14589 research outputs found
Sort by
A critical exploration, analysis, and contextualization of discrete and continuous models of criminal behaviour for the prediction of future real-world crime occurrence
Get PDF1 online resource (viii, 121 pages) : colour illustrations, charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-104).This interdisciplinary project explores “predictive policing”, a blanket term given to a
number of crime prediction algorithms and tools used by police departments across the
globe in an effort to predict and pre-empt crime occurrence. This project attempts to cut
through the profound amount of both positive and negative rhetoric surrounding predictive
policing software to understand what theory they are based on, how they are actually
implemented in software, and how they interface with police officers working on-the-beat.
Through a literature review of empirical environmental criminology research, a theory of
how crime self-concentrates in space and time is discussed, as well as the potential
explanations for this behaviour. Using this literature, two predictive models of criminal
behaviour are introduced, explained, tested, and analysed, to understand how empirical
crime observations can be translated into software. Using numerical results obtained from
these models in conjunction with existing meta-critiques of predictive policing tools, the
argument is made that while current predictive policing tools may hold theoretical value in
the field of crime prediction, they have enough significant drawbacks as to cast doubt on
their use to predict real world crime
History, huh : a post-modern study of the consumption of queer romance
Get PDF1 online resource (115 unnumbered pages) : colour illustrationsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 107-113).Queer romance is a subgenre of the romance genre, being differentiated by the genre
and sexuality of the main relationship explored within the novel. When starting this thesis, I was especially interested in who is writing and reading queer romance, what they look for in queer romance novels, how they feel during and after the reading process, and how (and with whom) they identify in terms of the characters in these novels. Research showed that of the popular queer romance novels, most are written by queer identifying authors. Representation is something readers keep in mind when choosing a novel, and when it comes to the portrayal of these characters, most often readers are left feeling as if they are experiencing the story and romance through a friend’s eyes. Generally, readers will only question representation of queer identities if they feel something is wrong with the representations
The matriarchs of crime : a feminist content analysis of mother-son relationships in Animal Kingdom and Sons of Anarchy
Get PDF1 online resource (viii, 158 pages)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 146-151).This thesis research examines the intertwining of domesticity and criminality in recent
television series Animal Kingdom and Sons of Anarchy. I argue that the series’ key mothers, Smurf and Gemma, challenge familiar narratives and stereotypical gender roles while also participating in the reproduction of problematic tropes about womanhood, motherhood, mother-son dynamics, and relationships between women. Employing poststructural feminism and critical content analysis, my analytical chapters focus on three macro-concepts: "motherwork," "mother blame," and "violent glamour," with each consisting of a group of micro-concepts. I highlight the constant tension between progressive and regressive representations of mothers/motherhood in these series. The thesis is interpretative in nature, contributing to Television Studies, Motherhood Studies, and Women and Gender Studies. Ultimately, my thesis adds to feminist research by examining televisual representations of mothers entangled in both criminal and domestic spheres, shedding light on the complex gender dynamics of the families depicted in these diegetic worlds
The source of uranium for the Lac Cinquante uranium deposit, Nunavut, Canada
Get PDF1 online resource (154 pages) : illustrations (some colour), maps (some colour), charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-86).The Lac Cinquante uranium deposit is hosted in an Archean greenstone belt below the
Paleoproterozoic Baker Lake Basin, Nunavut, and is currently characterized as a vein-type uranium deposit. Vein-type uranium deposits are usually spatially associated with source granitoids and consist of uranium mineralization concentrated in fractures, shear zones, and stockworks. The source of uranium in the Lac Cinquante is unknown and is determined in this study through petrographic work and trace element analysis of uranium minerals. We hypothesize that the uranium was sourced in one of two ways: either uranium was leached from apatite, zircon, or monazite, or sourced from exsolved fluids, from nearby c. 1.84 Ga Hudsonian granites or the uranium was sourced from glass, or fluids related to, the c. 1.83 – 1.81 Ga potassic volcanic rocks (Christopher Island Formation; CIF) of the Baker Lake Group. Petrographic work including micro-XRF mapping and scanning electron microscopy confirm the complete paragenetic history of the Lac Cinquante uranium deposit: i) primary minerals of the host rock including plagioclase and quartz, ii) albitization of plagioclase, iii) formation of uraninite, brannerite, hydrothermal zircon, apatite, (± barite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, sphalerite, and galena) in calcite and albite veins, and iv) hematite, carbonate, and chlorite alteration. Pervasive albitization of the host rocks, the complex mineralogy (brannerite, hydrothermal zircon, apatite), and the distinct geochemistry (high Ti, Ba, Zr) indicate reclassification of this deposit as Na-metasomatic uranium deposit is warranted. Furthermore, trace element data of uraninite and brannerite reveals four distinct chondrite normalized REE patterns with flat (i.e. none) to positive Eu anomalies and enrichments in LREE/HREE. These
profiles are inconsistent with a granite source but are similar to the CIF. The ore minerals are also high in Ti, Ba, Zr, and Sr, consistent with CIF geochemistry that is more enriched in these components than the Hudson granites
The medium behind the message : an examination of the delivery method of victim impact statements in Canada
Get PDF1 online resource (ix, 152 pages) : colour graphsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 105-123).Victim impact statements (VIS) allow victims to express how a crime has affected them
physically, psychologically, and financially. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many sentencing trials were moved online. This study examined victims' experiences with VIS and the justice system, evaluating if the presentation medium affects sentencing. Study 1 interviewed victims via Zoom, revealing they find the process more comfortable and accessible online but prefer inperson or written submissions. Study 2 assessed participants' reactions to real VIS presented in video, audio, or transcript formats. Results showed the medium did not affect victim-related factors or sentence length. However, participants recommended alternatives to incarceration (e.g., probation) more often after reading a VIS, particularly in stalking cases. The type of crime also influenced perceptions; a VIS detailing sexual assault led to higher harm ratings and longer
sentences compared to stalking. These findings have implications for victims, judges, and the justice system
Developing mineralogical and geochemical discrimination methods to classify Li-barren and Li-prospective pegmatites at the Chebogue lithium prospect, southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada
No full text1 online resource (47 pages) : colour illustrations, maps (some colour), graphsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 44-47).The parental magma composition that produces a plutonic rock is what gives the lithium-bearing pegmatite its distinct elemental composition. Lithium, a sought-after incompatible element, is challenging to detect through most routine analytical techniques. It occurs in abundance commonly bonded within aluminosilicate minerals such as in spodumene (LiAlSi2O6). This study focuses on comparing mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemical characteristics of the lithium bearing Brazil Lake pegmatite (BLP) with Li-barren pegmatitic float to identify correlations that may help identify unexposed Li endowments. The main objective is to investigate if the chemical composition and mineralogy of chemically-developed rocks can be used to differentiate between economic and sub-economic lithium rocks in the absence of spodumene. Thin section and SEM analysis identified major and accessory minerals to classify the samples of this study (Zone A, north of Brazil Lake). Whole-rock geochemical assay data was used to analyze trace element composition, and LA-ICP-MS analysis of spodumene and muscovite to compare the trace element concentrations of Zone A to LCT pegmatites in North America. Finally, muscovite fractionation modelling was conducted to discover the extent of fractionation of the samples and explore their origin. Based on the Nb/Ta ratios from whole-rock assay data and the composition of the samples, Zone A pegmatites match the LCT classification suggested by Černý (1991). Pegmatites with high Li content also correspond to specific ranges in trace elements. The composition of Zone A spodumene is most similar to the BLP, suggesting a common source. This is further supported through muscovite fractionation modeling, which suggested a similar amount of fractionation, due to a low K/Rb ratio and high Cs concentration shown in Zone A and BLP. Overall, this research intends to find a way to facilitate lithium detection and to more reliably uncover lithium prospective deposits
Neural signatures of adverse childhood experiences : the role of alpha and theta spectral dynamics and phase coherence in cognitive processing
Get PDF1 online resource (145 pages) : charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 85-106).Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can permanently alter neurological structure and function, increasing the risks for a multitude of health issues. Here, we used auditory
Go/NoGo and selective attention paradigms to explore the effects of ACE exposure, type of ACE, and subjective rating of the impact of the ACE(s) on the Error-related Negativity, N100, and N200 event-related potentials (ERPs). We calculated Event-Related Spectral Perturbation (ERSP) and Intertrial Coherence (ITC) at frontal sites on both alpha and theta frequency bands for these ERPs. We found that ERSP and ITC across frequency bands were associated with ACEs, such that when ERSP and ITC decreased, ACE exposure increased across dimensions. Our findings show that spectral power and phase synchrony are disrupted on alpha and theta frequency bands as a likely product of childhood adversity. These disruptions during response inhibition tasks suggest deficits in cognitive control at different stages of the information processing stream
Computational biochemical study of the prebiotic selection of nucleic acids
Get PDF1 online resource (509 pages) : illustrations (some colour), charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 88-110, 139-146, 254-270, 378-385, 478-482, 490-496, 504-509).This thesis addresses fundamental questions related to the prebiotic evolutionary selection of the building blocks of nucleic acids. The structural tendencies and propensities in today’s nucleic acids are rationalized based on thermodynamics as a principal driver of evolutionary selection. The free energies of the possible reaction paths available to prebiotic Nature are calculated from quantum chemistry. As one example (of many), the β-anomers of the nucleosides(tides) - predominant in modern nucleic acids - are found to be slightly more stable than their α-counterparts. This small thermodynamic advantage operating over millennia may have contributed to the observed dominance of today’s canonical forms. Calculations also suggest the possibility that non-canonical N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine (AEG) and glycerol nucleosides(tides) may have assisted in the synthesis of today’s nucleosides(tides) if the prebiotic environment has been aqueous. Energetic comparisons of ancestral nucleic acids containing arsenate instead of phosphate indicate no thermodynamic advantage for the phosphate, raising an important open question as to the reason for Nature’s selection of the latter. It is also found, computationally, that barbituric acid may have well been a prebiotic precursor of today’s nucleobases reinforcing earlier proposals. A more fundamental question may be about the choice of nucleic acids as the carriers of genetic information, in the first place, instead of other contenders such as proteins. A partial answer is formulated by proposing a quantitative account of the “value” of information as a new dimension to be added to the traditional “amount” (bits) in Shannon’s information theory. Thus, the thesis addresses certain aspects of evolutionary biochemistry from the standpoint of thermodynamics
under differing conditions of solvation. Meanwhile, the rates (kinetics) were not considered in this work since the synthetic and mechanistic steps from reactants to products of most of the proposed reactions remain largely unknown. Several other potential factors have not been considered but, with these variables being constant, our results remain valid and so are the questions they open for future investigations
The impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on Cape Breton Island’s bald eagle (Haliaeetus ieucocephalus) population
Get PDF1 online resource (44 pages) : colour maps, colour graphsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 34-40).In 2022 Nova Scotia was subjected to a widespread outbreak of highly pathogenic avian
influenza (HPAI) virus. The eastern region of the province experienced extreme numbers of infected Northern Gannets washing up along the coastlines of Cape Breton Island. The outbreak occurred during the Bald Eagle breeding season, late May into early June, in Cape Breton. HPAI is spread through ingestion or contact with bodily tissues and fluids, posing a risk for species that scavenge on carcasses. Bald Eagles are carrion feeders and favour easily accessible and ample food sources. Bald Eagles foraged on diseased carcasses of Northern Gannets during the spring and summer of 2022, raising concern for the impact HPAI would have on the Island’s eagle population. This study aimed to (1) determine if nesting activity was lower across the Bald Eagle population of Cape Breton Island in the breeding season following a significant HPAI outbreak and (2) determine if Bald Eagle nests with a foraging range that overlapped with marine coastline had lower rates of active nests when compared to nests where foraging ranges did not overlap. Overall there was a lower number of active Bald Eagle nests across Cape Breton Island
in 2023 when compared to 2022. There was no significant correlation between foraging range overlapping with Northern Gannet carcass availability and nest status. This research has the potential to inform management decisions surrounding Bald Eagles in Nova Scotia and provides a baseline evaluation of the regional Bald Eagle population response following a major disease outbreak
Soil microbiome diversity on Sable Island, Nova Scotia
Get PDF1 online resource (69 pages) : colour maps, colour charts, colour graphsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 32-39).The soil microbiome is essential for ecosystem functioning and influences both above- and below-ground communities. Sable Island is a sand bar with a large feral horse population, which has been shown to affect marram grasslands more than heathlands. Feral horses can have negative effects on soil microbiomes by reducing microbial diversity and abundance, but there has been no previous research on soil microbes on Sable Island. Determining the microbial composition and the driving factors of diversity is crucial for effective ecosystem management. Our goal was to determine differences in microbial α-diversity and β-diversity across vegetation types, soil pH, organic matter, and phosphorous. This study also serves as an overall survey of bacterial and fungal
diversity. We expected microbial α-diversity to be lower in marram grasslands than in heathlands, and the microbial β-diversity to differ between vegetation types. Using eDNA from soil samples, we identified bacteria with 16S and fungi with ITS2 DNA barcodes and performed soil analyses from 80 samples from 16 sites on the island. We identified a total of 812 bacterial and 336 fungal ASVs. Our results indicate that bacterial α-diversity was significantly (p < 0.05) affected by the vegetation type, soil pH, and organic matter content, but not phosphorous concentration. In contrast, fungi were robust to variation in the environmental factors and fungal α-diversity was not significantly affected by any variables. Microbial α-diversity was not lower in marram grasslands than in heathlands, potentially due to horse activities damaging the vegetation types similarly and an increase in nutrient deposition in the marram. Microbial β-diversity of presence/absence was
not significantly affected by any variable. Identifying drivers of soil microbiome diversity is
important for effective ecosystem management in vulnerable ecosystems such as Sable Island