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The Influence Of Plantar Cutaneous Stimulation On A Functional Test Of Gait In Parkinson’S Disease, Rachel Van Oostveen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Although possible deficits in proprioception have been implicated as a cause of gait impairments in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD), little research has been done to investigate improving this possible deficit as a method to influence mobility. The overall purpose of the current thesis was to investigate the influence of increased plantar stimulation on stability and gait impairments. This study also investigated the contribution of attention to locomotion in PD. The two studies comprising this thesis addressed the possible influence of the ribbed insoles in the initial response of PD participants as well as the long-term use of the insole. …

Are Health Care Professionals Addressing The Psychological Aspect Of Athletic Injury? A Survey Of Injured Athletes, Hayley C. Russell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Millions of athletic injuries occur annually. Athletic injures involve not only physical distress but psychological distress as well. Nevertheless, injured athletes rarely see a mental health care professional. It has been suggested that health care professionals, such as physicians, physiotherapists, and athletic therapists, are well positioned to address the psychological aspect of injury. Health care professionals report that they sometimes address the psychological aspect of injury with the athletes they treat. There is limited research, however, on what injured athletes perceive to be the role of health care professionals in addressing the psychological aspect of injuries. Therefore the purpose of …

The Influence Of Dopamine Replacement On Movement Impairments During Bimanual Coordination In Parkinson’S Disease (Pd), Matt Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of the current thesis was to investigate the influence of dopamine replacement on performance during bimanual coordination in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) There has been conflicting research on the cause of movement impairments such as coordination deficits, slowed switching and upper limb freezing that occur during coordinated movements It is unclear whether decreased function of the dopaminergic system after withdrawal from dopamine replacement is responsible for these deficits Healthy age-matched control participants were compared to PD participants in two experiments to determine the movement impairments that occurred during three-dimensional wrist flexion-extension bimanual coordination as a result of …

Concussions In Ice Hockey: Baseline Testing, Reporting Accuracy, And Cervical Functioning, Craig J. Coghlin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was threefold: firstly, to demonstrate the utility of the SCAT2 as both a baseline measurement and a tool to aid in the decision making process following the occurrence of a concussion; secondly, to assess the accuracy of reporting and/or relaying a diagnosis of a concussion; and finally to attempt to measure a relationship between cervical spine functioning and past concussion occurrence. Eighty hockey players were assessed for cognitive, neuropsychological, and physical measures pertaining to concussive injuries within ice hockey. The results of the study showed a marked underreporting of concussions due to either fear of …

Evaluation Of The Use Of Healing Imagery In Athletic Injury Rehabilitation, Joel Cressman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Healing imagery can be defined as both visualizing affirmative images ofinternal physiological healing occurring in an injured area and visualizing oneselfas healthy and fully functioning (Driediger, Hall, & Callow, 2006). Healing imagery has been found to effectively reduce the time of recovery from various athletic injuries when used in combination with other mental skills, such as self-talk and relaxation (Ievleva & Orlick, 1991). However, the literature remains void of a study that specifically examines healing imagery and the potential benefits that may accompany the regular application ofhealing imagery techniques alone. This study examined the effects ofan imagery intervention on the …

A Qualitative Examination Of Sport Transitions In First Year Collegiate Female Athletes, Carolyn Mcewen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

First year student athletes transitioning from high school to university experience simultaneous transitions in athletics, academics, social lives, family structures, support systems, and peer sport groups. These changes in their personal, social and occupational lives, can impact them cognitively, emotionally and behaviourally (Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994). The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the multi-dimensional transition experience of first-year collegiate athletes transitioning to higher level sports. A sample of eleven female varsity hockey, basketball, or volleyball athletes participated in two semi-structured interviews at beginning of the season and midseason. The first series of interviews were conducted face-to-face, with …

Human Values And Corporate Actions Propensity: Examining The Behavioural Roots Of Societal Sustainability, Joel Marcus

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Global society is currently facing a series of interrelated challenges that cross the economic, social, and environmental domains. Widespread market instability, corporate fraud, social unrest, failing states, environmental degradation, and climate change represent just a few of the most salient issues with which we are having to contend, and which could long affect future generations. Corporations, as the dominant institutions of our time, will necessarily play an important role in our ability to address these challenges. At a very basic level, corporate actions that degrade economic, social, or environmental value make the prospect of long-term sustainability increasingly uncertain. In contrast, …

Structural And Pricing Decisions In Manufacturing/Remanufacturing Systems With Vertically Differentiated Products, Hamidreza Faramarzi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research encompasses three related papers to address some of the influencing factors in structural and pricing decisions in supply chains with manufacturing and remanufactunng. We consider new and remanufactured products that are vertically differentiated, that is, the consumers perceive the remanufactured product as of a lower quality and thus they are not willing to pay for them as much as they would for the new product. Examples of such products are seen in computer systems, automotive parts and office equipment.

In the first paper, we consider a closed loop supply chain that includes a manufacturer, a remanufacturer and a …

Three Essays In Corporate Governance, Vishaal Rabindranauth Anand Baulkaran

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation comprises three related but different essays on corporate governance issues. The essays are preceded by an overview of the major areas of corporate governance research. The first essay investigates whether the valuation discount of dual class firms reported in the literature can be explained by three channels through which private benefits can be extracted—excess compensation, excess cash and excess capital expenditure. With a propensity score matched sample of S&P 1500 dual class and single class companies, I provide evidence that excess compensation and excess cash holdings of dual class companies lead to a larger discount that investors apply …

Supporting University Students With Mental Health Issues: A Needs Assessment, Amanda Celeste Weckwerth

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study was conducted to obtain an understanding of the post-secondary educational experiences of students with mental health issues (MHI’s) at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU), to examine the needs of these students, to identify specific types of supports and accommodations available to these students, and to determine how improvements could be made by removing any identified barriers and putting in their place needed supports and accommodations. Study components included forming an advisory committee, administering a needs assessment questionnaire to WLU students (n = 78) and a campus service assessment tool to service managers (n = 3), and conducting …

Computational And Theoretical Aspects Of N-E.C. Graphs, Alexandru Costea

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

We consider graphs with the n-existentially closed adjacency property. For a positive integer n, a graph is n-existentially closed (or n-e.c.) if for all disjoint sets of vertices A and B with \A∪ B\ = n (one of A or B can be empty), there is a vertex 2 not in A∪B joined to each vertex of A and no vertex of B. Although the n-e.c. property is straightforward to define, it is not obvious from the definition that graphs with the property exist. In 1963, Erdos and Rényi gave …

Controls On Terrestrial Evapotranspiration From A Forest-Wetland Complex In The Western Boreal Plain, Alberta, Canada, Scott M. Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Western Boreal Plain (WBP) of North Central Alberta consists of a mosaic wetlands and aspen (Populus tremuloides) dominated uplands. This region operates within a moisture deficit regime where precipitation (P) and evapotranspiration (ET) are the dominant hydrologic fluxes. As such these systems are extremely susceptible to the slightest to the slightest climatic variability that may upset the balance between P and ET. Vegetation composition is the dominant control on wetland ET, and itself is extremely dynamic within these wetland environments, which can be attributed to varying moisture regimes along with micrometeorological variations. To address this variability in …

A Participatory Study Of The Nature Of Touch At L’Arche: Understanding Protective And Risk Factors To Develop And Approach To Safe And Respectful Touch For People With Developmental Disabilities, Lindsay Paige Buckingham-Rivard

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study explored the use of touch in the L’Arche approach to care-giving for people with developmental disabilities. The intent was to explore the nature of touch, and the protective and risk factors of this alternative care setting, to promote a safe and respectful environment that enhanced protective factors and minimized risk. The author was interested in the scientific research on the value of touch, ethics in relationships with power differences, the prevention of abuse, and the prevalence of respectful expressive/affectionate touch between people with disabilities and their caregivers. The study engaged one L’Arche community in Ontario, Canada, through a …

Spiritual Empowerment Through Buddhist Practice, Adam Mckenzie Hodgins

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Buddhist practice of eight Waterloo, Ontario residents are explored in this study, highlighting the relationship between the reported outcomes of Buddhist practice and individual empowerment. By employing a heuristic research methodology, as described by Moustakas (1994), I use my own experience as a Buddhist practitioner to contribute to the research data and elicit detailed descriptions from the participants. The findings of the interviews reveal four common themes of the participants’ Buddhist practice: 1) increased awareness of unconscious habits; 2) peace from letting go of control; 3) a change in their perspective of self; and 4) enhanced connection with others. …

Moral Emotion Expectancies In Adolescence: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Fanli Jia

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Cross-cultural research on moral development has documented reliable cultural differences in people’s evaluations of moral and immoral actions. Prosocial actions are typically viewed as more obligatory and less discretionary in collectivistic cultures relative to individualistic cultures. While past research mostly focused on moral judgments, it largely neglected moral emotions. The present study was aimed at investigating self- and other-evaluative emotions following (im) moral actions in different situational and cultural contexts. It investigated moral emotion expectancies of Canadian and Chinese adolescents and young adults across different situational contexts. For each culture, 179 Canadian and 193 Chinese adolescents from grade levels 7-8, …

Living On Breath And Spirit: Spiritual Intelligence And Spiritual Journey In The Christian Faith Tradition, Maria Zinsstag

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the last decade, one observes an increased interest in applied spirituality that takes into account the fact that spirituality has left the boundaries of religion. Psychologists and neuroscientists postulate a spiritual intelligence. As a scientific concept it adopts an etic perspective on spirituality. It is used in healthcare, management and education. It is interested in spirituality but not in religion. Christian spirituality on the other hand is rooted in a particular religion. Lytta Basset offers guidance for spiritual growth in the Christian faith tradition. Because spiritual growth is very personal, Basset adopts an emic perspective on spiritual experiences. This …

Training Children Where They Learned Information: A Test Of Two Techniques, Justine Renner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Source-monitoring abilities are crucial skills for children’s social and cognitive development, thus, source-monitoring training (SMT) has the potential to benefit children in many practical settings. While some previous research reported that older (7- to 8-years-old) but not younger children (3- to 4-year-olds) benefitted from SMT (Poole & Lindsay, 2002), other studies have found training effects with younger children (Thierry & Spence, 2002; 2004). The current study examined younger and older children's source monitoring trainability by comparing the two different training used in these previous studies: training to a criterion versus a set amount of training. 158 children (aged 3-4 and …

Financial Securities Under Nonlinear Diffusion Asset Pricing Model, Andrey Vasilyev

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this thesis we investigate two pricing models for valuing financial derivatives. Both models are diffusion processes with a linear drift and nonlinear diffusion coefficient. The forward price process of these models is a martingale under an assumed risk-neutral measure and the transition probability densities are given in analytically closed form. Specifically, we study and calibrate two different families of models that are constructed based on a so-called diffusion canonical transformation. One family follows from the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck diffusion (the UOU family) and the other—from the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross process (the Confluent-U family).

The first part of the thesis considers single-asset and multi-asset …

Administration Of A Cannabinoid Receptor Antagonist Following Chronic ∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Induces Physical Withdrawal In The Absence Of A Dysphoric State, Brittany Ford

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The selective cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716 has been shown to precipitate physical signs of withdrawal in ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-dependent rats; however, the affective state associated with this withdrawal state has not yet been well characterized. Thus, the aim of present study was to examine the physical and affective consequences of SR141716-precipitated THC withdrawal in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were injected with THC (5 mg/kg, i.p.) or its vehicle twice daily for 13 consecutive days, and challenged with SRI 41716 (1 mg/kg, i.p.) or its vehicle 1 h later on days 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. Consistent …

An Evaluation Of A Dialogic Book-Reading Program For At Risk Children, Daniel Anthony Colangelo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Children from low-income backgrounds are at a higher risk for reading difficulties partly because they are read to less frequently in the home (Adams, 1990). When shared reading does occur in low-income homes, it is usually of poorer quality when compared to reading in middle- or upper-income homes (Arnold, Lonigan, Whitehurst, Epstein, 1994). Dialogic reading, a form of enhanced discussion and structured questioning during shared-book reading, can be a cost effective way of improving the language and literacy skills of young children. The current research examines the effectiveness of a community-based, four-month dialogic reading intervention called the Dialogic Reading Club …

Raising An Issue In A Relationship: I’Ll Tell You What’S Wrong, But Only If I Think It Will Help, Megan H. Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

When we become dissatisfied with the actions of a close partner, we face a decision: to disclose our concerns to the other person (voice), or to instead remain silent. Past research suggests that degree of dissatisfaction and issue importance are not important predictors of this decision, however, research on communication in relationships points to the potential importance of outcome expectancies. Previous research has primarily focused on expectancies for relationship outcomes, however, and has yet to consider the relative contribution of expectancies for instrumental outcomes. Four studies assessed the hypothesis that instrumental expectancies are most important for how much a person …

Insights Into The World Of Pea Nodulation Using The Low Nodulator R50, Scott Clemow

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Cytokinin oxidase (CKX) is the enzyme responsible for the degradation of cytokinin, a class of adenine-based plant hormones that stimulate cell division, among other physiological processes. The pea mutant R50 is characterized by having a pale leaf phenotype, dwarf stature, few lateral roots, low nodule formation, and elevated levels of endogenous cytokinins in its shoots, roots and nodules. When compared to that of the wild-type Sparkle, total CKX activity is low but the transcript levels of PsCKX1 are significantly higher. In this study, I investigated the expression of PsCKX1 throughout the development of a nodule and the localization of PsCKX1 …

Physiological And Toxicological Effects Of Pb Plus Cd Mixtures On Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) In Soft Acidic Water, Yvonne Kara

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The ability of a metal to cause toxicity in aquatic environments is highly dependant upon the water chemistry, which can influence metal bioavailability. Metal bioavailability is affected by the concentration of the metal, complexation of the metal by organic and inorganic ligands, and by the speciation of the metal. Predictive models of metal toxicity, such as the biotic ligand model (BLM) have mainly focused upon predicting the toxicity of individual metals rather than the toxicity of metals in mixtures, which are more commonly found in contaminated waters. Two metals that are commonly found together are Pb and Cd which can …

The Pleiotropic Mutant R50 (Sym16): A Link Between Cytokinin And Starch Metabolism May Explain Its Seed Phenotype, Chengli Long

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Cytokinins are a class of adenine-based plant hormones that stimulate cell divisions and are therefore essential for organ growth and development. The role that cytokinin plays in nodulation and that of R50 (syml6) in particular is very complex. In this study, a cytokinin antagonist and a cytokinin oxidase (CKX) inhibitor were used as tools to study the effects of cytokinin perception or cytokinin degradation on nodulation in pea, the cytokinin transduction pathway, especially that induced by CRE1/AHK4, and CKX play a significant role in pea nodulation. Comparison of the full length sequences PsCKX2 cDNAs from Sparkle and R50 …

The Warrior Women Of Transnational Cinema: Gender And Race In Hollywood And Hong Kong Action Movies, Lisa Funnell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In The Warrior Women of Transnational Cinema, I consider the significance of transnational Asian action women in the post-1997 Hong Kong cinema; more specifically, I explore how Pan-Asian (e.g. Michelle Yeoh, Pei Pei Cheng, Ziyi Zhang), Asian American (Lucy Liu, Maggie Q, Marsha Yuen), and Asian Canadian (e.g. Francoise Yip, Charlene Choi, Kristy Yang) warrior women function as a source of transnational female identity for local, Pan-Asian (i.e. East and Southeast Asian), and diasporic Asian audiences. I argue that the post-1997 Hong Kong cinema—and not Hollywood—has offered space for the development of Pan-Asian and Asian North American screen identities …

Rethinking Biodiversity Conservation Effectiveness And Evaluation In The National Protected Areas Systems Of Tropical Islands: The Case Of Jamaica And The Dominican Republic, Suzanne Mae Camille Davis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Island conservation theory and practice with regard to conservation of tropical terrestrial biodiversity in protected areas systems has yet to be adequately addressed in conservation literature. This knowledge gap is identified as a key contributor to the adoption of scientific principles for in situ biodiversity conservation, and “universal” conservation and protected area management paradigms that are unsuitable for island contexts and geographical scale. The underlying assumption is that “universal” concepts of biodiversity conservation, protected areas management, and evaluation of their effectiveness are transferable to the ecological and socio-economic contexts of tropical islands. The expected outcome of this knowledge transfer is …

The “Budget Fallacy”: Sources Of Accuracy And Bias In Personal Spending Predictions, Johanna Peetz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In everyday life, people frequently estimate their spending for projects and time periods. In the present research, I extend previous work on self prediction into the realm of personal financial behavior. Seven studies examine people’s ability to predict their future personal spending and processes underlying spending predictions. I found that people tended to underestimate their future personal spending when predicting next week's spending (Studies 1-3), predicting that they would spend substantially less money during an upcoming week than they actually did. On average, participants underestimated their weekly expenditures by about 27&. However, spending predictions for concrete events appeared to be …

Littoral Cells, Longshore Transport And Wave Climate: An Examination Of Littoral Transport Along The Western Shore Of Prince Edward County, Ontario, Jayson A. Childs

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study discusses the wave climate and potential littoral transport along the western shore of Prince Edward County approximately two hours east of Toronto along the northern shoreline of Lake Ontario. The limestone headlands and barrier bars of the western coast are exposed toward a southwesterly fetch of approximately 200 km that can produce large offshore wave heights of 2–5 m. The wave model STWAVE was used to transform a standard set of wave conditions developed from recent hindcast data to examine fair weather, storm and extreme conditions for five directions between south and west-northwest along the shore. The resulting …

Young, Working And Black: A Study Of Empowerment, Oppression, Race And Gender In Community Settings, Julian Hasford

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between race, gender, and power in community settings. Taking the experiences of young Black Canadians within the workplace as an exemplar, the study sought to answer three main research questions: (a) How does oppression influence the psychological empowerment of Black youth and young adults in the workplace? (b) How do workplace characteristics promote Black youths’ and young adults’ psychological empowerment?, and (c) How does gender influence Black youths’ and young adults’ experiences of oppression and empowerment in the workplace? To answer these questions I conducted narrative interviews with 24 Black …

Dhamma Education: The Transmission And Reconfiguration Of The Sri Lankan Buddhist Tradition In Toronto, Deba Mitra Bhikkhu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research documents the transition of a religious tradition from a foreign-born generation to a new generation who call Canada home. It examines how first-generation Sri Lankan Buddhists in Toronto transmit their Buddhist tradition to their Canadian children, how the latter receive what is passed on to them, and what happens within the tradition through the process of transmission and reception. These issues are of paramount concern not only for Buddhist communities in North America but also for other immigrant and refugee groups undergoing the process of resettlement. Working with two Sri Lankan temples in Toronto, the Toronto Mahavihara and …