MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Grasping Eternity: A Visual Representation of Einstein\u27s Dreams, by Alan Lightman
No full textGrasping Eternity is a project of DESN231 Typography II, a course in the Bachelor of Design in the Faculty of Fine Arts & Communications. Students were asked to visually translate an assigned section of the novel “Einstein’s Dreams”, by Alan Lightman (1993) into a two-page layout that explores concepts of time and challenges convention. With the overall goal of enhancing the meaning of the written text students focused on featuring the nuances of language through visual devices. Students were encouraged to explore linguistic deconstruction (semantics, syntax, grammar), alternative ways to organize the page, and to experiment with non-traditional grids, all while maintaining legibility and readability of the text. Informative callouts were added throughout the publication to give conceptual or factual context to the piece.
Department: Design Studies
Faculty Mentor: Constanza Pache
Poppies, Cultures, and Arts
No full textAs people know, the different cultures have influenced the art creation. Canadian artists prefer to paint roses, sunflowers, lilies, and poppies, while Chinese artists like to draw lotuses, peonies, orchids, and winter sweet. As Canadians know, the flower poppies are the symbol of remembrance and most welcome to present in the artwork. However, seldom Chinese artists paint poppies and exhibit their artwork of poppies. My creative research is to discuss why the meaning of poppies is different within different cultures, why I chose poppies, and how I create artwork of poppies with Chinese materials in the traditional way.
Department: Art and Design
Faculty Mentor: Elisabeth Bellivea
Ego & Virtual Refugee
No full textEgo
The pandemic has surfaced people that possess an elevated ego. Consequently, the lockdown has not been able to stop because of it. It\u27s frustrating how social media can impact the collective thinking of opposing groups leading to selfishness and arrogance.
Virtual Refugee
With technological advancements in virtual reality, escapism has become a dependence for some. To others, reality itself. The pandemic has made people desperate to seek artificial environments that substitute our day-to-day lives. Can VR become the social norm in the near future
Eating Alone
No full textDuring this time of isolation, it was very obvious the way I interacted with my environment and myself had changed dramatically. Figuring out a way of staying connected with my friends and family wasn\u27t very hard because we have the technology to overcome the space between each other. But I think what was hard for me was seeing the space with myself starting to diminish. What scared me was the big jump from always eating with a group of people to always eating alone. During times with others, I felt like food always brought people together to have conversations and make connections, but now I have them with myself. At first, it was daunting to face my thoughts but now I see it as a blessing in disguise as I have reached a whole new level of connection with myself. Eating alone is now a new skill I have learned and enjoyed. I wonder how many others have made deeper connections with themselves through the act of eating alone
Our Life in Time of Pandemic
No full textDuring this time we more than ever realized how important are our spaces and who we spend our daily life with, we changed the way we learned and interacted with people. This is a snippet of my daughter\u27s life during last year, how a first grader lived through online school with the little help of her friends
COVID-19 and Mental Health: Framing Emotional Concerns and Identifying Coping Mechanisms
No full textThis content analysis examined 653 Twitter tweets from two threads in order to explore the ways in which emotional concerns are contextualized during the COVID-19 pandemic and sought to identify coping mechanisms mentioned in tweets following government-legislated lockdowns and social isolation measures. A purposive sampling method was employed to collect tweets possessing characteristics of interest to the present study. An open-coding procedure was utilized to examine any salient meanings or keywords, and the frequency of occurrence of contextualized emotional concerns and identified coping mechanisms was recorded. Results revealed 7 main ways within which emotional concerns were framed, including: COVID-19 Virus, School-Related, Groups/Individuals, Social Institutions, Financial/Work-Related, Mass Media, and Other. Results also revealed 10 themes in which coping mechanisms were identified: Hobbies/Interests, Social Media, Offering Resources, Substance Use, Connecting with Others, Eating, Raising Awareness/Promoting Compliance, Religion/Optimism, Humor/Sarcasm, and Other. Although previous literature has demonstrated that people exhibit psychological distress during a global health crisis, this study adds to the growing body of literature on COVID-19 and outlines the contexts in which emotional concerns arise during a pandemic and how people are coping through these unprecedented times. These findings provide insight into how individuals are sharing concerns about their mental health with others via Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic, and points to the need for psychological interventions specifically oriented towards global health crises in the midst of government mandated lockdown measures
Apple iPhone: A Market Case Study
No full textFounded in 1976, Apple inc. quickly became one of the biggest companies in the world. Throughout the years, Apple has been apart of the technology market where there has been an exponential amount of opportunities and threats. This market case study aims to determine how Apple can target such opportunities to help predict future trends and influences over the market. To identify these trends and market influences, I have first conducted an environmental scan of Apple’s current and future market(s). Then I described Apple’s fundamental psychological and sociocultural consumer behaviors. And finally, I identified Apple’s target market, how they have chosen to segment and the demographics and geographics within Apple’s largest target segments. As a result of successfully identifying trends in the past, Apple continues to impress with its globally known brand name and customer base/market. However, Apple must continue to identify future opportunities to stay relevant in the ever-advancing technological market. This analysis of the marketing context suggests Apple may need to re-position its iPhones to maintain its leading position in the marketplace
Identifying the Nuclear Localization Signal of the Arabidopsis Thaliana MADS Box Transcription Factor Flowering Locus C
No full textThe goal of this undergraduate honours research project is to design a research strategy to identify the Nuclear Localization Signal (NLS) of the Arabidopsis thaliana MADs box transcription factor Flowering Locus C (FLC), and to begin the cloning and plant transformation of key controls required for this objective. Nuclear localization of proteins requires a specific amino acid sequence, called the Nuclear Localization Signal (NLS). The NLS of FLC has not yet been characterized, though previous work on Arabidopsis has established conserved structural-functional domains within FLC. The NLS within other MADs box proteins varies in its specific sequence, but is generally located within the MADs box domain around the N-terminal region of the polypeptide, which is a conserved region amongst MADs box proteins. I have created an FLC gene construct to be used with the GreenGate cloning system which will ultimately serve as a positive control showing nuclear localization in planta. I have also established the components necessary for the creation of a negative control line of Arabidopsis expressing GFP alone, which is not expected to nuclearly localize. Finally, I have completed a literature review to explore the existing understanding of NLS structure in general, in MADs box transcription factor proteins, and in other plant transcription factors, to propose mutations that might disrupt the NLS sequence within FLC. This work aims to fill a knowledge gap in regards to the mechanism of nuclear localization of FLC and will ultimately contribute to our understanding of nuclear localization in general.
Department: Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Melissa Hill
Ethics in Research: An Overview of Universal Ethics and the Perpetuation of Inequality in Academia
No full textEthics govern how research can be conducted, though there are limitations to how effective codes of conduct can be in ensuring that research practice is truly ethical in all situations. Though practices have improved, there are several considerations that must still be met to ensure that research is both beneficial and respectful to all involved. The historical lack of repercussions that have accompanied Western research practice has functioned to further disadvantage certain groups, such as Indigenous People, People of Color, and women, and has allowed for sexism, harassment, and discrimination to continue. This research project addresses the problems associated with “universal” research ethics, the disconnect that exists in the construction and ideological view of ethics between disciplines, and the ways that Western research practice has been shaped, including how the hierarchy present in academic institutions continues to marginalize and disadvantage certain groups of people, with particular emphasis on the perpetuation of racism and sexism.
Department: Biology
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Katie Biittner and Dr. Monica Davi
3D Brain Segmenation: : Extracting the Shape of the Human Hippocampus from Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Images
No full textA new protocol for high resolution diffusion imaging of the human brain was recently developed at the Peter S. Allen MR Research Centre. This protocol enables the capture of microstructural details in the hippocampus that are not visible in typical anatomical MRI. We developed a new deep learning network that extracts the hippocampus shape from the diffusion images. This will enable studies on the effects of aging and disease on the hippocampus.
Department: Computer Science
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dana Cobza