title: Investigating Cortisol Production, Pattern, and Variability as Mediators in the Relationship Between Shift Work and Cardiometabolic Risk

contributor:
Tranmer, Joan
Aronson, Kristan J.
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Shift work
Cortisol
Cardiometabolic Risk
CVD
Mediation analysis

abstract:
Background: Shift work has emerged as a risk factor for many diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD). While the pathway by which shift work increases CVD risk is still not fully understood, it is hypothesized that disruption of cortisol during night work is an intermediate.
Objective: To determine whether quantity of cortisol production, diurnal pattern, and cortisol variability mediate the relationship between current shift work status and cardiometabolic risk among female hospital employees.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 326 female employees (166 rotating shift workers and 160 day workers) at Kingston General Hospital in Ontario, Canada. Participants completed a baseline interview, questionnaire, and clinical exam, and provided urine samples over two 24-hour cycles (included one-night shift for the shift workers). Diurnal quantity of cortisol production (AUCG), cortisol pattern (AUCI), and the magnitude of variation for both AUCG and AUCI was determined across the two cycles using creatinine-adjusted urinary cortisol. Two measures of cardiometabolic risk (CMR) were used: metabolic syndrome (MetS) based on the 2009 Joint Interim Studies consensus statement, and a continuous CMR score created by Hillier and colleagues (2006).
Results: Current shift workers are more likely to have MetS than dayworkers (21% vs. 12%, respectively, OR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.25-4.64) and have a higher CMR score (β: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.12-0.78). Shift work is also associated with a lower average AUCG and a higher magnitude of variation in AUCI, but not with average AUCI or magnitude of variation in AUCG. Average AUCG is a partial mediator in the relationship between shift work and CMR, as measured with the CMR score. There is no evidence that AUCI or either magnitude of variation are intermediates between shift work and CMR.
Conclusions: Current rotating shift workers have a lower quantity of cortisol production, a higher magnitude of variation in pattern, a higher CMR score, and a higher odds of MetS in comparison to day workers. Quantity of cortisol production is a partial mediator in the relationship between current shift work and CMR. Future studies warrant the consideration of other potential mediators in the causal pathway between shift work and CVD risk.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Self-Study as a Method for Continuous Professional Learning in Nursing Education

contributor:
Shulha, Lyn
Education

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

rights: Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada

rights: ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement

rights: Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University

rights: This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.

subject:
Self-Study
Continuous Professional Learning
Embedded Formative Assessment
Reflection
Clinical Nursing Education
Self-Regulated Learning

abstract:
Self-study is recognized as an effective method for examining, understanding, and improving one’s teaching practices in teacher education. This research employed self-study as a continuous professional learning (CPL) approach to become a better clinical nursing instructor, to learn about the effectiveness of formative assessment for promoting more independent self-regulated learning in nursing students, and to build knowledge for scholarship in the profession of nursing.
This research primarily employed a qualitative methodology in three connected studies conducted over three years in clinical nursing education. In each self-study a reflective journal was used for systematic documentation of instructor planning and decision-making, and student responses to the implementation of five formative assessment strategies. Iterative cycles of planning, implementing, and reflecting on instruction and students’ responses facilitated the collection of rich contextually bound data for analysis and interpretation.
Study one examined self-study as an approach for a clinical instructor to translate and implement five specific formative assessment strategies, shown to promote student learning in education, in clinical nursing education. To continue learning about formative assessment and to explore others’ perspectives and experiences, study two employed surveys and interviews with clinical instructor colleagues and their nursing students. The third study, conducted in a new self-study context, examined student reflection assignments to examine the potential of a curriculum-required reflection on clinical practice for supporting independent self-regulated learning.
This research presents the first known self-study of pedagogical practice in clinical nursing education. Results of this study suggest that self-study is an effective approach for CPL to advance competency in clinical instruction. Embedding formative assessment strategies in clinical nursing education was seen to influence and support both teaching and learning. Participation in learning activities that integrated multiple feedback loops (instructor, peer, self, other) was seen to provide students with more helpful evidence for regulating their learning.
The results of this study suggest that instructors and curriculum developers must be explicit in communicating learning intentions and success criteria, and strategic in embedding formative assessment in the instruction and curriculum in support of students’ self-regulation of learning.

abstract: PhD


title: Gas Production and Mass Transfer During Electrical Resistance Heating of Clay Lenses

contributor:
Mumford, Kevin G.
Kueper, Bernard H.
Civil Engineering

subject:
Thermal Remediation
Clay lens
Chlorinated Solvents
Gas Diffusion
Trichloroehene
Contaminant Hydrogeology
In Situ Thermal Treatment
ISTT
Electrical Resistance Heating
ERH

abstract: The objective of this study was to develop a mechanistic understanding of remediation in clay lenses in sand by electrical resistance heating (ERH). Clay lenses are areas of accumulation for dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) and are difficult to remediate. Experiments were performed in a two-dimensional, saturated porous medium comprising of an electrically conductive, low permeability clay lens embedded within a less electrically conductive, higher permeability silica sand. This study is based on an experimental program and mathematical modeling of experimentally measured data. To study the lens exterior, experiments compared the differences in heating and gas production during ERH between pure sand geologies and one containing a clay lens. Preferential heating occurred in the lens interiors with higher rates of heating. Gas production occurred preferentially around the sand-clay interface. Gas production in the interior of clay lenses after ERH was quantified for lenses composed of kaolin and #20-30 silica sand (40%, 70% and 100% kaolin by mass). A measurement technique was developed to interpret electrical conductivity as gas saturation in the lens. Gas saturations after ERH increased with decreasing clay fraction, indicating that a connected gas phase capable of rapid mass removal can be produced in lenses containing moderate amounts of clay. While gas was produced in the pure clay lens, it is possible that a connected gas phase was not achieved at the applied power and treatment time considered. To assess mass transfer mechanisms in lenses, pure clay lenses containing dissolved-phase trichloroethene (TCE) were subjected to ERH to produce gas saturations that were either negligible, disconnected, or connected. Electrical and chemical concentration data were analyzed using diffusion models and indicated that TCE concentration reductions where no gas was produced were consistent with liquid phase diffusion. High gas saturations were likely connected and resulted in non-detect levels of TCE after heating. Concentration reductions at moderate gas saturations were consistent with multi-phase (gas and liquid) diffusive transport when the connected gas phase at the lens exterior is considered. The rate of diffusion increases nonlinearly with gas saturations that are disconnected and immobile, and enhanced by connected gas at the lens interface.

abstract: PhD


title: An Examination of Structural Constraints on Rockfall Behaviour using LiDAR Data

contributor: Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering

subject:
LiDAR
Rockfall
Deformation
Kinematics
Failure Mechanism
Terrestrial Laser Scanning

abstract:
Rockfall hazards along railway corridors in western Canada increase the risk of train derailment, which could lead to loss of life, infrastructure, and environmental damage. In some cases, such rockfalls exhibit pre-failure deformation prior to their detachment from the slope. The goal of this research is to gain an improved understanding of such precursory behaviour, and how it may be affected by the orientation and condition of discontinuity planes constraining rockfall source blocks. This thesis therefore focuses on the nature of rockfall failure mechanisms, explored using remote terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data.
	TLS data was collected at regular 2-3 month intervals at three study sites along the Thompson-Fraser valley in British Columbia, Canada – namely Goldpan, White Canyon, and Mile 109 – from May 2013 to October 2016. A total of 207 rockfalls were identified across all three sites. For each rockfall, the orientation of joints was measured in the post-failure datasets and used to establish a likely failure mechanism. Pre-failure deformation trends were assessed using a roto-translation approach, which expresses the 3-dimensional transformation of a block from one TLS dataset to a successive dataset in terms of translation and rotation components. Rockfalls were classified by their pattern of deformation as well as failure mechanism and it was concluded that toppling blocks are most likely to exhibit detectable translation and rotation deformation using this method.
	The pre-failure deformation of blocks at the Goldpan site was also examined using a vector-based method, which measures block movement in a direction normal to the slope. The classification of such blocks by their failure mechanism revealed an apparent linear relationship between rockfall volume and deformation magnitude and duration for toppling and wedge sliding failures, though additional rockfall cases are required to confirm this.
        The methods for analyzing pre-failure deformation applied in this research have limitations and uncertainties, which are discussed. This work forms a basis for the analysis of precursory rockfall behaviour, which may be used to assess the likelihood and mechanism of future rockfall events.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Engineering Antifreeze Protein Multimers Through Genetic Fusion to Self-Assembling Protein Oligomers

contributor:
Davies, Peter
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

subject:
Antifreeze protein
Ice
Protein Engineering

abstract:
Ice-binding proteins (IBPs) serve many purposes for the organisms producing them, enabling them to thrive in ice-laden environments. Antifreeze proteins (AFPs), a subset of this group, act as biological antifreezes and inhibit ice recrystallization. These ice-binding activities have many applications in the field of biotechnology, and to this end AFPs have been engineered in several ways to increase their activity. One of these strategies is to connect multiple AFPs together using a scaffold, which has been accomplished previously through bioconjugation of AFPs to the reactive termini of branched polymers. The inefficiency of such linkage reactions, however, resulted in heterogeneous mixtures of particles with incomplete occupancy of the available termini. To address this shortcoming, AFPs were genetically fused to the C termini of subunits forming self-assembling protein oligomers, in such a way that the ice-binding site of the AFP was optimally exposed for contact with ice. First, two different type of AFPs were separately fused to 12 of the 24 subunits of a self-assembling protein cage. The subunits assembled into the designed structures, and the AFP multimers showed greatly enhanced freezing point depression and ice recrystallization inhibition over the corresponding monomeric AFPs.
A moderately active fish AFP was also fused to a subunit designed to assemble into two-dimensional arrays, and the resulting fusion protein showed increased freezing point depression over the monomer. However, size-exclusion chromatography of the fusion protein suggested that the subunits were not assembled into a two-dimensional array, and additional structural characterization is needed to elucidate the oligomerization state of this design. Overall, genetic fusion of AFPs to the termini of self-assembling oligomers has proven to be a promising method of enhancing their ice-binding activities, and could be used to arrange AFPs into novel orientations. We also envision that the RosettaDesign program used to design the novel protein assemblies can be applied to AFPs themselves, to generate AFP-to-AFP binding sites on their surfaces and arrange them into oligomers not seen in nature.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Intra-Specific Variation in Sensitivity to Low Calcium in Daphnia Pulex

contributor:
Arnott, Shelley E
Biology

subject:
Daphnia
Calcium Decline
Intra-Specific Variation

abstract: Freshwater systems experience many stressors that can affect aquatic communities; one such stressor is calcium decline. Cation depletion of surrounding soils and watersheds of many North American and Scandinavian lakes is in part due to the legacy effect of logging and acid deposition. An important freshwater grazer, Daphnia, is especially sensitive to calcium decline as it has a heavily calcified chitin carapace that is frequently moulted, resulting in the need to uptake large amounts of calcium from the surrounding water. Studies have documented variation among populations of Daphnia spp. in response to predators, food concentrations, and cyanobacteria, however only one study has assessed intra-specific variation in Daphnia spp. to calcium decline. We predicted that calcium sensitivity of individual Daphnia iso-female lines would depend on the lake calcium concentration of their lake of origin, if the historical exposure to low calcium allowed for a fitness advantage (higher reproduction and survival). Alternatively, variation in calcium tolerance among iso-female lines may exist independent of historical exposure. We tested the calcium sensitivity of 10 Daphnia pulex sensu lato iso-female lines in a life-history experiment under low food and soft water conditions that are associated with the Muskoka, Canada region. Daphnia were exposed to one of five calcium concentrations (0.7, 1.0, 1.5, 2.5, 7mg Ca L-1) for a 21-day period and monitored daily for survival and reproduction and one size measurement was taken at day six. We found that the calcium sensitivity of Daphnia varied among iso-female lines for three responses; total reproduction, size at day six, and population growth rate, but this variation was not explained by source-lake calcium. Overall, our results highlight the existence of intra-specific variation in Daphnia sensitivity to calcium decline, and the need for future experiments to include multiple genotypes to fully understand the impacts this stressor has on Daphnia communities.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Developing an Implicit Measure of Habit Strength: The Habit IAT

contributor:
MacDonald, Tara
Psychology

subject:
Habit
Behaviour
Automaticity
Dual Process
Implicit Measure

abstract: Habits are defined as a form of automatic, spontaneous behaviours that are initiated following exposure to contextual cues. Although habits have been a focus of research for health, social, and consumer psychologists for many years, the literature has overwhelmingly relied on explicit, self-reports to measure habits. This is despite the fact that such measures require deliberative processing, and that individuals are frequently unable to consciously reflect on their spontaneous behaviours in order to accurately respond to self-report measures. To address concerns with self-report measures of habit, I have developed an implicit measure of habit strength: The Habit IAT. The purpose of this study was to validate an implicit measure of habit strength by investigating hand washing, a common habitual behaviour. One-hundred-and-sixty-six undergraduate students completed implicit measures of hand hygiene habit strength (Habit IAT) and attitudes toward hand hygiene (attitude IAT), as well as explicit measures of hand hygiene frequency, hand hygiene habits and attitudes, general self-efficacy, regulatory focus, and the big-five personality dimensions. The Habit IAT and attitude IAT had moderate and good internal consistency, α = .66 and α = .78, respectively. Correlational analyses indicated the Habit IAT was unrelated to an implicit measure of attitudes toward hand hygiene, providing some evidence of discriminant validity for the Habit IAT. In addition, Habit IAT and attitude IAT scores were unrelated to self-report measures of hand hygiene frequency, habit strength, and attitudes. Exploratory analyses were conducted to investigate moderation effects on the relationship between self-reported frequency of hand hygiene, habit strength, and attitudes on Habit IAT and attitude IAT scores. Although this study provides evidence of discriminant validity for the Habit IAT, it is limited by not investigating the ability of Habit IAT scores to predict observed hand hygiene behaviour. Design considerations for the development of future implicit measures of habit are discussed.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Negotiating a Progress Paradox: the Value of Exercise for People Living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

contributor:
Gurd, Brendon
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject: ALS Exercise

abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease that leads to the paralysis of voluntary muscles used for walking, talking, eating and breathing. There is no cure for ALS and current treatments, including exercise therapies, are extremely limited (Kiernan et al., 2011). The first of two studies presented herein aimed to examine the tolerance and training effects of modified sprint interval training (SIT) for people with ALS. Despite an available population and persistent efforts, one participant completed the training study over eighteen months. For this individual, SIT was well tolerated acutely and chronically, and functional capacity and aerobic fitness were unchanged following six weeks of home-based SIT training. The inability to recruit sufficient participants for this intervention trial called into question how individuals living with ALS negotiate exercise and barriers to participation. A second study guided by interpretive phenomenology used in-depth interviews to better understand how everyday experiences of living with ALS impact the ways individuals with ALS engaged with physical activity and exercise. From the subjective accounts of seven men and women living with ALS in Southeastern Ontario, three major themes were identified: 1) living in a changing body, 2) environmental access and 3) the (f)utility of exercise, which speak to the complex process of negotiating the value of exercise for a body that is progressively and incurably deteriorating. Findings suggest there is immense variability and individuality amongst people with ALS and their experiences and attitudes towards physical activity and exercise. Numerous physical, psychological and environmental barriers were also found to be common to people with ALS and may serve as targets to be addressed by future customized exercise interventions.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Performance Patterns Among Internationally Educated Physical Therapist During Clinical Education in a Bridging Program

contributor:
Kathleen, Norman
Rehabilitation Science

subject: Bridging Program

subject: Clinical Internship

subject: Internationally Educated Physiotherapist

subject: Professional Competency Profile

abstract:
Background: The Ontario Internationally Educated Physical Therapy Bridging (OIEPB) program was designed to help internationally educated physiotherapists (IEPTs) increase their success at entering practice in Canada.  The learners (IEPTs) in the OIEPB program undertake two clinical internships, at which they are assessed by preceptors using the Canadian Physiotherapy Assessment of Clinical Performance (ACP).  Our overall goal was to understand the professional competencies and deficiencies in IEPTs as they attempt to integrate into the Canadian physiotherapist workforce.
Methods: Phase 1 was a review of literature to explore the experiences of internationally educated healthcare professionals in their new country; data were analyzed using a conventional content analysis, mapped to the professional competency roles. Phases 2 and 3 were secondary analyses of the data in learners' ACP forms. Phase 2: we descriptively analyzed the scores in the ACP forms. Phase 3: we employed deductive direct content analysis to describe the content of the comment sections of the ACP forms.
Results: For phase 1, 13 studies were included. Communicator role was the most frequently discussed role. Cultural-language and confidence deficits contributed to deficiencies in roles and competencies among IEHPs. For phase 2, most of the 61 learners' scores indicated entry-level performance for 18 of 21 ACP items at the end of both internships. Most IEPTs (84%) either had high scores throughout or had improvements from lower scores to at least 'advanced intermediate' performance level at the end of the second internship. For phase 3, 100 learners’ comment sections were analyzed. Professional conduct and professional practice were the two central themes, with 11 categories for areas of strength (4) and areas of weakness (7).

Conclusion: Most IEPTs showed a progressive improvement in their clinical education performance across internships as judged by ACP scores. Areas of strength included subjective assessment, treatment delivery, patient confidentiality, and inter-professional respect. Areas of weakness included objective assessment, setting SMART goals, logical clinical reasoning, communication, confidence, time management and patient safety. The findings about IEPTs in the OIEPB program are partially congruent with the literature in showing the importance of cultural-language competency and confidence in fulfilling professional roles.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Reading to Learn: Pre-service Secondary School Teachers' Understandings of Subject Area Literacy

contributor:
Lee, Elizabeth
Education

subject:
Subject Area Literacy
Pre-Service Teachers
Secondary School
Understandings

abstract:
This study explored the subject area literacy knowledge and beliefs of five pre-service secondary school teachers in a Bachelor of Education program at a university in Eastern Ontario. It explored the factors that informed the development of participants’ thinking about subject area literacy, including their conceptualizations of how to integrate literacy into their subject area classrooms, and their reactions to a text-based activity that used both a researcher-selected and a participant-selected text selection. Participants represented three teachable subject areas, including history, mathematics, and English.
Subject area literacy is an important concept in adolescent literacy, as secondary school classes require advanced skills for successful completion. Each subject area has its own inherent structures and knowledge bases that one must understand to be successful in that area. These contribute to how successfully one interacts with subject area texts, but do not necessarily transfer between subject areas. Research posits that subject area teachers must explicitly instruct students in “reading to learn,” which was how this study conceptualized literacy.
Participants completed semi-structured interviews that included a text-based activity. Participants were asked to engage with two subject area texts to explore how they believed students would interact with the text, and the support they anticipated students might need to “read to learn” from the text. These interviews resulted in data about pre-service secondary school teachers’ understandings about subject area literacy; how they would integrate literacy into their teaching; the factors that contributed to their thinking about subject-specific literacy; and their understandings about the use of text within their classrooms. These findings could have implications for teacher-education program instructors.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Lifetime Caffeine Intake and the Risk of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

contributor:
Aronson, Kristan J.
Koushik, Anita
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Ovarian Cancer
Caffeine
Lifestyle

abstract: Objectives: To examine the association between lifetime caffeine intake and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) overall, according to tumour behaviour (invasive vs. borderline), and by invasive tumour type (Type I vs. Type II) and to assess menopausal status as an effect modifier. Methods: The PRevention of OVArian Cancer in Quebec (PROVAQ) study is a population-based case-control study that was conducted in Montreal (2011-2016). A total of 497 cases and 904 controls reported lifetime consumption of caffeinated beverages and other variables through in-person interviews. Lifetime average daily caffeine intake values were calculated for each participant and unconditional multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) to describe the association between quartiles of caffeine intake and risk of EOC. A hybrid Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) and change-in-estimate (CIE) procedure determined variables for statistical adjustment. Polytomous logistic regression was used for associations by tumour behaviour and invasive cancer type. Results: Results did not provide strong evidence of an association between lifetime caffeine consumption and overall EOC risk. The adjusted odds ratios (with 95% CIs) for the highest versus lowest quartile of caffeine intake were 1.21 (0.85-1.70) for overall EOC; 1.32 (0.90-1.94) for invasive EOC; and 0.99 (0.54-1.80) for borderline EOC. Further review indicated a suggestive trend of increasing risk with increasing quartile of caffeine consumption for invasive cases, although no such trend was seen for borderline cases. There was no appreciable difference in risk between Type I and Type II tumours. Stratification according to menopausal status yielded ORs that differed in direction and magnitude, however results were statistically non-significant (interaction p-value = 0.09). Further analyses by specific caffeinated drink types generally indicated non-significant results; yet, cola consumption elevated risk for overall, invasive, and invasive Type II EOC at certain consumption categories. Conclusions: Results did not demonstrate a pattern of association between lifetime caffeine intake and EOC risk and there was no strong evidence of menopausal status acting as an effect modifier. Additional drink type analyses indicate that cola intake may increase EOC risk. Further research with increased sample size may be warranted.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The Role of Emotion Regulation in the Relationship Between Pain, Catastrophizing, Depression, and Disability in Women with Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

contributor:
Tripp, Dean
Psychology

subject: Pain

subject: Catastrophizing

subject: Depression

subject: Disability

subject: Emotion Regulation

abstract: Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS) is a chronic pelvic pain condition with an unknown etiology and biomedical treatment outcomes for IC/BPS are poor. Catastrophizing and depression have been implicated in negative outcomes in patients with chronic pelvic pain (e.g., diminished mental and/or physical quality of life, greater pain and disability). The literature has suggested that pain, catastrophizing, depression, and disability are associated variables, but investigations on how they are associated remain to be conducted. Linton and Bergbom (2011) have created a theoretical pathway model that can be used to connect pain, catastrophizing, depression, and disability through an emotion regulation framework. Using the biopsychosocial model, and the Örebro Model of Emotion Regulation for Pain as theoretical frameworks, the primary aim of this study is to examine whether both catastrophizing and difficulties in emotion regulation mediate the relationship between pain and depression/pain-related disability in an IC/BPS sample with serial mediation models. A total of 225 women diagnosed with IC/BPS recruited from tertiary care clinics in Canada and the U.S. completed questionnaires regarding demographics, pain, catastrophizing, emotion regulation, depression, and pain related disability across twelve months. Catastrophizing and difficulties in emotion regulation were found to mediate the relationship between pain and depression/pain-related disability. The longitudinal models were not significant, which might suggest that these psychological actions are stable over time. The relationships between pain, catastrophizing, difficulties in emotion regulation, depression, and disability are discussed in the framework of chronic pain literature, as well as clinical implications, limitations, and areas for future research.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Restorying the Lives of Aboriginal People Connected with the Criminal Justice System

contributor:
McKegney, Sam
Scott, Jill
Cultural Studies

subject:
Aboriginal
Criminal Justice System
Restorying
Storytelling
Resilience
Role Models
Isolation

abstract:
This participatory and community-based research project aims to foster hope and healing for Aboriginal people whose lives have been affected directly by the Criminal Justice System (CJS).  In this project, I recorded the experiences, views, and stories shared by Aboriginal participants to shed new light on the conditions of power that inform their experiences and to create opportunities restory their histories in ways that might foster growth and healing. This restorying circle project is committed to three connected objectives: first, to enable Aboriginal people involved with the CJS to improve their lives; second, to create greater awareness of colonial impediments to justice for Aboriginal people by fostering counter-narratives to the prevailing political rhetoric that we need ‘more jails’ in Canada to lock up the ‘bad guys’; and third, to create new culturally safe models for politically engaged healing.
	The restorying circles designed for this project placed Aboriginal men impacted by the CJS in dialogue with other Aboriginal men who had endured similar experiences. The restorying circles adopted an approach similar to that of the sharing circles utilized in many cultural and spiritual ceremonies within Aboriginal communities. These restorying circles were adapted to serve the needs of Aboriginal former inmates who have varying levels of traditional knowledge, spiritual connection, and cultural experience.
  This project demonstrates the continued need for culturally supportive practices for Aboriginal people involved with the CJS, a need that is particularly acute in urban centers. The project also suggests that Aboriginal people involved with the CJS benefit from the spiritual connections and cultural support enabled within the restorying environment. Furthermore, the project shows how socio-economic factors played a significant role in the paths of these Aboriginal men towards the CJS. In this dissertation, I contend that restorying circles foreground the agency of participants, foster a sense of community that is often lacking for these individuals, and offer opportunities to imagine alternatives to the stories these men have often heard about themselves. The stories created and shared by the participants offer alternatives to disempowerment and criminalization, and they propose a healthier pathway for other Aboriginal people.

abstract: PhD


title: The Limits of Literary Celebrity: Psychiatry, Gender, and Zelda Fitzgerald

contributor:
Willmott, Glenn
English Language and Literature

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States

subject:
Psychiatry
Gender
Women's Writing
Literature
Modernism

abstract: Contemporary culture is in the process of revitalizing the memory of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, an early twentieth-century American author, painter, and dancer, conventionally known as the Queen of the Jazz Age and dubbed the “First American Flapper” by her husband, novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (Cline 1), and frequently remembered more for her struggles with mental illness than her artistic output. At its core, this dissertation is interested in the way that psychomedical discourses shape the construction of a public artistic self, and Part One turns to a burgeoning literary celebrity—one of the most prominent innovations in public life of the early-twentieth century—in order to argue that modernist authorship and celebrity alike depend on masculinist constructions of a virtual, agential, authorial subject. Part Two looks to a flurry of novelistic renarrativizations of Zelda Fitzgerald’s life in early twenty-first century middlebrow literature, identifying in this publishing event a historiographic impulse to renegotiate the cultural memory of a figure who has become paradigmatic both as celebrity and as patient. This reconsideration, Part Two argues, constructs itself as a compassionate exercise, and in so doing demands that middlebrow authors in some way achieve justice through the sympathetic and repeated retelling of these stories. As constructions of authorship also require the construction of a readership, this project suggests that the core function of compassion asks readers and authors alike to in some way turn compassionate feeling into an ethical orientation towards their own societies. As the movement to destigmatize mental illness has seen increasing cultural prevalence in the first decade and a half of the twenty-first century, the question of what compassionate writing about Zelda Fitzgerald prompts readers to do is more important than ever.

abstract: PhD


title: Overlapped Fountain Coding: Design and Analysis

contributor:
Yousefi, Shahram
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
LT Codes
Fountain Codes
Degree Distribution
Overlapped Generations

abstract:
The concept of fountain codes has gained considerable attention in the past few years due to its simplicity, reliability, and feasibility. Nowadays, fountain codes are used in many applications including, but not limited to, data storage, data broadcasting, and point-to-point communications. While traditional fountain codes achieve the channel capacity over the binary erasure channel universally and asymptotically, they offer much room for improvement over other channels, architectures, and regimes. With the development of new technologies for smart cities and the Internet-of-Things (IoT), data transmission methodologies with arguably the highest level of flexibility and adaptability are required. With these technologies, the end users have a very diverse set of capabilities in terms of memory, power, and processing. Besides,
the end users are connected via a wide range of links with various qualities and capacities. As a result, the required methodologies must provide a comprehensive solution whereby voice, data, and streamed multimedia can be provided to users on an anytime-anywhere basis. Also, they must enable a dense network of nodes with very different capabilities to communicate with each other reliably and efficiently.
This thesis focuses on the design of state-of-the-art data transmission methodology with one of the highest levels of flexibility and adaptability. We present a novel fountain-based encoding technique using overlapped generations of Luby-transform (LT) codes. The proposed overlapped LT (OLT) codes provide more degrees of freedom and better trade-offs for the rateless-coded system parameters. They are highly energy-efficient, scalable, and robust. First, we design new LT codes that are robust to the communication system's parameters such as erasure probability as well as the source length. Density
evolution (DE), extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart, and code stability are used to design the parameters of fountain codes with different objectives. The main objectives are: maximizing the code rate, minimizing the bit erasure probability (BEP), and maximizing erasure threshold. Secondly, we propose OLT codes over the binary erasure channel (BEC) as well as additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel to improve the performance in terms of error probability and code rate. Our analysis shows that by using OLT codes, significant gains in error probability and code rate are obtained. In addition, we show that OLT codes require a smaller number of operations to recover the source data compared with conventional LT codes.

abstract: PhD


title: Shift Work Patterns and Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Risk

contributor:
Koushik, Anita
Aronson, Kristan
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Ovarian Cancer
Shift Work
Circadian Disruption
Occupational Health

abstract:
Background/Rationale: Working in non-standard shifts (i.e. nights, evenings) can disrupt circadian function, and this disruption can influence hormone levels that may affect ovarian cancer risk. Few studies have examined the relationship between shift work and ovarian cancer risk, thus, more research is required in this area. The association between shift work exposure and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk, as well as risk according to tumour behaviour (borderline, invasive) and invasive cancer type (Type I, Type II) was investigated.

Methods: In a population-based case-control study conducted in Montreal, Canada (2011-2016), lifetime occupational histories for 496 incident EOC cases and 906 controls were collected in a face-to-face interview. Controls were identified from the Quebec Electoral List and frequency-matched to cases on five-year age groups and electoral district. Shift work exposure for each participant was assessed using three metrics: cumulative exposure, night shift frequency, and night shift intensity. Multivariable unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between shift work exposure metric categories and overall EOC risk. Multivariable polytomous logistic regression was used to estimate associations by EOC subgroup. Associations were also examined for potential effect modification by chronotype and menopausal status.

Results: Over half of cases (53.4%) and controls (51.7%) ever worked shifts that included evenings and/or nights during their lifetime. There was no strong evidence of an association between shift work exposure metrics and overall EOC risk, or by EOC subgroups, where the OR for the highest cumulative exposure tertile vs. never working shifts was 1.20 (95% CI: 0.89-1.63) for overall EOC risk. Tests for multiplicative interaction were not significant for chronotype or menopausal status, however, associations were suggested to vary among chronotypes. Additional analyses regarding cumulative exposure to specific shift timings or schedules indicated no strong association with EOC risk.

Conclusions: Study findings do not provide support for the relationship between shift work exposure and EOC risk. As only three epidemiological studies have been published looking at this association, further investigation is warranted.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Total Synthesis of Thapsigargins

contributor:
Evans, P. Andrew
Chemistry

subject:
Natural Product
Total Synthesis
Thapsigargin
SERCA

abstract:
Thapsigargin is a complex, densely oxygenated guaianolide, which functions as a selective and irreversible subnanomolar inhibitor of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPases.  Importantly, a prodrug of this natural product, mipsagargin, is currently in late-stage clinical trials for the treatment of multiple cancers.  Nevertheless, the limited availability of the material from natural sources, coupled with an estimated demand of one metric ton per annum, provides a compelling mandate to develop a practical total synthesis of this agent.  This thesis describes the development of a concise, efficient and scalable total synthesis of thapsigargin and related natural products, and it is divided into four chapters.
Chapter 1 provides an account of thapsigargin including its isolation, biosynthetic pathway, biological activity, and focuses on the previously reported strategies towards the synthesis of thapsigargin natural products.
Chapter 2 describes our synthetic efforts towards the total synthesis of thapsigargin by using a rhodium-catalyzed [(3+2)+2] carbocyclization reaction as the key step.  This strategy enabled the rapid construction of the highly functionalized guaianolide skeleton present in thapsigargin.
Chapter 3 describes the successful route towards the total synthesis of thapsigargin by using an enantioselective ketone alkylation and a diastereoselective pinacol/lactonization cascade as the key steps.  Our synthetic strategy is inspired by nature’s carbon−carbon bond formation sequence, which facilitates the construction of a highly functionalized guaianolide skeleton in five steps.  Overall, the total synthesis of thapsigargin was accomplished in 12 steps and with 5.8% overall yield from the commercially available (R)-(−)-carvone.
Chapter 4 discusses our ongoing work on the synthesis of other members of thapsigargin natural products, which is exemplified by the completion of the total synthesis of nortrilobolide in 10 steps and with 13.3% overall yield from the commercially available (R)-(−)-carvone.  The divergent nature of our strategy should permit the rapid preparation of all the members of thapsigargins and a library of simplified thapsigargin analogs for detailed structure−activity relationship studies.

abstract: PhD


title: Gallicization In Rome: A Study of Lexical Borrowing as Evidence for Gallo-Roman Cultural Diffusion

contributor:
Kavanagh, Bernard
Classics

subject:
Latin
Lexical Borrowing
Cultural Diffusion
Gaul
Rome

abstract: Following in the footsteps of Karl Schmidt’s 1967 article, Keltisches Wortgut im Lateinischen, and J.P. Wild’s 1970, Borrowed Names for Borrowed Things?, this thesis examines a total of twenty-one Gallic lexical items that were borrowed by the Latin language during the period of Roman hegemony over the whole of Gaul and, from that point, discusses whether the borrowing of these terms is proof of corresponding instances of cultural diffusion.  In an effort to examine lexical and cultural integration in tandem, this study has selected terms from three semantic categories of material culture, specifically ‘food and drink’, ‘clothing’, and ‘wheeled vehicles’, and uses contextual evidence from the literary record to gauge the integration levels of the terms within both the Latin language and Roman culture.  As a result, this thesis not only reveals much valuable information pertaining to both lexical and cultural integration, but also the effect which factors like perceived social status and the search of prestige had on the entire process.  Furthermore, as a form of linguistic archaeology, this study succeeds in reconstructing certain aspects of Celtic culture which may have otherwise been lost to the passage of time.

abstract: M.A.


title: The Compositional Effects of Time Spent in Sleep, Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity on Obesity in Children

contributor:
Ian, Janssen
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Compositional
Physical Activity
Sedentary
Sleep
Obesity
Epidemiology

abstract:
Abstract
Purpose
	Physical activity, sedentary behaviour (SB) and sleep have traditionally been studied as independent behaviours and not as co-dependent behaviours that are compositional in nature. This study used compositional data analyses to investigate the co-dependent relationships between time spent in movement behaviours (sleep, SB, light intensity physical activity (LIPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity MVPA)) and obesity among children.
Methods
	434 children aged 10-13 years were studied. Participants wore an Actical accelerometer for 7 days to determine time spent in SB, LIPA, and MVPA. Time spent sleeping was determined from the accelerometer and a log. The outcomes of interest were the body mass index, waist circumference, and fat mass index. Compositional data analysis was used to examine associations. This involved transforming the movement behaviours using an isometric log ratio transformation, using regression to model the associations, and back-transforming the regression coefficients to estimate how displacing time from one movement behaviour with another influenced the obesity measures.
Results
	The composition of movement behaviours was associated with all three obesity measures (p<0.001). Relative to the other movement behaviours, time spent in MVPA was negatively associated with the obesity measures (p<0.01), time spent in LIPA was positively associated with the obesity measures (p<0.05), while time spent in SB and sleep were not associated with the obesity measures. The most meaningful time displacements were for MVPA, and these displacements were larger at lower MVPA levels. For example, reallocating 10 minutes of MVPA to 10 minutes of LIPA was associated with a 2.7% (95% CI: 2.4, 2.8), 2.0% (95% CI: 1.8, 2.1), and 1.5% (95% CI: 1.4,1.6) increase in BMI z-score at the 25th, mean, and 75th MVPA percentiles, respectively.
Conclusion
	The composition of movement behaviours across the day was associated with the obesity measures. The displacement of time from MVPA to LIPA were associated with the most significant changes in the obesity measures.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Characterization of Signal Transduction Pathways Required for Starvation Longevity in the Model Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans

contributor:
Chin-Sang, Ian
Biology

subject:
Caenorhabditis Elegans
Signal Transduction Pathway
DAF-18
L1 Arrest
L1 Longevity

abstract: Growth and development is controlled by specific sets of gene products (proteins and RNAs),  forming  metabolic and developmental pathways. Mutations in these genes can result in abnormal growth of cells, leading to diseases such as cancer. "Phosphatase and tensin homolog" (PTEN) is one of the main proteins that control developmental and growth processes in humans. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, DAF-18 is the homolog of PTEN. At the L1 larval stage, worms use an insulin-like signalling pathway to detect the availability of nutrients. DAF-18 is an antagonist of the insulin signalling pathway and is essential in maintaining quiescence during L1 arrest. Insulin-like peptides bind to the insulin receptor triggering a signal transduction pathway, which inhibits a transcription factor (DAF-16/FOXO) from entering the nucleus and activating the transcription of stress resistance genes. In L1 arrest, wild-type worms can survive up to 22 days without food. We and others have shown that daf-16 mutants show a decreased survival of 13 days in L1 arrest while daf-18 mutants can only survive up to 3-4 days. This discrepancy in time suggests that although DAF-18 is upstream of DAF-16, DAF-18 has additional functions essential in maintaining L1 arrest and L1 is, in part, independent of DAF-16 signalling. The aim of this study is to identify a potential alternate DAF-18 pathway, which works independently of DAF-16 and plays a crucial role in L1 survival. I predict that over- or under-expressing genes downstream of daf-18 in the alternate pathway will allow the daf-18 mutant worms to live longer than 4 days. I was able to isolate two suppressors through EMS screening, that can enhance the survival up to almost wild type even when DAF-18 is mutated and are possible members of alternate pathway. I also studied the effect of DAF-2 on L1 arrest with somatic daf-18 rescue. From Yeast Two-Hybrid screens, I isolated multiple possible interactors of DAF-18. The discovery of a new pathway will provide a better understanding of larval growth and development in C. elegans. Moreover, these findings could identify genes that  play major roles in control of cellular growth and the development of cancer.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Can the Single-Leg Hop Distinguish Between ACL Reconstructed Individuals and Controls

contributor:
Costigan, Patrick
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject:
Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Single-Leg Hop
Kinetics
Kinematics
Exit Test
Evaluation

abstract:
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common orthopedic injuries (Sanders et al., 2016). Following reconstruction of the ACL a patient must be medically cleared before returning to full participation in sport or activities. The single-leg hop for distance test is one that is used to help determine a patient’s readiness to return to sport. A patient will pass this test if they achieve ≥90% symmetry in distance jumped with each leg, although this does not always mean that the limbs are working in the same way to achieve this symmetrical distance. Therefore, this study hoped to find other measures that could be added to strengthen the single-leg hop for distance test.
Kinematic and kinetic data were collected on 24 control participants and 6 ACL reconstructed (ACLR) participants as they performed the single-leg hop for distance test. Participants were asked to jump as far as they could, taking-off from one foot and landing on two. Hop distances were measured to calculate the hop distance limb symmetry index (LSI). Joint angular velocity and joint power were calculated at the hip, knee and ankle, but only the take-off portion of the hop was used for statistical analyses. A logistic regression was performed to predict participant group membership using knee joint power.
All controls and ACLR participants achieved a 90% hop distance LSI. Although all participants achieved ≥90% LSI, not all participants were symmetrical across all joints. Two participants, 1 ACLR and 1 control had knee power correlations less than 0.4, and even though their power correlation scores were low, their joint angular velocity correlations were higher. The logistic regression classified 1 control and 1 ACLR as ACLRs, while everyone else was classified as a control, although it was not significant.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Identifying a Hypermethylation Signature for the Blood-Based Detection of Estrogen Receptor-Positive (ER+) Breast Cancer

contributor:
Mueller, Christopher
Pathology and Molecular Medicine

subject:
Breast cancer
Methylation
Early detection

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Childhood Maltreatment and Mechanisms of Vulnerability Within Anhedonia and Depression

contributor:
Harkness, Kate
Psychology

subject:
Major Depressive Disorder
Childhood Maltreatment
Anhedonia
Reward Responsivity
Stress Reactivity

abstract: Anhedonia is one of the defining features of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and may be characteristic of an especially severe depression. Because MDD is highly heterogeneous, anhedonia may represent an easier target for research on how childhood maltreatment is associated with MDD and anhedonia and on the underlying mechanisms of dysfunction within this disorder. The goal of the current study is to test the hypothesis that the association between childhood maltreatment and anhedonia is mediated by two endophenotypes: (a) blunted neuroendocrine response to stress, and (b) blunted responsivity to reward. Further, consistent with the related neurobiological underpinnings of threat and reward systems, we hypothesize that in our full sample, individual differences in stress reactivity will be correlated with individual differences in reward responsivity. The current study includes 89 adults (39 with MDD, 47 non-depressed) who were well-characterized in terms of their diagnostic and symptom profiles, and who participated in a laboratory stress challenge (the Trier Social Stress Task; TSST) and a computerized Probabilistic Reward Task (PRT). Our hypothesized mediation model was not supported by the results. However, I did find that blunted reward learning was correlated with blunted stress reactivity. Further, different forms of childhood maltreatment were preferentially associated with different symptoms of anhedonia. Contrary to hypotheses, I also found that within the depressed group, childhood maltreatment, depression severity, and anhedonia were positively correlated with response bias on the PRT. Also contrary to hypotheses, within the depressed group stress reactivity was positively associated with anhedonic symptoms, although these results were not statistically significant. Although our overall model was not supported by the results, my findings suggest that reward responsivity, stress reactivity, and anhedonia remain important research targets in understanding the etiology of MDD. These findings also help to shed light on the negative outcomes associated with childhood maltreatment.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Characterization of the Circadian Rhythm of Pain in Naive and Neuropathic Mice

contributor:
Ghasemlou, Nader
Gilron, Ian
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Circadian Rhythm
Somatosensation
Pain
Mouse
Chronobiology

abstract: Neuropathic pain is defined as “pain caused by a lesion or disease of the nervous system”. Neuropathic pain conditions are estimated to affect up to 8% of the population worldwide and presently, the most common treatment strategies are often ineffective. Opioids, for example, are a “last effort” treatment which, when used properly, are only effective at reducing pain, on average, by 20-30%. Treatment with opioids however, is problematic not only because of the large number of side effects but also because of the high risk of developing tolerance and/or addiction. Thus, new therapeutic options are required to treat neuropathic and other chronic pain conditions. Clinical studies have recently demonstrated that patients with chronic neuropathic pain often exhibit circadian fluctuations in pain intensity, with patients reporting significantly higher levels of pain in the evening than during the day. We therefore sought to understand whether a link exists between circadian rhythms and somatosensory activity using a mouse model. To this end, we used standard behavioural assays to measure mechanical and thermal sensitivity in both male and female, naïve and nerve-injured C57BL/6J mice at different times of the day. We found a circadian pattern only in the heat sensitivity of naïve animals, with mice displaying a higher sensitivity at 9am than at 9pm. Pharmacological characterization of this pattern by intraplantar injection of capsaicin suggests that the observed rhythm may be modulated by the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) ion channel, as mice displayed a higher level of sensitivity when injected at 9am than at 9pm. Nerve-injured males were found to display a circadian rhythm in mechanical sensitivity (they were more sensitive at 9am than at 9pm), while the female data remains inconclusive. These results provide evidence that mice display a modality-specific circadian rhythm of pain. Future studies will be required to expand on these findings and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the circadian control of pain, both naïve and after injury. The robust rhythm observed, however, does provide a foundation upon which future studies can build, with the hope of translating this research from bench to bedside.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: "When You Change the Life of a Woman, You Change a Nation": Analyzing the Experiences of Indigenous Women's Organizations and Organizers in Canada

contributor:
Jefremovas, Villia
Global Development Studies

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

subject:
Indigenous women
Organizations
Organizing
Governmentality
Power
Surveillance

abstract: Since the point of first contact, Indigenous women on Turtle Island have been actively resisting colonial gendered violence. Their organizing reached a watershed moment in the 1970s when many women came together to cohesively resist the enshrined racism and sexism within Indian Affairs policy and legislation. This early organizing was seen as Indigenous women “waking up to their [traditional] responsibilities” (Maracle, 2003, p. 75), which ultimately spurred the creation of organizations that specifically support Indigenous women and their issues. Today, Indigenous women’s organizational and organizing work continues to grow at rapid rates, which underscores the important role that they play in advancing the rights of Indigenous women and promoting the well-being of their communities. Yet, despite the significant amount of work Indigenous women carry out, they continue to experience intricate challenges organizing due to the settler colonial state they are operating within, where they have been persistently excluded, silenced and surveilled. This thesis will interrogate these challenges that Indigenous women face when they organize. This will be done through exploring Indigenous women’s experiences through a settler colonial governmentality lens that centres Indigenous women’s perspectives. The utilization of this framework will reveal that the settler colonial state is threatened by the existence of Indigenous women and therefore uses governmentality tactics to maintain power and control over them and their work. At the same time, it will also be demonstrated that Indigenous women’s organizations and organizers courageously confront these challenges so that they can continue to support Indigenous women, girls and their communities.

abstract: M.A.


title: Behavioural Correlates of Social Dominance in Male Zebra Finches

contributor:
Montgomerie, Robert
Biology

subject:
Social Dominance
Zebra Finch
Behaviour
Personality

abstract: Illuminating the adaptive nature of animal behaviours is a major goal of evolutionary biology, and the fitness consequences for many behaviours have been well-documented. Animal personality research seeks to achieve this goal by first integrating multiple behaviours into a single ‘personality’ trait, but it has been argued that this approach offers no additional value to the traditional methods of assessing multiple, isolated behaviours as potential predictors of fitness. In this study, I measure seven behavioural traits in male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to determine the consistency of those behaviours within individuals and contexts, and to investigate how well these traits predict social dominance, measured as aggressive interactions between males, in a feeding context. This study was designed to compare directly with previous results from a study of female zebra finches that investigated the relationship between behaviour and social dominance from a personality perspective. I found that while the analysis of personality suggests that there is no association between behaviour and social dominance, the analysis of individual behaviours reveals that several behaviours significantly predict social dominance in males. Females similarly show no association between personality and social dominance when the latter is measured as aggressive interactions between females, but it is possible that evaluation of multiple, isolated behaviours would reveal a different pattern in females, as well. I conclude that the study of individual behavioural traits, rather than integrated personality traits, is probably more useful for evaluating the adaptive significance of behaviours, and provides results that are much easier to interpret and compare among different studies and species.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Integrated Visual Odometry For Improved Autonomous Vehicle Navigation

contributor:
Noureldin, Aboelmagd
Givigi, Sidney
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Autonomous Vehicle
Visual Odometry
Multi Sensor Fusion
Inertial Navigation System
Global Positioning System

abstract:
Safe, efficient, and comfortable travel has always been a fundamental human necessity. From reducing commute time to saving lives, autonomous vehicles promise to be an indispensable tool in the age of modern urban transportation. However, implementing such a disruptive technology comes with significant challenges, a major one being accurate vehicle positioning and localization.
In situations such as urban cores, parking lots, and under dense foliage, positioning information provided by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) deteriorates significantly. GNSS is increasingly integrated with other systems such as the inertial navigation system (INS) and Visual Odometry (VO) to bridge these outages. The major drawback of current integration systems is that they are unable to provide a stable navigation estimate during extended and frequent GNSS outages, situations common to autonomous vehicles.
To improve the overall system accuracy, this thesis presents a multi-sensor navigation solution that integrates GNSS with a low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU) and VO. Firstly, a switching architecture is detailed, which implements a loosely coupled extended Kalman filter (EKF) that fuses VO updates only when GPS is unavailable, reducing computational resources while limiting the errors inherent in an INS. Secondly, termed R-AVO (Reduced - Aided Visual Odometry), the orientation and translation of a vehicle, as determined by a low drift INS algorithm, is used to evaluate which feature matches from the processed image frames are to be considered in VO. This method is shown to be both more accurate and less computationally expensive than classic feature outlier rejection schemes, which are iterative in nature. Reducing the computation complexity of VO paves the way for even more sensors to be utilized by a vehicle.
The developed algorithms are evaluated on several real road trajectories, including simulated outages that are as long as 10 minutes. To ensure generic implementations, two different land vehicles are used in the trajectories and two different IMUs are tested.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Lessons in Womanhood: Education at the Prison for Women, 1934-1965

contributor:
Christou, Theodore
Education

subject:
Women's History
Prison for Women
Educational History

abstract:
The Prison for Women (P4W) in Kingston, Ontario was the sole federal prison for Canadian women throughout the majority of the twentieth century. As such, studying P4W represents a comprehensive study of Canadian women’s incarceration, which is unique in Canadian prison history in comparison to men’s institutions. This thesis explores the educational history of P4W from 1934-1965 to examine what opportunities were afforded to incarcerated women and to reveal the intentions of the Penitentiary Service in their provision of education.
	This thesis argues that education at P4W intended to reform incarcerated women into models of respectable womanhood. This project relies on archival documents from the Correctional Service of Canada fonds at Library and Archives Canada, files from the Public Safety Library Archives, the Isabel J. Macneill fonds from the Nova Scotia Archives, and prisoner press publications. To frame this research, this thesis takes a blended functionalist and narrative approach to legal history to underscore that the development of education in P4W followed the development of education in Ontario, and that narratives are required to appreciate P4W’s gendered educational history. P4W’s education is contextualized by Chapter One, which provides an overview of imprisonment in English Canadian history.
	To further deepen analysis, education has been separated and organized into three categories: academic, vocational, and recreational. Chapter Two analyzes academic education and reveals that incarcerated women’s education relied heavily on correspondence courses. This reliance resulted in the neglect of illiterate women’s education until 1949 when the first teacher was hired. Chapter Three analyzes vocational education and presents the narrow options that incarcerated women had for employment. Chapter Four analyzes recreational education which explores what types of activities incarcerated women were allowed to participate in outside of their daily prison employment. Each of these chapters conclude that incarcerated women in P4W were offered educational programs that reinforced ideas and behaviours associated with respectable womanhood.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Ancient Macedonian Ethnic Identity: A Study with Emphasis on the Literary Sources From the 5th c. B.C. to the 2nd c. A.D.

contributor:
Foley, Anne
Classics

subject: Macedon Macedonia Ethnicity Identity

abstract: The ethnic identity of the ancient Macedonians continues to be the most debated subject within Macedonian historiography. The debate has fixated on a simple question: were the Macedonians Greeks, or a separate ethnic group? Rather than attempting to trace the exact origins of the Macedonians – an exceedingly difficult task in dealing with any ancient people – this thesis will focus on the ethnic presentation of the Macedonians: how do the ancient literary sources identify the Macedonians? How did the Macedonians identify themselves? What factors shaped the Greeks’ perspectives towards the Macedonian kings and their people? How much can we reasonably infer about the Macedonians’ ethnic self-perception and identification in the absence of their own literary testimony? This thesis will seek to answer these essential questions by providing a comprehensive analysis of the relevant ancient literary sources dating from the mid-late 5th c. B.C. to the early 2nd c. A.D., devoting careful attention to all of those passages which particularly relate to the subject of Macedonian ethnic identity. It will be demonstrated that the first established ruling dynasty of Macedon, the Argeads, may be considered Greek according to both modern and ancient Greek criteria for ethnicity; they held a conscious identity as Greeks and were accepted as such at a fairly early point by the intellectual and literary elite of southern Greece. Regarding the wider Macedonian populace, however, more direct evidence is required for us to readily ascertain their sense of ethnic identity. While an ethnocultural merging of Greeks and Macedonians does appear in literature by a later point in antiquity, the Greeks of the Classical period were consistent in designating the Macedonian people as ‘barbarians.’ Although further literary evidence (especially in the form of an average Macedonian communicating their sense of ethnic self-perception) is needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn, we may perhaps best understand the Greeks and Macedonians as ethnically related yet distinct groups, gradually placed in close ethnocultural alignment by Greek writers only in the centuries following Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Near East.

abstract: M.A.


title: Epigenetic Modification of Phenotype in Intestinal Smooth Muscle Cells

contributor:
Blennerhassett, Michael
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Intestinal smooth muscle
Phenotype
Crohn's disease
Intestinal stricture
Epigenetics

abstract:
Inflammation causes proliferation of intestinal smooth muscle cells (ISMC), contributing to the thickened intestinal wall and the dysmotility symptoms observed in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A unique consequence of Crohn’s disease (CD), a subset of IBD characterized by chronic, transmural intestinal inflammation, is the formation of obstructive strictures attributable to ISMC hyperplasia. In vitro, prolonged proliferation of ISMC results in loss of their normal contractile phenotype, including decreased expression of contractile markers and the neurotrophin glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). In other diseases of smooth muscle hyperplasia, epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation and histone acetylation, affect smooth muscle phenotype and contribute to impaired tissue function. Any epigenetic role in regulating gene expression and the contractile phenotype of ISMC is unknown.
Repeated passage ISMC were treated with trichostatin A (TSA) and 5-azacytidine (AZA), which inhibit enzymes that deacetylate histones and methylate DNA, respectively, and the outcomes on phenotype were assessed. TSA and AZA treatment decreased the enhanced growth response of repeated passage ISMC, and increased the expression of contractile markers, SMA and SM22. Repeated passage cells treated with TSA and AZA increased expression of muscarinic receptor 3, myosin light chain kinase 2, and showed an increased response to carbachol stimulation. TSA and AZA treatment also increased GDNF expression, and improved the neurotrophic function of repeated passage ISMC. Compared to low passage ISMC, repeated passage cells had increased DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) expression. ISMC from human strictures showed a decreased contractile phenotype, with increased levels of DNMT1 and HDAC5. Repeated passage human ISMC also had decreased expression of contractile markers SMA and SM22, mimicking the rat model. These findings suggest that the altered contractile phenotype of ISMC is associated with epigenetic changes, including increased DNA methylation and histone deacetylation. Furthermore, this evidence supports a potential therapeutic role for improving the contractility of ISMC, and restoring proper motility in CD patients.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Canadian Secondary School Professionals Awareness of the Needs of Military-Connected Children

contributor:
Lee, Elizabeth
Education

subject: Military-Connected Children

subject: Canadian Military

subject: Military Lifestyle

subject: Canadian School Professionals

subject: Military-Connected Students

subject: Awareness of Military-Connected Children

subject: Perceptions of Military-Connected Children

abstract:
Military families live a unique lifestyle. Mobility, separation, and risk are three important factors that distinguish military families from their civilian counterparts. Since the start of the Global War on Terror, there has become an increased interest within the United States to understand, prevent, and reduce the effects associated with living in a military family. However, since the military is a microcosm of Canadian society, there has been a lack of research that addresses military-connected children in the Canadian context. Thus, the needs of Canadian military-connected children are not fully understood. The purpose of this qualitative research is to explore how military-connected children and their unique needs are perceived by school professionals in Canadian secondary schools.
This research followed a phenomenological research methodology to explore the perceptions of Canadian secondary school professionals of military-connected students and their unique needs. Six participants, selected via snowball sampling, participated in a single in depth, one-on-one interview. The audio data was transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a general inductive approach. 							The findings suggest that Canadian secondary school professionals are generally aware of the military lifestyle. However, school professionals lack an overall awareness of how secondary schools are currently addressing and supporting the needs of military-connected children. Based on these findings, implications of the study are discussed and recommendations for future work in this field are made. This research contributes to the wider body of research regarding the educational experiences of military-connected children by offering the voices of Canadian secondary school teachers and describing how these school professionals perceive military-connected children and their needs.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Elucidating the Functions and Impact of Inhibition of Mitotic Kinesins in Candida Albicans

contributor:
Allingham, John
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

subject:
Candida Albicans
Cell Biology
Fungal Proteins
Kinesin-5
Mitosis
Antifungal Agents

abstract: Kinesin-5 family members are classically known for generating outward forces that push spindle poles apart to drive bipolar spindle assembly and elongation. Kinesin-14 members contribute inward forces that pull spindle poles together and control its elongation prior to anaphase. In many eukaryotes, loss of kinesin-5 activity leads to failure of bipolar spindle formation and cell death. However, simultaneous loss of the counteracting kinesin-14 rectifies this problem and cells survive. This phenomenon led to the widely accepted “force-balance” model explaining the actions of these mitotic motor proteins in orchestrating spindle assembly. In this thesis, the cell biological studies of kinesin-5 (Kip1) and kinesin-14 (Kar3Cik1) in Candida albicans reveal distinct mechanisms of spindle assembly and stabilization. Although defective in normal progression through mitosis, kip1Δ/Δ cells are viable and can form bipolar spindles. Also unique is that simultaneous loss of Kip1 and Kar3Cik1 is lethal. Therefore, spindle force-balance is either not restored upon dual depletion of these motors, or their combined loss cannot be compensated for by other spindle-associated factors. Using time-lapse microscopy of kip1Δ/Δ cells, it was observed that many budding cells contained two bipolar spindles that often segregated independently to the mother and bud. In kip1Δ/Δ cells that had experienced cell-cycle arrest, essentially all exhibited this duplicated spindle morphology. These phenotypes imply that C. albicans predominantly employs kinesin-5 as a spindle microtubule crosslinking protein, rather than as a microtubule sliding motor needed for outward pushing force. Examination of Kip1 localization by fluorescence microscopy indicated that these putative crosslinking activities are focused at the spindle poles and at the spindle midzone. By following spindle dynamics, the spindle duplication event was established to occur at the onset of anaphase by bipolar spindle breakage at the midzone. Additionally, it appeared kip1Δ/Δ cells contained multiple clusters of chromatin. These findings imply a role of Kip1 in maintaining spindle integrity, presumably by interpolar microtubule cross-bridging. Finally, similar to kar3cik1Δ/Δ cells, kip1Δ/Δ cells are defective at mature hyphal growth. Combined with the compromised spindle function of kip1Δ/Δ cells, the lack of identifiable septa in immature hyphal compartments suggests that improper distribution of nuclear material underlies this defect.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The Association between the UGT2B17 Gene Deletion and Menopause-Related Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women in the CCTG MAP.3 Breast Cancer Chemoprevention Trial

contributor:
Richardson, Harriet
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Exemestane
Quality of Life
UGT2B17
UGT2B17 Deletion
Chemoprevention
Breast Cancer
Vasomotor symptoms

abstract:
Background:  Mammary Prevention.3 (MAP.3) was a randomized placebo controlled trial of exemestane for breast cancer prevention. Participants commonly experienced vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes. Exemestane is ultimately eliminated through glucuronidation activity by UGT2B17; approximately 10% of Caucasians are homozygous null for the UGT2B17 gene. The UGT2B17 deletion is hypothesized to be associated with worsened vasomotor health-related quality of life (HRQL) in women randomized to exemestane.
Objective: The thesis objectives examine the relationship between UGT2B17 genotype and 1) worsened vasomotor HRQL and 2) incident adverse vasomotor HRQL. This thesis also explores whether UGT2B17 genotype modifies the relationship between incident adverse vasomotor symptoms and early treatment discontinuation.
Methods: MAP.3 participants completed the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) at study entry, and at 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. Multivariable modified Poisson regression and logistic regression were used to assess the association between UGT2B17 genotype and worsened vasomotor HRQL and incident adverse vasomotor HRQL, respectively. The relationship between UGT2B17 genotype, incident adverse vasomotor HRQL and early discontinuation was investigated with modified Poisson regression.
Results: Of the 3576 MAP.3 participants, 46% experienced worsened vasomotor HRQL within 12 months. 11% of participants had the UGT2B17 homozygous deletion. The UGT2B17 deletion polymorphism was not significantly associated with worsened vasomotor HRQL (RR=1.03; 95% CI: 0.96-1.11). Additionally, there was no statistically significant association between UGT2B17 status and incident adverse vasomotor HRQL (OR=0.61; 95% CI: 0.32-1.19) or interaction with treatment (p-valueinteraction = 0.17), although the association trended towards a protective effect, particularly in the placebo group (OR=0.17; 95% CI: 0.02-1.29). Incident adverse vasomotor HRQL was significantly associated with early treatment discontinuation (RR=3.05; 95% CI: 2.28-4.07) but the UGT2B17 deletion did not modify this relationship (p-valueinteraction = 0.30).
Conclusions: In contrast to the study hypothesis, it appears the UGT2B17 deletion polymorphism is not associated with worsened vasomotor HRQL in women randomized to exemestane. The lack of UGT2B17 activity may attenuate the effects of exemestane-induced estrogen depletion on vasomotor symptoms, via a sex steroid metabolic pathway. Further research on the UGT2B17 deletion could help clarify its role with respect to endogenous estrogen availability in women with menopause-related symptoms.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The Subfornical Organ: A Novel Site for Prolactin Action

contributor:
Ferguson, Alastair
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Prolactin
Subfornical Organ
Electrophysiology
Real-Time Quantitative PCR

abstract:
Prolactin (PRL) is a peptide hormone which performs over 300 biological functions, including
those that require binding to prolactin receptor (PRL-R) in neurons within the central nervous system
(CNS) (Bole-Feysot, Goffin, Edery, Binart, & Kelly, 1998). In order to enter the CNS, circulating PRL
must overcome the blood-brain barrier. As such, areas of the brain that do not possess a blood-brain
barrier, such as the subfornical organ (SFO), are optimally positioned to interact with systemic PRL. The
SFO has been classically implicated in energy and fluid homeostasis but has the potential to influence
estrous cyclicity and gonadotropin release, which are also functions of PRL. We sought to confirm and
characterize the expression of PRL-R in the SFO as well as identify the effects of PRL application on
membrane excitability of dissociated SFO neurons. Using real-time quantitative PCR, we identified PRLR
mRNA in the SFO in male and female Sprague Dawley rats. PRL-R expression did not significantly
differ between males (n=10) and females (n=24), between juveniles (n=10) and sexually mature (n=24)
rats, or across the estrous cycle (n=19). Patch-clamp recordings were then obtained using juvenile male
rats to further investigate the actions of PRL at the SFO. Dissociated SFO neurons perfused with 10 pM
to 1 μM PRL resulted in three subpopulations of neurons which either depolarized, hyperpolarized, or did
not respond to PRL application (n=111). The proportion and magnitude of responses were independent of
PRL concentration. Furthermore, a majority of SFO neurons showed a reduction in the transient K+
current following PRL exposure. The stability in response to PRL and expression of PRL-R in the SFO
suggests PRL function is conserved across physiological states and circulating PRL concentrations,
although further studies are required to elucidate the nature of PRL function in the SFO.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The functional characterization of klp-20/vab-6: A gene encoding a kinesin-like protein required for Caenorhabditis elegans embryonic morphogenesis

subject: elegans genetics nematode kip-20 kinesin

abstract: Motor proteins convert chemical energy to perform mechanical work which cells require for essential activities, such as transporting cargo away from the nucleus. Kinesins are one class of molecular motors which cells use to transport various molecules or entire organelles from one location to another. They play a central role during the building of the cilium which is responsible for various activities including cell signaling. In our model organism Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), the klp-20 gene encodes a kinesin-like protein belonging to the kinesin-2 family of plus-end directed microtubule-based motor proteins. In the worm we refer to the protein encoded by the klp-20 gene as KLP-20 and the human ortholog is KIF3A, encoded by the Kif3a gene. Throughout this thesis, this kinesin motor will be represented by the C. elegans name followed by the human ortholog (KLP-20/KIF3A). There are two members of the kinesin-2 family. The first is Kinesin-II which is a heterotrimeric motor complex which consists of the KLP-20/KIF3A subunit, along with KLP-11/KIF3B and KAP-1/KAP-3. The second member is OSM-3/KIF17. Both Kinesin-II and OSM-3/KIF17 participate in a bidirectional motility transport intraflagellar transport (IFT) needed for ciliogenesis, the building of the cilium. Originally, klp-20 mutants were identified as vab-6 mutants due to their most striking bumpy body variable abnormal (Vab) phenotype. This phenotype can be rescued by expressing klp-20 pan neuronally. Null alleles of klp-11(tm324) and kap-1(ok676) do not show this Vab phenotype, suggesting that KLP-20 may have roles independent of its classical heterotrimeric complex. Expression patterns of the KLP-20 suggests the protein having a strong role in the nervous system. The aim of this study is to characterize the role of KLP-20 and understand how mutations in klp-20 causes defective epidermal morphogenesis. I predict that Kinesin-II functions along microtubules to participate in neuron development and axonal growth and I hope to understand how this could generate the abnormal epidermal phenotype. KLP-20 has a role in the development of amphid sensory neurons and mechanosensory neurons. We hope these findings will allow us to better understand the cell nonautonomous behavior of KLP-20 and ultimately the molecular processes involved in morphogenesis.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Music Engagement in Alzheimer Disease

contributor:
Cuddy, Lola
Psychology

subject:
Music Cognition
Alzheimer Disease

abstract: Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by progressive memory loss and deterioration of functional abilities, but anecdotal and clinical observations suggest that many individuals with AD continue to respond in meaningful ways to music, sometimes well into the course of the disease. Previous research in the psychology and neuroscience of music has established that some music cognitive and perceptual abilities are less affected by AD than others, but it is unclear what implications these preserved abilities have for how individuals with AD engage with music in their daily lives. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between music cognition and engagement. Study 1 examined episodic, implicit, and semantic memory for melodies in participants with AD relative to older adult and younger adult control groups. AD participants showed impaired ability to form new memories for melodies, but their semantic memory for melodies was on par with that of the older and younger control participants. Study 2 addressed the need for an informant-report measure of music engagement. 35 items were created in parallel self-report and informant-report formats. Exploratory factor analysis of data from a large development sample guided the construction of six subscales, each of which showed high internal reliability. A further study showed a high correlation between self-report and informant-report versions in a sample of older adult respondents. Study 3 explored patterns of association between semantic memory for melodies, melody perception, and music engagement in a series of 15 AD cases. No single cognitive or perceptual ability was sufficient to explain cases of high music engagement. Heterogeneity between cases supports the hypothesis that there are multiple pathways by which music engagement may be sustained in those with AD. Individual cases are examined to draw out implications for basic and clinical research on music and AD.

abstract: PhD


title: Stories of ‘Born-Again’ Women in Uganda: Epistemic Violence, Visceral Faith, and Subversive Performances of Subjectivity

subject:
Epistemic Violence
Global Coloniality
Colonial Mimicry
Born Again Christianity
Uganda
Feminist Ethnography

abstract:
Between 1986 and 1991, missionaries “pioneered” the Hope Land base of the
international missions organization: Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Situated just
outside of Jinja, Uganda, the Hope Land base’s vision is “to be a training center, running
schools accredited by YWAM’s University of the Nations,” and to be “committed to
discipling men and women, while equipping them with the professional skills necessary
to serve and reach the world for Christ”. Run by a small group of
leaders, the British directors of the Hope Land base oversee a community of international
and national students and staff, who live “To Know God and Make God Known”.
Using data collected in qualitative interactive interviews with Ugandan women, I
discuss the lives of a diverse group of ‘born-again’ Christian women whose lives have
been influenced, in some way, by the work of YWAM in Uganda. Using a discussion of
global coloniality, with particular attention given to the coloniality of power and the
coloniality of knowledge, I consider the ways that
hegemonic epistemic violence has worked to produce the ‘born-again’ conversion
experiences among the women.  Inspired by Mahmood (2005) use of Foucault’s Modes of Subjectivation and Techniques of the Self, I examine the ways that ‘born-again’ women continually work
towards their own Christian discipleship, through actively transforming their own moral
and ethical selves. Finally, using Bhaba’s concept of Colonial Mimicry (1994), I
present evidence that argues that the YWAM missionaries use strategic ambivalence to
perpetuate their work in Uganda.  I argue Ugandan women resist the
missionaries metonymizing gaze, and engage in subversive behaviors with these
missionaries, as a means of perpetuating their access to the material benefits provided by
YWAM.
This project relies on women’s stories as articulations of unique knowledges. It
acknowledges that in a neocolonized postcolonial world, asymmetries of power result in
violent epistemic interventions that produce subjects and subjectivities marked by
hegemonic ways of knowing. Despite this, this thesis finds that those subjectivities
actively experience their own visceral responses to the Christian God, and as such,
produce their own conceptions of God and their own ways of knowing about the world.

abstract: M.A.


title: Visualization of Detonation Propagation in a Round Tube Equipped with Repeating Orifice Plates

contributor:
Ciccarelli, Gaby
Mechanical and Materials Engineering

subject: detonation propagation

abstract:
This study used self-luminous high-speed photography to visualize quasi-detonation propagation and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in a transparent round tube equipped with repeating orifice plates. Experiments were conducted in a combustion channel consisting of a 3.16 m square channel with a 7.6 cm by 7.6 cm cross-section connected to a 1.55 m cylindrical channel filled with orifice plates. Rectangular ‘fence-type’ obstacles were installed on the top and bottom of the square channel with a 3.8 cm opening between them. Two sets of orifice plates with different diameters, d, representing different blockage ratios (BR) were tested (d=5.33 cm for 50% BR and 3.81 cm for 75% BR orifice plates).

Stoichiometric hydrogen-oxygen mixtures at initial pressures of 4–60 kPa were ignited at one end of the combustion channel. Average propagation velocities were derived from shock-time-of-arrival measurements using pressure transducers in the square channel and high-speed video filmed through the round tube.

As established in literature, a substantially higher orifice-diameter-to-detonation-cell-size ratio (d/λ) was observed for the 75% BR tests (d/λ=14) than the 50% BR tests (d/λ=1.4) and Peraldi’s d/λ≥1 criterion for the DDT limit. Video footage revealed that this difference may be attributed to a difference in near-limit detonation initiation modes: at 75% BR, detonation initiation occurred on the orifice face after shock reflection, whereas at 50% BR, detonation initiation occurred on the tube wall between orifice plates.

Synchronized high-speed video and soot foils allowed for the classification of quasi-detonation propagation modes. At 50% BR, as initial pressure increased, fast-flame propagation transitioned to single-hot-spot wall ignition detonation to multi-hot-spot wall ignition detonation, and finally to continuous detonation propagation. A similar progression was observed at 75% BR, except that obstacle face ignition detonations occurred between the fast-flame and single-hot-spot regimes, and continuous detonations were not observed as tube strength concerns limited the maximum initial test pressure.

For a continuous detonation, a higher average velocity was observed in the round tube than the square channel, which can be attributed to the effect of wave curvature during detonation diffraction past an obstacle (2D diffraction in the square channel compared to 3D diffraction in the round tube).

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Motivation to expend physical and cognitive effort as predictors of functioning in major depression

contributor:
Bowie, Christopher
Psychology

subject: Depression Cognition Functioning Motivation

abstract:
Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with severe functional disability; however, the mechanisms of impaired functioning are understudied. Cognitive deficits is one known mechanism of functional impairment in MDD. However, treatments that remediate cognitive functioning do not seem to produce commensurate gains in day-to-day functioning. Current models of functioning in MDD do not take into account motivation deficits that characterize the mood disorder. MDD individuals have demonstrated avoidance behavior and impaired performance in physically- and cognitively- effortful tasks, despite the promise of large rewards. Motivation to expend effort has yet to be evaluated as a predictor of functioning in depression.
Objectives: This study aimed to compare physical and cognitive effort expenditure for rewards and the factors that influence motivation to expend high levels of these types of effort in MDD relative to healthy comparison individuals. Secondary objectives were to examine whether motivation to expend physical and cognitive effort predicted functioning, after controlling for symptoms and cognition. Finally, the study aimed to examine whether cognitive functioning was associated with functional impairment through its relationship with motivation to expend physical and cognitive effort.
Method: Two cost-benefit decision-making tasks were developed to assess motivation to expend physical and cognitive effort in 44 MDD and 36 healthy comparison participants. Participants were assessed on a brief cognitive battery, anhedonia, depression severity, and functional impairment.
Results: MDD participants made marginally fewer choices to expend high effort for large relative to small incentives than healthy comparison participants across both effort tasks. Lower motivation to expend physical effort in the MDD sample was moderated by increases in anhedonia severity, whereas lower cognitive effort motivation was associated with greater functional impairment, even after accounting for symptoms and cognitive ability. Cognitive effort motivation mediated the relationship between cognition and functioning in MDD.
Conclusion: Motivation deficits to expend physical effort may reveal proximal mechanisms of anhedonia, while motivation for cognitive effort may explain distal functional outcomes. Findings offer novel evidence for attenuated motivation to expend physical and cognitive effort as a contributor to diagnostic clarity of anhedonia and a treatment target for functional recovery, respectively.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Community Development. A Case Study of AngloGold Ashanti, Adieyie and Teberebie, Ghana

contributor:
Goebel, Allison
Environmental Studies

subject:
Corporate Social Responsibility
Ghana
Sustainable Community Development
Natural Resource Extraction Industry
Social Licence to Operate
Environmental Justice Framework
Stakeholder Theory

abstract: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives have become widespread in the extractive industry, including in Africa. CSR opponents and proponents hold conflicting positions on the conceptualisation, importance and ability of CSR to effectively address the negative ramification of the extractive industry and promote development in resource rich communities. Proponents of CSR hold that corporations can create shared wealth and promote long-term sustainable development. On the other hand, CSR opponents state that CSR is a greenwashing mechanism intended to guarantee corporations the social license to operate (SLO), and to allow continuation of usual business practices. This study sought to empirically investigate whether a global dominance of CSR has distorted or silenced ongoing knowledge of and protest against the negative externalities of the mining industry in Ghana. The study further assessed stakeholders’ perception of CSR as contributing to long term development. The study employed an ethnographic approach using key informant interviews and community surveys to examine the social interaction between relevant state institutions, AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) and Adieyie and Teberebie communities. By using the environmental justice (EJ) framework to critically analyse the impacts of the mining industry, it was revealed that Adieyie and Teberebie bear disproportionately high levels of the cost of the operation of the activities of AGA while benefiting minimally despite ongoing CSR initiatives. Key informants who viewed CSR as a greenwashing mechanism held that current CSR initiatives cannot contribute to long-term community development but more important is corporation’s compliance to the rules and regulations that govern the industry. Other key informants were of the view that for sustainable development to occur, current CSR initiatives must be aligned to national and community development agendas and create shared value. The study proposes a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of resource extraction on resource rich communities using the EJ framework so as to identify and find solutions to the true drivers of the marginalisation and exploitation of these communities. Furthermore, the government of Ghana should effectively perform its development responsibility to resource rich communities. In line with the arguments of Hermann (2004), the study proposes that CSR should be standardised and legislated with effective enforcement of standards and laws and also be aligned to the development agendas of the country and communities.

abstract: M.E.S.


title: Skin Tear Prevalence, Incidence and Associated Risk Factors in the Long-term Care Population

contributor:
Woo, Kevin
Nursing

subject:
Skin tears
Elderly
Geriatric
Long-term care
Prevalence
Incidence
Risk Factors

abstract:
Background:
Skin tears (STs) are among the most prevalent wounds found in long-term care (LTC) settings. Given our aging population, the burden related to STs will further increase. Skin tears are often misunderstood as expected outcomes of normal skin changes associated with aging and as a result are frequently under-recognized and under-treated. While many factors have been purported to be associated with ST development, there is little evidence to corroborate their roles in ST risks. The primary purpose of the present study was to establish the prevalence and incidence of STs and examine the risk factors associated with ST development in the Ontario LTC population.

Methods:
A prospective study design was used to explore the risk factors associated with ST development. Prior to the study, a systematic literature review was conducted to identify previously reported risk factors to inform the study. A total of 380 individuals 65 years of age and over from 4 LTC facilities in Ontario were followed over 4 weeks.  The participants were examined for STs at the beginning of the study and at week 4 to determine if STs had occurred and to record the ST type, location, and associated patient-related factors.

Results:
The study found a ST prevalence of 20.8% and an incidence of 18.9% within a month. History of a ST at baseline (RR 1.84, 95% CI (1.25-2.70), p=.002), the presence of skin changes associated with aging (RR 1.60, 95% CI (1.43-1.79), p<.001), chronic disease (RR 1.17, 95% CI (1.03-1.32), p=0.018), requiring assistance with activities of daily living (RR 1.13, 95% CI (1.08-1.18), p<.001) and displaying aggressive behaviour (RR 1.06, 95% CI (1.02-1.10), p =.001) were identified as key risk factors associated with ST development at 4 weeks post baseline assessment.

Conclusion:
These results provide much needed Ontario data on the burden of STs in the LTC population. By identifying risk factors, healthcare professionals can establish prevention programs targeted at reduction of modifiable risks for ST development. The present study is an important first step towards developing a prevention program targeting individuals at risk for STs in LTC.

abstract: PhD