3855 research outputs found
Sort by
Exploring the potential athletic career frameworks/models for the Whole Nation System (China)
Get PDFIn recent years, the Chinese government and people are gradually realizing the
importance of physical education, mental health, and the overall development of athletes. In
sport psychology, the significance of the athletic career discourse (ACD) has been recognized by
sport psychology researchers and practitioners. Some sport psychology scholars have dedicated
their efforts to structuring the athletic career knowledge which has been utilized to conduct
research to understand athletes’ career development stages and transitions. Furthermore, based
on the athletic career research, many intervention programs and strategies have been applied
around the world in order to help athletes cope crisis-transitions and strive career excellence both
within and outside sports. However, athletic career research has not widely been conducted in
mainland China, and there is a need for contextualized athletic career research which is specific
to China because athletes’ development will be influenced by the sport systems, societal norms,
and culture. In this paper, I found some issues (e.g., low educational level, short lifespan), which
are associated with athletic career, of the Whole Nation System and Chinese athletes through
understanding the Whole Nation System and a self-reflection. Furthermore, I found several
athletic career frameworks/models which may be, in part, suitable to conduct athletic career
research for Chinese athletes, through a literature review of athletic career research.Master of Health (MHK) in Human kinetic
Review of supportive counseling theories with newcomers in the field of social work
Get PDFThis report explores the experiences of my Master of Social Work advanced practicum,
which took place in non-profit settlement agency, Peel Multicultural Council. This project
stemmed from my desire to further my social work skills in regard to community outreach when
working with newcomers during such a pressing time for Canadian immigration. With
newcomers arriving everyday into the country, and generations of immigrants now representing
many members of the Canadian population. The advanced practicum focused on implementing
theoretical concepts and frameworks into practice, through supportive counseling and advocacy
work. The initial theories and frameworks which were chosen included critical race theory,
ecological systems theory, strengths-based theory, cultural competency frameworks, and antioppressive practice frameworks. This outline evolved within a few days to include solution
focused therapy, and task centered practice as they were found to be beneficial when working
with this population.
Throughout this practicum I was able to develop both my professional and theoretical
skills required to assess clients’ needs and connect them to the appropriate resources and
pathways to assist with their settlement difficulties. This helped me to develop my professional
skills as a social worker at both the community and individual level. Overall, this final report
aims to work as a tool to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of using the
aforementioned theories, and the effectiveness of these theories in this specific advanced
practicum context, whilst searching for other theories which may be better suited in the field of
social work.Master of Social Work (MSW
Collaborative filtering recommender system for predicting drugs for prostate cancer
Get PDFProstate cancer is a common type of cancer found in men. Identifying drug targets and inhibitors
in drug designing is a challenging task. The Recommender systems (RSs) are regarded as a
useful tool and are further considered as optimistic method. The use of tool reflects
unprecedented growth and development and a tremendous impact on e-commerce. In the
research work, for making the prediction in context of cancer activity class (active/inactive) for
compounds extracted from ChEMBL, the RS Methods was used. There are two RS approaches
that: Collaborative filtering and Content-based Filtering. From these approaches Collaborative
Filtering is applied and successfully conducted the investigation and evaluation for making
effective prediction over classes for compounds. In the conducted research the interactions
among some of the compounds are known.
Further this way prediction of interaction profiles could be conducted. The gathered result from
classification is considered as relatively good prediction and maintains the quality. Then we
applied various regression techniques on data set which are Lasso, EN (Elastic Net), CART
(Classification and regression trees), KNN (k-nearest neighbors), SVR (Support vector
regression), RFR (Random forest regression), GBR (Gradient boosting regression) and ETR
(Extra tree regression). After analyzing the data set with regression techniques, we compare their
results and then we get best results from SVR technique and this technique can be used to find
compounds to fight against prostate cancer in lesser time with more efficiency.M.Sc. Computational Science
The role of non-neuronal acetylcholine production in immune cells
Get PDFThe cholinergic system deals with the production, function, transport, and
degradation of acetylcholine (ACh), a molecule commonly known as a neurotransmitter.
This system has been shown to regulate inflammation via its resolution. Although
increasing evidence suggests the importance of ACh in immune regulation, its role within
specific immune cells remains inconclusive. Assessing the presence of cholinergic markers
in immune cells in conjunction with their pharmacological inhibition will thus help to clarify
the functional roles of the cholinergic system in the immune response. The aim of this study
was to evaluate the role of non-neuronal ACh production in immune regulation. Expression
studies using qPCR, western blots, mass spectrometry, and immunocytochemistry revealed
the presence of ACh and choline acetyltransferase in immune tissues and within immune
cells of such tissues. In addition, the effect of cholinergic inhibitors on immune function was
examined on M1/M2 murine bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) by examining
their cytokine profile. Overall, inhibiting the synthesis of ACh seemed to significantly cause
cell death in M1 BMDMs and non-significantly cause cell death in M2 BMDMs; yet other
treatment conditions did not seem to cause cell death. However, due to pharmacological and
statistical limitations, cytokine secretion profiles were generally inconclusive. These data
further shed light on the role cholinergic system within immune cells, but further research
would be necessary to validate these findings
Resilience as a mediator: examining the relationships between emotional intelligence, daily hassles, resilience, and personal growth initiative in postsecondary students
No full textThe relationship between the experience of daily hassles, emotional intelligence, resilience, and
personal growth initiative was examined in a sample of undergraduate, postsecondary students.
The mediating role of resilience was also examined. Seventy-one students from four Ontarian
universities completed self-report measures of daily hassles, emotional intelligence, resilience,
and personal growth initiative. Findings supported the hypotheses. Emotional intelligence was
negatively correlated with the experience of daily hassles (r(70) = -.45, p < .01) and was
positively correlated with resilience (r(70) = .69, p < .01) and personal growth initiative (r(70) =
.52, p < .01). Resilience was positively correlated with personal growth initiative (r(70) = .78, p
< .01) and was found to mediate the positive relationship between emotional intelligence and
personal growth initiative (b = .80, F(1, 68) = 51.41, p < .001). Resilience also explained a
significant proportion of variance in personal growth initiative scores (R
2 = .60, p < .001). The
study provides evidence for the significance of emotional intelligence in the ability to use
internal and external coping mechanisms (resilience), which in turn promotes personal growth
initiative in postsecondary students
“It’s always going to be a part of who you are”: exploring the identities of competitive male ice hockey players
Get PDFIn this thesis I explore how competitive male ice hockey players living in Northeastern Ontario
construct their identities through sport participation with an emphasis on masculinity. The
purpose of the thesis is to provide insight into the way identities are formed and the examination
of myself in relation to my biases and the participants. The study was guided by narrative theory
using a social constructionism paradigm. Participants consisted of five current players (age 19-
22) from hockey teams in Northeastern Ontario and one retired professional hockey player who
acted as a key informant. I used thematic analysis to identify common themes from a total of six
semi-structured, conversational interviews. The thesis is a paper-based document consisting of
two stand-alone manuscripts and complementing bookend chapters. The first manuscript
presents the results from the analysis of the interviews while the second manuscript presents a
discussion around reflexive materials written throughout the research process
Urban and rural homelessness in Northern Ontario: an Indigenous lens
No full textIndigenous Peoples are at a higher risk of experiencing homelessness in Canada than
non-Indigenous Peoples. As a result, there is a disproportionate representation of Indigenous
Peoples in the homeless population. Studies have been conducted in order to identify what
services are needed for people living with homelessness in Canada. However, these have failed
to include an Indigenous specific focus and have not included the perspectives of Indigenous
people with lived experiences. Furthermore, the majority of previous studies explore
homelessness in large urban settings and seldom focus on rural or Northern Ontario. A secondary
analysis on a photovoice study completed in 2014 on homelessness in Northern Ontario was
done to highlight the unique experiences and needs of the Indigenous participants from the
previous study. This research focused on health impacts and service provision requirements
surrounding Indigenous homelessness in four communities in Northern Ontario. A literature
review was also conducted in order to explore the laws and policies surrounding the rights and
legal responsibility for services in relation to UNDRIP and the TRC. All of the photovoice data
represents lived homelessness or hidden homelessness experience, from the perspectives of
Indigenous participants. These are their voices
Validating the remote first aid self-efficacy scale for use in training and personal development of remote first responders
No full textThis study was designed to investigate the psychometric properties of the 30-Item Remote First
Aid Self-Efficacy Scale (RFA SES), develop a shorter 15-Item RFA-SES, and gain a preliminary
understanding of the psychometric properties of the shorter 15-Item version. The original 30-
Item RFA SES was developed for two main purposes: (1) evaluation of wilderness first aid and
other types of emergency care training designed for remote geographies, communities, and
worksites; and (2) reflection by training participants so they can self-assess their beliefs,
confidence, and capacity to respond. Students from Laurentian University (LU) and graduates
from Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA) training courses were recruited to respond to an
online questionnaire at two different time periods (T1 and T2). A total of 1106 students and 448
graduates from WMA responded at T1. These results demonstrated that the RFA SES was a
unidimensional scale with an eigenvalue of 18.1 at T1. The mean inter-item correlation was 0.75
at T1. Test-retest reliability (T1 to T2) was high for both the LU group (r = .91, p < .01) and the
WMA group (r = .92, p < .01). Moderate correlations were found between the RFA SES and two
other similar scales (included in the questionnaire) measuring different constructs. WMA
participants showed higher mean scores than LU students at T1 (t (569) = 16.2, p < .01, twotailed). The 30-Item RFA SES is a unidimensional, reliable, and valid scale for assessing remote
first aid self-efficacy. To develop the 15-Item RFA SES, three members of the research team
completed an iterative process to reduce items based on expert opinion and statistical
performance from the inter-item correlations. Preliminary analysis of the 15-item version of the
RFA SES, using data from the WMA group (n=448), also indicated that the scale was reliable
and valid. However, a more rigorous validation study with original data is required
An exploratory study of post-secondary outdoor leadership training in Canada
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore the distribution and scope of post-secondary outdoor
leadership (OL) training in Canada. Methods included a passive environmental scan to locate
programs across Canada, and a multiple case analysis of programs within Ontario. There were 54
programs located in Canada, including university programs (n = 28; 52%) and college programs
(n = 26; 48%). Based on analysis of available information, the scope of post-secondary OL
training in Canada can be summarized in five themes: Primary and Secondary Education (n = 5;
9.3%), High Adventure Guiding (n = 10; 18.5%), Tourism Management (n = 11; 20.4%), Health
and Wellness Promotion (n = 15; 27.8%), and Interdisciplinary (n = 13; 24.1%). The 10
programs in Ontario were presented as multiple case studies. An inductive analysis of learning
outcomes from nine of 10 programs led to the development of 14 themes, representing common
competencies taught across programs
Freedom in play, as opposed to control in games
No full textIn this thesis I identify an important distinction: play per se is essentially free, whereas games per
se are to the contrary essentially controlled. While free play and controlled games are regularly
complimentary, I argue there can be rather substantive dangers when this distinction is variously
confused, such that being free is wrongly understood as being controlled, or vice versa where
being controlled is wrongly understood as being free