Biking provides kids with a means of being active, social and mobile in the neighborhoods and places they ride. This project aimed to look at the ways in which kids used their bikes and report on their lived experiences. To understand the lived experience of kids’ biking, this project explored the experiences of kids from various neighborhoods in the city of St. Catharines, Ontario. Data collection drew upon the experiences of 12 participants who rode their bike at least once a week, without the presence of an adult. This project was guided by phenomenology and incorporated multiple data collection methods in order to capture the perspectives of kids’ lived experiences as presented by the kids themselves. To accomplish this goal, the study incorporated mobile methods of data collection adapted from Spinney (2011), where kids video recorded parts of their typical bike rides, in addition to sit-down interviews. The data presented by participants was also analyzed through the use of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as outlined by Smith, Flowers, and Larkin (2013). Using IPA as an analysis framework allowed analysis to be flexible based on the unique experiences presented by the participants. The findings of this study outline 6 themes; Building Spatial Knowledge, Going Out and About, Being and Biking with Others, Maneuvering and Negotiating Others, Getting Away and Finding Peace and Quiet, and Testing Independence. These themes are supported by the accounts participants provided regarding their biking experiences. Based on the findings, this project’s discussion highlights the importance of kids’ independent learning during biking experiences and outlines ways in which kids’ neighborhood biking can be supported by members of the community.

Exercise increases browning of white adipose tissue (WAT) however, the mechanisms remain unclear. A factor that is released with exercise, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), has recently been identified as a possible mediator of WAT browning. Direct treatment of cultured adipocytes with BDNF increases mitochondrial quantity and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) content. The purpose of this study was to examine if BDNF has similar effects on adipose tissue browning as endurance training and whether BDNF and endurance training can produce a synergistic effect. Male C57BL6 mice (10-weeks of age) were randomly assigned into one of four groups (n=12/group): 1) sedentary (SED); 2) endurance training (ET) (treadmill running 1 hour/day); 3) BDNF (0.5 mg/kg·bw); or 4) endurance training and BDNF (ET+BDNF) for 5 days/week for 8 weeks. Body mass and food intake were recorded weekly. Following the 8- week intervention, oxygen consumption and energy expenditure were examined via a Promethion metabolic caging system. Mice were anaesthetized, WAT (subcutaneous and inguinal) and brown adipose tissue (BAT; interscapular) depots were collected for histological and protein analysis. BDNF treatment increased serum BDNF, oxygen consumption and energy expenditure to a similar extent as the ET group. ET and BDNF resulted in decreased adipocyte area. Exercise resulted in higher multilocularity, mitochondrial content, UCP1, and higher innervation of iWAT. While BDNF treatment alone resulted in higher PGC1a. Within eWAT, ET showed decreased adipocyte size and higher dynamin related protein 1 (DRP1) protein content suggesting an increased potential in mitochondrial fission. BDNF treatment shows higher innervation of BAT as well as higher mitochondrial protein content among the exercise trained groups with the addition of BDNF. Overall, BDNF and exercise training are able to increase whole-body energy expenditures through markers of adipose tissue browning in a depot-specific manner with some evidence of additive effects.

The application and analysis of online education have grown in higher education. However, the paradigm completely and suddenly shifted to online education in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The sudden shift to online education did not allow instructors or students with disabilities (SWD) to systematically adapt their teaching and learning strategies to fit a new education environment. The SWD population faces unique challenges in online education and transitioning to online education changed these challenges and created new barriers. One inclusive education paradigm, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), is considered the best practice for inclusive learning in contemporary education. This thesis explored the instructors’ and SWDs’ perspectives on UDL in online higher education. Specifically, the instructors’ and SWD’s perceptions regarding the application and barriers to implementing the UDL guidelines online were investigated. To address this aim, virtual focus groups were conducted with 14 participants from two populations: instructors (n= 6) and SWD (n= 8). A virtual poll was embedded into the focus groups’ discussions to allow the participants to summarize their experiences, rank UDL Guidelines, and then discuss the outcomes. It was found that SWD had both critical and positive perceptions and experiences with UDL in online higher education while instructors primarily noted positive perceptions. However, instructors faced barriers to implementing the UDL Guidelines online including time and effort, resources, and values. Further research is necessary to address the use, implementation, and barriers of UDL in online higher education.

A detailed stratigraphic study was undertaken on a thick (>20 m) glacial diamicton at a former open pit (M-52) in the north-central part of the Pine Point mining district, adjacent to the southern shore of Great Slave Lake. This research augments the established regional Quaternary stratigraphy and investigates the mechanics of till deposition/emplacement throughout a continuous till sequence to understand better the glacial dynamics for the western margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The exposures at pit M-52 sit directly on bedrock, and two visibly distinct tills are exposed, a grey till exposed at the base of the section and brown till in the upper portion. When a complete vertical section was cleared and examined, the contact between the two tills was indiscernible and suspected to be gradational over several metres. The gradational contact is likely a product of extensive glacial inheritance and mixing as glacial dynamics shifted during till accretion. The study at pit M-52 was correlated with studies conducted at pits K-62 and O-28. While at M-52, the contact was gradational, the studies at K-62 and O-28 had layered stratigraphy indicating that different depositional environments existed near each other, as described in the subglacial till mosaic model. Micromorphological examination of 25 till samples from pit M-52 show that tills were deposited in a soft subglacial deforming bed. The tills have evidence of multiple generations of deformation beginning with pervasive and transitioning into localized shear strain. Clast fabrics were measured in the section and revealed that the grey till close to the bedrock surface reflects SW ice flow, the upper two clast fabrics display evidence of NW ice flow.

Injuries in elite sports are responsible for a substantial economic burden on host organizations, requiring informed decisions to ensure that injury treatment is delivered in an efficient manner. However, there is a paucity of economic assessments that have been conducted surrounding elite sport injury events in Canada. Objective: To estimate the direct medical and opportunity costs of treating various injuries by volunteer medical professionals at the Canada Games (CG). Method: A decision tree model (DTM) incorporated parameters on injury treatment lengths as estimated from a Delphi survey, injury surveillance data from past CG competitions (2009-2019), institutional spending derived from the Athlete Medical Program, and fee-for-service rates for medical professionals derived from government reports. Expected costs were calculated using probabilities from logistic regression analyses and reported in Canadian Dollars as of 2023. A one-way deterministic sensitivity analysis was undertaken which varied annual spending by ±10%. Results: There were 15,717 injury events reported during initial and follow-up visits at on-site polyclinics between the 2009 and 2019 CG events (6 competitions). Median estimated treatment lengths during initial visits were highest for patellofemoral pain syndromes (30.0 [IQR = 15.0-33.5] minutes) and were highest during follow-up visits for impingement injuries (25.0 [IQR = 14.0-30.0] minutes). Knee, ankle, lumbar, shoulder/clavicle, and thigh injuries, had a cumulative average expected medical cost of about $103, $113, $383, $417, and $172, respectively, per event. After having incurred a knee injury, the average opportunity cost of being treated by a physician, a combination of athletic therapist/physiotherapist, or a combination of massage therapist/chiropractor, were $17, $184, and $35, respectively. 72% of athletes treated by a physician were referred for follow-up care. Overall, the total expected medical and opportunity cost of athletic injuries in CG per year were $156,620 and $378,574, respectively. Conclusion: This thesis reports on estimated medical and opportunity costs associated with treating various athletic injuries at on-site polyclinics at CG. Findings from our study can inform decision-making in medical management to support treatment protocol reform, while also informing economic evaluations of future CG or other elite sport competitions. More research is needed to estimate the broader health system and out-of-pocket costs of athletic injuries at elite sporting events beyond on-site polyclinics.

Work performed at the cellular level suggests that skeletal myosin light chain kinase (skMLCK) mediated phosphorylation of myosin participates in the regulation of muscle thermogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of skMLCK ablation, and resultant loss of myosin phosphorylation, on murine physiology and metabolism. To this end, we compared the morphology and metabolic rate of wildtype and skMLCK absent mice (skMLCK-/- ) in response to 10 weeks of high fat feeding. A larger metabolic challenge better tests the hypothesis that the ability to phosphorylate myosin RLC will aid wildtype mice (WT) in counteracting the obesogenic effects of a HFD more effectively than skMLCK-/- mice. Adult mice (8-12 weeks) of both genotypes were housed at 30°C (thermoneutrality) and randomly assigned to either a control or high fat feeding group (n = 8 per genotype, total of 32 mice). All mice were weighed twice weekly while dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used at baseline and at week 10 to detect changes in fat and fat-free mass. Metabolic measures such as kcal output as well as behavioural measures such as locomotion, fine movement and food intake were assessed biweekly. At the conclusion of the study, all mice were euthanized, and epididymal white adipose tissue, inguinal white adipose tissue and brown adipose tissue were removed and weighed. Based on cellular studies, it was expected that the absence of myosin phosphorylation would render the skMLCK-/- genotype more susceptible to weight gain than the WT genotype. Contrary to our hypothesis, in vitro data did not translate to effects on whole-body metabolism. WT mice were similarly susceptible to the same morphological and metabolic changes as the skMLCK-/- group when exposed to a high fat diet. Both genotypes consumed the same amount, however, the skMLCK-/- mice were less active and yet, both genotypes gained the same amount of weight. This may suggest a compensatory thermogenic pathway may be at play.

With the expansion of personal interactions to online spaces, specifically through social media, individual identity and self-concept development can be subjected to a variety of interactions, experiences, and comparisons. For pre-service teachers (PTs), interactions through social media can be experienced through a personal and professional lens. This research aimed to understand better the relationship between PT self-concept and social media use. A survey design method with Likert scale instruments was used to determine potential correlations between PT self-concept clarity and self-presentation across personal and professional spheres online. Univariate correlational analyses were run between the four Likert scale tools, and results indicated a weak, positive relationship between self-concept clarity and self-presentation. Self-concept differentiation was addressed by analyzing the open-ended questions at the end of the survey, using a thematic qualitative approach. Results of the qualitative analysis suggested that PTs exhibited a high level of self-concept differentiation as they considered the content of what they posted and presented online for both personal and professional accounts, meaning they accurately utilized the desired self-concept traits for the differing environments. The findings showed that PTs’ self-presentation in online spaces often aligned with their understanding of who they are and who they want to be, and they consider a variety of scenarios when presenting themselves online, including future careers, self-image, and the professionalism of teaching. The findings also showed that PTs compare themselves to others within the program, often feeling a sensation of intimidation, competitiveness, and perfectionism. An implication for teacher education is for programs to provide additional support for PTs who struggle to navigate the competitiveness of a professional program, their own professional identity, and the concept of moral and ethical duties within their roles as PTs and future teachers.

Dealing with feedback, managing uncertainty regarding writing expectations, and juggling multiple demands are all part of making progress with academic writing. Emotion regulation can enable an academic writer to manage these emotion-related experiences and contribute to writing productivity. A writing group might be particularly beneficial to provide emotion regulation support from others through interpersonal emotion regulation. The purpose of this research was to understand the emotion experiences of doctoral student writers while engaged in academic writing in a social context, the ways in which graduate students experience emotions related to their academic writing, how interpersonal emotion regulation is enacted in social writing contexts, and which intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies support academic writing productivity. To investigate these experiences, in the current collective case study research, four doctoral student writers were led individually through meme elicitation during an initial interview to explore their previous emotion experiences in academic writing. Subsequent multi-participant writing group sessions were offered online and video recorded to document the ways in which the participants and the group facilitator (the researcher) provided interpersonal emotion regulation in that context. During and after each writing group session, participants were invited to complete a brief questionnaire about their emotions and their experiences in the group. Final individual interviews provided participants the opportunity to recount their emotion experiences while writing in the group context. Findings indicate that these doctoral student writers experienced a wide variety of emotions in relation to their academic writing. Participants reported a desire to feel positive, activating emotions while they were engaged in academic writing. These same emotions, including happiness, contentment, and engagement, for example, were reported when they were most satisfied with their writing progress after a writing group session. These doctoral student writers used a variety of interpersonal emotion regulation techniques to support each other, most frequently empathic concern and validation. Participants found emotions to be an important factor in writing motivation. They reported using strategies such as breaking the task into smaller pieces, working for shorter time periods, and compartmentalizing their tasks when they were feeling unmotivated to write.

Human PI4K-IIIβ is an 89 kDa phosphatidylinositol (PI) kinase that phosphorylates its substrate headgroup at position C-4, thus producing PI(4)P. This phosphoinositide is the most abundant in the trans-Golgi network where it is essential for secretory vesicle formation, as well as the precursor for other phosphoinositides that are crucial for intracellular signalling. Among others, phosphoinositide homeostasis in eukaryotic membranes rely on PI kinases and PI transfer proteins (PITPs). In yeast, the PITP Sec14p is known to exchange PI and phosphatidylcholine between lipid bilayers in vitro and proposed to present PI to be phosphorylated by the PI4-kinase Pik1 in a heterotypic ligand exchange fashion. However, the precise mechanism by which this interaction occurs has yet to be elucidated. To explore how and if PITPs and PI4K-IIIβ work as hypothesized, we expressed and purified recombinant human PI4K-IIIβ in Escherichia coli and assayed lipid kinase activity using an optimized real-time, vesicle-based fluorescence assay. After comparing different affinity tags, deletion mutants and expressing cell lines, GST-tagged wild-type PI4K-IIIβ was chosen and expressed in Rosetta 2(DE3) cells with a 2.5-fold increase in the native protein yield when compared to other methods. Proteins were further purified by an addition heat shock protein removal wash. The resulting PI4K-IIIβ displayed activity comparable to the commercially available, insect cell expressed counterpart. Optimization of the activity assay afforded a robust assay that displayed protein concentration dependent response while using unilamellar liposomes as the substrate. Agreeing with previous reports, the activity of PI4K-IIIβ was greatly reduced by wortmannin and increased by Triton X-100. The activity of PI4K-IIIβ was tested in the presence of active human PITPα and PITPβ, as well as yeast Frequenin and Sec14p, but none of them elicited a reproducible enhancement on PI(4)P production by PI4K-IIIβ. A similar pattern was observed with the human PI3-kinase, PIK3C3. Our results demonstrate that a PI presentation model based on heterotypic exchange may not occur in vitro, suggesting either that PITPs’ role in phosphoinositide production could rely uniquely on maintaining sufficient PI pools in the Golgi membrane or that additional protein partners may be required for the regulation of PI4K-IIIβ by PITPs.

Background: School-based peer-led mental health literacy (MHL) programs may be effective tools to reduce stigma, and improve MHL and help seeking attitudes in adolescent populations. The objectives of this thesis were to evaluate the effectiveness of Jack Chapters—a school-based peer-led MHL program—on the mental health help seeking attitudes of Canadian secondary students at the (1) school- and (2) student-level in all students, and (3) in students with anxiety and/or depression. Methods: Linked survey data from the COMPASS study collected during the 2017/18 (T1) and 2018/19 (T2) academic years study were used. The total sample included 5808 students at 30 Ontario secondary schools, of which 3194 students had clinically-relevant anxiety and/or depression scores. COMPASS school-level and Jack Chapters data were used to determine the intervention schools (i.e., schools that implemented Jack Chapters at both timepoints). Four control schools were matched per one intervention school based on school size and urbanicity. A t-test was used to compare the difference in help-seeking reluctancy at the school-level by study group and between timepoints. Generalized logistic mixed models were used to determine the effectiveness of the Jack Chapters program on help seeking attitudes at the student-level between timepoints. Results: At the school-level, there was a significantly greater increase in help seeking reluctancy between intervention schools compared to control schools from T1 to T2. In both the total sample and the subsample, there were higher odds of students being reluctant to seek help at T2 if they were reluctant at T1, however, study group was not a significant predictor of this relationship. Having lower family and friend support were associated with an increase in reluctancy at T2 for both the total and subsample populations, and in the total sample, an increase in school connectedness was associated with a decrease in reluctancy at T2. Conclusions: This study adds to the sparse literature on the effectiveness of improving school-based peer-led MHL initiatives on mental health help seeking attitudes among adolescent populations. Despite the strengths of Jack Chapters, our null results indicate that programming can improve. Findings may inform program targeting for specific populations within the school.