Trent University

Social scientists have debated whether religious involvement is associated with differences in deviant behaviours for over a century. Religious practices and beliefs are often associated with less deviant behaviours in young adults, such as less frequent drug use and law-breaking. Empirical results on these associations, though, have been mixed, possibly due to heterogenous measures. Recent literature has begun teasing apart religious practices (e.g., attending church) from spiritual beliefs (e.g., believing in higher powers) and exploring their unique associations with different outcomes. The present study tested the independent and interactive effects of religion and spirituality in predicting deviance. Religion was negatively associated with some types of deviance, the relationship remained significant even after controlling for covariates. Spirituality was not reliably associated with deviance. There was an interaction between religion and spirituality, where the combination of the two was associated with the lowest level of deviance. Further findings and implications are discussed.

Author Keywords: deviance, religion, spirituality, youth

Heart failure (HF) is a condition with several possible etiologies that influence patient symptomatology, including response to exercise. The purpose of this review was to assess how cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters used for risk stratification differ and are associated with mortality and adverse cardiac events in patients with different HF etiologies. We completed a systematic review of studies that assessed CPET data in adult heart failure patients and reported outcomes of mortality, left ventricular assist device implantation, heart transplantation, or hospitalization. Interestingly, the optimal threshold values derived from CPET were strikingly similar for stratifying risk in patients with different HF etiologies. Even with heterogeneity in the data, the literature suggests that optimal threshold values from CPET can be applied generally without consideration of HF etiology. However, there is a need to consider a broader spectrum of HF etiologies and CPET parameters in larger and more representative study populations.

Author Keywords: Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing, Etiology, Heart Failure, Ischemic Cardiomyopathy, Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy, Prognosis

Nurses have a vital role in counselling their patients towards healthier living. However, nurses tend to have poor metabolic health that may be influenced by lifestyle. Whether this begins during their nursing education is poorly understood. Undergraduate nursing (n=42) and biology (n=15) students had their metabolic health assessed through body measurements, fasting blood glucose and lipids. Lifestyle factors of physical activity, nutrition, stress, and sleep were assessed using questionnaires, accelerometry, diet logs, and heart rate variability. At an individual level, 31.0% of nursing students are at-risk of poor metabolic health. Results suggest that nursing students are sedentary, obtaining poor sleep quality, consuming elevated amounts of saturated fat, and perceiving themselves to be under mild stress. The implementation of lifestyle interventions should be considered for this cohort. However, few differences were found between nursing and biology groups, indicating that the results are potentially generalizable to a larger group of undergraduate students.

Author Keywords: metabolic health, nursing students, nutrition, physical activity, psychological stress, sleep quality

This study examines the foraging strategies of Mesolithic foragers in the Central Balkans, particularly those employed by the occupants of Crvena Stijena, Montenegro. The Prey Choice Model, Patch Choice Model, and Marginal Value Theorem are used to interpret subsistence patterns. The data from the Crvena Stijena assemblages are compared to those from other Mesolithic sites in the region, along with an Upper Paleolithic assemblage at Crvena Stijena, to assess patterns of animal resource use throughout the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in the region. Red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and brown hare (Lepus europaeus) are the most commonly identified taxa in the assemblages. The analysis suggests that Mesolithic foragers at Crvena Stijena, and at many sites throughout the region, were primarily exploiting high-ranked prey types. There is evidence that Mesolithic foragers engaged in more intensive subsistence strategies than those of Upper Paleolithic foragers.

Author Keywords: Central Balkans, Early Holocene, Human Behavioral Ecology, Late Pleistocene, Mesolithic, Zooarchaeology

Hybridisation is an important evolutionary mechanism with diverse outcomes, including the formation of new lineages, the exchange of alleles between species, or their extinction through genetic swamping. In some cases, hybrids exhibit higher fitness than their parental species, which can lead to hybrid invasions that threaten ecosystems. In North America, hybridisation between the native cattail Typha latifolia and the non-native T. angustifolia produces the hybrid T. × glauca, which is a highly impactful invader in wetlands across large areas of southern Canada and northern USA; contrastingly, in Europe and Asia, where its parental species also co-occur, T. × glauca is rare to non-existent. This thesis examines the evolutionary history of T. latifolia and T. angustifolia, which, in addition to being the parental species of T. × glauca, are two of the most globally widespread Typha species, a genus of plants foundational to wetlands. First, we developed genomic resources, including ~12M nuclear SNPs and plastome assemblies to facilitate genetic research on Typha; we also described a cost-effective library preparation and genotyping protocol that makes population genetic studies of freshwater plants accessible. Then, we applied those genomic resources to investigate the roles of drift, selection, and hybridisation in the divergence of T. angustifolia, T. latifolia, and their sister species, T. domingensis and T. shuttleworthii. We found that speciation in these taxa was driven by drift under allopatry, resulting from historical bottlenecks, and that natural selection has played a minimal role in the divergence of these species; additionally, we observed introgressive hybridisation from T. latifolia into T. angustifolia. Finally, we reconstructed the demographic histories of T. angustifolia and T. latifolia from North America and Europe. We observed that reproductive isolation is strong in Europe, where the two species have potentially been sympatric for ~800,000 years, and weak in North America, where they have been sympatric for only a few centuries. Our results exemplify how the divergence and demographic histories of species can correlate with their strength of reproductive isolation. We emphasise that preventing invasions by hybrids will require limiting the movement of Typha and other historically allopatric species, which likely lack reproductive barriers.

Author Keywords: biological invasions, cattails, demographic histories, evolutionary histories, population genomics, reproductive isolation

N-Heterocyclic Carbenes (NHCs) have significantly impacted organometallic chemistry as ligands in transition metal catalysis, offering strong electron-donating properties and high bond dissociation energies. However, their structural versatility is limited by the scarcity of commercial precursors and challenging modification procedures. Furthermore, we have investigated its coordination to transition metals; copper, silver, and palladium. We further demonstrate the effects of its steric parameters by utilizing the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl chlorides using [(RO-NHC)Pd(allyl)Cl] as precatalysts. This study demonstrates increased catalyst activity with bulkier ligands in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions. We also present simplified procedures for copper NHC complexes using triethylamine with no requirements for special equipment and techniques. Preliminary investigations towards a more economical approach to measuring the electron donating abilities of NHCs were conducted using CuI and AgI cyanide complexes as probes. The outcomes of this research may contribute to the growing research in the applications of NHCs as ligands in catalysis.

Author Keywords: Catalysis, Ligand synthesis, N-Heterocyclic carbenes, Organic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry, Transition metal catalysis

In August of 2014, the Sahtú Dene community of Délı̨nę launched a first-of-its-kind, collaborative pilot project entitled "Destination Deline". Fortuitously, the launch coincided precisely with the field research component of this research project, which had originally sought to investigate the marked lack of Indigenous participation, employment and partnership in the Northwest Territories' adventure tourism industry. The primary research objective then shifted, to explore whether Destination Délı̨nę could serve as a cogent model for developing culturally-sustainable Indigenous tourism in the region. This objective served also as a point of entry into a broader academic discussion about Indigenous-Settler relations, Indigenous resurgence, the tourism imaginary, and the role of government in mediating between private sector and Indigenous community interests. Through a series of in-depth, one-on-one interviews with Indigenous tour operators, non-Indigenous adventure tour outfitters, government officials, and community members, this thesis presents a complex and vibrant portrait of an industry in flux.

Author Keywords: Cultural Sustainability, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous tourism, Indigenous-Settler relations, Market Imaginaries, Tourism Imaginaries

I investigated the climate vulnerability of a cold-water salmonid by observing the upper thermal tolerance of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) across multiple life stages. Using hatchery- and wild-ancestry fish, I assessed variation in thermal tolerances and carryover effects within and among brook trout life stages and populations that were reared under varying winter thermal regimes as embryos. Embryonic, fry, and gravid adult upper thermal tolerance were tested via CTmax. Warm acclimation was associated with an increase in embryonic upper thermal tolerance. CTmax variability was markedly higher in embryos than juvenile or adult salmonids. Effects of thermal incubation treatments varied by life stage, with incubation temperature and life stage both influencing body size and thermal tolerance. Collectively, these results suggest that brook trout only exhibit short-term carryover effects from thermal stressors during embryo incubation, with no lasting effects on phenotype beyond the first few months (10 weeks) after hatch.

Author Keywords: acclimation response, climate change, ontogeny, salmonid, stress, thermal plasticity

Climate-driven permafrost thaw releases microorganisms and dissolved organic matter (DOM) into northern lakes, where their interactions with microbial communities and seasonal processes shape greenhouse gas emissions. In a factorial experiment mixing DOM and microbes from thermokarst ponds and lakes, we found that both DOM and microbial identity strongly influenced degradation. Lake microbes preferentially consumed thermokarst DOM, producing 3× more CO₂ due to low growth efficiency, while thermokarst microbes altered DOM with little CO₂ release. A survey of 40 lakes across a climate gradient showed CO₂ fluxes peaking in spring from under-ice buildup and CH₄ fluxes peaking in fall after summer accumulation. Dissolved gas concentrations served as early indicators of these events, with CH₄ linked to reduced DOM and CO₂ to multiple pathways. Overall, DOM quality, microbial traits, and seasonal dynamics interact to control lake carbon cycling, emphasizing the need for year-round monitoring under climate change.

Author Keywords: Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM), Fluxes, Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS), Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), Lakes, Thermokarst

This research explored how systemic barriers contribute to poverty among Black immigrants in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). Using a qualitative approach, I explored how factors like race, immigration status, and other identity factors shape Black immigrants' experiences in the employment and housing markets and healthcare system, consequently predisposing them to experience poverty. A key driver of poverty is the non-recognition of foreign credentials, which pushes highly qualified Black immigrants into low-wage jobs, exacerbated by employers' demand for "Canadian experience." This marginalization severely limits their access to higher-paying opportunities, trapping them in cycles of poverty. Housing discrimination also causes poverty, as racial bias from landlords forces Black immigrants into overpriced or substandard housing conditions, worsened by Toronto's housing crisis. Participants generally reported satisfaction with healthcare. To cope, Black immigrants rely on support from religious institutions and social networks through material and non-material resources. The study concludes with policy recommendations to address these systemic barriers, aiming to reduce poverty and improve integration.