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RESISTANCE TO NEOLIBERALISM? A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COUNTER-HEGEMONY IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS
No full textIn the face of grave social and ecological challenges, we must question whether social movements are perpetuating or undermining the economic paradigm of neoliberalism to which many of the challenges can be attributed. How can society, social movements, and social movement educators and learners confront the prevalent economic discourse whose tentacles are firmly embedded in our hopes and desires and which increasingly defines our collective project both nationally and internationally? This thesis explores the dominance and resilience of neoliberal and capitalist paradigms through Gramsci’s notion of hegemony and uses the literature on hegemony, counter-hegemony, critical theory, economic theory, and transformative education to develop a framework of counter-hegemony. The framework is then employed as a basis for a comparative review of the environmental and co-operative movements. Specifically, the 1992 protests in Clayoquot Sound and worker co-operatives in the 21st century in Canada will be examined. Both movements are found to contain the ingredients of a counter-hegemony against neoliberalism but lack a fully-fledged manifestation. Worker co-operatives endeavor to maintain their cooperative essence and environmentalists confront and resist the pursuit of endless economic growth. Both movements represent aspects of the world as it could be and unified, the environmental and cooperative movements have the potential to guide society through times of exceptional social, ecological, economic, and political difficulties
Functional alignment of fMRI data using principal component pursuit
No full textHuman brains have a similar overall structure, but how they process information can still differ between people. Even after using standard methods to align brain scans anatomically—known as structural alignment—differences in how the brain responds to tasks remain. This thesis aims to improve functional alignment methods, which build on structural alignment by aligning brain activity patterns into a shared space for better comparison across individuals. Our goal is to improve this alignment by first reducing the complexity of the data using a technique called Principal Component Pursuit (PCP). PCP acts as a denoising method, helping us isolate the most important, stable patterns in each person’s Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data while reducing noise. This step makes the data cleaner and more comparable across individuals, setting the stage for more accurate alignment. We then use Optimal Transport (OT) to map each person’s brain responses, focused on the ventral temporal cortex during visual tasks, into a common space. OT treats these responses as probability distributions and calculates the most efficient way to align them across people while preserving the meaningful structure of the data. This helps account for individual differences in brain function and allows us to better predict what stimulus a person is viewing based on their neural activity. To assess how well the alignment worked, we looked at classification performance and how similar the aligned brain patterns became across subjects. Our findings show that combining PCP-based feature reduction with OT alignment leads to more accurate and consistent results compared to traditional methods
Navigational behaviour of Hermissenda crassicornis in different natural cue environments
No full textMost research on aquatic navigation has been done in simplified, unidirectional flow, leaving how animals navigate in naturally wave-affected flow conditions largely unknown. We provide the first field-based investigation that directly links fine-scale flow measurements with animal movement to examine how the nudibranch Hermissenda crassicornis navigates in wave-affected environments. Regardless of flow direction variability or chemical cue conditions we found evidence of cue-based navigation towards prey, but evidence of flow-based navigation was only significant when flow direction was less variable. Slugs oriented parallel to flow direction before feeding events, possibly orienting to portions of oscillations from wave-action when prey is upstream. In higher flow direction variability, slug track metrics still suggested a navigational strategy was used to find prey, but the apparent absence of any orientation to flow suggested the slugs use a different strategy (possibly chemotaxis) in conditions that could produce highly mixed chemical cues. When distant from feeding, slugs moved cross-stream which may increase chances of intercepting a prey chemical cue. Collectively, these findings possibly provide further evidence of context-dependent switching of gastropod navigational strategies. In addition, they also suggest that chemical-gated rheotaxis is a viable navigation strategy in habitats with either unidirectional or wave-affected flow
The rhythmic language of Ari Hoenig : a musical application of advanced rhythms
No full textAri Hoenig is a jazz drummer and composer from New York City. He has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest jazz musicians and is known for his melodicism and his masterful application of complex rhythmic ideas on the drum set. This study will include an explanation of advanced rhythmic terms and devices, an exploration of Hoenig’s life and musical background, and an analysis of his playing and compositions. This thesis will analyze Ari Hoenig’s musical style with the goal of making advanced rhythmic ideas accessible to musicians. Musical examples will be taken from select live and studio recordings throughout his career. The performances that will be analyzed include Hoenig’s playing on the Charlie Parker composition “Cheryl,” his version of Max Roach’s piece “The Drum Also Waltzes,” “The Drum Also Fives,” followed by Hoenig’s compositions “The Painter” and “Condemnation.” Compositional analysis will be done on “Green Spleen” from Bert’s Playground, “Arrows and Loops” from Lines of Oppression, and “Condemnation” from The Painter and Tea for Three. Through this investigation, the thesis ultimately seeks to answer a few key questions: how does Hoenig hear and approach these complex rhythmic ideas; How does he make them sound musical; and finally, how can other musicians harness these techniques to enhance their own rhythmic language. Through the analysis and understanding of Hoenig’s use of advanced rhythmic devices, musicians can begin to comprehend and apply these concepts to their own playing, enriching their ability as musicians, composers, and arrangers
Changes in biofouling composition mediated by a sub-optimal UV-C antifouling treatment and the relationship between larval availability and recruitment
No full textBiofouling is defined as the unwanted accumulation of biological growth on a submerged surface that will negatively impact human activities. This colonization of submerged surfaces mainly occurs because many benthic organisms have planktonic larvae or spores that enables them to colonize substrates that are spatially separate from the adult populations. The disruption of this colonization process is of fundamental importance for all maritime industries, since biofouling can lead to a variety of problems that translate into economic and environmental impacts. Because of this, the search for an effective antifouling strategy has been the subject of extensive research, while the relationship between larval availability and recruitment of biofouling has been less studied. My study will address both topics in separate chapters, first analyzing a novel antifouling strategy and its effects on biofouling composition, and second, describing the relationship between larval availability and recruitment with an additional measurement of post-settlement processes that can decouple this relationship. I used a novel antifouling strategy, i.e., a sub-optimal UV-C treatment, that produced several changes in biofouling composition by direct and indirect effects on assemblage members. These effects were subtle at one location and pronounced at another, suggesting that UV-C antifouling must be used adequately to ensure correct antifouling properties and avoid unforeseen ecological problems. The relationship between larval availability and recruitment density was positively correlated to some extent when data was filtered by class. Additionally, post-settlement processes did not create differences in recruitment densities using relatively short submersion times but did create differences after a long-term submersion. This project contributes to the knowledge surrounding the larvae-recruit relationship and the effects of post-settlement processes that can decouple this relationship.
Both chapters of this study provide useful information for antifouling purposes by first describing the unintended effects that may occur when a sub-optimal UV-C treatment is used, which could have many ecological implications. Secondly, the description of synchrony patterns and the effect of submersion times provide insight into various factors that can affect results of antifouling studies. These factors may create an increase or reduction of biofouling recruitment regardless of any antifouling strategy being tested, therefore affecting the interpretation of antifouling results
Exploring psychological skills use in interventional cardiologists
Full text linkPsychological skills are explored in a variety of high-performance contexts. In medical fields such as emergency medicine and surgery, psychological skills have been linked to better performance. However, certain medical subdisciplines, for example cardiology, have received less attention than others. For example, cardiology is a growing, interventional medical specialty that requires strenuous training and the precise execution of clinical and psychological skills under pressure. Yet, the development of psychological skills in interventional cardiologists remains underexamined, which was the purpose of the present study. Five interventional cardiologists from across Canada participated in virtual interviews averaging 39 minutes. A semi-structured interview rooted in a theoretical model developed by Spoon and colleagues (2020) was used. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and a hybrid thematic analysis was applied. Generally, participants agreed with previously hypothesized psychological skills in cardiology. The results revealed five main themes which included “Interpersonal Skills”, “Self-Regulation Skills”, “Applied Skills”, “Self-Care Skills” and “Cognitive Skills”. This paper explores these themes in detail, addressing how they are important for performance in interventional cardiology. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of expanding knowledge on psychological skills in interventional cardiology to better support the unique psychological demands faced in highly stressful medical situations
Letter from John McGregor to Malcolm McGregor, August 4, 1824
No full textJohn McGregor admonishes his brother for having not replied with news of their life in Chance Harbour. The impoverished state of affairs in Ardlarich is mentioned, including the high rents and low price of livestock. The welfare of John's friends Peter McGregor, Hugh Cameron and Donald McGregor are mentioned
Letter from John MacGregor to Malcolm MacGregor, June 29, 1816
No full textLetter from John MacGregor to his brother, Malcolm MacGregor discussing that he and his family are in good health, wishing the same him after they suffered through a long and severe winter without Malcolm in the country
Letter from John McGregor to Malcolm McGregor, March 26, 1817
No full textLetter from John McGregor to Malcolm McGregor discussing John's debate about emigrating to North America
Development and feasibility of a Maritime dietary pattern
No full textBackground
Increasing rates of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) in Nova Scotia can be partially attributed to the typical North American diet that features an excess of processed foods and an inadequate intake of nutrient dense, whole foods (Avesani et al., 2023; Jessri et al., 2023). The Mediterranean dietary pattern has been proposed for positive NCD outcomes and healthy life expectancy when compared to other dietary patterns (Guasch-Ferré & Willett, 2021; Sezaki et al., 2022; Sofi et al., 2008). Adopting the Mediterranean diet in Nova Scotia could benefit population health but would come with an environmental cost from transporting Mediterranean food products (Li et al., 2022). For improved health outcomes with minimal environmental harm, a dietary pattern composed of Maritime foods with similar nutrient content to the Mediterranean is sought.
Research questions
What would a Maritime dietary pattern with comparable nutritional value to the Mediterranean diet be composed of and how feasible would it be to produce?
Methods
A three-phase framework is employed. The first phase determines the approximate nutrient content of the Mediterranean diet from the literature. The second phase establishes a visual representation of the proposed Maritime dietary pattern using this nutrient content. The final phase assesses the feasibility of production of Maritime dietary pattern foods.
Results
While there is potential for a dietary pattern of Maritime foods, there are currently natural and food-system barriers to production of many Maritime foods, limiting feasibility of a self-sufficient dietary pattern