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A Dire Request: The Effects of Public Outreach on the Professionalization of Conservation in the United States
Get PDFThis dissertation examines public representations of modern scientific art conservation to determine their effect on the field’s professionalization efforts, on public understanding of conservation and museums, and how these effects impacted the development of conservation as a profession and a practice in the United States. The conservation field has long struggled to achieve professional status in American society. Since the mid-twentieth century, conservators have argued that the key to alleviating the ongoing challenges of a sparse job market, poor pay, inadequate support, and a lack of respect from art and museum colleagues, lay in a collective effort to engage in more, and better quality, public outreach. However, this mandate is seldom, if ever, contextualized through examination of how new outreach relates to almost a century of similar efforts.
I examine three conservation-focused museum exhibits: Technical Exhibit at Harvard University’s Fogg Art Museum (1936), Take Care at the Brooklyn Museum (1954), and the Lunder Conservation Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery (2006-present). While most previous studies of the history of conservation focus on straightforward documentation, my research utilizes co-methodologies of professionalism studies and visual rhetorical analysis to examine conservation as a case study of professionalization and as an active agent in the development of the American public’s relationship to museums.
In finding that conservation exhibits are not only ineffective in advancing the field’s professional goals but also actively harm communities by reinforcing the closed system of the modern heterotopic museum, I complicate the ethical grounding of concepts like professionalism and public outreach. Though my final case studies— representations of conservation on the internet— continue to replicate the ineffective visual rhetorical model I identify in museum exhibits, I argue that digital communication, especially social media, has dismantled many of the structures that contributed to the inadequacy of this model and presents an opportunity to build something new. I suggest the path forward that offers the best opportunity for achieving both adequate support for conservation and the field’s highest moral and emancipatory potential lies in abandoning public outreach altogether in favor of adopting a strategy of activism
Automated Movement Screen: Using Smartphone Videos to Objectively Appraise Low Back Motor Function
Get PDFLow back pain (LBP) is frequently classified as non-specific, which reduces the capacity of the healthcare system to offer target rehabilitation. Previous work has suggested a link between motor control and low back dysfunction. Identifying motor control phenotypes indicative of dysfunction often requires complex and costly laboratory equipment. However, recent advancements in computer vision and the widespread availability of smartphones have made human motion capture more accessible. This study aimed to answer the question: Can consumer-grade video inputs be used to identify motor control phenotypes associated with low back dysfunction? To address this question, a self-guided online questionnaire was employed to gather data from 448 participants. The participants completed participant-reported outcome measures and video-recorded themselves performing four functional movements in either public settings or their homes. By applying principal component analysis, it was identified that significant PC scores can distinguish differences within functional movements between healthy individuals and those experiencing low back pain. Specifically, the results between low vs high function participants depict biomechanically relevant differences (i.e. movement speed and range of motion) typically found in the LBP population. The study’s findings highlight the feasibility of using consumer-grade technology for large-scale biomechanical data collection, to enhance our understanding of LBP and support the development of more personalized rehabilitation strategies. This approach has the potential to lead to the creation of an automated movement screening tool that is both accessible and effective in identifying low back dysfunction
The history of a narrow escape of some white men from being tomahawked, scalped and robbed by Indians
Get PDFA promotional pamphlet titled “An Indian Tradition: the history of a narrow escape of some white men from being tomahawked, scalped and robbed by Indians”. The first four pages of the pamphlet describe a thwarted ambush of a cattle drive from Niagara to Detroit at the end of the 18th century. William Wallace and three companions were warned of the ambush by a friendly Indigenous person named Jacob Big Tree. He also gave them a miraculous medicine that is advertised in the remaining 12 pages of the pamphlet. The medicine advertised is Brant’s Indian Pulmonary Balsam and Brant’s Indian Purifying Extract, touted to cure a host of ailments including consumption, whooping cough, inflammation of the lungs, ulcers, liver complaints, and female complaints
Intention to use Robo-Advisors, considering the Behavioral Reasoning Theory, and moderating effect of prior knowledge and experience.
Get PDFRobo-advisors, AI-powered financial services, offer personalized investing solutions but have not achieved the expected adoption rates. This study addresses a critical gap in the literature by examining how the value of openness to change influences the intention to use robo-advisors, through the mediating roles of Reasons for and Reasons Against adoption, within the framework of Behavioral Reasoning Theory (BRT). Additionally, the study explores how financial knowledge and investing experience moderate these mediated relationships in a nonlinear fashion. Data collected from 400 participants through a structured survey was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that while personal values indirectly influence adoption intentions, Reasons For significantly enhance, and Reasons Against impede, the intention to use robo-advisors. The nonlinear moderating effects of financial knowledge and investing experience reveal that the influence of these reasons on intention is most pronounced at moderate levels of these moderators but diminishes at low and high levels. Specifically, financial knowledge strengthens the positive impact of Reasons For and mitigates the negative impact of Reasons Against at moderate levels, while investing experience shows a more complex pattern, amplifying and then weakening these effects. These findings underscore the need for targeted strategies that address both the benefits and perceived barriers to robo-advisor adoption, emphasizing the nuanced role of user knowledge and experience in shaping engagement with AI-driven financial technologies
Combining the Power of Attention Models and Many-objective Computational Intelligence Algorithms for Drug Design
Get PDFAI-based approaches have been recently applied to in silico drug design. However, existing approaches and protocols consider the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) pharmacokinetic properties of drug candidates in a later stage of drug design processes, where failure is most costly. To address this challenge, this research work aims to achieve three objectives. First, it explores the use of Transformer-based models for ADMET prediction based on a hybrid fragment-SMILES tokenization scheme and two training strategies. Second, it evaluates the performance of contrastive Transformer-based latent models for molecular generation. Third, it applies many-objective computational intelligence algorithms in the continuous latent space generated by a Transformer model to generate optimal drug candidates that fulfill ADMET and other essential properties in parallel. The results of this research work demonstrate superiority in the hybrid approach over SMILES in predicting ADMET properties. Furthermore, the system proposed in this study integrates metaheuristics with ADMET prediction and latent Transformer models for solving a drug design problem. A comparative study shows effectiveness of computational intelligence towards a many-objective drug design problem, where 1718 drug-like molecules are obtained after application of a strict filtering criteria
Exploring the Role of Knowledge Mobilization in the Adoption of Integrated Pest Management for Grapevine Viruses
Get PDFAdopting sustainable agricultural practices requires effective knowledge mobilization of research
to growers to inform their decision-making. Grape growers are increasingly facing widespread
viral outbreaks, causing reduced quality and quantities of grapes. Growers affected by grapevine
viruses are recommended to adopt integrated pest management practices, which are complex and
require substantial knowledge. Understanding how to mobilize knowledge effectively is critical
to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices; however, getting research to growers is
challenging. To better understand the role of knowledge mobilization in adopting integrated pest
management for grapevine viruses, a case study of the grape and wine region of Niagara,
Ontario, was conducted. Study One aimed to synthesize the knowledge produced on grapevine
viruses in Canada and the United States by conducting a scoping review. Eligible articles were
collated and thematically analyzed to comprehensively review the literature and identify key
themes. Seven themes emerged: the field of grapevine virus research is growing, research foci
are shifting and responsive, knowledge of grapevine leafroll-associated viruses and future
research needs, knowledge of grapevine red blotch virus and future research needs, research
needs of other major viruses, primary virus management foci, and primary vector management
foci. Study Two aimed to identify factors facilitating and hindering the flow of knowledge using
interviews and observations of primary actors and knowledge mobilization events in the Niagara
region. Data was thematically analyzed, resulting in six key themes: connectivity, intermediaries,
and tailoring knowledge mobilization to growers’ needs facilitate knowledge mobilization, and
lack of localized and practical knowledge, limited support and resources, and misalignments
among actors hinder knowledge mobilization. Study One offers a valuable educational resource
to understand what is known about grapevine viruses and where future research efforts are
required while making the research more accessible to researchers, intermediaries, and growers.
Study Two informs future agricultural knowledge mobilization efforts and provides scholarly
input on the factors influencing knowledge flow. Together, these studies enhance Nguyen et al.’s
(2017) knowledge-action framework, elaborating on existing factors and identifying additional
factors influencing knowledge mobilization
Making the cut: An examination of body appreciation and well-being among female powerlifters
Get PDFIn weight class sports, purposeful weight loss (PWL) is often undertaken preceding a competition to gain an advantage at a lower body weight. Researcher focus on PWL has been centered on (1) predominantly male competitors and (2) associations to physiological and performance outcomes with considerably less understanding of psychological outcomes. Moving towards a better understanding of psychological outcomes among female athletes, the purpose of this study was to examine body image and well-being in female powerlifters during a period of PWL surrounding competition. Using a non-experimental longitudinal design, female powerlifters (N = 12; Mage = 29.42 years, SDage = 9.23 years) self-reported data across five time points over 10 weeks. Athletes were asked to track weight change using self-reported of body weight. Body image was measured using the Body Appreciation Scale-2 along with a single-item indicator of both shape satisfaction and weight satisfaction. Well-being was measured using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. At the time of official competition weigh-in, participants lost an average of 3.44 kg of body weight (SD = 1.14 kg). Four separate pooled time series regression analyses were used to test the temporal association between weight loss and body appreciation/shape satisfaction/weight satisfaction/well-being. Body weight was a significant predictor of well-being (B = –0.19, p = < .001) and weight satisfaction (B = 0.40, p < .001). Therefore, it can be concluded that during a period of PWL, well-being and weight satisfaction improved. Current weight loss guidelines for sport include physiological considerations which may be integrated with psychological outcomes to reflect the well-being of weight class athletes
Digital Horizons: Faculty and Student Perspectives on ChatGPT and the Future of English Studies
Get PDFThe growing body of literature on the uses, challenges, potentials, and ethics of generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) is rich and nuanced; however, such research rarely examines faculty and student perspectives comparatively or in the context of discipline-specific issues and concerns. Since both faculty and students are implicated in shaping a future for their discipline of study, and both are deeply affected by disciplinary policies and standards of practice, it is crucial to situate faculty and student perspectives as a part of a shared discourse rather than two related but distinct conversations. This thesis investigates the specific expectations, concerns, ambitions, and desires for the future that circulates among and between English faculty and students in the wake of the widespread availability of generative AI applications like ChatGPT. It employs mixed-methods to compare and contrast the responses of eleven faculty and thirty-one students from one Ontario university’s English department to semi-structured questionnaires on the topic of generative AI, the future of English studies, and participants’ perceptions of one another. Participant perspectives are contextualized within a discussion of the imagination as a mechanism for inventing into being. This research emphasizes self-reflexivity as a method for establishing trustworthiness. This MA thesis finds that participants imagine generative AI and one another in both similar and contrasting (and occasionally contradictory) ways. In that context, the thesis ends by discussing misconceptions and mistrust among and between faculty and students as a potential cause for differences between what participants anticipate and what they desire for the future of their field
Supporting At-risk and Disengaged Secondary Students’ Successful High School Completion through Co-operative Education Enrolment Using Autophotography and Photo-Elicitation
Get PDFThis project focused on creating a curriculum resource that can be used by Ontario teachers to support at-risk and disengaged students to achieve their high school diploma through participation in co-operative education. An examination of alternative educational programming, differentiated instructional methods, and participation in work-based education was completed. The importance of reflective activities and positive teacher-student relationships was also discussed. Autophotography and photo-elicitation interviews were introduced as methods for assisting students to develop reflective skills and building positive teacher-student relationships. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory was used to explore potential impacts of extended networks for student success. Information obtained from the literature was then used to develop a curriculum resource consisting of a nine-lesson unit plan. The project concluded with recommendations for educators and administrators with respect to supporting at-risk and disengaged student success. Suggestions for future research are provided
Regulation of social behaviour via oxytocin receptor signaling in the caudodorsal lateral septum in Long-Evans male and female rats
Get PDFThe oxytocin receptor (OTR), a class A G-protein coupled receptor, is highly expressed in the lateral septum (LS), a brain region that regulates social behaviors in rodents. This thesis investigates whether OTRs within the LS modulate social approach-avoidance behavior, acquisition of long-term social recognition memory, and anxiety-like behavior in adult male and female rats. In the first experiment, L-368, 899, a selective OTR antagonist, was infused locally into the caudodorsal lateral septum (LSc.d), resulting in the attenuation of social approach, enhancement of social vigilance, and reduction in social novelty preference in male and female rats, with no effect on locomotion. In the second experiment, carbetocin, a biased OTR/Gq agonist, was locally delivered into the LSc.d, leading to reduced social approach and social novelty preference (a measure of social memory), with no effect on social vigilance or locomotion. Intriguingly, carbetocin increased latency to consumption of a highly palatable food only in male rats in the novelty-induced hypophagia test, indicating the sex-specific anxiogenic effects of the OTR/Gq signaling pathway in the region. In the third experiment, a selective full agonist of the OTR, (Thr4,Gly7)-Oxytocin, was infused into the LSc.d of male rats, resulting in a slight, but non-significant increase in social approach. Unlike the antagonist and the biased agonist, (Thr4,Gly7)-Oxytocin-treated rats showed social novelty preference 24 h after familiarization. Moreover, (Thr4,Gly7)-Oxytocin decreased latency to consumption of a highly palatable food compared to vehicle-treated rats, suggesting anxiolytic effects of the OTR full agonism. In conclusion, the findings suggest that OTR signaling in the LSc.d regulates social approach-avoidance, acquisition of social recognition memory and anxiety-like behavior depending on the activation of a specific upstream signaling arm of the receptor. I demonstrated that the OTR/Gq signaling pathway within the LSc.d promotes social avoidance in both sexes and triggers anxiogenic effects only in males, contrasting with the effects induced by the full agonism of the receptor