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2023-10-13 Senate Minutes and Agendas
No full textMinutes and agenda for the October 13th, 2023 meeting of Saint Mary’s University Senate
Looking for the Blake River in the Swayze : characterization of volcanic rocks in the Swayze Area, Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Ontario
Get PDF1 online resource (95 pages) : illustrations (chiefly colour), colour maps, charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 82-88).The Abitibi Greenstone Belt’s VMS mineralization has been largely constrained to several key chronostratigraphic volcanic assemblages. The most productive of these is the Blake River assemblage (2704 – 2695 Ma). Blake River volcanism in the Swayze area has long since been identified by other workers, however no economic VMS deposits have been identified. The study area for this project comprises two large felsic volcanic packages in the central Swayze area in the western Abitibi, previously mapped as part of the Blake River. A sub-economic VMS occurrence hosted in the southern package. This study found that these two packages of rock have distinctly different chemical characteristics from each other, indicating a genetic relationship between them is unlikely. The two groups show (i) differing levels of HREE depletion and LREE concentration, (ii) different zircon trace element fractionation trends, (iii) and are of different ages. Neither of these groups of samples display REE signatures of felsic volcanics that are typically associated with Archean VMS deposits (e.g., FII, FIIIa, and FIIIb rhyolites). Furthermore, zircon U-Pb CAID-TIMS indicate that these two volcanic packages are not Blake River aged, but in fact belong to the assemblages that temporally flank the Blake River: the Tisdale and Porcupine assemblages. This study exemplifies the powerful synergy of using whole rock geochemistry, zircon trace element chemistry, and zircon U-Pb dating to distinguish between nearby volcanic assemblages in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt
“Female cyborgs in the wild, wild west” : how HBO’s Westworld uses technology and religion to perpetuate gender binaries
Get PDF1 online resource (91 pages)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 83-91).I examine seasons one to three of Westworld to extract specific ideas of gender using
the characters Dolores and Maeve as primary figures for analysis. I argue that the show uses ideas of creation and gender that imitate the Judeo-Christian story of Genesis. Westworld displays bodies of artificial intelligence that expose societal fears surrounding radical feminism and technology. When we assume that technology is neutral, we leave ourselves susceptible to continuing a legacy of sexism
Investigation of heavy-ion particle identification in an experiment to determine the astrophysical rate of <sup>15</sup>O(α,γ )<sup>19 </sup>Ne via the<br /><sup>21</sup> Ne(P,T) <sup>19</sup>Ne reaction
No full text1 online resource (ix, 42 pages) : graphs (some colour), chartsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 41-42).This study aims to investigate the heavy-ion particle identification in an experiment designed to determine the astrophysical rate of the 15O(α,γ)19Ne reaction. The 15O(α,γ)19Ne reaction is one of two recognized pathways for breakout from the hot CNO cycle into the rp-process, which consists of consecutive proton captures onto seed nuclei to produce heavier elements. Understanding this reaction is crucial for elucidating the dynamics of X-ray bursts. To measure the branching ratios of α and γ decays, which determine the reaction rate of 15O(α,γ). The experiment involves populating excited states in 19Ne using the 21Ne(p, t)19Ne reaction. In this study, we measure the decay branching ratios of excited states in 19Ne by passing the decay products through a magnetic dipole and a set of Phoswich detectors. These detectors are capable of detecting heavy-ions. For obtaining accurate data on reaction rates and branching ratios, it is essential to accurately identify heavy-ion particles. This research aims to advance our knowledge of the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements and offer important insights into the fundamental processes governing the behaviour of atomic nuclei by demonstrating conclusive isotope separation and identification in the phoswich detectors
Microsporidia-host interactions in beneficial lady beetles : factors that influence chronic disease
Get PDF1 online resource (vii, 97 pages) : colour illustrations, charts, graphsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 82-91).Lady beetles produce species-specific defensive compounds (alkaloids) that are toxic to some predators and deters others with their foul taste. Some lady beetle alkaloids, such as harmonine from Harmonia axyridis, exhibit antimicrobial activity and may provide the beetle protection against pathogens. Convergine and hippodamine are the major and minor alkaloids produced by the convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens. Adaline and adalinine are produced by the two-spotted lady beetle, Adalia bipunctata. Although the defensive chemistry of these lady beetles has received some attention, the role of their alkaloids with respect to pathogen virulence is poorly understood. Microsporidia, intracellular spore-forming parasites, have been reported in several coccinellid species, including Tubulinosema hippodamiae from H. convergens and Vairimorpha (Nosema) adaliae from A. bipunctata. These pathogens delay larval development but have no other observable effect on the host. However, previous studies were performed under optimal laboratory conditions and did not take into consideration challenges (stress factors) beetles would face in the natural environment. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between alkaloids and microsporidiosis in H. convergens and A. bipunctata, and to examine the effects of different stress factors (limited food availability, rearing temperatures above optimal, and physical agitation) on the development of microsporidiosis and production of alkaloids in these beetles. During all three research trials, larval development was delayed for microsporidia-infected beetles when compared to uninfected beetles. In Chapter Two, limited food availability for microsporidia-infected A. bipunctata further delayed larval development compared to uninfected beetles, increased pathogen load and reduced adaline content. An irregular, unpredictable food supply acts as a stressor to further amplify the negative effects of microsporidiosis for A. bipunctata. No further development delays were observed for H. convergens when provided an irregular diet and no conclusions could be made regarding H. convergens alkaloid content. In Chapter Three, rearing A. bipunctata at temperatures above 25°C shortened development, decreased pathogen load, and increased adaline content. Temperatures above 25°C mitigate the microsporidian infection. In the final chapter, adaline content increased as A. bipunctata development progressed, uninfected adults produced more adaline than infected beetles when exposed to physical agitation on alternate days, and spore counts were highest when beetles were exposed to daily shaking. As with limited food availability, physical agitation further amplified the negative effects of microsporidiosis in A. bipunctata and had an influence on alkaloid production. Many plants produce antimicrobial secondary metabolites (phytoalexins) that can inhibit the germination and/or growth of bacteria and fungi. Alkaloids present in lady beetles may act as the animal equivalent of phytoalexins and play a larger role in the coccinellid immune system than previously thought. These findings provide some preliminary insight into the relationship between adaline, V. adaliae and A.bipunctata, including certain factors that influence this relationship. However, adalinine, hippodamine and convergine, alkaloids not examined in this study, may also influence infection and could be the focus of future studies
The effect of couple conflict on gambling behavior : a lab-based study
Get PDF1 online resource (142 pages) : chartsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 94-129).The first aim of this study was to improve our understanding of conflict and problem
gambling behavior, by demonstrating the causal link of relationship conflict on problem
gambling behavior through a laboratory experiment. Three moderated-mediation models were proposed. Couples in which both members gambled were randomly assigned to a conflict vs. neutral discussion followed by the opportunity to gamble on VLTs. The second aim was to understand the relationship between problem gambling and a variety of work outcomes, through a correlational design. Two mediations, unrelated to the conflict manipulation were proposed. Overall, the three experimental models were largely unsupported, with partial support for the third model. While one of the two work-related models was supported. A significant relationship was found between problem gambling and job performance, mediated by gambling-specific cyberloafing. This finding highlights the reality that addictions and addictive behavior can infiltrate organizations, lending support for the claim that gambling can have a negative impact on employees and organizational outcomes
2023-05-12 Senate Minutes and Agendas
No full textMinutes and agenda for the May 12th, 2023 meeting of Saint Mary's University Senate
2023-01-20 Senate Minutes and Agendas
No full textMinutes and agenda for the January 20, 2023 meeting of Saint Mary's University Senate
The dark core and leaders : leaders self-reported personality and workplace behaviours
Get PDF1 online resource (88 unnumbered pages) : chartsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (unnumbered pages 47-67).Using a recently developed measure of the Dark Core at Work (DCW) I had two
objectives in my research. First, based on a sample of 302 leaders, I aimed to establish a
relationship between leaders’ scores on the DCW scale and organizationally relevant outcomes (e.g., toxic leadership). Second, I assessed whether the DCW scale provided incremental prediction in organizationally relevant outcomes compared to an established measure of the Dark Tetrad at Work (DTW) and the H-H scale of the HEXACO. I found that the DCW was related to all organizational outcomes except for organizational citizenship. Further, the DCW accounted for incremental variance above and beyond the H-H subscale and the DTW scales for all outcomes except for organization oriented organizational citizenship behaviours. Establishing a context specific measure of the Dark Core provides researchers of workplace behaviour with a measure to assess the Dark Core at work
Using wavelet analysis to study AGN x-ray variability
Get PDF1 online resource (ix, 97 pages) : colour illustrations, charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-97).In this work, we examine the application of the wavelet transform to the X-ray timing analyses of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and quasi-periodic eruption sources (QPEs). We find that the power spectral density (PSD) slope and the nature of the periodic signal can influence the ability to identify important features in the wavelet power spectrum. Several scenarios are simulated to test the effectiveness of the wavelet analysis to stationary and non-stationary data. We carried out a wavelet analysis to five unique objects: Ark 120, IRAS 13224-3809, RE J1034+396, the QPE GSN 069, and the eclipsing NGC 6814. The well-known quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in RE J1034+396 is significantly detected in the wavelet power spectrum. In IRAS 13224-3809, significant transient features appear during a flare at frequencies coincident with previously detected reverberation signals. The wavelet power spectrum of the QPE GSN 069 significantly reveals four persistent signals