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Dispossession by Accumulation: Housing Financialisation in Halifax, Nova Scotia
No full textHalifax, Nova Scotia is a relatively peripheral Canadian city that has been, throughout the 2020s, among the most profitable cities in the world for real estate investment. Due to preceding economic decline, and contemporary increasing economic activity, Halifax has a large ‘rent gap’: an opportunity for significant profitable investment. Gains from this have been unevenly distributed, generating ‘big winners’ and increasing housing precarity for others. By examining the national and global mechanisms of financial capital’s housing investment, local dynamics, and the ownership structure of housing in Halifax, the thesis sketches an account of the increased integration of this Canadian semi-periphery into global and national circuits of capital accumulation through its housing market. It concludes that the problem with housing in Halifax, like elsewhere, is the commodification of housing itself and ends with a discussion of strategies and prospects for de-commodification of housing under the latest stage of finance capitalism
Comparative effects of common dietary sugars on metabolism and food-seeking.
No full textDietary sugars may safely comprise less than 10% of daily intake, but current consumption exceeds 15–20% of total caloric intake. Sugars like sucrose consist of glucose and fructose that can be essential energy sources while also contributing to metabolic disease. Furthermore, many animal models utilize a 60% sugar diet, which greatly surpasses typical human intake, so the relative impact of each sugar on metabolic syndrome is not clear. We fed male and female mice a 15% sugar diet to directly compare the differential impacts of fructose, glucose, and sucrose (Aim 1) and determine whether they encode reward properties to alter food motivation (Aim 2). All sugars increased adiposity in female mice, but fructose was especially detrimental for metabolic health by promoting pre-diabetes. Additionally, fructose also reinforced food-seeking behavior. Therefore, while all sugars promoted adiposity in metabolic syndrome, fructose also encoded addiction-like properties that increased food-seeking or -motivation
A Cumulative Risks Approach to School Absenteeism: Analyzing the Complex Interplay Between & Within Risk Categories
No full textWhile the association between risk factors and school absenteeism has been well-documented, literature regarding clinically-referred youth remains scarce in a Canadian context. Moreover, as most absenteeism risk factors have been studied independently from one another, less is known about their multilayered contribution. Using a sample of 399 youth (Mage = 10.52; SDage = 3.45) and implementing Kearney’s interdisciplinary model and the cumulative risk model of development, cumulative risk indices across five risk factors were compared: Externalizing Behaviors, Internalizing Behaviors, Psychological Disorders, Developmental Trauma, and Family Issues. Their unique associations with school absenteeism and overall aggregated effect were analyzed through binary logistic regression and multivariable logistic regression, respectively. Results suggested that only an accumulation of internalizing behaviors was significantly related to absenteeism and did not differ across age or sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 – 1.43). Implications and future directions are discussed
Young People Connected to Nature Worry More About Climate Change: How Meaning-Focused Coping Protects Mental Health
No full textRecent research highlights widespread fear and anxiety about climate change among young people, yet much of this research is descriptive in nature. This study addresses this gap by empirically evaluating Panu Pihkala's model of eco-anxiety and ecological grief. I propose the "Young Heroes Journey Towards Ecological Awareness," an extension of Pihkala’s model, which includes nature connectedness as a factor influencing climate worry, coping, and mental health. Path analyses on two samples of Canadian university students reveal that those deeply connected to nature worry more about climate change and are more likely to experience anxiety and depression. However, meaning-focused coping strategies among this group reduce the likelihood of these mental health struggles. The "Young Heroes Journey Towards Ecological Awareness" model provides empirical evidence of the complex interplay between nature connectedness, climate worry, coping, and mental health, offering a robust foundation for future research
Model-Driven Development of Fault-Tolerant Internet of Things Applications Using Discrete Event System Specification
No full textThe Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a promising technology with diverse applications across industries. Despite its potential, there are unique challenges associated with the development of such systems, including interoperability, system complexity, and the need for efficient development and maintenance. In this work, we applied the Discrete Event System Specification as a model-based approach to develop IoT applications and address the challenges associated with their development. Additionally, the Brooks-Iyengar algorithm, as a hybrid method for achieving sensor fusion and inexact agreement in a network of sensors, was incorporated into the developed methodology to achieve fault tolerance in the IoT applications. The applicability of the work was demonstrated by simulating and deploying a home automation case study comprising various sensors and actuators
Mass-Spectrometry and Genomic Approaches to Investigating Cyanopeptides in Environmental Samples and Cultured Microcystis
No full textCyanobacteria produce a diverse range of biologically active secondary metabolites including microcystins, but also less studied classes cyanopeptides (cyanopeptolins, microginins, anabaenopeptins, aeruginosins, microviridins, and cyanobactins). To investigate the effects of altering growth rates on the production of cyanopeptides, LC-(HR)MS data were obtained from culture extracts taken from two Microcystis aeruginosa strains (CPCC 300, CPCC 464) in a semi-continuous batch culture study. There was no significant difference in the production and composition of cyanopeptides between growth rates within either strain. Using similar chemical techniques, cyanopeptides were analyzed in both water and air samples taken during a Microcystis bloom on Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain. A complex cyanopeptide profile (n=151) was identified with cyanopeptolins being the most diverse and concentrated class. Chemical data of three major groups (microcystins, cyanopeptolins, anabaenopeptins) correlated significantly with the concentrations cyanopeptide biosynthesis genes measured with ddPCR. Cyanopeptides were not detected in air samples during the bloom
Inside Their Mind: Examining the Relationship Between Visual Mental Imagery and Psychopathic Traits
No full textIndividuals vary considerably in the ability to generate images in the mind. Generating more vivid imagery promotes future thinking, behavioural control, emotionality, and empathy. Psychopathy is inversely related to these abilities; thus, it is possible individuals high in psychopathic traits have deficits in mental imagery ability. This study examined the relationship between trait vividness of mental imagery and psychopathic traits in undergraduates (N = 836, 80.6% female, 62.5% White). Results indicated that more vivid imagery positively predicted Lifestyle, Antisocial, and Boldness scores, when controlling for sex and social desirability. Mediation analyses revealed that more vivid imagery associated with increased future planning, emotionality, and cognitive empathy, and therefore higher psychopathy scores. Less vivid imagery associated with more impulsivity and less affective empathy, and therefore increased psychopathic traits. Collectively, findings demonstrated that psychopathy is not associated with imagery deficits and support the use of imagery-based cognitive behavioural therapy interventions in psychopathic populations
Resilience in Community: A Speculative Scenario in Urban Resiliency within an Uncertain Climate Future
No full textIn the year 2100, in a speculative future pathway predicted to have a +2℃ increase, we are examining the threat of flash floods in Sarawak, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo sharing borders with Indonesia and Brunei. As a state separated from most of the country, Sarawak is a melting pot of cultures. Inspired by nature-based landscape architecture design, the meaning of ‘amphibious’ architecture will be investigated to include design approaches that implement and natural landscape design traditional Sarawakian architecture, emphasizing an environmentally sensitive design. My thesis explores architecture as a pathway forming an adaptation to climate change. As a form of speculative design exercise, can architecture provide a scenario where voluntary action in ecological mindfulness can be established in Sarawak’s current society. Through environmental stewardship and a strong cooperative society, can an architecture that allows for flooding minimize the risk that comes from intensifying flash floods
“As if They Were from Over There”: The Insufficiency of Documentation as a Means of Securing Citizenship Rights for Dominicans of Haitian Descent
No full textAs decades of political change by various governments of the Dominican Republic have created a situation of denationalization for thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent, documentation is often sought as a solution for this statelessness. However, considering historical context and systemic barriers, this thesis exposes the stark reality that documentation alone fails to protect the citizenship rights of Dominicans of Haitian descent. Through semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations, this research delves into the impact of anti-Blackness on the citizenship rights of individuals of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, irrespective of their documentation status. The thesis argues that possession of legal documentation does not fully protect individuals from state violence. Rather, it explores the gendered patterns of physical and administrative violence against people of Haitian descent. Additionally, it investigates obstacles to accessing livelihoods and underscores the inadequacy of documentation in preventing labour abuse
Anti-Rap or Anti-Black?: A Critical Examination of White Moral Panic in Response to West Coast Gangsta Rap
No full textMy research examines the origins and current manifestations of white moral panic toward the hip hop subgenre of West Coast gangsta rap. By historicizing previous iterations of white panic toward Afrological musics in the United States, my research demonstrates how outright white supremacy and anti-Black racism have mutated into covert forms of racial panic toward rap. Panic toward rap aesthetics and its alleged effects on listeners obfuscates a larger legacy of carefully coded anti-Blackness and white supremacy toward Afrological musics and Black sonic epistemologies. I critically examine this legacy in relation to two West Coast gangsta rap artists, namely N.W.A and Kendrick Lamar. Foregrounding the contributions of BIPOC scholars and prioritizing decolonial epistemologies and methodologies, this thesis critically examines the ways that panic, anti-Blackness, and popular musics are intertwined, and why these discourses matter within, and beyond, academia