MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Assessing Differential Expression of Enzymes in Dermacentor andersoni and Dermacentor variabilis Ticks Following Cold Exposure
No full textThe survival of overwintering ticks is influenced by several biochemical changes induced by the onset of cold temperatures. Dermacentor andersoni and Dermacentor variabilis ticks are able to increase levels of various biochemical components following cold exposure, however the mechanisms underlying these changes are unknown. This research focused on identifying well- known metabolic enzymes in these ticks in order to establish a mechanism for the increase in metabolites observed following cold exposure. The enzymes explored included glycogen phosphorylase, trehalose-6-phosphate synthase, and phosphofructokinase. As specific nucleotide sequences for each enzyme are not known in D. andersoni or D. variabilis, primers were developed by searching GenBank for homologous sequences in related organisms. RNA to be processed to cDNA was extracted from individual ticks following mechanical homogenization. The resulting cDNA was then subject to PCR using combinations of degenerate primers for each enzyme, and gene products were observed using agarose gel electrophoresis. From the pool of degenerate primers designed for PCR, four primer sets produced promising results. These resulting DNA fragments were excised from the gels to allow for ethanol precipitation of DNA. Following the successful sequencing of the resulting DNA to establish the true sequence amplified, future research will focus on deploying cold treatments to assess if an increase in enzyme expression exists following tick exposure to cold temperatures. This research will reveal potential mechanisms underlying the observed biochemical changes in ticks, as well as provide a comprehensive research design to be used for future studies identifying other genes expressed in cold exposure.
Department: Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kevin Friese
Children’s play in Cree culture
No full textThe world is full of many diverse ways of knowing and beautiful cultures, each shaping human development profoundly. A significant part of human development occurs during childhood and through children’s play. Although there is accumulated empirical evidence on cultural differences in young children’s play, there is a lack of research regarding Indigenous children’s play. As a result, I have researched the unique characteristics of Cree culture and its relation to indigenous children’s play. Cree culture holds to a circular worldview and uses the Medicine Wheel to define the four aspects of a child that must be nurtured: the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Language, familial roles, and relationship to the land also play a role in shaping Cree children’s play. Focusing the uniqueness of a single Indigenous culture and traditions, such as Cree, allows those who work and interact with Cree children and families to gain an understanding, respect and appreciation for their needs, ways of thinking and engagement in play.
Department: Human Services and Early Learning
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ozlem Cankay
Measuring the activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in relation to home-based additives by measured net weight loss
No full textThis research study is to measure the activity of saccharomyces cerevisiae through selected additives which have been added in the hydration step of making bread dough. The saccharomyces cerevisiae is sensitive to sugars (Mazzoleni, S. et al.2015) and by using multiple possible additives that can be found at home, we can compare which ones give a healthier yeast and therefore a better rise to the dough. As the saccharomyces cerevisiae ferments, it consumes the sugars naturally in the dough and creates an acidic environment to maintain its growth and produces CO2 as a product of this reaction, which is the cause for the rising dough. This can be tracked by how active the yeast is to its mean weight loss by measuring the weight loss of 3 separate batches and comparing the results through a Multiple Comparisons of Means: Tukey Contrasts test to see if the significance to what is added to what was added to help the fermentation process of the yeast. We can see that easily soluble sugars are the best choices for promoting the health of the saccharomyces cerevisiae in by the test with F(9,20)=14.49, p<0.0001.
Department: Mathematics and Statistics
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Karen Bur
Perceptions of clients about healthcare professionals (HCP) who have visible body art: a scoping review of the literature
No full textIn healthcare, appearance plays a significant role in a patient\u27s first impression of a healthcare worker\u27s competence, compassion, performance, and quality of care. Given that nurses are an essential part of the patient care team, it is imperative for nurses and other healthcare providers to recognize the use of personal expressions such as tattoos while still being able to achieve therapeutic relationships with clients. This scoping review aims to answer the following question: What is known from the existing literature about clients\u27 perceptions about healthcare professionals who have visible body art? Keywords included terms related to body art, healthcare professionals, and to perceptions and understanding. A total of 435 studies published until January 2022 were identified, of which 8 met the inclusion criteria. Out of eight studies included in this review, six identified that body art is negatively associated with patient care, and two found there is no impact on body art and patient perceptions. Additionally, results show that clients attribute a higher degree of professionalism to HCP without visible body art.
Finally, some studies indicate that female HCP with visible tattoos were perceived as being less professional than their male counterparts. It is essential to understand patient perceptions of healthcare professionals with and without body art and determine if appearances can alter the relationship between patient and provider.
Keywords: body art, piercing, healthcare professional, perception, care.
Faculty: Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Emilene Reisdorfe
Determining the Adsorption of Cadmium to Diatoms as a Function of pH
No full textHeavy metal contamination has been rapidly increasing in recent years due to exponential acceleration in using these toxic elements in various industrial, agricultural, domestic, and technological applications. Once in the environment, heavy metals can’t be volatilized like other common pollutants (pesticides, hydrocarbons etc.), impeding their ability to degrade rapidly. Cadmium is considered one of the most ecotoxic metals, exhibiting adverse effects on all biological processes of humans, animals and plants. This poses a severe threat to organisms in the food web, including humans, as heavy metals are known to bioaccumulate. Various ecological interfaces (minerals, microbes, etc.) adsorb metals and impact their cycling. Thus, many factors (pH, water chemistry, etc.) must be considered to predict distribution and complexation of metals in particular environments. The ability to predict the fate of Cd in aquatic environments is imperative, and diatoms play a significant role in the degradation, speciation, and detoxification of hazardous metals. Diatoms are photosynthetic organisms found in aquatic ecosystems. When they die, they sink and accumulate, forming sediments. When an aquatic ecosystem is contaminated with Cd, it’s crucial to understand its mobility; will it remain in the water, or will it be removed by sorbing to sediments? This research investigated how Cd sorbs to diatoms as a pH (2-10) function and Cd: diatom ratio. The Inductively Coupled Plasma- Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) was used to analyze the amount of Cd remaining in the water sample. FTIR was used to identify the adsorption of Cd to the diatoms.
Department: Physical Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Janice Kenne
In Memory of Gruesome Details Across Violent Scenes
No full textEmotional scene memory has been found to vary in relation to recall of central (core emotional) and peripheral (background) details, resulting in a form of attentional narrowing/tunnel memory. The source of emotional arousal may influence the extent to which attentional narrowing occurs. Images containing gory/gruesome content should, in theory, lead to a reversal of attentional narrowing given our tendency to avert our gaze away from gory details. However, memory biases for disgust also have been evidenced where recall is enhanced by such material. It remains unclear how gore influences memory retention processes. Participants (N = 568) were assigned to an image condition (non-violent/no-gore, violent/no-gore, violent/indirect gore, violent/direct gore) followed by delayed memory testing, including objective memory assessment detail coding, central/peripheral accuracy questions, and hot spot analysis. Preliminary data review suggests that gory details attracted more focused attention initially, followed by dispersed visual processing of the scene. We predict that exposure to gore will lead to tunnel memories (i.e., enhanced central accuracy), however differences between gore type and violence level may be revealed across different measures of memory assessment (i.e., hot spot/content analysis). This study has implications for how witnesses to violent scenes encode and retain gruesome details in memory.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kristine Peac
Acoustic cues to individual identity in the American Pika (Ochotona princeps)
No full textOur research focused on potential voice characteristics, or individual identity cues, in the vocalizations of American pika (Ochotona princeps). Past research indicates that pika produce squeak calls, which may contain cues to individual identity, aiding in territory protection. We recorded pika vocals from a population of individuals in the Highwood region of Kananaskis, AB. Data suggests these calls do contain acoustic features that should allow individuals to recognize each other by sound alone. This provides us with a better understanding of territorial behaviour in pika. Because pika live in high alpine scree locations they are key indicators of the effects of climate change. Therefore, any exploration into their behaviour may aid in understanding the potential effects of climate change on this species and perhaps alpine species more generally.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shannon Digwee
I only cry in movies when an animal dies: Exploring the relationship between human and animal centered empathy in pet owners as a function of trait narcissism
No full textHaving empathy for others is typically generalized to having empathy for animals. However, emerging research suggests that empathy for humans and for animals are only weakly correlated (Paul, 2000). This suggests that there may be cases where individuals lack human- centered empathy (HCE), but have a high degree of animal-centered empathy (ACE). Having a lack of empathy for humans is also characteristic of trait narcissism. Narcissistic individuals are self-serving, use others for their personal gain, and show no concern for the needs of others. There is currently a lack of literature exploring the relationship between HCE and ACE in individuals with trait narcissism. Here, we explore whether narcissistic pet owners display empathy towards animals despite their lack of HCE. To do so, pet owners (N=197) were asked to complete questionnaires assessing trait narcissism, HCE, ACE, pet attachment, and their pet ownership experiences. We hypothesize that core traits of narcissism will be positively associated with ACE and negatively correlated with ACE in pet owners. In addition, we expect our analysis to reveal: (a) a negative correlation between grandiose/vulnerable narcissism and pet attachment, (b) a positive correlation between ACE and both pet-attachment and attitudes towards animals, and (c) a weaker, but still positive, correlation between HCE and both pet- attachment and attitudes towards animals. A regression analysis will also be conducted to determine if pet attachment and attitudes towards animals will be significant predictors of (a) ACE and (b) HCE. This research will further our understanding of the relationship between empathy towards humans and animals. Results of the study will provide insight into whether animal-assisted approaches may be useful for empathy training in those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Miranda Giacomin and Dr. Eric Legg
Book to the Basics: Systematically Teaching Children to Read
No full textAs rates of reading difficulties in middle-school children increase, so does the need for effective interventions. Direct Instruction is an evidence-based approach that uses Applied Behavioral Analysis principles to teach a variety of different topics. For our study, we used the Direct Instruction-based curriculum called ‘Teach Your Child to Read Well’, derived from the Maloney Method, in order to assess its effectiveness at improving the reading abilities of children who have fallen behind their respective grade level for literacy. This curriculum incorporates the basic rules, themes, and strategies of a particular area; systematically presents concepts and new material; clearly communicates goals and expectations; gradually introduces new skills; promotes mastery; and caters to the child’s specific needs and abilities. Participants included three grade-level students, all of whom were underperforming in comparison to their same- grade peers. We used a non-concurrent multiple baseline design where the children acted as their own control. The intervention occurred once a week, for twenty weeks, each for an hour at a time. The number of correct words read per minute was probed during each session. Results are anticipated to show a substantial increase in the number of proper words read per minute for each participant. These data would provide evidence to support the effectiveness of such an intervention and the potential need for more effective strategies to be embedded within our education system.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentors: Miranda Macauley and Dr. Russ Powel
What Maintains Generalized Anxiety Disorder? Examining Intolerance of Uncertainty and Negative Beliefs about Worry
No full textIndividuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) experience excessive and chronic worry over a variety of daily events. If left untreated, GAD tends to be chronic and cause difficulties in daily functioning. Therefore, understanding the factors that cause and maintain GAD is important to allow for the effective treatment of the disorder. The Metacognitive Model, Intolerance of Uncertainty Model, and Emotional Dysregulation Model each implicate specific mechanisms as the casual and maintaining factor in GAD. Existing research has shown negative beliefs about worry (NBW), intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and fear of emotions to be associated with GAD. However, the existing research is primarily cross-sectional, which does not allow researchers to determine whether these beliefs cause and maintain GAD. The present longitudinal study examined whether NBW, IU, fear of emotions, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance predict worry severity and GAD symptoms at follow-up. Undergraduate psychology students, pre-screened for high levels of worry, completed a series of online self- report measures assessing levels of worry, GAD symptoms, NBW, IU fear of emotions, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance. Participants (N = 372) returned 4-months later to complete the same series of questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses revealed that NBW was the only mechanism to consistently emerge as a predictor of pathological worry and GAD symptoms cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Exploratory analyses revealed that changes in NBW and IU were the only mechanisms to predict changes in GAD at follow-up. These findings have implications for the understanding and treatment of GAD.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alexander Penne