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Letter by Gen. Nelson Miles reporting on prisoner Jefferson Davis, August 22, 1865
Get PDFJefferson Davis (1808-1889) was an American soldier, plantation owner, and politician. He served as the American Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857 under President Franklin Pierce. Davis then served in the U.S. Senate representing Mississippi. At this time tensions between the North and the South were high, and Davis joined the “Committee of Thirteen” in an effort to find a compromise and avoid war. However, Mississippi left the Union and Davis resigned in January 1861. The following month he was elected President of the Confederate States. He remained in this position during the American Civil War. In 1865 Davis was captured by Union troops. He was indicted for treason and sent to prison for two years.
Clement Claiborne Clay (1816-1882) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the Confederate Congress during the Civil War. Jefferson Davis sent Clay to Canada to work as an agent in an attempt to undermine the Union. In 1864 he was living in St. Catharines. His work in Canada proved to be unsuccessful and he left to return to the United States several months later. He was later implicated in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and decided to surrender to the authorities, hoping that this would help prove his innocence. He was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, with Jefferson Davis. Both men were released from prison in 1866 or 1867.A letter from Gen. Nelson A. Miles, in command of Fort Monroe, Hampton, Virginia, to an unnamed General. The letter was likely addressed to Assistant Adjutant General Edward D. Townsend. The letter is dated at Fort Monroe, August 22, 1865 and concerns the condition of prisoner Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States. The letter also refers to Clement Clay, a Confederate spy who lived in St. Catharines for a time during the American Civil War. The text of the letter follows:
“I have the honor to state that the prisoner ‘Davis’ is feeling quite comfortable this morning, complaining a little however of erysipelas in the face and a carbuncle on his leg. I also enclose a communication from [Clement] Clay to the ‘Sec of War’ together with a letter to his wife which he desires, forwarded. In regard to the Sentinels, when they were taken out of his room he said they did not disturb or waken him, lately they have been required to make as little noise as possible and not to walk around in the room. I do not think it possible for him to escape, even if the sentinels are taken out of the front room, he will still be under two locks, aside from the Guard in front of his cell.
Insufficient sleep, impaired sleep, and injury in Canadian adolescents: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2017/18 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study
Get PDFBackground. Insufficient and impaired sleep are common in adolescents, and can impact their health and safety. One negative consequence of poor sleep is risks for unintentional injuries, yet evidence addressing this relationship among Canadian adolescents is limited in scope. In this study, we documented contemporary sleeping behaviours of Canadian adolescents and examined their relationship with risks for injuries.
Methods. A cross-sectional study was employed, using records from the 2017/18 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (n=21,745). Participants’ usual sleep patterns, including insufficient sleep (on school and non-school days), impaired sleep, and daytime sleepiness, and annual reports of any and serious medically treated injury were obtained. Descriptive and hierarchical multivariable Poisson regression analyses were performed, with adjustment for potential confounders, and tests of interaction by age and gender.
Results. Insufficient sleep, impaired sleep, and daytime sleepiness affected 11.3% to 35.3% of adolescents; these estimates varied by age and gender. Sleep indicators displayed modest, but consistent associations with risks for “any injury”, whereas sleep impairment and daytime sleepiness were the only meaningful and statistically significant risk factors for “serious injuries”, after adjustment for potential confounders. The analysis of interactions showed that boys with insufficient sleep on non-school days and impaired sleep had significantly higher injury risks compared to girls without poor sleep in these domains.
Conclusion. Indicators of poor sleep affected up to one-third of Canadian adolescents, and were associated with risks for various types of injury. Sleep hygiene may act as a plausible focus for public health and prevention initiatives to mitigate injury risks
The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Stress on Mental Health among Young Adults Exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences
Get PDFExposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has been shown to significantly impact mental health. The governmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as school and workplace closures, physical distancing measures, mandatory isolation, and quarantining, may also negatively influence mental health. However, it was unclear how ACEs and COVID-19-related stressors would impact mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, hostility, perceived stress, and overall emotional and general health). Moreover, as young adults are likely affected to a greater extent by governmental responses than different adult cohorts, they may be in a particularly vulnerable life stage to the adverse effects of COVID-19. Therefore, this thesis aims to assess whether COVID-19-related stressors negatively impact mental health independently of exposure to ACEs among young adults and to assess whether young adults with greater exposure to ACEs were more vulnerable to the negative effects of COVID-19-related stressors on their mental health. The data used come from the Niagara Longitudinal Heart Study (NLHS), a prospective, longitudinal study that has pre-COVID-19 data (from the NLHS study) and during COVID-19 data (from a follow-up NLHS-COVID-19 sub-study survey). There were 171 participants in the study (43.7% males and 57.3% females), with 22.2% of them being exposed to 4 or more ACEs and 16.4% with no exposure to ACEs. It was found that, while exposure to COVID-19-related stressors leads to a greater reduction in mental health among young adults independent of different levels of exposure to ACEs, young adults with higher levels of ACEs were more vulnerable to the negative effects of COVID-19-related stressors on mental health. This suggests that this subgroup may benefit from intervention programs and resources directed at mental health in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic
A Parent's Autoethnography: Examining My Experiences and Identity as Parent, Educator, and Researcher While Teaching Literacy to My Adolescent Sons Who Have Autism and Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Get PDFThis autoethnography was completed from my unique perspective as a mother to two adolescent
sons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have complex communication needs and use
augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to communicate. Although literacy is a
human right (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2022a), it often has been overlooked in my
sons’ self-contained classrooms in high school. As my sons’ parent and educator, I gathered my
reflections, observations, descriptions, journals, lesson plans, and artifacts to examine the
experiences I encountered in developing their literacy. Initially, I conducted a pilot project based
on Erickson and Koppenhaver’s (2007) Children With Disabilities: Reading and Writing the
Four Blocks® Way, the results of which guided my planning in teaching literacy with an
adaptation of the more recent Comprehensive Literacy for All: Teaching Students With
Significant Disabilities to Read and Write (Erickson & Koppenhaver, 2020). I coded by hand
each line of the collected data to extract categories and then streamline these into the meaningful
themes to respond to my two research questions: (a) What are the experiences of a parent
educator who has been teaching literacy awareness and skills to her adolescent sons who both
have autism and use AAC devices? (b) Does the experience shape her identity as a parent,
educator, and researcher? Thematic findings pertaining to the first question revealed experiences
related to planning and questioning and my own transformational learning and mindshift.
Thematic findings related to the second question include: Parental concerns; Educator:
advocating and imposter syndrome; Researcher: Lesson planning and questioning; and
Transformational learning and mindshift. Findings are discussed in light of the literature on
experiences of parents as educators of children with exceptionalities. The study also presents
implications for theory, practice, and research, as well as limitations and future directions
Exploring the Concussion Experience Within Sport: An Authoethnographic Study
Get PDFConcussions are a highly individualized experience, with different profiles of expression
encapsulating a diverse range of symptom sequalae. However, the lived through experience of those who have sustained a concussion oftentimes takes a backseat to the more standardized quantitative medical approach to healing. The purpose of this thesis is to engage and address gaps in literature and document the necessity and benefit of qualitative research to understand the nuances of the concussion experience by utilizing an autoethnographic approach and a Critical Disability Studies (CDS) method of writing termed “Disability Life Writing.” Additionally, this thesis attempts to remove a barrier to concussion information by presenting concussion knowledge in accessible terminology and language, aiming to make concussion awareness available to those without knowledge of medical terminology or discourse. Regarding concussions in sport, this thesis aims to illuminate hidden values and ideologies within a sporting culture that ultimately work to socialize an athlete to play through pain and hide/not disclose injuries such as a concussion to peers, coaches, or other members of the sporting culture. The author analyzed all the aims listed above through a CDS lens using core CDS concepts such as stigma, stereotyping, normalcy, and invisible disabilities as analytic touchstones
Stepping away from pharmaceutical therapies: Exercise and supplementation with fermented red clover extract as alternative strategies to promote vascular health in postmenopausal women
Get PDFCardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Both aging and menopause, associated with the cessation of endogenous estrogen production, are key factors that contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease in women. Over the last few decades, an interest in alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions for promoting and/or rescuing cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women has emerged, where both exercise and phytoestrogen supplementation have been deemed effective candidates. However, due to the paucity of intervention studies in postmenopausal women, knowledge gaps remain in these strategies that need to be elucidated in the context of vascular health. This dissertation aims to answer three main questions that will refine the scientific community’s understanding of alternative interventions for vascular health in postmenopausal women: (1) Can exercise training work synergistically with in-vitro dual anti-platelet therapy to improve platelet function, as determined by basal platelet reactivity and prostacyclin sensitivity (Chapter 4)? (2) Does the timing of the initiation of exercise training after menopause affect the degree of vascular adaptations and thrombotic risk profile (Chapters 5 and 6)? (3) Can short-term supplementation with the novel phytoestrogen fermented red clover extract improve markers of vascular inflammation (Chapter 7)?
Together, the findings from this dissertation highlight that exercise and fermented red clover extract are effective alternative strategies to improving vascular health in postmenopausal women. Specifically, exercise training improves platelet function and sensitivity and can work synergistically with in-vitro dual anti-platelet therapy (Chapter 4). In addition, short-term supplementation with fermented red clover extract improves the vascular inflammatory profile in recently postmenopausal women (Chapter 7). However, the timing of exercise training after menopause may influence the magnitude of thrombogenic adaptations, as recently postmenopausal women experience more robust thrombogenic benefits than women who are a greater number of years postmenopausal (i.e., late postmenopausal women) (Chapter 5 and 6)
No Justice, Only Struggle
Get PDF2022 has been a year of overlapping crises. The so-called “Freedom Convoys” paralyzing Canadian communities, the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to cause excess death and disability, the war in Ukraine, the intensifying effects of climate change, and increasing inflation have all signaled that we find ourselves in a new era, one that can be described as authoritarian capitalism. In this article, we view the restructuring of Canadian universities as yet another facet of authoritarian capitalism, which uses overlapping crises to further proletarianize library labour and fully subsume it into the “learning factory.” Using Sandro Mezzadra and Brett Neilson’s theorization of the politics of capital’s operations, we examine the library restructuring processes taking place at four Canadian universities: Alberta, Brock, Laurentian, and OCAD. We view the reorganizations taking place there as efforts on behalf of university administrators to use the intensification of global forces of capitalism to exploit academic librarian labour. Ultimately, we argue that Canadian librarians are witnessing both formal and real subsumption in Canadian universities, precipitated by the overlapping crises outlined earlier. As a result, we insist that librarians need to develop a politics of struggle to build collective consciousness and action in the face of authoritarian capitalism
Preservice teachers’ science learning and self-efficacy to teach with robotics-based activities: Investigating a scaffolded and a self-guided approach
Get PDFIntroduction: Robotics is viewed as a viable pedagogical strategy for STEM learning because it is characterized by many practices common to the STEM disciplines such as engineering design. With many national curricular calling for STEM integration in K-12 formal educational settings, there is a need for empirical evidence about the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches to teach with robotics-based activities to promote curriculum learning outcomes and teaching practice. This exploratory study investigated the effectiveness of a scaffolded robotics intervention and a self-guided robotics intervention on pre-service teacher knowledge (PST) of science concepts related to gears and on PST self-efficacy to teach with the robotics-based activities.
Methods: A quasi-experimental, pre-post intervention study was implemented with two non-equivalent groups of elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) in a Bachelor of Education program. PSTs in the self-guided group (n = 11) worked with robotics kits in the library at their own pace. PSTs in the scaffolded intervention group (n = 16) were guided through the activity by the author with instructional scaffolds. IBM SPSS Statistics 27 was used to analyze the data.
Results: The relationship between intervention type and gains in science knowledge was not statistically significant for the self-guided group but was statistically significant for the scaffolded group suggesting that scaffolding supported PST’s learning of the science concepts. With respect to PST self- efficacy to teach with the robotics-based activity, both intervention types revealed statistically significant gains from pre to post tests, however effect sizes indicated that the scaffolded intervention resulted in greater gains in PST self-efficacy to teach with the robotics-based activities.
Discussion: The results provide exploratory evidence that the scaffolded robotics approach, modelled for and experienced by the pre-service teachers in this study, was effective for their learning of science curricular concepts related to gears and for developing their self-efficacy for teaching the robotics-based activities. It should be noted that findings may not be generalizable due to the small sample sizes, especially of the self-guided group. Nevertheless, the findings do provide insights for teacher educators incorporating robotics-based activities into curricular courses such as science methods as it provides specific examples of scaffolds that were effective for science learning and for developing PST self-efficacy. The study also contributes to the literature on instructional strategies that promote robotics adoption in K-12 schools to support development of STEM knowledge and skills.The Brock Library Open Access Publishing Fun
The Effects of Heat and Cold on Cognitive Function and Endurance Capacity
Get PDFThe maintenance of mental and physical function in hot and cold environments is more challenging compared to thermoneutral environments due to increases systemic physiological and psychological strain. The mechanism for impairments in both cognitive and physical function may be due to early perturbations in whole-body heat balance where the change in skin temperature (even before measurable changes in core temperature) impair performance, followed by greater impairments with changes in core temperature. However, the separate and combined effects of changes in skin and core temperature over a range of cognitive functions and exercise require further elucidation. Therefore, this dissertation tested cognitive function (psychomotor processing, working memory, and executive function) and endurance capacity (at 70% of peak power output) over a range of skin and core temperatures and thermal conditions. Chapter 4 investigates the effects of whole-body skin and core warming (hyperthermia) on cognitive function. In addition, the pharmacological drug, methylphenidate (20 mg, dopamine re-uptake inhibitor) was used as it may improve physiological and psychological strain during heat stress. Chapter 5 built upon Chapter 4 by testing the effects of whole-body skin and core cooling (mild hypothermia) on cognitive function. Chapter 6 extended the findings of Chapter 5 by testing the effects of whole-body skin and core cooling on endurance capacity, to potentially see a cognitive-physical performance interaction. Collectively, we found that neither changes in skin temperature (Range: ∆-6 to +4.5°C), without changes in core temperature, nor manipulation of core temperature (Range: ∆-0.8 to +1.5°C) significantly impaired cognitive function in hot or cold environments (Chapters 4 & 5). Furthermore, methylphenidate did not enhance cognitive function. Whereas, endurance capacity was significantly influenced by cold stress, where cooling the skin/outer shell impaired performance by 32%, while core cooling of ∆-0.5C and ∆-1.0C from baseline temperature further impaired performance by 61% and 71% respectively. There were no differences between the two core cooling conditions. Collectively, this research program demonstrates the capacity to maintain cognitive function, but not physical capacity under thermal strain. From a practical standpoint, interventions should focus to minimize cold strain to prevent declines in physical capacity under cold conditions
Raman Spectroscopy of pure and (Nb+In) co-doped TiO2 single crystals
Get PDFThis research project focused on the study of pure TiO2 rutile crystals and rutile crystals that were 2% co doped with Niobium and Indium TiO2 (2-NITO). There has been a growing interest in co-doped TiO2 due to recent papers published on its “colossal permittivity” in the lower frequency range of 10^2 to 10^6 Hz. The goal of this study was to analyze the impact of co-doping on the Raman modes by using Raman spectroscopy. To determine the Raman shift and Half width at half max from the raman data, the Lorentz fit analysis was applied