Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)

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This UVic award encourages undergraduates to pursue innovative and original research and enhance learning while providing a valuable preparatory experience towards graduate studies or a research related career.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 637

Marginalia and Annotation in Victoria, McPherson Library, MS.Eng.1
(2016-04-12) Blackall, Alanna
Victoria, McPherson Library MS Eng.1, a late fifteenth-century copy of John Lydgate’s The Fall of Princes, is one of few complete medieval manuscripts housed at UVic; it is our only Middle English manuscript. In 1978, Anthony Edwards assessed it in the journal Manuscripta and claimed, “the Victoria [Lydgate] manuscript is unlikely to be a text of great significance to students.” This project openly challenges Edward’s appraisal through study of the manuscript and its poem, with special focus on its marginalia. The Victoria Lydgate is a valuable resource, and its marginalia in particular opens multiple avenues of research on medieval and early modern readership and book ownership. Although the main text is Middle English, the marginalia is trilingual—Middle English, Latin, and French—and it consists of structural markings (e.g., section labels or titles not introduced by the original scribe), scribal notations and corrections, an early modern signature (“Wyllham Fermer”), and commentary on the text. The main goal of this project was to transcribe and catalogue all of the marginalia; from there, commonalities and reoccurrences in annotation and marginalia were collated and examined. This project examines medieval female readership as well as medieval and early modern reader-text interaction within the context of Victoria, McPherson Library, MS.Eng1.
Technology to Support Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Dementia: A Survey of Home Care Clinicians
(2016-04-12) Payne, Alayna; Sheets, Debra; Beach, Cheryl
Frail seniors, many with multiple health conditions, represent a clinically complex and rapidly growing population within the health care system. Dementia is a common condition that in 2011, an estimated 15% (747,000) of Canadians age 65 and older, are diagnosed with (Alzheimer Society, 2012). Many of these individuals live at home in the community, experiencing an increased risk for adverse events (e.g., falls, delirium wandering) due to unmet care needs and lack of support. The numbers of older adults with dementia will nearly triple by 2050 and this will profoundly tax healthcare resources, particularly with regards to delivery of home care (United Nations, 2013; Rashidi & Mihailidis, 2013). Technologies have an important role in helping individuals remain in their homes, as clients with dementia are more likely to be admitted to residential care prematurely. Additionally, Technology can positively influence caregiving by alleviating demand for home care services and supports. Home care nurses are a key access point to home care technologies for their clients and thus it is crucial to understand their priorities and perceptions of client needs in relation to technology and the benefits of technology utilization. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of home care clinicians regarding the use of technologies with three main objectives: gain and understanding of the attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of home care clinicians, identify barriers to technology implementation and utilization and, investigate caregiving priorities for the clinicians perspective. Method: A fifteen-minute online survey using likert scale items was conducted with home care clinicians working in Island Health, in the BC region. A convenience sample was used, yielding 47 participants. Data were cleaned and analyzed using Excel to generate descriptive statistics. Results: Findings identify priorities for home-based technologies and barriers to use in the home care settings. Discussion. Given the growing role of technology in our everyday lives, the potential of technology to assist with caregiving is significant; however, to date technology use has been limited. Findings indicate that further development and evidence is required for technologies to meet the caregiving needs of persons with dementia.
There's an App for That: Intersecting mHealth and Depression Research
(2016-04-12) Foote, Alyssa
Mental health disorders are a growing health concern worldwide. Major depressive disorder, commonly known as depression, is of particular concern, especially among the younger population. However, the way current health care systems operate, there are not enough resources, physicians, and other caregivers available to keep up with this growing problem. We are living in an information and technology age where increasing numbers of people like the convenience and ease of mobile applications and have come to rely upon them. My research investigates published studies on how non web based mobile applications can be used to help treat depression.
Corporatizing Conservation: An Analysis of Funding and Board Membership of Canadian Land Trusts
(2016-04-12) Price, Christina
Private land trusts have become an important avenue for biodiversity conservation today and, in Canada, land trusts are growing rapidly in size and scope. The goal of this research was to study trends in funding of major land trusts, such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada, over the past 15 years to investigate the relationship between conservation and the private sector in Canada. Data were acquired by reviewing annual financial reports and categorizing donor and board member information. An overall trend of increasing corporate funding to the major land trusts studied was observed, as well as an increasing percentage of board members with major corporate affiliations, especially those in the resource and extraction industries. There was also a trend towards increasing government funding, especially federal funding. Conservation occurs in a distinct political, social, and economic context, and understanding these relationships can help illuminate the power and governance landscape of major non-state conservation initiatives in Canada. This study supports the hypothesis that there is an increasing trend in the number and types of relationships and partnerships that exist between the corporate-capitalist sector and major conservation organizations. Further research will help determine how these observations may be changing the nature of conservation in Canada.
A Forest of Code: Visualizing the Release Information of the Linux Kernel
(2016-04-12) Wilde, Evan
With an average of over 900 top-level merges into the Linux kernel per release, maintenance of older versions of the kernel becomes nearly impossible. Maintainers must be able to understand how changes to the current vision of the kernel fit into older versions of the kernel. This presents the need for a tool to provide meaningful explanation of what is happening in the kernel. Our goal is to design a web-based system capable of visualizing the commit and release information of the Linux kernel in a meaningful way.
Elder Abuse in Informal Care Settings: Literature review of prevalence and best practices for prevention
(2016-04-26) Hoffman, Alexander
As the population of elderly in Canada outpaces youth, the number of seniors choosing to remain at home is increasing, and a growing number rely on care from family or acquaintances rather than professionals. These individuals comprise a group which is understudied, and which may be vulnerable to increased instances of elder abuse; research indicates these cycles are cyclical and intergenerational. In order to provide an illustration of complex issues facing vulnerable older Canadians living at home, we attempt to identify the specific needs of these elders. This study examines: information and knowledge gaps in Canadian reports, legal definitions across provinces and territories, current American and Canadian research on prevalence, cultural factors, emerging social theories of prevention, best practices for prevention, and future uses for data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). We conclude that the current legislation and response models do not meet the needs of Canadian elders in informal care situations, aid resources in British Columbia would benefit from implementing a multidisciplinary model for response efforts, and that CLSA data represents a promising resource for prevalence and correlative studies.
A Theory of Social Norms and Migration
(2016-04-26) Lam, Alexander
The goal of this research project is to show how economic theory and methodology can be used to explain political phenomena in compelling ways. An analysis of advocacy and activism explains why "vocal minority" and "silent majority" phenomena exist, and moreover why opposing belief groups may be unable to influence societal beliefs. An analysis of social incentives for migration describes the process of political segregation and polarization.
Client Perspectives on HIV Supported Care: Developing service models and outcome tools
(2016-04-26) Bruce, Danielle
The purpose of this research project is to assist with the transcription, coding and analysis of interviews done with HIV supported housing clients in Western Canada. Interview analysis will assist the research team in identifying ways that HIV supported housing programs can be improved and identify potential outcomes that can be measured. Additionally, the goal of this project is to create a combined logic model from the logic models of the four HIV housing agencies (SHARP, McLaren, Dr Peter, and Sanctum) and integrate perspectives from the interviews into the model to highlight the differences between the outcomes of the individual agencies and the goals of the individual clients.
Creating Community within the Child and Youth Care Student Society
(2016-04-27) Ibrahim, Warda; Goulet, Daniele
In 2015, the JCURA research student projects conducted surveys to both on campus and distance students in the undergraduate Child and Youth Care program at the University of Victoria. The focus was on their sense of belonging to the School of Child and Youth Care (SCYC) and the Child and Youth Care Students’ Society (CYCSS). They provided several recommendations for further study. The focus of our research was towards examining the factors that exist as to why international students and transfer students (new students coming on campus with diplomas from other institutions) do not feel as though they belong within the Child and Youth Care community. Furthermore, our research aims to provide informative recommendations for the CYCSS and SCYC to promote improvements of international students' sense of belonging. Our research methodology was to facilitate one focus group each with a sample population of International students and transfer students using a semi-structured interview process and then to do a thorough qualitative analysis of the data.
Exploring Student Spirituality: A survey creation project with Multifaith Services
(2016-04-27) De Vynck, Emma
My interest in the spiritual lives of university students led me to connect with UVic’s Multifaith Services (MFS). MFS noted the need for a comprehensive spirituality survey that could guide their future work. I completed a literature search on student spirituality, consulted with various spiritual leadership voices on campus, and thoughtfully crafted the survey. The survey remains under review and will likely be distributed in the coming year. I valued the opportunity to enhance my research toolkit throughout this process. Ultimately, my hope is that the survey will contribute to the development of welcoming, supportive, and accessible spiritual spaces for the UVic community.
Power, Neoliberalism and Blame Avoidance: Why University Officials Resist Divestment
(2016-04-27) Jorgenson, Ida
The Fossil Fuel Divestment movement has experienced rapid growth in recent years, primarily based on the argument that ‘if it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage’, but Canadian universities are still resisting calls to divest their endowments. This research is an attempt to understand why university leaders continue to refuse divestment, by considering the underlying socioeconomic norms and behaviours which prohibit this action. I suggest that in most situations it is a subtle form of power that is inhibiting university officials from divesting, which operates through social relations and norms to shape actor’s ideas about how the world does and should work. The rise of neoliberalism has shifted universities to a corporate style of management, caused closer ties to industry and influenced the type of people who reach positions of power within universities, issues which are compounded by blame avoidance strategies. We have created a system where actions like divestment appear unacceptable because divestment rejects the profit first mentality of neoliberalism, challenges social connections of university leaders, creates tension for universities’ industry connections and requires leaders to reject blame avoidance.
Dendrochronological Investigations of the Fire History in the Sinclair Restoration Area, Kootenay National Park, British Columbia
(2016-04-27) Smith, Kiera Anne Powell
Forest structure in the Rocky Mountains has been affected by fire suppression of one form or another during the last 100 years. This project characterized fire dynamics of an Interior Douglas-fir forest in Sinclair Restoration Area of Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. This study was completed by collecting fire scarred trees and establishment plot dynamics within the Sinclair Restoration Area. The fire history was then compared against fire histories from similar locations and forest compositions in the Pacific Northwest. As well, a review of indigenous use, by the Ktunaxa and Shuswap, of the Sinclair Restoration Area and burning practices is completed. It is posited that a low severity high frequency late fall fire regime occurred at Sinclair Restoration Area during the period of 1795 to 1889. Data indicated that regeneration of Douglas-fir in the stand is related to fire events. Since the last fire event that stand has shifted away from open grassland, with mature occasional Douglas-fir, to a densely stocked Douglas-fir forest. Fire years align with trends seen with others throughout forests of the Rocky Mountains, possibly indicating that climate is affecting the fire regime. However, the characteristics of fire events in the Sinclair Restoration area align with burning practices of the Ktunaxa and Shuswap nations who utilized the study site and surrounding region. Fire events in the Sinclair Restoration Area stop around the time of European settlement in the area. Additionally, no fire event has been observed in the study area since 1889. The fire regime of the Sinclair Restoration Area may be the result of a combination of climate and indigenous induced burning events.
Format as Vehicle: Victoria cassette tape culture
(2016-04-27) McIntyre, Mark
In the age of digital supremacy, where an infinite amount of music is available at the click of a button, there has been a resurgence of formerly obsolete musical formats. Vinyl records, a medium thought to have faded into oblivion when CDs were embraced as the industry standard, have since seen a resurgence among underground music labels and their major label counterparts, selling over 4 million units in 2014. Physical audio media in the age of the MP3 is rare, yet both independent and major record labels have embraced the vinyl medium. Interestingly, in tandem with the vinyl revival, cassette tapes have become the medium of choice for independent bands interested in distributing their music and ideas on the cheap, side stepping the exorbitant production costs and wait times that are increasing due to major label’s (re)appropriation of the vinyl record. Interestingly, while many online platforms allow the free and immediate distribution of music, cassette tapes can be found on merchandise tables of independent Victoria, BC bands whose music spans the underground spectrums of folk, punk rock, garage, noise, metal, and indie rock. While digital media is still the go to format for many musicians and consumers, cassette tapes and other physical formats offer artists complete control over how their work is distributed and a cheap vehicle to connect with music consumers and other artists, fostering and maintaining community in the process.
'The Ship of State': Decoding the satire of Fuller's H.M.S. Parliament
(2016-04-27) Guerreiro, Nicholas
William Henry Fuller’s H.M.S. Parliament, or the Lady Who Loved a Government Clerk, is a Canadian political satire from the 1880s that criticizes the corruption of John A. MacDonald's second government by casting him as the captain on an ersatz version of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. The popularity of this early Canadian play reveals that its topical satire resonated with its audience. By linking historical figures with their caricatures in H.M.S. Parliament, this research will illuminate Canadian perspectives on politicians and political movements in the late nineteenth century, with special attention given to how the strong links between British and Early Canadian identity play out in the operetta’s artistic form and criticism of the Conservative Government’s National Policy.
Something’s fishy about those nutrients: The effects of stickleback morphology on nutrient recycling
(2016-04-27) Hanson, Nova; Durston, Daniel; El-Sabaawi, Rana
In aquatic ecosystems, fish can increase the levels of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) directly through the excretion of dissolved inorganic nutrients, which can have consequent effects on ecological processes. This is known as nutrient recycling. Ecological stoichiometry provides a mass balance framework that predicts the effect of traits on nutrient acquisition, assimilation, and recycling. A hypothesis based on ecological stoichiometry states that a fish that assimilates more of its diet in constructing P-rich bone should excrete less P than a fish that invests more of its diet in P-poor tissues, such as muscle. We tested this hypothesis in the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, a species known for its immense diversity in bony morphology. To determine the relative effects of different variables on the elemental composition of the threespine stickleback and its excretion, we sampled two populations in Victoria, BC, between April and August 2015: one marine and heavily armoured population in the Gorge Waterway and the other freshwater and poorly armoured in Swan Lake. Initial comparisons of the populations followed the predictions of organismal stoichiometry however, when we used a general linear model to further examine these trends, we found that armour had a relatively small effect on excretion. We concluded that while ecological stoichiometry can potentially allow for simplified predictions about roles in ecosystem function, it needs to be supplemented with additional contextual factors, such as environment, consumption rate and life stage in order to make accurate predictions about factors that control nutrient recycling in aquatic ecosystems.
The Experience of Health Professional Students and their Educators Learning to Work in Intra-Professional Teams: A Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Qualitative Systematic Review
(2016-04-27) Esquivel, Carmen Janina
This project I am proposing is to explore changing work relationships between RN’s and LPN’s using a systematic review research method known as the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach. The JBI is an internationally renowned leader in evidence-based health care that provides a systematic process for finding and appraising evidence; a process supported by training, tools, a peer-review process, and networking to inform best practices. This method was initiated to have a collaborative approach for evaluating evidence from a variety of sources. In this way, healthcare professionals could have access to the best international evidence and consequently improve patient outcomes globally. Overall, JBI is one of the top Internet resources that supports evidence-based nursing practice, allowing easy use and access to high quality resources. Regarding student development, working with JBI would provide invaluable learning and a chance to expand my knowledge by exposure to strong relationships between academic, research, practice, and policy partners. Specifically, I will focus on how the research review approach supports evidence informed practice and how it contributes to knowledge translation. Additionally, I will learn about the process of developing and conducting a systematic review with the focus on intradisciplinary collaborative relationships. Furthermore, this project will enable me to participate and learn how to search for relevant and appropriate research studies through team collaboration. Finally, I will learn to facilitate the review process of research papers. Overall, this academic project would be an incredible opportunity for learning, where knowledge and skill in academic inquiry can be challenged.
Positively Moved: What participants need from a perinatal substance use support program
(2016-04-27) Guy, Madeline; Wignall, Angela
HerWay Home is a community based integrated primary maternity care program in Victoria, BC. This program supports women who are pregnant or new parents and coping with multiple complex life challenges (such as substance use, mental health issues, violence, trauma, poverty). This research project is a secondary data analysis of interviews done with women and men who would be clients of this program. The particular focus our analysis for this project is how this group of women and men would consider this program to be successful and what participants need from a perinatal substance use support program.
People with Autism: Lineup Identification and Facial Recognition Memory
(2016-04-27) Dwyer, Patrick; Baldassari, Mario; Lindsay, D. Stephen
The eyewitness identification performance and facial recognition memory of individuals with and without autism spectrum disorder were measured. Participants completed inventories measuring other traits related to autism. Significant differences in facial recognition accuracy were observed between individuals with and without autism, but there was considerable overlap between groups, suggesting that eyewitness testimony from persons with autism can be considered reliable. Greater ability on the eyewitness identification and facial recognition tasks was associated with greater social competence.
The French Conquest of Russian Lexical Territories: A Study of French Loanwords in Russian
(2016-04-27) Grishko, Regina
At the beginning of the 18th century, under the reign of Peter the Great, French culture, literature and language became prestigious in Russia. During this period and subsequently, numerous loanwords, particularly nouns, found their way into the Russian language. This project examines phonetic and morphological adaptations of French loanwords into Russian. The language has incorporated into its lexicon numerous nominal borrowings, while transforming them so to respect the rules of word construction in Russian. For instance, the equivalent of French constitution in Russian is constitutsiya; while the root was preserved intact, the nominal suffix -tsiya is used instead of French -tion, creating a whole series of Russian words having French roots and Russian suffixes (presentatsiya, illustratsiya, etc.). However, other types of lexical items were borrowed from French without any morphological adaptation; this is the case for bureau, metro, règlement, etc. Therefore, this study sheds light on the different borrowing processes in Russian. It thus permits a more in depth understanding of the long-standing French influence on Russia.
Drugs through Bugs: Expression of Naglu-‐PTD4 in Spodoptera frugiperda
(2016-04-27) Ashmead, Rhea
Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB (MPS IIIB) is a rare metabolic disorder that is caused by a deficiency in the lysosomal hydrolase α-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Naglu). The deficient activity of this enzyme results in the cytotoxic accumulation of heparan sulfate in the lysosome. Patients with this disorder experience progressive central nervous system degeneration and a significantly shortened life span. Presently, enzyme replacement therapy is an ineffective treatment for MPS IIIB due to the inability of exogenous Naglu to permeate the blood-brain barrier. This project uses the Sf9 insect cell system to express human recombinant Naglu fused to a synthetic protein transduction domain with the intent to facilitate the delivery of Naglu across the blood-brain barrier. The overall goal of this project is to establish a large-scale, economical system for the production of human recombinant Naglu that has the potential to be successfully used for enzyme replacement therapy to treat MPS IIIB.

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