British Columbia's network of post-secondary digital repositories
Arca British Columbia's network of post-secondary digital repositoriesNot a member yet
224150 research outputs found
Sort by
Incomplete
No full textA short story detailing a homecoming of a half-giant woman in a fantasy setting, where she must reckon with the time gone she can never reclaim, things she resented as a child that she desperately longs for back
Restoration of a disturbed semi-arid grassland using priority effects and soil amendments to promote native plant communities and prevent invasion by exotic species
No full textAs an ecosystem, grasslands in British Columbia are home to a third of the province's endangered and threatened species but make up less than 1% of the total land coverage in the province. Grasslands provide numerous important ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, hydrology control, and maintaining species diversity. Anthropogenic disturbances threaten grasslands and once disturbed are challenging to restore or reclaim. My project tests successional theory and priority effects to restore native grassland plants with different soil amendments (straw matting and biochar). Priority effects entail different seeding orders of arrival of successional plant species and may be used to determine the best combination that promotes the establishment and growth of native plant communities and prevents invasion of exotic species in grassland restoration. Combinations of four different planting orders of native early and late successional grasses and forbs, and four different soil treatments were applied at three different sites in Kenna Cartwright Nature Park in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. In addition, a greenhouse study was conducted using three different planting orders and two fertilizer levels to test priority effects and the resilience of a native grassland community against invasion. Results show early successional plants exhibit stronger priority effects in the greenhouse but in the field the results of priority effects are site specific. Plots in the field that received both biochar and straw matting as amendment treatments experienced higher soil moisture and less exotic invasion. These findings provide insight into the benefits of using priority effects and amendments in a restoration setting in the interior grassland of British Columbia, giving restoration managers more tools to help restore
land as anthropogenic disturbance becomes increasingly more common.Grassland restorationPriority effectsSuccessionSoil amendmentsNative plantsExotic specie
The role of vitamin D in neuroprotection in multiple sclerosis: an update
No full textMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurological condition that involves both inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative components. MS research and treatments have traditionally focused on immunomodulation, with less investigation of neuroprotection, and this holds true for the role of vitamin D in MS. Researchers have already established that vitamin D plays an anti-inflammatory role in modulating the immune system in MS. More recently, researchers have begun investigating the potential neuroprotective role of vitamin D in MS. The active form of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D3, has a range of neuroprotective properties, which may be important in remyelination and/or the prevention of demyelination. The most notable finding relevant to MS is that 1,25(OH)2D3 promotes stem cell proliferation and drives the differentiation of neural stem cells into oligodendrocytes, which carry out remyelination. In addition, 1,25(OH)2D3 counteracts neurodegeneration and oxidative stress by suppressing the activation of reactive astrocytes and M1 microglia. 1,25(OH)2D3 also promotes the expression of various neuroprotective factors, including neurotrophins and antioxidant enzymes. 1,25(OH)2D3 decreases blood–brain barrier permeability, reducing leukocyte recruitment into the central nervous system. These neuroprotective effects, stimulated by 1,25(OH)2D3, all enhance neuronal survival. This review summarizes and connects the current evidence supporting the vitamin D-mediated mechanisms of action for neuroprotection in MS.Peer reviewedvitamin Dmultiple sclerosisneuroprotectionneurodegeneration1,25(OH)2D
Modelling differential diagnosis of febrile diseases with fuzzy cognitive map
No full textThe report of the World Health Organization (WHO) about the poor accessibility of people living in low-to-middle-income countries to medical facilities and personnel has been a concern to both professionals and nonprofessionals in healthcare. This poor accessibility has led to high morbidity and mortality rates in tropical regions, especially when such a disease presents itself with confusable symptoms that are not easily differentiable by inexperienced doctors, such as those found in febrile diseases. This prompted the development of the fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) model to serve as a decision-support tool for medical health workers in the diagnosis of febrile diseases. With 2465 datasets gathered from four states in the febrile diseases-prone regions in Nigeria with the aid of 60 medical doctors, 10 of those doctors helped in weighting and fuzzifying the symptoms, which were used to generate the FCM model. Results obtained from computations to predict diagnosis results for the 2465 patients, and those diagnosed by the physicians on the field, showed an average of 87% accuracy for the 11 febrile diseases used in the study. The number of comorbidities of diseases with varying degrees of severity for most patients in the study also covary strongly with those found by the physicians in the field.Peer reviewedfuzzy cognitive mapfebrile diseasesmalariaenteric feverlaser feveryellow feverdengue feverHIV/AIDStuberculosisurinary-tract infectionrespiratory-tract infectio
An electrophysiological examination of the effects of schizotypal traits and cannabis usage on neural markers of predictive processing
No full textThe brain’s ability to make predictions has long been of interest to cognitive neuroscientists, who have used techniques including electroencephalography (EEG) to study this phenomenon. A component of neurophysiological activity, termed the Semantic Predictive Potential (SPP), may be an indicator of people’s ability to predict the nature of upcoming semantic content. Interestingly, a body of theoretical and experimental work suggests that people with schizophrenia and people who regularly use cannabis have difficulty making predictions about information in their environments. We explored how schizophrenia-like traits and cannabis use affected the SPP. Participants read sentences which differed in the predictability of their endings while brain activity was monitored using EEG. Participants then completed questionnaires assessing their levels of schizophrenia-like traits and cannabis use. We replicate previous findings suggesting that the SPP is sensitive to semantic predictability, and show that
schizophrenia-like traits and cannabis use interact with semantic predictability to influence the SPP
Infusing wellness opportunities into integrated youth services
No full textBackground Appropriate health services and health promotion strategies for young people with mental health and substance use (MHSU) concerns are critical for recovery. Foundry, an integrated youth services (IYS) initiative for young people ages 12-24 in British Columbia (BC), Canada, has recently added leisure and recreational activities (referred to as the Wellness Program) into its services. The objectives of this study were to: (1) describe how the Wellness Program was implemented over a two-year period into IYS (2) provide an overview of what the Wellness Program is, who accessed the program since inception and initial evaluation results.
Methods This study was part of the developmental evaluation of Foundry. A phased approach was used to implement the program at nine centres. Data was accessed from Foundry’s centralized platform ‘Toolbox’ and included activity type, number of unique youth and visits, additional services sought, information about how youth found out about the centre, and demographics. Qualitative data was also accessed from focus groups (n=2) conducted with young people (n=9).
Results Over the two-year period, 355 unique youth accessed the Wellness Program, with 1319 unique visits. Almost half (40%) of youth identified the Wellness Program as the first point of access to Foundry. A total of 384 different programs were offered targeting five wellness domains (physical, mental/emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive/intellectual). The majority of youth identified as young girls/women (58.2%), 22.6% as gender diverse, and 19.2% as young men/boys. The mean age was 19 years, and most participants were between the ages of 19-24 years (43.6%). From the thematic analysis of focus groups, we found young people enjoyed the social aspect of the program with peers and facilitators, and identified program improvements that are being considered as the program grows.
Conclusions This study provides insight into the development and implementation of leisure-based activities
(known as the Wellness Program) into IYS and can be used as a guide by international IYS initiatives. The initial reach
of programs over two years is promising, and these programs are acting as a potential gateway for young people to
access other health services.Peer reviewedWellnessYouthMental healthSubstance useIntegrated youth servicesHealth promotionLeisure activitiesFinal article publishe
"Stepping up": a decade of relationship violence prevention
No full textStudents in postsecondary education are at high risk for experiencing relationship violence, including dating, domestic, and sexual violence. This can result in significant mental and physical health consequences. A relationship violence prevention program has been offered and evaluated for over 10 years at a Canadian university. It is based on a social–ecological model of violence prevention and best practices. Students who completed both pre- and post-program evaluations were used as their own controls to evaluate the effects of the program. Significant changes were noted for most aspects of the program in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural intents each year, and these changes persisted for up to six months on most measures. The sample sizes were small and potentially overestimated the effect of the program if results were reported individually. Meta-analysis was used to pool the data and examine the effects of the program across the decade. The results indicated that the program was effective in changing knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural intents immediately following the program, but there were insufficient paired data to conduct six-month meta-analyses. Suggestions are made for future programs and further research.Peer revieweddating violenceintimate partner violencehealthy relationshipspreventionrelationship violenc
The classification theorem for compact surfaces
No full textThe Classification of Surfaces is one of the problems which gave rise to the modern topology. It has become one of the signature theorems of the area, which now is called algebraic topology. It states that any closed connected surface is homeomorphic to the sphere, the connected sum of tori, or the connected sum of projective planes. In this thesis we are going to go over the geometric, topological, and algebraic tools necessary for understanding, proving and using the theorem together with some useful examples of surfaces.
Thesis itself consists of three chapters. The first part talks about homotopy theory and defines the fundamental group, which is an algebraic invariant between topological spaces. In addition, we learn some basic ways of calculating the fundamental group for some easy- to-imagine examples. The second chapter introduces free groups and free products, which altogether let us calculate the fundamental group in more complex cases. The third and final chapter introduces the geometric ideas behind the classification theorem, which includes polygonal regions and labelling schemes together with operations on them. As a result, we overview the construction of any two-dimensional compact surface and classification theorem as a main goal.Algebraic topologySurfacesFree group