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Understanding the role of grit in competitive sport
Get PDFThe ability to persist past challenges and sustain one’s pursuit of long-term goals is essential for athlete success. One motivational disposition that may enable athletes to overcome setbacks is grit. Grit, defined as perseverance and passion over the long term, has been linked to sport success. However, the role of grit in sport requires further exploration. This mixed-methods research program aimed to investigate the role of grit in competitive sport through three interrelated studies. Study 1 involved a scoping review of grit in sport, identifying 90 publications exploring relationships between grit and factors such as athlete characteristics, sport performance, motivation, mindfulness, self-compassion, and deliberate practice. Coaches' input helped identify future research considerations. Study 2 examined whether grit predicted important athlete outcomes beyond other determinants of success. Data from 214 collegiate student-athletes revealed that the grit subscales added unique explanatory power when predicting subjective sport performance perceptions and aspects of well-being. This study highlighted the complexity of predicting success in sport, but ultimately provided support for predictive utility of grit in sport. The purpose of Study 3 was to construct a grounded theory of competitive athletes' grit in sport. Interviews with 28 participants indicated that grit was a malleable dispositional tendency shaped by accumulated sport experiences. Support from others fostered adaptive cognitions, which lead to the pursuit of long-term goals in sport. Grit was associated with sport-specific goal achievement, thriving, and languishing. The study contributed to a greater understanding of the processes underlying competitive athletes' sport-specific grit, and provided implications for practice and recommendations for future research. Overall, this program of research found evidence to support the continued study of grit as a relevant and meaningful construct within the competitive sport domain and emphasizes the need for further exploration, including improvements to the measurement of grit and the creation of interventions to enhance grit levels
Learning Effectively from Medical Imaging Datasets
No full textThe abstract of this item is unavailable due to an embargo
Living near Prairie Potholes : What could go wrong?
Get PDFCanada First Research Excellence FundNon-Peer ReviewedExposure to the societal impacts of hydrology on the Canadian Prairies influences a young scientific modeler's work direction
Canadian Academic Library Leadership (CALL): The State of Equity
Get PDFLeadership is a vast, complex, and heavily examined concept in many fields. The concept of leadership has evolved, and definitions are ubiquitous, subjective, socially constructed, and influenced by many aspects such as the environment and culture. Since knowing leadership can come from multiple perspectives, it is important to have a space for minority librarians and their styles and unique strengths in academic library leadership. Equitable and inclusive leadership is critical to sustaining leadership in librarianship; it would mean providing leadership space for minority librarians, accepting their strengths, sponsoring them for leadership positions, and overhauling the leadership curriculum and academic library leadership practices. Despite some attempts, librarianship has been slow to progress on inclusive leadership and there are few successful pathways for minority librarians in academic leadership positions. The lack of intentional opportunities for (Black, Indigenous, and persons of colour) BIPOC librarians, sexual minority librarians, and librarians with disabilities to serve as leaders provides a platform to discuss library leadership as an inequitable issue and this research is a CALL (Canadian Academic Library Leadership) to attend to the state of equity in library leadership. Understanding the leadership journey undertaken by current minority library leaders will enhance the understanding of inclusion efforts.
This study undertook a comprehensive approach to the presence and absence of minority librarians in leadership positions in Canadian academic libraries by using a combination of critical race theory and appreciative inquiry. Critical race theory (CRT) is broader than just race and helps to critically evaluate marginalization based on, for example, race, gender, tribe, or sexuality, from a critical, emancipatory, and social justice lens. Appreciative inquiry lent a positive perspective and helped frame the research questions to encourage all participants to share their stories through a success perspective, which might help create opportunities for more minority librarians.
Findings from all phases of participants provided valuable insights into self-efficacy and capacity-building measures undertaken by minority librarians; and, highlighted academic library structures, systems, policies, and other institutional elements that need to shift, unlearn, and relearn, to aid minority librarians in their leadership journey
The Impact of Meteorological Forcing Uncertainty on Hydrological Modeling: A Global Analysis of Cryosphere Basins
No full text© 2023. The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Global Water Futures
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Grant Number: RGPIN-2019-06894Peer ReviewedMeteorological forcing is a major source of uncertainty in hydrological modeling. The recent development of probabilistic large-domain meteorological data sets enables convenient uncertainty characterization, which however is rarely explored in large-domain research. This study analyzes how uncertainties in meteorological forcing data affect hydrological modeling in 289 representative cryosphere basins by forcing the Structure for Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA) and mizuRoute models with precipitation and air temperature ensembles from the Ensemble Meteorological Data set for Planet Earth (EM-Earth). EM-Earth probabilistic estimates are used in ensemble simulation for uncertainty analysis. The results reveal the magnitude, spatial distribution, and scale effect of uncertainties in meteorological, snow, runoff, soil water, and energy variables. There are three main findings. (a) The uncertainties in precipitation and temperature lead to substantial uncertainties in hydrological model outputs, some of which exceed 100% of the magnitude of the output variables themselves. (b) The uncertainties of different variables show distinct scale effects caused by spatial averaging or temporal averaging. (c) Precipitation uncertainties have the dominant impact for most basins and variables, while air temperature uncertainties are also nonnegligible, sometimes contributing more to modeling uncertainties than precipitation uncertainties. We find that three snow-related variables (snow water equivalent, snowfall amount, and snowfall fraction) can be used to estimate the impact of air temperature uncertainties for different model output variables. In summary, this study provides insight into the impact of probabilistic data sets on hydrological modeling and quantifies the uncertainties in cryosphere basin modeling that stem from the meteorological forcing data
Fecal Egg Counts, Nemabiomes, and Management Practices in Saskatchewan Horses
Get PDFThe purpose of this thesis was to describe intensity (fecal egg counts, FEC) and diversity (using nemabiome ITS2 metabarcoding approaches) of gastrointestinal nematodes in Saskatchewan horses, their relationships with individual horse variables and management practices, and effectiveness of owner-administered treatments. We conducted fecal surveys in horses in fall 2021 (n=107) and spring 2022 (n=123) that had not been dewormed in the previous 6 months, most of which were adults (greater than 3 years old). Parascaris spp. eggs were rare, more commonly present in spring and in horses less than 3 years old. Strongyle prevalence and mean FEC were significantly higher in fall (76% and 964 eggs per gram of feces, EPG) than spring (66% and 593 EPG), and in pastured vs stabled horses. Age was significantly associated with strongyle FEC, with higher counts in young and old horses, especially older mares. Third stage larvae were cultured from 95 fecal samples containing >200 strongyle EPG, and 34 unique species were identified, including 28 small strongyles (dominated by Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cyathostomum catinatum, and Cylicostephanus longibursatus), 2 large migratory strongyles (Strongylus vulgaris and S. edentatus), 3 non-migratory large strongyles (Triodontophorus spp. and Craterostomum acuticaudatum), and the cattle nematode Ostertagia ostertagi. Nemabiome composition was significantly associated with age, sex, collection season, and FEC. In fall, fecal samples from 5 of 29 horses resampled 14 days after anthelmintic treatment administered by owners harboured strongyle eggs (from 11 to 775 EPG) with a mean treatment effectiveness of 96%; on a single property with 15 horses, mean effectiveness was 92%, excluding a horse that likely missed its dose. Three samples contained 18 small strongyle species before treatment, and seven species after, including the 3 dominant small strongyles. Only 23% of horse owners used FEC to determine need for treatment, 41% automatically dewormed twice per year, 26% relied on appearance of the horse to calculate body weight, 55% used a product containing a macrocyclic lactone, and 39% of owners did not know what product they had most recently used. We report high strongyle FEC and diversity of strongyles for managed domestic horses, and evidence of lack of effectiveness of owner-administered treatments which may in part be related to suboptimal deworming practices as well as emerging resistance of small strongyles
Wall Street’s Attitude to CEO-to-Employee Pay-Ratio: Evidence from M&As
Get PDFUsing merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements from 2018 to 2021 by S&P 1500 firms in the United States as a corporate event, we aim to further understand the debate surrounding within firm income inequality in executive compensation in U.S companies. We found that the M&A announcement period abnormal returns positively related to acquirer’s CEO-to-Employee Pay Ratio. However, we note that such an effect is more pronounced when the target is not a publicly traded firm. Our core findings are consistent with Optimal Contracting Theory, Shareholder Value view and Talent Assignment Hypotheses. Market perceives firms likely pay higher compensation to attract more talented CEOs, which contributes to within firm pay disparity. In other words, these findings also imply that market perceives more talented CEOs likely have stronger bargaining power to extract larger share of company’s rents, as such CEOs would likely be able to make firm value maximizing acquisitions
An Information Security System for Image Encryption Applications: Architecture and Performance Evaluation
No full textThe abstract of this item is unavailable due to an embargo
Preparation and Characterization of Site-Specifically Radiolabeled 89Zr-DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb ImmunoPET Tracer
No full textPreparation and Characterization of Site-Specifically Radiolabeled 89Zr-DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb ImmunoPET Tracer Feng-Yun J. Huanga,*, Ching-Chun Lua, Wei-Lin Lob, Shiou-Shiow Farnb, Chao-Wei Yangc aDepartment of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology: No.666, Buzih Road, Beitun District, Taichung City, 40605, Taiwan; bIsotope Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research: No.1000, Wenhua Road, Jiaan Village, Longtan District, Taoyuan City, 32546, Taiwan; cDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Cheng Ching Hospital – Chung Kang Branch: No.966, Sec 4, Taiwan Blvd., Xitun Dist., Taichung City, 40764, Taiwan; *Corresponding Author Email Address: [email protected] Introduction Site-specifically radiolabeled immunoPET tracers have been demonstrated to provide superior imaging ability in vivo than conventional radiolabeled one (random method). In this study, preparation and characterization of site-specifically radiolabeled 89Zr-DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb tracer will be investigated. The site-specific immunoPET tracer could detect the expression of immune checkpoint protein (ex. PD-L1/PD-1) on tumor for assessment of patient stratification before treatment and therapeutic efficacy after treatment. Description of the Work Materials & Methods: The technique of enzymatic glycan modification was utilized to prepare site-specifically radiolabeled 89Zr-immunoPET tracer. In brief, GlyCLICK® and SiteClick® kits were used to prepare azide-activated anti-PD-L1-mAb with degree of labeling of 2 and 4, respectively. Then bifunctional chelator DBCO-DFO was attached to the azide-functionalized antibodies via SPAAC click reaction to form site-specific DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb conjugates with different chelator-to-antibody ratio (CAR) of 2 and 4. The quality control of conjugates were conducted and then radiolabeled with 89Zr in 1 M HEPES buffer, pH 7, and shaking with 300 rpm at RT for 40 min. In addition, in vitro stability of tracers was estimated in the PBS at RT after purification. Results: Both site-specific DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb conjugates with CAR of 2 and 4 were performed as transparent, clear, without aggregation, chemical purity of 100%, pH of 7.0 – 7.5. Analysis of conjugates by LC-MS showed that CAR for GlyCLICK® and SiteClick® prepared DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb conjugates was 2.04 and 3.62, respectively. Results from radio-TLC indicated that radiochemical purity of tracers with CAR of 2 and 4 reached 100% and 98.7%, respectively. In addition, the results from HPLC analysis revealed that radioimpurities in both tracers were less than 5%. For in vitro stability study, radiochemical purity of both tracers displayed no any decline until 7 d incubated in PBS at RT. Conclusions In this study, site-specifically radiolabeled 89Zr-DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb tracer with CAR of 2 and 4 have been prepared and characterized. The LC-MS results demonstrate that CAR for GlyCLICK® and SiteClick® prepared DFO-anti-PD-L1-mAb conjugates was 2.04 and 3.62, respectively. Radiochemical purity of tracers with CAR of 2 and 4 were large than 98% and both of them showed excellent stability in vitro. Keywords: site-specifically radiolabeled; DFO; 89Zr; immunoPET; PD-L1/PD-1 References European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 2019;47(5):1302 – 1313
Studies on aging and mental health in Canada
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Mental diseases among older adults are believed to contribute significantly to the disease burden in Canada and globally. Given the considerable increase in aging populations and the change in population compositions over the past decades, both trends and determinants for mental health status among older adults deserve to be studied further. To design effective public health intervention programs and policies, it is required therefore to establish the evidence that could serve as a foundation for interventions. The primary goal of this thesis is to get a deeper understanding of the risk factors, mediators, and trends in mental disorders among older adults in Canada using a wide range of population-based data sources and a variety of epidemiological and statistical approaches. The guiding theoretical framework is a transdisciplinary biopsychosocial model of mental illness which examines biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors in the development of mental illness looking at these factors in isolation and at their interconnectedness. In this thesis, we look at socio-demographic and psychological factors. Some of the social and psychological factors in mental illness are potentially changeable and thus targets for intervention and prevention.
This thesis consists of seven chapters. The first introductory chapter describes the changes that have occurred in demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the mental health of Canadian older adults in the past decades. The second chapter describes the study designs, data sources, and statistical analyses used in the following substantive chapters.
In the first substantive study (Chapter 3), we examined the changes in a variety of mental health indicators of older Canadians from 1978 to 2018 using a large set of repeated national cross-sectional surveys. The results of this study revealed that there was a slight decrease in the prevalence of psychological distress and a weak sense of belonging over the past 4 decades among older Canadians. Other mental health indicators, including frequency of consulted mental health professionals, self-reported diagnosed mood disorders, anti-depressant medication use, self-perceived poor mental health, and life dissatisfaction, all displayed significant increases over the past forty years. There seems to be a willingness to acknowledge having mental health problems. Gender differences were evident.
There are a variety of behaviors that have been associated with an increased prevalence of mental illness. Chapter 4, examines whether the relationship between the selected health risk behaviors (physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, and smoking) and their association with depression among Canadians 65+ born in eight cohorts between 1910-1914 to 1945-1949 have changed. We used pooled data drawn from 11 nationally representative health surveys conducted by Statistics Canada between 1994 and 2014. A Cochran-Armitage trend test for categorical outcomes and a log-binomial modeling for binary outcomes were used to estimate the risk ratios across cohorts. We found that physical inactivity and smoking were consistently associated with a significantly increased risk of depression among Canadian residents 65+, with smoking becoming more firmly connected to depression risk in more recent birth cohorts. In contrast, moderate alcohol use was associated with a decreased risk of depression, but that protective effect diminished over time and ceased in the most recent birth cohorts.
The third study (Chapter 5) analyzed the contributions of chronological aging, specific temporal (time) periods, and birth cohort effects on the trends in the major depressive episode (MDE) prevalence among Canadian seniors during the period 1994 to 2018 using data from national health surveys. Our findings showed the presence of strong chronological age and cohort effects and weaker period effects on the prevalence of late-life depression in Canadian seniors. In addition, we found that females 65+ were consistently more likely to be depressed than males 65+ and age exerts a greater effect on females’ probability of developing MDE than males. Our moderation analysis also indicated that lower levels of education significantly contributed to the higher rates of depression among cohorts born earlier in the 20th century.
Chapter 6, tests the associations and interactions between two protective factors and a negative risk factor on feelings of positive mental health and psychological distress among older Canadians. Using data from a large nationally cross-sectional mental health survey, our fourth substantive study (Chapter 6) investigated the complex mediating role of physical activities and social support both separately and combined in influencing the relationships between chronic disease and mental health among older Canadian adults. Our detailed analysis indicated that both physical activity and social support are significant partial mediators between chronic diseases and psychological distress as well as chronic diseases and positive mental health.
A final chapter, Chapter 7, presents the conclusions derived from this research as well as comments on practical implications and directions for future research