MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Animal Welfare within the Human-Dog Dyad: The Relationship between Human Mental Health and Pet Dog Problem Behaviours.
No full textPet ownership interventions reduce owner stress and increase overall quality of life, and as such, pet ownership is sometimes considered as a method of treatment. However, to date research on human-animal interactions and pet ownership has primarily focused on the benefits for the human, and has paid little attention to welfare of the animal. From a caregiver perspective, the owner-dog dyad is analogous to the parent-child dyad. Studies on the parent-child dyad show that children are more likely to display stress-related behaviours if raised by parents who suffer from depression or anxiety. Here we show similar correlations exist among the owner-dog dyad. Using the Inventory of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms (IDAS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), university students reported their mental health and problem behaviours in their pet dogs. Bivariate correlations and forward regression analyses indicate dog problem behaviours are correlated with, and predictive of, worse owner mental health, and worse owner mental health is correlated with, and predictive of, more severe dog problem behaviours. Predictions held true after controlling for owner attachment to their pet, and the level of care they provide to their pet using hierarchical regression analyses. However, low R2 (R212) and beta weights (β .26) indicate other factors are likely involved. Thus, additional studies on animal welfare and dog ownership interventions are warranted.
Discipline: Psychology (Honours)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eric Legg
A Study on MacEwan Career Development and Experiential Learning Office
No full textA primary research study to analyze the current awareness of MacEwan Career Development and Experiential Learning Office. The use of secondary data analysis provided a foundation for our primary research study. Through in-depth interviews we found three themes: MacEwan students that do not know the location/existence of service, motivational factors that affect students and finally acknowledgment of career development and experiential learning office. Through the use of online interviews we created viable alternatives for MacEwan Career Development and Experiential Learning Office.
Discipline: Marketing
Faculty Mentor: Fernando Angulo-Rui
Alcohol Use Among Marginalized Youth
No full textWithin the Western world, alcohol permeates many aspects of youth culture. Even though there is legislation prescribing a minimum age for purchasing alcohol, alcohol use among youth is, to a large degree, normalized both within youth culture and in society more broadly. For youth, alcohol use is intimately intertwined with the cultural meanings of alcohol, personal and social identity, and broader structures and processes of power. Consequently, the precise nature of the relationship between alcohol and youth culture varies, to some extent, across social groups. This project examines alcohol use among marginalized youth in particular, within the larger context of the normalization of alcohol in youth culture.
Discipline: Sociology (Honours)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tami Beresk
50 Shades of Black and White: An Examination of how University Students Perceive Sexual Encounters when Consent is Depicted as Ambiguous
No full textEducational campaigns about sexual consent stress it should be a clearly established, direct, enthusiastic process. However, consent is often communicated nonverbally and indirectly. Consequently, individuals are likely faced with ambiguity about the consensual status of an encounter. Prior experience and contextual or social cues are sources of information we recruit to resolve ambiguity. This study investigated how university students perceive a heterosexual encounter where consent is not unequivocal. We examined whether contextual and gender role typicality influenced both intuitive and legal perceptions of consent. Participants read a short story describing a male-female sexual interaction. Context (Harlequin romance, BDSM romance, and campus Netflix ‘n Chill) and gender of the more sexually-assertive partner were manipulated between subjects. Participants responded to a number of open- and close-ended questions assessing how consensual the encounter was, how consent was communicated, whether the exchange met the legal definition of consent, and how the characters in the story were perceived. All encounters were rated as strongly consensual (> 5.5 out of 7), regardless of context or gender role typicality. Subjects’ sex at birth was related to perceived consent, with males rating encounters as significantly more consensual. Many subjects perceived the consent to be directly and verbally communicated. Yet, many also endorsed the position that one or both parties could later declare it was not consensual. Inconsistencies or overestimations in judgements of consent may result from judgments based on cognitive ability of similar encounters, or from established norms where absence of a verbal no considered sufficient.
Discipline: Psychology (Honours)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aimee Sky
Defensive Behaviours of Adult and Juvenile Cyphoderris monstrosa in Response to Human Touch
No full textCyphoderris monstrosa is a species of hump-winged grig, which inhabits northwestern North America, and exhibit unique behaviours. This study explores some defensive behaviours which include backing up and flipping, and explores the influence of stage on these responses. Previously, little research has been done on the defensive behaviours of Cyphoderris species, specifically C. monstrosa. Collected from the southern Alberta and British Columbia border, 45 crickets were brought into the lab, and systematically prodded by a human index finger. The experiment was recorded, where the video was studied and responses were noted. Approximately 50% of the crickets received the glove treatment, and the other 50% received no glove treatment. The different treatments resulted in difference of frequency in behaviours as a response. Two main findings of this study included that when prodded with no glove, crickets were more likely to show defensive responses, and compared to adults, juveniles were more likely to flip. Defensive behaviours are influenced as a result of stage and treatment for C. monstrosa.
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Karen Bur
Smart Technologies for the Monitoring of Student’s Well-Being in Learning Spaces
No full textWhen currently humans spend majority of their lives inside buildings, naturally it follows that the quality of these spaces will have significant influence over well-being. This is particularly important in terms of schools because students’ learning is critical to their future, and they typically spend most of the day in school spaces for several years. Currently, there is little emphasis and regulation on the relationship between people and indoor quality, so building practices often neglect initiatives that keep student’s well-being in mind. Present school buildings are too often merely structures, failing to reach their potential in cultivating student potential.For these reasons a monitor is an effective tool to measure the environmental quality in which students spend time in and use the information collected to optimize learning spaces. The goal of this smart technology was to collect data in both indoor and outdoor spaces and to store and analyze this data. To achieve this an Arduino open source prototyping platform was combined with sensors, which make up the wireless monitor. Collected data was stored on a removable SD card until uploaded to a computer for processing.
Discipline: Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey Davi
Maximizing Efficacy of Animal Visitation Programs on Campus: Reducing Student Stress and Anxiety
No full textStress and mental health problems are commonplace in university, with 25% to 50% of students experiencing negative mental health symptoms (Bayram & Bilgel, 2007). Thus, programs that allow for the mitigation of stress and negative mental health symptoms have important implications for student well-being. Recently, studies have been examining the effects of Animal Visitation Programs (AVPs) on campus, with many demonstrating improvements in self reported and physiological measures of stress. However, when it comes to equivalency across studies, very few have comparable interaction times. Examining the relationship between interaction time and stress mitigation is important in order to balance treatment efficacy and efficiency. Students will be asked to complete a mental arithmetic task in order to induce stress, and then will be given 35 minutes to interact with a therapy dog. Our study will use physiological and psychological measures of stress and anxiety, and participants will be measured at times of 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 25 minutes, and 35 minutes. We predict that as interaction time with the dog increases, psychological and physiological measures of stress and anxiety will decrease. We also predict that this interaction will follow a pattern of diminishing returns. Specifically, we expect that the reduction in stress will be largest in the first 5 to 15 minutes of a session, with smaller, more marginal reductions occurring thereafter. These findings will provide insight into an ideal treatment time that will have the greatest benefit to the most students, in the shortest amount of time.
Discipline: Psychology (Honours)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eric Legg
Systematic Review of the Literature on Big Data in the Transportation Domain: Concepts and Applications
No full textResearch in Big Data and analytics offers tremendous opportunities to conscientiously utilize evidence in making decisions in many application domains. To what extent can the paradigms of Big Data and analytics be utilized in the domain of transport? This article reports on an outcome of a systematic analysis of published articles in the last five years that discuss Big Data concepts and applications in the transportation domain. The goal was to explore and understand opportunities and challenges relating to the utilization of Big Data and analytics in transportation reported in the literature. The review revealed that Big Data and analytics can help garner insights through the analysis of various forms of data generated by sensors, cameras, GPS, smartphones, and connected vehicles. The literature also indicated that data obtained from traffic monitoring systems that generate data in the form of images, real-time video feeds, and posts on social media can be utilized to reveal insights to improve transportation systems. We identified a number of platforms or architectures that are commonly used by Big Data in the transport domain, along with a wide array of storage, processing, and analytical techniques. A number of challenges associated with the implementation of Big Data and analytics are also identified. The research presented in this article broadly contributes to the various ways in which cities can utilize Big Data in transportation to guide the creation of sustainable and safer traffic systems.
Discipline: Computer Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Indratmo
 
Remember Me: Social justice installation for the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
No full textEven though I am far away, hold me close in your heart and remember me
A social justice installation for the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls focussing on four cases: Amber Tuccaro, Tina Fontaine, Cindy Gladue, Nina Courtepatte.
 
Microplastic Contamination of the Canadian Archipelago
No full textMicroplastics (MPs) are considered to be synthetic polymeric material <5mm in size and originate from either primary sources, those manufactured to be <5mm in size, or from the breakdown of larger pieces by physical, chemical and radioactive processes. These fragments may become small enough to allow them to be ingested and bio-accumulate. MP pollution has been recorded in marine sediments in nearly all of the Earth’s oceans and has been recently quantified in Greenlandic sea ice and Greenlandic sea way sediments. An independent research project with Drs Matthew Ross, Anna Pieńkowski and Mark Furze in the Fall of 2017 quantified MP pollution in Frobisher Bay sediments.
Eleven samples were collected during the 2017 summer expedition aboard the CCG Amundsen ice breaker. They were taken in a linear fashion within Frobisher Bay allowing for the correlation of MP deposition and proximity to anthropogenic habit in the area. Extraction procedures were based on modifications of standard methods developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This includes four procedures which aimed to separate MPs from sediments and micro-organic materials by exploiting differing density and dissolution properties. We collected sieved MPs of five size ranges via vacuum filtration onto 0.45μm filter paper for analysis. Subsequent visual mapping allowed large scale processing of data and pinpoints areas of interest for spectral analysis. Using Raman microscopy, polymer identification may allow us to understand sources and migratory patterns of MPs. This process allowed us to quantify MP contamination in Arctic sediments enhancing global data sets for future research into MP source, transport and fate.
We can conclude that MP contamination is found at higher concentrations nearest the City of Iqaluit relative to mouth of Frobisher Bay with averages ranging between 13.08 MPs per gram of sediment (mp/gs) and 5.31 mp/gs respectively. This suggests that relatively small communities can have a significant impact on MP contamination levels in secluded oceanic bays.
I look forward to the opportunity to further disseminate microplastic contamination research as it is vital in increasing public awareness and pressure on policy makers to initiate mitigation and reclamation of this very important global issue.
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