotic phenotypes. Whole genome sequencing was conducted and several SNPs and indels were identified in the genome of revertants, specifically in genes phnM, SMc00185, and argG. The revertant strains could not form effective symbiosis and exhibited lower growth-rate and flavin secretion compare to the control. Occasionally some revertants exhibited effective symbiosis. Secondary revertants were isolated and sequenced for identification of variations. Genetic modifications were observed on the SMb21442 and Oa arfB genes. Characterization of identified genes in future experiments will provide comprehensive understanding of the functions in riboflavin metabolism of α-proteobacteria.


title: The Genomic Basis and Spatial Scale of Variation in Thermal Responses of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua)

contributor:
Department of Biology
Doctor of Philosophy
Louis Bernatchez
Hal Whitehead
Paul Bentzen
Christophe Herbinger
Jeffrey A. Hutchings
Received
Yes
Not Applicable

subject:
ecology
evolutionary biology
adaptation
reaction norms
marine fishes
climate change
phenotypic plasticity
transcriptomics

abstract: The thesis investigates the genomic basis and spatial scale of variation in thermal responses of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), with the over-arching aim of improving our understanding of plastic and evolutionary responses to environmental change in natural populations. It advances our understanding of how cod will respond to global climate change, how cod populations will respond differently depending on the local conditions to which they are adapted, and the genomic mechanisms of local adaptation with gene flow. We first review the potential of RNA sequencing as a tool to study the complex responses of non-model organisms to the environment and illustrate how it can help us understand plastic and evolutionary responses to global environmental change in fishes. We rear cod larvae at a range of temperatures in the laboratory and find, using RNA sequencing, changes in gene expression consistent with a severe cellular stress response at both ambient and forecasted (+2°C and +4°C) temperatures. Earlier onset of the transcriptomic stress response is observed at higher temperatures and is not explained by differences in degree-days among treatments. The stress response is accompanied by faster growth and an increase in mortality that suggests a reduction in fitness at higher temperatures. This knowledge fills a critical gap in our understanding of how marine fish larvae respond to warmer temperatures. We then use a common-garden-gradient approach to compare thermal responses in larval cod growth and survival among six genetic crosses originating from a single fjord system. We disentangle the effects of fine-scale environmental heterogeneity between inner and outer fjord areas, and genetic divergence between coexisting ecotypes, to better understand the genetic basis of cryptic diversity in thermal responses of cod. We find genetic divergence in plasticity at a microgeographic (<20 km2) scale that is unprecedented in a marine species lacking physical barriers to dispersal. Finally, we combine common-garden experiments conducted on cod larvae from four locations with large-scale RNA sequencing and genotyping to characterize variation in gene expression means and thermal plasticities, growth reaction norms, and survival. The observed variation is consistent with adaptive divergence at macro- (~1300 km) and micro-geographic (<20 km2) spatial scales along coastal Norway. Our findings suggest that local adaptation at a macrogeographic scale characterized by moderate gene flow is largely manifest by low-level differentiation located throughout the genome. However, local adaptation at a micro-geographic scale with high potential for gene flow is mainly attributable to blocks of tightly linked genes in the form of chromosomal inversions. We present the first experimental evidence for the putative adaptive functions of three large chromosomal inversions that are polymorphic throughout the species range and show evidence of within-generation experimental selection against specific genotypes. These novel empirical investigations will aid our understanding of how climate change will affect the population dynamics and distributions of cod and other marine fishes and enable effective management of harvested species with high gene flow.


title: Investigation of P-H, O-H, and Si-H Oxidative Addition Involving Group 9 Metal PSiP Complexes

contributor:
Department of Chemistry
Doctor of Philosophy
Dr. Lisa Rosenberg
Dr. Peng Zhang
Dr. Alex Speed
Dr. Fran Cozens
Dr. Mark Stradiotto
Dr. Laura Turculet
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Chemistry
Organometallic
Pincer
Bond Activation
Iridium
Rhodium
Silyl
Cationic
PSiP

abstract:
Group 9 transition metal pincer complexes have shown remarkable reactivity with respect to E-H (E = main group element) bond activation chemistry. In this context, this research focuses on developing new Ir and Rh complexes supported by bis(phosphino)silyl ligands of the type[K3-(2-Cy2PC6H4)2SiMe]- (Cy-PSiP). A prominent feature of this ligand is the presence of a highly trans-labilizing and electron donating silyl group located at the central anionic position. These properties may allow for the stabilization of reactive, coordinatively unsaturated compounds. This document details the synthesis of neutral and cationic (Cy-PSiP)M (M = Ir, Rh) complexes, and their application towards E-H bond oxidative addition (E = P, O, and Si) reactions.
With the goal of observing E-H bond oxidative addition mediated by the (Cy-PSiP)M system, considerable progress has been made in isolating unusual monomeric phosphido-hydride, alkoxy-hydride, and silyl-hydride species. In particular, several examples of successful Ir-mediated P-H, O-H and Si-H bond oxidative addition were demonstrated. Furthermore, phosphido-hydride species showed interesting reactivity in subsequent E-H bond activation featuring alkynes, hydrosilanes, and H2. Migratory insertions of CO2 and isocyanates involving alkoxy-hydride complexes were also observed.
Efforts were undertaken to generate silylene species (Cy-PSiP)Ir(H)(=SiR2) from complexes of the type (Cy-PSiP)Ir(H)(SiRR’) (R = H, Cl; R’ = Ph, Mes). While such silylene species remain elusive, a better understanding of the behaviour of Ir-silyl complexes was garnered.
Lastly, syntheses of cationic MIII complexes of the type [(Cy-PSiP)MR]+X- (M = Ir, Rh, R = H, Me; X = OTf, BF4, B(C6F5)4) were explored. Challenges were encountered, associated with either the reactivity or the stability of the synthesized complexes. The inclusion of a neutral L donor resulting in complexes of the type [(Cy-PSiP)MRL]+X- (L = PMe3) afforded increased stability, allowing for the isolation of Ir-methyl cations.


title: Plausible Reasoning Over Knowledge Graphs: A Novel Approach for Semantics-based Health Data Analytics

contributor:
Faculty of Computer Science
Doctor of Philosophy
Wojtek Michalowski
Michael McAllister
Malcolm Heywood
Samina Abidi
Christian Blouin
Syed Sibte Raza Abidi
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes

subject:
Plausible reasoning
Knowledge graphs
Semantic Analytics
Query rewriting
Semantic Web

abstract:
The Semantic Web is regarded as the next generation of World Wide Web, in which human and machine readable and understandable knowledge is exchanged. The Semantic Web allows the generation of new knowledge by analyzing the underlying semantics through a variety of reasoning mechanisms. Plausible reasoning provides a non-deductive and exploratory approach to infer new knowledge from large data-sets. Plausible reasoning generates meaningful associations between data elements by analyzing the semantics of the data to identify plausible knowledge that can assist in complex decision making, especially when dealing with incomplete knowledge. Hence, plausible reasoning is an interesting and viable approach for semantic data analytics, providing an exploratory approach to ‘Big’ data analytics.

In this thesis, we investigate plausible reasoning for semantic data analytics focusing on (a) identification and formal definition of plausible patterns; (b) implementation of a plausible reasoning framework capable of providing semantic analytics; and (c) evaluation of the efficacy of plausible reasoning for analyzing large volumes of health data.

We used knowledge graphs, a Semantic Web inspired knowledge representation formalism, to encode semantic associations between entities. To infer new knowledge, we identified six plausible patterns—i.e. generalization, specialization, interpolation, a fortiori, (dis)similarity, that are applied to three types of semantic relationships—i.e. conceptual hierarchy, partial order and equivalence. We developed a plausible extension to the Web Ontology Language (OWL) in terms of PL-OWL to represent order-based relationships. The plausible patterns are employed by our SeDan (SEmantics-based Data Analytics) framework that uses the OWL 2 QL profile (underpinned by DL-Lite family) to support query answering over knowledge graphs.
To evaluate our approach, we designed a real-world medical setting in which SeDan is required to answer intelligent medical questions from BioASQ challenges, using the large-scale Semantic MEDLINE database, while the standard clinical ontologies, DrugBank and Disease Ontology, provide the supplementary semantics. In addition to providing plausibly inferred answers, the correctness of the answers and the underlying reasoning processes are important. The experimental results show SeDan expands the query answering coverage of the database by 37 percent, while 88 percent of the plausible answers are clinically reasonable, verified by a domain expert.


title: INUIT GIRLS MAKE MEDIA: RESISTING STEREOTYPES THROUGH PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH

subject:
sociology
media studies
girlhood studies
Indigenous studies
Inuit
video

abstract: Historically, entertainment media have reproduced inaccurate and stereotypical media representations of Indigenous peoples. In this thesis, I draw on concepts such as Stuart Hall’s theory of media influence, Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence, George Gerbner and Gaye Tuchman’s ideas of symbolic annihilation in order to analyze how media representations of Indigenous women and girls perpetuate stereotypes, and how alternative media productions might counter them. Using ethnographic and participatory action research (PAR) methodologies, I then explore these issues using empirical material. First, I conduct an Ethnographic Content Analysis (ECA) to reveal how Indigenous women and girls are represented in music videos, identifying patterns along themes of beauty standards, stereotypes, and power and agency. Second, I explore how Inuit girls self-represented when given access to resources. To do this, I collaborated with local Indigenous organizations in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, to facilitate a three-day music video camp for Inuit girls. A year later, following PAR principles, I involved the girls in the data analysis process; themes in the girls’ videos included friendship, connection to nature, Inuit culture and the importance of positive representation. Overall, this thesis provided an opportunity for raising awareness among the Inuit girls that by making their own media, they have the power to create their own self-representations and resist stereotypes. In this way, girl-led self-representations have the potential to change lives and communities.


title: TRANSLATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF HERPESVIRUS MESSENGER RIBONUCLEIC ACIDS

contributor:
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Doctor of Philosophy
Dr. Andrew Mehle
Dr. Brent Johnston
Dr. Zhenyu Cheng
Dr. Chris Richardson
Dr. Roy Duncan
Dr. Craig McCormick
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject: KSHV Herpesvirus Translation eIF4F polysome

abstract:
Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma and primary effusion lymphoma. Herpesvirus genomes are decoded by host RNA polymerase enzymes, generating messenger ribonucleotides (mRNA) that are post-transcriptionally modified and exported to the cytoplasm through the combined work of host and viral factors.
These viral mRNA bear 5ʹ-m7GTP caps and poly(A) tails that should permit assembly of canonical host eIF4F cap-binding complexes to initiate protein synthesis. However, the precise mechanisms of translation initiation remain to be investigated for KSHV and other herpesviruses. Mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) normally promotes eIF4F assembly in response to sufficient growth signals and nutrient abundance, while simultaneously suppressing autophagy, an important mechanism of cellular catabolism. Here I demonstrate that mTORC1 activity supports viral reactivation from latency, but this requirement can be relieved by silencing the essential autophagy gene ATG14. I show that mTORC1 is activated during KSHV lytic replication, but unresponsive to normal inhibitory signals. mTORC1 activity is required for eIF4F assembly during viral latency and lytic replication, but dispensable for suppression of autophagy. eIF4F contributes to bulk protein synthesis during lytic replication, but it is dispensable for the efficient synthesis of viral proteins and subsequent release of infectious progeny virions. KSHV virions also accumulate normally when known non-eIF4F translation initiation factors are depleted. To identify proteins required to support viral protein synthesis, I isolated and characterized actively-translating messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) complexes by ultracentrifugation and sucrose-gradient fractionation followed by quantitative mass spectrometry. This analysis revealed the presence of viral proteins in mRNP complexes that had not previously been shown to play roles in viral protein synthesis. This work demonstrates that KSHV can disrupt cellular mTORC1 regulation to ensure efficient viral protein synthesis and evasion of autophagy during lytic replication.


title: A Century of Planning for Environmental Concerns in the Alewife Brook Watershed, Boston, MA

contributor:
Faculty of Agriculture
Master of Science
Gordon Price
Dr. Kathleen Kevany
Heather Braiden
Dr. Robert France
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject: Watershed Planning

abstract: Landscapes are ever changing, both ecologically and culturally, making it difficult for planners to understand and balance environmental, social, and economic needs. The Alewife Brook Watershed located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA is part of the Mystic River Watershed and is known for its ecological, cultural, and industrial history. Currently the watershed is surrounded by a network of roads and homes and is under continued threat of flooding and suburban and industrial development. A historical context overview of the landscape change and a case study analysis of six plans are selected for the current research of the Alewife Brook Watershed. The historical data will help identify the consequences of landscape change. The case study analysis will articulate similarities and differences and explore planning process theory. The research will provide insights on what has been done in the past to move forward in urban planning together planners, landscape designers, engineers, and ecologist can take. The research will reveal important findings that can be integrated into today's planning efforts. Additionally, the research contributes to connecting citizens to nature.


title: DEVELOPMENT OF A MACHINE VISION SYSTEM FOR STRAWBERRY POWDERY MILDEW DISEASE DETECTION

contributor:
Faculty of Agriculture
Master of Science
Dr. Gordon Price
Dr. Gordon Price
Dr. Balakrishnan Prithiviraj
Dr. Qamar Zaman
Dr. Travis Esau
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes

subject:
Machine Vision
Real-Time Detection
Powdery Mildew
Image Processing
Supervised Machine Learning

abstract: Strawberry powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis) has been a devastating foliar disease of both nursery and fruit production strawberry crops causing significant yield loss up to 70%. Traditionally, visual observations are made to monitor strawberry powdery mildew disease each week by human experts which is a laborious and time consuming endeavour. The main objective of this study was to detect powdery mildew disease in real-time field condition by developing an image processing-based machine vision system. The machine vision system consisted of a graphical user interface based powdery mildew detection program, two µeye cameras, a real-time kinematic global positioning system, and a ruggedized laptop computer. A colour co-occurrence matrices based image texture analysis program was generated by using C# programming language. Factors affecting machine vision parameters were optimised by evaluating performance upon 12,000 collected images from healthy and diseases affected strawberry leaves. Results suggested artificial cloud lighting system improved real-time powdery mildew detection accuracy as compared to natural lighting conditions. Results also suggested that feature model formed by green ratio, hue, saturation and intensity images including 23 features, image acquisition speed 1.5 km h-1 and camera working depth of 300 mm were outperformed for disease detection. Results of the classifier selection revealed that artificial neural network performed better than support vector machines and k-nearest neighbor based supervised learning classifiers to detect powdery mildew disease in strawberry leaves. Real-time performance of developed vision system was tested in 36 randomly selected rows in three commercial strawberry fields. Visual observations were compared with developed automatic detection system. Real-time test evaluation results demonstrated that the machine vision system was capable to detect powdery mildew disease with mean absolute error of 4.00, 3.42 and 2.83 per row and root mean square error of 4.12, 3.71 and 3.00 per row. The overall study reported the developed strawberry powdery mildew detection system can be used to help strawberry growers by reducing expenses associated with field scouts for manual monitoring.


title: INVESTIGATING A RESPONSIVE INTERACTION TECHNIQUE FOR JOINT ATTENTION IN CHILDREN (8-12) WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: A PILOT EYE-TRACKING STUDY

contributor:
School of Occupational Therapy
Master of Science
Dr. G. Warner
Dr. N. Kiepek
Dr. D. Westwood
Dr. J. Versnel
Dr. H. Neyedli
Dr. P. Ghanouni
Dr. D. MacKenzie
Received
Yes
Not Applicable

subject:
autism
joint attention
eye tracking

abstract: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate difficulty with joint attention (JA). A scoping review showed that methods of cueing for and measuring JA used in research influence JA, with methodologies emphasizing one of ecological validity or gaze measurement accuracy while compromising the other. No investigations have paired mobile eye tracking with face-to-face interactions to examine JA in children with ASD. A case study using mobile eye tracking to explore differences in JA and gaze use by a child with ASD when interacting with two occupational therapists, one using the responsive interaction style and the other naïve to it, was performed. Interaction style did not impact JA but seemed to influence the child’s gaze use. With the responsive therapist, the child looked more at the therapist’s face, and less at non-therapist, non-task targets. While findings are not generalizable beyond the case study, they can instruct the design of future studies.


title: The complex kaposin locus of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus: defining a new role in the lytic viral replication cycle

contributor:
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Master of Science
Dr. Roy Duncan
Dr. Brent Johnston
Dr. Jan Rainey
Dr. David Langelaan
Dr. Jennifer Corcoran
Dr. Craig McCormick
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
KSHV
herpesvirus
Kaposin
lytic replication

abstract: Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiologic agent of the endothelial cell (EC) cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and two B-cell malignancies. In infected cells, the virus exists in two states; the latent program alters cell morphology and inflammatory gene expression, while the lytic cycle produces new virus and promotes tumorigenesis in a paracrine manner. The kaposin locus, located in the latent gene cluster, generates multiple transcripts and gene products in both viral states; however, its function remains unclear. I developed a library of novel recombinant viruses to mutagenize kaposin coding capacity and investigate protein-specific effects during each viral life cycle. I found that while entry and latent gene expression were unaffected by kaposin mutagenesis, the ability to reprogram ECs may be impaired. Furthermore, I identified defects in lytic viral gene expression and virion production in some kaposin-mutant viruses, leading me to suggest new roles for the kaposins in lytic cycle progression.


title: Poliovirus 1 Seroprevalence in Nova Scotia, Canada

contributor:
Medical Research Program
Master of Science
Dr. Joanne Langley
Dr. Jason Berman
Dr. Brian Ward (McGill)
Dr. Shelly McNeil
Dr. Lisa Barrett
Dr. Todd Hatchette
Dr. Jason LeBlanc
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject: poliovirus seroprevalence microneutralization Canada

abstract: Thanks to the efforts of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the world has never been closer to eradicating polio as it is today. Without complete eradication from the remaining strongholds, all countries remain at risk. It is the responsibility of polio-free countries to ensure vaccination rates are kept high enough to maintain levels of immunity among the population that prevent reintroduction of poliovirus. Since Nova Scotia has been exclusively using IPV for prevention and control of polio from the time it was licensed in 1955, immunity among adults and seniors may be declining as a result of waning immunity. The risk of virus reintroduction can be assessed by determining the the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies in the population. We established and validated the poliovirus standardized microneutralization (MN) assay and developed an immunoadsorption technique to generate poliovirus non-immune serum to use as a negative control. Using the MN assay, we examined the prevalence and levels of neutralizing antibodies against poliovirus 1 (PV1) in Nova Scotia by testing residual sera from three age groups (10 – 29, 30 – 49, and 50 – 64 years old). Although we hypothesized that older adults would have lower levels of antibodies due to waning immunity, seroprevalence rates and geometric mean titers were found to be higher for these age groups. Overall PV1 seroprevalence in Nova Scotia is above the herd immunity threshold range required for protection from poliomyelitis. Seroprevalence rates in the younger age group can be increased by enhancing vaccine uptake and schedule completion. We demonstrated the importance and value of seroepidemiological surveys, and have shown that they provide a more accurate determination of population-based protection than vaccination coverage rates alone. Based on our findings, there is no imminent risk to Nova Scotia from PV1.


title: Characterization and Optimization of Composite/Metallic Adhesively Bonded Joints Subjected to Thermal Fatigue

contributor: Dr. Rajamohan Ganesan, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Concordia University

contributor: Dr. Kevin Plucknett, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University

contributor: Dr. Fadi Oudah, Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University

contributor: Dr. Farid Taheri, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University

subject:
Adhesively Bonded joints
Fracture toughness
Thermal fatigue
Cohesive zone model
ABAQUS
Finite element

abstract:
Adhesively bonded joints (ABJs) are widely used to mate two or more structural elements. Therefore, to ensure their durability and safe performance, such joints must be carefully designed, especially when they are subjected to harsh environmental conditions. Traditionally, ABJs have been designed using a variety of stress-based approaches. In recent years, however, the use of fracture mechanics (FM) has become increasingly popular for design and analysis of bonded joints. FM offers several approaches for design and analysis of ABJs made of similar or dissimilar materials, and those used in repair of damaged structural components.
A summary of an investigation aimed to characterize the response of composite/metallic bonded joints subjected to thermal fatigue by a FM approach is presented. Specifically, the main goal is to quantify the degradation mechanism of such joints by examining the adhesive/adherend interface cracking mechanism. Therefore, a coupled finite element/experimental analysis framework is designed to explore the degradation and failure of the joints. The parameters that actually govern the performance of joints that comprise of fiber-reinforced laminated composite adherends were explored. In addition, an optimization technique has been proposed for improving the longevity and performance of such joints, especially when exposed to cyclic thermal loads. Finally, the use of a relatively inexpensive nanomaterial for enhancing the performance of ABJs is explored and presented.


title: Urban Indigenous Mental Wellness: Cities, cultures, and belonging

contributor: Department of Sociology & Social Anthropology

subject:
Sociology
Indigenous
Aboriginal Peoples Survey
Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study

abstract: There are deep disparities between the mental health outcomes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. Rates of depression and distress are considerably higher among Indigenous peoples than in the general Canadian population. Researchers have offered several possible explanations for these mental health outcomes, including the negative impacts of residential schools, the structures of colonialism more broadly, and poor access to mental health services. Utilizing a strengths-based approach, this study analyzes data from the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) and 2010 Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study (UAPS) to look at the impact of cultural connectedness on mental wellness for Indigenous peoples living in Canadian urban centres. Bivariate and linear regression modeling do not show a positive relationship between cultural engagement and mental wellness within the APS and point to the need to reassess measures of “culture” and “identity” through analysis of univariate and bivariate probes of the UAPS.


title: IN SITU MEASUREMENTS BY INSTRUMENTED GREY SEALS (HALICHOERUS GRYPUS) REVEAL FINE-SCALE OCEANOGRAPHIC PROPERTIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON MOVEMENT PATTERNS

contributor:
Department of Biology
Master of Science
Dr. Sophia Stone
Dr. Joanna Mills Flemming
Dr. Jinyu Sheng
Dr. Don Bowen
Dr. Sara Iverson
Received
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Foraging Ecology
Grey Seal
Movement Ecology
Scotian Shelf
Oceanographic Sampling
Bio-Optical Model

abstract: The influence of oceanographic conditions on the movements of large marine predators has been demonstrated in diverse taxa. However, obtaining subsurface data that are spatio-temporally relevant to the decisions made by benthically-foraging species can be challenging. Between the years 2009 and 2015, 117 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) were captured on Sable Island, NS and instrumented with Mk10-AF FastlocTM GPS devices. A bio-optical model for the estimation of chlorophyll-a using light attenuation was developed by performing a replicated experiment in the Bedford Basin. This model was applied to data collected in situ by grey seals and, along with other oceanographic conditions, mapped across the Scotian Shelf, providing high spatio-temporal coverage. Behavioural states were estimated from location data using the hidden Markov movement model. Generalized linear mixed-effects models indicated that grey seal behaviours are influenced by the fine-scale chlorophyll-a and environmental conditions they encounter across the oceanographically heterogeneous Scotian Shelf.


title: FROM ANOMIE TO AGRICULTURE: ON SPATIALLY PRODUCED VIOLENCE, SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND ARCHITECTURE

contributor:
Faculty of Architecture
Master of Architecture
Nichole Wiedemann
Steve Parcell
Sarah Bonnemaison
Elisa Dainese
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Chicago
Violence
Urban Agriculture
Community
Perception
Architecture

abstract: This thesis investigates the transformative potential of architecture as means of mitigating violence in West Garfield Park, Chicago (Illinois, United States). The unremitting violence that plagues the area has accelerated the rate of urban decay over the past decade, resulting in an abundance of vacant land and dilapidated infrastructure. This thesis acknowledges and defends the value of these blighted urban characteristics as sites of opportunity to mitigate the violence that created them. Through the alteration of perceptions and the implementation of a phased intervention strategy, the proposed design seeks to transform the social dynamics in which violence is spatially produced. The full capacity for violence mitigation is realized through the reproduction and transmission of knowledge and experience necessary to replicate the creation of fundamental community networks. It is through the potential to replicate these processes that the established thesis framework can be applied to urban environments with similar urban dynamics.


title: OPTIMIZING AND DESIGNING POSITIVE ELECTRODE MATERIALS FOR SODIUM ION BATTERIES

contributor:
Department of Chemistry
Doctor of Philosophy
Mickael Dolle
Peng Zhang
Peng Zhang
Mita Dasog
Harm Rotermund
Mark Obrovac
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes

subject: Batteries Sodium-ion Materials Cathode

abstract:
Sodium ion batteries have the potential to be a more sustainable alternative to the widely-used lithium ion batteries. Layered sodium transition metal oxides as positive electrode materials have been a focus of research. However, most sodium transition metal oxide materials suffer from low operating voltage, unstable crystal structure, poor cycling performance, and air-sensitivity. In order for sodium ion batteries to have practical application, more studies on positive electrodes are required.

This work focuses on the investigation of strategies to improve the behavior of positive electrode materials in sodium ion batteries. Some examples were given using transition metal layer substitution to develop novel positive electrode materials. Doping with certain elements significantly enhances the performance and alleviates some of the aforementioned problems. The possible role of dopant elements, specifically titanium or copper, was investigated. The structural and electrochemical performance of some nickel rich materials, which are possibly high-capacity materials, namely Na3Ni2BiO6 and NaNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 were also studied.
Besides transition metal layer doping, other methods were employed to modify the positive electrode materials. Washing NaNi0.5Mn0.5O2 with ethanol removes most of the sodium residues on the surface, resulting in improved air stability, smaller hysteresis and higher capacity. Doping in the sodium layer with calcium leads to improved cycling performance, higher coulombic efficiency, and better air-stability. Finally, a preliminary study of using mechanofusion method to coat electrode materials with nanoparticles was demonstrated. Future directions of research are discussed.


title: Drawing from the Past: The Role of Architecture and Art in Embodying the Everyday Lives of People and Places

contributor:
School of Architecture
Master of Architecture
Anne Cormier
Steve Parcell
James Forren
Roger Mullin
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
architecture
painting
adaptive re-use
composition
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Alex Colville

abstract: This thesis focuses on the analysis and interpretation of realist painter, Alex Colville and the relation of techniques used in architecture and art for representing and emobodying the everyday lives of people and places. The thesis puts forth the idea that the notion of composition paired with situational thinking can provide a set of creative principles which articulate the architectural edges and contents of moments and settings while establishing the orientation of the design process. The architectural site to test this theory is the currently underutilized and unorganized site of the Halifax VIA Rail Station located along the waterfront of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The thesis will propose the adaptive re-use of the existing train station and various interventions to the surrounding site to re-configure and organize an architectural response to context which allows for the everyday lives of people to thrive within and without.


title: Characterization of Structural and Functional Properties of Class IB Hydrophobins

contributor: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

subject:
Amyloid
Hydrophobin
Fungal Protein
Structural Biology
NMR

abstract: Hydrophobins are low molecular weight self-assembling proteins secreted by fungi  and are active at hydrophobic-hydrophilic interfaces. Hydrophobins may undergo structural rearrangement and oligomerize to form rodlets, which are an insoluble functional amyloid. To better understand which sequence characteristics determine hydrophobin properties, I have characterized the structure and properties of class IB hydrophobins from various fungi: Serpula lacrymans (SL1), Wallemia ichthyophaga (WI1), and Phanerochaete carnosa (PC1). I determined the high-resolution structure of each hydrophobin using NMR spectroscopy. This revealed that these hydrophobins all share structural features despite their dissimilar sequences. The core conserved feature is a four strand anti-parallel β-sheet that is connected by three loop sequences (L1-L3). In all hydrophobins the β-sheet folds upon itself to form a β-barrel structure. Spectroscopic amyloid formation assays indicate that each hydrophobin has differing propensities to form rodlets. Overall, this work establishes a correlation between the sequence, structure, and self-assembly properties of hydrophobins.


title: CATALYTIC GRAPHITIZATION BY LIGHT METALS

contributor:
Department of Chemistry
Doctor of Philosophy
Sheng Dai
Peng Zhang
Josef Zwzanziger
Mita Dasog
Peng Zhang
Mark Obrovac
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes

subject:
graphite
graphitization
catalyst
Li-ion battery

abstract: The catalytic effects of light metals (Mg and Li) on the graphitization process and the effects of precursors, blending conditions, heating conditions, and additives on the graphitization rate and the final graphite morphology were studied using a variety of techniques. Many interesting chemistries were discovered and discussed. These findings could guide to further understanding of the catalytic graphitization process and the resulting products. In general, Mg is a much better graphitization catalyst than Li. Both Mg and Li catalysts were easily removed, resulting in highly pure graphite products. Graphite with various morphologies were discovered, including Voronoi tessellated graphite and hexagonal platelet graphite made from glucose, spherical graphites made from C-Mg-MgCl2 melts, and graphitic dendrites made from cellulose and C-Mg-Al melts, etc. Different morphologies suggested different graphitization mechanisms. The basic mechanism of Mg-catalytic graphite growth might be a combination of carbon dissolution-precipitation and carbide formation-decomposition. Many catalytic graphites are highly graphitized. When cycled in Li half-cells, these graphites displayed good cycling stability and high reversible capacity. The electrochemical performance of some graphites is comparable to battery grade commercial graphites.


title: Acoustic Backscatter from Phytoplankton

contributor:
Department of Oceanography
Master of Science
David Barclay
Markus Kienast
Hugh MacIntyre
Tetjana Ross
Alex Hay
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject: acoustics phytoplankton backscatter oceanography

abstract: Methods for the detection and monitoring of phytoplankton are often limited by low temporal and spatial resolution. The use of a high-frequency broadband acoustic system could provide improvements both temporally and spatially, and would be  especially advantageous when used in conjunction with methods that provide taxonomic information. With this motivation, a high-frequency broadband active acoustic system has been developed and used in four laboratory trials to observe the backscatter from four morphologically-distinct species of phytoplankton whose sizes range from approximately 10 to 100 μm . The cultures were insonified at frequencies between 0.75 MHz and 6.9 MHz, using three broadband  transducers (with center frequencies of 1, 2.25, and 5 MHz). Two of the species were detected with confidence and the  concentration detection limits for these two species are proposed. Volume scattering strength spectra for each species are compared with the best-fit scattering models drawn from the zooplankton scattering literature and this is used to suggest probable organism composition and the best options for modelling the scattering from these species. The potential for an acoustic phytoplankton species-detection and monitoring system is discussed.


title: PLACEMAKERS: Activating the Food System Through Urban Agricultural and Community Spaces for Newcomers in East Calgary

contributor:
Faculty of Architecture
Master of Architecture
Nichole Wiedemann
Steve Parcell
Steven Manell
Cristina Verissimo
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject: Placemaking Integration Exchange Revitalize Diversity

abstract: The suburban neighbourhoods of East Calgary have experienced tremendous growth in population over the last fifteen years due to recent immigration trends to the city. Sense of identity and overall well-being of resident newcomers are often challenged upon migration; however, effects are significantly intensified by the spatial issues of their sprawl-afflicted urban environment. The thesis proposes to activate the food system – a holistic time- and place-based process from production through to consumption – to establish social anchoring for newcomers and effectively regain their sense of place and belonging. This is achieved through the implementation of a network of urban farms, markets, and community cooking, dining, and educational spaces into East Calgary’s urban waste areas. The result is such that not only can newcomers share culturally-rich food among each other and with members of the larger society, but also play a collective role in the revitalization of urban public space and community life.


title: Design-Build As An Approach for Community-Focused Projects: Building and Adapting in a Northern Community

contributor:
School of Architecture
Master of Environmental Design Studies
Steve Parcell
Brian Lilley
Carmela Cucuzzella
Ted Cavanagh
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Design-Build
Participatory Design
Design
Place-Sensative

abstract: This thesis focuses on creating and testing a design-build strategy for community-based projects. It poses questions on how to create work that is locally relevant, place sensitive and site specific in the contexts of working ‘for’ and ‘with’ a community. As designers, we frequently make assumptions based on what we think community design should be. In developing a design-build strategy which responds to community needs, this thesis makes a claim for design-build. The strategy developed attempts to create a hybrid form in responds to a local material culture, the benefits of a local material palette, and community engagement in the design-build process. The production of two design-build projects located in Dawson City, Yukon Territory, provides an opportunity to examine the proposed strategic framework, its ability to integrate a sense of place, the design-build process, and the project outcomes.


title: Power Efficient Time Domain Analog to Digital Conversion and PVT Compensated Subthreshold Architectures

contributor: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

subject:
Analog Computational Blocks
Subthreshold
Ultra Low Power
PVT Compensation
Current-Mode
Injection-locked oscillator (ILO)
VCO-based ADC
Supply Noise
Noise shaping
voltage-to-frequency nonlinearity
timedomain
SNDR

abstract:
This thesis facilitates the design challenges of analog and mixed-signal circuits in deep sub-micron technology.
In this regard, the design of two analog multiplication architectures is proposed. The process, voltage, temperature (PVT) effect was implicitly eliminated by compressing/expanding technique. The architectures can be configured to generate division, inverse, scaling and other analog functions. The theoretical analysis has been demonstrated by post-layout extraction results in 0.18µm CMOS. The consumed power is 3µW and 0.7µW for the first and the second design, respectively. The occupied silicon area is 250 µm2.
Furthermore, two techniques for VCO-based ADCs are proposed. The first technique tackles the power supply noise (PSN) using the injection locking oscillation (ILO) mechanism. Although the ILO concept has been beneficial for a variety of clock synchronizations, there has not been any design approach that takes advantage of this concept to assist the VCO-based ADC. By injecting the frequency-modulated signal into a replica VCO, within the locking range, the latter VCO frequency will always lock to the injected frequency. By digitizing the phase instead of frequency, a system level cancellation of PSN has been achieved. The design results validate the analysis with 25dB noise rejection improvement compared to the conventional VCO-based ADC.
The second design proposed a preweighted technique to alleviate the nonlinearity of voltage to frequency characteristics in VCO-based ADC to achieve higher resolution. In an open loop configuration, this technique modulates the VCO’s frequency by spreading binary preweighted versions of the analog input over the VCO delay cells. As a result, each cell in the VCO produces its own corresponding delay. The results in 65m CMOS show that the voltage-to-frequency transfer characteristics is drastically improved with nonlinearity less than 1% over rail-to-rail input swing. For further area minimization, an inverse R-2R front end is proposed. A prototype was fabricated using 65nm CMOS process. It occupies an actives area of 0.03 mm2 and consumes 3.1 mA from 1 V power supply. Measurement results of linearity indicate SFDR and SNDR of 77 and 66.7 dB, respectively, over 5 MHz passband bandwidth which reveals energy less than 0.2 pJ/step in Walden figure-of-merit.


title: KAPOSI’S SARCOMA-ASSOCIATED HERPESVIRUS MODULATES THE UNFOLDED PROTEIN RESPONSE DURING LYTIC REPLICATION

contributor:
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Doctor of Philosophy
Dr. Wolfram Brune
Dr. Brent Johnston
Dr. James Fawcett
Dr. Christopher Richardson
Dr. John Rohde
Dr. Craig McCormick
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
herpesvirus
unfolded protein response
XBP1
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
integrated stress response
ER stress

abstract: Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the infectious cause of the complex endothelial neoplasm Kaposi’s sarcoma, and two B cell malignancies, primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman’s disease. KSHV activates multiple cellular stress responses during infection but the impact of stress on viral replication and tumorigenesis remain obscure. One such stress management pathway is the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is activated by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Activation of the three host cell sensors of ER stress, IRE1, PERK, and ATF6, stimulates synthesis of transcription factors XBP1s, ATF4, and ATF6-N, respectively, which coordinate a transcriptional program to mitigate stress and restore protein homeostasis. Failure to restore homeostasis results causes the UPR to shift from an adaptive response to a pro-apoptotic response. In cells latently infected with KSHV, ER stress initiates lytic reactivation through XBP1s-mediated transcription of the KSHV lytic switch gene, RTA. Thus, it appears that KSHV has evolved a mechanism to respond to ER stress. I investigated the role of the UPR during lytic replication in this thesis. Here, I demonstrate that lytic replication activates all three sensors of the UPR, but the downstream transcription factors are inhibited. RNA silencing or chemical inhibition of any of the UPR sensors inhibits virion production, indicating that their activation is important for some aspect of productive viral replication. Surprisingly, ectopic expression of XBP1s can also inhibit viral production. Therefore, while XBP1s plays an important role in reactivation from latency, it inhibits later steps in lytic replication. This suggests that XBP1s downregulation by viral gene products may effectively remove an anti-viral host factor. To identify potential KSHV proteins that can modulate the UPR, I screened a KSHV lentiviral ORF library with a UPR fluorescent reporter cell line. I found multiple viral proteins that showed UPR-modulating ability. Of these hits, I found that ectopic expression of Kaposin C inhibits IRE1, and that ORF45 upregulates multiple UPR markers, but likely not through ER stress induction. Overall these findings suggest that KSHV modulates UPR signaling during lytic replication to promote virus production instead of resolving ER stress.


title: FINDING BALANCE: IDENTIFYING WAYS TO IMPROVE THE DELIVERY OF SURGICAL CARE TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

contributor: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

subject:
Autism
Mixed-methods
Healthcare services
Healthcare provider intervention
Intervention development
implementation science

abstract: Children with autism spectrum disorder (hereafter, autism) interact with healthcare services more often than their peers, yet have poorer healthcare experiences and more unmet healthcare needs. Systematic research-based efforts are needed to improve the healthcare experiences of children with autism. This mixed-methods program of participatory action research was aimed at improving the surgical experiences of children with autism, their families, and healthcare providers (HCPs). Manuscript 1 details a qualitative study of the surgery-related experiences of children with autism. Interpretive description was used to explore the perspectives of parents and HCPs with direct experience caring for children with autism around the time of surgery. Findings provided a nuanced understanding of the experiential context within which efforts aimed at improving the surgery-related experiences of children with autism must be implemented, and shed light on potential intervention targets. Qualitative study findings enriched by stakeholder consultations led to the framing of the target for improvement as the delivery of high-quality family-centred care. Manuscript 2 describes how the Behaviour Change Wheel, a systematic and theory-driven process, was used with stakeholder engagement to develop an intervention aimed at improving the delivery of family-centred care to children with autism around the time of surgery (i.e., Building Alliances for Autism Needs in Clinical Encounters; BALANCE). Results described in Manuscript 2 also show that implementation of BALANCE in the perioperative service of a tertiary children’s hospital was associated with positive changes in behavioural determinants (i.e., capability, opportunity, and motivation) hypothesized to underlie variations in family-centred care. Manuscript 3 describes evidence supporting the feasibility and acceptability of BALANCE implementation, and shows that BALANCE was associated with positive changes in families’ and HCPs’ reports of the delivery of family-centred care. Overall, this dissertation addresses research gaps concerning the surgical care of children with autism and interventions to improve the delivery of healthcare to these children.  This dissertation also contributes to the literature on collaborative approaches to healthcare research, and methods for the development and design of interventions that aim to improve healthcare delivery.


title: Determining the Sustainability of Second Generation Photovoltaic Solar Panels: Metal Production and Recycling

abstract: Second-generation photovoltaic solar panel use is increasing worldwide, thus the demand for resources, such as metals, used to make the panels is increasing as well. The main driver of this study is the United Nations and World Wildlife Fund’s ‘50% solar by 2050’ goal to try and increase the use of solar panels worldwide. This gave an insight into the potential growth of demand for these high-efficiency panels. Tellurium, gallium, indium, and cadmium are rare metals used in the panels to increase the efficiency of the electricity production; however, these metals are not renewable resources and can be depleted if overused or not recycled. Using the compound annual growth rate of each metal and their previous production levels, the amount produced was calculated for the year 2050. It is then compared to the global reserves and recycling rates to determine the sustainability of second-generation panels in the future. The production of gallium and cadmium are enough to support the demand in 2050, however, the reserves for tellurium and indium are not enough to support the 2050 PV industry.


title: Potential Effects of Climate Change on Mortality of the Invasive Species Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae) in Nova Scotia, Canada

abstract: Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) kills hemlock trees by injecting poison into their stems as the feed on sap, defoliating the trees. This insect has caused widespread eastern hemlock death across the northeastern United States (US) and its presence was confirmed in Nova Scotia in 2017. Eastern hemlock trees are foundation species, creating unique ecosystem dynamics in their habitats, and they are also a defining species of tolerant coniferous old-growth Acadian forests, which are valuable biodiversity hubs in Nova Scotia. HWA mortality after exposure to extreme low winter temperatures has been well studied, and 91% mortality has been found to keep HWA populations under control. This study used an equation developed for northeast US forests to determine theoretical HWA mortality using mean winter temperatures for a past (1981-2010) scenario and representative concertation pathway (RCP) 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5 scenarios for the near future (2041-2070) and distant future (2071-2100). Stands containing hemlock are also shown in the maps to depict areas of concern. It was found that some high-elevation, northern regions of Nova Scotia would have kept HWA populations under control, causing >90% HWA mortality, but stands containing hemlock are generally not present in these areas. Areas with >90% mortality were not found in any of the future scenarios. The differences between the near future and distant future scenarios were lowest for RCP 2.6 and highest for RCP 8.5, with RCP 4.5 falling in the middle. Because this study used equations developed for the northeastern US, future research should focus on developing HWA mortality equations for Nova Scotia. Future studies should also consider more variables that have been linked to HWA population distributions.


title: A MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH FOR ALERT BEHAVIOR RESPONSE MODELING TO MITIGATE ALERT FATIGUE IN HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS

contributor:
Faculty of Computer Science
Master of Health Informatics
Dr. Samina Abidi
Dr. Samina Abidi
Dr. Samuel Stewart
Dr. Raza Abidi
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Yes

subject:
Clinical Decision Support Systems
Alert Fatigue
Machine Learning

abstract: This research investigates novel approaches to reduce the burden of alert fatigue faced by primary care physicians using Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) within EMR systems. CDSS issue a range of alerts to assist physicians in patient management with respect to clinical guidelines and institutional clinical pathways. However, the generation of alerts is usually suboptimal, and does not consider the physician’s clinical context. Our approach is to understand the physician’s practice to triage alert issuance, ensuring that alerts are adequately addressed by physicians without causing unnecessary alert fatigue. We utilize machine learning techniques to: cluster physicians into distinct practice groups based on their practice data, stratify the wide range of CDSS alerts based on key, defining attributes, and learn a classification based mapping between physician practice groups and alert types to develop an innovative alert issuance strategy that greatly reduces the volume of alerts presented to each physician group.


title: Positive Public Communication Tools for Enhancing Wildlife-Road Safety in the Chebucto Peninsula Region, Halifax, Canada

abstract: Wildlife-vehicle collisions occur frequently and are hazardous for both humans and animals involved (Huijser, et al., 2016; Fudge, Freedman, Crowell, Nette & Power, 2007; Ramp, Wilson & Croft, 2016). Urban (and other) developments are leading to habitat fragmentation, which results in the displacement of many animal species (Beazley, Snaith, MacKinnon & Colville, 2004; Fudge, et al., 2007; Perkl, et al., 2018). Fragmentation can also lead to more wildlife-road interactions, increasing the potential for collisions to occur (Fudge, et al., 2007). Human-wildlife conflict can also be related to issues regarding wildlife protection around roads and can result in negative attitudes and behaviors toward wildlife (Frank, 2015; Ramp, et al., 2016). It is important to engage the public about issues related to wildlife and roads to increase awareness and encourage human-wildlife coexistence. Futerra Sustainability Communications (2010) has determined that the best way to engage public audiences in support of biodiversity is by incorporating a “love” component and an “action” component to public communication strategies, for audiences not already invested in the issue. By employing a “Love + Action” framework (Futerra Sustainability Communications, 2010), this study develops guidelines and appropriate messages for good practices for positive public communication on the topic of wildlife protection around roads. Application of the guidelines and important messages are demonstrated through the creation of a visual communication tool (i.e., infographic) for wildlife protection around roads in the Chebucto Peninsula, which is an important area for wildlife connectivity (Halifax Regional Municipality & O2 Planning & Design, 2018). The guidelines, important messages and infographic are intended for wildlife protection around roads, but could be transferable to producing positive public communication tools for other wildlife/environmental issues.


title: The effect of community of discharge on length of stay for unplanned hospitalizations: An indicator of community care integration?

contributor: Department of Community Health & Epidemiology

subject:
Hospital Length of Stay
Small Area Rate Variation
Epidemiology
Health Services Research
Nova Scotia
Communities as Systems of Care

abstract:
Objective: Adjusted hospital length of stay (LOS), widely used to benchmark hospital
efficiency, does not account for community-driven variation. We estimate the extent to
which community affects LOS for unplanned hospitalizations, whether this differs by
complex needs, and identify communities significantly different from the provincial
average.

Methods: The outcome is LOS, adjusted for demographics and disease case-mix.
Variation in LOS explained by community of residence is estimated using random
intercept regression. Complex needs are defined using Elixhauser and Resource Intensity
Weights. Small-area empirical Bayes estimates are calculated and mapped.

Results: Community of residence is associated with adjusted LOS, and its effect differ by
complex needs. Of 77 communities, 17 had an adjusted LOS differing from the
provincial average.

Conclusion: The community to which patients are discharged is associated with hospital
LOS. Research is needed to understand why these communities are associated with
longer or shorter adjusted LOS.


title: "We get our education from the land": Student Perspectives of Indigenous Food Sovereignty

contributor:
School of Health & Human Performance
Master of Arts
Dr. Ann Fox
Dr. Lynne Robinson
Dr. Lois Jackson
Dr. Patricia Williams
Dr. Debbie Martin
Received
Not Applicable
Not Applicable

subject:
Mi'kmaq
Indigenous food sovereignty
Two-Eyed Seeing
Health Promotion

abstract: This qualitative study explored the perspectives of participants who attended a Summer Institute in Mi’kma’ki that focused on Indigenous food sovereignty (IFS). Particularly, how the participants’ perceived the activities of the Summer Institute as shaping their understanding of IFS, and how they might use Two-Eyed Seeing to consider issues relating to IFS into the future. Two sets of focus groups took place; the first occurred at the Summer Institute and the second eight weeks later via video-conference. The focus groups were audio-recorded, and the data were analyzed thematically. Two key themes were identified from the analysis; 1) Understanding and Critiquing IFS, and 2) Two-Eyed Seeing as a means to deepen understandings of IFS. These findings offer the perspectives from those who learned about IFS and Two-Eyed Seeing from Mi'kmaq experts, and provides evidence to support the value of land-based learning when trying to gain a deeper understanding of IFS.


title: Grassroots Peacebuilding in Colombia: Layers of Peacebuilding and Their Intersections

contributor: Department of International Development Studies

subject: Colombia Peace Conflict Grassroots

abstract: This thesis discusses the role of grassroots organizations in peacebuilding at multiple levels of society. It also examines the challenges and potential of elite-level peacebuilding, looking specifically at the case of Colombia since the 2016 accord. The thesis uses theories of Conflict Transformation and Multi-Level Peacebuilding to argue that local-level peacebuilding is essential for the sustainability of a peace accord, and that a culture of peace can only be built through the work of organizations that are rooted in community life. Through interviews with peacebuilding organizations in Colombia and the analysis of websites and publications of community peacebuilding organizations, this thesis analyzes discourses of peace. Community-based discourses are then compared to those of the state. The comparison offers insights into a way forward for sustainable peacebuilding by highlighting the unique contributions that community-based organizations offer, such as a focus on the individual psycho-social level.


title: Loss of PRP4K is linked to anoikis resistance and partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

contributor:
Department of Pathology
Master of Science
Dr. Catherine Too
Wenda Greer
Dr. Paola Marcato
Dr. Graham Dellaire
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes

subject:
Cancer biology
PRP4K
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

abstract: Metastatic disease is the primary cause of cancer-related death, and as a result the metastatic potential of a tumor is an important indicator of patient survival. For tumor cells to metastasize, they must overcome a special kind of programmed cell death known as anoikis, which occurs when cells detach from the extracellular matrix (ECM). Our lab has recently demonstrated that depletion of PRP4K leads to anoikis resistance due to sustained pro-survival signaling. In this thesis, I further characterized pathways promoting anoikis resistance in PRP4K depleted cells. I determined that PRP4K loss could trigger increased expression of the kinase TrkB as well as activation of the PI3K signaling pathway. I also determined that loss of PRP4K could induce partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Specifically, I determined that depletion of PRP4K in several cell lines did not alter the expression of epithelial markers such as E- cadherin yet correlated with increased levels of mesenchymal markers such as vimentin, fibronectin and the EMT transcription factor Zeb1. This partial EMT phenotype was associated with altered cell migration in non-transformed mammary epithelial cell lines, and depletion of PRP4K promoted increased migration in the triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. On the other hand, induction of EMT in non-transformed mammary cell lines had different effects on PRP4K expression depending on the method of EMT induction. While some EMT induction methods had no effect on PRP4K protein expression, others resulted in reduced PRP4K expression. One difference between these induction methods was whether YAP signaling was activated, with activation of YAP gene targets being associated with reduced PRP4K expression. This data together supports a role for PRP4K as a tumor suppressor, where PRP4K loss promotes anoikis resistance and correlates with both EMT and increased YAP activity, which in turn increases the metastatic potential of cancer cells.


title: RÉSISTANCE IDENTITAIRE DANS « BEAU TRAVAIL » DE CLAIRE DENIS : LE CADRE ET LE FANTÔME

contributor:
Department of French
Master of Arts
Dr Vincent Masse
Dr Vincent Masse
Dr Jerry White
Dr Christopher Elson
Not Applicable
No
No

subject:
Claire Denis
Beau Travail
le cadre
l'identité
Jacques Derrida

abstract:
La cinéaste Claire Denis est connue pour ses films énigmatiques, suscitant la controverse et dont les sujets sont diversifiés malgré le fait qu’ils tournent souvent autour des mêmes thèmes (la solitude, l’identité, le désir, l’impact colonial, les liens familiaux). Son film Beau Travail, considéré comme étant l’une de ses plus grandes œuvres, constituera la pierre angulaire de ce travail, dont le but est de montrer qu’à travers l’utilisation des figures du cadre et du fantôme, la cinéaste remet en question la possibilité d’une identité totale, connue et connaissable.
Au contraire, à travers cette œuvre, elle met en évidence d’une part, la fragilité des structures parergonales qui s’emploient à identifier le monde qui nous entoure et par conséquent leur incapacité à le définir de façon complète. Et d’autre part, la cinéaste montre qu’au cœur de l’identité demeure toujours une part d’altérité, une extériorité indiscernable parce que constitutive du propre. De cette inhabileté des limites à contenir et de cette part d’obscur en chaque chose découlent une impression de tension au sein de l’œuvre, que nous qualifierons de résistance et analyserons selon les implications de cette notion.

abstract:
Claire Denis is well known for her mysterious films, which often provoke controversy, and for her broad choice of topics, even though her movies more often than not revolve around the same themes (solitude, identity, desire, colonization’s impact, family ties). Her movie Beau Travail, considered her masterpiece by many, will be the cornerstone of this thesis. Through the use of the figures of the frame and the ghost, we will show how the famous director questions the possibility of an identity that would be complete, known and knowable.
Instead, through this original work of art, she highlights on the one hand, the fragility of the borders that identify the world surrounding us, even while exposing their inability to fully define it. On the other hand, Denis shows that at the heart of identity there is always a glimpse of alterity that remains, and this exteriority is deemed imperceptible because it is a constituent part of said identity. It is the limits’ inadequacy to contain, as well as the obscure part in each and every thing, that render a feeling of tautness throughout the film, an intuition and a sensation which we will refer to and analyze with the term and the notion of “resistance”.


title: THE INFLUENCE OF THE HARVESTING MATURITY ON POLYPHENOL COMPOSITION AND ANTI-DIABETIC PROPERTIES OF HASKAP BERRIES (Lonicera caerulea L.)

contributor:
Faculty of Agriculture
Master of Science
Gorden Price
Bruce Rathgeber
Derek Lynch
Vasantha Rupasinghe
Received
No
No

subject: Cultivar Haskap anthocyanins gluconeogenesis

abstract: Haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.) is a recently commercialized crop in Canada. Berries of four cultivars, Aurora, Rebecca, Larissa, and Evie, were harvested at five harvesting dates (H1-H5) and assessed for their polyphenol composition, antioxidant capacity, and anti-diabetic properties. The analyses revealed that the interaction effect of cultivar and harvesting date influenced the anthocyanins. Moreover, Larissa and Evie at H5 showed the significantly higher C3G content. Extracts derived from five maturity stages of four cultivars showed anti-diabetic properties including inhibition of activities of alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, dipeptidyl peptidase-4, and formation of advanced glycation end-products in vitro. Dietary supplementation of C3G-rich haskap extract (CE) in mice fed with high-fat high-sucrose diet reduced the rate of weight gain, an improved glucose tolerance, and suppressed in gluconeogenesis regulating protein, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase with concomitantly increased phosphorylation of 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). In conclusion, C3G may improve the plasma glucose profile in diet-induced obesity by decreasing gluconeogenesis