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Assessing the Implications for Children in Violent Extremist Families
Get PDFOn September 8, 2022, the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS) Vancouver hosted the Defence and Security Advisory Network (DSAN) workshop in which Dr. Joana Cook, Senior Project Manager at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) and Editor-in-Chief of the ICCT Journal, presented on Assessing the Implications for Children in Violent Extremist Families. The presentation was followed by a moderated question-and-answer period in which the audience was able to deepen their understanding of the topic. The discussion centered around understanding the context of children who are affiliated with violent extremist (VE) groups so that practitioners can better support them and address their specific needs.
Shared Positive Emotions and Child-Father Attachment in Two Small-Scale Societies
No full textFathers are more likely than mothers to use play time as a means of expressing sensitivity towards their infants and toddlers, which is associated with secure child-father attachment and children’s normative social and emotional development. However, this finding has only been observed in Western contexts, warranting further exploration into the role of father-child play as a correlate of secure child-father attachment in non-Western cultures. The current investigation examines secondary observational data collected from two small-scale societies in Bolivia and Vanuatu, where mothers’ reports of father-child play was a significant predictor of child-father attachment security. This study conceptualizes shared positive emotion as a form of paternal sensitivity to determine a potential relationship between quality of child-father play and child-father attachment security. Participants included 92 father-child dyads (63 Tannese, 29 Tsimane). Results indicate a significant association between dyads expressing positive shared emotion (IPE: interactive, positive emotion) and child-father attachment security. When stratifying by society, this association was found in the Vanuatu sample, but not Bolivia. Close inspection indicates that there is a trend in Bolivia. Findings support claims of paternal sensitivity in playful contexts as a culturally universal correlate of child-father attachment security at the infant and toddler age. This study provides insight into behavioural correlates of attachment security within populations virtually unrepresented within child-father attachment literature.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Tanya Broesch, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser Universit
Developing a CRISPR-based Prime Editing Workflow for Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Model Cardiac Arrhythmogenic TNNT2 Variants
Get PDFHypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most prevalent inherited arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), affecting 1:500 individuals and the primary cause of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in youth and young adults, including elite athletes. HCM presents with an enlargement of the ventricles/septal wall, disarray of cardiomyocyte (contracting heart cells) alignment, and electrically inactive fibrotic tissue deposition. These variations to the typical cardiac composition produce substrates for chaotic electrical activity across the myocardium (the heart's muscular tissue), preventing normal contraction and relaxation cycles. Various mutations have been identified in genes encoding cardiac contractile proteins. Of concern, some patients harbouring TNNT2 gene variants (aberrant gene sequences) develop varying degrees of cardiac hypertrophy yet demonstrate a disproportionately high incidence of SCA. In this study, to better understand the effect of these variants, we are developing a CRISPR-based prime editing protocol to edit these variants into the genome of hiPSCs. In our lab, these hiPSCs are routinely differentiated into beating hiPSC-CMs, which allows us to study arrhythmias using a variety of electrophysiological (the electrical activity underpinning physical dynamics of cardiac cells) and contractility applications. Prime editing is a new system that has not yet been established to produce cardiac gene-specific edits in hiPSCs. Here, we aim to develop hiPSC-derived CMs with three known HCM associated TNNT2 variants (I79N+/-, R92Q+/-, and R278C+/-) using prime editing. Ultimately, this research provides the opportunity to understand the mechanisms underlying these variants specific arrhythmia and aid in developing symptom alleviating and curative medications, improving patients' quality of life.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Glen Tibbits, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser Universit
Strength in numbers? Do European fire ants communicate and forage better in groups than on their own?
No full textEuropean fire ants (EFAs), Myrmica rubra, are significant pests in their invaded North American range, altering the composition of arthropod communities and rendering urban parks unusable for recreational activities. EFAs deposit trail pheromone (3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine) to mark trails between their nest and food sources, and they emit alarm pheromone (3-octanone & 3-octanol) to convey danger to nestmates. In prior studies, attraction of EFAs to these pheromones was demonstrated with groups of EFAs but could not be confirmed with single EFAs. Here we tested the hypothesis that EFAs indeed communicate and forage in groups. In Y-tube olfactometer experiments using a gentle airflow, we tested both single EFAs and groups of EFAs for attraction to airborne synthetic trail pheromone, synthetic alarm pheromone, and natural food odorants. While the 2020- and 2021-data are not entirely consistent (due possibly to the heatwave this summer), there is emerging evidence that groups of EFAs respond better than single EFAs to pheromone signals and to foraging cues.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Gerhard Gries, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Reseach Team Members: Jonathan Petrov, Saif Nayani, Jaime M. Chalissery, Regine Gries, Simon Fraser Universit
Exploring the Iatrogenic Effects of Interpersonal Violence Risk Assessment
No full textInterpersonal violence can be broadly defined as an act where one or more individuals physically cause harm to others (Dahlberg & Mercy, 2002). One important method of preventing interpersonal violence is risk assessment. However, there has been no previous research addressing whether non-sexual interpersonal violence (NSIV) assessments may be impacting the violent thoughts of those being assessed and limited research regarding prevalence of violent thoughts in non-clinical populations. I will share the findings and implication of my Honours project which explores the prevalence of violent thoughts and whether NSIV assessments are iatrogenic, e.g., whether they may be causing unwanted negative effects in those being assessed such as psychological distress. Participants will participate in a pre-test/post-test design study where they will complete two blocks of questionnaires, one of general life satisfaction and one of NSIV. Participants will complete a measure of mood before and after both blocks to see if any changes in psychological state occur. I test whether the participants experience any increases in psychological distress following the questions of NSIV and for the prevalence of violent thoughts in an undergraduate population. The lack of research in this area regarding interpersonal violence is notable, as it has been extensively researched with respect to self-directed violence (ie. suicide). Based on similar research conducted regarding self-directed violence, I hypothesized that the iatrogenic effects of assessing risk for NSIV will be statistically non-significant and negligible in magnitude (ie. below the conventional criterion used to identify a “small” effect).
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Hart, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser Universit
A Pilot Study: Differences in Flow State and Flow Disposition in Jazz vs. Classical Musicians and their Practice
No full text“Flow” is an optimal experience where one’s focus is completely absorbed in the task at hand, and actions come naturally and automatically without effort or seemingly conscious wilful intention (Csíkszentmihályi, 2008). There are two major approaches – state flow and trait flow. Although flow has been reported in many professions such as surgery and sports, musicians have been overlooked and understudied, especially in the context of musical genres and their practice.
The aim of the present study is to examine: (a) is there a difference between state and trait flow?; and (b) is state or trait flow affected by jazz vs classical music practice? About 70 participants within jazz and classical music ensembles will be recruited from UBC, SFU, and Vancouver Community College. Eligibility requirements include the following: 16+ years old, and five plus years of experience in jazz or classical music. The Dispositional Flow Scale 2 and Flow State Scale 2 will be administered (Jackson et al., 2010). A within-subjects design will compare state and trait scores for both types of musicians, given their preferred music domain. Additionally, a between-subjects design will compare state flow scores between jazz and classical musicians and likewise for dispositional flow. It is predicted that there is a difference between state and dispositional flow, and that scores will be similar between jazz and classical musicians. Given that flow is reported to be an enjoyable and performance-enhancing experience, a greater understanding of the relationship between flow and musicianship may contribute to improved performance and practice.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Robert Ley, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser Universit
Potential issues in Long-term Care Facilities (LTC) and related solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Dirty Theory: Sketches of an Anthropological Account of Mountain Biking
Get PDFThis paper was originally written for Dr. Bascom Guffin’s Sociology-Anthropology 101 course Introduction to Anthropology. This paper asked students to “focus an anthropological lens on their lives.” It challenged them to use the anthropological knowledge and stance they developed in the class to investigate some aspect of their own lived experience. They had to bring to bear theories and concepts from at least two course readings as well as an outside scholarly source, using them to create a singular, coherent argument. The paper uses Chicago citation style
Redefining Modernism: An Exploration of Modernist Possibilities in Icelandic Saga
Get PDFThis paper was originally written for Dr. Ken Seigneurie’s World Literature 401 course Early Modernities Beyond the Medieval. The instructions for this paper were to triangulate among a literary text, its cultural context, and a claim from Susan Stanford Friedman’s Planetary Modernisms (a course text; included in the Works Cited). This paper uses MLA citation style
Nature as a Powerful Force in Literature
Get PDFThis paper was originally written for Dr. Margaret Linley, for a lower-division English course, ENGL 115W. The assignment asked students to reflect on the interconnectedness of literature and nature through analysis of both the form and content of a piece of text discussed in class. The text chosen to highlight the integral relationship shared between nature and literature was William Wordsworth’s poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud.” The paper uses MLA citation style