SFU Library Digital Publishing (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver)
Not a member yet
4841 research outputs found
Sort by
Apple's Monopolistic Control Over the Tech Industry
Get PDFApple, a brand known worldwide for its electronic products, has become one of the biggest companies in tech. Its international dominance within the tech industry has led its business practices to be continually scrutinized. Many deem the company’s methods of maintaining its success as monopolistic because of the unfair control that it holds over its customers and certain areas of the industry. An opposing argument can also be made with the competition that Apple faces and how it prevents the company from exhibiting monopolistic control. However, this paper argues that Apple does exhibit monopolistic behaviour in the tech industry by examining Apple’s treatment of its customers and competing brands. The documented examples within news articles and journals of Apple demonstrating its control provide a new perspective of the company that many are unaware of
Novel Genetic Mutation in a Heart Protein Leads to Debilitating Heart Disease in Young Teen
No full textHeart disease is often associated with an aging population, so it is shocking to learn that seemingly healthy children can rapidly develop heart diseases. Due to the unknown cause of these diseases, most treatments focus on managing the symptoms instead of treating the root cause. Consequently, these children can face extremely low survival rates and often require invasive surgeries such as heart transplants. This presentation focuses on the story of a 15-year-old German boy diagnosed with a heart disease that causes thinning of the heart walls. Genetic testing revealed he had a novel mutation in Troponin C (TnC), a protein integral to normal heart function. The heart’s ability to beat is controlled by the interaction between TnC and calcium ions. Any changes to the strength of this interaction can cause the heart to beat abnormally, leading to changes in the heart’s structure. My presentation takes you through my research journey where I test the altered interaction between the mutated TnC protein and calcium in various biochemical systems that mimic the physiological conditions of the heart.
By investigating how this mutation changes the ability of TnC to interact with calcium, we can better understand the mechanisms leading to this disease. This allows us to potentially create treatments to normalize this abnormal interaction, thereby stopping the progression of the disease and extending the lives of children affected.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Glen Tibbits, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser Universit
How to Get Away with Rape: Charter Protections and the Right to a Fair Trial
Get PDFThis paper was originally written for Dr. Clare McGovern’s Political Science 428 course The Impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The guidelines for this paper were to “assess the impact of the Charter on a specific area of Canadian law, advance and defend a thesis, and consider counter arguments using empirical evidence.” Students were asked to question a legal principle having to do with the impact of the Charter, and either defend it or put forth a new legal principle that they thought courts in Canada should adopt instead. This is a condensed version of the original paper. It uses APA citation style
Critique of Sharon Street's Evolutionary Account Against Moral Realism
Get PDFIn this article, I argue Sharon Street’s evolutionary account in “A Darwinian Dilemma For Realist Theories of Value,” faces significant empirical and philosophical problems. I split Street’s account into two components: the evolutionary premise and the adaptive link account. The evolutionary premise suffers from issues in its improper application of the models of altruism in explaining the content of our evaluative attitudes when comparing humans and chimpanzees. The adaptive link account suffers because of Street’s invocation of inference to the best explanation and the misunderstanding between a trait being an adaption and an adaptive trait. I argue that the adaptive link account results in a just-so story. This is a problem for Street, and I will suggest she has a possible way out
Police Ethics
Get PDFOn November 25, 2021, Chief Cst. Richard Lewis from Cleveland Police (United Kingdom) presented Police Ethics at the 2021 CASIS West Coast Security Conference. The presentation was followed by a question and answer period. The key points discussed were police ethics in the United Kingdom (UK), the role of the National Police Ethics Committee, and public involvement to maintain a trusting relationship between the public and law enforcement
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in National Security Intelligence
Get PDFOn November 23, 2021, Mr. Artur Wilczynski, Associate Deputy Chief at Communications Security Establishment (CSE), presented on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in National Security Intelligence at the 2021 CASIS Vancouver West Coast Security Conference. This presentation was followed by a question and answer period and a breakout room session with questions from the audience and CASIS Vancouver executives. The key points discussed included how a lack of diversity in intelligence can negatively contribute to Canada’s national security, how diversity broadens the effectiveness of organizations, and how Canadian national security institutions must be in service to all Canadians
Canadian American Solutions to the Questions of Arctic Security
Get PDFOn November 22, 2021, Dr. Robert Huebert, Professor at the University of Calgary, presented Canadian American Solutions to the Questions of Arctic Security at the 2021 CASIS West Coast Security Conference. The presentation was followed by a question and answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS Vancouver executives. The key points discussed were Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic, the changing global threat environment, and the US-Canada Arctic partnership
Deadly Disinformation: Viral Conspiracy Theories as a Radicalization Mechanism
Get PDFViral online disinformation is misleading content that is generated to manipulate public opinion and to circulate rapidly in the digital space. Although viral disinformation has become an instrument for radicalization, the specific psychological mechanisms by which disinformation can be weaponized––wielded as mobilizing and radicalizing political tools––are not yet well-understood.
In this paper, we establish the potential of concerted disinformation efforts to impact mass radicalization and political violence, first through historical precedents of deadly disinformation campaigns, then in modern-day examples from the USA and Russia. Comparing and contrasting political effects of two recent disinformation campaigns, QAnon’s #SaveTheChildren campaign in the USA, and anti-LGBTQ disinformation campaign in Russia, this paper highlights the significance of LGBTQ contagion threat—a notion that people can be “turned” into LGBTQ through deliberate outside influence. The psychological and political consequences of such messaging, its main target audience, and vulnerability factors rendering individuals especially susceptible to its radicalizing effects are discussed.
Received: 2022-08-12Revised: 2022-09-2
Jurisdiction and Security
Get PDFOn June 16, 2022, the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS)-Vancouver hosted a Digital Roundtable titled Jurisdiction and Security, conducted by Dr. Erin Gibbs Van Brunschot, a Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies (CMSS) at the University of Calgary. The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS-Vancouver executives. The discussion topics centred around the jurisdictional challenges that limit security responses to Canadian national security threats and how security networks must be established to tackle these evolving threats