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The Effect of Subthreshold Vibration on Lateral Reactive Balance
Get PDFPrevious research has indicated that subthreshold vibratory noise improves standing
balance control in a diverse range of populations (i.e., young adults, older adults, and persons
with diabetic neuropathy). However, there is limited literature examining whether these effects
extend to reactive balance contexts. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was aimed at
determining whether vibratory noise input changes postural responses to unexpected ML
perturbations. The secondary purpose was to replicate improvements in standing balance control
that have been previously reported. Twenty-five participants (10 male and 15 females) were
recruited for this study. In all trials, participants stood quietly with each foot on top of a rubber
pad embedded with vibrating tactors, with their eyes closed and wearing headphones. The
vibrating tactors were positioned such that it would stimulate the skin of the first and fifth
metatarsal heads, as well as the heel. During the surface translation trials, participants were
instructed to recover their balance in response to unexpected leftward and rightward support
surface translations. During the standing trials, participants were asked to stand quietly. Reactive
balance control was quantified using kinematic and spatiotemporal measures of the stepping
response whereas static balance control was quantified using center of pressure measures.
Results indicated that there were no discernable effects of vibration in reactive or static balance
control measures. These findings suggest that the application of vibratory noise to the foot sole
does not affect reactive or standing balance measures in younger adults. To identify the efficacy
of vibratory noise in reactive balance, replication using older and clinical populations should be
examined to determine if beneficial effects are confined to individuals that display worsened
balance from decreased somatosensatio
A Quest for Equity in School Mathematics in Ontario: Connecting Black Secondary Students’ School Experiences and Achievement to Principal Leadership
Get PDFResearch literature on the mathematics achievement of Black students has mainly come from the United States and focused on achievement gaps with a deficit-based discourse perpetuating racial segregation and racism against Black students. The scarcity of Canadian research on the academic success, or lack thereof, of Black students in school mathematics is staggering. This mixed methods study sought to examine the relationships between the overall school experience (OSE) and the emotional well-being (EWB) of Black secondary students and their achievement in mathematics, and how principal leadership was related to these students’ OSE and EWB. Using a rich dataset from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and semi-structured interviews with five principals and vice-principals, this research employed four critical frameworks (critical social theory, sociocultural theory, critical race theory, and transformative leadership) to argue against this deficit ideology and to position OSE, EWB, and principal leadership as key determinants of Black students’ mathematics achievement. The findings of the study supported that Black students were disproportionately overrepresented in the Grade 9 applied mathematics assessment of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) and less likely than any other racial groups to meet provincial standards. A binary logistic regression confirmed that a White student at the TDSB is almost four times more likely to meet provincial standards in Grade 9 EQAO mathematics assessment than a Black student. This model also established that both the OSE and the EWB were statistically significant predictors of achievement in the Grade 9 EQAO mathematics assessment. Research participants pointed to principal leadership, curriculum implementation, relationship building, and participation and engagement, among other things, as having the potential to significantly impact Black students’ OSE, EWB, and mathematics achievement. These findings add to the limited literature on Black students’ mathematics achievement and offer a significant contribution to the conversations aiming at challenging all educators, school leaders, and policymakers to address anti-blackness sentiments and anti-Back racism in school mathematics. Lastly, implications of these different results pointed to directions for future research aiming at understanding the situation of Black students in mathematics classes
Reimagining Learning Disabilities: Embracing Difference as an Empowering Resource Amidst Psycho-Emotional Disablism
Get PDFThis dissertation explores the experiences of psycho-emotional disablism in individuals with learning disabilities (LDs) and examines how, despite these challenges, they can reframe their LD as a resource. Employing a Critical Disability Studies (CDS) and a social-relational framework, three interconnected studies were conducted. The first study analyzed the public narratives of three prominent LD advocates—Richard Branson, Henry Winkler, and Barbara Corcoran—highlighting how they view their LDs as unique strengths. The second study focused on disability memoirs, revealing both the disabling and empowering experiences of individuals with LDs, highlighting their distinctive strengths. The third study involved qualitative analyses through individual interviews and journal entries with post-secondary LD students, providing a comprehensive understanding of both the challenges and empowering aspects of their lived experiences. These discussions underscore one of the greatest strengths of this dissertation: its ability to integrate positive psychology with disability studies to explore how individuals with LDs, within the broader context of social structures, can navigate psycho-emotional disablism and reconceptualize disability as a resource. The research emphasizes the importance of understanding disability within broader socio-cultural contexts and recognizing the potential for growth, innovation, and success inherent in neurodiversity. It calls for a paradigm shift in education and support systems to promote inclusivity and equity. By highlighting the voices and experiences of individuals with LDs, this dissertation contributes to the broader discourse on disability, empowerment, and self-advocacy, advocating for a more nuanced and strengths-based understanding of LDs.
Keywords: learning disabilities, critical disability studies, social-relational, psycho- emotional disablism, strengths-based, resourc
Golf Fandom since the Creation of LIV Golf and Announced Merger with the PGA Tour
Get PDFAccording to Davis et al. (2023), golf fans needed to be researched to understand the impact of LIV Golf’s creation and the announced merger between the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the DP World Tour. As a result, the purpose of the research was to understand how PGA Tour fans were influenced by the creation of LIV Golf and the announced merger with the PGA Tour.
To fulfill this purpose, an interpretive approach to semi-structured interviews was undertaken. Ultimately, 20 interviews were conducted with adult highly identified fans of the PGA Tour, in which 19 qualified for analysis. With this open-ended approach, greater complexity and nuance of factors influencing fandom can be captured.
Ultimately, the findings were situated within literature around the sacred and profane (Belk et al. 1989; Schindler & Minton, 2022) and communitas (Turner, 1969). These theories helped to explain how golf was formed and grew as a social group through participation first, indoctrinating those within the group to perform certain behaviours. As the norms surrounding participation transferred to fandom through contagion (Belk et al., 1989), fans were plotted into the Sacred Conditions of Sport, a conceptual model to illustrate a group’s conception of communitas and structure.
Before LIV’s creation, most fans desired for strict behaviours associated with normative communitas and the structure as other-worldly, making the group’s norms collectively moral. Through LIV Golf and the announced merger, fans often shifted their perspective and saw the group as a manufactured structure and, therefore, unimportant to uphold beyond personal preference. Fans also often tended to desire more lenient behaviours associated with ideological communitas after LIV and the announced merger. While many desired this, few transcended to view the structure of the group as other-worldly, limiting the collective morality of the lenient norms.
These findings add to literature and practice around sport fans and social groups primarily through the applicability of the Sacred Conditions of Sport to conceptualize the perception of a given groups’ norms. The present research is also relevant to illustrate how professional sport may operate in the modern, commercialized world, illustrating the impacts of commercialization on sport
James Bicket letters, 1836-1838
Get PDFA desire for democratic reform brought about the rebellions in 1837-1838 in Upper Canada. William Lyon Mackenzie, one of the more extreme leaders of the reform movement, organized an armed rebellion in Toronto in December of 1837 at Montgomery’s Tavern. The rebels were quickly dispersed by the militia and soldiers, but another uprising occurred near Brantford a few days later. Mackenzie retreated to Navy Island in the Niagara River with his supporters, and the Americans brought supplies to the island using the steamer Caroline. In an attempt to hinder the rebels' efforts, Commander Andrew Drew of the Royal Navy led a group of the Upper Canada militia to Fort Schlosser on December 29, 1837, where the Caroline was moored. A brief skirmish with the Americans ensued, during which an American citizen, Amos Durfee, was killed. The Caroline was then set on fire and cut loose, drifting down the River towards the Falls.
The government in Canada feared that the rebels' American allies might gain the support of the U.S. government, who might then seize this opportunity to invade Canada. The House of Assembly considered these American citizens to have breached neutrality laws and wanted assurances from the U.S. government that it had no intention of supporting the rebels. To this effect, the House of Assembly passed resolutions in 1838 on the subject of breach of neutrality and aggression. The uprisings continued in 1838 but were swiftly extinguished, and ceased altogether by 1839.
James Bicket was secretary of the Toronto Curling Club and author of The Canadian Curler’s Manual, published in Toronto in 1840.Two letters written by James Bicket with descriptions of the politics in Canada shortly before and after the Rebellions of 1837-1838. The first letter is dated at Toronto, 19 September 1836 and is addressed to Peter Pollock, Ferguslie, Paisley, North Britain. The second letter is dated at Toronto, 7 March 1838 and is addressed to Alexander Pollock, Ferguslie, Paisley
Investigating Postsynaptic Effects of a Drosophila Neuropeptide on Muscle Contraction
No full textDataset for figures in: J Neurophysiol 131: 137–151, 2024, First published December 27, 2023; doi:10.1152/jn.00246.2023.Neuropeptides play key physiological roles by acting as transmitters or hormones that modulate chemical synapses, but distinguishing presynaptic and postsynaptic effects can be challenging. The Drosophila neuropeptide, DPKQDFMRFamide, was previously shown to enhance excitatory junctional potentials (EJPs) and muscle contraction by presynaptic and postsynaptic actions. Here, postsynaptic actions of the peptide were investigated by examining how it modulates effects of the excitatory neurotransmitter L-glutamate on muscles of 3rd instar larvae after removing the central nervous system. DPKQDFMRFamide enhanced glutamate-evoked contractions with at low concentrations (EC50 1.3 nM), consistent with its role as a neurohormone, and the combined effect of both substances was more than additive. Glutamate-evoked contractions were also enhanced when transmitter release was blocked in temperature-sensitive mutants. The peptide increased membrane depolarization in muscle cells when co-applied with glutamate, and its effects were blocked by nifedipine, an L-type channel blocker, indicating actions at the plasma membrane and involving calcium influx. DPKQDFMRFamide also enhanced contractions induced by caffeine in the absence of extracellular calcium, suggesting increased calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) or effects downstream of calcium release from the SR. The peptide’s effects do not appear to involve calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), previously shown to mediate presynaptic effects. The approach used here might be useful for examining postsynaptic effects of neurohormones and cotransmitters in other systems.NSERC Grant 4629
Factors Associated with Restraint Application in Children and Adolescents with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Displaying Severe Challenging Behaviour
Get PDFEmergency physical restraints (PR) are widely used, with prevalence rates ranging from 11% to 78% across different service sectors (Fitton & Jones, 2020; Ye et al., 2019). Behaviour analysts may recommend PR when severe challenging behaviour (CB) poses significant safety risks (e.g., intense aggression causing severe tissue damage; Foxx & Meindl, 2007; Vollmer, 2011). Most existing PR literature featuring child and adolescent participants focuses on variables that behaviour-analytic interventions cannot manipulate (e.g., gender, diagnosis). Additionally, the literature predominantly features inpatient clinical populations with psychiatric disorders despite the prevalence of restraint application among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The current study applied a multi-level analysis using retrospective outpatient data (N =12) from children and adolescents with intellectual and developmental disability who required emergency PRs. The study aimed to a) examine participant and restraint application characteristics and trends, and b) determine if CB severity at intake, as reported by the partnering agency's severity tool, predicted the latency to restraint application. According to the descriptive analysis most participants were experiencing polypharmacy (i.e., concurrent psychotropic medication use), received moderate to high scores on the partnering agency’s CB severity assessment tool, and primarily exhibited tangible or multiply controlled behavioural functions. Regarding restraint characteristics, the average restraint rate was 0.091 per hr, with most participants being described as calm during restraints. Typically, more than two staff members applied PR. Regression results indicated that the median CB severity score significantly predicted latency to the first restraint applications. Clinical implications are discussed
A Glimpse into Neuroqueer Youth #Hashtags and Posts: A Rights-Based Critical Discourse Analysis of Power, Discourse, Value, and Identity from Neuroqueer Youths’ Online Assertions
Get PDFNeuroqueer (neurodivergent and queer) youth internationally face significant challenges, including violence, harassment, and marginalization, both individually and systemically. This treatment “Others” them, complicating their perceived level of humanness within society, while often undermining their fundamental rights. Despite the formal documentation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (United Nations, 1989), youth rights, particularly within the neuroqueer intersection, remain relatively unexplored in research. Through a critical discourse analysis using critical disability studies, specifically adopting Fairclough’s (1995) three-dimensional model, this qualitative study examined 24 social media posts, investigating how neuroqueer youth assert themselves, and reviewing the implications of their representations, including the connections to their rights, specifically participation rights. It highlighted how discursive practices and hegemonic power dynamics shape the lives and rights of these youth, particularly in the realms of power, participation, identity, and value. The data revealed four prominent themes: intersectionality; harm, abuse, and trauma; protection; and youth liberation and power. These themes emphasized the significance of intersectionality and social positioning in shaping the social experiences of neuroqueer youth, the presence of harm, abuse, and trauma at both systemic and individual levels, the need to safeguard and validate their essential needs and existences, and the call for (neuroqueer) youth liberation through the recognition of their agency and humanity. This study holds the potential to advocate for the rights and value of neuroqueer youth, promoting their active participation in shaping their own lives and discourse, affirming and including their identity/identities, agency, and capacities, and illuminating the impact of discourse and power dynamics that impact their participation, safety, and perceived worth through the perpetuation of adultism, heteronormativity, and neurotypicality. Drawing from existing literature, several recommendations emerge for fostering a safer, more inclusive world for neuroqueer youth in institutional, familial, and interpersonal spheres
Longitudinal Effects of Sex-Based Shoe Design on the Biomechanics of Basketball Specific Movements
Get PDFBasketball's high-intensity, multi-directional nature results in twice as many lower extremity (LE) injuries in females compared to males due to anthropometric and movement differences. Rising popularity of women's basketball has led to new designs of shoes specifically for females, though the benefits are yet to be proven. Additionally, shoe degradation has been linked to altered LE biomechanics and reduced cushioning. This study aimed to quantify biomechanical demands of basketball movements in female athletes wearing female-designed (FS) versus unisex-designed (US) basketball shoes.
Twenty female basketball players performed four common maneuvers—cuts, jumps (CMJ), jogs, and sprints—in both shoe types across two sessions separated by six weeks. Participants wore the shoes for about one hour, three times per week between sessions. Ground reaction forces (GRFs) and tibial shock (TS) were measured using an embedded force plate and accelerometer, respectively. Participants provided subjective ankle stability (PAS) ratings via a 4-point Likert scale. Shoe material hardness testing was conducted via Shore-A durometer.
Initial results showed increased TS and anterior-posterior GRFs with higher PAS during cutting in the FS compared to the US shoe. Long-term usage of both shoes resulted in increased TS but decreased take-off velocity during CMJs, indicating a possible decline in performance and increased LE injury risk.
Future developers of FS shoes should modify the shock absorption technology to increase force dissemination and mitigate TS with the increased feeling of stability, allowing athletes to put in full effort without worry. All basketball shoe developers should improve longevity of the insoles. This study contributes to limited research on female basketball biomechanics, suggesting that improved footwear design for females may minimize injuries and enhance performance
An Exploration of Canadian and Nigerian High Performance Women Wrestlers’ Authentic Leadership Development Experiences in a Male-Dominated Sport
Get PDFSport management scholars have uncovered benefits from adopting an authentic
leadership style among sport coaches (Kim et al., 2020), sport administrators/athletic directors
(Cotrufo, 2014), and non-profit sport organization board members (Takos et al., 2018). However,
there has been no scholarly attempt to learn about the experiences of high-performance women
wrestlers who might aspire to become authentic leaders. Given the ongoing disparities between
men and women leaders in sport organizations, arguably more should be done to understand the
experiences of (and then support) future sport leaders who are women. Thus, this research study
addresses these gaps by answering the research questions: (1) What are the authentic leadership
development experiences of Canadian and Nigerian high-performance women wrestlers? (2)
What are the formal and informal authentic leadership development experiences of women who
participate in a male-dominated sport? (3) What are the perceived strengths and weaknesses of
formal and informal authentic leadership development training among Canadian and Nigerian
high-performance women wrestlers? Participants (n=11) engaged in one semi-structured
interview that revealed their mostly informal authentic leadership development (Luthans &
Avolio, 2003) experiences as members of their respective national teams. Analysis of the
transcripts (65,342 words and 188 pages) followed Braun & Clarke (2006).
Findings revealed five major themes and several sub-themes. Canadian and Nigerian
high-performance women wrestlers’ authentic leadership development was found to be impacted
and influenced by the athletes’ background influences and parental support. Participants reported
developing authentic traits (i.e., resilience, optimism, confidence, and hope) that supported their
development as authentic leaders both on (and off) the mat. Participants shared their experience
being bullied and body-shamed for their participation in a male-dominated sport and indicated
feeling both supported by and frustrated with their national sport organization/federation