18701 research outputs found
Sort by
Focus on International Joint Commission Activities (ISSN 0832-6673): vol.14 iss.3
No full textZero discharge of persistent toxic substances; involvement by municipal governments to protect water quality; incorporating land use planning elements into remedial action plans; the invasion of zebra mussels; and shifting from reactive to proactive attitudes in all programs developed to restore and protect the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. These and many other issues were presented by conference participants to the International Joint Commission (IJC) during the 1989 Biennial Meeting on Great Lakes Water Quality
Can Flexibility and Productivity Coexist? Analyzing the Adoption of a Four - Day Work Week or a Hybrid Work Policy
Get PDFThe discussion of changing the standard work week of five days to four days has been a concept considered since the 1960’s. The general discourse has concerned the tension between productivity of workers increasing enough that a workplace would lose an extra day of work. This alone is a large discussion point, but ever since the advent of home computers, the option of hybrid work has contributed to complicating the discussion as well. These options give workplace managers and government legislators a difficult decision to make about allowing a four-day or hybrid work system. Questions regarding the effectiveness of these options have continued to rise in larger quantities since both of their conceptions. This paper seeks to analyze the benefits and consequences of both systems and provides a definitive answer which may be utilized by legislators and workplace managers when deciding to adopt either of these work options
State Sanctioned Poverty and Death for the Disabled: Durkheim's Fatalistic Suicide and Income Support Coverage for ODSP Recipients
No full text['UNSDG 3: Good Health and Well-being (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3)', 'UNSDG 10: Reduced Inequalities (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal10)', 'Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html']Viable, Healthy and Safe CommunitiesEmile Durkheim's investigation of suicide as a sociological phenomenon is relevant to the classical context and able to be expanded upon to account for current socio-political trends that have altered the landscape since his death. Specifically, Durkheim perceived fatalistic suicide as occurring under conditions when people experienced excessive regulation, had their futures pitilessly blocked and their passions violently choked by oppressive discipline. By comparison, my research explored recent socio-political contexts imbued under Canadian welfare state structures and found evidence of conditions like those envisioned by Durkheim existing for those reliant on Ontario's income support system for people with disabilities (Ontario's Disability Support Program/ODSP) as their sole source of livelihood. Consistent with a present-day Durkheim example, current Canadian social policy decisions made by successive Ontario governments have facilitated the case for fatalistic suicide for those people with disabilities lacking in personal and financial supports such that they become reliant on our provincial social safety net income support systems for their sole source of basic needs, hence survival supports. Complementing said, once the Parliament of Canada passed federal legislation in June 2016 allowing eligible Canadian adults to request medical assistance in dying (MAiD) alignment occurred between such bleak state-sanctioned and enforced conditioning and a compatible option of exercising self-determination and social choice for ending life through suicide rather than continuing to live a life of state-sanctioned tyranny. This session will explore the ODSP recipient experience consistent with those people considering and/or having committed MAiD within Ontario
Source Apportionment and Health Risk Assessment of PM2.5-bound Elements in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
No full textWindsor, Ontario, Canada frequently experiences poor air quality due to local emissions and transboundary pollution inputs. This study investigates (1) the ambient concentration levels of PM2.5 mass and PM2.5-bound elements, (2) major sources of PM2.5-bound elements and source contributions, (3) sensitivity of Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) modeling to input concentration data, (4) human health risks from inhalation exposure to PM2.5-bound elements, (5) major contributors to elemental concentrations and health risks, and (6) temporal variability of concentrations, source contributions, and health risks. Hourly concentrations of PM2.5 mass, black carbon (BC), brown carbons (BrCs), and 24 PM2.5-bound elements were continuously monitored at the Windsor West station during April 2021 ─ April 2023. USEPA’s PMF model was utilized to identify sources and quantify their contributions. USEPA’s health risk assessment approach was used to estimate total and individual lifetime cancer risks (CRs) and chronic hazard quotients (HQs) due to inhalation exposure to six and eleven elements, respectively. The two-year average PM2.5 mass concentration was 9.2 μg/m³, slightly exceeding the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards of 8.8 μg/m³. The total elemental concentration was 1.4 μg/m³, which accounted for 15% of PM2.5 concentration. Five PM2.5-bound element sources were resolved by the PMF modeling, (1) coal/heavy oil burning (33% of total elemental concentrations), (2) vehicular exhaust (28%), (3) metal processing (20%), (4) crustal dust (16%), and (5) vehicle tire and brake wear (3%). The three traffic-related sources (i.e., vehicular exhaust, crustal dust, and vehicle tire and brake wear) and two industrial sources (i.e., coal/heavy oil burning and metal processing) contributed nearly equally (47% vs. 53%) to total PM2.5-bound element concentration. The sensitivity analysis of the PMF modeling yielded: (1) Treatment of concentrations below the method detection limits (MDLs), i.e., leaving as is vs. replacing with ½ MDLs had negligible effects on source identification, source contribution estimations, and model performance. (2) The modeling results are not sensitive to excluding BrCs concentrations, because they are strongly correlated with BC concentrations, which were already included in the PMF modeling. (3) Conducting PMF separately for episodic events is beneficial for identifying unique sources associated with these events and improving model performance. Both the total CR (4.1×10⁻⁵) and total HQ (0.82) remained below the USEPA acceptable thresholds of 10⁻⁴ and 1, respectively. Among the five sources identified by PMF modeling, metal processing was the largest contributor to total CR (52%) and total HQ (60%), followed by coal/heavy oil combustion (19% and 16%) and vehicular exhaust (19% and 12%), and the remaining two sources, crustal dust and vehicle tire and brake wear (10% and 12%). The seasonal PM2.5 concentrations were highest in Winter, followed by Summer, Spring, and Fall. The seasonal variability of total CR and HQ was small. The hour-of-day PM2.5 showed higher concentration in the early morning and lower in the afternoon. Neither the seasonal nor the diurnal trends of most elements are similar to that of the PM2.5 mass, calling for the monitoring of PM2.5-bound elements. Among the 24 PM2.5-bound elements, the top five elements (S, Si, Fe, K, and Ca, from most to least abundant) combined contributed 95% of total elemental concentrations. However, the elements contributing most to concentrations are not the largest contributors to health risks due to different toxicities among the elements. Specifically, Cd was the largest contributor to both total cancer risk (62%) and total hazard quotient (73%) due to its high inhalation unit risk and low reference concentration, while Cd only contributed 0.5% of total elemental concentrations. Metal processing as a source contributed over half of total CR and total HQ but only 20% of elemental concentrations. Emission control measures should consider major contributors to ambient concentrations and those to health risks
Diamond, a Creative Writing Research Project
No full textFor my final Outstanding Scholars research position, I am working under the guidance of Dr. André Narbonne on a Creative Writing project. This project, tentatively entitled Diamond, is a collection of short stories about my Pépé, Garnet (Diamond) Lozon. This is an ongoing project that will consist of eight stories once completed. Each story is written in the style of narrative fiction rather than biography or nonfiction. This allows me to create a collection of stories that focus more on meaning, character, and technique instead of word-for-word dictation. The concept of this project is to capture what it means to be human. Garnet suffers from a series of traumatic events, such as extreme poverty, the death of his mother, the loss of his siblings to orphanages, and conscription at the age of eighteen into World War II. In order to cope with trauma, Garnet drinks excessively and eventually suffers from alcoholism. Yet these stories are not about the stereotypical alcoholic husband and father who abuses or neglects his family. Instead, they reveal how close Garnet and his daughter Cindy are and why his wife Irene chooses to stay with him. Although Garnet's relationship with his family is often strained, there are moments when characters realize how much he cares for them. Research for this project involves looking into the time period of each story to eliminate historical inaccuracies and produce realistic world-building. The cultural atmosphere of each time period has significant impact on the events of every narrative as well as the attitudes and behaviours of characters. This means that further research requires creating character sketches to ensure that each character accurately reflects who they are during different points in their lives. In addition, other works of narrative fiction must be analyzed to determine which techniques are and are not effective for this style of writing. For example, "The Quiet" by Carys Davies is referred to as an example of 'how long it takes things to happen' and "The First and Last Time" by André Narbonne demonstrates how well character can be developed through dialogue. For my presentation, I will discuss the nature of the project as detailed above and will perform a live reading for the audience. The duration of the reading will depend on the time limit of presentations at the conference and the length of stories chosen
Reducing the Risk of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: Understanding Providers’ Beliefs, Knowledge, and Practices of Prenatal Physical Activity Prescription
Get PDFConsistent with the TCPS 2 (4.7) this is a research summary provided to participants and should not be considered a formal publication of results.Cheri McGowa
Evaluation of Anti Cancer Activity of Natural Health Products (Sage and Long-Pepper) against Hodgkin's Lymphoma
No full textTo determine if sage and long pepper extracts have any anti cancer properties, especially against Hodgkin's lymphoma, by assessing the mechanism of action using in vitro and in vivo models, and determining the active components within these extracts
Separation and Characterization of Bacterial Particles Using Low-Cost Microfluidic Lab-on-a-chip
Get PDFHealthy Great Lake
Navigating Identity Shifts: A Review of International Students’ (Re)construction of Self-Identities
Get PDFStudying abroad is increasingly becoming a popular choice for many students and their families. Pursuing a degree in a foreign country not only signifies academic achievements, but it also contributes significantly to their personal growth and life accomplishments. International students face the challenge of adapting to a new environment, managing life’s difficulties, and establishing connections within the host society. Adjusting to this new environment, rebuilding their lives in an unfamiliar place, and successfully earning a degree in a foreign country all require a strong and mature personality. When international students accomplish these tasks, they undergo a process of self-renewal and self-identification. The pursuit of a degree abroad necessitates that international students undertake the challenge of “mastering a new language, adapting to a different culture, and adjusting to an unfamiliar academic environment” (Zhang, 2016, p 7). These challenges often lead to significant personal growth, fostering heightened focus on understanding cultural differences, increased tolerance for diversity, and the cultivation of greater individual responsibility (Zhang, 2016). This transformative journey makes them more resilient, boosts their self-efficacy, and ultimately shapes them into stronger and more mature individuals, paving the way for a successful life. This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of a wide range of research studies related to international students in order to examine the fundamental factors and processes influencing the self-identity of these students
