Theses & Dissertations - Harvested by LAC

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This collection contains all non-embargoed theses and dissertations that comply with Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) Theses Canada harvesting requirements. All theses and dissertations that are suitable for harvesting are automatically mapped into this collection and will be harvested into the Theses Canada collection.

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Indigenous Language Loss, Barriers to Acquisition, and Relationality: Perspectives and Knowledge of Indigenous Students, Staff and Faculty at the university of guelph
(University of Guelph) Martens, Spencer; Varghese, Jeji
According to UNESCO every Indigenous language in canada falls under vulnerable to critically endangered categorizations with the majority falling into categories of endangered, severely, or critically endangered (Norris and UNESCO 2010). While the loss of language on its own is alarming, the impact of the loss of Indigenous languages has been linked to the loss of generational, ancestral knowledge, culture, environmental wisdom, and health. There are other dimensions that still need to be explored in relation to language loss. This study explores language loss, barriers to acquisition and how the loss of Indigenous languages may impact relations. This study was made possible through the sharing of perspectives and knowledge of Indigenous students, staff, and faculty at the university of guelph. This study was conducted through semi- structured interviews with seven participants and photo-voice with one participant. The findings suggest: altered relationships with the loss of language; barriers to Indigenous language acquisition, which can result in negative views of self and altered views of others; and, that this loss is rooted in historic violence, injustice and colonial policy. Throughout this research there were discussions of steps forward to revitalization and reclamation of Indigenous languages. Understanding that Indigenous languages are endangered makes this a critical time to explore what may be resulting from this loss.
The impact of evolution in wheat milling on sugar bioaccessibility
(University of Guelph) Hosney, Hala; Rogers, Michael; Joye, Iris
With obesity and diabetes reaching pandemic statuses over the past few decades, the need to regulate postprandial glucose levels via dietary interventions is rising. Maintaining starchy food’s intact native structures and retaining larger particle sizes through minimizing processing is a current strategy to modulate starch digestion in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Older processing methods are gaining popularity in preserving food’s native structures. However, since these techniques have been reintroduced into the food industry, their impact on food structure, digestibility, and nutrient bioaccessibility is understudied. Hard red wheat was milled by ancient (pestle and mortar), old (stone hand mill), and modern (roller and cyclone) milling techniques. Milling power was reflected in the particle size profiles of the resulting flours. Ancient flour (AF) was the coarsest flour (~70% of the particles have diameters exceeding 1000 μm), retaining the most intact structures. Old wholemeal flour (OWF) and old refined flour (ORF) had a similar particle size distribution that exceeded in diameter the modern refined flour (MRF) and modern wholemeal flour (MWF). In vitro starch digestibility assessed using TIM Gastrointestinal Model (TIM-1) show that porridges made with MRF and MWF had higher cumulative sugar bioaccessibility than those made with OWF and AF, with ORF porridge having an intermediate cumulative sugar bioaccessibility. The maximum sugar bioaccessibility and sugar release rate were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for MRF and MWF compared to OWF and AF porridges, while the induction times were shorter, demonstrating the importance of processing on modulating starch digestibility. In the second experiment, luminescence spectroscopy and molecular rotors (MRs) coupled with the TIM-1 model examine the in situ luminal viscosity of three starch samples with varying amylose-to-amylopectin ratio: normal, high amylose (AM) and high amylopectin (AP). TIM-1 secretions and pH did not influence MR emission, so digesta fluorescence intensity (FI) measurements were sensitive to viscosity changes during in vitro digestion. In the TIM-1 gastric compartment, samples can be arranged from highest to lowest FI, and thus viscosity was high AM > high AP > normal maize starches. This method can track changes in luminal viscosity in vitro when the microviscosity represents bulk viscosity.
COVID-19 and Food Firm Dynamics: Are Productive Agri-Food Firms More Resilient to the COVID-19 Pandemic?
(University of Guelph) Mutabazi, Alain; Hailu, Getu; Leung, Danny
Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, business owners encountered significant challenges because of widespread economic shutdowns mandated by restrictions and shifts in customer behaviour prompted by physical distancing measures. Specifically, businesses that were less productive or financially constrained prior to the pandemic were more susceptible to closure. Using microdata from Statistics Canada, I examine the effect of pre-COVID-19 pandemic productivity on firm closure during the pandemic. The findings of the study reveal that agri-food firms with lower pre-pandemic productivity were more inclined to cease their operations. Further analyses indicate that this effect vary across sectors, with generally stronger effects on food service and hospitality. Our findings have strong policy and welfare implications.
Additional fungicides for the management of Cercospora beticola of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.)- efficacy and integration
(University of Guelph) Dervaric, Christine; McDonald, Mary Ruth
Field trials were conducted in 2020 and 2021 to investigate the efficacy of a phosphite based fungicide and integration of this fungicide into spray programs for the management of Cercospora leaf spot (CLS) (Cercospora beticola Sacc.) of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). Results showed that phosphites were not effective for the management of CLS. The addition of the phosphites based fungicide did not decrease the area under the disease progress stairs or disease severity on the final rating date. Applying fungicides using calendar- based timing resulted in fewer fungicide applications per year in comparison to BEETcastTM timing of applications. Phosphite applied to agar plates at concentrations 0.01-100 uL/mL did not inhibit mycelium growth of C. beticola. The number of necrotic lesions was not reduced during detached leaf assays treated with 0.019 uL/mL phosphite and C. beticola added 72 hrs after fungicide exposure.
On Rice and Weddings: An Investigation of the Impacts of Indonesia’s Raskin Program on the Incidence of Child Marriage
(University of Guelph) Lorenz, Aaron; Lee, Yu Na
We investigate the role that food security plays in a family’s decision to arrange early marriages for their daughters. Specifically, we study Indonesia’s Raskin program, the world’s largest food assistance program. We implement household fixed effects to control for endogenous selection to the Raskin program, allowing us to compare siblings by isolating the within-household variation in the exposure to the program. When controlling for household-level selection to the program, the Raskin program had no significant impact on the incidence of child marriage. We investigate potential mechanisms behind this relationship by exploring the effect of premarital transactions, religion, and cultural institutions.
Engaged Multiculturalism: Rethinking Inclusion in the Context of Racial Injustice
(University of Guelph) Ozalli, Ilknur; Brennan, Samantha
Liberal analysis of the multicultural framework offers a universalist perspective on the issues of minority cultural groups' accommodations and specifically the experiences of minority women. This dissertation presents a critique to the liberal formulations of cultural recognition and urges a recalibration of the aims of multiculturalism towards securing racial justice. My thesis proposes an engaged methodology to the category of multiculturalism, suggesting that a just account of multiculturalism cannot be developed independently of race relations and their gendered layers between dominant and nondominant groups. This thesis takes Canadian multiculturalism to the center of the analysis to draw out the lapses of the liberal execution of multiculturalism. The engaged investigation of the content of multiculturalism is guided by the Women of Colour feminisms that endorse a nonideal and relational interpretation of political subjectivity textures based on the relationship between race, gender and culture. I examine the works of Charles W. Mills, Himani Bannerji, Naomi Zack, and Maria Lugones to encourage a multiculturalism theorization that recognizes the interrelation of human groups in their heterogeneous multiplicities and dynamic formation in societies, and targets correcting injustices based on race and gender in socioeconomic structures.
The Effects of Individual and Environmental Variation on a Food Hoarding Rodent’s Stored Resources
(University of Guelph) Bohn, Shelby; Newman, Amy
Many animals collect food during the present to store for later, a behaviour that is known as ‘hoarding’. Food hoarding allows animals to ensure their own future resource availability, rather than relying on resources in the environment, especially if the cost of foraging is prone to fluctuation. This behaviour has evolved repeatedly in animals, and it is widely accepted that this is because food hoarding conveys a fitness benefit. Yet despite this ecological and evolutionary advantage, the mechanisms and circumstances that influence food hoarding behaviour are still poorly understood. In this thesis, I use a multi-phase experiment with captive Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) to integrate information about resource fluctuations, individual behavioural variation, and internal energy balance to understand how food hoarding is connected to both an individual’s internal and external environment. In Chapter 2, I show that hamsters do not hoard additional food when faced with alternating days of good and bad foraging conditions, as predicted for fat storing animals in fluctuating environments by Optimal Foraging Theory’s ‘Insurance Principle’. In Chapter 3, I establish that hamsters store the majority of energy exogenously in their hoard rather than endogenously as fat. I also show that this behaviour is repeatable, that is, variable among individual hamsters but consistent within the same hamster over time. In Chapter 4, I demonstrate that despite minimal endogenous fat storage, as shown in the previous chapter, the hormone leptin, a primary endocrine regulator of energy balance, is related to fat and energy consumption rather than food hoards directly. Taken together, the results of my thesis contribute to our understanding of the environmental circumstances and internal mechanisms that influence food hoarding in Syrian hamsters. In this thesis I demonstrate that while food hoarding as a behaviour is highly variable among individuals, and consistent within individuals, the accumulated hoard itself does not appear to be physiologically maintained analogously to endogenous fat stores or responsive in the same ways to environmental fluctuation. Understanding how animals combine their physiology and behaviour to effectively meet energetic demand during environmental fluctuation is critical, especially as the Anthropocene environment becomes increasingly unpredictable.
Fishery-based Livelihoods in a Changing and Complex Fish Food Environment in Cameroon, Central Africa
(University of Guelph) Richard, Nyiawung; Philip, Loring
Coastal communities in Cameroon and around the world are experiencing rapid sociopolitical and environmental changes that have direct impacts on their livelihoods. This dissertation explores how change and surprises from multiple sources of stress and uncertainty in small-scale fisheries system in Cameroon, Central Africa, creates complexities in the fish food environment, and impacts fishery-based livelihoods. The dissertation also examines how fishing actors are utilizing their existing capital assets to implement different response strategies to multiple stressors. I used the Sustainable Livelihood, Fish-as-food, and the Adapt-React-Cope theoretical frameworks, with a mixed-method approach which included interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and in-person field surveys with fishing actors in Cameroon to explore impacts and responses to change and surprise. I found that the small-scale fisheries system in my research locales are vulnerable to unfolding systemic changes and unpredictable shocks, affecting resilience. The empirical results show that overdependence and overfishing activities are causing degradation of the fisheries system with a rapid decline in fish catch. Shortages in fish supply affects activities along the fish value chain with direct impact on fishery-based livelihoods and food security problems through changes and complexities in the fish food environment. However, local actors in the fisheries system are implementing various coping, reacting, and adaptive response strategies to changes and surprises as they unfold, although responses are limited to their access to different forms of capital assets. While this dissertation makes scholarly contribution to research on impacts and responses within small-scale fisheries, there is a major lack of information on the baseline circumstances and condition of this fisheries system necessary to effectively measure how long-terms harms of sociopolitical and environmental change are accruing and to better plan for resilience. Hence, we need to start measuring and monitoring the ongoing burden that fishing dependent households are already dealing with and direct interventions towards restorative actions that help people recover from the harm they are experience and compensate them for these harms in ways that makes them more prepared and empowered to respond in the future.
Smallholder Farmers' Climate Adaptation Practices and the Digitalization of Climate-Smart Agriculture in Ghana, Sub-Saharan Africa
(University of Guelph) Quarshie, Philip; Fraser, Evan
This thesis investigates the complexities of Ghana's rural farmers' climate adaptation practices and the prospect of digitalization of climate-smart agriculture practices in smallholding agriculture. Specifically, I asked five critical research questions, i.e., (I) How is Place conceptualized in farmers' climate adaptation practices in rural Ghana? (II) What is the reality of farmers' current adaptation strategies to climate change in rural Ghana? (III) How can we know if Climate-smart Agriculture practices promote sustainable food system outcomes? (IV) What is the reality of farmers' perception of climate-smart agriculture practices within the context of sustainable food systems? and (V) How are digital tools used in climate adaptation practices, and how can their efficiency be enhanced? The research adopted the mixed-method case study approach involving (critical) literature reviews and participatory learning methods, including expert interviews, farmer-focused group discussion, large-scale household surveys, and farmer practices observation to investigate lived experiences and the dynamics of farmers' climate adaptation practices. I expend this work using the development studies research approach while viewing these research questions through the analytic lens of Geography Place Concepts, 'Everyday Adaptation and interrupted Agency' Concepts, Agency Theory, Sustainable livelihood, and Climate-Smart Agriculture for Climate-Smart Village frameworks. The study drew four significant conclusions, i.e.; (I) The "Sense of Place" of smallholder farmers influences them to choose multi-diverse and complementary place-based climate adaptation strategies, (II) Government and (i)NGOs promoted climate adaptation strategies that interrupt farmer's Agency, ultimately undermines farmers interest and Sense of Place, (III) The prospect for climate-smart agriculture practices and interventions to promote sustainable food systems outcomes in smallholding agriculture is bleak, and (IV) Digitalization of climate-smart agriculture practices in smallholding agriculture is sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. The study calls for urgent investment in basic interventions supporting thriving smallholding agriculture, such as assets, markets, infrastructure, capacity building, etc. Furthermore, a 'glocal' effort is needed to support climate adaptation practices which promote the sense of place and Agency of farmers. Finally, expanding critical drivers of rural non-farm economic activities through effective policy frameworks is crucial in opening opportunities for diverse adaptation options for Ghana and Africa's rural farmers.
Genetic dissection of bacterial brown spot and common bacterial blight resistance in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)
(University of Guelph) Rodrigues-Correa, Caio; Gillard, Chris
Dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important legume crop for direct human consumption, known for being a high plant-based source of protein, starches, and fibres. Bacterial blights are recurring constraints in Ontario and the development of resistant varieties is the most sustainable and cost-effective management strategy. Therefore, the goals of the present study were to evaluate bacterial brown spot (BBS) and common bacterial blight (CBB) resistance levels in Ontario-adapted genotypes, and to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with resistance. Field and indoor trials were conducted to phenotype plants for disease severity, and mapping populations were developed for QTL identification. Disease severity scores varied among genotypes, with higher scores for CBB compared to BBS. A total of 20 and 18 major QTL were discovered for BBS and CBB, respectively. The identified QTL can potentially be incorporated into molecular breeding programs to improve the selection of resistant genotypes.
Ontological Commitments in Scientific Explanation
(University of Guelph) Moazzenzadeh, Jahangir; Wayne, Andrew
Explanation is an essential aim of science, and the dominant approach to scientific explanation is causal. According to causal accounts, scientific theories explain phenomena by appealing to causes or causal mechanisms. Wesley Salmon and James Woodward defend a causal approach to scientific explanation in the two main but different causal approaches in the literature. These two approaches clearly introduce and defend ontological commitments in a scientific theory of explanation. However, since the mid-2000s, there has been a defence of non-causal approaches that we call the new generation of defenders of non-causal explanations (compared to Hempel, Kitcher and their followers). This new generation introduces examples in different scientific fields like physics, mathematics, biology, and neuroscience, where causal explanations do not work. They argue for the need for non-causal explanations in these cases. However, this new generation is silent about the ontological implications of non-causal explanations. We argue that even these non-causal approaches have ontological commitments to weakly emergent properties and entities. To defend non-causal approaches to explanation, this new generation appeals to the role of scientific models in scientific explanation. They follow Ronald Giere's approach to scientific models, according to which scientific theories represent the target systems through scientific models, not mere physical laws. Some philosophers, Like Alisa Bokulich, go further than Giere and argue that, in some important cases, "fictional models" have explanatory power. She refers to semiclassical mechanics to defend these fictional models' explanatory power. We agree with the unavoidable role of non-causal accounts in scientific explanations. Also, we agree with Bokulich to defend the explanatory power of these highly idealized models in science. However, contrary to Bokulich, we argue that these semiclassical models include weakly emergent properties that give them explanatory power. To this aim, we introduce and defend weak emergentism and its two main characteristics. Then we show that these highly idealized models satisfy these two conditions and have weakly emergent properties. Finally, we use this approach in three more examples (damped oscillators, universal macro-behaviours, and rainbows) to show that even non-causal approaches to explanation have ontological commitments to weakly emergent properties.
Posthuman Labour Solidarity and the Dialectics of Animal Community: Confronting the Contradictions of Anthropocentrism Through Cinematic Imaginaries
(University of Guelph) Trenbeth, Gordon; Deveaux, Monique
This thesis takes a novel solidarity-based approach to posthuman theory which engages with a diversity of core reference points in the western philosophical canon to demystify the nature of moral questions about the nonhuman world. The immediacy of anthropogenic climate collapse, mass species extinction, and global warming are central characteristics of our alienation from nature, ourselves, and each other, and this is the motivating premise of the project. What I intend to demonstrate is that the problem of motivating commitment to restorative action and justice is one which requires that we address first the inherent shortcomings of the philosophical frameworks we use to generate our arguments, and that this process must involve paying more attention to how these notions are conveyed in sites of cultural production, by which I mean the various artistic experiences which make our social arrangements meaningful. I argue that making political realities relevant and plausible is, necessarily, in part an aesthetic matter, and I demonstrate this via a series of close readings of films which are threaded through each chapter as a means of working through both the problems in theory and applied topics alike. I first address the obstacles to actualizing our conclusions about posthuman or normative-interspecies questions from within the liberal, rationalist enlightenment tradition. I suggest that deontological or neo-Kantian conventions are imbued in all of our established models of reasoning, particularly ones which purport to be more objective or rigorous, like those under the STEM umbrella. I argue that these are also insidiously present in models which explicitly resist these tendencies, like affect and empathy theory, or solidarity and ecosocialist theory. This phenomenon of compromised reasoning is a result of unresolved contradictions between resistant or revolutionary models of reasoning and dominant, oppressive models of reasoning which must be worked through dialectically, not just by correcting or refining our analysis, but by revolutionizing the methodology itself. I argue that all ways of knowing must be attended to as inherently political and thereby class-ordering when realized within conditions of injustice. Accordingly, readings of film in my project serve to illustrate not just the ubiquity of political attitudes downstream of our dominant reasoning models, but also work against or resist this tendency by showing how moral and political sentiments about community, whether human or posthuman, have a material or grounded logic which is most freely explored as an aesthetic experience. I posit that the nature of these problems of interspecies community building is fundamentally one of institutional injustice and alienation. Since solidarity is simply the intersubjective capacity to see, in a self-actualizing other, interests which we share, injustice must be realized through a priori, principled erosion of perceptiveness in our affective and epistemic frameworks carried out by institutional convention. Ultimately, I suggest as a solution an affect-based solidarity approach which is only coherently articulated as a flexible, posthuman notion of community qua a dynamic arrangement of interspecies labour relationships, where labour is conceived as an acting out of creative and productive energy.
Probing the Spatial Acuity of the Thigh for Enhanced Sensory
(University of Guelph) Genaro, Daniel; Bent, Leah
Amputation impairs sensory feedback and limb movement. Embedding tactile displays in transfemoral prosthetic sockets to convey movement cues through varied vibration patterns is seen as a promising avenue. To optimize the functionality of such displays, it is essential to determine the minimum distance required to discriminate between two distinct sources of vibration. This thesis aims to address this crucial requirement and explore any variations in the ability to perceive distinct vibration points due to vibration frequency. The distances needed for discerning separate vibration points at the thigh were determined to be between 25mm and 30 mm. Results highlight that frequency did not enhance spatial acuity. The findings also revealed a higher accuracy in discriminating vertically oriented vibration points compared to horizontally oriented ones. This thesis' outcomes offer important insights for designing a tactile display that enables users to precisely perceive and respond to various vibration patterns.
Genetic Architecture of Variation in Growth and Feeding-Related Traits in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Chronically Exposed to Warmer Water Temperatures
(University of Guelph) Konstantinov, Nikita; Danzmann, Roy; Ferguson, Moira
I characterized the genetic architecture of growth- and feeding-related traits as indicators of animal performance in rainbow trout exposed to atypical (warmer) temperatures over a chronic timescale (64 days). Most of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with variation in weight specific growth rate (adjusted for initial body weight) (WSGR-adjusted) were located on two chromosomes, Omy05 and Omy20, based on the genome wide association analysis. Candidate gene analysis identified 2125 unique rainbow trout genes located within 100kb of significant SNPs. Ontology analysis for the biological processes of these genes revealed assignments to neurotransmission, cellular processes, cell structure, signalling, and development. Analysis of feeding-related traits detected fewer significant SNPs, but the associated genes were characterized by similar biological processes as WSGR-adjusted. My results suggest that the genetic variants for growth rate identified here could be used to improve the performance of Ontario rainbow trout exposed to heightened summer temperatures.
Black Spots and Carelessness - Syphilis and Societal Contagion in William Hogarth's Graphic Satire
(University of Guelph) Deuters, Alexander Kye Roland; Smylitopoulos, Christina
This thesis examines the depiction of syphilis within the major modern moral progresses of eighteenth-century British artist William Hogarth. Specifically, I examine the significance of the black spot to indicate a venereal sore that Hogarth was so apt to include throughout his oeuvre. I argue that Hogarth depicts the pox in a holistic way to highlight the social ills plaguing British society. The objects of analysis to articulate my argument include three of Hogarth’s multi-episodic modern moral progresses: A Harlot’s Progress, A Rake’s Progress, and Marriage À-la-Mode. By utilizing an intertheoretical approach relating to theories and concepts of care and vulnerability, I analyze how Hogarth portrayed London and by extension Britain as a careless society.
VANL-100: Shaking up the Game of Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3beta Inhibition in SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cells
(University of Guelph) Pfeifer, Julia; Kalisch, Bettina; Saleh, Tarek
This thesis introduces VANL-100, a conjugate of alpha-lipoic acid and naringenin, as a novel inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK3B). Immunoblotting analysis in SH-SY5Y cells evidenced this through increased GSK3B phosphorylation at serine-9. Interestingly, neither of the parent compounds of VANL-100, individually or combined without a chemical bond, achieved inhibition of GSK3B, underscoring the significance of conjugate therapy. VANL-100 was then benchmarked against CHIR99021, a gold-standard GSK3B inhibitor. Immunofluorescence illustrated that both compounds seemed to notably promote nuclear migration of beta-catenin, a key GSK3B target. Cell viability assays highlighted VANL-100 and its ability to boost neuroblastoma cell viability, whereas CHIR99021 diminished it. Critically, VANL-100 outperformed CHIR99021 in counteracting cell loss due to amyloid beta toxicity. These findings spotlight the significant potential of VANL-100 for GSK3B inhibition and advocate for its continued exploration across diverse disease models.
The Relationship Between State Funded Resource Development Infrastructure and Indigenous Jurisdiction: An Analysis of Two Development Projects in Nunavut, Canada
(University of Guelph) Peres, Megan; Stanley, Anna; Moola, Faisal
Canada is a resource-rich nation within a context of unfinished settler colonialism. The settler state is consistently working to manage the reality of Indigenous jurisdiction while attempting to assert sovereignty over the land. Indigenous jurisdiction threatens the settler state’s ability to extract value from the land. This research aims to understand the present-day relationship between Indigenous jurisdiction and resource development infrastructure (RDI). Specifically, it aims to understand how two current infrastructure projects in Nunavut engage Inuit jurisdiction. RDI is intended to expand access to resources for extraction, especially in remote areas. The findings suggest that resource development infrastructure developed with Inuit organizations as proponents is a method through which the settler state manages the threat posed by Inuit jurisdiction to expand access to Inuit lands. This research provides a foundation for further Indigenous-led, empirical, and theoretical research on ongoing settler colonialism and publicly funded resource development infrastructure in Canada that could help illuminate pathways toward decolonization.
The Changing State of (Female) Play: Expansion, Continuities, and Rebuilding in Women and Girls’ Sport in Nazi and Occupied Germany, 1933-1949
(University of Guelph) Campbell, Sarah; McDougall, Alan
This thesis explores the changes in German women and girls’ sport in Nazi and Occupied Germany from 1933 to 1949. Rather than a period of suppression, this thesis argues that the era of National Socialism was one of expansion and continuity of German female athleticism, and that women took those tools into the postwar era of foreign occupation and used them as a basis of German rebuilding. Through the Nazi youth organization, the League of German Girls, multiple Nazi sport initiatives for women, and the incorporation of female Olympic athletes into Nazi propaganda, female participation in, and leadership of, sport expanded under National Socialism. After the Second World War, women continued to practice and organize sport as a means of rebuilding German society under foreign occupation, resulting in women’s sport becoming a normalized, and often celebrated, part of postwar German culture and identity
Constitutional Interventions: Constitutional Litigation, Third-Party Interventions, The Supreme Court of Canada, and Mobilization in Legislative Replies
(University of Guelph) Nicolaides, Eleni; Riddell, Troy
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) makes constitutional law decisions with wide-ranging policy impacts. These rulings are made in the context of legal submissions by parties and various third-party interveners, including government and interest group actors. Yet, little scholarly attention has been paid to how legal and political mobilization by actors or groups may shape both the SCC’s rulings and legislatures’ subsequent policy-making decisions. To this end, this doctoral thesis studies 71 constitutional law cases decided by the SCC from 2009-2019 with 581 interventions by 256 unique interveners. It tracks success rates of litigants and interveners in having their policy positions (concerning the constitutionality of the laws) adopted by the SCC. It finds that there is a clear group of most frequent and most frequently successful interveners, including attorneys general, civil liberties associations, lawyers’ groups, and legal clinics. The research also demonstrates correlations between interventions (by top repeat interveners, majorities of government interveners, or majorities of all interveners) and the Court’s policy positions. Lastly, the research assesses existing explanations of interventions to build an explanation consistent with the constitutional cases studied. The thesis also examines legislative policy-making replies to the SCC’s decisions, and the role of interest group mobilization therein. For example, in cases with Charter infringements, legislative responses almost always complied with the judicial decisions; in rare instances of legislative avoidance or non-compliance, replies were consistent with third-party interventions and counter-mobilization. In Charter cases in which the laws were upheld, judicial decisions tended to solidify the policy status quo, though some exceptions include legislative non-compliance and reversal, a test of constitutional limits, an instance of ‘losers’ winning, and codification of the judicial ruling. Only one of the non-Charter cases in which the law was upheld was followed by policy change, which tested the constitutional limits. Most of the legislative replies to decisions which upheld the laws were formulated in the seeming absence of mobilization to the contrary, though one exception was mobilization by law enforcement and others to restrict access to supervised consumption sites following PHS. Finally, in non-Charter cases where the laws were deemed unconstitutional, a minority of cases involved policy change (generally) in compliance with the judicial decisions.
Influence of immersion in a space-like environment on taste and odour perception
(University of Guelph) Tran, Alicia; Duizer, Lisa
Existing literature suggests that environmental factors (i.e., sound and smell) may contribute to a change in sensory perception of food eaten in space, however, this has yet to be fully investigated. To explore the effects of environmental space-like conditions on taste and odour perception, two studies were conducted. The first study investigated the effect of environmental International Space Station (ISS) sounds played through headphones on intensity of the five basic tastes. The second study immersion in a space-like environment on odour perception and emotional responses. Results showed that environmental ISS sounds of 70 dB had no effect on taste perception, and odour perception and emotional responses may be influenced by different odours and light conditions. Further studies must be performed under more representative conditions and with more dynamic food systems to fully characterize the effect of environmental factors on perception of taste and odour in space.

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