MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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The Biochemical Analysis of Crystallin Proteins in the Adult Zebrafish Lens
No full textZebrafish (Danio rerio) have become important model organisms to increase human understanding of ophthalmological diseases, specifically cataracts. It has been found that there are conserved visual pathways between zebrafish and humans, which allow the study of cataracts in zebrafish to be exceptionally insightful for the mechanisms behind cataract development in humans. The purpose of this study was to provide a biochemical comparison of the soluble and insoluble proteins in cataract and healthy lenses from adult zebrafish. In order to induce cataracts, 3% hydrogen peroxide was injected into lenses of adult zebrafish and the lens proteins were separated into their soluble and insoluble protein fractions through centrifugation. The concentration of the soluble and insoluble proteins was quantified and the lens proteins were further characterized using SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis to detect crystallins, the predominant lens protein. Lenses that had induced cataracts had an average soluble protein concentration of 0.933ug/uL, while the average insoluble protein concentration was found to be 0.453ug/uL. Normal, healthy lenses were found to have a higher concentration of soluble proteins and a lower concentration of insoluble proteins. Although the results from the SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis contained some inconsistencies, this research has provided valuable insight into how the Western blot technique can be improved to better detect for crystallin proteins in the future.
* Indicates faculty mento
Effects of Crowding and Confinement on Enzyme Kinetics
No full textReverse micelles are formed by the aggregation of water inside of a bilayer formed by a surfactant in a non-polar solvent. The nanometer scale pool of water within the reverse micelles provides an environment to study the effects of confinement on enzymes as measured by changes in kinetics. The size of these reverse micelles is directly related to the ratio of water and surfactant. We and others have been studying the effects of crowding, the presence of large concentrations of solutes, on enzyme kinetics. What effect would it have on enzyme kinetics if these solutes were added to the confined environment of the reverse micelle? We have studied the effects of confinement on alpha-chymotrypsin in a system using dioctyl sulfosuccinate (AOT) as a surfactant, isooctane as the non-polar solvent, and N-succinyl-L-phenylalanine p-nitroanilide (SPN) as the substrate. Results will be analyzed within the Michaelis-Menten framework.
* Indicates faculty mentor
Cultivating Incremental Theories Regarding Anxiety to Reduce Student Academic and General Anxiety
No full textAn incremental view of a personal attribute (i.e., a growth mindset) often confers significant affective and psychological advantages relative to an entity view (i.e., a fixed mindset). For example, a fixed mindset regarding anxiety has recently been shown to be associated with higher anxiety and poorer emotional coping skills (De Castella et al., 2014). No research to date has examined the causal impact of incremental vs. entity views toward anxiety on levels of anxiety. In the current proposed study, undergraduate participants will be randomly assigned to receive either an intervention that trains an incremental view of anxiety or to receive a control intervention. Three weeks later, academic and general anxiety will be measured in both groups along with their incremental vs. fixed views toward anxiety. It is predicted that that those who undergo cultivation of an incremental view toward anxiety will exhibit less anxiety than control group participants. Supportive findings would suggest that preventative interventions may be effective for protecting students from anxiety throughout the school year and from more general health risks connected to long-lasting anxiety.
Discipline: Psychology Honours
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Howel
An Evaluation of a New Service Delivery Model at The Chimo Youth Retreat Centre
No full textThis research project evaluates the practice shift from a risk aversion model to an Outcomes Based Service Delivery / Collaborative Service Delivery (OBSD/CSD) model. The main objective of the project was to evaluate the perceptions of stakeholders both from Chimo Youth Retreat Centre and Child and Family Services (CFS) its collaborating partner, regarding this shift in practice. This was done through a mixed method of surveys and in-depth interviews with stakeholders, which include front-line workers, management and parents of clients of the program. Other objectives included finding out how stakeholders involved have been able to transition to this current model and also determining what strengths and challenges they have working under this new model.
Discipline: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Gulayet
Genetic Diversity of Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) in Lac La Biche
No full textThe maintenance of genetic diversity is critical for a population’s ability to withstand, and persist natural or anthropogenic change. The Alberta government implemented the Lac La Biche Fishery Restoration Program in 2005. This program introduced several changes, including the control of the double-crested cormorant population, and the stocking of over 2 million walleye fry. Ecological disruptions at high trophic levels, such as those implemented with the restoration program at Lac La Biche have been shown to induce changes in genetic diversity of species at lower trophic levels. In this study, we developed a method of genomic DNA extraction from preserved yellow perch (Perca flavescens) stomachs to investigate genetic diversity in this species. Upon extraction, six nuclear microsatellite loci were examined by PCR, in 29 individuals collected in 2009 from Lac La Biche, Alberta. This study provided initial population genetic data on yellow perch from 2009, and a framework for a more exhaustive analysis of the spatial, and temporal population genetic structure of yellow perch in Lac La Biche from 2009 - 2013.
Discipline: Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David McFadye
Multimodal and Spectral Degradation Effects on Speech and Emotion Recognition in Adults
No full textResearch has shown that individuals with severe hearing loss demonstrate considerable adaptation to hearing input from their cochlear implants (CIs), especially when implanted at younger ages. Despite these gains, hearing restoration with sensory prostheses does not match that of normal acoustic hearing. Limitations are especially apparent in complex listening situations. CIs retain important timing information, but discard fine pitch details that are informative to voice quality and music. We examined how speech and emotion recognition can be improved for CI listeners by the addition of informative multimodal (auditory and visual) cues. We created conditions that simulate the hearing experiences of CI listeners using a vocoder, which reduced the fine pitch information. In the unimodal auditory condition, hearing adult participants listened to sentence-length vocoded speech created with 4, 8, 16, and 32 bands that contained increasing amounts of spectral (pitch) detail, respectively. In the multimodal condition, the vocoded speech was superimposed to videos of the talker speaking the sentence. Our results show that listeners capitalized on informative visual cues that complemented the acoustic information and improved their speech and emotion recognition accuracies. The multimodal benefit was greater under the most difficult listening conditions; that is, 4 and 8 bands. Our findings also show that the addition of visual information benefited emotion recognition more greatly, where spectral degradation hampered the perception of important prosodic detail that cue emotion in voice. The present findings can be used to inform rehabilitative practices by incorporating informative multimodal cues to improve communication outcomes of CI listeners.
Discipline: Psychology Honours
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tara Vongpaisa
Do Metacognitions Account for the Relationship between Chronic Pain and Health Anxiety?
No full textResearch has shown that individuals with chronic pain experience higher levels of health anxiety (HA), which contributes to disability. The aim of the current study was to examine if metacognitive beliefs may account for the relationship between chronic pain and HA. University students with chronic or recurring pain (n = 191), or without pain (n = 173), completed the Chronic Pain Grade Scale (CPGS), Short Health Anxiety Inventory, and Metacognitions about Health Questionnaire. In the pain sample, bivariate correlations revealed that HA significantly correlated with CPGS pain disability, but not with CPGS pain intensity. Partial correlations controlling for metacognitive beliefs found that the relationship between HA and disability was no longer significant. In the non-pain sample, bivariate correlations revealed that HA significantly correlated with both disability and intensity. Again, partial correlations revealed that the relationship between HA and disability was no longer significant when controlling for metacognitions. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the unique contributions of metacognitive beliefs. The belief that thoughts are uncontrollable significantly accounted for the relationship between pain disability and HA in both the pain and non-pain sample. Beliefs about biased thinking accounted for the relationship between pain disability and HA in only the pain sample. Metacognitions appear to contribute to the relationship between chronic pain and HA. Future research could more specifically examine beliefs about the uncontrollability of thoughts in the relationship between pain and HA, and may want to further examine beliefs about biased thinking in the relationship between chronic pain and HA.
Discipline: Psychology Honours
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alexander Penne
Sensory Processing: Variation within a typical population
No full textIn recent years, sensory processing disorder (SPD) has garnered much attention in the field of occupational therapy. However, sensory processing has not been adequately examined for individual differences in a typical population to be compared to a disordered sample. Our goal was to investigate these individual differences in a typical student population utilizing the measures commonly used to evaluate SPD. Thus, we administered the Sensory Profile questionnaire, a self-report measure of sensory processing across visual, auditory, tactile, and taste/smell domains. We also included a standardized checklist of typical behaviours displayed by those with Autism Spectrum Disorder and a standardized survey of circumstances that might elicit Gaze Anxiety. Both SPD and gaze anxiety has been linked to ASD and therefore we expected there to be correlations amongst those measures. We hope this exploratory data tells us more about how people experience the world around them, and how this differs between individuals. Our next step would be to objectively evaluate the Sensory Profile for external validity in terms of behavioural thresholds for sensory processing.
Discipline: Psychology Honours
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michelle Jaric
The Healing art of storytelling: A Formative Evaluation of a Cinematherapy Activity Manual for the Film “The Maze Runner”
No full textThis qualitative inquiry describes the results of a formative (pilot-test) evaluation of a Cinematherapy Activity Manual for the film “The Maze Runner”. The Cinematherapy Activity Manual is the creation of a second-year student expressive therapy project. The Activity Manual includes a variety of creative activities specifically designed to provide youth participants who watch the film with a safe outlet to express themselves as they reflect on the characters and events in the story analogous to those in the own lives.
Discipline: Child and Youth care
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gerard Bellefeuill
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) Detection of β-Estradiol in Milk by Molecularly Imprinted Polymers on Biogenic Silica and Silver Nanoparticles
No full textThe highly sensitive surfaced-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and the directive selection of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) provided a simple and rapid method to detect the content of β-estradiol in milk sample which exists in low concentration at natural level. The MIPs were synthesized by surface polymerization of β-estradiol (template), methacrylic acid (the monomer), and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (cross-linking agent), with 4,4’ azobis (4-cyanopentanoyl) chloride initiator covalently grafted on the biogenic silica surface. The NIPs were also synthesized in a similar version to MIPs, but polymerization done without β-estradiol template. The surface morphology of MIPs and NIPs by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a clear difference on their structures. Silver and silica nanoparticles were served as SERS active substrates for signal enhancement. The limit of detection (LOD) for MIPs-silver nanoparticles was 1.0 ppm, whereas for MIPs-silica, the LOD was 0.78 ppm. As the result, biogenic silica nanoparticles gave a more enhanced Raman signal compared to the conventional silver nanoparticles.
Discipline: Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Samuel Mug