Chemical Repellents, Scott J. Werner, Michael L. Avery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Agricultural depredations caused by blackbirds can be managed with various lethal and nonlethal methods, including chemical repellents. For many people, nonlethal chemical repellents represent an appealing approach to managing crop depredation because the depredating birds are targeted but not killed; they are just inconvenienced. An effective repellent application can cause the crop-depredating birds to leave their present feeding site and seek food elsewhere. Where the birds go to feed is immaterial to the producer as long as the birds leave the producer's field. Thus, an effective repellent application will not likely affect the overall size of the blackbird population, but …

Ecology And Management Of Red-Winged Blackbirds, George M. Linz, Page E. Klug, Richard A. Dolbeer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is one of the most abundant bird species in North America, with an estimated spring breeding population of 150 million individuals that nest in emergent wetland vegetation and upland habitats throughout the continent (Yasukawa and Searcy 1995; Forcey et al. 2015; Rosenberg et al. 2016). During the nonbreeding season, red-winged blackbirds are often found in flocks numbering from a few birds to many thousands, sometimes in association with other blackbird species and European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). In winter, red-winged blackbirds and these associated species gather in roosts occasionally numbering over 10 …

Study Design Concepts For Inferring Functional Roles Of Mammalian Top Predators, Richard M. Engeman, Lee R. Allen, Benjamin L. Allen

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The roles and functions of top predators have in recent years been an important yet controversial field of biodiversity conservation research. Interrelationships between sympatric species within complex systems can pose enormous challenges for designing studies that gain clear understanding of specific relationships and processes. Teasing out the nature of the relationships is made far more difficult, if not impossible, if the experimental design of the studies is flawed or too limited for the desired inferences, and/or if the observational methods are inappropriate or too unwieldy to obtain the necessary data validly. The most powerful observation methods for understanding the interrelationships …

Can We Save Large Carnivores Without Losing Large Carnivore Science?, Benjamin L. Allen, Lee R. Allen, Henrik Andrén, Guy Ballard, Luigi Boitani, Richard M. Engeman, Peter J. S. Fleming, Adam T. Ford, Peter M. Haswell, Rafal Kowalczyk, John D. C. Linnell, L. David Mech, Daniel M. Parker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Large carnivores are depicted to shape entire ecosystems through top-down processes. Studies describing these processes are often used to support interventionist wildlife management practices, including carnivore reintroduction or lethal control programs. Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to ignore, disregard or devalue fundamental principles of the scientific method when communicating the reliability of current evidence for the ecological roles that large carnivores may play, eroding public confidence in large carnivore science and scientists. Here, we discuss six interrelated issues that currently undermine the reliability of the available literature on the ecological roles of large carnivores: (1) the overall paucity of …

Evaluating The Influence Of Water Developments On The Demography And Spatial Ecology Of A Rare, Desert-Adapted Carnivore: The Kit Fox (Vulpes Macrotis), Bryan M. Kluever, Eric M. Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Constructing water developments to support anthropogenic activities and particular fauna is pervasive across many arid regions of the globe. Despite their prevalence and a predicted increase as a management and conservation tool, water developments may have complex and unanticipated impacts on wildlife. For example, the addition of water developments to the Great Basin Desert in the western United States may have indirectly contributed to a decrease in distribution and abundance of kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis). From 2010 to 2013, we examined survival, relative abundance, and habitat characteristics of kit foxes in relation to water developments on the U.S. …

Coyote (Canis Latrans) Diet In An Urban Environment: Variation Relative To Pet Conflicts, Housing Density, And Season, S. A. Poessel, E. C. Mock, S. W. Breck

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823) are highly successful in urbanized environments, but as they populate cities, conflict can occur and often manifests in the form of incidents with pets. To better understand whether coyotes view pets as prey or, alternatively, as competitors or a threat, we conducted a diet analysis of coyotes in the Denver metropolitan area (DMA) by analyzing scats. We also examined differences in diet between high- and low-density housing and among seasons. We found only small percentages of trash and domestic pets in the coyote diet. The presence of pets in the diet did not coincide …

High Prevalence Of Angiostrongylus Cantonensis (Rat Lungworm) On Eastern Hawai`I Island: A Closer Look At Life Cycle Traits And Patterns Of Infection In Wild Rats (Rattus Spp.), Susan I. Jarvi, Stefano Quarta, Steven Jacquier, Kathleen Howe, Denzi Bicakci, Crystal Dasalla, Noelle Lovesy, Kirsten Snook, Robert Mchugh, Chris N. Niebuhr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a zoonotic pathogen and the etiological agent of human angiostrongyliasis or rat lungworm disease. Hawai`i, particularly east Hawai`i Island, is the epicenter for angiostrongyliasis in the USA. Rats (Rattus spp.) are the definitive hosts while gastropods are intermediate hosts. The main objective of this study was to collect adult A. cantonensis from wild rats to isolate protein for the development of a blood-based diagnostic, in the process we evaluated the prevalence of infection in wild rats. A total of 545 wild rats were sampled from multiple sites in the South Hilo District of east …

Three Essays On Dynamic Capabilities In The Context Of Innovation, Networks And Entrepreneurship, Ken (Yongjian) Chen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A recent study by McKinsey & Company (Benson-Armer, Otto and Webster 2015) found that half the executives they survey rate capability building as one of their firms’ top three priorities. This research also concludes that building capabilities in the domains of strategic marketing and entrepreneurship represents an urgent task in capability management. The importance of capability development and management is also recognized by leading strategic marketing and entrepreneurship scholars (e.g. Moorman and Day 2016; Day and Schoemaker 2016; Teece 2012). These authors suggest that managers demand new ways to help firms compete in today’s fast-changing environment. Dynamic capabilities are considered …

Assessing Resilient Post-Disaster Recovery Of A Flash-Flood-Prone Area: A Study Of The City Of Jeddah, Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Abdurazag Tammar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

The increased incidence of natural disasters over recent decades has been accompanied by a corresponding dramatic proliferation of human casualties, economic damage and recovery costs. Post-disaster processes are therefore increasingly becoming the paramount focus of disaster-management stakeholders. Current research has noted the importance of improving community resilience with respect to household capacity, organizational capacity, and social capital, as the three main assessment dimensions to enable communities to recover effectively and efficiently from future disaster events. Community resilience involves proactive preparedness and mitigation initiatives. In the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the lack of either precedent research or …

Three Essays In Green Product Development: Co-Opetition, Sustainability, And Regulations, Maryam Hafezi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Pollution, global warming, ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect have brought environmental issues to the fore. As a result, consumers, governments and NGOs have pressured firms to develop green products. Green products are those “that strive to protect or enhance the natural environment by conserving energy and/or resources and reducing or eliminating use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste’’. Pressures from those stakeholders are not the only reasons for firms to become involved in green product development. Other reasons include the opportunities for accessing new markets, enhancing competitive advantages, gaining cost efficiency, and building a better reputation.

This dissertation includes …

Using Rainbow Trout Cell Lines As A Model For Understanding The Innate Anti-Fv3 Immune Response, Graeme Robert Jones Lisser

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Ranavirus infections are on the rise and have been implicated in numerous species die-offs across the globe. Frog virus 3 (FV3) is the type-species of the genus, yet the immune mechanisms governing susceptibility remain poorly understood. Arguably the most important immune response to infection is the type I interferon (IFN) response. Type I IFNs trigger an “antiviral state” in host cells via the production of numerous interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) that act to inhibit virus replication in various way, including the induction of apoptosis. Apoptosis is an important antiviral defense mechanism to limit virus replication within infected cells. This study employed …

Immigration, Integration And Ingestion: The Role Of Food And Drink In Transnational Experience For North African Muslim Immigrants In Paris And Montréal, Rachel D. Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is motivated by two research questions: (1) how can food act as a means of reimagining, recreating, reaffirming, and expressing, sometimes complicated and contested identities for minority religious immigrant communities in highly secular contexts? (2) What impact does the context of reception, particularly the host society’s unique and complex history and interaction with colonialism, immigration, secularism, and nationalism, have on these identity negotiations? To examine these questions, I conducted a comparative ethnographic study of the foodways of North African Muslim immigrants in Paris, France, and Montréal, Canada, in 2012-13.

The results presented here show that food is often …

In Search Of Lost Selves: Memory And Subjectivity In Transnational Art Cinema, Anders J. Bergstrom

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation begins from the position that cinema’s ongoing persistence as a specific operation of subjective perception is intimately related to the questions of self and memory it raises. Even as digitization and global capitalism have ostensibly led to the creation of a “post-cinematic” culture, cinematic forms and practices remain inextricably related to the larger (often unacknowledged) metaphysical concerns of the cultures and social contexts in which they continue to signify. These concerns—which include beliefs in perceptual realism, the relations between images and the past, and notions of selfhood—shape both the production and consumption of cinema as a tool which …

Exclusion From Rights Through Extra-Territoriality At Home: The Case Of Paris Roissy-Charles De Gaulle Airport's Waiting Zone, Pauline Gj Maillet

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this dissertation I argue that, since the 1980s, French airports have been designed to exclude people from legal, human and refugee rights. The particular space where this happens has been successively called “international zone”, “transit zone” and “waiting zone” and its scope has been significantly extended overtime. I contend that French authorities have used the concept of extra-territoriality in concert with the material design of the airport to sustain exclusion. While this research focuses on France, findings bear relevance to the global governance of migrants and refugees. The French case epitomizes how states creatively use the law (or absence …

Jailhouse Informants In Canadian Criminal Courts, Olena Beshley

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Criminal justice systems in Canada and around the world have been established to deal with matters that require attention, punishment, and justice. An important function of criminal justice systems is the evaluation of evidence presented in the court of law. Evidence from jailhouse informants who testify that they have been privy to confessions of crimes is a contentious issue. Much of the scholarly literature available to date on wrongful conviction cases focuses on causes of insufficient and unreliable evidence obtained through different techniques and from different sources. Despite the high number of investigations into wrongful conviction cases, the subject of …

Why Be Moral? Moral Motivation Across Context And Age, Rosemary Victor Abdou

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research on moral identity has not provided evidence for age-related trajectories in moral identity development. There has been a focus on a specific age range, particularly adolescence and emerging adulthood, ignoring older age groups and their development. In addition, research has focused on broad notions of intrinsic versus extrinsic moral motivation, without taking into consideration the various contexts in which moral behavior is expressed. There exists no current research on age differences in moral motivation. This study investigated differences in moral motivation across four consecutive age groups; adolescence (14-18 years, n = 67, 41 females), emerging adulthood (19-25 years, n …

Differences In Frn And P300 Amplitudes Among Hockey Fans Versus Non-Hockey Fans In Response To Relevant And Irrelevant Information., Omar Rafiq

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Sports bettors tend to rely on statistical information about an athlete or team’s past performance even though this type of information often has no predictive value. The belief that this statistical information can help predict future performance is typically held by experts and novices alike. A recent study conducted by Cheng and colleagues (in preparation) suggests that sports bettors do not process decision outcomes that are based on relevant information in the same way that they process decision outcomes based on irrelevant information. Specifically, they found differences in the event-related potential component known as Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN), such that FRNs …

Climate And Capitalism: English Perceptions Of Newfoundland's Natural Environment And Economic Value, 1610-1699, Joshua Tavenor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

For English merchants, planters and politicians, colonizing Newfoundland required learning the limitations and opportunities afforded by the island’s natural environment. The crucial period for this learning process took place from 1610, the first English effort to colonize the island, to the 1699 passing of the Act to Encourage the Trade to Newfoundland, which defined the cod fishery as the island’s only viable industry. During these eighty-nine years, English enterprises and policies consistently failed to meet the expectations of their backers, and new information challenged accepted ideas about Newfoundland’s climate and natural resources, pressuring the supporters of those decisions to …

Based On Actual Events: Surveillance, Fear And Crime Control In Found-Footage Horror Films, Cassandra Persaud

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In recent years, found-footage horror films have reappeared with increasing popularity, leading to its recognition as the current horror subgenre du jour. Its amateur style of filmmaking has allowed the subgenre to explore public concerns around the growth of technology, the use of surveillance, and crime control. Found-footage horror films offer a unique platform for analysis as they are framed around presenting the ‘footage’ in the film as factual or reality. In this research study, themes and narratives around the use of surveillance and the production of the docile body in found-footage horror films were examined. The study involved an …

First Nations And Adaptive Water Governance In Southern Ontario, Canada, Thomas Dyck

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Water quality and quantity are prominent concerns for First Nations across Canada. The federal government shares the responsibility with First Nations to ensure water resources on-reserves meet the needs of First Nations. Federal approaches have been predominantly technical, focused on addressing issues related to infrastructure, maintenance, training, and monitoring. This approach is important. However, water issues concerning First Nations go beyond technical issues and relate to inadequate participation in decision making, poorly defined roles and responsibilities, and approaches to managing water resources on-reserve that have not accounted for local context. These issues parallel historical nation-to-nation (i.e., First Nations and federal …

Auditory Erp Differences Across A Continuum Of Psychotic Symptoms In Non-Clinical Population, Anaya Rehman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Psychosis is a term given to a mental state described as a loss of contact with the real world. The aim of this thesis was to examine early non-specific psychotic experiences in a healthy population by means of two self-report screening tools: Prime Screen and Youth Psychosis At-Risk Questionnaire-Brief, and place individuals on a psychosis continuum. Across this psychosis continuum, three event related potential (ERP) components were assessed: P300, Mismatch Negativity and N100. There is evidence that P300 and mismatch negativity amplitudes diminish in individuals with psychosis. Similarly, impaired N100 amplitude suppression (increased N100 amplitudes) during vocalization has been observed …

Reflexivity And Organizational Culture: A Comparative Case Study, Chloe Frisina

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research explores how reflexive practices are shaped by organizational culture. For the purposes of this study reflexivity is defined as a self-critical approach that involves examining how knowledge is created, how one may be complicit in relations of knowledge and power, and the potential consequences for inequality and privilege (D’Cruz, Hemmingham, & Melendez, 2007, p. 86). Organizational culture is defined as the shared norms, beliefs, and expectations that often drive behavior and create the social milieu that shape the objectives of the work accomplished and communicate what is important within the organization (Hemmelgarn, Glisson, & James, 2006, p. 75). …

Dynamic Assessment Of Early French Immersion Literacy Learning Competencies, Alexandra Bellissimo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

French Immersion programming in Canada is not always an inclusive environment for all learners. Students with language disabilities or delays are often placed into English-only programming when difficulties arise in French immersion programming. This study aimed to establish a method of identification of reading difficulties, in either language, early in the reading process. Such an assessment would allow educators to intervene and assist these students, and all students, with reading and vocabulary development in their second language of French before these language issues can negatively affect learning.

Essential to language learning in immersion programs is the development of speech perception …

Three Essays On Banking, Capital Market Frictions And Corporate Payout Policy, Hosein Nooriaan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The prevalence of financial market frictions is far from uncommon. Between 1970 and 2011, Laeven & Valencia (2012) identify 147 banking crises, along with 218 episodes of currency crises, and 66 episodes of sovereign debt default. Thus, understanding a firm’s behavior in the presence of financial crisis is an important issue for future financial research. My dissertation explores corporate payout and liquidity policy either during a financial market crisis, or in anticipation of a financial market crisis.

In the first essay, “Capital Market Friction and Corporate Payout Policy”, I focus on the role of supply of capital on corporate payout …

Three Essays On Corporate Governance And Politically Connected Firms, Justin Mindzak

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this dissertation three essays on corporate governance and politically connected firms are presented. The first essay “Interlocked Boards of Directors, Corporate Governance and Earnings Quality” studies the effects of interlocked boards of directors on voluntary governance disclosures, governance practices and earnings quality. The Canadian environment, where director interlocks are prevalent, is examined. A checklist of twenty voluntary disclosure measures from proxy statements is developed and a direct measure of interlocking directorships is employed. It is found that interlocked boards of directors are negatively associated with voluntary governance disclosures and positively associated with earnings quality. From an accounting perspective, greater …

Investigating The Effects Of Mindfulness On Children’S Executive Function, Emotional Regulation, Stress, And Academic Performance Compared To A Control Condition, Lerna Hanceroglu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mindfulness is a growing field in the study of psychological well-being, with reports of individuals experiencing increases in resilience and reduced stress. The current research on mindfulness lacks information on a comprehensive analysis on the relationship between mindfulness and executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and subsequent academic performance for children. Additionally, studies contain methodological issues, such as the absence of active control groups. Hence, the current study assessed the effects of mindfulness training on children’s executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and academic outcomes compared to an active control group. There were 51 younger children from grades 2 to 4 (Mean …

An Evaluation Of Older Adults’ Perceptions Of Psychological Well-Being When Participating In Community Centre Programs, Kayla Rellinger

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Multi-purpose organizations, such as community centres, provide opportunities for individuals to participate in various physical and social activities. Although, it has been well established that community centres provide the opportunity and environment to promote health behaviour changes among older adults (Jones et al., 2013; Stewart, 1997; Wallace et al., 1998), there is a dearth of research differentiating between physically active and non-active community centre programming. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether participating in community centre programming influenced four key measures of perceived psychological well-being, as well as, to evaluate whether the perceived psychological well-being of community …

Experiences Of Racialized Service Providers Who Work With Racialized Clients: Functions And Constraints Of Master And Counter-Narratives Of Helping, Racism, And Vicarious Racism, Prapti Giri

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

What are the experiences of racialized frontline workers? How do they experience vicarious racism? I interviewed 8 frontline workers who were involved in counseling racialized individuals. The narrative paradigm, constructivist self-development theory (CSDT), and critical race theory (CRT) were the theoretical frames that guided the interviews and data analysis in order to answer these questions. I conducted a structural narrative analysis, which revealed how participants utilized assumptions from master narratives and at other times countered them. Interviewees occasionally stepped outside of the master narrative entirely, for example, by rejecting the categorization of race. According to CSDT, our meanings are determined …

Exploring The Pluralization Of Community Safety: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Perceived Operation And Implications Of Situation Tables, Taylor Knipe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Recent attention has been placed on the sustainability of policing, in that, increasing demands for public safety have been met with decreasing police budgets. The acknowledgement of this problem by Public Safety Canada has initiated the push towards new collaborative models of community safety. These collaborative models are often referred to as Situation Tables, which seek to mitigate acutely-elevated risks of crime and/or victimization in the community through multi-sectoral intervention. The present study explores how the lived experiences of those working on the frontlines of one Situation Table, the Community Partners Risk Intervention Table (CPRIT), fit within the broader community …

Theories Of The Self, Race, And Essentialization In Buddhism In The United States During The “Yellow Peril,” 1899-1957, Ryan Anningson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is an intellectual history tracing developing notions of the Self in Buddhism through Buddhist publications during the years from 1899-1957. I define this time period as the Era of the Yellow Peril, due to common views in the United States of an Asian “other” which formed a larger clash of civilizations globally. 1899-1957 was marked by pessimism and dread due to two World Wars and the Great Depression, while popular and academic cultures argued for the validity of race sciences, and the application of these “sciences” through eugenics. Buddhism in the United States was created through a global …