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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- ItemVANL-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, TarekThis 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.
- ItemThe 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, FaisalCanada 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.
- ItemThe 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, AlanThis 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
- ItemConstitutional Interventions: Constitutional Litigation, Third-Party Interventions, The Supreme Court of Canada, and Mobilization in Legislative Replies(University of Guelph, ) Nicolaides, Eleni; Riddell, TroyThe 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.
- ItemInfluence of immersion in a space-like environment on taste and odour perception(University of Guelph, ) Tran, Alicia; Duizer, LisaExisting 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.