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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Abou Elatta, Pansee
- Abstract:
- How have Egyptian struggles to repatriate and retain Pharaonic artifacts shaped the value and meaning attributed to these iconic but contested objects? And how have these public struggles influenced museum practice from the time of its modern origins? This dissertation works against the archival grain to trace a popular history of three Pharaonic objects (or collections thereof) around which highly-visible campaigns for ownership have been waged: Tutankhamun's treasures, The Bust of Nefertiti, and the obelisk typically titled the 'Paris Needle'. Each chapter examines the contestations through which these objects have gained a foothold in Egyptian liberatory projects and in the global imaginary, from the 18th century to the present day. Colonial expeditions in Egypt represent some of the earliest ventures in modern archaeological collection and museology, generating a foundation upon which many of the world's most authoritative museums have constructed their legacies as part of broader nation-building projects. In the case of the 'Tutmanias' of the 1920s and 1970s, media representations leverage public conceptions of ancient history to consolidate Western geopolitical power in the Middle East. Mass media plays a similar role with the Bust of Nefertiti, whose ownership becomes the focus of frenzied publicity in Weimar Germany, reflecting and reproducing the racial, geopolitical, and gendered anxieties of the era. The obelisk's transport from Luxor to Paris produces and mediates the public square in a different way, erasing Egyptian labour while glorifying the feat of its transport to substantiate its value as a trophy. Finally, this dissertation looks to the displacement of Gurna - a supposed "world capital of thieves" atop the Theban Necropolis - as a case study in intra- and inter-national contestation around the 'value' of heritage, preservation, and place. Doing so, this project draws links between the complex imbrications of artifactual value on the economic, sociological, and semiotic levels. These highly-public yet little-researched anticolonial struggles shed light on the ways in which rhetorics of (economic and affective) 'appreciation' are deployed to impose ways of feeling and knowing about history which produce normative museological ends.
- Thesis Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Cultural Mediations
- Date Created:
- 2022
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Cardiac Dysfunction in People with Schizophrenia: Linking Clinical Outcome, the Heart, and the Brain
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Nyveld, Melissa Kristine
- Abstract:
- The link between cardiac dysfunction and clinical outcome remains poorly understood in people with schizophrenia. The current study was an exploratory analysis among clinical outcome, cardiac function, and brain volume of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Participants who achieved remission showed significantly better global functioning and lower positive and negative symptoms. Cardiac function and structure and ACC grey matter volume were measured using MRI. Cardiac function and structure did not differ between remitted and non-remitted groups; however, those not in remission had significantly less volume in the left ACC. While no significant relationships were found between ACC volume and clinical symptoms, there were inverse relationships between social withdrawal and cardiac function and structure. Bilateral ACC volume significantly correlated with cardiac function and structure. These results support that clinical outcome is related to brain volume but may not be related to cardiac measures of function and structure in people with schizophrenia.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Science (M.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Neuroscience
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Guay, Jessika D.
- Abstract:
- Recreational fishing is an important activity primarily enjoyed for the purposes of pleasure or competition. Despite the many benefits of interacting with nature and harvesting wild food, recreational fishing presents a myriad of negative impacts to fish populations, thus requiring management interventions to ensure sustainability. Since management conservation measures typically involve angler compliance with regulations and voluntary adoption of proconservation behaviours, I analyzed social data from two fisheries facing contrasting conservation challenges to identify the prevalence of self-reported proconservation behaviours among recreational anglers. I further investigated the factors which influence such behaviours in an effort to dissect how certain desired behaviours may be encouraged to support management conservation goals and to contribute to knowledge surrounding angler behaviour. My results indicate high levels of participation in voluntary proconservation behaviours and may inform management strategies that would benefit from angler participation.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Science (M.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Biology
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- McAskill, Madison Taylor Janice
- Abstract:
- While California has one of the largest state incarceration rates in America, the state has recently observed the greatest increase in the use of parole nationwide (Carson, 2020; Oudekerk & Kaeble, 2021). The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the implementation of a new guide, the SDMF (Serin, 2019), has led to differences in parole decisions in California. Retrospective reports and case files of parole applicants were rated using the SDMF to come to a new parole decision, which was then compared to the original California Board of Parole Hearings (CBPH) decisions to evaluate fidelity. Results showed that denial rates significantly differed between pre- and post-implementation. Furthermore, SDMF-based decisions and CBPH decisions did not significantly differ, except for low-risk cases, suggesting commissioners may be considering extraneous information. Furthermore, the SDMF as a whole significantly predicted CBPH grants, with Release Plan and offender risk individually predicting these decisions.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Psychology
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Donnelly, Sarah
- Abstract:
- Children with additional learning needs are disproportionately excluded from dual language education programs, in part because of concerns that bilingualism will exacerbate existing difficulties with language (Marinova-Todd et al., 2016). To address these concerns, this thesis investigates syntactic and morphosyntactic development in children with additional learning needs, who are registered in early French immersion (EFI). Participants were children who are often considered at-risk for academic difficulty (AR) enrolled in EFI (n = 13), children who were AR enrolled in an English-only program (ELoI; n =15), and children who were not AR enrolled in EFI (n = 10). No group differences were found between participant groups. The grammatical errors produced by children in each group were also examined and similar error patterns were observed across the three groups. These findings illustrate that children with additional learning needs are developing both English and French abilities when enrolled in EFI.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Linguistics
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Shukri, Ali Hazem
- Abstract:
- Pathogenic bacteria are evolving resistance to conventional therapeutics at a rate which threatens our ability to reliably treat infections, necessitating the discovery of new therapeutics. Here, I employ the development of novel peptides that can be used to combat antimicrobial resistance. In Chapter 2, I employ a permutation of two known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), Indolicidin and UyCT3, and through sequential generations of evolution, develop a peptide that can inhibit bacterial growth better than the wild type AMP. These AMPs are tested on clinically derived strains to help translate the clinical relevance of these findings. In Chapter 3, I use an orientated peptide array library (OPAL) to assist in the discovery of peptide β-lactamase inhibitors against the β-lactamase TEM-1. Candidates' activities were assessed for inhibition against TEM-1. These results show the significance of our findings and the robustness of the techniques that can be used for the discovery of peptide antimicrobials.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Science (M.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Biology
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Prasanna Kumar, Lakshmi
- Abstract:
- In recent years there is an unprecedented growth in online communication and collaborative platforms like Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams,etc. These platforms facilitate communication among developers all over the world and allow distributed software development. Software developers rely on these platforms to discuss their projects and to seek technical help. It is challenging to summarize these chat messages due to their short size, unstructured and colloquial format. This thesis is an attempt to tackle this problem by applying topic modeling techniques to generate discussion summaries. We use a dataset extracted from the Discord chat conversations and evaluate four topic modeling techniques to identify the primary topics discussed. We evaluate different embedding models and study their impact on the performance of the topic modeling technique. We perform an extensive analysis of the topics per month and also study evolution of the topics over a period of one year.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Computer Science (M.C.S.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Computer Science
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Salmon, Melissa Maria
- Abstract:
- Motivational strategies to facilitate behaviour change typically focus people living with addiction on a better possible future should the addictive behaviour be reduced or ceased. In contrast, emerging research suggests focusing people on positive aspects of the life one lived before addiction also has behaviour change utility. In the current program of research, I measured and manipulated temporal focus to systematically assess the process by which a focus on one's past or future motivates self-directed change as well as the limits and boundaries of each approach. In Study 1, a qualitative assessment of the meaning people living with problem gambling (N=57) assign to their past before gambling and future without gambling revealed two distinct types of past (i.e., positive versus difficult) and anticipated future (i.e., optimistic versus ambivalent) experiences. Those with a positive past or optimistic future reported being more ready to change their gambling behaviour compared to those with a difficult past or ambivalent future. In Study 2 (correlational), problem gamblers (N=229) who perceived their past before gambling to be more positive were more ready to change their behaviour to the extent that they felt nostalgic for their pre-addicted past. Moreover, participants who felt optimistic about their future without gambling were more ready to change to the extent that they felt a sense of longing for this better possible future. In Study 3, participants (N=273) manipulated to focus on a positive past (versus an ordinary past) reported greater nostalgia for the pre-addicted past, which was associated with greater readiness to change. In Study 4, participants (N=174) manipulated to focus on a positive future (versus an ordinary future) reported greater longing for a future without gambling, which was associated with greater readiness to change. Lastly, an integrated data analysis testing the relative efficacy of a positive past and positive future in promoting readiness to change revealed no between-condition differences. Many people living with problem gambling are resistant to behaviour change. This program of research has significance by demonstrating when and for whom self-directed change can be advanced by way of focusing on a positive past and better possible future.
- Thesis Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Psychology
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Ritchie, Marshall William
- Abstract:
- Plastic pollution has become a major concern in almost every natural environment. As plastics enter an environment, they undergo a degradation process and can become microplastics (MPs; plastics smaller than 5 mm). Thus far, most MPs research has focused on aquatic, rather than terrestrial environments, and standardized methods of plastic extraction and quantification from animals living in the latter are needed. For my thesis, I aimed to understand the fates of MPs ingested by the generalist insect, Gryllodes sigillatus. In chapter 2, I developed a new, clearly laid out protocol on how MPs can be extracted and characterized within a laboratory setting after they have been ingested by an animal. In chapter 3, I used this method to investigate the effects of the cricket digestive system on ingested MPs, and found that crickets radically physically degrade microplastics and may therefore serve as a path for plastic transformation in natural environments.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Science (M.Sc.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Biology
- Date Created:
- 2022
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- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Creator:
- Atkinson, Teresa Celeste
- Abstract:
- OnlyFans is a platform that has become well-known for creators selling sexually explicit content, where creators share their content with fans, often for a monthly subscription fee. Currently, little is known within an academic context about the platform and its creators of adult content. Specifically, this study sought to understand how creators experience their platform, understand their labour, and how their experiences intersect with or diverge from current understandings of sex work. To understand the lived experiences of OnlyFans creators of sexually explicit content, nine qualitative interviews and a visual content analysis of 10 creators different from those interviewed were conducted. My research illustrates how there are parallels between OnlyFans creators of sexually explicit content and other forms of sex work however, creators are experiencing sex work in new manners, particularly within a digital environment.
- Thesis Degree:
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Thesis Degree Discipline:
- Legal Studies
- Date Created:
- 2022