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The Differences Between Civilian and Canadian Armed Forces Physician Assistants An Interview Series
No full text(Introduction) The number of Physician Assistants (PA) in Canadian healthcare will grow as the
population increases and ages. The closure of the Canadian Armed Forces Physician Assistant
Education Program will increase the direct entry of civilian-educated PAs into military service.
Knowing the factors related in military or civilian education and practice is essential in
understanding this human resource. (Methods) Information for this qualitative study was
gathered through structured interviews to develop and explore the themes occurring during the
Canadian Armed Forces Physician Assistant’s journey through their career, education
deployment, and transition to civilian employment. (Results) Civilian PAs joining the military
need to understand that the military is a controlled environment that requires flexibility and
adaptability, but among the benefits is a high level of comradery. Role differences were noted in
military and civilian practice and explored the experiences, practice environments, teamwork,
resiliency, flexibility, limited range of patient ages, and medical conditions limited clinical
experiences. (Conclusion) The transitions into civilian practice by military PAs resulted in a
steep learning curve related to the health concerns more common to civilian populations. Still,
they were backed by the confidence and attributes those individuals developed in the military.
Regarding work environments, the military requires and offers unique experiences and posting to
remote locations, naval ships, and overseas, which can result in autonomous practice only found
in specific rural civilian areas
What's in a toon name?: player evaluations of toon names in Lord of the Rings Online and Toontown Rewritten.
No full textThis thesis concerns attitudes toward player character (toon) names in two online video games: Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) and Toontown Rewritten (TTR). In particular, this thesis aims to uncover what properties of good toon names are. While a little has been said about toon names in LotRO (Turkay 2012, Bainbridge 2016), nothing has been said about toon names in TTR. Moreover, there has been no research on either game concerning players’ opinions about what makes a name good. A combination of interviews and surveys was used to collect data. In addition to open questions, participants were tasked with comparing pairs of toons that differed in either name or appearance. In one task, participants saw only one toon from each pair and, in the survey, had to rank the name on a scale from 1 to 6. Conversely, in the second task, they saw both toons in each pair and had to select which one they preferred. The goal of the thesis is to build a foundation of knowledge on toon names in online video games, using two games in order to compare and contrast them, ideally giving some insight into what is game-specific and what could occur across online
games more generally.
The results indicate that while the games are different, many of the general attitudes among players of both games are the same. In particular, participants judged that some names are considered better on some toons than on others, that difficulty in pronunciation worsens the quality of the name, and that offensive names are dispreferred. Overall, players of LotRO are concerned with immersion and faithfulness towards Tolkien’s worldbuilding while TTR players enjoy names that are creative and humourous. Additionally, while some participants of both games are okay with or even enjoy names that generally do not match the toon named, LotRO players found these mismatches okay when it did not harm immersion and TTR players thought that mismatching names could be ironic, thus bringing humour to the names. This work contributes to a body of research examining players’ preferences of naming toons in online games and more generally towards aesthetic preferences in terms of naming things.October 202
Effects of timing of burlap provision on piglet behaviour, welfare, and performance
No full textMany factors contribute to high stress at weaning in commercial pigs. Increased stress can lead to increased aggressive behaviours such as tail biting, displacements, and belly nosing. Enrichment, such as burlap, may provide an outlet for stress, providing a positive source of enrichment and allowing piglets to perform natural behaviours. The first objective of this study was to determine if providing burlap as enrichment can reduce the stress of weaning on piglets through reduced aggressive behaviours and fewer lesions. The second is to determine if there is a stage of life (pre- or post-weaning) when it would be most beneficial to introduce burlap to piglets. Piglet behaviour, lesion scores, mortality, and mass data were collected for three weeks pre-weaning and five weeks post-weaning. Four treatments were used to assess the timing of burlap provision: control (no burlap), post-weaning in the nursery room only (N), pre- and post-weaning in farrowing and
nursery rooms (FN), and finally to the sow as well as to piglets pre- and post-weaning (SFN). Results of this experiment suggest that burlap enrichment positively impacts piglets through increased socialization and reduced aggressive behaviours. Results showed that burlap may have the greatest positive impact on piglets when provided in both farrowing and nursery rooms through increased piglet interaction with the burlap and fewer displacement behaviours. In summary, burlap is a promising low-cost enrichment option to improve the welfare of commercial piglets
A bout of time: decolonization and futurity in Indigenous speculative fiction
No full textWorks of Indigenous speculative fiction (SF) depict a perspective of temporality that differs from the mainstream Western conception of time as linear and teleological. Novels such as Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves and Hunting by Stars and Waubgeshig Rice’s Moon of the Crusted Snow portray settler colonialism as an ongoing process rather than a historical event; in doing so, they challenge hegemonic notions of settler futurity by asserting an Indigenous presence and affirming the inevitability of Indigenous futures. This thesis analyzes Dimaline’s and Rice’s works to examine how Indigenous SF reorients readers into Indigenous temporalities and critiques assumptions of Indigenous disappearance or victimry through their portrayals of settler colonial violence and environmental destabilization. These authors use apocalyptic and dystopian settings to demonstrate how Indigenous peoples will survive the end of colonial capitalism through self-determination and a reliance on their own epistemes. Both the characters in and readers of Indigenous SF are motivated to generate Indigenous futurisms from within the present through a revitalization of Indigenous languages and practices. This critical examination of Indigenous SF situates the genre within the contexts of ecocriticism, decolonization (or biskaabiiyang), and futurity to showcase how different perceptions of time alter the possibilities for the future.February 202
War Time Legislation
No full textCanada today is a country at war. As such her people are vitally concerned with every phase of the war effort
Genome-wide association and genomic selection for oil and fatty acid profile in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)
No full textOverarching goals of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) breeding efforts include the improvement of yield- and seed-quality-related traits to meet the evolving demands of a growing population. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genomic selection (GS) are methods that provide the potential to improve selection efficiency, facilitating responses to agronomic and quality challenges while enhancing the sustainability of plant breeding programs. We applied these biotechnologies to B. napus L. in pursuance of three main objectives: 1) GWAS to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for five seed quality traits (overall oil content, erucic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids); 2) evaluating GS prediction accuracy for hybrid seed quality traits; and 3) evaluating the GWAS-guided GS method proposed to improve GS prediction accuracy. We analyzed 454 B. napus L. genotypes (92 parents, 362 hybrids) across 48 site-years in the three Canadian prairie provinces. FarmCPU GWAS analyses identified 89 peak QTL, including 14 QTL for oil content. Several QTL coincide with candidate genes identified in previous studies, while novel QTL warrant further candidate gene investigation. GS prediction accuracies were compared across 135 unique GS analyses for each trait, evaluating responses to factors including model choice (nine regression models), population (five training/validation population designs), and marker density (three marker sets containing low, intermediate, and high densities). Prediction accuracies (represented by Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) for the relationship between predicted and actual phenotypes) ranged from negative values (oil content) to 0.89 (linoleic acid content); however all five traits could be predicted with r > 0.70 depending on the combination of aforementioned factors. Prediction accuracies exhibited negative responses to increasing trait complexity, positive responses to increasing training population size and degree of training/validation population relatedness, and no significant differences among marker densities or parametric models. Machine learning models performed either equivalent to or worse than common parametric models. GWAS-guided GS exhibited slight numeric improvements relative to conventional GS accuracies for the same traits. Although improvements were not statistically significant, the consistency of extremely low-density marker sets is conducive to reducing genotyping density while maintaining or improving genetic gains. The promising accuracy of GS techniques in this study supports their potential implementation in future Brassica breeding programs.February 202
The 1967 Paraplegic Games in Winnipeg: a history of the origins and impacts of Canada’s first international para sport competition
No full textIn 1967, Winnipeg, Manitoba, hosted the Pan American Games. Not included in written histories of this event is the subsequent “Paraplegic Games (Pan Am 1967)” hosted one week later using many of the same venues. The Paraplegic Games were the first international wheelchair sport competition in Canada. Men and women competed in nine different sports over five days. Two contemporary articles, published in medical journals, highlighted the medical aspect of disability rather than the actual Games themselves. These are the only scholarly analyses of the event, as it remains absent from Canadian sport history and histories of Para sport, both in Canada and internationally.
This qualitative research project collected data on the Paraplegic Games from five different archives, as well as the personal documents on another researcher. Three oral history interviews supplemented the archival research. In pursuing the study’s research questions -- how did the Paraplegic Games come to fruition? and what were some of the impacts of the Paraplegic Games? – three topics emerged. The first explores the organization of the Paraplegic Games, including why the Pan American Games were approached to host Canada’s first international wheelchair sport competition. The second considers the impacts of the Paraplegic Games at the local, national, and international level. The final topic examines the way the organizers approached the event; in the early years of Para sport, sport was used strictly for rehabilitation and was very medicalized. The organizers for the Paraplegic Games saw sport as an opportunity for social change, to show society that people with disabilities were “strong and capable” rather than “weak and helpless.” The 1967 Paraplegic Games marks the first documented wheelchair competition of sport being used for social change rather than rehabilitation.February 202
Emplacement mechanisms of rare-element pegmatites, Separation Lake greenstone belt, northwest Superior Province
No full textThe rare-element pegmatites of the Superior Province host critical metals (Li, Cs, Rb, Ta) essential for developing sustainable technologies. In the Separation Lake greenstone belt, Li-bearing pegmatites have been interpreted to have intruded in one event at ca. 2640 Ma and been pervasively overprinted by a ductile shear fabric, which recrystallized the ore. However, recent investigations suggested that these rocks intruded over a ca. 55 Ma period (ca. 2655 to 2601 Ma) and that the fabrics in the mineralized dykes are related to magmatic process during emplacement and crystallization, rather than recrystallization. In the current study, a variety of analytical methods such as electron backscattered diffraction, in situ U-Pb geochronology and micro-XRF scans are used to correlate the mechanisms and timing of pegmatite emplacement with the deformational history of the greenstone belt. New data show that S-type granitic magmatism in the greenstone belt had commenced by ca. 2690 Ma and that the fabrics in granitic rocks in the marginal zones of the greenstone belt are due to deformation and recrystallization. Localized ductile deformation at ca. 2432 Ma post-dated the period of pegmatite crystallization but did not deform quartz and plagioclase in the pegmatite wall zones, nor biotite in the metasomatic haloes associated with dyke emplacement. Micro-XRF scans and LA-ICPMS transects of the pegmatite wall zones show enrichments in Ca and 87Sr* at the country rock interface, indicating open system behaviour between the pegmatites and the country rocks during emplacement and at a time after emplacement, respectively. The results from this study indicate that the fabrics and geometries of the dykes are essentially products of magmatic processes, and that emplacement was facilitated by a fluidization mechanism, in which metasomatism coincident with emplacement and crystallisation facilitated localized deformation to be imparted on the country rocks upon intrusion.October 202
Oxidized SOD1 accelerates cellular senescence in neural stem cells
No full textBackground
Neural stem cells (NSCs), especially human NSCs, undergo cellular senescence characterized by an irreversible proliferation arrest and loss of stemness after prolonged culture. While compelling correlative data have been generated to support the oxidative stress theory as one of the primary determinants of cellular senescence of NSCs, a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the accumulation of oxidation-mediated damage and cellular senescence of NSCs has yet to be firmly established. Human SOD1 (hSOD1) is susceptible to oxidation. Once oxidized, it undergoes aberrant misfolding and gains toxic properties associated with age-related neurodegenerative disorders. The present study aims to examine the role of oxidized hSOD1 in the senescence of NSCs.
Methods
NSCs prepared from transgenic mice expressing the wild-type hSOD1 gene were maintained in culture through repeated passages. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) were isolated from culture media at each passage. To selectively knock down oxidized SOD1 in NSCs and EVs, we used a peptide-directed chaperone-mediated protein degradation system named CT4 that we developed recently.
Results
In NSCs expressing the hSOD1 from passage 5, we detected a significant increase of oxidized hSOD1 and an increased expression of biomarkers of cellular senescence, including upregulation of P53 and SA-β-Gal and cytoplasmic translocation of HMGB1. The removal of oxidized SOD1 remarkably increased the proliferation and stemness of the NSCs. Meanwhile, EVs derived from senescent NSCs carrying the wild-type hSOD1 contained high levels of oxidized hSOD1, which could accelerate the senescence of young NSCs and induce the death of cultured neurons. The removal of oxidized hSOD1 from the EVs abolished their senescence-inducing activity. Blocking oxidized SOD1 on EVs with the SOD1 binding domain of the CT4 peptide mitigated its toxicity to neurons.
Conclusion
Oxidized hSOD1 is a causal factor in the cellular senescence of NSCs. The removal of oxidized hSOD1 is a strategy to rejuvenate NSCs and to improve the quality of EVs derived from senescent cells
Designing and testing a prototype stable-wing-support system to deploy, retrieve, and operate a horizontal river hydrokinetic turbine within the water column to achieve cost-effective power generation in cold climates
No full textRiver hydrokinetic turbines harness renewable energy in river currents to contribute to microgrids. Despite many hydrokinetic turbine designs, systems still require reducing costs and operate effectively in cold climates. A stable-wing-support system is developed and tested to deploy, retrieve, and operate within the water column of a horizontal axis river turbine. The prototype design addresses identified stability problems using a fixed-wing design previously tested in a laboratory water tunnel and an energetic river. The stable-wing-support system prototype uses a NACA 0012 airfoil with 6°, 10°, and 15° dihedral angles designed using open-source Xflr5 software to optimize the lift, drag, and moment coefficients for angles of attack from -5° to +15°. The prototype also includes a winged tail to improve the turbine assembly's stability further. The stable-wing-support prototype designed using SolidWorks is 3-D printed. Tests are conducted to quantify the stability of the stable-wing-support prototype using a water tunnel at flow velocities varying from 0.5 to 1 m/s, resulting in Reynold’s numbers from 3.37x105 to 6.74x105. Stability data is recorded and analyzed using open-source Tracker software and then exported to MATLAB software for analysis. Results indicate that the stability of the stable-wing-support system with dihedral angles 6°, 10°, and 15° and a winged tail significantly improves the stability by 80%, 50%, and 40%, respectively, compared to a previous design for flow velocities up to 1 m/s, addressing the objectives of this research and contribute a design to maximizing power production in cold climates.February 202