30921 research outputs found
Sort by
Ecstatic torment: the cinematic motus in the horror genre
Full text linkThis dissertation about cinematic horror introduces the cinematic motus, a concept intended to expand scholarly approaches to the genre. The cinematic motus (from the Latin ‘movere’: “movement”) stands for shots and/or sequences which internally “move” viewers by provoking intense psychological and emotional experiences. By giving a name to the elusive and potentially transformative encounters between viewer and filmed image, we gain the ability to recognize a disruption of our everyday reality which then can be explored and internalized. Thus, the cinematic motus helps viewers interact with films in a more engaging and personalized way, reaching a new level of enjoyment. This dissertation explores diverse styles of encounters within viewing experiences in a wide variety of horror films. Ultimately, this dissertation calls for the recognition of horror aesthetics as a powerful structure of engagement, one through which we can all experience the undervalued ecstasy of torment.
While film scholarship has embraced some of the most abject visual and thematic elements of cinematic horror, these gestures often involve an anxious justification of the scholar’s interest in the genre, reliant on its association with political and/or social values. Furthermore, scholars tend to appreciate and celebrate horror films that are overtly intellectually complex, cinematically appealing, and/or professedly reminiscent of other more “reputable” genres (avant-garde and dramatic films). This dissertation contends that horror films devoid of these qualities can still produce viewing experiences that are enjoyable and deserving of scholarship. Through the analysis of shots and/or series of shots, critical readings of an assorted array of horror films demonstrate the functionality of five different types of motus (allegorical, narrative, shock, reflexive, and liminal). The widespread selection of films analyzed showcases how motus works through the horror genre as a whole. Accordingly, this dissertation does not focus on any specific historical periods, as it is transtemporal in nature.University of ManitobaFebruary 202
Enchanted green blue infrastructure
Full text linkEnchanted Green Blue Infrastructure reimagines the post industrial corridor south of the Refinery District in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a living social ecological landscape. The project responds to a site shaped by industrial remnants, fragmented access, and overlooked ecological potential. By integrating water, landform, vegetation, and community use into a cohesive framework, the design transforms the corridor into an extension of both the Refinery District and the Awasisak Mēskanow Greenway. The practicum explores how green blue infrastructure can become more than a technical system by supporting biodiversity, enhancing stormwater performance, and creating a resilient foundation for future growth. At the same time, the design introduces community gardens, gathering spaces, play environments, and accessible pathways that foster cultural connection, learning, and a sense of belonging for surrounding residents. By working with existing conditions and strengthening natural systems, the project demonstrates how urban landscapes can reconnect people with the land while addressing functional, ecological, and social needs. Enchanted Green Blue Infrastructure positions the corridor as a meaningful place to inhabit, experience, and care for, illustrating how infrastructure can cultivate both environmental resilience and enriched community life.February 202
On the stability of low-swirl non-premixed biogas flame: effects of burner geometry and oxygen enrichment
Full text linkThe transition toward sustainable and low-carbon energy systems requires efficient utilization of renewable gaseous fuels such as biogas. However, the high carbon-dioxide content and low calorific value of biogas results in reduced reactivity and narrow flammability limits, posing challenges for stable combustion. This thesis investigates the stabilization of non-premixed biogas flames in a low-swirl burner, focusing on the combined effects of oxygen enrichment and burner geometry. Controlled experiments were performed using bluff-body (BB) and nonbluff- body burner configurations (NBB) with both ambient-air and oxygen-enriched co-flows. Flame stability envelopes were established through systematic mapping of the lean and upper blowout limits (LBL and UBL). Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and OH∗-chemiluminescence were employed to characterize the mean and instantaneous flow fields, recirculation zones, and reaction zones near blowout. The results show that burner geometry is important for creating conditions favourable for flame stability. For both tested burner configurations, flame stability is governed by the downstream central recirculation zone, which lowers local velocities and promotes mixing near the flame base. At the upper blowout limit, both burners exhibit similar extinction behaviour governed by the fuel-jet momentum and shear-layer dynamics. Increasing fuel flow elevates axial velocity, displacing the lifted flame farther downstream which result in blowout. At the lower blowout limit, stability at low fuel flow is sustained by strong recirculation of hot products and radicals toward the flame base, while at higher fuel flow the lifted flames become limited by increased shear and scalar dissipation near the root, which shorten residence time and weaken reaction. Under oxygen-enriched operation, the same stabilization mechanisms prevail, but the enrichment acts to strengthen recirculation and reaction intensity, mitigating scalar dissipation effects and extending the LBL range for both burners, with the BB showing a larger improvement due to stronger coupling. Enrichment effect on the UBLFebruary 202
Unlocking affordances in physiotherapy: exploring an enactive approach to understanding recovery experiences among older adults with persistent low back pain
Full text linkPersistent low back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent among older adults and is associated with substantial physical, social, and existential disruption. Although physiotherapists are central to conservative management, empirical studies frequently report modest and heterogeneous outcomes, leaving unanswered questions about why physiotherapy is helpful for some individuals but not others. An enactive theoretical approach conceptualizes pain not as a property of the body or mind alone but as arising within the dynamic relationship between an embodied person and their environment. From this perspective, recovery may be understood as the reopening or reshaping of one’s field of affordances—the perceived possibilities for meaningful action. This phenomenological qualitative study used an enactive, affordance-based lens to explore how older adults with persistent LBP understand their recovery and the role of physiotherapy within it.
Seven adults aged 64–83 who had recently received physiotherapy for persistent LBP and who reported meaningful improvement on a global rating of change scale participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using phenomenological thematic analysis, informed by enactivist theory and the four dimensions of affordances: salience, valence, mineness, and temporal horizon.
Participants’ accounts revealed three themes describing the meaning of recovery and two themes describing the perceived role of physiotherapy. Recovery was understood as a restoration of purpose, in which pain disrupted identity-defining activities and recovery involved reclaiming, adapting, or reimagining these roles. Recovery was also described as a process—an ongoing journey—rather than a discrete endpoint. Finally, recovery was imbued with emotion: grief, frustration, fear, relief, and acceptance shaped participants’ sense-making and influenced their engagement with physiotherapy.
Participants described physiotherapy as valuable primarily through trust-mediated relationships characterized by relational attunement and continuity. Physiotherapists opened and sustained affordances by providing relief, reassurance, and guidance to re-engage in meaningful activities.
This study’s findings suggest that the perceived value of physiotherapy for older adults with persistent LBP may lie less in discrete interventions and more in relational, existential, and emotional aspects. An enactive, affordance-based approach may help clinicians more effectively support recovery by attending to the person–environment system and to what matters most in patients’ lives.February 202
Mathematical modeling and analysis for multiple myeloma treatment
Full text linkMultiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow, where abnormal plasma cells overproduce a harmful antibody, M protein, leading to conditions such as bone lesions, renal dysfunction, and hypercalcemia. Although incurable, controlling M protein levels can reduce complications and extend patients’ lives. A previous ODE model examined M protein, CTLs, NK cells, and regulatory T cells in the MM microenvironment to analyze steady states (SS), time to steady state (TTSS), and parameter sensitivity. However, that model lacked experimental data and realistic calibration. To address these limitations, we incorporated new clinical datasets showing patients’ initial conditions and longitudinal M protein levels after CAR-T cell treatment. We developed a reduced ODE model with the same four variables but included effects of anti-PD-1, elotuzumab, and daratumumab therapies. Our model reproduced similar SS and TTSS distributions as the previous one, while mathematical and bifurcation analyses identified four non-negative equilibria and showed that varying regulatory T cell and CTL homeostasis rates can shift dynamics from a single stable state to oscillations. After calibrating both models to clinical M protein data (Group I: remission; Group II: relapse), Akaike Information Criterion indicated that our model better fits both datasets. Parameter distributions from calibration revealed potential biomarkers for predicting patient outcomes, and sensitivity analysis suggested possible therapeutic targets to lower M protein levels. Combination therapy simulations showed that daratumumab benefits all relapse patients, whereas anti-PD-1 is only effective for specific cases. The general model instead predicted benefit from elotuzumab or anti-PD-1 at higher doses or longer durations. Finally, identifiability analysis by using profile likelihood found that key parameters are structurally identifiable but practically non-identifiable with current data, emphasizing the need for additional experimental measurements to improve parameter estimation.February 202
Innovative strategies for the control of classical swine fever: advanced diagnostics, pathogen characterization, and mRNA vaccine development
No full textClassical swine fever (CSF) is a hemorrhagic virus in domestic and wild pigs, notifiable to the World Organization of Animal Health. Caused by CSF virus (CSFV), the Pestivirus is highly contagious, inducing variable, non-specific clinical signs and mortality. CSF remains endemic in many countries where live-attenuated vaccines (LAV) are used but threatens the Canadian pork industry, which exports billions each year and would immediately cease if a positive case is found. Within this thesis, three manuscripts are presented, addressing critical advancements for CSF, a foreign animal disease of high consequence to North America.
The first manuscript assesses oral fluids from the pen as a non-invasive surveillance tool for CSF. Already used for surveillance of other swine pathogens in North America, cost-effective, and enjoyable for the pigs – this manuscript aimed to evaluate oral fluids as a tool for CSF surveillance in Canada. Two animal experiments with 25 piglets each with one CSFV-infected piglet was completed.
The second manuscript includes an animal experiment with 6 piglets to characterize the CSFV strain circulating Brazil in 2018-2023. Understanding the evolution and clinical presentation of CSFV strains within the field is key to ensure the virus doesn’t escape diagnostic tools and ensures veterinarians are trained accurately for surveillance. Additionally, understanding how the virus is evolving allows us to develop better diagnostic assays and vaccine candidates.
The third manuscript is attempting to address the issue regarding the lack of an accepted vaccine for CSF that has the ability to differentiate between infected and vaccinated (DIVA) animals through evaluating an mRNA vaccine encoding for the protective antigen E2. Since delivery formulation is critical for mRNA vaccines, we tested three proprietary mRNA vaccine delivery formulations. Fifteen piglets were vaccinated with PBS, CSFV C-strain vaccine or one of three mRNA vaccine candidates and challenged.
This thesis provides valuable insights into CSFV strains currently circulating Brazil and demonstrates oral fluids can be a useful surveillance tool for CSF. Finally, the thesis shows all three mRNA vaccine candidates provided clinical protection against CSF, providing further evidence for how critical the delivery formulation is when developing a nanoparticle vaccine candidate.Canadian Food Inspection Agency Annual Technology Development (TD) Project Funding, grant # N-000314
Research Manitoba Master's Studentship Award presented to Erin Robert (2023-2024)February 202
Commissioning and characterization of a GEM stand for testing the HVMAPS of the MOLLER experiment
Full text linkTo search for signs of new neutral currents beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics, the Measurement Of a Lepton Lepton Electroweak Reaction (MOLLER) experiment aims to make a high-precision measurement of the electroweak mixing angle, sin2 θW , at a momentum
transfer squared of Q2 = 0.0056 GeV2 by determining the parity-violating asymmetry (APV) in electron-electron (Møller) scattering at 32 ± 0.8 (ppb). Achieving this precision requires tracking detectors with excellent spatial resolution and fast readout capabilities. To meet
these requirements, the MOLLER experiment plans to employ High Voltage Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (HVMAPS) in its main integrating detector. To evaluate their spatial resolution, a dedicated test stand has been developed using two identical commercial triple
Gas Electron Multiplier (triple-GEM) detectors, which provide high tracking precision and reconstruction accuracy at the micrometer scale. The GEM stand consists of two 10×10 cm2 active area triple-GEMs, operated in tracking mode with an Ar/CO2 (80/20) gas mixture at
18 ◦C and 1 atm. Using the 5.9 keV photopeak from an Fe-55 source and cosmic muons, a common operational voltage range between 3240 V and 3300 V was identified, corresponding to the proportional region of gas amplification. Operation in this region ensures stable GEM
stand performance with sufficient gain for reliable signal detection. These results establish the standard operating conditions of the GEM stand and lay the foundation for future measurements of the spatial resolution of HVMAPS, thereby supporting the development of
the main integrating detector for the MOLLER experiment.February 202
Exploring strategies for implementing a culturally informed caries risk assessment tool used by non-dental primary care providers for young First Nations and Métis children in Manitoba, Canada
Full text linkEarly childhood caries (ECC) is a pervasive and preventable disease that disproportionately affects Indigenous children in Canada and underserved populations worldwide. Integrating caries risk assessment (CRA) and preventive oral health services (POHS) into pediatric primary care through non-dental primary care providers (NDPCPs), offers a promising strategy to reduce inequities. However, the evidence base, implementation barriers, and training needs for CRA delivery by NDPCPs in Indigenous contexts remain poorly understood. This thesis employed a scoping review and three qualitative studies, to investigate opportunities for CRA integration into Indigenous pediatric primary care in Manitoba.
The scoping review mapped 54 global studies (2009–2024) on CRA and POHS for children under six by NDPCPs. Most interventions such as oral health promotion, fluoride varnish application, and structured CRA were delivered during well-child visits, primarily in the United States. Provider training, electronic medical record (EMR) integration, and reimbursement mechanisms supported uptake, yet no Canadian studies were identified, underscoring an implementation gap.
To address this gap, three qualitative studies were conducted with 50 NDPCPs across ten First Nations and Métis communities in Manitoba. The first study identified multi-level barriers to CRA implementation, including time constraints, unclear referral pathways, limited insurance coverage, community distrust, and provider training gaps. The second study explored facilitators and strategies for CRA integration, highlighting the importance of systemic supports (training, EMR documentation, incentives), culturally safe care, family education, and policy advocacy. The final study examined training needs and preferences, revealing core skill gaps in CRA use, caries screening, fluoride varnish application, and referrals. Participants emphasized the value of culturally appropriate, interactive, and blended (online and in-person) training tailored to urban, rural, and remote practice contexts.
Collectively, this work demonstrates that NDPCPs are well-positioned to deliver CRA and POHS in Indigenous pediatric primary care but require systemic, educational, and policy supports to do so effectively. Findings contribute to the development of culturally responsive training models, interprofessional practice guidelines, and supportive policies to advance oral health equity. In doing so, this research provides an evidence-informed roadmap for integrating CRA into Canadian primary care systems and reducing the burden of ECC among Indigenous children.Research Manitoba
University of Manitoba -GETSFebruary 202
Blood metabolomes and molecular markers of cellular aging in wild fish
Full text linkMy work studies stress and aging physiology of wild fish using biochemical methods. The species used are two North-American temperate fish: Sander vitreus, walleye, and Salvelinus namaycush, lake trout, both species being upper-level predators of high ecological and economic importance. While using biochemical measurements is common in fish laboratory models, my thesis uses these techniques to gain insight into the biology of fishes in the wild with focus on possible environmental stress and the effect of biological aging. In my first research chapter, I determined by non-lethal sampling the whole blood metabolomic profile of S. vitreus from Winnipeg Lake to test for regional differences in metabolites across this population. Results show different blood metabolite patterns across the Southern versus the Northen basin of Lake Winnipeg. Northern S. vitreus exhibit higher concentrations of essential and branched-chain amino acids and metabolites of specific amino acid catabolism pathways, relative to Southern caught specimens. The pattern of amino acid metabolites in Northern S. vitreus may indicate heavier reliance on protein catabolism relative to the Southern fishes. Conversely, higher concentration of long-chain acylcarnitines in some Southern fish suggests higher reliance on β-oxidation for energy supply during spawning. My second research chapter investigated if patterns of changing metabolites with age in mammals may also be found in blood metabolites of Lake Winnipeg S. vitreus as they age in the wild. Results show amino acids, including essential, branched-chained and some non-essential amino acids, correlate positively with chronological age, while some medium and short-chained acyl-carnitines decrease with age. These results are similar to age-related patterns in mammals. The third research chapter investigated cellular senescence in wild-caught S. namaycush, using two common markers of aging associated with physiological decline, relative telomere length and lipofuscin accumulation. Results show no correlation of these aging markers with age in S. namaycush, in three tissues, heart, liver and red blood cells. These findings show that lipofuscin accumulation and relative telomere length data do not support increasing cellular senescence with age in this species and may represent negligible senescence in S. namaycush.February 202
Moisture isotherm of oilseeds (hemp and canola) and sub-zero temperature drying and storage of canola
No full textGrain and oilseed storage is a critical stage in the post-harvest chain, particularly in cold climates such as the Canadian Prairies, where harvest delays and wet grain frequently challenge safe storage. Conventional heated-air drying is energy-intensive and costly, while the use of sub-zero temperatures remains poorly understood due to limited data on moisture dynamics and freezing injury in seeds. This thesis addressed this gap through a two-phase research approach. In the first phase, hemp seeds were studied at above-zero temperatures to establish reliable methodology for measuring sorption isotherms and fitting mathematical models. Hemp seed (Cannabis sativa L.), a starch/protein-rich seed, was chosen to contrast with oil-rich canola in order to identify differences in sorption behavior. The core of this thesis focused on canola (Brassica napus), Canada’s most valuable oilseed, under both above- and sub-zero conditions. Canola sorption isotherms were extended from 30 to -25 °C, demonstrating that conventional isotherm models require adjustment for sub-zero conditions. Cooling curve analysis and modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) revealed that canola tolerates freezing when sufficiently dry (< 9% moisture content) but suffers severe viability loss ≤ -20 °C under damp and wet conditions, establishing critical thresholds for safe frozen storage. Freezing and subsequent storage of canola seeds at moisture contents below 14% did not alter the thermogram properties, indicating structural stability at safe moisture contents. Thereafter, sub-zero drying of canola was experimentally demonstrated for the first time. Under deep bed drying conditions, cold, dry air enabled moisture removal by sublimation at sub-zero temperatures, achieving safe storage levels without supplemental heat. Drying performance was strongly dependent on airflow: high airflow rate produced significant drying, whereas low flow rate, typical at the recommended airflow rate of the natural air drying, could not dry canola before spoilage. This study concluded that atmospheric freeze drying can be applied to dry wet crop seeds under the deep bed drying condition, provided airflow exceeds that of conventional natural air drying. By integrating sorption, freezing, and drying studies, the thesis establishes a framework for safe, energy-efficient storage of canola and offers guidance for reducing post-harvest losses in cold regions.February 202