title: Developing a Reclamation Costing Framework for the Athabasca Oil Sands

contributor:
Ortiz, Julian
Mining Engineering

subject:
Mining
Reclamation
Cost Estimation
Public Policy
Oil Sands

abstract:
The Athabasca oil sands are a significant component of the economy in Alberta. However, they also represent a large environmental risk. At the end of mining operations, companies are expected to begin closure and reclamation activities, which tend to be very costly. The reclamation costs associated with oil sands operations are currently unknown, creating the potential for unprepared operators and leaving the citizens of Alberta and other stakeholders at risk of liabilities.

This thesis aims to create a method of determining the reclamation costs that can be expected for each open pit oil sands operation. A framework is proposed that can be utilized to estimate the reclamation costs associated with various operations. The framework attempts to use a logical thought progression that estimators can follow. The intent is to offer guidance from a large, “big picture” perspective down to minute details, which can then be synthesized into a cost estimate. The framework also makes use of key performance indicators for progress tracking. An example of the framework being applied to a tailings pond is included.

Public policies and regulations that have been implemented in the past have been misguided in their attempts to improve the overall sustainability in the oil sands. Although the intentions were good, regulations such as Directive 074 created unrealistic targets and timelines that operators were unable to meet. This thesis discusses these issues and suggest possible improvements to future policies.

The state of reclamation in the oil sands is also examined. Historical data from the Alberta Government, the Oil Sands Information Portal, and various oil sands operators is collected and analyzed. The technology being developed by Canadian Oil Sands, Syncrude, Suncor, and Canadian Natural Resources is summarized and the resulting reclamation progress is examined.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Comparison of white and black spruce growth within the Boreal Forest-Tundra ecotone in the Northwest Territories

abstract: The current and predicted implications of climate change are one of the most pressing global issues we face today. There is a strong indication that forests, especially in northern ecozones such as the boreal forest, are likely to experience some of the greatest impacts from climate change. Using dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis), this study examined the growth of trees, specifically white spruce (Picea glauca) and black spruce (Picea mariana), found at a site within the forest-tundra ecotone of the central Northwest Territories. The goal of this study was to conduct research that will contribute towards a better understanding of how the boreal forest-tundra ecotone is responding to climate change. Results show that while black and white spruce had similar growth trends during the 19th century, they have shown changes in more recent years and do not grow as similarly as they used to. There has also been a shift in growth in both species in the last century, in which white spruce appears to be decreasing in growth and black spruce appears to be increasing in growth. Pearson correlation tests on data between 1901-2010 found no significant relationship between climate trends (summer temperature and precipitation) and white spruce growth, but found significant relationships between climate trends and black spruce growth. To further examine climate-growth relationships, the data was divided into two time periods. Significant correlation tests were detected between black spruce ring widths and summer temperatures during 1920-1960, and summer precipitation during 1960-2010. Based on these results, is important to consider that there may be other local environmental factors influencing growth of each species (such as species competition, forest disturbances, soil moisture/nutrients, wildfires, etc.). Future studies could include an analysis of pointer years (specifically 2007 and 1939 from this study) to obtain more information relating to extreme environmental changes that have occurred by identifying variables that cause abrupt responses in tree growth patterns.


title: Policy factors influencing domestic food security for marginalized communities: Kingston, Ontario focus.

subject:
domestic food security
nutrition
socioeconomic factors
environmental justice
recognition
food policy
Canada

abstract: This paper investigates the influence of policies on domestic food security in Canada and their influence on the foods provided by food accessibility programs. Through a literature and documentary review, relevant policies that influence food accessibility were assessed under an environmental justice framework to evaluate the degree that these policies accommodate for vulnerable populations. There are few Canadian policies that impact food accessibility programs and influential policies inconsistently demonstrate a consideration for the aspects of environmental justice. This short analysis suggests that current policies are ineffective at achieving domestic food security and that additional research and new policies should be developed to better ensure the right to food for all Canadians.


title: Availability and Quality of Colonoscopy Resources and the Colorectal Cancer Diagnostic Interval

contributor:
Groome, Patti A.
Public Health Sciences

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:
Access to Care
Colorectal Cancer
Health Systems
Health Services Research
Diagnostic Delay

abstract:
Background: There is concern that patients are waiting too long to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) after presenting to the healthcare system. Previous research has found issues with the availability and quality of colonoscopy resources, a key procedure used to diagnose CRC, including long colonoscopy wait times, regional variations in colonoscopy utilization, and variations in colonoscopy quality. However, no research has described colonoscopy resource availability and quality and its relationship with the CRC diagnostic interval.
Methods: This thesis examined colonoscopy resource availability and quality and its relationship with the CRC diagnostic interval in two phases using administrative health data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Phase One used a population-based cross-sectional design to describe colonoscopy resource availability and quality in Ontario between 2007 and 2013. We described regional variations in colonoscopy resources and evaluated associations between colonoscopy resources and colonoscopy utilization. Phase Two used a population-based retrospective cohort design to describe the CRC diagnostic interval for Ontario CRC patients diagnosed between 2009 and 2012 and to evaluate the associations between colonoscopy resource availability and quality and the diagnostic interval. We used quantile regression to model these relationships while controlling for confounding and evaluating effect modification.
Results: In Phase One, we found regional variation in the availability and quality of colonoscopy resources in Ontario. Significant correlations between colonoscopy resource characteristics and colonoscopy utilization indicated that reduced resource availability and quality were associated with reduced colonoscopy utilization. In Phase Two, the median CRC diagnostic interval was 84 days (90th percentile 323 days). We observed significant associations between the diagnostic interval and the availability and quality of colonoscopy resources. Patients residing in networks with lower colonoscopist density, colonoscopy completion rates and private clinic access had longer diagnostic intervals. These measures of colonoscopy resource availability and quality were also associated with the care that patients received within the diagnostic interval.
Conclusion: This research demonstrated substantial variation in colonoscopy resource availability and quality in Ontario and identified the availability and quality of colonoscopy resources as an important determinant of the CRC diagnostic interval.

abstract: PhD


title: Not Everyone Is a Target: An Analysis of Online Identity Crime Victimization Using Routine Activities Theory

contributor:
Kay, Fiona
Sociology

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States

subject:
Routine Activity Theory
Victimization
Online Identity Crime

abstract:
This study examines online identity theft, consumer fraud and phishing victimization using data from a national survey of Canadians. The goal is to answer the following questions: (1) Is everyone equally likely to be a target of online crime? and (2) What factors might lead to online victimization? This research utilizes Routine Activity Theory (Cohen and Felson 1979) and an extension proposed by Eck and Clarke (2003). This approach specifies that crime is facilitated by an offender’s motivation, the absence of effective guardians, and the availability of suitable targets online.
	This research draws on the 2009 General Social Survey (GSS). Logistic regression is used to analyze the relationships between demographic variables, perceptions of risk and online routine activities on identity theft, consumer fraud, and phishing victimization.
	Findings reveal that education has a consistent effect on all three types of victimization when taking into account routine activities. Men are less likely to change passwords regularly and to delete emails on a regular basis compared with women. Men, compared with women, are also more likely to be victims of consumer fraud and phishing. Results show that perceptions of risk are correlated with victimization. Several forms of routine activities (using the internet for banking, making reservations or bookings, and belonging to online social network websites) increase all three types of victimization. In addition, using the internet for purchasing goods or services or using online chat services increases victimization for consumer fraud and phishing. The results also reveal that those who deal with known websites, enter misleading information online, regularly change their passwords and delete emails are more likely to be victims of online consumer fraud and phishing. This could be explained by other ‘risky’ online activities that moderate relationships.
	Findings provide support for Routine Activities Theory as an explanation for online identity theft, consumer fraud, and phishing victimization. Further research should explore additional causes, such as ‘risky’ online activities that lead to online victimization. Research should also focus on prevention measures aimed at those most at risk of victimization.

abstract: M.A.


title: Advancement, Assessment, and Application of Novel Landslide Monitoring Technologies

contributor:
Take, W. Andy
Civil Engineering

subject: Photogrammetry

subject: Digital Image Correlation

subject: Back Analysis of Mobilised Shear Strength

subject: Acoustic Emissions

abstract: Slopes are often monitored by measuring deformation rates, or the factor of safety is estimated through the use of limit equilibrium stability models to evaluate the risk of failure.  In this thesis, three novel landslide monitoring technologies are advanced, assessed, and applied using three strategically chosen field sites.   Firstly, it was investigated if acoustic emissions (AE) could be used to measure the displacement of extremely slow-moving landslides.  By installing a shallow and a deep AE sensor as well as a ShapeAccelArray (SAA) in a slope located in Peace River, Alberta, it was found that data from a shallow AE sensor allows noise to be filtered from the deep AE sensor data, and that smaller displacement rates than previously expected can be measured using an AE sensor. The second monitoring advance explored a method of measuring 3D slope displacement using digital image correlation (DIC) performed on hillshade images (image of shaded point cloud data).  Through the use of synthetic movement tests and experimental data, it was found that 3D displacement can be measured using hillshade images at two different view angles and that small deformations leading to failure can be measured allowing the time to failure to be calculated.  Thirdly, point cloud data produced from historical air photos was used to investigate whether historical slope profiles could be produced to serve as a quantitative baseline of historical landslide activity. This hypothesis was tested to investigate the impact of land-use change on retrogressive landslides occurring along a waterway.  Natural revegetation of the area around the creek was observed to result in a significant decrease in the volume of landslide debris generated by geomorphic processes. Finally, back analyses were conducted to estimate the mobilised shear strength at failure through the use of monitoring data from two 3.5 metre high earth dams brought to failure.  This unique dataset provided an assessment of the repeatability of the back analyses and showed that only a small component of apparent cohesion arises from a combination of dilation, unsaturated soil behaviour, or root reinforcement.

abstract: PhD


title: Sleep Architecture in Depressed Patients Treated with Desvenlafaxine

contributor:
Milev, Roumen
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Depression
Major Depressive Disorder
Sleep
Sleep Architecture
Desvenlafaxine
Antidepressants

abstract:
Objective: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the effects of desvenlafaxine, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, on sleep architecture in depressed patients, with a focus on changes in slow wave sleep (SWS), rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and sleep efficiency. Secondarily, subjective changes in sleep quality and illness severity are assessed.
Methods: This was a prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Patients with major depressive disorder were randomized to receive a placebo or 50mg once daily of desvenlafaxine. Sleep architecture, subjective sleep quality, and illness severity were measured at baseline, after 3-5 days of treatment, and after 28-31 days of treatment. Sleep architecture was assessed using overnight, ambulatory polysomnography. Subjective sleep quality was evaluated using the self-reported Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and a visual analogue scale (VAS). Illness severity was measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale.
Results: Nine patients (two males and seven females), aged 19 to 48 years old, participated. There were no significant differences between the placebo and desvenlafaxine-treated groups on any sociodemographic measures. At baseline, there were no significant differences in sleep architecture or clinical measures between the two groups. At day 3-5, latency to REM sleep was significantly increased for the desvenlafaxine-treated group compared to placebo, and although this measure was still increased at day 28-31, the difference was no longer significant. No differences were found between the two groups at day 3-5 or day 28-31 on measures of sleep continuity or time spent in each sleep stage. Treatment with desvenlafaxine significantly decreased scores on the PSQI, HDRS, MADRS, HARS, and the CGI-S.
Conclusion: Treatment of depressed patients with desvenlafaxine decreased illness severity and improved subjective sleep quality. Minimal changes to sleep architecture were observed, with an acute increase in REM sleep latency being the only significant effect. These results suggest that desvenlafaxine may be capable of improving sleep quality in depressed patients, though further research with a larger sample size is needed to confirm and expand on these findings.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Assessing for Sensorimotor and Cognitive Impairments in ALS Patients

contributor:
Scott, Stephen H.
Taylor, Sean
Neuroscience Studies

rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

subject:
ALS
KINARM
Frontotemporal Dementia
Sensorimotor
Cognitive
pTDP-43

abstract:
ALS is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease characterized by the degeneration of both upper and lower motor neurons (Gordon 2013). Recently, it has been found that up to 50% of individuals with ALS have evidence of cognitive impairment and approximately 15% meet the diagnostic criteria for frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Moreover, the pathology of ALS has been found to be widespread (Neumann et al., 2006; Robberecht and Philips, 2013). To this day, traditional clinical examinations have been used to assess ALS patients, which have been shown to be subjective. This led us to ask the question: could introducing a novel method of assessment (robotics) give us a more objective and reproducible approach? Also, could using a different method reveal other impairments caused by ALS reflecting the evolving picture of its more widespread pathology?
         In this thesis, we assessed 14 subjects, 12 diagnosed with ALS and 2 diagnosed with PLS. The assessment of subjects consisted of two parts: 1) a clinical assessment and 2) a robotic assessment using the KINARM Exoskeleton.   We then correlated the performance of subjects on the robotic tasks with their clinical examination results.
        The robotic assessment consisted of 8 tasks, divided into 4 categories 1) Motor tasks which included Visual guided reaching, and Ball on Bar. 2) Motor-cognitive tasks included Reverse visually guided reaching (RVGR), Object hit, and Object hit and avoid. 3) Cognitive tasks included Spatial Span, and Trail Making A and B 4) A sensory task, Arm Position Matching.
       The results of this thesis indicate that subjects showed various deficits along a spectrum of sensorimotor and cognitive functions, related to various networks in the brain. Some tasks and parameters were more commonly impaired such as the Reaction Time and RVGR. Some subjects were more impaired in sensorimotor tasks than cognitive tasks and vice versa.  Robotic tasks were shown to be objective and accurate; most subjects could tolerate them. Examining a larger cohort of subjects in the future could enable us to further observe for patterns of impairment and phenotypes within the ALS population.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Forms of Arsenic in Sediments in Yellowknife Bay,  NWT, Canada

abstract:
One of the largest abandoned gold mines in the Northern Territories, Canada is Giant Mine, located on the north shore of Yellowknife Bay, 5km north of the Yellowknife City. Operating from 1949 to 1999, Giant Mine produced over 7 million ounces of gold mined from arsenopyrite ore formations. Gold processing entailed roasting the ore at temperatures under 500 degrees Celsius, producing a byproduct arsenic trioxide dust (As2O3). As2O3 is the most bioaccessible form of arsenic species (Plumlee & Morman, 2011) and when dissolved, it releases highly toxic trivalent arsenic ion (As3+) into the surrounding ecosystem. Other intermediate-bioaccessible roaster products include As-bearing maghemite and hematite, which were deposited with tailings and remobilized into creek and lake sediments (Jamieson, 2014). Approximately 20,000 tonnes of arsenic aerosols were released from the roaster stacks and aerially spread into the environment. This, as well as tailings spills, are thought to have contributed to the As-enriched sediments in Yellowknife Bay.
            Previous work published by Andrade et al (2010) included the sampling of lacustrine sediments, submerged tailings and associated pore waters at several sites in Yellowknife Bay. Based on techniques available at that time, one conclusion was then reached that the solid-phase mid-core arsenic source was identified as roaster-generated maghemite and hematite. This was proposed to be a source for dissolved arsenic to diffuse upwards.
In the last 10 years, modern SEM-based quantitative mineralogy tools have advanced rapidly, not only increasing the speed and accuracy of analysis, but also enhancing measurement automation (Fandrich et al., 2007). In SEM-based mineral liberation analysis, thousands of particles are recognized and separated through image analysis in each sample, and the mineral grains within are delineated for discrete X- ray analysis to track variations in the composition of the minerals of interest, accommodated to different measurement modes.
            The objective of this research is to test whether applying new methods of mineralogical analysis, specifically, SEM-MLA (SEM based mineral liberation analysis technology) to the analysis of sediments from Yellowknife Bay will facilitate a better understanding of the environmental risk associated with this area. In particular, the aim is to determine whether the identification of the arsenic minerals present by SEM-MLA will provide decision makers with useful information on long-term arsenic species’ stability and bioaccessiblity. In my research, Andrade’s samples were revisited at a microscale and Andrade’s conclusion will be reexamined by using this new advanced analytical tool SEM-MLA. SEM-MLA can define mineral hosts and help quantify relative abundances of arsenic hosts in detail, from which arsenic mass distribution can be projected. Through automatic mineralogy at high resolution, the chemical species of arsenic and forms of arsenic in sediments in Yellowknife Bay can be determined, which will help track the remobilization of As-enriched sediments, the process which would potentially harm the community health due to its bioaccessibility, especially vulnerable children, when taken in. At Yellowknife Bay, understanding the forms of arsenic in sediments is critical to assessing the risk to human and ecosystem health, developing an effective remediation plan, predicting long-term stability, and finally, establishing environmental monitoring and optimal management.


title: Impact of Depression on Co-morbid Diabetes in Primary Care

contributor:
Green, Michael
Stuart, Heather
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Depression
Diabetes
Primary Care
Mental Health
Glycemic Control
Misclassification
Treatment Disparities
Chronic Conditions
Comorbidity
Screening
Validation

abstract:
This thesis was based on three interrelated studies and offers the following contributions to the epidemiology of depression and diabetes in Canada:

1. The first study centres around a validation study to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the CPCSSN depression case finding algorithm in patients with diabetes and to estimate the true prevalence of depression in patients with diabetes.  The sensitivity of the depression algorithm was found to be 50.7% (39.1-62.1%) and specificity 92.5% (86.6-96.0%).  The prevalence of depression in patients with diabetes using the CPCSSN case finding algorithm was 19.8% and the validation sample produced a higher estimate of this prevalence rate of 34.5% (28.4-41.2%).  Different sensitivities were observed for males and females, and for seniors and those <65 years of age.

2.  The objective of the second study was to determine, among Canadians with
diabetes, what is the relative risk of having poor blood sugar control for those patient with depression compared to those without depression.  Factors that impact this relationship and potential treatment disparities for those with depression were also explored.  Patients with depression were more likely to have poor blood sugar control with a crude relative risk of 1.28 (1.16, 1.42) and a fully adjusted relative risk of 1.22 (1.10, 1.34).  Covariates positively associated with poor control included being male, the number of years with diabetes, and having comorbid dementia.  Covariates associated with better control were age over 65 years, having comorbid hypertension, osteoarthritis, or Parkinson’s.  Effect modification was observed for both being obese and being a senior.   No evidence of diabetes treatment disparities were found for patients with depression compared to those without depression.

3. The final study adjusts the relative risks from the second study for the misclassification observed in the validation study.  The sensitivity was used to estimate the potential strength and direction of the relative risk had the misclassification not occurred.  The crude corrected estimate of relative risk of poor blood sugar control for patients with diabetes with and without recent depression was 5.99 (5.47, 6.55), which was much higher than the crude relative risk estimated in the second study.

abstract: PhD


title: Characterization and Knockdown of a Family of Ice-Binding Proteins from Freeze-Tolerant Grasses

contributor:
Walker, Virginia K.
Biology

subject:
Ice-Binding
Freeze-Tolerance
Brachypodium Distachyon
Arabidopsis Thaliana
Transgenics

abstract:
Exposure to sub-zero temperatures puts plants at risk of freeze-induced damage associated with ice crystal formation causing cellular dehydration, plasma membrane rupture and cell death. Some freeze-tolerant plants induce expression of ice-binding proteins (IBPs), which adsorb to ice crystals and restrict their growth. IBPs can also result in the super-cooling of the apoplast and a modest freezing point depression.  Seven IBPs (BdIRI1-7) from the annual brome grass, Brachypodium distachyon, shaped ice, restricted ice crystal growth, and exhibited low levels of freezing point depression (~0.1 °C at 1 mg/mL). Analysis of the ice-binding domain of one isoform (BdIRI1), suggested it folded as a right-handed beta-helix with two relatively flat ice-binding faces (IBFs). Site-directed mutagenesis verified that both faces were required for ice crystal adsorption, with one face acting as the primary IBF. BdIRI1 also significantly depressed the ice nucleation activity of Pseudomonas syringae extracts, suggesting a dual-function role for ice recrystallization inhibition and anti-pathogenesis.
	The first knockdown of ice-binding activity from any organism was achieved in B. distachyon using a pan-isoform microRNA construct. Electrolyte leakage assays showed that genetically-engineered knockdown lines had 13-22% more membrane damage than wild-type plants following freezing to −10 °C. Knockdown lines also showed trends for reduced whole-plant freezing survival following −8 °C treatments, with two lines showing significant decreases.
	The localization of IBPs, as well as their ability to confer freeze tolerance to a susceptible host species, was examined by the expression of IBPs from the ryegrass, Lolium perenne in Arabidopsis thaliana. Two isoforms, LpIRI2 and LpIRI3, were localized to the apoplast with the former lacking a signal peptide and presumably being secreted through a non-classical pathway, while LpAFP, an engineered construct with no signal peptide, remained intracellular. Apoplastically-localized IBPs conferred freeze resistance with a significant 13-29% decrease in electrolyte leakage and increased freeze survival at temperatures as low as −8 °C. Expression of multiple isoforms further enhanced survival indicating that IBPs might provide additive freeze protection. Together, this thesis highlights the importance of IBPs in the freezing-stress response and their potential utility in the generation of future cold-hardy crop species.

abstract: PhD


title: A Streamlined Energy Efficiency Indicator for Water Distribution Systems

contributor:
Filion, Yves R.
Civil Engineering

subject:
Energy Efficiency
Water Distribution System
Water
Performance Indicator

abstract:
The conveyance of water through centralized water distribution systems is energy intensive. With growing urban populations and deteriorating buried infrastructure, these costs are expected to increase. Energy indicators can offer insight into the amount of energy one could theoretically save, provide a method for tracking and evaluating energy improvements over time, allow for comparison between utilities, and inform goal setting.

In this thesis, a novel energy indicator was developed and validated that resolved problems with existing mechanical energy indicators for water distribution systems. The previous indicators developed for water distribution systems do not provide a detailed method to estimate unavoidable energy losses due to friction and leakage, and do not consider demand-side conservation in the overall unavoidable energy loss estimation.
This thesis presents three original ideas in creating an energy indicator that better describes the mechanical energy efficiency of water distribution systems. These include: 1) incorporating demand-side conservation plans in the calculation for minimum energy delivered to end users, 2) developing a detailed methodology to calculate the minimum energy lost due to leakage, and 3) creating a uniform method that estimates minimum energy loss due to friction.

By combining these three ideas, this thesis developed a new streamlined mechanical energy efficiency indicator that can be calculated without the need for a hydraulic model. In order to validate this streamlined approach, the energy indicator was evaluated using a hydraulic model and extended period simulation for a variety of synthetic and real water distribution system models. Results suggested that the streamlined approach provides an accurate characterization of the overall mechanical energy efficiency of a water distribution system.

The first step to decreasing the energy use of a water distribution system is to assess its mechanical energy efficiency. The streamlined energy efficiency indicator developed in this thesis improves on previous indicators by developing a well-defined methodology in order to calculate all major unavoidable energy losses for a water distribution system. This leads to a more accurate energy efficiency indicator that facilitates comparison across different water utilities, promoting benchmarking and goal setting.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Wildhoods: Bioregionalism and the Child Figure in Contemporary Canadian Literature

contributor:
Willmott, Glenn
English Language and Literature

subject: Bioregionalism

subject: Coming-of-Age

subject: Childhood and Youth in Canadian Literature

subject: Alistair MacLeod

subject: Ernest Buckler

subject: Monique Proulx

subject: Mary Lawson

subject: W.O. Mitchell

subject: Thomas King

subject: Eden Robinson

subject: Frances Greenslade

abstract: In recent investigations of the child’s relationship with nature, collections such as Sidney I. Dobrin and Kenneth B. Kidd’s Wild Things: Children’s Culture and Ecocriticism (2004) and Amy Cutter-Mackenzie, Phillip G. Payne, and Alan Reid’s Experiencing Environment and Place through Children’s Literature (2011) emphasize the significance of critically recognizing the value and relevance of the child-nature connection in our understanding of diverse environments and places. However, much of this work has remained within non-Canadian literary frameworks, with ecocriticism exclusively, and/or limited to the field of children’s literature. This dissertation fills this gap in criticism through an examination of the child figure and his or her relationship to the natural environment through the lens of bioregionalism in contemporary Canadian coming-of-age fiction. In uniting the Canadian child, nature, and an ecological perspective together, I argue that bioregionalism is relevant to coming-of-age narratives and that four specific bioregional themes or points of view can emerge when such a lens is applied to regional bodies of literature across Canada: nostalgic sustainability (Atlantic Canada), conservation (Central Canada), sustainable dwelling (the Prairies), and the journey of reinhabitation (the West Coast). Each of these themes draw upon at least one of the three key terms that recur most frequently in bioregional discourse – dwelling, sustainability, and reinhabitation – and either appears in combination with coming-of-age motifs, makes use of a distinct characteristic found in a particular regional body of literature, or allows the narrative’s ending to direct how we need to think about the connection between bioregionalism and the child figure. The theme of childhood and youth in Canadian literature is a rich and diverse one; and our continued fascination with youthful experiences reflects that something important is at work, especially when the child’s growth to maturity is linked to our current concerns about the environment. My project investigates the works of Alistair MacLeod, Ernest Buckler, Monique Proulx, Mary Lawson, W.O. Mitchell, Thomas King, Eden Robinson, and Frances Greenslade.

abstract: PhD


title: "Too Heavy is the Load": Representations of Women and Suicide in 19th-Century British Literature

contributor:
Berg, Maggie
King, Shelley
English Language and Literature

subject: Gender Suicide Women Nineteenth-century

abstract: As British alienists and sociologists in nineteenth-century Britain sought to understand suicide as a disease of the mind, coroners, jurors and lay people became increasingly sympathetic to those who ended their own lives. This sympathy, however, was often tinged with spiritual, philosophical, and moral valuations of a suicide’s life. These judgements were especially pronounced when the suicide was a woman. Speculation on female suicides almost always involved questions of romantic entanglements, pregnancy or moral improprieties. After their deaths, their lives and motivations were interpreted by legal and medical professionals who (re)created their narratives to fit social and cultural expectations. The literary and visual images of the suicidal woman from this period are coded with conflicting messages of life and death, resistance and submission, and eroticization and redemption. The literature I have chosen to focus on, Amy Levy’s dramatic monologues “A Minor Poet,” and “Xantippe A Fragment,” George Eliot’s realist novel, The Mill on the Floss, and Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel Dracula, allow for a cross-genre exploration of the cultural encoding of female suicide in multiple literary genres. These texts feature ambiguous suicides, meaning that the deaths of these characters are not explicitly connected to suicide, and that critics have most often attributed these deaths to causes other than suicide. However, by ignoring the possibility of suicide encoded in these texts, critics have often overlooked the agency of these characters’ actions. The characters become victims of circumstances rather than active participants in the narratives of their death. To pay attention to these ambiguities allows us to reconsider or reclaim the tensions in these texts and see these characters as both victims of and active agents in the circumstances which lead to their deaths. They become liminal figures existing on the boundaries of multiple sites of categorization that collapse the binaries of the Victorian angel in the house and the fallen angel.

abstract: PhD


title: Previous Physical Activity Experiences of Young Female University Students

contributor:
Freeman, John G.
Education

subject:
Physical activity
Women
Sports
Adolescence
Childhood
Adulthood

abstract:
Despite numerous physical and mental health benefits of physical activity, the majority of adult females fail to meet the recommended physical activity guidelines (Statistics Canada, 2015). As a result, women are less likely to achieve optimum levels of health. As childhood physical activity levels are predictive of physical activity in adulthood (Dennison, Straus, Mellits, & Charney, 1988; Telama et al., 2005), it is imperative to understand how previous physical activity experiences continue to affect women. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore young adult females’ previous physical activity experiences, and how these experiences have influenced participants’ current attitudes and behaviours towards fitness. Data were collected from 12 female students between ages 17 and 24 from the Faculty of Education and the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies (SKHS) at Queen’s University, Canada. Participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire assessing basic demographic information and current and previous physical activity involvement. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted. The data were analyzed using a thematic approach.
Four key themes emerged from the data: (1) Social Agents, (2) Expectations, (3) Values and Costs, and (4) Environmental Influences. All participants engaged in physical activity as children; however, those women who were less physically active at the time of the study experienced a decrease in fitness levels during adolescence. At this time, the three students who were less active (Semi-Active Students) began to notice individual differences in athletic ability. As their physical abilities were perceived as less developed than that of their peers, they started to feel self-conscious when performing in physical education classes. Parental support also decreased for the Semi-Active Students, as parents tended to prioritize academics. The Active Students (n=9) continued to be physically active and were primarily motivated by their intrinsic interest in sports. Positive feedback from teachers and coaches were also influential. Although certain aspects of these themes affected women in different ways, similar trends among the Semi-Active Students and the Active Students emerged from the data, demonstrating implications for future research and practice.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Electronic Paper Computers: Interacting with Flexible Displays for Physical Manipulation of Digital Information

contributor:
Vertegaal, Roel
Computing

subject:
Human-Computer Interaction
Organic User Interfaces
Paper Computers
Flexible Displays

abstract:
Flexible displays are being widely adopted because of their thinness, lightweight and low power-consumption. Current research on flexible displays has focused on various ways of interacting with a single flexible display similar to that of using a mobile phone. The introduction of thin-film flexible displays has enabled us to represent data as a deck of thin and flexible cards or sheets of standard-sized paper. This is largely an unexplored area of research. This manifestation of digital data opens up newer forms of interaction techniques such as stacking, thumbing through, while supporting traditional tabletop interaction techniques such as collocation, shuffling and reordering documents on a desk.

In this thesis, we present multi-display paper computer prototypes that combine the physical properties of paper with the affordances of digital media. We use the physical affordances of flexible displays, i.e., their thinness, low mass, and flexibility, as design elements to create paper computer prototypes that support spatial, tactile, and asymmetric bimanual manipulation of digital information. With Snaplet, we explore how flexibility provides an interaction context for a wearable device that fits the body. With DisplayStacks, we take advantage of the thinness of displays to explore stacking as an interaction metaphor. With PaperTab, we combine these affordances with the low mass of displays to present a physical computing interface that enables 3D spatial organization of information, as well as parallel access to multiple data streams.

We report on a qualitative study to show how PaperTab’s interaction techniques can be easy to learn, without inducing significant physical demands or mental demands. We report results from three Fitts’ law experiments to understand how device mass and rigidity affect interaction efficiency in spatial interactions. We formally define Paper Computers based on our experience developing the prototypes, and our qualitative and quantitative study data.

abstract: PhD


title: Embodying Acne: Skin, Subjectivity and Dermatological Science

contributor:
King, Samantha J.
Kinesiology and Health Studies

subject: dermatology embodiment skin acne biopolitics sociology health disease medicalization

abstract: An extensive body of literature is dedicated towards understanding acne as either a dermatological or psychological problem. Surprisingly, scholars have yet to write critically or sociologically about a skin disease which affects an estimated 600 million people worldwide. As such, I bring together continental philosophies of the skin/body, science and technology studies, and sociological literature on health and illness to produce an embodied sociology of acne. I argue that pimpled skin becomes meaningful through dynamic interactions between science and culture, forming new epidermal identities and solidarities I term “dermosocialities.” I examine the ways dermosocialities are organized through acne, and begin to analyze some of the political, cultural and scientific consequences of dermosocial collectivization. Altogether, a sociology of acne highlights the need to think about the contemporary relationship between skin and self as medicalized, managed and experienced through an emerging class of skin experts, discourses, practices and objects.

abstract: PhD


title: Towards Enhanced Location and Sensing Services for the Internet of Things

contributor:
Hassanein, Hossam S.
Nasser, Nidal
Computing

subject:
Internet of things
IoT
Localization
location discovery service
Sensing coverage
Sensing service
Graph history
computational geometry applications

abstract:
Location discovery (i.e., Localization) and sensing coverage services in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have received significant attention from the Internet of Things (IoT) research community. The usage of WSNs within IoT mandates taking into account IoT characteristics when considering sensing coverage. These characteristics include heterogeneity, large scale, dynamicity, and multiple ownership. Anchors are typically used to enable localization in IoT settings. Anchor misplacement or errors in anchor location readings can cause significant disruption to location-based services in IoT. This thesis investigates the anchor misplacement problem, provides an analytical study of both localization, and sensing coverage under the presence of anchor misplacement.
We utilize two tools from computational geometry Voronoi Diagram (VD) and Delaunay Triangulation (DT) to partition the target region in order to make the problem solvable and easy to follow. We also borrow a graph-theoretic tool called Graph History to more closely understand the impact of anchor misplacement on sensing coverage. These tools allow us to locally study, analyze, and detect the impact of anchor misplacement in its vicinity. We analyze the problem of anchor misplacement, its impact on localization and sensing coverage, and we also identify new types of sensing coverage holes. We also present heuristics to mitigate the impact of anchor misplacement and improve the reliability and accuracy of WSN services. Our research approach and solution for the anchor misplacement problem can be utilized in a multiplicity of localization and sensing coverage applications regardless of the sensors or deployment types including IoT. Results show that our proposed algorithms are far more conducive to IoT context. They provide higher detection rates of misplaced anchors and sensing coverage holes, and more effective mitigation which result in higher enhancement of IoT services.

abstract: PhD


title: Engineering Patterned Materials and Microstructured Fibers for Microfluidics and Analytical Applications

contributor:
Oleschuk, Richard
Chemistry

subject:
Microfluidics
Patterned Surfaces
Superhydrophobic materials
Fiber Microlenses
Mass Spectrometry
Polymer Microtubes

abstract:
The primary objective of this thesis is to design and engineer new platforms with the potential for creating new analytical techniques as well as improving established methods. The first portion of this thesis investigates the utilization of commercially available capillary- and microstructured fiber templates for the synthesis of functional polymeric materials with controllable chemical composition and morphology. This process has also been adapted to form materials in a planar fashion with similar morphology towards the development of robust superhydrophobic materials. In additional work, a laser micromachining system was employed to spatially control the wettability of commercially available superhydrophobic materials and the spontaneous deposition of sub-μL volumes was investigated. Laser spots as small as 100 μm facilitated the deposition of droplets 400 pL in volume. Theoretically, patch sizes as small as 15 μm can be fabricated, however, using the techniques presented there are significant limitations in the ability to quantify the volumes deposited on these patches.
The remainder of this thesis looked to design, fabricate, characterize, and post-process novel microstructured fibers for mass spectrometry applications. In these works, the synergistic effects of spatially altering the chemical composition of the fiber and flow-protected wet-chemical etching were used to form microstructured nozzles at the fiber facet. These micronozzle arrays were further tested for their optical lensing and electrospray properties for various applications.

abstract: PhD


title: Self-Assembly Through Coordination And Hydrogen-Bonding; Application To The Synthesis Of Metalloreceptors And To RNA Detection

contributor:
Petitjean, Anne
Chemistry

subject:
Coordination self-assembly
Hydrogen-bonding self-assembly
Metalloreceptors

abstract:
Self-assembly plays a crucial role in many natural and artificial systems. This manuscript illustrates the application of self-assembly principles to the design, synthesis and functions of molecular receptors and probes for biological targets.
The objective of Chapter 2 was to synthesize macrocyclic metalloreceptors composed of two triazole-pyridine chelates connected via a xylyl spacer. In our design, the spacers provide interaction sites which define hydrophobic cavities for the binding of extrahelical nucleosides. To this end, three novel strand ligands with terminal hydroxyl, allyl, and amine groups were synthesized. Various metal ions were utilized to pre-organize the structure of the macrocycle through the self-assembly of 2:2 metal:ligand complexes. Following metal templation, macrocyclization would be achieved via Grubb’s metathesis, reductive amination or SN2 reaction. Coordination self-assembly studies with the hydroxyl- and allyl-ligands were hindered due to poor solubility. However, preliminary data analysis of the self-assembly of the more soluble amine-ligand with zinc(II) acetate2, as studied by 1H NMR spectroscopy, suggests that the desired metal templated complex has been formed.
In Chapter 3, two ligands using the bis(pyrazole)pyridine chelate as the central platform connecting two aromatic moieties were synthesized. Upon metal coordination, the conformation of the ligands switches to adopt a shape similar to that of molecular tweezers. To explore the self-assembly of a novel molecular tweezer with two metal-binding sites, a third ligand was synthesized. This ligand is comprised of the tridentate (bis(pyrazole)pyridine) unit connected to two terminal bidentate (triazole-pyridine) chelating units via xylyl spacers. In the presence of coordinating anions, the self-assembly outcome of this ligand with proper metal ions would provide a  metalloreceptor wherein the substrate binding event is controlled by the coordination chemistry of the terminal chelates.
In Chapter 4, a technique known as RNA Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (RNA-FISH) was used to visualize ribonucleic acids (RNA) in cells. In this method, the detection of RNA relies on the self-assembly of RNA with partially complementary oligonucleotide probes through weak non-covalent interactions. A number of such fluorescein and biotin labeled oligodeoxynucleotide probes were therefore synthesized and utilized for the selective detection of particular RNA molecules in archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues.

abstract: PhD


title: "A Wind of Darkness": The Origins of Disaster Fiction in the Long Nineteenth Century

contributor:
King, Shelley
Wallace, Molly
English Language and Literature

subject:
Disaster
Catastrophe
Ecocriticism
Romantic
Victorian
Long Nineteenth Century
Science Fiction
Genre Fiction
Popular Fiction
Secularism
Ecology

abstract: I argue that the origins of disaster fiction as a literary genre are located in the Long Nineteenth Century. Disaster fiction is a genre as-yet undefined by literary criticism, and my project fills this lacuna by identifying the forms and tropes that constitute the genre. Focusing specifically on natural disasters varying in scope and severity from the local to the global, I relate eco-catastrophic fiction back to the contemporary scientific and sociological condition of nineteenth-century Britain. The discourse of natural catastrophe manifests from increasing ecological awareness and existential anxieties, particularly the confrontation with Deep Time and Deep Space, and the sense of vulnerability that comes from the knowledge of the insignificance of humanity in a vast, ancient, and uncaring universe. Throughout the Long Nineteenth Century, disaster fiction differentiates itself from apocalyptic fiction through a gradual process of secularization wherein the natural sciences rather than theology provide the impetus for catastrophe. The Romantic period lays the foundations of the genre by projecting the potential for destruction found in apocalyptic literature into a divinely ordered environment, where human activity (like pollution) becomes a transgression that merits retribution from catastrophic Nature. Romantic “Last Man” narratives personify Nature as an antagonist and establish the key tropes and images that come to define the genre. While disaster fiction disappears from the marketplace during the mid-Victorian period, surviving in other media, the late Victorian and Edwardian periods see a flourishing of the genre, in part thanks to an ideal niche in the illustrated Victorian periodicals. Disaster fiction becomes popular in part due to the high-profile eruption of Krakatau in 1883, and from a growing awareness of the potentially catastrophic human impact on the environment. Through dramatic destruction (including the ruination of landmarks), disaster fiction highlights the vulnerability of London’s urban infrastructure, making these stories into precautionary narratives. Indeed, disaster fiction becomes a vehicle for writers to advocate the particular social, political, or religious reforms the author sees as necessary to stave off disaster, and the most catastrophic of disasters also provides a moment of radical change that permits the construction of utopia.

abstract: PhD


title: The Paragon of Animals: Representing Human Animality in Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare

contributor:
Hanson, Elizabeth
English Language and Literature

subject:
Animality
Early Modern Literature
Philip Sidney
Edmund Spenser
William Shakespeare

abstract: Taking its title from Hamlet’s paradoxical definition of man as “the paragon of animals,” my study examines how pre-Cartesian conceptions of humans as animals assume lines of similitude and difference across species that expose the instability and implications of man’s exalted place among the beasts. In my first chapter I examine the horse as a figure of nobility and governance, and analyze how Philip Sidney’s actual experience atop a horse informs his conception of rhetorical governance as equestrian art in the Defence of Poesy. I illustrate how Sidney refines his equestrian analogy to justify the exclusivity of poetic production, and I analyze how the poet-horseman’s persuasion of the reader-horse presents an elite model of affective communication and instruction that offers insights into the persuasive experience of human and nonhuman subjects alike. The second chapter examines the lion in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene to consider how the comparison of Una’s lion with Redcrosse, whom Una calls “my Lyon, and my noble Lord” (I.iii.7.6), leads to a continued reassessment of human instinct and masculine aggression by way of the beast’s tempered rage and noble kindness. By tracing the lion’s more aggressive attributes through a series of leonine figures, I show how Spenser’s zoomorphism of human figures reflects his anxiety surrounding masculine aggression, human animality, and material embodiment. The third chapter then turns to the polysemy of “kind” in William Shakespeare’s King Lear to assess how Lear’s use of animal imagery and concern for kind-ness contributes to an increasingly blurred distinction of kind/unkind as well as human/nonhuman. This chapter also examines the play’s domesticated canine figures and considers how Lear’s vision of human animality and vulnerable physicality generates new avenues of kind-ness among fellow sufferers and questions how one may recognize and extend kindness beyond species and social boundaries.

abstract: PhD


title: Examining the Integration of Aboriginal Cultural Content in the Elementary School Curriculum in a First Nation in Mid-Northern Ontario

contributor:
Morcom, Lindsay
Education

subject:
Cultural based education
Indigenous
Aboriginal

abstract: The purpose of this research is to compare the Assembly of First Nations and a northern Ontario First Nation’s definition of Culture Based Education (CBE). The study also explores how the integration of CBE takes place in the local First Nation school system. It incorporates an Indigenous Knowledge framework using qualitative data based on community interviews with Elders, a parent-teacher group and teachers from a local First Nation school. This research is of benefit to both First Nations in the areas of school curriculum planning and to academics seeking to understand CBE and its application in First Nation schools.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Pulmonary artery catheters, transesophageal echocardiography and mortality in coronary artery bypass grafting in Ontario

contributor:
Lévesque, Linda E.
Milne, Brian
Richardson, Harriet
Public Health Sciences

subject:
pulmonary artery catheter
transesophageal echocardiography
coronary artery bypass grafting
invasive monitoring

abstract:
Problem:  There is controversy in the literature as to the extent and type of invasive monitoring that is appropriate for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).  The use of pulmonary artery catheterization (PAC) has been associated with increased postoperative mortality compared to central venous pressure monitoring (CVP), and the association between transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and mortality has not been examined.  There is limited Canadian data examining these relationships.
Methods:  A retrospective cohort study was undertaken using administrative database holdings at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences to identify patients undergoing CABG over a ten-year period (October 1, 2001 to September 30, 2011) and describe their comorbidities and exposure to invasive monitoring on the day of surgery.  Logistic regression was used to assess predictors of monitor use and to examine the association between monitoring type on the day of surgery and 30-day mortality.
Results:  There were 52,202 patients in the cohort.  PAC use was the most common (67.2%), followed by PAC and TEE combined (26.5%), CVP alone (3.7%) and TEE alone (2.6%).  Patient comorbidities and institution were important predictors of monitor use in any given patient.  Over the study period, 638 patients died within 30 days of CABG (1.22%).  Overall, no monitor was statistically associated with increased risk of 30-day mortality compared to CVP.  In subgroup analysis, exposure to PAC/TEE was associated with increased mortality compared to PAC alone (OR 1.48, 95% CI [1.22, 1.80].
Conclusion:  Clinicians did not respond to the existing PAC literature by decreasing this monitor’s use.  Despite this, there was no harmful association found in patients exposed to PAC compared to CVP.  Since the addition of TEE to PAC was associated with increased mortality in this cohort, it is recommended that clinicians and institutions critically evaluate the routine need for this monitor in patients undergoing CABG.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Surgical practice patterns and outcomes in T2 and T3 gallbladder cancer: insights from a population based study

contributor:
Richardson, Harriet
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Gallbladder Cancer
Extended Resection
Population-Based Study
Overall Survival

abstract:
Background: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a lethal malignancy. Surgery remains the only option for cure. Our study aimed to evaluate practice patterns in patients with stage T2 and T3 GBC and describe the association between the extent of surgical resection and overall survival.
Methods: This was a population-based cohort study from 2002-2012 including all cases of GBC in Ontario identified using the Ontario Cancer Registry (OCR). Those who underwent surgical resection were identified using linked administrative datasets and their pathology reports were abstracted to identify T2 and T3 GBCs. Type of surgical resection was classified as ‘extended’ (cholecystectomy + liver resection and/or bile duct resection) or ‘simple’ (cholecystectomy only). The association between type of surgical resection and OS was explored using Cox proportional hazards regression models.
Results: 232 cases of T2 and 138 cases of T3 GBC were identified with 24% (56/232) of T2 cases and 37% (51/138) of T3 cases receiving extended resection. Unadjusted overall 5-year survival for simple vs extended resection was 39.7% vs 49.5% for T2 GBC (p =0.03) and 13.5% vs 22.8% for T3 GBC respectively (p=0.05). In T2 adjusted analysis, extended resection was associated with improved overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.30 -0.97, P = 0.01), while poor differentiation (HR = 3.42; 95% CI 1.92 -6.08, P = 0.0001), presence of lymphovascular invasion (HR = 1.75; 95% CI 1.16 -2.64, P = 0.03), and positive lymph nodes (HR = 1.78; 95% CI 1.03 -3.08, P = 0.03) was associated with worse OS. In T3 adjusted analysisc, only female sex (HR = 0.66; 95% CI 0.43-1.00, P = 0.05) was a predictor of improved OS, while older age (HR = 1.04; 95% CI 1.02-1.04, P = 0.0005) was associated with worse OS. On stratified analysis, extended resection demonstrated a trend towards improved survival in node negative cases only (HR=0.20; CI 0.03-1.06, P=0.07).
Conclusions: The use of extended resection for T2 and T3 GBC in Ontario is modest. Extended resection is associated with improved OS in all T2 disease and node negative T3 disease.

abstract: PhD


title: Bayesian Detection of a Change in a Random Sequence with Unknown Initial and Final Distributions

contributor:
Blostein, Steven D.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Sequential Detection
Quickest Detection
Change Detection
Bayesian Hypothesis Testing

abstract:
Quickest detection is a class of detection problems whereby the objective is to identify a change in distribution of an observed sequence of random variables as quickly as possible. Quickest detection has been applied to a wide range of applications, such as process monitoring, quality control, and disaster detection. In each of these applications, the initial state of the observed sequence is generally known. Considering these applications, there is an abundance of literature considering formulations of the quickest detection problem where the initial state of the sequence is assumed to be known. However, in some applications, the assumption of knowledge of the initial state of the observed sequence is not valid in general. Recently, spectrum sensing, the process of identifying wireless channel characteristics for the application of cognitive radio, has been cast as a quickest detection problem. Upon, first observation, the radio performing spectrum sensing would not know the initial state of the channel, rendering previous formulations of the quickest detection problem unusable here.

In this thesis, an alternative formulation of the quickest detection problem is considered where the initial state of the observed sequence is assumed to be unknown. The problem is formulated as an optimal stopping problem, and a quickest detection scheme is developed based on Bayesian hypothesis testing and an assumed set of costs. The proposed sequential change detector tracks the minimum-risk hypotheses using a time-recursive algorithm which achieves constant computational complexity. It is shown analytically and via simulations that (i) the probability of detecting a change from an incorrect initial distribution asymptotically vanishes over time under suitable parameter choices, (ii) cost parameter choices trade off the probability of early detection of a change (false alarm) against the average delay to detection of a change, and (iii) cost parameter choices determine the certainty with which the initial distribution of the sequence is identified, trading off the probability of detecting a change from an incorrect initial distribution with the ability to detect early changes.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Creoles of Louisiana’s Southwest: Race, place, and belonging

contributor:
Kobayashi, Audrey
Geography and Planning

subject:
Race
Cultural Geography
Louisiana Creoles
Acadiana
Black Cowboys
Trail Riding
American South
Qualitative Methods
Ethnography
Louisiana
Creoles
Human Geography
Historical Geography
Cattle Ranching

abstract:
While much scholarly attention has focused on Southwestern Louisiana’s white Cajun communities, comparatively few academics have explored the traditions of the Creoles, a mixed-race Francophone group whose members often identify as black. Cajuns and the Creoles have much in common—shared geographic place and a deeply linked history, with much overlap in food and musical traditions—yet prejudice causes cleavages between the two groups, and a lack of attention to Creole lifeways has caused resentment. Discrepancies in the value afforded to Cajun and Creole traditions have risen to the fore in recent debates about limiting or banning Creole cultural activities, primarily recreational horseback riding or “trail-riding,” from certain municipalities. Vociferous public conversations play out in tandem with Creoles continuing to vie for recognition of their heritage and culture on a state, national, and international level on par with that of the Cajuns, whose history and image generate extensive attention and tourist dollars. Black/Creole residents note that their music and foodways have been repackaged as Cajun or subsumed under the Cajun label and that they are unable to take advantage of the benefits that Creole-oriented tourism could bring to a region in which half of the counties are designated "black high poverty parishes."

Drawing primarily on the bodies of geographical scholarship on racialization, memorial arenas, public space, and mobility, this thesis brings empirical analysis and social theory to bear on the complex socio-political landscape of Southwestern Louisiana. I use ethnographic methods—structured interviews and participant observation—and archival analysis to explore how identity-affirming activities, such as trail-riding and rural culture broadly constituted, create a space of belonging for Creole-identified community members as well as uphold a link to the ancestral lifeways that structure and support their present-day lives. Despite a lack of mainstream recognition and commemorative silences within the region’s memorial arena that perpetuate a hegemonic social order, Creoles continue to embody their rural French roots, their Western heritage, and their black identity, often simultaneously, demonstrating both their exceptionality and belonging in contemporary Southwestern Louisiana society.

abstract: PhD


title: Physics Education: Understanding the Barriers for Young Women in Ontario

contributor:
Russell, Tom
Education

subject:
barriers
phenomenology
physics education
women in physics

abstract:
In nearly all countries of the world, at every level of education, physics as a field of science is failing to recruit and retain women. This phenomenon is believed to relate to girls’ educational experiences from K-12, but the reasons for the gender gap in physics are not fully understood. The purpose of this phenomenological research is to explore and understand the barriers encountered by Ontario female high school students during their physics education and the meanings attributed to those barriers by these young women.
This research is guided by social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and uses the concept of physics identity as a lens through which the influence of contextual barriers can be understood. Nine participants, selected via snowball sampling from an Eastern Ontario university, together participated in four semi-structured focus group meetings and individually participated in a single in-depth, one-on-one interview. Audio data was transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a general inductive approach.
Emergent themes are descriptively presented as the findings of the research study: perceiving the high school physics experience, experiencing high school physics education, and identity and gender in the high school physics experience. Sub-themes presented include limited prior experiences, negative perceptions of physics, images of physics learners, decision-making, reactions to pedagogy, learning needs, physics identity, gender-dependent influences, and making meaning of the experiences in high school physics. The shared experience of high school physics education for young women is understood as both a richly challenging and rewarding experience.
Based on the findings of this research, recommendations are made for practical and research settings, and for future work in this area. Drawing on literature on underrepresentation of women in physics, this research contributes to the physics education research community and beyond; it offers voices of Ontario female high school students, and an understanding of the barriers and the meanings associated with their experiences in high school physics.

abstract: M.Ed.


title: Inclusion as a shared experience: Towards a framework for inclusive management of mild to moderate hearing loss in educational contexts.

contributor:
Hutchinson, Nancy L.
Education

subject:
Inclusion
mild to moderate hearing loss
exceptionalities
teaching
students

abstract: This qualitative multiple case study explores the educational experiences of students with mild to moderate hearing loss (MMHL) through in-depth interviewing towards a goal of developing a conceptual framework for understanding their inclusion. Students with MMHL, who have a disability not readily apparent or visible to others, account for an estimated 15% to 23% of the student population (Niskar et al., 2001; Science.gc.ca, 2016). These students negotiate compromised speech comprehension in adverse listening environments, inconsistent use of supportive communication strategies by teachers and peers, and social-emotional implications of negative perceptions of disability and difference (Bradley & Sato, 2004; Dalton, 2010; Leigh, 2010). Yet, few if any interventions or communication supports are provided to these students by classroom teachers. The first purpose of this research was to reveal the educational experiences of four students with MMHL from their own perspectives. The second purpose was to explore the personal and communication strengths of these students, as they negotiate learning and inclusion with MMHL in a hearing world. To enhance educators’ understanding of the nuances and implications of managing MMHL and inclusion, the third purpose of this study was to assess the potential of the Shared Burdens of Communication (SBC) conceptual framework, developed for this dissertation. With individual case analysis, the framework was found to be robust and effective in enhancing understanding of a broad range of nuanced considerations and implications of managing MMHL in educational contexts. Emerging data themes were identified as understanding speech, disclosing learning challenges, individual school experiences, disability, social identity, self-identity, and disclosing disability. In cross-case analysis, the SBC framework’s structure was determined to be overly complex as a tool for practitioners to effectively achieve clarity about the complex individual experiences of MMHL. Framework reorganization as a tripartite structure suggests that educators and researchers can readily ascertain and implement inclusive management of MMHL when considering characteristics of (a) curriculum access, learning, and behavioural implications, (b) social stigma and its implications, and (c) balanced and reciprocal support. Discussion includes a framework critique, an insiders’ perspective, and recommendations for practitioners and researchers.

abstract: PhD


title: Access to healthcare for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Accra, Ghana: Challenges and strategies for improvement

contributor:
Aldersey, Heather
Lysaght, Rosemary
Rehabilitation Science

subject: Healthcare access

subject: Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)

subject: Children with disabilities

subject: Sub-Saharan Africa

subject: Ghana

abstract: This dissertation explored the health needs of children with IDD in Accra, Ghana, experiences of caregivers in accessing healthcare for the children and views of caregivers on how to improve healthcare for the children. The aim was to provide policymakers and administrators with direction for critical decision-making and policy reforms to improve healthcare for children with IDD towards Ghana’s policy commitment on the international front to provide equitable healthcare for all. This research was grounded in interpretive description, a form of qualitative inquiry. Semi-structured caregiver interviews were the primary means of data collection. The interview protocol was guided by the Andersen Behavioral Model of Healthcare Utilization and the protocol explored the health needs of children with IDD, experiences of caregivers in accessing healthcare for the children and views of caregivers on how to improve healthcare for children. Twenty-five caregivers of children with IDD between ages three and eighteen years in Accra, Ghana, participated in this study. Constant comparison, an analytic method originally from grounded theory but also used in interpretative description, was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that children with IDD in Accra were affected by several health conditions, including sensory disorders, respiratory disorders, cardiovascular disorders and gastrointestinal disorders. Further, the children and their caregivers encountered both facilitators and complex structural and psychosocial barriers in accessing healthcare. The facilitators and barriers included financial means, social connections, access to transportation, and attitudes of healthcare providers and the general public toward children with IDD. The findings imply that although children with IDD in Ghana might be affected by several health conditions, they confront complex structural and psychosocial barriers in accessing healthcare to undermine Ghana’s commitment on the international front to provide equitable access to healthcare for all.

abstract: PhD


title: An Empirical Analysis of GNU Make in Open Source Projects

contributor:
Cordy, James R.
Computing

subject:
Build Systems
Makefiles
Open Source
Software Engineering
Software Metrics
Maintenance Complexity
GNU Make

abstract:
Build systems, the tools responsible for compiling, testing, and packaging software systems, play a vital role in the software development process. Make is one of the oldest build technologies and is still widely used today, whether by manually writing Makefiles, or by generating them using tools like Autotools and CMake. Despite its conceptual simplicity, modern Make implementations such as GNU Make have become very complex languages, featuring functions, macros, lazy variable assignments and more.

This thesis is an exploration of Make-based open source build systems in two parts. First, our feature analysis looks at the popularity of features and the difference between hand-written Makefiles and those generated using various tools. We find that generated Makefiles use only a core set of features and that more advanced features (such as function calls) are used very little, and almost exclusively in hand-written Makefiles. Second, our complexity analysis introduces indirection complexity -- a simple metric for measuring maintenance complexity in Makefiles using the same feature data compiled in the first analysis. We show how this new metric can provide a better way to measure which Makefiles will require more cognitive overhead to understand than traditional metrics.

Both analyses utilize our framework, built with the TXL source transformation language, to obtain a detailed parse of Makefiles in our corpus. This corpus consists of almost 20,000 Makefiles, comprised of over 8.4 million lines, from 271 different open source projects.

Through these analyses, we aim to gain a better understanding of how the Make language is used in the open source community (some of the most advanced users of Make).

abstract: PhD


title: Scientific Examination of the Painting Entitled While Baby Sleeps

contributor:
Murray, Alison
Art Conservation

subject:
Paul Peel
While Baby Sleeps
Scientific Examination
Attribution
Technical analysis

abstract:
Scientific examination of the painting entitled While Baby Sleeps was undertaken
due to concerns raised during a conservation treatment in 1986 regarding its attribution to
Canadian painter Paul Peel. At this time, doubts were cast regarding the signature in the
lower left corner, “PAUL PEEL/PARIS -1888,” since it was soluble in the solvent mixture
used to remove the varnish layer, suggesting it had been placed on top of the varnish.
Furthermore, paint texture with no relation to the present image was detected, as well as
evidence that the lower right hand corner of the painting had been scraped down.

For this thesis, cross-sections were excised from the P and U in PAUL. The cross-section
from the letter P showed a more complex layered structure than that obtained from
the U. Additionally, the U cross-section showed clear evidence that it had been reinforced
in the past, since the final paint layer appeared over the varnish layer.

Non-contact analytical techniques such as x-ray radiography, UV-induced
fluorescence, and infrared reflectography indicated the presence of a previous composition.
Micro-destructive samples were obtained in the form of cross-sections and paint
microsamples and were used to evaluate whether any paints contain elements indicative of
materials not available during Peel’s lifetime. None of the samples tested by SEM-EDS
revealed any such incongruencies. The findings do not shed definitive light on the
attribution debate surrounding While Baby Sleeps. Therefore, Peel cannot be excluded as
the artist of this work, nor can his authorship be proved beyond the shadow of a doubt.
The subject matter depicted in While Baby Sleeps is in keeping with Peel’s style, however
very little information regarding its provenance before arriving at the Agnes Etherington
Art Centre (AEAC) is known.

abstract: M.A.C.


title: Identification and Rendering of Contact Dynamic Models in Robotic and Haptic Systems

contributor:
Hashtrudi-Zaad, Keyvan
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Haptics
Robotics
Analog Control
Hunt-Crossley
Virtual Environments
Environment Identification

abstract:
Haptic simulation systems allow kinesthetic interaction between users and virtual environments. These environments are represented using mathematical models which simulate the contact dynamics of real objects. However, the discrete and quantized nature of conventional haptic systems limits the mechanical impedance of the virtual environment and thus degrades the realism of the simulation. Digital haptic systems are particularly limited in their ability to render highly damped environments. Analog control is proposed as an alternative for implementing high impedance virtual environments, and a study of analog haptic stability is presented. A mixed analog-digital is also proposed which uses nonlinear analog feedback and real-time parameter update algorithms to render complex and multilayer analog environments.

The accuracy of environment models is critical for realistic haptic simulations. Soft environments with limited deformation have been shown to be more accurately described using the nonlinear Hunt-Crossley model than linear models. The thesis also proposed a novel real-time Hunt-Crossley identification algorithm based on a polynomial approximation. Experimental results point at superior accuracy and convergence rate as compared to existing Hunt-Crossley estimation algorithms. The proposed identification method can also be used to facilitate robotic contact tasks.

abstract: M.A.Sc.


title: Evaluating the Impact of Geophysical Variables on the Bacterial Contamination of Private Wells in Southern Ontario

subject: Groundwater GIS Statistics Soil Geology

abstract:
Bacterial contamination in groundwater is not often analyzed beyond local and regional scales. The
presence of bacterial contaminants in the groundwater of southern Ontario has been observed, and
several areas have been identified as being at higher relative risk of E. coli contamination (Krolik et
al, 2013). This discovery by Public Health Ontario has prompted further research to evaluate
relationships between observed levels of bacterial contamination and the geological setting of
private wells. Using approximately 38,000 geocoded wells, statistical analysis was performed to
compare overburden depth, soil texture, bedrock classification, and surficial deposit classification
to observed levels of total coliform bacteria and E. coli. A very weak negative correlation was
observed between overburden depth and E. coli, but not total coliform bacteria. One-Way ANOVA
identified statistically significant differences among the means of total coliform bacteria counts in
bedrock and surficial units, but not for E. coli. One-Way ANOVA identified statistically significant
differences among the means of both total coliform bacteria and E. coli in wells situated in soils of
different texture.


title: Representations of the Paris Commune

contributor:
Mah, Harold
History

subject:
Paris Commune
French History
1871
Representations
Historiography

abstract: This thesis analyzes and compares representations of the 1871 Paris Commune in literature, socialist theory, and historiography, prioritizing where possible the voices and opinions of participants of the event itself. Almost every observer of the Commune, including professional historians, has used the Paris Commune to confirm their pre-existing narratives of history.

abstract: M.A.


title: Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymers as Stabilizers in Emulsion Polymerization

contributor:
Cunningham, Michael F.
Chemical Engineering

subject:
Emulsion
Polymer
Chemical Engineering

abstract: Emulsion polymerizations, used to produce many commodity materials, require stabilizing agents to prevent phase separation. Incorporation of these stabilizers in the final polymer may have negative effects on product properties, so the design of new stabilizers is worthwhile. Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are a promising type of emulsion polymerization stabilizer and are the focus of this work. First, the tolerance of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer stabilizer’s performance to high molecular weight dispersity and homopolymer impurity has been investigated. Polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid) block copolymers were studied due to their previously demonstrated efficacy as stabilizers in emulsion polymerization, and their similarity to commercially important polystyrene-r-poly(acrylic acid) stabilizers. Neither greater molecular weight dispersity nor homopolymer impurity was found to negatively impact the stabilization performance of these block copolymers, suggesting that the economically unfavorable conditions required to achieve low molecular weight dispersity and homopolymer impurity may be avoided. In addition to improving the economic outlook of amphiphilic block copolymer stabilizers, this work has also improved their technical feasibility. Novel polystyrene-b-[polystyrene-r-poly(acrylic acid)] block-random copolymers have been introduced which stabilize emulsion polymerizations with up to 50 weight percent solids content, exceeding what was possible using polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid) block copolymers. The block-random copolymers were also observed to have unusual solution behavior, self-folding rather than self-assembling. Emulsion polymerizations stabilized by these block-random copolymers had a total particle surface area which was directly proportional to the stabilizer concentration and was unaffected by polymerization kinetics. A novel “seeded-coagulative” emulsion polymerization mechanism has been proposed to explain these results, which were unexplainable by any known emulsion polymerization mechanism.

abstract: PhD


title: Using Feminist Theories to Explore Human-animal Relationships: Pigeons in the City

abstract: The unequal human-animal relationships regard human beings as superior to other species. They exit in various kinds of human-animal interactions (i.e. our consumption of animal products, and our use of animals as tools or entertainment). This human-dominant relationship is the result of the hierarchy culture and the dualism view rooted in the western society. Embedded in the culture, it plays a profound role in affecting how we regard the nature and treat other species nowadays. The human-animal hierarchy has generated a lot of ecosystem problems and is regarded as problematic. Therefore, a new kind of human-animal relationship is needed, which is more harmonious and sustainable. This paper examines the unequal human-animal relationships with a feminism view, and advocates to apply the feminist theories to animal study filed to call for a new human-animal relationship. A feminist view illustrates inequitable hierarchical relationships between social groups, provides insights on the implications of these relationships, and seeks liberation of marginalized groups. The idea of linking feminism to speciesism points out the similarities between these two unequal relationships as they have the same origin and both the marginalized ones (women and non-human animals here) suffer from this hierarchy system in many ways. In addition, sharing the same goal of decentralization, the liberation of all marginalized groups can be addressed simultaneously. With the guidance from a set of feminism theories, the paper reveals how these feminism ideas can be applied to and benefits the animal study by providing new dimensions of thinking. Focusing on the case of urban pigeons, the study examines it in details with a feminism perspective, especially the feminist standpoint theory. The results again confirmed that animals tend to suffer from human development and the underlying reason is rooted in the western hierarchy system. At last, the study suggests that we should change our way of thinking and shift towards a new human-animal relationship.


title: Stigma Resistance: Exploring Psychological Well-being and its Relationship to Perceived Stigma and Help-Seeking Behaviour in the General Canadian Population

contributor:
Stuart, Heather
Public Health Sciences

subject:
Stigmatization
Perceived Stigma
Stigma Resistance
Discrimination
Mental Health
Mental Disorders
Psychological Well-being
Cross-sectional Study
Population Study
Epidemiologic Study

abstract:
Background: Perceived stigma is a public health concern that causes harm by discouraging help-seeking behaviour and treatment participation amongst individuals with mental illnesses. Some individuals, however, resist stigmatization by either ignoring or confronting public stigma. Psychological well-being, a modifiable personal factor, might empower stigma resistance. This is the first study to examine psychological well-being and its relationship to perceived stigma and help-seeking behaviour.

Objectives: The first objective was to examine the association between psychological well-being and perceived stigma due to mental illness amongst Canadians who received treatment for a mental health problem in the year prior to the survey. The second objective was to examine the association between psychological well-being and help-seeking behaviour for mental health care amongst Canadians who experienced at least one select mental or substance use disorder in the year prior to the survey.

Methods: Data were derived from the first nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of mental health stigma experiences in Canada (N = 25 113). Stata 14 was used to conduct complex survey data analyses, all of which incorporated the recommended sampling weights and bootstrap variance estimation procedures. Logistic regression and modified Poisson regression were used to examine the associations between psychological well-being scores and the outcomes of interest. Considered covariates included: age, disorder type, sex, education, income, and population density.

Results: Higher psychological well-being scores reduced the odds of reporting mental health experiences of stigma (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.94 to 0.99). Higher psychological well-being scores decreased the likelihood of help-seeking behaviour amongst respondents who met the criteria for at least one selected mental disorder (RR = 0.98, 95% CI 0.97 to 0.984). The observed associations remained statistically significant after adjusting for the effects of all relevant covariates.

Conclusion: Higher levels of psychological well-being might facilitate stigma resistance amongst individuals suffering from mental or substance use disorders. However, longitudinal studies using context-specific measures of stigma experiences and expectations are needed to: (a) untangle the directionality of the observed correlations, (b) determine whether psychological well-being facilitates stigma resistance in the mental health care context, and (c) clarify the association between psychological well-being and help-seeking behaviour.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Durability of HDPE Geomembrane Seams and Sheet in Brine and Landfill Leachate

contributor:
Rowe, Kerry
Civil Engineering

subject:
Geosynthetics
Geomembrane
Seam
Welds
Antioxidant Depletion
Shear Test
Peel Test

abstract:
The geomembrane (GMB) properties and those of the welds connecting the GMB sheets are key factors affecting long-term liner performance. Thus, a series of accelerated immersion tests are used to examine the effect of landfill leachate and brine on HDPE geomembrane (GMB) sheet and seams. The effect of ageing in these solutions was investigated at: (a) the GMB sheet well away from the weld (SAW); (b) the heat affected zone beside the weld (HAZ); and, (c) the welded zone (Weld). The initial, post-welding, Std-OITo and HP-OITo were greatest for the GMB away from the weld, and least for the GMB in the weld. A comparison of the degradation of sheet material in tension with the weld in shear, peel, or tension showed faster degradation of the weld than the sheet material immersed in brine and leachate. No physical degradation of the welds occurred until after the Std-OIT was depleted when immersed in MSW leachate, whereas in brine the shear and peel strength and elongation started to decrease before Std-OIT and HP-OIT had depleted to a residual value. No failure was observed in the welded seams themselves. Rather, failure was observed at HAZ adjacent to the weld in peel, shear, and tensile tests. The time to nominal failure (i.e., 50% of the initial value) for a seam was about 67% and 45% in brine and leachate, respectively, of that for the sheet aged under the same conditions based on both tensile strength and elongation; thus, the welds are likely to dominate the service-life of the GMB.
Brine is shown to have a greater effect on the physical properties than landfill leachate based on all common indicators (i.e., shear break strength, shear break elongation, and peel break strength), resulting in shorter time to nominal failure, tNF, in brine (despite a high percentage of antioxidants remaining in the GMB at tNF).

abstract: PhD


title: The Stigmatization of Mental Illness: a Mixed Method Study

contributor:
Milev, Roumen
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Mental Illness
Mood Disorders
Stigma
Stigmatization
Qualitative
Depression
Bipolar
Mixed Method
Neuroscience

abstract:
Current research regarding the stigmatization of mental illnesses focuses mainly on quantitative data. There is insufficient data regarding the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of people with mood disorders. This thesis aims to understand the extent of stigmatization that people with mood disorders have experienced. A total of 212 participants with depression and bipolar disorder took part in this study. The Inventory of Stigmatizing Experiences (ISE), a 36-item questionnaire evaluated experiences with stigma. 16 open-ended questions emerged with responses suitable for coding. Responses were deconstructed sentence by sentence to identify themes. A total of 18 themes and 17 sub-themes emerged. When asked to elaborate on their experiences, responses rates were minimal, between 10-30%. Question 18 asked for an example of ‘stigma that had occurred in the past year’ and response rates averaged 40%, the most common theme was ‘stigmatizing experiences.’ This indicates that the stigma of mental illness is still prevalent. Question 27 asked ‘how do you cope with stigma,’ and response rates hovered around 55%. Coping techniques tended to be positive with themes such as ‘education,’ ‘humour,’ and ‘exercise.’ The data was re-arranged by gender, age, diagnosis, age of first symptoms and education to search for similarities and differences. When comparing genders, Question 18 resulted in women discussing the theme of positive experiences 19% compared to 31% of men. Non-parametric T-tests searched for statistically significant differences between groups. Significance was met in question 18, under the theme ‘positive experiences’ (p = .044) and ‘stigmatizing experiences’ (p = .001). In Question 22 when the data was rearranged by education, university learners reported the most stigmatization (51%), compared to college (38%), and high school (45%). When asked in Question 35, ‘what causes stigma,’ response rates averaged 70%. The theme of ‘ignorance’ was most common.
This data could be useful to further anti-stigma campaigns by reminding people that mental illness affects diverse types of people. This study indicates that mental illness stigma is still a barrier that needs to be over come. By lowering the stigma associated with mental illness, we could expect higher treatment adherence and remission rates.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: Stress During Early-Adolescence Reduces Rats’ Aggression and Increases Their Serotonin Fibre Density in Adulthood

contributor:
Menard, Janet L.
Psychology

subject: Psychology Serotonin Stress Development Adolescent Adolescence Anxiety Animal-Model 5-HT Aggression

abstract: Stressful experiences during youth can lead to a maladaptive behaviour profile in adulthood, including an increase in anxiety and aggression-related behaviours in humans. Rats exposed to the intermittent physical stress (IPS) paradigm in early-adolescence (PD 22 – 34) have lasting increases in anxiety-related behaviour. Greater anxiety-related behaviours have been shown to be associated with greater aggression-related behaviours. Therefore, I hypothesized that stress during early-adolescence would also lead to increases in aggression. In addition, greater anxiety and aggression have been associated with altered serotonergic function in the prefrontal cortex and ventral hippocampus. However, it is unclear whether a similar mechanism accounts for the enduring impact of stress during adolescence on those responses. In this experiment, I examined if IPS during early-adolescence increased anxiety-related behaviour in the elevated plus-maze and shock-probe burying test, as well as increased aggressive behaviour in the resident intruder test. In addition, I determined if there were changes in serotonin fibre density in the prefrontal cortex and ventral hippocampus. Male Long Evans rats (N = 24) were randomly assigned to either the early-adolescent stress or no-stress control groups. Rats were exposed to IPS stress (involving foot-shock, water immersion and elevated platform exposure) during early-adolescence and tested in the elevated plus-maze, shock-probe burying test and resident intruder test in adulthood. At the end of behavioural testing, brain tissue was examined for serotonin fibre density in the regions of interest using immunohistochemistry. Animals exposed to early-adolescent stress did not display greater levels of anxiety; however, they did display lower levels of aggression and an increase in serotonin fibre density in the prefrontal cortex. These results support that early-adolescence is a period of vulnerability of emotional development and raise the possibility that the impact of stress in adolescence on aggression in later life depends on when the stressors were experienced.

abstract: M.Sc.


title: The Role of Self-Concealment and Perfectionistic Self-Presentation in Concealment of Psychache and Suicide Ideation

contributor:
Holden, Ronald R.
Psychology

subject: suicide; personality; concealment; psychache; perfectionism

abstract: Suicide is a severe societal problem with nearly 1 million people dying by suicide each year worldwide (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). The goal of the current research was to explore potential risk factors in order to help improve researchers’ and mental health professionals’ ability to identify high-risk individuals who are more likely to conceal their feelings and thoughts from others. The present research examined the relationship of two personality traits, self-concealment and perfectionistic self- presentation, to two suicide related concepts, psychache and suicide ideation, as well as the role of social support within this context. Results of Study 1 indicated that individuals higher on self-concealment and individuals higher on perfectionistic self-presentation were more likely to report psychache as well as concealment of psychache from others. The goal of Study 2 was to replicate and extend the finding that the two traits are significant predictors of suicide ideation, as well as to examine two potential mediators, concealment of psychache and social support, to explain this relationship. Both traits were significant predictors of suicide ideation and concealment of psychache mediated the relationship of suicide ideation with self-concealment and two subcomponents of the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale. Social support mediated the relationship between one of the subcomponents of the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale and suicide ideation. The goal of Study 3 was to further examine the two personality traits, social support, and concealment of psychache, using an experimental design. More specifically, participants were instructed to either describe situations in which they had social support or describe situations in which they had no social support. Results indicated significant differences between participants assigned to the high compared to the low social support conditions in perceived social support, self-concealment, and each of the subscales of the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale. A series of moderated regressions indicated that at low and moderate, but not high, levels of the perfectionistic self-promotion and nondisclosure of imperfection subscales of the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale, higher levels of social support were associated with lower levels of concealment of psychache. The implications of the current research and possible recommendations are discussed.

abstract: PhD


title: Efficacy of using robotics to characterize impaired upper-limb function in a non-human primate model of stroke

contributor:
Cook, Douglas James
Neuroscience Studies

subject:
Non-human primate
Robotics
Stroke
Translational model

abstract:
Rationale: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability and has the largest socioeconomic burden of any disease in Canada. Unfortunately, thousands of stroke therapies that proved successful in animal preclinical trials failed in subsequent human populations. Non-human primates (NHPs) closely resemble humans and may represent an animal model that could help bridge the translational gap preceding clinical trials. Additionally, robotic technology has been proven to provide objective determination of outcomes in human stroke populations and it is possible that these outcomes are conserved across species. This study investigated the efficacy of using robotic tasks as a behavioural assessment tool in a NHP model of stroke.
Methods: Stroke was induced in 2 cynomolgus macaques through transient 90-minute right middle cerebral artery occlusion. At 2.5 years post-stroke, neurobehavioural outcomes were assessed using a visually guided reaching (VGR) and a postural perturbation (PP) KINARM exoskeleton robotic task. Stroke NHP task parameters were compared to control performance (2 healthy, age matched controls) for both the affected and unaffected-arms to determine impairment.
Results: In the VGR task, stroke animals made reaches with their affected-arm that were less accurate, had more corrective motions, travelled a greater distance, and took longer as compared to controls (p<0.01). In the PP task, responses of stroke animals to perturbations to the affected-arm were further displaced, took longer to stop, had more corrective motions, and took longer to return to centre as compared to controls (p<0.01). Several, specific unaffected-arm deficits were also identified for both stroke NHPs.
Conclusions: The KINARM tasks were able to consistently quantify specific sensorimotor deficits in stroke NHPs in a way similar to that previously achieved in human populations. This study proves the efficacy of robotic assessment in a NHP model of stroke and supports the feasibility of this model in translating future stroke therapies from preclinical to clinical trials.

abstract: M.Sc.