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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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Role Of The Subtalar Joint And The Influence Of Footwear Characteristics During Slip Perturbations, Jessica M.R. Berrigan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Slips are considered one of the most common causes of major accidental injuries. The objective of this thesis is two-fold. The first objective is to determine the role of the subtalar joint during a slipping perturbation. The second is to determine if certain footwear characteristics, that may restrict the normal function of the subtalar joint (i.e., insole stiffness and heel counter stiffness), will change the response to unexpected heel contact slipping perturbations.

Forty-two participants (30 females, 12 males) were recruited from a university aged population (21.19 years ± 2.7 years). Trials were performed over a 10 m walkway with rectangular …

Individual Responsibility For Collective Harms, Melany Lorraine Banks

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The aim of the dissertation is to propose a new theory of collective responsibility that will be able to determine individual responsibility for collective harms from small collectives to large, unstructured collectives. Theories of collective responsibility seek to address the harms that are caused when agents work collectively, and then to determine where responsibility will he in such cases. In the dissertation I show that these theories cannot address large, unstructured harms while being reducible to the individual. The key case for this dissertation is climate change, and I propose a theory of collective responsibility that will both identify this …

Forestry-Based Livelihoods In Central Vietnam: An Examination Of The Acacia Commodity Chain: A Case From Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam, Robert Pietrzak

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Forestry-based livelihoods in remote Vietnamese communities have been influenced in recent years by forest land allocation schemes, changes to property rights, and forest management devolution initiatives. Examples include the Five Million Hectare Reforestation Program, Project 327, and official “Red Books” that grant long-term land use rights and access rights to villagers. Major challenges to forestry-based livelihoods include disputes over land tenure, conflict between different levels of government, illegal logging practices and harvesting of NTFPs and competition over land for natural versus plantation forests. As a result, forest degradation and rural poverty continue to be debilitating obstacles to development in Central …

Molecular Studies Of 5-Azacytidine-Induced Early-Flowering Lines Of Flax, Megan A. House

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Several early-flowering flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) lines were derived from treatment of germinating seeds with 5-azacytidine in 1990. These lines are also shorter, have fewer leaves, and their DNA is hypomethylated, relative to their corresponding controls. The work presented in this thesis used early-flowering and control lines of the Royal (R) flax genotype, and the Large (L) flax genotroph. Firstly, levels of cytosine methylation were measured over a 24-hour period in the early-flowering line RE2 and its control (RC), using an HPLC method. Secondly, to determine the response of the flax lines to short-day conditions, control and early-flowering …

The Role Of Choice And Control In Women’S Childbirth Experiences, Katie M. Cook

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current study seeks to understand the role of choice and control in both planning and giving birth. This study explores three research questions: 1) What are the key influences on women’s birth plan decisions? 2) How do changes to a woman’s initial birth plan impact her overall birth experience? 3) What is the role of choice and control in women’s childbirth experiences? Narrative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 16 women who had given birth in Waterloo Region within the two years preceding data collection. The findings of this study cover five categories. The first category …

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 …

An Apple A Day: Exploring Food And Agricultural Knowledge And Skill Among Children In Southern Ontario, Shannon Alberta Kornelsen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

While the literature on food has somewhat addressed rudimentary food skills and their importance in the creation and maintenance of a healthy population, there remains a serious lack of research into the importance of food and agricultural skills and knowledge transference to children, especially given the rise in diet-related illnesses. This study focuses on the perceived importance of food and agricultural education initiatives, as well as the opportunities and barriers that exist within the elementary school classroom to incorporate food and agricultural topics, in the context of southern Ontario, specifically Wellington County. Drawing on Wilkin's concept of ‘food citizenship’ as …

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 …

Plant Isotopes As Indicators Of N Cycling Processes In Agricultural Fields, Eric Thuss

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

When nitrogen (N) availability exceeds biological demand, excess N, especially nitrate (NO₃), may subsequently pollute ground and surface water. Agricultural practices in Southern Ontario typically supplement soils with organic and inorganic nutrients to aid in crop development, and employ various management techniques to limit nutrient loss. Excess N has several potential fates, which are controlled by the net effects of numerous N cycling reactions in the soil that are often difficult to measure directly. N cycling in soils is controlled in large part by soil moisture, as it affects microbial activity and soil redox conditions. Stable isotope geochemistry …

Microporous Organic Polymers: Synthesis And Post Synthetic Modifications, Phillip Andrew Kerneghan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Microporous solids are an important class of materials that have been studied extensively. Newer to this field are Microporous Organic Polymers (MOPs) which are networks constructed from smaller organic building blocks and exhibit large surface areas, small pore sizes and low densities. It is due to these characteristics that MOPs have attracted attention because of their potential use in applications such as catalysis, chemical separations and gas storage.

In this thesis is described the synthesis of two novel MOPs, the first of which being a network based on benzenediboronic acid and triptycene building blocks linked together by boronate esters. This …

Investigating The Relationship Between Motor Resonance And Nonconscious Mimicry, Jeremy Hogeveen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Motor resonance refers to the mirroring of observed actions in one’s own motor system. It is possible that motor resonance is the neural mechanism underlying nonconscious mimicry (NCM)—the ubiquitous phenomenon wherein people mimic the behaviour of interaction partners (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999). Previous research has shown that priming interdependent selfconstrual (interSC) increases mimicry (van Baaren et al., 2003). If motor resonance is the mechanism underlying NCM, then a manipulation known to facilitate mimicry (i.e. interSC) should increase motor resonance. In experiment one, we variably primed independent selfconstrual (indSC)—known to inhibit mimicryv—and interSC in a motor priming paradigm. Participants observed videos …

Interviewing Children About Repeated Events: Does Mental Context Reinstatement Improve Young Children’S Narratives?, Donna M. Drohan-Jennings

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examined mental context reinstatement (MCR) as a technique to increase the quantity and accuracy of information provided by children during repeated-event narratives. Children (N = 46, 4-, 5- and 6-year olds) participated in four repeated laboratory activities and were interviewed 4-7 days later about the last occurrence with a control or MCR interview, including both a free narrative and specific questions about the events. Older children (6-year olds) provided a greater number of accurate instantiations (specific details) compared to 4-year olds. Five and 6-year olds reported a greater number of instantiations than 4-year olds, but this effect …

Poverty And Disability: The Need For Inclusion, Alexis Buettgen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Despite the fact that people with disabilities are disproportionately represented among the world’s poorest, they have been marginalized in poverty research and have had minimal involvement in poverty reduction strategies. The current study addresses this issue, by providing an opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to control and direct the research agenda, and to have an active voice on the topic of poverty and disability. Thus, the present study aims to support the development of poverty reduction strategies by raising key issues and breaking down barriers to participation for people with developmental disabilities. This study utilized a social power framework …

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 …

Age And Amount Of Experience On Children’S Representations Of Repeated Events, Una Glisic

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current study examined how children’s event representations changed with increasing experience with an event. There were 81 children (40 4-to-5-year-olds, and 41 7-to-8-year-olds) who participated in either 2 (n = 41) or 4 (n = 40) repeated event sessions, which consisted of activities such as playing a counting game, and/or doing a puzzle. Event sessions included three different item types; variable items (which changed at every occurrence), fixed items (which stayed constant throughout the event), and new items (which only occurred once throughout the series). Children were interviewed 5-7- days following their last event session using free-recall, …

Interfaith Grand River: The Potential And Limits Of Dialogue To Transform Participants And Impact Communities, Jonathan Andrew Napier

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the dynamics between an interfaith dialogue group and its community. While interfaith dialogue is used for various reasons, I will study how Interfaith Grand River (IGR) deals with issues of religion in Canadian society through their monthly discussions. IGR began in September 2001 as an initiative to ensure different religious adherents in the Kitchener/Waterloo and surrounding area could meet regularly to discuss different faith topics and develop relationships. IGR serves as an illustration to compliment the theoretical works on the limits and possibilities of dialogue. Data on IGR has been derived through …

Predicting Resilience In Young Adult Turning Point Stories: A Narrative Approach To Understanding Well-Being, Norah Love

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

One way to understand well-being is through the examination of narrative turning point stories, which are stories about an event or episode that represents an important change in one’s life. To better understand what contributes to the well-being of young adults, this study examined predictors in adolescence of dimensions of turning point stories in young adulthood. Standardized measures of youth’s prosocial behaviour, hyperactivity, selfesteem, family functioning and sense of community in Grade 9 were used to predict the following narrative dimensions of Grade 12 youths’ (n=96) turning point stories: affect transformation, specificity, ending resolution, personal growth, meaning-making and …

Distribution Of Stamped Dressel 20 Amphorae Produced At Axati In Roman Baetica: A Quantitative Study Of Olive Oil Consumption Levels At Military And Civilian Sites, Ryan Hughes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Roman province of Baetica in southern Spain produced vast amounts of olive oil during the first three centuries CE. The small town of Axati is situated in an area now known as Lora del Rio along the Baetis River, the modern Guadalquivir. This town exported large amounts of olive oil which was distributed throughout the Roman Empire from northern Britain to Alexandria. This study will look at the stamped olive oil amphorae, Dressel 20 type, which were produced there and transported throughout the Empire. The distribution and consumption levels evidenced by these stamped amphorae are quantified here in order …

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Needs Of (Pre)Parenting: Women Parenting With Women In Southern Ontario, Krystal Lee Kellington

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Over the years research has examined various aspects of Women Parenting with Women (WPW) and their families. The focus of the research on these families has to an extent, been influenced by the social and political debates throughout the years that saw these families struggle through one challenge to the next. Through these challenges, research has examined the claims and accusations for and against these families, generating information on the mental health and suitability of same-sex parents, the well-being of their children, and how these families function without a nuclear family structure. As the social and political climate continues to …

Urban Neighbourhood Associations: People, Organizations, And Place, Brian Michael Hoessler

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In a world increasingly “globalized” through advances in transportation and communication, place still matters. Our urban communities, dense and mixed in character, are homes for important social, economic, and political institutions and relationships (DeFilippis, Fisher, & Shragge, 2006), with volunteer-run neighbourhood associations bringing the voices of community residents into the conversation. My research with two such groups in Kitchener, Ontario, originally focused on organizational characteristics that aided their work in addressing neighbourhood issues such as crime, but later expanded to include considerations of the urban context within which both groups belong. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with association members and external actors …