Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Motherhood And Childbirth Experiences Among Newcomer Women In Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study, Fatmeh Ahmad Alzoubi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statement of the Problem: Motherhood and childbirth are very sensitive experiences and have a strong impact on family functioning, social identity, and cohesiveness. Although motherhood and childbirth have been discussed extensively in the scholarly and popular literature, much of this work has been conducted from a North American perspective, with little attention to how motherhood and childbirth are experienced by newcomer women from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.

Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: A critical ethnographic study using in-depth interviews with 16 newcomer women was utilized to explore newcomer women’s experiences and understandings of motherhood and childbirth in the aftermath of …

The Effects Of Leg Length Discrepancy On Gait And Balance, Colin E. Dombroski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Leg length discrepancy is a condition shown to affect 25-70% of the general population. The ubiquitous nature of leg length discrepancy can prove frustrating to many clinicians, particularly due to lack of consensus surrounding the amount of discrepancy that necessitates treatment.

The present research is intended to address the uncertainty surrounding diagnostic and treatment thresholds, through three related studies. In the first study, leg length discrepancy was manipulated in a sample of 15 healthy young adults, using a novel heel-to-toe lift (creating discrepancies of 5mm, 20mm, and 30mm), and the effects of this new discrepancy was observed on the spatial-temporal …

Understanding The Roles Of Physiotherapists Within Ontario Primary Health Care Teams: A Mixed Methods Inquiry, Sinead P. Dufour

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A mixed methods program of research was undertaken in order to better understand the roles of physiotherapists within Ontario primary health care (PHC) teams. A profile of Ontario PHC teams (Family Health Teams and Community Health Centres) was generated to determine the complement of providers and provision of health programming within each PHC team. This first study provided an important contextual backdrop as well as a means to purposefully sample participants for the two following studies. The second study used qualitative descriptive method to explore the perceptions of family physicians and nurse practitioners related to the inclusion of physiotherapists (PTs) …

Planning, Implementation, And Formative Evaluation Of A Food Literacy Program, Heather M. Thomas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The overall purpose of this dissertation was to examine the planning, implementation, and formative evaluation of a community-based food literacy program for youth. Article 1 provided a summary of the community-based cooking program for at-risk youth. Objectives included the provision of applied food literacy and cooking skills education augmented with fieldtrips to local farms. Eight at-risk youth (five girls and three boys, mean age = 14.6) completed the intervention. Post intervention, five of eight participants completed in-depth interviews about their experiences.

Article 2 was a formative evaluation of the cooking program focused on gaining an understanding of participants’ (i.e., at-risk …

Acoustic Signal Encoding In Children With Auditory Processing Disorders, Chris M. Allan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Auditory perception has been shown to be a problem for some children with diagnosed learning, language, reading, or attention disorders. Evaluation of discrimination abilities, as part of an auditory processing test battery, has been recommended but few commercial tools are available for the audiologist to accomplish this task. Few studies have investigated signal feature encoding with children at risk for an auditory processing disorder (APD). The purpose of this project was to investigate signal encoding abilities in children suspected of having APD.

School-aged children, part of a clinical population referred for assessment of their auditory processing skills, participated in the …

Development Of A Cohesion Inventory For Children's Sport Teams, Luc J. Martin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The general purpose of this dissertation was to develop an inventory designed to measure cohesion in children’s (ages 9-12) sport teams. To this end, three studies were conducted. In Study 1, children became active agents in the process of test construction. More specifically, children (N = 167) participated in focus groups and completed open-ended questionnaires in order to provide information on their perceptions of cohesion as well as motives for participating, continuing, and ceasing involvement on sport teams. Study 2 involved the use of the information obtained from Study 1 to develop potential items for the questionnaire. In addition, the …

Fatigue And Mobility Post-Stroke, Svetlana Knorr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Fatigue post-stroke is a disabling and persistent symptom affecting many stroke survivors. Despite its high prevalence, the pathophysiology underlying this phenomenon remains obscure. Thus, the aim of this thesis was to study the neuromuscular basis underlying fatigue post-stroke and its association with self-reported fatigue and with the performance of tasks incorporating balance and mobility components.

Community-dwelling stroke survivors who had mild to moderate deficits in functional balance and mobility participated in a series of investigations. Chapter 2 describes the initial validation of the Community Balance and Mobility (CB&M) scale for use in persons with chronic stroke. Chapter 3 reported the …

The Vascular Link Between Intrauterine Hypoxia And Postnatal Cardiovascular Pathology, Jennifer A. Thompson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The effect of intrauterine hypoxia on arterial development was evaluated with use of large and small animal models. Analyses included expression and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, differentiation and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), intima formation and wall thickening. A comprehensive investigation of possible molecular, mechanical and hormonal mediators of altered arterial development was afforded by a sheep model with both acute and chronic hypoxemia studies, whereas a guinea pig model allowed for long-term study. Our findings show that chronically hypoxic fetal sheep and intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) guinea pigs exhibit a reduction in elastic fibre content …

Effects Of Methamphetamine On Sexual Behavior, Karla S. Frohmader

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Methamphetamine (Meth) is a highly addictive psychostimulant associated with enhanced sexual desire, arousal, and sexual pleasure. Moreover, Meth abuse is frequently linked with the practice of sexual risk behavior and increased prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Currently, the neurobiological basis for this drug-sex nexus is unknown. Moreover, there is a lack of studies investigating the effects of Meth on sexual behavior and more importantly, compulsive sex-seeking behavior, under controlled experimental settings in animal models. First, using immuhistochemistry for mating- and Meth-induced neural activation it was demonstrated that Meth administration in male rats activates neurons in brain regions of the …

Maternal And Fetal Plasma Protein Changes In Fetal Growth Restriction, Maxim D. Seferovic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR) is caused by impaired maternal-fetal exchange of oxygen and nutrients causing fetal hypoxia and starvation. A functional failure of the placenta is the underlying cause, however the pathophysiology remains unknown. The fetus adapts by limiting growth, reducing demand for metabolic substrates. Monitoring the fetal size is the primary clinical method of FGR detection, though it does not distinguish a constitutionally small fetus from a pathological. Proteomic profiling of fetal and maternal plasma was therefore undertaken for discovery of biomarkers and pathological mechanisms. As a model of hepatic secreted fetal plasma proteins, HepG2 cell secretion changes in …

Fetal Growth Restriction: Molecular Mechanisms And Long-Term Outcomes, Caroline D. Albion

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Fetal undernutrition is a major factor in the pathophysiology of fetal growth restriction (FGR) in many species, including humans. Our hypothesis is that mild maternal nutrient restriction (MNR) in a mouse provides a clinically relevant model to study FGR mechanisms and long-term effects similar to humans and the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) predisposition. A MNR mouse model of FGR was developed by feeding mothers 70% normal daily caloric intake during E6.5 to E18.5 gestation. Significant reduction in fetal weight and fetal liver and lung weights with less impact on brain weight resulted, similar to asymmetric human FGR. …

Non-Quiet Listening For Children With Hearing Loss: An Evaluation Of Amplification Needs And Strategies, Jeff Crukley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The goals of this project were to identify and evaluate strategies for non-quiet listening needs of children with hearing loss who wear hearing instruments.

Three studies were undertaken: 1) an exploration of the listening environments and situations experienced by children from daycare to high school during the school-day; 2) a comparative evaluation of consonant recognition, sentence recognition in noise, and loudness perception with the Desired Sensation Level version 5 (DSL v5) Quiet and Noise prescriptions and 3) a comparative evaluation of sentence recognition in noise and loudness perception with DSL v 5 Quiet and Noise paired with the hearing instrument …

Magnetic Field Effects On The Neuroprocessing Of Pain, John A. Robertson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Magnetic fields can affect behaviour in a variety of ways, in a manner that is dependent on the particulars of the magnetic field exposure. A specific pulsed magnetic field with analgesic properties was investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging with acute thermal pain. The functional activation of pain was significantly different pre/post exposure vs. a sham condition within areas of the brain associated with the affective component of pain, in particular the anterior cingulate and the right insula. Sleep was found to be a significant confound with a 45-minute exposure. This was the first time fMRI has been used as …

Decoding Motor Intentions From Human Brain Activity, Jason P. Gallivan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

“You read my mind.” Although this simple everyday expression implies ‘knowledge or understanding’ of another’s thinking, true ‘mind-reading’ capabilities implicitly seem constrained to the domains of Hollywood and science-fiction. In the field of sensorimotor neuroscience, however, significant progress in this area has come from mapping characteristic changes in brain activity that occur prior to an action being initiated. For instance, invasive neural recordings in non-human primates have significantly increased our understanding of how highly cognitive and abstract processes like intentions and decisions are represented in the brain by showing that it is possible to decode or ‘predict’ upcoming sensorimotor …

Structural Role Of S100 Proteins In Membrane Repair, Atoosa Rezvanpour

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Membrane repair can be modulated by the association of an S100A10 dimer with the calcium- and phospholipid-binding protein annexin A2. This heterotetrameric complex has the ability to form larger multiprotein assemblies such as those with the enlargeosome protein AHNAK and members of the transmembrane ferlin family. The main goals of this thesis were to design, synthesize and characterize a molecule that would facilitate assembly of larger S100 multiprotein complexes, investigate the arrangement of the proteins, stoichiometry and affinity of AHNAK for the S100A10-annexin A2 complex and identify structural details of the ternary complex formed between S100A10, annexin A2 and AHNAK. …

Real-Time Three-Dimensional Photoacoustic Imaging, Michael B. Roumeliotis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Photoacoustic imaging is a modality that combines the benefits of two prominent imaging techniques; the strong contrast inherent to optical imaging techniques with the enhanced penetration depth and resolution of ultrasound imaging. PA waves are generated by illuminating a light-absorbing object with a short laser pulse. The deposited energy causes a pressure change in the object and, consequently, an outwardly propagating acoustic wave. Images are produced by using characteristic optical information contained within the waves.

We have developed a 3D PA imaging system by using a staring, sparse array approach to produce real-time PA images. The technique employs the use …

Strategies For Reducing The Impact Of Tumour Motion During Helical Tomotherapy, Bryan Kim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tumour motion presents a significant limitation for effective radiotherapy of lung cancer, and more specifically for helical tomotherapy. The simultaneous and continuous movements of tomotherapy subsystems (gantry, couch, and binary multi-leaf collimator) can lead to inaccurate dose delivery, when combined with tumour motion. In this thesis, we have investigated the impact of tumour motion and strategies to reduce the resulting dose discrepancies for helical tomotherapy, through computer simulations and film measurements performed in a dynamic body phantom. Three distinctively different types of dose discrepancies have been isolated: dose rounding, dose rippling, and the intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) asynchronization effect. Each …

In Vivo Cellular Mri In Experimental Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury, Laura E. Gonzalez-Lara

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains one of the most devastating conditions in medicine; it is a complex medical condition with no cure currently available. Inflammation plays an important role in SCI as it can have both beneficial and detrimental effects. Cell therapy has emerged as a promising treatment for SCI due to the potential for stem cells, including multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), for tissue regeneration and immunomodulation of the inflammatory cascade after the initial trauma. However, there are still important, unresolved questions regarding cell therapy that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help to address by producing high-resolution images with …

Design And Syntheses Of Novel Quenchers For Fluorescent Hybridization Probes, Mohamed Moustafa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Since most of human diseases are related to genetic mutations, during the past two decades, identification of such mutations has attracted much attention. Detection of these mutations is mainly based hybridization with the complementary reporter probes.

Nucleic acids detection takes place by changing either the reporter’s fluorescence intensity or the colour of its fluorescence. The use of fluorescent probes for nucleic acid detection has attracted much attention due to its efficiency, the ease of synthesis and availability of commercial reporters that facilitates the probe synthesis. Nowadays, most of nucleic acid detection using fluorescent probes relies on quenching of fluorescence by …

Elucidating The Genetic Determinants Of The Archetypal Complex Disease Hypertriglyceridemia, Christopher T. Johansen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Canada. Among non-traditional risk factors, plasma triglyceride (TG) concentration is re-emerging as a significant risk factor. Patients with hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) – an archetypal complex phenotype defined by fasting plasma TG concentration >95^th percentile – thus have significantly increased CVD risk, compounded by associated co-morbidities such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. However, the molecular pathways contributing to HTG susceptibility are incompletely defined. A better understanding of the genetic determinants that underlie the phenotypic spectrum of plasma TG and HTG susceptibility is necessary to identify novel …

Motivational Coaching: Its Efficacy As An Obesity Intervention And A Profile Of Professional Coaches, Courtney E. Newnham-Kanas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

The primary purpose of this dissertation was to examine Motivational Interviewing (MI) using Co-Active life coaching (CALC) skills as an intervention for individuals struggling with obesity. The secondary purpose was to investigate the characteristics of the interventionists, the Certified Professional Co-Active Coaches (CPCCs).

Study 1 quantitatively assessed the immediate and six-month-post intervention impact of receiving six-months of MI, administered via CALC skills, on weight and waist circumference and psycho-social outcomes of eight women struggling with obesity. Study 2 qualitatively assessed participants’ and the volunteer CPCC’s experience of the intervention. The purpose of Study 3 was to develop a comprehensive, …

Representation Of Somatosensory Afferents In The Cortical Autonomic Network, Ruma Goswami

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The relationship between somatosensory stimulation and the autonomic nervous system has been established with effects on heart rate (HR) and sympathetic tone. However, the involvement of the cortical autonomic network (CAN) during muscle sensory afferent stimulation has not been identified. The main objective of the research in this dissertation was to determine the representation of somatosensory afferents in the CAN and their physiologic impact on cardiovascular control. Somatosensory afferent activation was elicited by electrical stimulation of type I and II afferents (sub-motor threshold) and type III and IV afferents (motor threshold), and CAN patterns were assessed using blood-oxygenation level-dependent functional …

Prehabilitation For Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Patient-Centred Approach To Maximizing Surgical Outcomes, Carly D. Mckay

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the role of prehabilitation in post-operative recovery for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for osteoarthritis. Study one was a meta-analysis that aimed to consolidate the body of knowledge regarding prehabilitation for TKA patients. Study two compared the Lower Limb Tasks Questionnaire (LLTQ) to the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) in terms of agreement and responsiveness. Study three investigated the effect of a six-week pre-surgical strength training program on post-operative outcomes (quadriceps strength, mobility, pain, self-reported function, health-related quality of life, arthritis self efficacy) for TKA patients. Finally, study …

The Importance Of Self-Efficacy And Basic Psychological Needs In Children’S Physical Activity: Measurement, Prediction And Intervention, Casey E. Gray

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The importance of physical activity in the overall health promotion and primary prevention of cardiovascular disease risk factors and metabolic diseases in children is well established. Nonetheless, interventions to increase physical activity among this population have been largely unsuccessful. The main objective of the research in this dissertation was to explore the suitability of self-efficacy and basic psychological needs for physical activity prediction and intervention in children. Item generation and psychometric evaluation of psychological questionnaires occurred in study 1 (Chapter 2). Using a prospective design, study 2 (Chapter 3) established task efficacy, barriers efficacy, competence, and autonomy as significant predictors …

Walk Softly And Carry A Big Stick: Strategies To Decrease Dynamic Knee Joint Loading, Daniel J. Bechard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Excessive dynamic loading of the knee joint, quantified indirectly during three dimensional gait analysis, is a risk factor for the progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). The overall objective of this thesis was to explore the effects of prolonged walking and the use of Nordic walking poles on selected gait characteristics indicative of knee joint load. The first study evaluated the time-varying behaviour, reliability, and validity of selected gait kinematics during 60 minutes of treadmill walking in 20 healthy adults. Maximum lateral trunk lean angle and maximum toe-out angle did not change over time, were consistent from day to day and …

The Role Of Reflection In Audiology Students’ Development As Professional Practitioners: A Constructivist Grounded Theory, Stella Ng

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Audiology is a young health profession striving toward a value for and use of evidence-based practice (EBP). Currently within audiology, there is a lack of attention to a complementary epistemology of practice; that is, one that explicitly values experience as a valid and important source of knowledge, worthy of theoretical and empirical scholarly attention. The current study addresses this gap using a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore the research question: How is reflection enacted and implicated in audiology students’ development as professional practitioners? A total of 18 participants contributed data to this study (13 audiology students from a single …

Metastatic Disease: Interactions Between Tumor Cells And Host Environment During Cancer Cell Spread, Jennifer M. Maclean

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tumor and metastasis formation are not cell autonomous phenomena, but rather an evolution of disease within and responding to the host environment. Metastatic spread from a primary tumor occurs as a result of a complex interplay between tumor cells and the host, wherein tumor cells must escape the primary tumor, enter the host vasculature, travel to and arrest in a distant tissue and survive and grow in that new organ. It is known that cells that progress through these stages must both escape and exploit host systems, yet the mechanisms used are not fully understood. Therefore, the goal of this …

Mutant Cx43 In Skin Differentiation And Disease, Jared M. Churko

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Connexin43 (Cx43) is expressed within keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts, and the hair follicle epithelium. Since Cx43 is so widely expressed in resident cells of the skin, we speculated that this connexin would play an essential role in skin homeostasis, hair growth and wound healing. Mutations in the gene which encodes Cx43 lead to a disease called oculodentodigital dysplasia (ODDD) and patients expressing the frame-shift mutants (fs230 or fs260) develop a skin disease called palmar plantar hyperkeratosis. In addition, patients with ODDD often develop hair which is dry, sparse, and slow growing. To study skin abnormalities associated with ODDD, hair growth and …

Investigation Of Subchondral Bone Abnormalities Associated With Osteoarthritis Using Image-Based Biomechanics, David D. Mcerlain

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Osteoarthritis (OA) is degenerative disease caused by a mechanical failure of bone and cartilage. Common risk factors for developing OA include: being over-weight, female, having joint malalignment, or a history of prior joint injury. Post-traumatic OA is extremely common in the knee as individuals frequently suffer injuries to structures that provide stability to the joint. To enhance our understanding about OA, animal models are employed where the injury can be and monitored in a controlled environment. When used in conjunction with pre-clinical imaging techniques the longitudinal degradation of bone and cartilage can be quantitatively monitored in vivo. Recent evidence …

Predicting Drug Hypersensitivity Reactions: Mechanistic And Clinical Implications, Abdelbaset A. Elzagallaai

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are responsible for a high number of morbidities and mortalities worldwide and estimated to be the fourth most important cause of death in the US and Canada after heart diseases, cancer and stroke. ADRs are either type A (~80%) which are predictable, related to the drug pharmacology and dose-dependent or type B (~20%), which are unpredictable, unrelated to the drug pharmacology and have no clear dose-dependency. Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) represent the majority of type-B ADRs, which are rare but potentially fatal and unpredictable. The latter aspect makes DHRs very difficult to diagnose and necessitate the …