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Modification and Stabilization of MXene with Quaternary Ammonium-Containing Hyperbranched Polyethylene Ionomers for Electrochemical Energy Storage
Get PDFNowadays, 2D MXene materials have attracted significant attention due to their unique structural, physical, and chemical properties. As a rising star within the 2D material family, MXenes exhibit a unique combination of multi-functional groups and possess a high surface area. Numerous investigations in recent years have shed light on the creation of MXene-polymer composites tailored for applications in the realm of energy storage. The particular significance is rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors, as they bear substantial promise for making substantial strides in the pursuit of sustainable energy solutions. However, the production of thoroughly exfoliated /delaminated 2D MXene nano-sheets is still a major challenge, limiting their potential for practical applications. Thus far, MXene flakes display colloidal stability only in a few polar solvents. Conversely, they are unstable in nonpolar or low polarity solvents, while critically important to significantly expand the spectrum of applications for MXenes. Furthermore, MXenes tend to get oxidized in the presence of oxygen and water during storage, handling, processing, delamination, and applications under ambient conditions.
In the present study, a self-assembly method to prepare ionomer-modified MXenes has been developed for the first time. Hyperbranched polyethylene ionomers containing quaternary ammonium ions are designed to prepare stable and highly concentrated modified Ti3C2Tx MXene dispersions in various nonpolar and low-polarity organic solvents. As a result, the interlayer spacing of Ti3C2Tx MXene is expanded to more than 5 nm (9.33 nm based on TEM results) with at least a 400% increase compared to the original spacing of 1 nm and can be delaminated to a few-layer or single-layer nano-flakes. The modification also markedly improves the oxidation stability of MXene sheets due to the presence of the tightly surface-bound hydrophobic hyperbranched polyethylene protecting layer.
Herein, an ionomer self-assembly strategy has been demonstrated to achieve high magnesium ion storage capability with pillar-structured Ti3C2Tx MXene. With the expansion of interlayer spacing of Ti3C2Tx MXene upon the ionomer intercalation and the affinity of the hyperbranched polyethylene-skeleton of the ionomers to THF-based electrolyte, the delaminated ionomer-modified MXene shows significantly improved electrochemical performance as a cathode material for Mg batteries. Subsequently, a symmetrical two-electrode supercapacitor exhibits a high capacitance in an ionic liquid electrolyte.
This thesis offers insights into the engineering of MXene electrode materials for applications in electrochemical energy storage
Women in the Manosphere: Femininities in Antifeminist Spaces
Get PDFThis doctoral research examines women’s involvement in the manosphere, an online network of antifeminist communities. In the wake of recent violent attacks against women and other groups, these communities and their activities are receiving increasing media attention across the Western world. Heeding the call for more in-depth investigation, many masculinity scholars have begun to study organized antifeminism online. But while the men who participate in online antifeminist networks are now receiving attention, with few exceptions, no scholars have examined women’s participation in these same networks. Through a netnographic approach, the project presents a comprehensive case study of four women's groups within the manosphere, aiming to explore the motivations that drive individuals to participate in these antifeminist communities. The research goes beyond the prevailing focus on masculinity by examining how gender conceptions and lived experiences intersect with broader power structures, influencing women's participation in these online spaces. By centering women's perspectives within a predominantly male-dominated and often misogynistic discourse, the research contributes to the emerging scholarship on women and femininities within the field of men and masculinity studies, and complicates the way that these women are framed in the mass media. The findings reveal that women actively contribute to the perpetuation of dominant masculinities in local contexts, cooperating with and perpetuating discourses and practices associated with the hegemonic gender order. Simultaneously, these women carve out spaces for themselves, creating their own discourses to navigate the hegemonic gender order. This doctoral thesis contributes significantly to the understanding of women’s participation in the manosphere, expanding the scholarship on men and masculinity studies and enriching our comprehension of gender dynamics in online communities and broader socio-cultural systems
Decolonizing Western Climate Communication: Improving climate journalism and climate science research
Get PDFWestern climate communication is in dire need of reshaping how climate journalism and how climate science research fundamentally operate. As currently constructed—homogenous with a lack of racial and gender diversity—these fields are not producing the work required to effectively mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis. Enabling the voices of racially marginalized people and women and non-binary people is necessary because of the racialized and gendered impacts of the climate crisis—particularly in the Global South and marginalized communities of the Global North. A more representative western climate communication will produce work that contextualizes the colonial and intersectional impacts of the climate crisis, values moral clarity and intellectual honesty over objectivity, and uses both Indigenous knowledge and western science to understand our changing world
Investigating the Persistence of Federal Government Publications in Academic Former Full Depository Libraries in Canada:
Get PDFObjective – The Depository Services Program (DSP) provided printed Government of Canada publications to libraries until the termination of its distribution program in 2013. Full Depository Libraries (FDLs) received all eligible publications distributed by the DSP automatically. This study endeavours to determine whether academic library members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) that were formerly FDLs have maintained their print, federal government holdings since 2013; and what the results of the data collected in this study reveal about access to government information in Canada more broadly.
Methods – The study identified a sample of 100 monographs distributed to FDLs via the DSP between 1979 and 2009. Each monograph was then searched for in the public catalogues of former FDL CARL member libraries to determine current holdings.
Results – Most libraries included in the sample did not have records of all 100 publications, but every publication was located in at least 5 libraries and 12 publications were found in all libraries included in the study. Of the libraries in our sample, 1/3 had retained more than 90 of 100 publications, and 3/4 had retained at least 80.
Conclusion – The redundancy that was a cornerstone of the DSP network still exists to a certain extent and should be leveraged to ensure retention and access to these essential materials for years to come. Existing collaborations and partnerships are well positioned to support a pan-Canadian discussion about preservation of and access to historical federal government information in Canadian libraries and library networks
The Authenticity Factor: Understanding the Impact of User-Generated Content Sponsorship on Consumer Behaviour for Value-Expressive Products
Get PDFIn a world where social media has transformed the way consumers make purchasing decisions, user-generated content (UGC) has become a powerful tool for marketers to reach and engage with their target audience. This study examines the impact of UGC sponsorship on consumer behaviour, focusing on the mediating role of perceived authenticity and the moderating impact of source familiarity, specifically in the context of value-expressive products within the fashion industry. A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing two online questionnaires to gather data. The findings demonstrate that non-sponsored UGC is perceived as more authentic than sponsored UGC and has a stronger influence on consumer intentions to search, share, and purchase. On the other hand, source familiarity was found to have no significant impact on these effects. Given the limited research on this topic, the findings of this study will provide valuable insights into the factors that determine the effectiveness of sponsored and non-sponsored UGC. The study will also contribute to the existing literature on UGC and offer practical implications for marketers in effectively managing user-generated marketing messages and a better understanding of the importance of perceived authenticity in shaping consumer intentions.
Keywords: User-Generated Content (UGC), Perceived Authenticity, Consumer Behaviour, Value-Expressive Products, Source Familiarity, Sponsorship, Marketing Strateg
Lumbar multifidus characteristics in relation to low back pain, lower limb injury, and body composition in university level athletes
Get PDFLow back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent within the athletic population despite increased training and intensity. Quality activation of the lumbar musculature is crucial for proper stabilization during athletic movements. Extensive research has indicated a connection between lumbar multifidus (LM) muscle morphology (cross-sectional area (CSA), echo intensity (EI), and CSA asymmetry) and function and the presence of LBP and lower limb injury (LLI) in athletes. However, LM has only been examined in small sample sizes through single sport investigations. Furthermore, body composition has been closely related to skeletal muscle characteristics, yet few studies have examined the influence of body composition parameters on LM morphology and function. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to 1) investigate if LM morphology and function are predictors of LBP and LLI in a large sample of university varsity athletes and 2) examine the relationship between LM characteristics and the body composition in university athletes.
A total of 134 university level athletes were included in this study and completed a self-reported questionnaire to acquire data on demographics and history of LBP and LLI. LM characteristics at the 5th lumbar vertebra were assessed via ultrasound and body composition was assessed via dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Manuscript 1 investigated LM morphology and function via ultrasound and the presence of LBP and LLI in the past year via questionnaire. Manuscript 2 examined body composition via DEXA, LM morphology and function via ultrasound, and type of sport via questionnaire.
Overall, LM was larger and thicker on the non-dominant side of the lower limb in males. LM thickness was the best predictor of the presence of LBP and type of sport was the best predictor of the presence of LLI. LM cross-sectional area and thickness were both positively correlated with several body composition measurements and echo intensity, and total fat mass, and % body fat were negatively correlated with % thickness change of the LM.
This study investigated the relationships between LM, LBP, LLI, and body composition. Using ultrasound to assess LM characteristics may be a tool for team health professionals to perform preseason screening to identify athletes at risk for injury and develop individualized rehabilitation programs for injury prevention
Novel Mixture Allocation Models for Topic Learning
Get PDFUnsupervised learning has been an interesting area of research in recent years. Novel algorithms are being built on the basis of unsupervised learning methodologies to solve many real world problems. Topic modelling is one such fascinating methodology that identifies patterns as topics within data. Introduction of latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) has bolstered research on topic modelling approaches with modifications specific to the application. However, the basic assumption of a Dirichlet prior in LDA for topic proportions, might not be applicable in certain real world scenarios.
Hence, in this thesis we explore the use of generalized Dirichlet (GD) and Beta-Liouville (BL) as alternative priors for topic proportions. In addition, we assume a mixture of distributions over topic proportions which provides better fit to the data. In order to accommodate application of the resulting models to real-time streaming data, we also provide an online learning solution for the models. A supervised version of the learning framework is also provided and is shown to be advantageous when labelled data are available.
There is a slight chance that the topics thus derived may not be that accurate. In order to alleviate this problem, we integrate an interactive approach which uses inputs from the user to improve the quality of identified topics. We have also tweaked our models to be applied for interesting applications such as parallel topics extraction from multilingual texts and content based recommendation systems proving the adaptability of our proposed models. In the case of multilingual topic extraction, we use global topic proportions sampled from a Dirichlet process (DP) to tackle the problem and in the case of recommendation systems, we use the co-occurrences of words to our advantage.
For inference, we use a variational approach which makes computation of variational solutions easier. The applications we validated our models with, show the efficiency of proposed models
Immersive Virtual Reality Tool for Connectome Visualization and Analysis
Get PDFThe human brain is a complex organ made up of billions of neurons that are interconnected
through a vast network of synapses. This network of connections enables the brain to perform a wide
range of cognitive and motor functions. Studying and analyzing these brain networks is important
for understanding how different regions of the brain communicate and work together to carry out
specific tasks and how neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or
schizophrenia impact brain connectivity contributing to the development of these disorders.
Virtual reality technology has proven to be a versatile tool for learning, exploration, and analysis.
It can expand the user’s senses, provide a more detailed and immersive view of the subject
matter, encourage active learning and exploration, and facilitate global analysis of complex data. In
this dissertation, we present VRNConnect, a virtual reality system for interactively exploring brain
connectivity data. VRNConnect enables users to analyze brain networks using either structural
or functional connectivity matrices. By visualizing the 3D brain connectome network as a graph,
users can interact with various regions using hand gestures or controllers to access network analysis
metrics and information about Regions of Interest (ROIs). The system includes features such as
colour coding of nodes and edges, thresholding, and shortest path calculation to enhance usability.
Moreover, VRNConnect has the ability to be tailored to specific needs, allowing for the importation
of connectivity data from various modalities. Our platform was designed with flexibility in mind,
making it easy to incorporate additional features as needed.
In order to evaluate the usability and cognitive workload associated with using our system, we
conducted a study with 16 participants. Our findings suggest that VRNConnect could serve as an
effective academic and analytical tool
Exploring the Arctic: An Awareness Experiment in Science Journalism and Personal Narrative
Get PDFJournalism coverage of the Canadian Arctic is limited and often inconsequential, or inaccessible to the broader public due to highly specialized content, e.g. information locked in scientific papers. This is despite the fact that the Arctic is of national as well as global importance. This discrepancy may be attributed to a general deficit of journalism coverage of climate issues, which are closely linked to the Arctic region. Furthermore, as a remote and unique location, an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality both physically and conceptually removes the region from public awareness. Very few non-Arctic residents are able to experience the region first-hand, and the true vividness of the area is often lost in traditional scientific publications. However, innovations in digital storytelling and narrative could open the Arctic to increased awareness, thereby bringing climate and polar science to the forefront of tomorrow’s journalism. This Research-Creation Project combined in-person experiences on a scientific Arctic cruise with traditional reporting methods to create a catalogue of innovative multimedia pieces in a dedicated online Story Hub. Inspired by the works of Robin Wall Kimmerer and the ideas of Randy Olson, the project aimed to increase the awareness of the region with approachable and engaging narratives, sharing knowledge and personal observations through storytelling. Designed to foster passion and interest, not scientific expertise, the Research-Creation Project is a blueprint for interweaving scientific journalism with personal narrative reporting as a stepping stone to more in-depth science communication
Brand Communities as Safe Spaces: How Can Consumers Interact around a Stigmatized Celebrity
Get PDFExisting work has proposed that a brand community can create value for both consumers and the brand. Yet, when a brand community is stigmatized, consumers might face outside threats by participating in it. While we know about consumers participating in legitimate brand communities, we know much less about consumers participating in stigmatized ones. This research answers this gap by exploring the mechanism through which consumers create a vetted safe space where they can interact around a stigmatized consumption interest while being protected. To theorize the mechanisms through which stigmatized consumers establish and manage their safe space, I perform a case study of a stigmatized Chinese celebrity and his fan community and analyze a qualitative dataset composed of interviews and archival data. My analysis demonstrates five mechanisms. First, I explain how fans ensure a safe community by managing membership and restricting community entry to only other existing fan. Second, I show how fans maintain unity by establishing a collective identity, managing internal conflicts, and emphasizing the common interest. Third, I discuss how fans ensure group secrecy by preventing information leakage and avoiding unnecessary online interactions with outsiders. Fourth, I explain how safety is ensured through policing, exemplifying through the monitoring of community members and moderators. Last, I show how fans extend safety beyond the community by making public spaces safer and making close relationships safer.
I enrich the literature on brand communities by introducing the concept of safe space and theorizing how it is enacted in a consumption context. I also contribute to marketing practice by offering managerial guidelines for the management of stigmatized brand communities