When to stay and when to go? the determinants and benefits of mate and nestbox retention in an urban population of European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)

1 online resource (79 pages) : colour graphsIncludes abstracts.Includes bibliographical references (pages 17-20, 38-41, 57-58, 71-73, 78-79).Following the breeding season, individuals must decide if they should they stay with their partner and stay within their territory in the subsequent season. To test why mate and site retention occurs and if retention provides any benefits, a population of European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with over a decade of breeding data (2007 to 2025) was used to examine the frequency of mate and nestbox retention and if condition, and measures of both reproductive success and parental investment were associated with retention. Mate retention frequency was 48.8% and brood condition tended to be higher in broods preceding mate retention. In pairs that bred together for longer periods of time saw no significant benefits from doing so. Nestbox retention frequency was 43.8% and females tended to retain their nestboxes more frequently than males, and nestbox retention was positively correlated with mate retention

Tactics and targets : the role of women’s bodies in the Mexican feminist movement

1 online resource (3 unnumbered, 123 pages) : colour illustrations, graphsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 107-123).This thesis explores the historical, political, and cultural entanglements between the Mexican state and women’s bodies with the latter serving as both targets of violence and tactics of resistance. In so doing, this study serves to contextualize and better understand Mexico’s contemporary, urban, grassroots, feminist movement. Using decolonial feminist theory and interpretivism, as well as through a recognition of the role of formative events, i.e., colonialism and the Mexican revolution, it analyzes how women have challenged patriarchal, colonial, and extractivist systems by reclaiming their bodies as cuerpos-territorio through the transgressive use of art, poetry, and song. The four chapters of the thesis examine the symbolic and political roles of key historical figures and their artistic representations and contributions across time, like Sor Juana, the Virgin of Guadalupe, Adelitas, and Frida Kahlo, thereby situating modern day feminist mobilizations in Ciudad Juárez and Mexico City, along with recent feminist chants and performances like “Un violador en tu camino” and “Canción sin miedo,” all showing how the body becomes a site of defiance. In the end this thesis provides both a critical analysis and a tribute to Mexican feminist resistance

Cations derived from proton sponge : modification of halide ion coordination chemistry through intermolecular interactions

1 online resource (x, 46 pages) : illustrations (some colour), graphsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 43-46).A family of 1,3-bis(dimethylamino)napthalene salts have been prepared, starting from 1,3-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene (Proton Sponge&reg;). When protonated, these molecules have weak hydrogen bonding interactions with anions due to the bridging of a proton between the two dimethylamino groups. Theis bridging removes the best hydrogen bonding sire and reduces interactions between the cation and the anion. This increases the basicity of the anion allowing for a more accurate representation of a naked anion. This study investigates halides as anions and their subsequent basicity and reactivity toward other small molecules.</p

From the pitch to the market: how game outcomes score on stock prices

1 online resource (32 pages)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 31-32).This study investigates how football match outcomes affect the stock prices of publicly traded European football clubs. Using panel data from Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Lazio, and Lyon over the 2017–2024 seasons, I examine investor response to match performance. The dependent variable is the log return from the most recent available pre-match trading price (match day or day before) to the trading day after the match. Key explanatory variables include expected goals difference (xG – xGA), actual goal difference, match result dummies (loss and draw, with win as the reference), and a European competition indicator. Expected goals (xG) are statistical estimates based on the quality of a team's scoring chances, incorporating factors such as shot location, assist type, and goalkeeper position. An interaction term between the xG difference and European competition is also included. After addressing non-stationarity and applying fixed and random effects estimations, I find that expected goals difference significantly influences post-match stock returns, while match result and actual goal difference do not show consistent effects. These results suggest that investors are more responsive to underlying match performance than to final scorelines alone. This thesis contributes to the literature on sports, financial and behavioural economics/finance by showing that stock markets may be more sensitive to advanced performance metrics, like expected goals, than to basic match outcomes

Vocational interests in the CAF

1 online resource (120 pages) : colour graphsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 80-93).The Canadian Armed Forces’s (CAF) recruitment and retention crisis begs a greater understanding of the people within the organization and their experiences. Alignment between employees and their jobs influence attitudes, behaviours, and well-being. Vocational interests are an area of individual difference that can be leveraged to improve this alignment. Serving CAF members (n = 883) completed a survey including the O*NET Interest Profiler and self-report measures of fit, commitment, satisfaction, anxiety, engagement, and OCB. Latent Profile Analysis revealed four interest profiles. The Social Strategist profile was associated with the most positive work outcomes. Regression analyses provided little support for the notion that congruence is associated with positive work outcomes. Congruence between an individual’s interests and their occupation was the strongest predictor of work outcomes. Understanding the interests of members and their relationships with work outcomes can inform CAF policies and strategies to improve members’ experiences and inform recruitment efforts

2025-06-25 Senate Minutes and Agendas

Minutes and Agenda for the June 25, 2025, meeting of Saint Mary’s University Senate

Linkages and systematics of A-type magmatism, alkali alteration and magnetite mineralization of the Nonacho Basin, Northwest Territories

1 online resource (267 pages) : illustrations (some colour), maps (some colour), charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-203).The Nonacho Basin, located in the southwestern Rae Craton, Northwest Territories, hosts widespread polymetallic mineralization (Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag-U-Th-Mo) and structurally controlled alkali alteration (e.g., albitization and potassic alteration) associated with Fe-oxide mineralization. Field evidence suggests that this alteration is at least partially linked, both spatially and temporally, to the 1830 - 1790 Ma A-type magmatism of the Thekulthili Stock. A petrographic, geochemical, and geochronological study of the Thekulthili Stock characterizes the intrusion, constrains the alteration systematics, and provides a geodynamic context for this magmatism. Magnetite, a ubiquitous Fe-oxide phase of the Nonacho Basin, occurs across various rock types that are locally overprinted by alkali alteration. Distinct magnetite types are classified based on host rock, mineral associations, and paragenesis, with trace element chemistry used to infer their origin. These findings are integrated to assess the region's potential for Metasomatic Iron and Alkali Calcic - related deposits

Extracting profit, exporting harm : Canadian mining and the capitalist state in Ecuador

1 online resource (49 pages)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 37-49).This paper offers a reappraisal of the role of the Canadian state in the contentious practices of Canadian mining operations abroad. In seeking to account for these operations, most nongovernmental institutions and industry representatives have focused on the direct actions of Canadian mining companies and their well-documented socio-environmental transgressions. The result has been a dominant consensus that attributes the socio-environmental harm caused by Canadian mining operations abroad predominantly to corporate actors, overlooking the active role of the Canadian state. As an alternative to this consensus, this paper argues that while Canadian mining companies overtly engage in exploitative practices abroad, the Canadian state plays a central and active role in facilitating these activities and, more specifically, functions as an executive committee for the mining industry, actively creating, managing, and legitimizing the conditions for its destructive operations abroad. Drawing specifically on the case of Ecuador and Marxist theories of the state, it argues that the Canadian state, in its role as an executive committee, is a driving force in these extractive operations—typically portrayed as primarily corporate-driven—and proposes greater attention to be paid to the geopolitical actions of the Canadian state, and its structural role as an executive committee in advancing the expansion of Canadian mining operations abroad

A qualitative application of a conceptual model of post-incarceration opioid overdose risk to a Canadian sample

1 online resource (66 pages) : colour illustrations, colour chartsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 51-58).This study investigates post-incarceration opioid overdose risk among formerly incarcerated Canadians diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), using Joudrey et al.’s (2019) Conceptual Model of Post-Release Opioid Overdose Risk. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants with a history of incarceration in Canada and OUD. Interviews were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The findings highlight the multifaceted nature of opioid overdose risk in justice-involved populations, including structural exposures, intermediate determinants, proximate risks, and biological outcomes. Participants reported limited access to OUD treatment during incarceration and minimal naloxone training, which worsened overdose risk after release. The results emphasise systemic failures in addressing OUD within carceral and community settings and stress the importance of integrated harm reduction strategies and pre-release planning

Nestling sex allocation in European Starlings : the role of parental condition and nest greenery

1 online resource (33 pages) : illustrations (some colour), charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 27-31).Nestling sex allocation is influenced by parental condition and mate attractiveness in many bird species, such that parents in better condition and those who are more attractive have male-biased brood sex ratios. In facultatively polygynous species, high quality sons confer greater reproductive success as they can attract several mates. Therefore, females in good condition would do best producing more sons, while females in poor condition would produce more daughters. Similarly, behaviours performed by courting males, such as adding greenery to the nest may also affect brood sex ratio with more greenery resulting in a male-biased brood sex ratio. Male European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are a facultatively polygynous species that adds greenery to their nest, likely to signal their attractiveness. This study explored how parental body condition and male greenery addition influenced brood sex ratios across the 2023 and 2024 breeding seasons in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I predicted that parents in good condition or males who add greenery over more days would have male-biased brood sex ratios but found no significant relationship between their condition and brood sex ratios. However, a significant interaction effect occurred; male condition influenced nestling sex ratios only when females were in poor condition, creating a male bias when males were in good condition. These findings suggest female condition modifies the effect of male condition on sex allocation. Greenery addition frequency was not associated with brood sex ratio. These findings highlight the role of parental condition interactions in offspring sex allocation, while the significance of greenery addition remains unclear. Future research should examine total mass of greenery in a nest, the amount of greenery added daily, as well as female responses to greenery additions to better understand the function of nest ornamentation in brood sex allocation